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Movies Anywhere is using AI to create lists of the movies you own
The system takes your viewing history into account when generating the lists.
Google Assistant will place Dunkin' Donuts orders, finally
Google just added a handful of voice control features to Google Assistant. You can now manage notes and lists in select third-party apps, ask Assistant to search your photos, search for podcasts by topic and set reminders for the whole family. You can also place Dunkin' Donuts orders -- just what everyone was hoping for.
Twitter will let you pin your favorite lists in its app
The lists feature hasn't received a ton of love from Twitter over the years outside of Tweetdeck, but lists can be extremely useful for organizing accounts by interest or to quickly see the latest tweets from your closest friends. Last month, though, Twitter gave lists a bit more prominence by testing them on the Home tab of its app, and now it's testing an option to quickly switch between tweets about your favorite show or some travel inspiration accounts.
Google Assistant may soon have a web app for lists and notes
Google Assistant might soon have its own list- and note-taking functions instead of leaning on third-party apps. The 9to5Google team has sifted through the Google search app's code to discover an unannounced "Lists and Notes" web app for Assistant that lets you jot down important information to sync across devices. It's extremely basic (you can't do much more than add titles), but there's a degree of polish that suggests it's not just an experiment.
Facebook nixes Friend List Feeds, but Friend Lists live on
Facebook has been culling various features that take it away from its new "back to basics" emphasis on people over brands. It ended its Explore Feed test after it found that not many people liked splitting their news feed. Now the company is getting rid of another type of feed: Friend List Feeds. A message posted to the Facebook app says that the feeds based on your Friends Lists will be unavailable starting today, August 9th. Facebook said it was doing this to "focus on improving your main News Feed experience."
Create and share Google Maps lists on the web from your desktop
This past February, Google made it possible to create lists of your favorite local spots in the Maps mobile app. A little later, the company added a sharing feature so you could send your lists to friends and family from your phone. Now Google is bringing the experience to your computer, as well.
Google brings Foursquare-like favorite lists to Maps
You can now create Spotify-like "playlists" of your favorite local spots on Google Maps that your friends can share and follow. The feature, which Google recently rolled out to Local Guide users, lets you create "Favorites," "Starred Places," "Want to Go" and your own custom lists. The idea is to "start flexing your local knowledge muscles," Google said, and benefit from the inside info of other folks by following their lists.
ArcheAge jumps into Raptr's 10 most-played games in September
ArcheAge is seeing its debut month popularity reflected in Raptr's own tracking, as the digital service saw the MMO rise 25 spots as it transitioned from beta to launch. "Based on current trends, ArcheAge has a good chance of remaining in the top 10 in October," the company predicted. Other MMOs in Raptr's top 20 include World of Warcraft holding strong at #2 as well as Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2, Warframe, and Star Wars: The Old Republic vying for spots #12 through #15.
I'd die without my phone: 5 people whose lives were saved by iPhones
We've all heard someone say "I'd die without my phone." 99 percent of the time what the person means is "Candy Crush and texting is the only thing that gets me through the day", but what about the other 1 percent. No, not the foes of the Occupy movement. We mean the people whose lives have literally been saved through the deus ex machina, or iOS ex machina, in their pocket. They're real, and they're still alive. Here are some of their stories. Dan Woolley Saved from: Injuries sustained during a earthquake On January 12, 2010 a massive 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti 16 miles west of the country's capital, Port-au-Prince. The quake devastated the area, killing over 100,000 people and collapsing hundreds of thousands of buildings. In one of those buildings was Dan Woolley, an aid worker from Colorado. Trapped in his hotel Woolley had injuries to his head and leg, with no sign of help coming. Thankfully he had a first aid app on his iPhone. Using advice from the app Woolley was able to treat his wounds, using his shirt and a sock as bandages to stem the bleeding. When he finally got the bleeding under control Woolley used his phone's camera to take pictures of his surroundings to try and discover a way out. He recounted the story to a NBC affiliate in Miami: "I took pictures all around me, then I would hold up the back of the camera to me and I could see what the picture was of a little," he said. "I was able to find an elevator in one of the pictures and that is where I decided to hobble to be in a more safe location." Xavier Jones Saved from: A stopped heart caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy We've all made impulse purchases in the App Store, but when La Verne Lutheran High School basketball coach Eric Cooper Sr. purchased the Phone Aid app he had no idea it would be the difference between life and death for one of his students. During a team practice the day after Cooper bought the app, 17-year-old Xavier Jones collapsed on the court. Jones heart had stopped due to complications from a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes the heart's muscle tissue to harden due to limited blood flow. Thankfully Coach Cooper had Phone Aid, and using CPR tips from the app he was able to revive Jones and keep him safe until paramedics arrived. While coaches are required to be trained in CPR, Cooper was thankful for the app. In an interview the coach told the L.A. Times, "It was really fresh and clear in my brain. We are