This summer the TC team took a brief trip to Shenzhen, where I met Wells Tu, whose company TimeKettle has made an earpiece that translates spoken Chinese to English and vice versa in near real time. Having created a functioning prototype (it isn’t vaporware; we tried it, as you can see above) he and the team are now heading to Kickstarter to raise the money for their first run of the… Read More
After months and months of beta, iOS 11 is finally here — and it’s a huge update. In particular, Apple has tucked away many little features that you won’t see right away. If you want to impress all your friends with your mad iOS skills, here is a list of some of these features. I also wrote a short and sweet review of iOS 10 if you want to learn more about all the changes… Read More
After reading back the preview I wrote back in June, the dominant tone was that iOS 11 is so different that it takes a while to get used to it: I’m not going to lie to you. It takes time to get used to those new gestures. I’m not there yet, and I often find myself thinking about what I’m supposed to do to pull up Spotlight, look at my Today widgets and find an app that I… Read More
We’ve previously shown that building a smart home can be done on a tight budget and still make a huge difference in your day-to-day lifestyle. And while cost is sometimes a major factor in smart home decisions, there is another issue: installation time. While we’d all love to have a handyman on call or to come home to a ready-built smart home, that’s definitely not the case for most of us. Since there are so many different types of devices on the market, you could spend a large chunk of time installing and getting each device ready to go in...
Read the full article: 10 Smart Home Products You Can Install in 10 Minutes or Less
iOS 11 brings the third major iteration of Apple’s shortcut feature known as Control Center. We first saw it appear with iOS 7, and it was refreshed just last year. In iOS 11, Apple is going back to single page design for the Control Center, based on expandable widgets and customizable controls. That means that things that were muscle memory for the past couple of years are in a completely different place. If you’re wondering how to disable AirDrop, enable Night Shift, or change AirPlay output for the song you’re listening, read our guide below. New Expandable Widgets The new...
Read the full article: How to Use iOS 11’s Customizable Control Center on iPhone and iPad
Patreon upgrades content creation from a passion to a profession by paying artists 95% of subscription payments from fans instead of 55% of skimpy ad revenue like Facebook and YouTube. Now Patreon itself is getting paid with today’s official announcement of the big series C funding round TechCrunch broke news of last week. Patreon has raised $60 million led by Chris Paik at Thrive… Read More
Facebook Messenger has a ton of features most people barely use, or are perhaps not even aware of. One of the most impressive of these are “bots.” Bots are pieces of software that automate specific tasks. For a while now, developers have been able to create bots for Messenger, and there are thousands of them out there. Most bots simply act as a customer service advisor, pointing you to the department you need to get hold of, or sending you to a specific help page. But others are way more interesting. We’ve recommended a few of these before in this...
Read the full article: 12 Amazing Facebook Messenger Bots You Can Chat With
Google Cloud announced two updates this morning to its Natural Language API. Specifically users will now have access to content classification and entity sentiment analysis. These features are particularly valuable for brands and media companies For starters, GCP users will now be able to tag content as corresponding with common topics like health, entertainment and law (cc: Henry).… Read More
Google’s search app for iOS is today introducing a feature that will keep users browsing the web, instead of exiting back to their homescreen to use other mobile application. The app is being updated to include a “related content” section that will appear at the bottom of the web pages you visit while using the Google app. That is, if you search for a topic on Google, then tap… Read More
Are you privacy-conscious? How troubled are you by corporate invasions of privacy? You may not be too worried about having your rights infringed. You might be very concerned by the fact you’re being tracked. It actually doesn’t matter too much, because a lot of the things we take for granted can also be used against us. Here’s how you’re being exploited right now. 1. Social Media Tracking Facebook boasts some 1.9 billion users, of which 1.28 billion use it every single day. Twitter pales in comparison, and yet still has a considerable 328 million monthly users. Instagram has swiftly overtaken...
Read the full article: 5 Ways Your Information Is Being Exploited Every Day
Hinge is launching a way for people in relationships to get in on the dating app craze alongside their single friends. No, not like that! The company today is introducing a new, standalone app called Hinge Matchmaker that will allow people to see which of their friends are on Hinge, and then make recommendations by suggesting potential matches. According to Hinge founder Justin McLeod, the new… Read More
Arduino is one of the best geeky hobbies you can learn because it involves a little bit of everything: circuits, coding, do-it-yourself, problem solving, creativity, etc. But even if you have no experience with any of that, you should still learn Arduino — even if just the basics. But what is Arduino? Why such a weird name? What can you do with it? Is it a good match for you? And if so, what’s the best way to get started? We cover all of that, and more, in this article. 1. What Is Arduino? In technical terms, an Arduino is...
