Snap is turning to some light bribery to boost adoption of its new Lens Studio software. The January Jumpstart Challenge encourages artists to create and share a Lens that celebrates the New Year. One selected winner will take home a Lens Studio Swag Bag that includes an iPad Pro. In addition, the Lens could be featured in the Lens carousel for others to experience.
When it comes to your security, you want the best of the best. Why settle for mediocre service with something as valuable as your protection? Malware continues to make its way onto the Play Store, leaving millions of devices vulnerable. You need an app that will shield your devices from both the latest malware threats and threats nearby. And when it comes to antivirus apps, there is only one choice.
In addition to the standard "Raise to Wake" option that's been around since iOS 10, the iPhone X, XS, XS Max, and XR have a unique capability that lets you "Tap to Wake" the screen. But these features can get annoying real fast when your screen keeps turning on accidentally, which could even lead to some unnecessary battery drain.
Samsung has kept us busy with their Android 8.0 Oreo beta testing program for the Galaxy S8, and most recently, the Galaxy Note 8. As the beta continues to receive new updates, stability has improved continuously, and new features keep on creeping in for both devices.
Most of the free apps you'll find on the Play Store have ads. These ads are personalized — in other words, they're for products and services Google believes you might be interested in. The way Google knows about your interests is by collecting data from your smartphone, including your location and app usage. While personalized ads have their advantages, the collection of data is unsettling.
Death Road to Canada has finally arrived for Android, and it quickly took over our roundup for the best paid action games. Widely regarded as a top contender for the best video game of 2017, it came as no surprise when it easily surpassed all the other games in our list to grab the top spot for both Android and iPhone.
Wonder Woman is going to be everywhere this Halloween, and you know it. One way for your rendition of Diana to stand out among an (Aegean) sea of Wonder copycats is to shy away from the classic high-glamour makeup style that Gal Gadot wears in the recent movie. You can still put on your tiara and carry your golden lasso all the same — you just need to go with a unique comic-book style makeup. With the help of licensed esthetician and self taught makeup artist Lex, instead of looking like you ...
Eventually, we all get tired of our home screens. There's nothing wrong with it, but after hundreds of times seeing the same thing, it all starts looking a bit stale. You can rearrange icons and widgets, or even just pick a new wallpaper — but sometimes, your layout is perfect and you still want a fresh look. Well, thanks to Action Launcher and icon packs, this is really easy to accomplish.
When customizing your Android home screen, it's always a challenge to balance aesthetics with functionality. Do you crowd your home screen with icons and widgets so they are easier to reach, or do you spread the icons over many home screens? Each option has its downsides, and with most launchers, these are your only choices — but with Action Launcher, there's another way.
Now that the the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have been revealed, we've been eager to see how the new devices will stack up against top-of-the-line Android phones like the Galaxy S8 and S8+. We can't compare real-world usage right now since the new iPhone models haven't been released yet, but we can see how they stack up on paper to get an idea of which one is the better buy.
At IFA in Berlin today, Sony introduced the latest models of the Xperia line, with new features in tow that should appeal to creators of augmented and virtual reality content.
Despite mounting scientific evidence that viruses can cause changes in learning and memory, the reasons have remained elusive.
One of the biggest features of Android Oreo is a picture-in-picture mode that lets you watch videos in a floating window while you're using other apps. Honestly, it's fantastic and intuitive, but there are a few ground rules you'll need to learn to master the new feature.
The new Leaf with Nissan's ProPilot driverless feature could launch as soon as this year, following a teaser image and video the Japanese carmaker released of its flagship EV yesterday.
If you're not familiar with Bixby, I don't blame you. The Samsung assistant was released two months ago with the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. While users were excited about this Google Assistant-like feature, they were ultimately disappointed by the limited rollout of only some of Bixby's features. Now, Samsung is hopeful to perfect Bixby using you.
Social media is kind of depressing. On one hand, we love knowing what's happening in the lives of others. On the other hand, everyone seems happier, better looking, and more successful than you. We're putting on a facade by posting statuses and writing comments that present the person we want others to think we are, rather than truly expressing ourselves. Yes, social media has facilitated movements and miraculous events, but let's be real. For the most part, none of it matters.
What companies do you think have a unique and compelling take on social media? Wendy's is certainly confident, to say the least. But Lufthansa Airlines is taking a different approach than most — and it seems to be working — as they give passengers a look behind the scenes through Snapchat Stories.
The Galaxy S8's Bixby Vision feature isn't working up to its full potential for Verizon customers, according to a recent CNET report.
The Broadway musical War Paint is teaming with augmented reality cosmetics app YouCam Makeup to promote the show on iOS and Android devices. The musical, which centers on the famous rivalry between Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein, two cosmetics industry pioneers, has been the talk of Broadway since its premiere in March 2017.
Netmarble's ChronoBlade, a mobile role-playing game, has made its way to iOS and Android by way of a soft launch that will make it exclusive to users in Canada and Singapore for a couple of months. Its console-quality graphics and extra features will surely make it a hit when it's released worldwide, but if you've got a little gumption, you can skip the wait and install it today.
