Tag: apple

AT&T NumberSync lets one phone number rule all your connected gadgets

We’re encumbered with more connected silicon than ever before, and having to juggling multiple phone numbers for a phone, a smartwatch and a tablet, well, really sucks. To that end, AT&T just announced NumberSync, a free service that links all your other connected AT&T gizmos (think 3G smartwatch or tablets) to your main phone number. Better yet, incoming calls and text messages will get routed to all those devices at once — none of this hokey call-forwarding nonsense. When you add a NumberSync-enabled device to one of AT&T’s Mobile Share plan buckets, you’ll get the option to turn on NumberSync totally free of charge . AT&T SVP Jeff Bradley says the feature will launch later this month with one supported device from a hush-hush phone maker (our money’s on Samsung), with a few more to follow by the time the holidays roll around. Ultimately, the carrier would like to see its full line of connected devices play nice with NumberSync’s sharing tendencies, but that’s a little easier said than done. And for folks like me, who have no less than five phone numbers running at the same time because of review phones, NumberSync doesn’t really help. It’s all about those other, non-phone connected gadgets AT&T wants to sell you. What AT&T’s basically doing here is taking advantage of the network upgrades it developed while rolling out Voice over LTE to kill a growing consumer headache and give their hardware partners a better shot at selling stuff at the same time. Clever clever. But why the slow rollout, especially if most of the heavy lifting is handled on AT&T’s end? Can’t they just flip the switch for everyone at one? I asked Bradley what the deal was, and it’s because NumberSync isn’t a completely one-sided affair — phone makers have to modify software like the dialer and messaging apps to play nice with AT&T’s network modifications. Thankfully, most of this technical legwork *should* be invisible to you and me — enabling NumberSync on a secondary device like a tablet would require one final new step at the end of the normal setup process. “The good part, ” Bradley pointed out, “is they get better [at integration] once they get the first one under their belt.” One of the few good things about the way our domestic wireless carriers work is that they’re totally fine stealing good ideas — it might give the originator ammunition to fire back, but whatever. In the end, it means benefits eventually flow to all consumers instead of just one subset of customers, and AT&T isn’t the only carrier that’s working on a network infrastructure that makes NumberSync possible. AT&T might have the head start on this, but seriously, the rest of you carriers had better get cracking too.

Read More:
AT&T NumberSync lets one phone number rule all your connected gadgets

August unveils a Homekit-enabled lock, keypad and doorbell camera

August Home Inc, makers of the August Smart Lock , announced the forthcoming release of three new products as well as a new service at a press event in San Francisco today. The new product lineup includes a second-generation Smart Lock, a Smart Keypad and a Smart Doorbell Camera. The lock itself offers a number of design improvements over its predecessor including a magnetic faceplate that won’t pop off every time you manually engage the lock as well as a stainless steel indicator on the lock sleeve. Plus, being Homekit-enabled, the new Smart Lock will allow users to issue voice commands through Siri rather than opening the app itself. It’s available for order today and will retail for $230. The older generation locks will be discounted to an even $200. The weather-proofed keypad will make granting temporary access to service providers (say, the delivery guy or your dog walker) much easier. Instead of forcing folks to download the August app just to use a one-time Bluetooth code, users will be able to program a 4 – 6 digit PIN into the keypad themselves and then share the code via text message or what-have-you. And, like the older shared BT codes, these PINs can be set to last for as many hours, days or uses as you’d like. The keypad will retail for $80 when it becomes available in the next few weeks. The Doorbell Cam is also weather-proofed, Wi-Fi enabled and pretty darn clever. It’s equipped with a standard motion detector but will also turn on the camera when it detects movement near the door. So instead of issuing a push notification every time a car drives past your house, the motion detector will also turn on the Wi-Fi camera (which is equipped with human-detection software) to ensure that the movement is actually a person standing on your stoop, not just parking at the curb. The camera will retail for $200. What’s more, the camera integrates with the rest of the August devices allowing you to remotely unlock your door for the delivery guy and record both him entering and exiting the residence. This ensures that he doesn’t swiped stuff from your house while dropping a package in the foyer. Plus, this way, you’ll never miss a delivery. The only drawback is that the camera is powered by your existing doorbell wiring so if you don’t have a doorbell already installed on your door (like me) you are SOL. Finally, August is expanding the scope of its temporary access system to allow services, not just individuals access to your door. “We’re announcing a new service that we call Access, ” August co-founder Jason Johnson told Engadget . “Probably the best way to describe it is, much like, new transportation apps like Uber helps consumers find service providers [in this case, drivers for hire – ed.] are in third party transportation logistics, we’re in third party service logistics. We help consumers find services that have integrated with our platform and we help them connect in a trusted and secure way.” The company announced 12 initial launch partners today including Sears, Postmates, Pro.com, Handy, Fetch, Shyp, BloomNation, Envoy, Rinse, HelloAlfred, Wag!, Pillow, and Doorman. Instead of having to give partial access to a delivery person every single time you order from Postmates, users will be able to grant access to Postmates the company. This may seem like a security issue however it’s not that far off from what many August users already do with trusted service partners like these. Plus, the lock maintains copious logs about who opened which August-locked door with which access code so tracking down the responsible party should your valuable go missing during a delivery will be a piece of cake.

