Verizon has long been king in the wireless provider market, but recently it has had to step up its game in the data department. A limited data plan — with supposedly superior service — was no longer cutting it for customers. Many of whom left to take up the sweet, sweet offers of competitors like Sprint and T-Mobile. This past fiscal year, Verizon had a net loss of customers in the first quarter. Something that has never happened to them before.
It was nice while it lasted. Samsung users who managed to get their hands on the Galaxy S8 or S8+ early enjoyed the ability to launch any app through the dedicated Bixby button. Unfortunately, Samsung wasn't all that down with us using the Bixby button for purposes other than its intended use — to provide quick access to Samsung's new virtual assistant.
Google, the company that rules the internet, is now testing a method to leverage its machine learning with its ubiquitous presence on mobile devices. The new model they're employing is called Federated Learning, and it hopes to apply artificial intelligence to Google's services on Android without compromising user privacy.
It's March once again, and while that might signify the beginning of spring for some, basketball fans have this month marked on their calendars for one good reason: NCAA March Madness. Though the tournament is already underway, the Sweet Sixteen leg begins Thursday, March 23, 2017. If you fear you may miss the upcoming games, worry not, as free apps for smartphones and tablets are available to help you watch all the action.
If the recent "state sponsored" Yahoo hack wasn't enough motivation for users to stop using their services, the latest news about Yahoo should be. Joseph Menn, a reporter at Reuters, just revealed that Yahoo created a custom email wiretap service for the US government.
Whether you use Google Calendar, Exchange, iCloud, or any other service, you need a good Android calendar app to keep you organized on the go. For many folks, the obvious answer was always Sunrise Calendar, but Microsoft purchased the company behind this awesome app in a classic acqui-hire move, and now, Sunrise has officially been shut down.
Google Play Music has teamed up with TripAdvisor to make planning your next vacation a little more fun, and they're throwing in a nice deal for good measure.
Facebook just added another feature to Messenger as part of its quest to have their service become an all-encompassing communications app. This feature lets you make free group calls using Messenger's VoIP service, and you can chat with up to 50 people at once.
The highly anticipated VR headset hasn't been on the market long, but there's an issue that has some consumers, and even government officials, concerned about the Oculus Rift. You probably guessed the issue surrounds privacy and the extensive, not-so-secret way that it's collecting your personal data. The privacy concerns came about as various customers and media outlets took notice of the rather lengthy Terms and Services that pop up once you strap yourself into the Rift headset.
Without explicit cooperation between Apple and the US government, authorities could still be monitoring Apple users. According to The Information, Apple is worried the servers it has been using might be bugged. We already know the NSA intercepts equipment to install backdoors, so this is a legitimate concern.
For well over a year, Spotify's most requested feature was to add Chromecast support. While they left the request unanswered, it seemed that Spotify just didn't want anything to do with the $35 streaming stick.
YouTube announced last October some of the original programming it was producing for its YouTube Red subscription service, and the first four originals went live on Wednesday, February 10th.
Brand loyalty is one of the main factors behind our decision to choose a particular mobile device, but it doesn't have to be the entire equation. Educated consumers know that certain devices simply fit their budget and usage better than others, which means you can't always let a logo dictate what kind of phone or tablet you buy.
You want to become anonymous, and dont want your IP to be logged on websites? Well read along here. Continuing This Series:
YouTube, the popular video streaming website owned by Google, announced on October 21st that it will be launching a new subscription service titled "YouTube Red" for $9.99 a month. Under the membership, subscribers will be able to watch videos without ads. Yup, all videos—from music to trailers to gaming and everything in-between—completely ad-free. Additionally, individuals can save videos to watch offline on their mobile devices as well as play videos in the background.
Remember portable MP3 players like the classic iPod? Seems like forever ago that they were all the rage, and I don't think I've seen a real one in the wild for a good 5 years now. These devices died out so quickly as a direct result of the onset of smartphones, which allow us to do everything that an MP3 player could do and then some.
Whether it's delivery drones or getting the U.S. Postal Service to ship packages on Sundays, Amazon continues to remain innovative and ahead of the game, as further evidenced with their mobile app, Amazon Underground.
There is much to be learned about Apple Music and the revamped Music application introduced in iOS 8.4. Throwing their hat into an already competitive field with other companies like Spotify, Tidal, or Rdio, this is a bold move on Apple's part. So, before you consider signing up for the new streaming service, let's take you through all the changes and features you should know about before doing so.
