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Hangouts Gets To Version 11, Video Sending Enabled On Android

July 13, 2016 By Deborah Cobing Leave a Comment

Hangouts is being updated to its 11th version.

Hangouts for Android finally gets the 2-year-old iOS feature.

STATES CHRONICLE – Google’s own messaging apps, Hangouts, will soon be receiving a Play Store update that will let the user send and receive up to one minute of video.

The update will finally enable the feature to Android users. In February 2014, Hangouts for iOS was the first version of the app to add the feature, although it only allowed the recording and sending of videos that were up to ten seconds long.

The app then received an updated which enabled the recording and sending of videos that were up to one minute long, one month later in March.

Google was recently accused of making better versions of its apps for the iOS rather than for its own OS, Android. As a response, it appears that the company will be trying to make amends and bring out updates whenever possible.

Videos on Hangouts for Android, although two years late, will be supporting resolutions of up to 1080p. Videos on Hangouts for iOS currently support resolutions of up to only 360p, although after the latest update can be up to 2 minutes long.

A contrast between quality and quantity is starting to be visible between the two versions, at least until they will all share the same features.

Hangouts Version 11

To send a video to a Hangouts contact, users will have the option of live-recording an up to one-minute-long video with the app or choosing an already existing video from the on-board storage of the device. All video features will be accessible through the button next to the images features button on the chat bar.

With version 11, Hangouts will no longer support the merged view between SMS and conversations with the same contact. Google stated that users found the feature to be confusing and that it did not see much use. The feature has been entirely removed.

Nevertheless, version 11 will let any user present in a group remove another user. This is a big step forward in regards to group moderation on Hangouts, as those features are greatly lacking.

Finally, the patch includes a fix for square cropping of images and for static GIFs.

Hangouts v11 will be rolling out to the Google Play Store in the following days, so if your Android device does not automatically update, the app will be available for manual download soon.

Image Courtesy of Flickr.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Android, Google, Hangouts, iOS, Version 11, Video

Birth Control Pills Can Be Ordered With Apps

June 23, 2016 By Jack M. Robinson Leave a Comment

Birth Control Pill can be bought in the United States via apps or online.

Birth Control Apps give experienced women accessibility and convenience.

STATES CHRONICLE – Birth control medication can be made available to women living in the United States via several smartphone apps. Using an app to get a hold of birth control has both its advantages and its disadvantages. Current statistics indicate that, in some areas of the United States, it is quite the popular option.

Using an app to get birth control offers accessibility and convenience. Firstly, women have more constant access to their smartphones rather than to a doctor. One might not be in close range, requiring both difficult to schedule appointments, as well as a long time to get there.

In addition, the app does not require parental permission for young women who are at the age of 14 or 15. Scheduling a visit to the doctor generally requires having a parent present as well. The apps do not need parental permission. However, on registration, they do require uploading a photo ID to confirm identity as well as filling out a virtual form.

Doctors believe that overall the addition of the app will be beneficial. Nevertheless, they have stressed out the importance of proper research and documentation when picking out the appropriate birth control. None of the current apps on the market have a comprehensive knowledge base integrated.

Women who already have prior experience with taking birth control end up with the most to gain from using the app. Young women or women who have not taken birth control before stand a chance to order or take the medication in an improper manner.

Several of the apps do have various tools which prove to be very useful. The most common option is that of the daily reminder which is a simple notification built into the app. Monthly reminders also exist. In addition, menstrual calendars can help women keep track of their cycles and medications.

Medication ordered from apps is usually procured from pharmacies which are nearby the user’s billing address. It is commonly delivered at an address or can be made available for pick-up. Buying the birth control can also be managed through the app similar to a monthly subscription service. Most apps will charge the user’s credit card for their cost of the birth control and the delivery.

Image Courtesy of Public Domain Pictures.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: Android, Apps, birth control, iOS, lemonaid, pills, Smartphone

WhatsApp Features Document Sharing

March 3, 2016 By Jack M. Robinson Leave a Comment

"WhatsApp sharing files"

Users will be able to share PDFs on WhatsApp

STATES CHRONICLE – WhatsApp, the most popular chat application, has recently celebrated seven years on the market and has announced some changes. They said they will no longer support Nokia and BlackBerry operating systems, focusing more on Android and iOS.