See more here:
August unveils a Homekit-enabled lock, keypad and doorbell camera

This Slick New App Is Like Popcorn Time for Music

Sick of paying for Spotify? Hate how hard it is to use Apple Music ? Then you’re going to love what renegade developer and lover of beer Andrew Simpson has built . It’s called Aurous, and it’s basically Popcorn Time for music . Read more…

See the article here:
This Slick New App Is Like Popcorn Time for Music

Facebook’s ‘On This Day’ feature has controls to filter out sad times

Facebook’s On This Day tool is a nice feature when it recalls good times that may have slipped your mind. It has a tendency to bring up events and people that you might prefer to forget, though, and the social network added preferences to curtail the sadness. On This Day now has controls that’ll let you filter out specific people and dates so the feature doesn’t remind you of those bits of nostalgia you’d rather not revisit. Facebook has come under fire for toying with our emotions and digging up the past before, and there’s already been some criticism of On This Day since it launched in March. By adding preferences, Zuckerberg & Co. are offering a way to keep those bad memories at bay. It’s a nice touch, since you never know exactly when the memory machine will pop up in your News Feed. If you’ve noticed On This Day posts there, the new controls should be available for you to tweak. Via: The Verge

See more here:
Facebook’s ‘On This Day’ feature has controls to filter out sad times

Army’s first shoulder-fired “smart weapon” close to final test

Orbital ATK The XM25 is the Army’s first “smart” shoulder-fired weapon. “It launches 25mm dual-warhead, low velocity, flat trajectory ammunition designed to explode over a target,” as the Army describes it-allowing it to blow things and people up hidden behind cover. 4 more images in gallery Early next year, the US Army will begin acceptance testing of a weapon that seems like it’s straight out of Call of Duty Advanced Warfare:  the XM25 Counter Defilade Engagement System , a “smart” grenade launcher from Orbital Sciences subsidiary Orbital ATK. The XM25 is designed to be an “anti-defilade” weapon-its purpose is to allow soldiers to hit targets shielded by cover. The XM25 has a built-in “target acquisition and fire control system” that allows any soldier with basic rifleman skills to operate it effectively–the soldier points the weapon’s target selector down range, and a laser rangefinder determines how far away it is. The soldier can add additional distance to clear obstacles, and the fire control computer gives the soldier a new aiming point to put the round on target, as well as setting the fusing of the grenade in the chamber. The grenade doesn’t have to strike anything to explode, so it can detonate in the air over whatever or whoever might be hiding behind a vehicle, wall, or entrenchment. The XM25 has been in development since the middle of the last decade. Originally developed by Alliant TechSystems, which was acquired by Orbital Sciences. In 2010, the Army’s PEO Soldier program office sent prototypes of the XM25 to Afghanistan for “forward operational assessment”–use in actual combat to see how it performed. PEO Soldier’s Lt. Colonel Chris Lehner said in a post about the field tests that the “introduction of the XM25 is akin to other revolutionary systems such as the machine gun, the airplane and the tank, all of which changed battlefield tactics. No longer will our Soldiers have to expose themselves by firing and maneuvering to eliminate an enemy behind cover. Our Soldiers can remain covered/protected and use their XM25 to neutralize an enemy in his covered position. This will significantly reduce the risk of U.S. casualties and change the way we fight.” Read 2 remaining paragraphs | Comments

