Entries by Nicole Batac (11809)

Thursday
Dec262013

SimpleNeat streamlines photo album creation and sharing

You and your loved ones have a ton of photos from the holidays that would be a shame not to share. However, instead of creating different albums, SimpleNeat will help you collate everything in one place. You can create an album, invite other people to add their photos, and then share it with anyone. You don’t even have to sign up to create an album and share the link.

But if you want to save the album links, you must sign up for the service. It has a Free, Event, and Pro account tiers that increase the length of time you can download the full-size images for free (after specified time, it will be $0.99 per photo). 

Thursday
Dec262013

LG to let you chat with your smart home appliances with Line

LG has announced a collaboration with messaging service Line to allow smart home appliance users to chat with the company’s upcoming models. The Korean tech company calls it a Natural Language Processing feature and it integrates LG’s HomeChat service with Line to let users send commands to compatible appliances.

It currently only works in Korean and English and will let you message the next-gen LG refrigerator, washing machine, HOM-BOT SQUARE vacuum cleaner, and smart oven. You can send messages like “I’m going on vacation” and your appliance will reply, “Should I convert to vacation mode?” And when you affirm this, it will turn your ref’s power saving mode on; have your vacuum cleaner sweep the floors at a specified time; and even set the washing machine’s spin cycle.

Thursday
Dec262013

Facebook updates Windows Phone app to add start screen notifications


Facebook has updated its beta app for Windows Phone to add a few new features. The social network added a second Live Tile to let you pin events, groups, chats, and the like on your home screen. Meanwhile, the primary tile can display updates from your friends directly on the start screen. If you use messaging feature on the app, you also now get stickers and emoticons to bug or amuse your friends with.

Wednesday
Dec252013

Sony releases Android 4.3 Jelly Bean to more Xperia devices

Following the recent Android Jelly Bean update for the Xperia Z Ultra and Z1, Sony is rolling out the 4.3 version of its OS to the Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia Z, ZL, and ZR. These four devices will be gaining access to the OS updates features as well as the Smart Social Camera from Sony. There will also be a new suite of Sony-made apps for these Xperia users, including MyXperia, Messaging, Small apps, TrackID, Sony Select, and Smart Connect.