Entries by Nicole Batac (11985)

Sunday
Dec172017

Google updates Project Jacquard app to have the jacket’s tag light up as well as find your phone

You might have heard of the Levi’s Commuter Trucker Jacket, the first wearable jacket that integrates Google’s Project Jacquard touch-gesture function. The accompanying app gets its first update since the jacket went on sale late in September and adds a few new useful features. One of the new ones is new light modes for the tag on the sleeve. Called Illuminate, it has three new modes. One is called Shine, which turns the tag into a flashlight; another is called Blink, which, as its name suggests, makes the light blink so you’re more visible to drivers and other people while in the dark; and last is called Strobe, which as Google describes turns the tag into a “multicolored party light.” On top of that, the jacket now comes with a Find Your Phone capability. Simply assign a gesture for that and it’ll ring your phone for up to 30 seconds at maximum volume even if it’s on silent. The app has also been updated to add support for major music services to let you control them from the jacket’s sleeve.

Source: Android Police

Saturday
Dec162017

Canadian Reviewer Weekly Roundup 12/10-12/16

Saturday
Dec162017

Google is killing off Project Tango by March 2018

Google has always been unafraid to experiment on new, out-there ideas but the company isn’t afraid to kill off ideas when it looks like it isn’t working. The latest one to hit the chopping block is the company’s augmented reality program called Project Tango. It’s getting killed off pretty soon, too. According to the company, it’ll be killing off the program by March next year. This is going to be bad news for early adopters who bought phones like the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro and ASUS ZenFone AR but the idea isn’t fully dead.

The tech giant is concentrating on the software side of AR with ARcore, which seems to be a trend in the industry. Apple itself has ARkit, a software solution that managed to turn iOS into the biggest AR platform out there. ARcore will also be able to work on different devices without the need for expensive hardware so if Google develops this idea further, we might see it across Android. The latest implementation can be seen in AR Stickers available on the Pixel devices.

Source: GSMArena

Saturday
Dec162017

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