View original post here:
Army’s first shoulder-fired “smart weapon” close to final test

Adobe and Dropbox make it easier to edit PDFs from the cloud

Dropbox got cozy with Microsoft Office back in the spring, offering a way to easily edit files stored in its cloud-based repository. Now, Dropbox is getting friendly with Adobe Document Cloud, too. More specifically, the company is playing nice with Adobe Acrobat DC and Acrobat Reader to serve up quick and easy access to edit PDF documents . Once you connect your Dropbox account with the Adobe apps, you’ll be able to pull in files without leaving the app. What’s more, when you’re browsing files in Dropbox, you’ll have the option to open a PDF in the appropriate Adobe app to edit, e-sign, comment and markup the file as needed. And as you might expect, no matter how you open the document or which device you’re using, everything automatically syncs in Dropbox across desktop and mobile. PDFs are by far the most common file format stored with the could-driven storage service, and now its improving the workflow for power users. The new functionality goes live on the desktop today with iOS integration arriving “in the coming months.” Android users can expect to employ the PDF-editing workflow next year. Slideshow-328120

More here:
Adobe and Dropbox make it easier to edit PDFs from the cloud

All the Stuff iCloud Syncs Besides the Obvious

We all know that iCloud syncs up items like photos, contacts, reminders, calendar events, and iMessage conversations, but chances are you’ve noticed that it also syncs up a few other little things. Finer Things in Tech is putting together a list of those unexpected synced items. Read more…

Read the original post:
All the Stuff iCloud Syncs Besides the Obvious

Saudis halved the death toll in Hajj stampede: true count is 1453

After reporting 700 pilgrims dead in a stampede near the holy city of Mecca two weeks ago , Saudi authorities have come clean with the true number killed after pressure from investigators: 1,453 were killed and hundreds remain missing. Indeed, Shiite Iran in particular has challenged its Sunni arch-rival’s status as the custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites, warning that if diplomacy doesn’t yield an independent investigation, “the Islamic Republic is also prepared to use the language of force.” Nearly one-third of the deaths in the incident were pilgrims from neighboring Iran. Given all of this, it’s not terribly surprising that a more accurate accounting of the tragedy had to come from an outside source. As Ruth Graham noted last month in The Atlantic, Saudi officials weren’t eager to take responsibility: “In Saudi Arabia, the country’s health minister chalked up the latest incident to a failure to follow instructions, and the head of the Central Hajj Committee blamed ‘some pilgrims from African nationalities.’” In the meantime, hundreds of worshipers still remain missing and so the true extent of last month’s disaster is not fully known.

View post:
Saudis halved the death toll in Hajj stampede: true count is 1453

Apple already blocked the first malware for non-jailbroken iPhones

With certain exceptions , most iOS-focused malware targets jailbroken devices whose compromised security makes them easy prey. However, there’s been concerns that a recent strain of malware, YiSpecter , can attack even ‘pure’ devices running stock iOS. Do you have to worry about catching a bug online and losing control over your device? Probably not, if you ask Apple. In a statement to The Loop , the company notes that it not only fixed the vulnerability with iOS 8.4 , but blocked the apps handing out the offending code. The victims downloaded apps from “untrusted sources” (that is, outside of the App Store) Cupertino adds. In short, Apple believes this is a non-issue as long as you install updates and stay cautious — and given that more than half of its users are already running iOS 9, it might be right. Via: AppleInsider Source: The Loop

Continued here:
Apple already blocked the first malware for non-jailbroken iPhones