But they will also make new updates to improve user experience like changing the color of the background in chat, share videos and photos from third-party apps or zoom in on videos. The app will also have a new feature for sharing documents.

So as not to get them mixed up with photos or videos, the app will have a new button, separate from the others, which will allow you, once you tap it, to share a document directly in your chat window. Both iOS and Android users can find the bottom in the already existing menu for sharing different files or locations.

In order to be able to use the new feature, users will have to update their app to versions 2.12.14 on iOS and 2.12.453 on Android, respectively. After the update, users should be able to share docs from Dropbox, Google Drive and iCloud Drive.

For now, only PDF files are supported, so it might take a while until we will be able to send MS Office documents or others of the sort. So far, there have been some users who already reported being able to share PDFs and claim that the feature displays a preview of the file as well as its size and number of pages.

This new feature is among the first new “toys” that WhatsApp is planning to launch as part of their endeavor of turning their focus on business, expanding the application to a more serious field, without ending its basic use which is socializing and entertaining.

Over the time, WhatsApp has proved to be very useful as a communication tool, being separated from any social media website and having its own special interface. More and more people use the app, not only because its user-friendly, but also because its free, compared to the traditional SMS which depends on your operator.

All in all, WhatsApp is definitely growing and attracting more and more users as time goes by, as it launches great and practical new feature that could help not only individuals, but businesses as well.

Image source: www.bing.com

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Android, document sharing, file sharing, iOS, update, WhatsApp

iOS Brings Exploding Kittens to Your Phone

January 23, 2016 By Deborah Cobing Leave a Comment

"Snapsot of the Exploding Kittens game"

The Exploding Kittens game broke a couple of records since its release.

STATES CHRONICLE – After the card game had an incredible amount of success, iOS brings Exploding Kittens to your phone. The roaring success of the game was attributed to its likeliness to now famous Cards against Humanity, a game which brings out the worst in people.

iOS brings Exploding Kittens to your phone after the incredible success that the card game had on Kickstarter, being one of the most funded projects that ever emerged from the platform. It seems that the game is breaking record after record being the most funded game, the game with the most individual received funds (219,000 people contributed with almost $8.8 million) and now, at only a day after it was released, the game managed to reach number 1 in the Paid App top.

While Cards against Humanity, with which Exploding Kittens were associated, manages to bring out the worse in people and make them build friendships after realizing the lack of humanity in their peers, Exploding Kitten does the exact same opposite. The Russian Roulette of card games helps you ruin your friendships more than Uno or Monopoly ever managed to.

The basic principle of the game is that the players pull cards one by one until they find an exploding kitten. But things get more complicated because you can defuse the furry danger with sandwiches made out of catnip or belly rubs, and you can also sabotage other players and send an exploding kitten to them.

iOS brings Exploding Kittens to your phone with little changes in the original card game. The developers, Shane Small and Elan Lee partnered with Substantial studio in order to transform the game into a full-functioning app. In order to make the App more appealing for all players, they modified the game a little.

According to Small and Lee, the Exploding Kittens App features some new mechanics, new art, voices and sounds. Also new cards have been added while some were removed. But all in all, the game is still as fun to play on your phone as it is when you play it in the card form with your friends.

What is more remarkable when it comes to the App’s overall success is that the digital version, which costs only $1.99, can only be played with other people that are in the same rooms as yourself. This is due to a combination between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology.

While iOS brings Exploding Kittens to your phone, Android and Blackberry aren’t far away with the development, either.

If you’re not yet convinced of the game’s potential, you can check out how to play Exploding Kittens in the video below.