OTW's great Tutorial Hack Like a Pro: How to Save the World from Nuclear Annihilation gives me the inspiration to try this on Win7 sp1.
A landmark bill finally went into action this week that will allow American cellular customers to unlock their smartphones for free. The process of unlocking may vary between mobile service providers, but you can rest assured that you are now entitled, by law, to carrier-unlock your smartphone.
The next time you plan on going on an adventurous road trip, get paid for it! With the the new mobile app called Roadie, from developer Marc Gorlin, you can get paid to go where you're already going.
In the wake of the NSA scandal and celebrity-photo hacks, lots of people scrambled to find more-secure ways to send text messages, share emails, and surf the internet. Known for their incredibly secure data networks, Germany's email services saw a remarkable increase in new users from across the world. Last year, we covered Sicher, a German app that lets you send and receive encrypted self-destructing messages on your smartphone.
When streaming services like Spotify or Pandora compete for customers, the main differentiating factor is the size of their libraries. While these and comparable services usually run somewhere around $10 per month, a completely free alternative may actually have the most expansive library out there.
We recently showed you YouTube's new music streaming service, YouTube Music Key, with it's promise of ad-free music complete with background listening and offline play. Well, if you check your YouTube app, there's a good chance that Google flipped on the service for you. Activate the Service
Back in March, Samsung partnered with Slacker Radio to create a streaming service called Milk Music. For those of us who don't own a Galaxy device, this news was a non-starter, as it was exclusive to Samsung's flagship line of phones and tablets.
In places like underground bars or national parks, your phone's Internet service is sure to slow down to a very sluggish pace, making it difficult to surf the web. Or worst case, data will be non-existent, leaving you with only low-level network support for calls and SMS text messages.
Google's new Inbox by Gmail service offers a new take on email with a particular emphasis on productivity. But, as an invite-only service at this stage, not many people can access Inbox just yet.
A musical hiccup during a DJ's set can completely ruin the mood, and that same feeling can definitely translate to mobile listening as well.
Sharing files has always been one of Android's greatest strengths. A system of "share intents" allow apps to freely exchange data with each other, making it possible to take a picture with your favorite camera app, then send it over to your choice of photo-sharing apps, for instance.
An app can request a wakelock to prevent your Android device from entering sleep mode so that it can sync data in the background. This obviously drains your battery, because instead of running in low-power sleep mode, your processor is fully activated while it performs its tasks.
With GPS chips and Wi-Fi positioning systems, a modern smartphone is capable of tracking its user's location with pinpoint accuracy. This being the case, it's strange that the most common text message sent today is still "Where are you?"
There will always be a time when you're not entirely sure what you're doing with a certain subject. But the days of weighing the pros and cons yourself are coming to an end. Whether it's a common quandary like "Where should we eat?", or a more specific question along the lines of "Should I buy this shirt or not?", you can now simply AskInternets.
It's hard to believe it's already been a year since I was frantically searching every Best Buy in the Los Angeles metropolitan area to find one with a Chromecast in stock.
Google Now is a wonderfully powerful service—with its predictive cards and voice search, it serves as a great starting point for any searches you need done. In fact, Samsung liked it so much that they decided to build the "Okay, Google" hotword detection right into the Galaxy S5's stock launcher.
Owning an Android device is almost like having a PC in your pocket. Android's ability to easily navigate the file system on your phone is one of many features that separate it from the competition. Just plug your phone into a computer, drag the file over, and you're all set.
Gaining major consumer support and the ire of Big Cable, Aereo today announced support for the Chromecast through it's Android app. A revolution for cord-cutters, Aereo lets you record and stream live broadcast TV on your computer, smartphone, tablet, or media streaming player (Apple TV, Roku, and now Chromecast).
The folks behind StumbleUpon have created a video service that is just as awesome at introducing you to new content as their website service is.
Recently, there have been some questions regarding networking popping up and we have decided to put together this series to try and cover this gap.
Many of us were left scratching our heads when the iOS 7 update removed the Twitter and Facebook options from the Notification Center. Allowing you to quickly tweet and post Facebook updates, these were features used, and missed, by many—including me.
Streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Instant Video have been available on game consoles for a while, but if you're in a country where they're blocked, it can be hard to find a way around. There are apps and extensions like Hola Unblocker and Media Hint and that to bypass location restrictions on your computer, but what about your Xbox?
