Category Archives: siri

SiriusXM internet radio coming to Ford’s SYNC AppLink, complete with in-dash controls

Posted on June 19, 2013 by admin

Ford said a while back that it wanted more applications with support for voice control inside its vehicles, and slowly but surely the company’s getting what it wished for. Just as Spotify did a few months ago, SiriusXM is now introducing its own app for the SYNC AppLink ecosystem, giving drivers access to the internet radio service right from their Ford’s in-dash system. This also includes features like voice commands and steering wheel controls, as well as access to SiriusXM On Demand and MySXM. As part of the deal with the Satellite Radio company, the American car maker announced that customers purchasing one of those SYNC AppLink-ready autos will get a six-month subscription to the All Access Package — which is usually $199 per year and has more than 160 channels to choose from. Filed under: Transportation , Software Comments Source: SiriusXM Continue reading →

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Daily Update for June 19, 2013

Posted on June 19, 2013 by admin

It’s the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You’ll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what’s happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today’s Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here . No Flash? Click here to listen . Subscribe via RSS Daily Update for June 19, 2013 originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Source  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments Continue reading →

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Apple updates Siri to help those considering suicide to get help

Posted on June 19, 2013 by admin

GigaOM noticed that Apple quietly released an update to Siri that offers to put a user in contact with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, should he or she mention suicide. Should the person decline the offer, Siri then brings up area suicide prevention centers in a second attempt to provide resources. As GigaOM notes, Google has had this search since 2010. Apple noted in its customer privacy statement on Tuesday that among the most common requests from law enforcement are ones from police hoping to prevent suicide. There’s a lot of useful and even more silly ways to take advantage of Siri, but having a proactive response to a serious issue is a wonderful thing to have in the program. Apple updates Siri to help those considering suicide to get help originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Source  |  Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments Continue reading →

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AT&T Finally Rolling Out FaceTime Over Cellular To All Customers

Posted on June 18, 2013 by admin

If you’ve been waiting to use FaceTime over cellular on AT&T, first of all, that sucks dude, you’ve been waiting like 2 and a half years! Second of all, you finally can! AT&T has begun to roll out the feature to all of its customers, with users in a number of states from California to New York having reported that they can now use the feature through their phones’ data plans. AT&T announced back in May that it would be rolling out the feature to all of its customers in mid-June and it seems like the company has delivered on that promise. A number of states are reporting to have received the new feature, with customers stating that audio calls and video calls are as good quality as they are on wifi, which suggests that AT&T isn’t throttling people’s speeds while using the feature. AT&T first began letting users access FaceTime over cellular back in September 2012, however, the company only opened the feature to those with LTE devices. (ie: iPhone 5, iPad 4, iPad mini) Then this past January, the company opened it up further to all customers that were on tiered data plans, even if they weren’t on an LTE device. This whole time, however, customers on non-LTE devices with unlimited plans haven’t been able to use FaceTime over cellular. AT&T is now finally opening up access to these users. How it took AT&T this long to open up access to these users is crazy, especially when the number of people that would take advantage of it would likely be minimal. Long story short: cell phone companies. Continue reading →

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Jony Ive Gets A New Minimalist Job Title

Posted on June 18, 2013 by admin

During the great Apple executive shakeup of 2012, Jony Ive found himself with more responsibilities, having been put in charge of design for both software and hardware. No longer was Ive primarily concerned with Apple’s hardware design, but he now also played a big role into the design of things like the recently unveiled iOS 7. To fit with Ive’s new responsibilities, it seems as though Apple has finally updated his job title on the company’s website. While it was previously Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, it has now been changed to simply Senior Vice President, Design, a fitting change for someone who just brought a number of minimalist design changes to iOS. Jony Ive will now stare you to death. Continue reading →

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Lower-Cost iPhone Case Appears, Features Thicker Profile And Curved Edges

Posted on June 18, 2013 by admin

With WWDC out of the way, we can all turn our attention to the new hardware Apple is expected to release in the fall. With the iPhone 5S rumored to be pretty much the same as the iPhone 5, except of course a faster processor and hopefully some fancy new fingerprint technology, the lower-cost iPhone is getting most of our attention. As with all new devices before they launch, an Asian casemaker, MGM Corporation , has released a new case for what it expects the budget iPhone will look like. A nice little video shows all the different angles of the case, and someone even slips in and iPhone 5 to really demonstrate the what size of phone the case is intended for. The case is about 2 mm thicker than the iPhone 5 and features rounded corners, instead of the iPhone 5′s much more squared shape. It’s practically tradition for case makers to bet on what the next iDevice will look like, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re always accurate. While this case could very well prove to be a perfect fit for the still-rumored budget iPhone, it could also just easily be a terrible fit for it. Image Credit: MGM Corporation Continue reading →

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Sphero: The iPhone Controlled Robot-Ball