Image source: http://www.explodingkittens.com/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Android, App, Appla, Cards against Humanity, Exploding Kittens, Games, iOS, iOS new app game

Apple Released iOS 8.0.2 after Complaints of Faulty iOS 8.0.1

September 26, 2014 By Troy Rubenson Leave a Comment

A little while back we share with you the news about Apple’s new iOS 8 launch and today we’re happy to announce that Apple has released iOS 8.0.2 update, after the first update, the iOS 8.0.1 was faulty. It didn’t allow many of the users to make or receive calls and it even locked users out of their phones by disabling TouchID Fingerprint sensor.

Today, Apple has managed to soothe the aching hears of many who were experiencing problems with their phones due to the iOS update that Apple released at the beginning of the week. The previous update, the iOS 8.0.1, turned many of the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones into bricks.

Apple Released iOS 8.0.2

After an intense session of software engineering, Apple released iOS 8.0.2, which is safe and working as it should:

iOS 8.0.2 is now available for users, it fixes an issue that affected iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who downloaded iOS 8.0.1, and includes improvements and bug fixes originally in iOS 8.0.1. We apologize for inconveniencing the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users who were impacted by the bug in iOS 8.0.1.

If you’re curious to know how many iPhones were affected by the faulty software update, you should know that the California-based company places the number at around 40,000 devices. The update was only available for a few hours, which is why only 40,000 people managed to snap it. Apple withdrew it in a matter of hours after releasing it, after the problems were reported.

iTunes doesn’t usually let you downgrade your operating system, but Apple created an workaround to allow people to downgrade to iOS 8, so that their phones could work.

Were you affected by the faulty operating system? Are you happy that Apple released iOS 8.0.2? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Apple, iOS, iPhone, technology

Facebook Will Fix a Security Issue in its iOS App

August 27, 2014 By Georgia Dawson Leave a Comment

A while back we wrote about Facebook cookies and ads preference and today it’s time we took a look at what Facebook’s been doing in terms of security. It appears that Facebook will fix a security issue in its iOS app, and will release an update to the application. The app will feature an update which is hoping to fix a flaw in the programming that allows the apps to make phone calls without the knowledge or consent of the user.

This bug has caused serious outrage among Facebook iOS app users and the promise that Facebook will fix the security issue has somehow calmed people a bit, but the threat is still there. Actually, Android has caused similar concern by adding to the terms and conditions of downloading the Facebook messenger app a stipulation that allows making changes without your permission. This statement is suspicious and its umbrella term meaning could open to door for hackers or even apps to gain access to your smartphone without you knowing.

Until recently, only Android was thought to have such a risk, but this week, Andrei Neculaesei, a Copenhagen-based developer, discovered a bug in the programming of the Facebook iOS app, that could allow expensive calls be made by your phone without your permission or even knowledge.

Facebook Will Fix Security Issue

Andrei Neculaesei revealed this on his personal blog  and explained that your iPhone could be hijacked when you click on a web link. After this reveal, Facebook announced that it is already in the works for developing an update that will surely address the security threat. A release date for the update has not yet been made available.

What are you to do until Facebook fixes the security issue in its iOS app? Delete the app? Not really, but what you should do from now on is carefully read the fine print before agreeing to anything installing on your computer or smartphone. Any program or app that requests access to your phone’s data, such as contacts and mails, should be treated with extra caution.

Has your iPhone ever been hacked or has it ever called someone you didn’t want to call? Do you always read the terms and conditions before installing an app? Do you think that this is just the beginning of issues for smartphone apps? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below, we would love to hear from you!

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Apple, Facebook, iOS, technology

FaceSnap for iOS Takes Selfies to Another Level

May 9, 2014 By Jack M. Robinson Leave a Comment

FaceSnapAh, the famous selfie! The word of the year, the Oscar made – famous hobby, the pride and glory of all Internet users from all walks of life, perhaps the most appraised, mocked and common activity of people having a phone in their hand. Taking selfies is more than a practice, it became a cultural “thing” that invaded our lives and it looks like it is here to stay for quite some time.

