Android
AR Stickers Come to the Pixel 2
The Pixel's AR Stickers are the most fun you can have with a camera | Android Central:
AR Stickers aren't a separate camera app on your Pixel. Instead, it lives right inside the Google Camera app. You access it just like you would Portrait Mode, by tapping the Menu button on the
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An Android User Falls in Love with the Taptic Engine
Android to iPhone, part two: What I've liked about switching to the iPhone X:
Apple’s Taptic Engine doesn’t just buzz - it clicks, it taps, it knocks. And it can do so with an incredible range of intensities and precision. If I had to analogize, it’s sort of like having used
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The OnePlus 5T Can't Currently Stream HD videos
Your shiny new OnePlus 5T can't stream HD videos | Android Central:
In order to stream videos in HD from the likes of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Video, etc., phones need to support something called Widevine Level 1 DRM. As some users on OnePlus's forums have noted, the 5T only supports Widevine Level
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Apple Throttling iPhones with Degraded Batteries?
Apple's Alleged Throttling of Older iPhones With Degraded Batteries Causes Controversy - Mac Rumors:
A Reddit post over the weekend has drawn a flurry of interest after an iPhone 6s owner reported that a battery replacement significantly increased the device's performance running iOS 11. The ensuing discussion thread, also picked up by
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Apple Watch Expected to Grow by 20-30% in 2018
Apple Watch 3 shipment growth to benefit Taiwan IC packagers in 2018 - DigiTimes:
Shipments of Apple Watch 3 are expected to surge 20% on year to reach 23-25 million units in the coming year, which will greatly benefit Taiwan players in the supply, particularly backend packaging and testing service providers, according industry sources.
As
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Google Assistant lets you sync smart devices with your voice
Google Assistant adds command for syncing smart home devices - Android Police:
You can now say "sync my devices" to Google Assistant (on your phone, Google Home, etc) to refresh all of your smart home services. For example, if you have Philips Hue lights and WeMo outlets, Google will pull the full list of
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Homebridge: HomeKit support for the impatient
Homebridge: HomeKit support for the impatient:
Homebridge is a lightweight NodeJS server you can run on your home network that emulates the iOS HomeKit API. It supports Plugins, which are community-contributed modules that provide a basic bridge from HomeKit to various 3rd-party APIs provided by manufacturers of "smart home" devices.
I
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Portrait Mode's True Value
https://twitter.com/carreteronacho/status/939215505205886976
Some people will look at the above tweet and say "that's beautiful" and others will look at it and just scream "it looks so fake!" I think it looks pretty darn good, even if it's imperfect and you would certainly get
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Why I can’t dismiss smart speakers as just a mirage
Neil Cybart writing at Above Avalon:
Wearables contain a much more attractive long-term value proposition than stationary smart speakers that have to be connected to a wall outlet. In addition, the presence of a screen provides even more value as it has become very clear that voice-first or voice-only interfaces just aren&
ipad
Computers, iPads, and other computers
An interesting take by Matthias Breuer on what we call a “computer” these days:
[W]hat makes a device a “real computer” is not its day-to-day versatility. It is the ability to write your own apps and even extend, modify or replace the underlying operating system on the device itself - which requires a
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RSS Still has a Place
David Sparks on why he still uses RSS:
As social networks took off, a lot of my friends that were previously big RSS fans gave up on the technology and instead relied upon sources like Twitter and Facebook to get their news.
…and then…
That only works if you go into Twitter much more frequently
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Trying to understand the hype around Google’s Pixel Buds
I have been a happy AirPods customer since January of this year. I’ve never plugged in a pair of wired headphones since I’ve gotten them, and the mere thought of using a wired connection seems downright archaic at this point. I’ve owned Bluetooth headphones and enjoyed them before, but AirPods felt like
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Austin Mann’s iPhone 8 Plus Review
Austin Mann has done another amazing review of the newest iPhone’s camera:
While the iPhone 8 Plus looks essentially the same as the phone we’ve had since the 6 Plus, there are some new features in the 8 Plus which really impact creative pros across the board — most notably Portrait Lighting, along with
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AMP-ing up search traffic?
Ethan Marcotte on AMP:
Rather, those companies use AMP to ensure their articles appear in the carousel that appears on Google’s search results, a carousel that only displays content published with AMP’s proprietary format—which then, in turn, drives more traffic to publishers’ content. (At least, theoretically.)
This may be true for some
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The future of Microsoft Office for Mac is just fine
There has been some worry in the Apple community about the future of Office on the Mac since Microsoft announced that Office 2011 will no longer work on High Sierra. I think David Sparks nails it though:
I think a more likely explanation for the lack of support for Office 2011 in High Sierra is
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My favorite tech buys from 2017
I haven’t done something like this in a long time, but I thought it would be fin to look back on some of my favorite tech purchases from 2017. Not that it matters, but I loosely sorted these by joy they’ve brought me this year.
AirPods
My review.
These have been totally worth
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What do we expect from a fast Android phone?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJOWBUsEFfk
I generally find the above channel to be quite obnoxious1, but this speed comparison between the iPhone 7 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was fascinating. This is your classic phone speed test where they run through app launch speed, startup times, ram management, and benchmarks, and as