trained in CPR, but the iPhone app was a stabilizer for us." An unnamed man in Orange County Saved from: A suicide attempt In 2013 Orange County deputies used the iPhone's "Find My Phone" function to locate a man who was missing and in danger. The unnamed man's wife called the police seeking help for her husband who was missing and possibly suicidal. Due to towers in the area, the police were unable to use their search helicopter to find the man. However there was a technological sliver of hope; the man's iPhone. Utilizing Find My Phone, the police were able to track the man down in just minutes. When they found him at the end of a dirt road he was still alive, but had attempted to take his own life. Thanks to quick thinking and the iPhone's tracking capabilities the man was saved. Tina Josephson Saved from: Heart problems Andrew Josephson was proud of his family. His grandfather was Dr. Daniel Mason, a cardiologist who produced a three-CD set of digitized heart sounds designed to teach medical students how to detect heart problems. The collection contained hundreds of sounds, some of them from incredibly rare heart problems. In 2011 after graduating with a degree in biochemistry from Lehigh University, Josephson was trying to figure out his future. One day he discovered his grandfather's collection of heart sounds on a family bookshelf and was struck with the idea for an app. The app was called "Listening to the Heart" and used the iPhone to record a person's heart beat. It then compared the recording to Dr. Mason's collection and used it to identify possible problems. Since he was new to programing Josephson tested the app on his friends and family. All of his friends produced normal results, but when his mother Tina tried the app her tests always came up abnormal, even after multiple tests. Mrs. Josephson initially ignored the apps results, but during a ski trip she noticed an abnormal shortness of breath. Remembering the iPhone app's results, she went to a cardiologist when she returned home from the trip. The doctor confirmed the app's diagnosis; she had a heart murmur due to mitral valve prolapse and mitral valve regurgitation which would require surgery to fix. Andrew Josephson's app is now available in the App Store for $9.99, and while his mother is proud of her son, she was surprised by the diagnosis. This past February she told ABC News, "The app is something very exciting, though it's not something I wanted to happen to me. I was the daughter of a cardiologist. How could there be anything wrong with my heart?" Staff Sgt. Shaun Frank Saved from: Suicide bomber In 2012 Staff Sgt. Shaun Frank of Utah was serving his second tour of duty in Afghanistan. One day while helping members of his unit overturn a vehicle, a local teenager walked up and detonated a suicide bomb loaded with ball bearings and shrapnel. Frank was injured, receiving wounds to his thumb, fingers, hands, and legs, but narrowly avoided being killed thanks to the iPhone in his left front pants pocket. When Frank arrived back at base for treatment he was told the iPhone had probably saved his life, stopping several ball bearings from injuring the major arteries in his leg. When he got back to the U.S. the Staff Sgt. sent his phone to Apple in hopes it would be covered under "accidental damage insurance." The company replaced his phone, but initially told him they'd have to keep his old one. After a three months, and media coverage, Apple finally agreed to give him back his original phone. So the next time you hear someone arbitrarily whining about how they'd die without their phone remember one simple thing; they may just be right. If they have the right apps or a little good luck having your iPhone might just keep you around to live another day.
6 iPhone accessories you're using that make the rest of us shake our heads
Your friends are really nice people -- so nice, in fact, that they bite their tongues every time they see your iPhone. I know you thought that obnoxious case you bought at a mall kiosk seemed like a great idea at the time, and whatever that is sticking out of your headphone jack seems like it's pretty important, but you should know that the rest of us don't feel the same way. If you're using one of these iPhone "accessories," you should probably consider a replacement. You want to stand out so you bought an iPhone case that's been bedazzled like a 1980s jean jacket. There's no way this thing is comfortable to hold, much less press up against the side of your face, so why put yourself through the pain (and embarrassment) of pretending like this $2.99 purchase was a good idea? Oh, and one of your little "jewels" came unglued and dropped into your coffee cup. You're carrying around a goofy little stylus, hanging from a string, plugged into your headphone jack? What planet are you living on? You know why capacitive touchscreens exist? It's so we don't have to carry these types of things with us. But there you go, doing it anyway, and laughing in the face of the technological progress we've made. Don't worry, we're laughing too. It sure is cuddly, and I bet it was really soft and pleasant when you first bought it, but that was two months ago. Now your little kitty is shedding, and there's no excuse for an iPhone case that somehow makes your clothes dirtier. On top of that, the coffee spill you set your phone on last week have left your furry friend completely filthy. Let this stray go. Are you a security guard or a cop? Is it 1998? No? Then get your phone off of your waist. In fact, scratch that, not even cops or security guards use these anymore. We get it; You're a "princess"... or something. But that's no excuse for dressing your home button up like some kind of creepy fairy. Also, if you're using an accessory at the expense of a functioning Touch ID sensor, you need a lesson in device security. Talk about pointless, who in their right mind would bother to... Ok, you know what? This is pretty amazing. I'm still shaking my head, but only because I know I'm not cool enough to pull this one off. If you're walking around with this in your pocket (or backpack, I guess), I salute you.