Enter FaceSnap for iOS, a new app that allows iPhone users to take selfies with a lot less effort than reaching out their arms, focus on a posture, get the angle right, tap the camera button and still manage to look decent. What is this amazing app, you might ask yourselves? Simply put? The FaceSnap for iOS

is a photo timer for your smartphone. It takes a series of selfies in successive bursts, pausing a few seconds between each take to let you decide on a pose. That way you can spend less time focusing on pulling the trigger and more time mugging for the camera.

A timer for the phone camera? Don’t we already have some of those on several of our Samsung models and the HTC One? Well, you’ll be surprised to find out that the large majority of standard iOS and Android powered cell phones actually don’t feature a timer for their high – end cameras. What is quite surprising about this app is that it took developers quite some time before coming up with a simple solution for introducing a timer. Following this trail of thought, the selfie aficionados should also know that the app is available for $0.99 and that FaceSnap is more than a timer.

It also encompasses two other features powered up by a room – scanning technology that goes by the name of Galileo. If the simple “timer” allows you to snap 3 pictures in a row of your beautiful face and pose, the Party Camera option scans the room you’re in and snaps a series of five consecutive pictures when it detects a face. The second Galileo powered feature, called Room Surveillance, will snap a single picture of a face it recognizes after randomly surveying the space around you. Now if you think these features are a bit creepy, you are not the first to notice that the app may allow people to engage in nefarious activities. Just as Alyssa Bereznak says,

Depending on whose hands this falls into, these tools could be awesome or creepy: awesome because they’re a great way to capture candid images of your friends at a party or crowded room; creepy because the ability to discreetly hold your iPhone up, scan a room for faces, and take photos could be abused by stalkers and weirdos in public places.

But before you get a bit paranoid, let’s just have some fun with the FaceSnap for iOS and take those brilliant selfies we always dreamed of! If you want to know more about the FaceSnap’s user guidelines, you have here a very detailed explanation.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Apps, cameras, FaceSnap, iOS, iphone apps

Hulu Plus Remote Control Revealed

May 1, 2014 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

hulu plus remote controlGreat news for Hulu fans. Hulu just announced their Hulu Plus remote control for Android and IOS devices with which you can control streaming media playing on game consoles. In order to use it you need to first install the Hulu Plus app on your iPhone, iPad or any android devices, then launch the app; this will automatically detect the console if it’s on an logged into the same Hulu Plus account. Then you will see a cast button appear on your mobile device that will let you pair the remote with your console.

One of the coolest benefits of the Hulu Plus remote control is that you can use your mobile device to search and view TV shows, videos and other awesome stuff offered by Hulu without having to interrupt the viewing of another stream on the TV. If you want to watch a different media you just have to cast it from you remote control device and start watching the show on your TV. It’s that simple.

One of the Hulu representatives said that the Hulu Plus remote control app has all the controls- like the pause button, resume, 10 second rewind and seek- that were found on Hulu Plus. He also said that if the user wants to switch from the Hulu Plus content  from a smartphone to a console TV, one can do it simply by pressing a button.

Hulu is working on more remote control functions and will add them to the Hulu Plus app. Hulu senior development Mitch Walker wrote that the new remote control app “expand[s] on the great Chromecast support we successfully launched last year. “[R]emote control functionality for Hulu Plus brings that same awesome experience to your living room through the Hulu Plus app on your Xbox One, PlayStation 3, or PlayStation 4 systems.”

Hulu Plus Remote Control – makes everything easier

With the new remote control app is easier to relax on your couch and just enjoy the Hulu experience, especially since they sealed a deal with NBC earlier this month and Amazon announced that they plan to add Hulu Plus to their Fire TV voice search. So the future for Hulu fans is brighter than ever.

What are your thoughts on the new Hulu Plus remote control? Are you a Hulu user or do you prefer other streaming services? We would love to hear your opinion on this topic. You can share it with us in the comment section below.

 

 

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Amazon, Android, fire tv, hulu, hulu plus, hulu plus remote control, iOS, iPad, iPhone

Facefeed and the Future of Selfies

March 18, 2014 By Georgia Dawson Leave a Comment

facefeed-appWhile “selfie” was the word of the last year and the practice of filling up your friends’ social networks feeds with your duck face photos has become very popular and even more so since the famous Oscar selfie, some people are quite bothered to be virtually bombarded with other peoples’ selfies.