The popular RPG Death Road to Canada has finally arrived for the iPhone and iPad, and its impact is immediate. It's fast becoming a top contender for mobile video game of 2017, and it's very easy to see why. The game blends decision making and good old zombie bashing to create a refreshingly unique experience. Add to that the motley cast of survivors that you can recruit, plus the secrets waiting to be discovered, and this game is sure to suck up countless hours of your time.
In February, the popular Facebook-owned WhatsApp Messenger service jumped on the "stories" bandwagon and replaced their in-app, text-based "About Me" status (you know, those lovely little messages where you can say "Sleeping" or "Not Sleeping" under the tiny nub of your profile picture). Taking its place was a clone of Snapchat's Stories feature, continuing the social media giant's recent trend of shamelessly copying Snapchat.
Google just pushed out an update to Chrome for iOS, with the main change being a new feature called "Read Later". Read Later is a nifty little feature that allows you to download and save web pages that you can read even if you're offline. Being a subway rider in NYC, I know very well how annoying the lack of an internet connection can be when traveling, which makes this feature all the more handy.
BlackBerry has formally announced the arrival of its flagship, the KeyOne, during Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona. The all-Android KeyOne looks distinctly BlackBerry, with its 4.5" screen and physical QWERTY keyboard. Here's the lowdown on this elegant handset that hearkens back to BlackBerry's heyday, which had previously been known by its code name, the BlackBerry Mercury. Aluminum Unibody with Physical Keyboard
Google's own devices have always been the first to get new Android features — but unlike the Nexus series, last year's Pixel phones have a handful of exclusive tweaks that were never intended to trickle down to other devices once the newer Android version rolled out to them. These Pixel exclusives included the Pixel launcher and a unique set of on-screen navigation buttons.
One of the biggest things that differentiates Android from iOS is the app drawer. Instead of the operating system just tossing all of your app icons into a cluttered heap on your home screen, most can be tucked away neatly in the app drawer, which, in essence, is very similar to the Windows Start menu.
DAQRI, a company mostly known for its odd but fun-looking industrial Smart Helmet, unveiled their new Smart Glasses product at CES 2017. Their smartglasses look like a strange attempt to answer the Microsoft HoloLens, and the price tag of $4,995 for the developer's edition reinforces that notion.
If you've ever wondered why the pictures and videos you share with Snapchat on your Android device seem to look grainy with low resolution, you're not alone. We all know it, and we've come to accept it as a plain fact: Snapchat image quality sucks on Android.
Google worked with design agency B-Reel to create some unique wallpapers for its Pixel and Pixel XL flagships, and the end result is quite stunning. These "Live Earth" wallpapers, as they're called, combine Google Earth's high-def satellite imagery with a 3D parallax effect that changes perspective as you move between screens.
In the world of analog synthesizers, hitting a key, twisting a knob, or sliding a fader makes a beautiful musical (or not so musical) sound and can be an amazing and downright satisfying experience. Now it's about to get even more satisfying, if you add Microsoft's HoloLens into the mix as a means to twist those knobs virtually instead.
At an event in Mountain View, CA, and watched by fans via live stream on YouTube, Google announced a slew of new products today. Over the last few weeks, there was no shortage of rumors and leaks about what might be unveiled, but now the secrets are out.
Android Police reported that the upcoming Nexus phones would be getting an exclusive launcher this year, dubbed the "Nexus Launcher." This rumored home screen app was said to feature Google Now integration, a swipe-up app drawer gesture, and a few other finishing touches.
We recently covered a set of ported apps from the new cloud-based smartphone, the Nextbit Robin. These ported APKs brought two of the Robin's slick new stock apps—Camera and Gallery—to any other device, but the launcher was conspicuously absent.
Google has been working on its voice recognition technology ever since the days when you had to call a phone number with a Silicon Valley area code to dictate your query. As you can imagine, things have come a long way in the decade or so that has passed, to the point where we talk to our phones as if they were a person nowadays.
When it comes time to buy a new smartphone, the sheer amount of options on the market can make you feel overwhelmed. There are Android devices of all shapes and sizes with different functionalities and price points, and now, even Apple has three unique iPhone models to fit various budgets.
By default, the Play Store app on Android is set to automatically update your apps in the background. This definitely makes it easy to ensure that you're always running the latest versions, but it does come with some downsides.
There are plenty of Android apps for creating reminders, to-do lists, and taking notes—but the vast majority of these are all-in-one apps that may actually have too many features. When a thought randomly crosses your mind and you'd like to remember it for later, the most important thing is to be able to jot it down quick, fast, and in a hurry.
It seemed appropriate that we announce the winner of the first White Hat Award for Technical Excellence on the Academy Awards weekend. This is, in essence, our "Oscar" here at Null Byte. Remember, this contest began on January 4th, 2016 and just recently closed on February 15th. In this contest, I was looking for:
Star Wars season is definitely upon us. No matter where you turn, you can't go a day without being bombarded by merchandising and co-branding advertisements that attempt to draw a parallel between some character from a galaxy far, far away and a galactic cruiser like the Dodge Viper, or a midichlorian-laden power source like Duracell. Yep, it's kind of annoying, but at least we can get some fun out of it here and there.
Windows 10 has so many new features that we couldn't even cover them all with one article. From keyboard shortcuts to revamped search functions and all-new window gestures, Microsoft definitely piled on the fresh functionality in the latest version of their operating system.
