BlackBerry to discontinue app store on December 31, 2019

Signifying an end of an era and the complete dissolution of the BlackBerry app ecosystem, the BlackBerry app store will close its doors for good on December 31, 2019. This means no access to apps or updates of apps for BB10 devices which, at this point, are only being marginally supported. Even the BlackBerry PRIV is no longer supported (no more updates) which means it can expect to die a slow excruciating update-less death. This is BlackBerry the company washing its hands completely from their mobile devices, which at this point, are just a burden to support.

Now, BlackBerry Mobile, a subsidiary of TCL, is the company that's released the KEYOne and the Motion smartphones and they will continue to create and support those devices. They have nothing to do with the PRIV or earlier handsets but are offering a possible trade-in program to help users transition to newer devices. It's a sad reality but one that has been coming for years for true BlackBerry fans. Many of who have had to sideload Android apps just to try and get by.

Source: Engadget

Firefox Focus adds autocomplete support and more search engine options

Mozilla’s privacy-focused Firefox Focus browser gets some new feature that makes it easier to use and more convenient. One of the new features is the ability to turn on or off autocomplete for typing URLs. The browser can autocomplete for you URLs of over 450 popular sites. But if the site you frequent isn’t part of that list, you can also add and manage custom autocomplete URLs. The app also now lets you add search engines from any site that has a search field. So, for example, you can look up information on site’s like IMDB or whichever one without having to head to IMDB’s site.

Firefox Focus is designed to block ads, social trackers, analytics, and other content trackers, even Web fonts. When you’re done browsing, you can just hit the Erase button on the top right portion of the app for it to clear your browsing history. It’s available on both Android and iOS.

Source: Android Authority

Google hopes to help you out with your travel plans with new app updates

Google is making it easier for you to work out your last-minute travel plans this holiday season with an update coming to its suite of travel-related apps and services. First up is Google Flights. It makes use of its machine learning capabilities to let you know when is the best time to book a flight. When you select where you want to go, you can opt to have the apt let you know things like “price won’t drop further” or “prices are less than normal.” Now, if you want to search hotels, you can get similar information. Google will let you know if a room costs higher or if the surrounding area is busy because of a local event. You can even get the option to receive email alerts for when price fluctuates. Lastly, the Google Trips app, now has a new Discounts section. This’ll show you deals on everything from tickets, attractions, tours, and activities in the areas you plan to visit. The flight and hotel price tracking is rolling out worldwide, while the Discounts tab is coming to Trips app in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, and Spanish.

Source: Android Authority

Quick holiday tips from Waze

‘Tis the season for gift shopping and giving, all kinds of festivities, and traffic, tons of it. Waze has a couple of tips to help you avoid the extra stress the season brings. According to the traffic and navigation app, the busiest time and day for Canadian roads across the country last year was December 22 between three and five in the afternoon. For those in smaller metros like Collingwood, Ontario and Canmore, Alberta, they see a significant rise in traffic this time of the year with double the number of Waze users on the road.

Now, if you want to get yourself in the spirit of the season, Waze and Spotify has some interesting nuggets to share about this. The most requested song unsurprisingly is Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You. But the three other extremely popular tracks are It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas by Michael Bublé, What Child Is This by Lindsey Stirling, and Noel – Live by Chris Tomlin.