Facefeed is a relatively new IOS app developed by Ben Cera, the creator of the Context app, who now intends to offer people a neat way of sharing friendly photos and messages to their friends. The Facefeed app uses the same principles of Facebook or Instagram feeds, but it’s the holy grail of selfie lovers and addicts. One of the most highlighted features of this new app is that it isn’t associated with any social media account and it doesn’t require the user to build up a profile. Taking a selfie and sharing it with the world is enough to make friends, and if people like what they see, they can send back messages and you can add them to your friends’ list.

The issue of “clean” visual content and the necessary safety when sharing such content have been thoroughly discussed. In the virtual world we live in, the risks of bumping into (or being harassed with) unwanted or unsavory pictures is pretty great, but according to those testing the app, it seems so far to be risk free. According to Ben Cera, the app still needs to be further enhanced so the user can send only previously – filtered NSFW content.

How does Facefeed work exactly?

It is pretty simple, actually: download the app, introduce your name and press Enter, select a gender (only male and female so far), choose who do you want to send selfies to (it has an option of only men / only women – although Cera specifically dismissed any relationship between Facefeed and the world of online hook-ups and dating) and start using it by taking a selfie first. The photos won’t store in your phone and you won’t be able to preview or edit them, so everything is just a fun, easy, natural way to skip boredom while you’re playing with your phone.

Is Facefeed going to be a hit?

It probably will, or so does Ben Cera hopes, as it allows users to share moments of their lives with a friendly bunch and make some new friends. There is also a ranking system and you can see the most appreciated selfie – sharers. On the bright side, the app is easy to use and since it is not anyway connected to your personal data, you can share selfies with the whole world. On the dark side, just because nobody asks who people are and with a NSFW content filering system still in progress, make sure you block any weirdo that takes the selfie concept too far.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Apple, iOS

Windows Tablet Sales to Increase Though its Still Tough Task Ahead

December 6, 2013 By Troy Rubenson Leave a Comment

The latest IDC report covering tablet usage pattern or their sale mentions about the good future that beholds Windows tablets compared to the dismal state it is in right now. The report predicts a 10.2 percent market share to be held by Windows tablets by 2017, which can be considered to be a little over three times than the 3 percent market share that it is expected to reach by end 2013. However, even with the enhanced growth rate, Windows is not expected to pose any serious threat to either Android or iOS even four years from now. Android tablets that are projected to have 60.8 percent market share this year is expected to see its sphere of influence drop slightly to 58.8 percent by 2017. Apple iOS is projected to face an even steeper decline of its market share by that time, from a projection 35 percent this year to 30.6 percent by 2017.

Windows_Tablet

Tom Mainelli, the research director at IDC theorizes that Microsoft is following a very aggressive marketing process that includes price and number of units being pushed into the market. However, he feels that it is the Windows operating system itself along with its not-so-developed ecosystem of apps and other content that is acting as retarders to the otherwise rapid ingress of the Windows tablets in the market.

In his opinion the creation of one single OS for both desktop and tablet was not a wise decision as it has led to confusion amongst customers. People, he feels, do not want the complications that the desktop environment has on their tablet. There are also the different flavors of Window that is RT for ARM processor based devices and the Windows 8 for those devices sporting the Intel x86 processors that is further adding to the confusion in the mind of the consumer.  Even developers for building application on these OS have their share of woes which does not auger well for the overall presence of the OS and the device that sports this OS.

Another aspect is different vendors offering Windows tablets is another bit of confusion in the whole package. While Microsoft, Mainelli, feels have not yet had one single big hit in any of its tablet products, they have also ventured into the multifunctional contraptions where the tablet turns into a laptop or vice versa. All of this has only added to their woes.

Only good and innovative marketing strategies he feels can make any change in the current dismal scenario that Microsoft faces in the tablet sector.

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: Android, Apple, iOS, Tablet, Windows

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