Storyboard: Six things people (falsely) believe about roleplaying
Roleplaying is one of those things that you know a lot about if you've done it and very little about if you haven't. That's fine; it's not as if you need to know the fine details of PvP balance if you never PvP. But there are tons of gaping holes in people's conception of what roleplaying actually entails. So what do these people use to fill in the blanks? The horror stories. The nonsense. The garbage. A bunch of things that have no real resemblance to this important portion of our hobby. All you can do to fight ignorance, of course, is provide information. So let's go ahead and look at some of the most common misconceptions I've seen about roleplaying and what the reality is behind the misconceptions. If you already know this, feel free to just pass this around to your non-roleplaying friends and family. Or just nod vigorously all the way through.
The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's best and most disappointing bosses
I don't know if I exactly agree with Naoki Yoshida's stance that Final Fantasy XIV is about group content first and foremost, but darn if the game's group content isn't pretty awesome. I can't remember the last game where I was this happy to queue up and head into a dungeon, even if I didn't have a full group backing me. Which means that I've gotten very familiar with the game's bosses. The best bosses are pretty easy to pick out for me; they're the ones that hit all the right notes in terms of challenge and whatnot. But the expected counterpart is the worst bosses, and... really, there are a lot of factors that can play into the term worst. So, I'm not pointing out the worst as much as I'm pointing out the disappointments. The top five of each, in rough order. Enjoy.
Daily iPhone App: ListBook: A list app with location based reminders and more
NoIdentity's ListBook (US$1.99) is a straightforward list compiler that looks great and has some well-implemented features to help you get on top of all those lists and things to get done. The list maker lets you compile numerous lists and add items (or to-dos / tasks) to those lists. To create a list, add one and give it a title, like "groceries" or "personal," and categorize it by assigning one of 15 images to it, to help differentiate what kind of list it is. Within a list, just pull down to add a new item to that list. This takes you to a detailed view of the item. The first line of text you enter becomes the title of that item. If you add more text on a new line, that appears as a note underneath the title of that item when viewed in its respective list. Items can be assigned or tagged a specific color, to help identify certain items within a list. Items can also have reminders set by date and time as well as location-based reminders, similar to Apple's Reminders app. So when you leave or arrive at a specific location you'll receive a reminder. Recurring reminders can also be set. To complete, check or finish an item, just tap it and it is marked with a tick and becomes slightly faded, or you can set completed items in individual lists to be hidden. There's no way to view all items in one list, but that's not the point of ListBook. ListBook is about making lists, categorizing them and helping you to remember to complete them. Unfortunately there's no cross-platform syncing, which would be nice considering ListBook is a universal app for iPhone and iPad. But if you're looking for a reminders / list app with a bit more flare and power than Apple's Reminders app, but no desire to dive into the depths of pro-organization, then ListBook is worth checking out.
Review: Shopping Pro for iOS
Shopping Pro is a new app from Quinn Genzel, the creator of Packing Pro. Shopping Pro (US$2.99) is what I would call the mother of all shopping list apps. It follows the detailed template of Packing Pro, with the ability to create templates from hundreds of items you might need from the grocery store. The app supports iCloud, so you can sync your shopping lists with your other iOS devices. You can also share list with family and others via email or iTunes sharing. The design can be customized with different color schemes and fonts. There is also a powerful search feature. Getting the app working is a matter of creating basic lists and checking things off as you go. You can input price and have the app generate a sales tax estimate. In testing, I noticed that you can go far beyond the standard grocery list, adding things such as appliances and electronics. My only real knock on the app, and it is a slight one, is the overall look. It reminds me of old DOS screens. That should be easy to fix, and I hope the app will adopt a more modern look and feel to show off its power and flexibility. Shopping Pro requires iOS 5 or later and is universal. The app is optimized for the iPhone 5. %Gallery-176880%
This is the Modem World: Why I don't like lists -- a list
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology. It's both the end of one year and the beginning of another, and that means we're inundated with best-of, worst-of and something-of lists from all of our favorite -- like this one -- tech media outlets. I don't like lists. But lists are useful. I've been guilty of making lists. They're nice ways to organize a year, and they get people talking about why X is No. 1 and Y is way down at the bottom. It brings out our inner fanboy, exposes us to products we wouldn't normally consider and makes for an easy reading experience. Therefore, I present to you a list... about why I don't like best-of product lists.