Posted on June 18, 2013 by admin

Last year, Orbotix unveiled the innovative iPhone/Android controlled robot ball. It was not only meant for children; it was meant for people of all ages. Anyone could have fun with it. The opaque ball, slightly larger than the average tennis ball, is made of a durable poly-carbonate shell. The Sphero itself is waterproof, and even has a feature for swimming. Underneath the poly-carbonate shell lives the robot, a motor built with a multi-axis gyro and an accelerometer. The Ball The Lithium polymer battery is able to be recharged by an inductive, wireless charger. This is one of my favorite features of the Sphero. The ball is able to display over a million colors; you have control over them and their brightness. Connected to an iOS/Android device via Bluetooth, the Sphero has a range of 15 meters. The Sphero has a battery life of approximately 1 hour, which can be quite frustrating. What does “he” do? Orbotix refers to the Sphero as “he”, and I am sure you will understand what they mean when you play with “him.” Not only does the Sphero just roll around with a virtual joystick, it also has a large variety of games from the App Store. Currently there are 20 apps made exclusively for the Sphero, most of which are free. Developers, you can have fun with this ball as well. How? orbBasic, an app for the Sphero, allows developers to fiddle around with the internals of the toy; you can program it! With Sphero Macrolab, another free app available via the App Store, you can customize commands for the Sphero as well!   Games The Sphero is all about fun, from playing golf to playing arcade games to playing family games. There is a large variety of games made for the Sphero; one of my personal favorites is ColorGrab, a game perfect for a family. Color Grab is a fun family game for the Sphero. The objective of ColorGrab is to pick up the Sphero when it flashes the color on your turn. The difficulty can be set to Easy, Normal, and Difficult. Performance The Sphero is quite simple to use with on screen controls and tips. Calibrating the ball can be quite an annoyance. To calibrate the ball, you need to make the blue tail light face your direction by holding to fingers on the screen and rotating them until the light is aimed towards you. One annoyance that I still can’t get over is the sound the Sphero makes inside the shell, it is quite loud. Pros The Sphero is very easy to use and set up. It has tons of features for a robot ball, and there is many apps that you can download/purchase to make the experience more fun. The waterproof functionality is one of my favorites, because I can wash the Sphero if it ever falls in mud and such. The inductive charging is very convenient, and the bright lights make the Sphero beautiful at night. Cons The Sphero is fun to use, but for me, I really got bored of just rolling it around after an hour or two. The colorgrab adds to the fun factor, but only when you have someone around to play with. I mainly use the Sphero as a show-off toy to little kids. I make babies chase it, and let my dog fetch it. The short battery life is a bummer, you can only use it for up to one hour. The worst of all is the hefty price tag on the Sphero. This thing will set you back $99.00. Continue reading →

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Paper App Raises $15 Million To Expand Software, Service, And Hardware

Posted on June 18, 2013 by admin

Fifty-Three , the team behind the hugely successful iPad app Paper , has managed to raise a whopping $15 million to expand its services . Today, Fifty-Three has revealed a group of investors that it hopes will bring about a new era for the Paper app, with plans to not only expand its software, but develop hardware as well. Fifty-Three is made up of a group of creators from an assortment of different companies, including Xbox, Courier, Sonos, Google and others. Last year the company released Paper, which went on to win numerous industry awards and was named App of the Year by Apple in 2012. Paper has been downloaded more than 8 million times by creators all around the world and 80 million projects have been created with the app. With that, the company is looking to the future of Paper and bringing it to the next level. This not only includes expanding to an entire suite of software and services but turning to creating hardware as well. The team didn’t elaborate on just what kind of hardware it has in mind though. “We’ve been focused on iPad there, but the next part we’re working on is services that will start to answer the question of how people work together and collaborate,” co-founder and CEO Georg Petschnigg said. But, like Fifty-Three said, “big ideas need big partners.” The company welcomed Chris Dixon and the Andreessen Horowitz team, as well as Highline Ventures, Thrive Capital, SV Angels, Jack Dorsey, and others to help build “the essential suite of mobile tools for creativity.” The Andreessen Horowitz team has worked with big names, like GitHub, Pinterest, and Instagram. With an all star-team like that, it’ll definitely be interesting to see what Paper comes out with in the future. Image Credit: TechFever Network Continue reading →

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Siri Now Offers More Help When Suicide References Are Made

Posted on June 18, 2013 by admin

Thanks to a new update, Siri will now offer a more helpful response when suicide references are made. Before now, Siri would provide users with the contact information for the suicide prevention hotline. Now Siri will actually offer to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the user just needs to hit yes to be connected. This change is seen in both iOS 6 and the upcoming iOS 7. Hopefully this will change will be able to prevent potential suicides in the future. Over one million people die by suicide every year worldwide with the global suicide rate at 16 per 100,000 population. In the past 45 years, global suicide rates have increased by 60% and, on average, one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds somewhere in the world. Image Credit: 9to5Mac Continue reading →

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Here comes the sun – New Yorkers to get free solar power charging stations

Posted on June 18, 2013 by admin

A partnership between AT&T and city authorities will provide New Yorkers with 25 solar-powered phone charging stations to top up their phones and tablets, reports the  New York Times . Starting Tuesday, 25 solar-powered charging stations will sprout in parks, beaches and other outdoor spaces in the five boroughs, part of a pilot project from the wireless provider in partnership with the city. The stations — 12.5-foot steel poles with three petal-shaped solar panels fanning out on top — can accommodate up to six devices at a time regardless of wireless carrier, with dedicated ports for iPhones, Androids, BlackBerrys and standard USB charging cables. The technology itself is made by Goal Zero, who make a range of portable power products , both solar and battery. The roll-out is a pilot scheme, so we may see more solar charging stations to come. I can’t imagine you’d want to walk away leaving your device there, but if you’re low on power and urgently need to get something done, your local park could be the place to do it. The real boon may, however, be in emergencies: the idea was sparked by Hurricane Sandy, when AT&T supplied mobile generators and cell towers to areas with limited power. Continue reading →

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