Read the full article: 10 Things You Always Wanted to Know About Arduino
Our verdict of the Pinebook 64 :Despite the dodgy keyboard, this is a great budget Linux laptop, ideal for most online activities and word processing. It should suit students and entry-level developers, too.710 We're giving away a Pinebook 64 . Keep reading to find out how to win!Looking for a new laptop, but on a ultra low budget? Planning to do some school work, or just need a lightweight, portable computer? You probably already know that Linux is the cheapest option. But can you get a Linux laptop? Well, yes you can. Usually these are Intel or AMD-based, with 64-bit...
Read the full article: The Pinebook 64 is a $100 Laptop That Isn’t Actually Terrible (Review and Giveaway)
It’s that time of year again! A brand new iPhone has been revealed, and a brand new version of Apple’s mobile operating system is ready for public consumption. Despite the focus on brand new hardware this time round, there are still plenty of exciting features in iOS 11 to unpack and enjoy. That’s true whether you’ve got an old iPhone, iPad, or even the recent iPod Touch. So, here’s what to expect, how to get it, and a few things you might want to consider before hitting the update button. Why Should I Care? Every year Apple releases a new update for iOS devices. This year marks the arrival of iOS...
Read the full article: iOS 11 Out Now: How to Download & Install it on iPhone & iPad
Gmail offers a terrific feature for creating custom email signatures. And what makes it even better is that you can make and use a different one for each connected email account. Taking a few minutes to do this for your various addresses can save you time in the long run and provide consistency for your recipients too. Set Up Additional Email Addresses Obviously, you will need to connect your other email accounts to Gmail in order to use the signatures there. If you are new to this, you can send emails from addresses or aliases you own. This includes Yahoo,...
Read the full article: How to Set Up Custom Gmail Signatures for All Your Email Accounts
This is a camera review. There are a number of updates that should appeal in the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, but the one question most upgraders are going to be asking is how good is the camera? The camera system in the iPhone is becoming the central focus of its technological advancements. And it’s not just about pictures anymore. With augmented reality and computer vision emerging as… Read More
There are plenty of great podcasts in plenty of interesting categories: history, tech, comedy, gaming, etc. Unfortunately, many of these podcasts simply aren’t suitable for listening to when your kids are around. One podcast app makes it easier to find podcasts that your children can listen to. And it’s not like these podcasts are boring — they’ll pique your interest as an adult too. Leela Kids, available as an iOS and Android app, targets kids from ages three to 18. You can browse podcasts by age group and category. The current categories include bedtime stories, stories, music, animals, dinosaurs, space, TED, and even...
Read the full article: Where to Find Kid-Friendly Podcasts You Can Listen to Together
Android Oreo is available now for select devices and brings some incremental but noticeable changes. One of these is a new persistent notification that lets you know when apps are running in the background. In theory, it’s useful. Apps running wild in the background are one of the biggest causes of Android battery drain, so it makes sense that you’d want to know about them. However, many people hate having a notification permanently glued to their tray, and would prefer to disable it. While you can’t just turn off this notification normally, thanks to clever developers you can still hide it....
Read the full article: How to Hide Android Oreo’s “Running in the Background” Notifications
Before you hit the update button to grab iOS 11 it’s worth checking which apps you’ll be consigning to the digital dustbin of history. All old 32-bit apps are incompatible which means a lot of content is going to reach the end of the road here… Read More
On Tuesday, iOS 11 will arrive on iPhones and iPads around the world. If you upgrade, you’ll be able to enjoy augmented reality, even more editing and adjustment options in the Photos and Camera apps, an improved Siri, and an all-new redesigned App Store (though, a word of warning, some apps might not work). However, not everyone will be able to enjoy iOS 11 at the same time. While Americans will be able to download the software in the mid/late morning, people in Europe, Asia, and Oceania will have to wait until later in their respective days. Some places will...
Read the full article: Here’s When iOS 11 Will be Available in Your City