The Daily Grind: What's one great thing from every MMO you've played?
In my experience, most projects have at least one redeeming factor to it. Maybe it's not enough to carry the rest of the project's bloated corpse of fail, but it's still there. It can be an idea, a character, a story twist, a name, a setting, or something else. Similarly, with MMOs, I believe that there's at least one great thing in each game. Whether you hated it on sight, fell in love with it, grew to dislike it, or have regularly bashed it in your favorite MMO site's comment sections, if you're honest, you should be able to pinpoint that one thing. Today, I propose an interesting exercise. List all of the MMOs that you have played to any decent length (i.e., more than a one-hour trial), and then share with us one great thing from that game. Was it the graphics, the community, a cool gameplay feature, or another aspect entirely? If you're honest -- and push down that sarcasm that's threatening to bubble up -- I bet you can fill out this list completely. Get to it! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Google Knowledge Graph coming to all English-speaking nations tomorrow, adds lists to results
Google launched its contextual and intelligent search service, Knowledge Graph, only a few months ago. Till now, it's been limited in its availability and, while most nations will still be left out, tomorrow it will be coming to all "English-speaking" countries. The ability to discern your intended search goal and present you with relevant information immediately, as opposed to just a page of links, is the next step in search technology and the secret sauce powering the somewhat creepy Google Now in Jelly Bean. The Graph has also received a few enhancements and tweaks, including the ability to answer queries with collections and lists. So, say you're looking for rides in Disney World, a thumbnail of every attraction will appear at the top in a horizontally scrollable list. How much longer till our Spanish, French or Chinese speaking pals can get in on the action? That's anyone's guess. But, if English is the native tongue of your home, then rest assured your flavor of Google has just gotten a little bit smarter.
The Daily Grind: What's on your character's to do list?
There's always something to be doing to advance your character in MMOs, whether it's as grand as epic raiding or as mundane as getting that Litter Bug achievement for cleaning up the in-game park. While some folks simply log in and do whatever their whims dictate, I have a feeling that many of us have elaborate to-do lists that guide our actions. I love doing this with MMOs because it makes me feel like a multitasking genius. Working toward six or seven goals at once generates a tsunami of accomplishment in my soul, and there is nothing quite as satisfying as crossing off tasks from my own list. So what's on your character's to do list today? What goals are you working toward, and how long do you expect them to take? Unleash your inner accountant and show us the details! Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Perfect Ten: Clever ideas
I'm a sucker for a good, clever idea. You know the type: the ideas that make you slap yourself on the forehead and shout, "Why didn't I think of that first?" Or for the less humble of us out there, "Why, I did think of that first! But I got lost on the way to the patent office and I'm pretty sure that someone stole my dream journal to pilfer my genius notions!" While critics point their fingers at the MMO industry and proclaim it a barren wasteland of innovation, there are quite a few awesome -- if small -- ideas that bubble up in MMO and move the genre forward. Maybe they're teeny-tiny baby steps; maybe they're giant hopscotch leaps over the six-spot with the rock in the middle. But these ideas can and have had the power to change how these games are made and played. So this week I'm saluting 10 clever ideas, both large and diminutive, as a reward for a job well done!
Wings Over Atreia: The top 19 ways to get your dungeon crawl on, continued
Ahhh. There's nothing like the feeling of facing down a formidable foe, beating it into submission, then finally conquering it and pulling from its lifeless corpse some rare and valuable treasure to hold above your head as a trophy of your victory. Of course, this feeling cannot be found in the PvP portion of Aion's PvPvE formula; sadly, neither Asmodians nor Elyos drop loot of any kind upon defeat, rare or otherwise (though I have to say adding in the ability to pluck a feather from your vanquished foe would be cool). So that leaves only one way to experience this rush, and that's through the PvE side of the game, and not just any PvE at that: While there is a possibility of valuable drops out in the world, your best chances lie within the instanced dungeons. Dungeons are a great way to get away from the masses and all the accompanying interruptions that come with sharing the world with others, such as KSing, unwanted PvP ambushes, and mob trains pulled by some idiot next to you. Think of it as an Atreian vacation! And Aion has 19 PvE instanced dungeons ready to whisk you away for a brief respite from the world while simultaneously giving you the chance at some great loot and XP. Last week we covered dungeons available to Daevas under level 40 as well as solo instances. Of course, in most cases, Daevas don't remain under 40 forever (or even for long if whole months of double-XP weekends crop up!), so there is a need for more places to scratch that dungeon crawl itch. This time around, Wings Over Atreia focuses on the gamut of choices for those advancing in their levels.
