Toshiba recalls over 100,000 batteries that are melting its laptops

If you're an owner of a Toshiba laptop, you might want to check your machine. The Japanese electronics company is recalling over 100,000 computers sold in Canada and the United States because some of the lithium-ion Panasonic battery packs are said to be prone to overheating, which could result in spark fires and put you at risk. These batteries were sold with 39 models of the Toshiba Portege, Satellite, and Tecra laptops. If the battery pack number seen in the image above matches yours, click this link for a step-by-step instruction on how to remove the battery. Affected units start with G71C. You can get a free replacement battery from here. And yes, you can keep using it if the laptop stays plugged into the wall, but really, get it replaced first. 

Source: Gizmodo 

BMW's new app aims to be your personal assistant in the car

BMW's new app, Connected, is set to become your ultimate personal assistant while on the road. Its features are centered around navigation but it also wants you to stay on top of other aspects in your life. This iOS app can show you things like estimated travel times based on current traffic conditions, send you directions to your destination and even send "last mile" guidance from your parking spot to your destination. It can also pull locations from your calendar and have that appear in the app.  

Connected is powered by Microsoft's cloud-based Azure platform and it is designed to get smarter the more you use it, with capabilities of predicting your next destination based on your habits and it can even reroute you based on current traffic conditions and warnings. Other features include the ability to remotely lock and unlock your car, turn the lights on and off, start your car's ventilation, and even sound the horn. 

Source: Mashable 

Gmail wants you to drop the mic on overbearing email threads

It's almost that time of the year and one of those "we wish these were actually features" introduced to our favorite services. This year's April Fool's prank by the Gmail team is called the Mic Drop feature. It's basically a tool you want to use when you want to eject yourself from a long-winded email thread. To use it, simply press the Send + Mic Drop button and an accompanying GIF will show that you are done with this conversation and will not have anymore of it. You might not be speaking with these people in the future but at least your inbox is quieter for it. 

Source: Gmail Blog 

WhatsApp beta introduces Quick Reply

Using beta builds of apps can sometimes not be as rewarding an experience as you'd hope but sometimes it might be worth its bugs. The latest update for WhatsApp beta brings with it a similar Quick Reply option to what Google Plans to do with Android N. Although, it is a bit more like what Line and Facebook Messenger does with a small window showing up. If you want to answer a message. You hit the Reply button and a pop-up window will let you either type in your answer or use the speech input to dictate your response. If you click on the View button, though, that will take you to the thread within the app.

Aside from introducing Quick Reply, WhatsApp has fixed its chat and contact selection to make it similar with how you do selections within Gmail. When you tap on a profile icon or chat group, you can tap more and that will start the multiple item selection process, which lets you select both single and group chats together. The options that will appear after this will vary depending on the type of content you selected. The app also brings with its solid color backgrounds for those who prefer a cleaner background over the somewhat busy WhatsApp wallpapers.

Source: Cult of Android