Monthly Archives: September 2015

Apple TV: What Features Should It Have?

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Over the past 25 years, I have personally used no less than 25 DMAs (digital media adapters) of some sort of electronics connected to or inside my TVs. I have used 10 of the 25 in the last five years as the experience, content and technology is slowly but surely improving. The first 15 years were a painful journey, to say the least. The recent ones I’ve used in my home were the Apple TV (all gens), Microsoft Xbox One, NVIDIA Shield, HTPCs (home theater PC), Roku, Boxee, WD TV, Google TV, and Logitech Revue to name just a few.  Therefore, in addition to being professionally inquisitive on what the next Apple TV could or should look like, but personally, as well.
First off, the latest and greatest streamer to beat on the NVIDIA Shield console. Its 4K, can play nearly every major provider’s content, plays games well, has a fast and fluid UI, offers upgradable storage, and has a killer , voice-enabled remote and game controller with private listening capability.  I wrote about the NVIDIA  Shield here and here.

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3-D Printing Glass From The Mediated Matter Research Group At MIT Media Lab

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To make a great pizza, you need an oven temperature around 700 degrees Fahrenheit. To melt thermoplastics, like most of today’s fused filament 3-D printers, you want just over 220 degrees Fahrenheit. To melt glass, you need about three times that, over 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit (1165 degrees Celsius), roughly. The MIT Media Lab, with its Mediated Matter Research Group, has been doing more than a little tinkering to create the world’s first Glass 3-D printer.

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Sony Xperia Z5 Premium teardown reveals a dual heat pipe

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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 chipset has quite a reputation for loving to overheat. On the other hand, it is that chip maker’s current top of the line offering, so some smartphone makers are seeing themselves in a situation where they have to use it for their flagships.

Case in point: Sony. The Xperia Z5 Premium goes with the Snapdragon 810, because to pair a 4K touchscreen with anything less simply wouldn’t have made sense. But what about the heat? Well, it looks like Sony has found a solution.

The image you see above is said to show a disassembled Xperia Z5 Premium, a unit which has been put through a teardown. And sitting pretty in the upper side of the phone we see a dual heat pipe, undoubtedly put there to take care of the S810’s proper ventilation. Furthermore, Sony has applied a lot of thermal paste onto the innards of the Z5 Premium, in order to make things even less prone to overheating.

So in theory we should get cooler behavior from the S810 chip inside the Z5 Premium. However, just how efficient this system turns out to be in real-life use is something that remains to be seen.

Source (in Chinese) |…

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Top 10 Android app updates this week: feedly, Greenify

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Welcome back to our weekly Top 10 Android App Updates column, where we take a look at the most frequently upgraded apps for the week. We’ve found that one of the best ways to discover useful apps is to find the ones that are actually being updated by the developers rather than selecting the apps with the most installs. As in the past, we’re going to filter out minor updates for the super-popular apps that have over 10 million installs, but we’ll make exceptions for apps that have had significant updates. We hope you enjoy this weekly feature and that you discover some apps that end up being useful.

LastPass Password Manager – Version 3.5.20

LastPass

What’s new in this version:

  • New: Start on your phone or tablet for free! (see http://ift.tt/1zuGAHe for details)
  • New: Support fingerprint readers on Android 6.0
  • New: Support the new Android 6.0 permissions model
  • Fixed problem with in-app purchase when trial has expired.
  • Fixed input method not allowing autofill. (Requires disabling and re-enabling from LastPass)
(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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feedly – Version 29.0.0

feedly

What’s new in this version:

  • [NEW] Chrome Custom Tab integration
  • [NEW] Shared collections
  • [FIXES] Bug preventing the creation of new collections
(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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DO Button by IFTTT – Version 2.0.4

DO Button by IFTTT

What’s new in this version:

  • New Channels include: Adafruit, Amazon Cloud Drive, Camio, dondeEsta Family, iSecurity+, Wattio, Wolfram Data Drop
  • A few wrinkles were ironed out
(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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HERE Maps – Version 1.1.1031

HERE Maps

What’s new in this version:

  • You can now see public transport information for Switzerland, Ottawa (Canada), Brest (France), Charleston and Sioux Falls (USA)
  • Long tap anywhere on the map to start drive guidance, get directions or share a location
  • See all the stops along your route when taking public transport
(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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Greenify – Version 2.7.0

Greenify

What’s new in this version:

  • *NEW* Experimental support for Android 6.0, with new “Shallow Hibernation” engine.
  • Auto-hibernation in non-root mode now dims the screen, no more annoying screen flicking.
  • “Hibernate and Lock Screen” shortcut is now compatible with Smart Lock (root only).
  • Foreground app no longer hibernates even if “state always ignored”.
  • Native processes are also cleaned in hibernation, to prevent self-awakening.
  • Fixed app running state detection on Android 5.1.1_r9 & 6.0.
(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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GoPro App – Version 2.9.1551

GoPro App

What’s new in this version:

  • Create 5, 15 or 30-second clips from videos while they’re still on your camera and share them to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and more!
  • Improved camera software update process
(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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SmartThings Mobile – Version 6.0.0

SmartThings Mobile

What’s new in this version:

  • New visual design: redesigned to provide a more impactful experience
  • Global navigation: easily navigate throughout the app
  • Rooms: organize your devices in rooms
  • Primary device: set a primary device in a room
  • Rich controls: enhanced controls with a new visual design
  • Routines: automate your home
(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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Google Keep – Version 3.2.0

Google Keep

What’s new in this version:

  • Revamped experience for setting location reminders
  • Bug fixes and performance improvements
(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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Zoe – Version 2.0.0

Zoe

What’s new in this version:

  • Create highlight videos locally on your phone without uploading.
  • Maximum length increased from 30 seconds to 3 minutes.
  • Include as many clips as you like within the 3 minute time limit.
  • Smart Trim. Toggling smart trim on/off enables video clips to be trimmed (3-5 seconds each) or to play in their entirety within the Zoe.
  • Login to download your existing Zoes from the cloud.
(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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Maps – Version 9.1.4

Maps

What’s new in this version:

  •  Easily compare ETAs across driving, transit, walking & biking
  • Find the best places to eat & drink around you, with curated recommendations in San Francisco, New York & London
  • New Google Maps logo
  • Bug fixes
(Playboard) | (Play Store)

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