Apple to offer free coding workshops in Retail Stores

Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering: “Coding is just like any language, the earlier you’re exposed the more successful you’ll be."

Apple today opened registration for Hour of Code workshops at all 487 Apple retail stores worldwide, from December 5 through 11 in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. Among the most popular events at the Apple Store, Hour of Code workshops teach the basics of computer science with Code.org’s programming tutorials. Apple and Code.org share the goal of giving every student the opportunity to learn computer science.

“Hour of Code embodies our vision for Apple stores as a place for the community to gather, learn and be entertained,” said Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail. “We’re proud to introduce the Swift Playgrounds app into the workshops and honoured to again work side-by-side with Code.org on this incredibly important initiative. Hour of Code is one of the absolute highlights of the year for both our teams and the families that visit our stores.” 

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You can now use Skype without an account

Microsoft is making it easier for you to talk to the friend of yours who has been begging you to get on Skype. The app now lets you quickly chat or make voice or video calls without needing a Skype account. Just head to Skype.com (you need to use a web browser on a computer) and select start a conversation and add your name to sign-in and use the app as a guest. You’ll then get be given a unique conversation link you can share with a person or a group. Once they click that link, they’ll be able to join immediately. They can even join as guest if they’re using Skype for Web.

Guests have access to all the features free Skype accounts have, such as screen sharing and file sharing. Group chats are also made available to you. These conversations will be available for 24 hours and if you need to maintain access to the log, you’ll need to sign up for a free account.

Twitter adds profile QR codes, like those for Snapchat

Twitter seems to be testing out a new feature we’ve seen on another social network: profile QR codes. Snapchat has done this for user profiles to make it easier to add people. Twitter seems to have taken the same lead but makes it a bit more difficult to use. Android Police’s Corbin Davenport seems to have received the update for this feature but it hasn’t shown up in our own apps just yet.

To find your profile’s QR code, you’ll need to do a bit of digging around. Head to your profile and tap on the overflow menu at the top right, you should see the QR Code option there. You have the option to save the image to your gallery or send it to another app. You can also select the QR scanner button to scan someone else’s code. Doing so will show you their account profile and a follow button. You can also select an image from your local photos to scan.

Watch over your pet with the Furbo pet camera

You can’t be with your pet all the time so for those instances you need either a pet sitter or technology on your side. Furbo is a pet camera that does more than just show you a live feed of your pets. The app allow for two-way chat and video so your pet can also see you and listen to them respond to you. The camera can take photos and videos of your beloved pets and share these with loved ones. The HD camera even has night vision so you can see what your pet is up to in the dark. Furbo can even dispense treats and let you play fetch with your dog. If your pet suddenly makes noise, the pet camera can also send you “barking alerts” through notifications.