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Instagram is letting people publicly participate in Stories for the first time
Instagram describes Add Yours stickers as a way for people to create public threads in Stories.
Instagram is now letting almost everyone use link stickers in their Stories
New accounts and those who violate the Community Guidelines will still be locked out, though.
Discord adds stickers to liven up chats
Discord has added sticker packs to spice up chats, although you'll need to pay for at least some of them.
Snapchat Cameos lets you insert your face into a GIF
Snapchat's secret weapon is its uncanny face-swapping and -tracking algorithms, and it has just deployed those to great effect in a new chat feature called Cameos. The feature, which leaked out yesterday, inserts your selfie into short, looping videos featuring cats, shopping carts, cars and more. The idea is to send your pals an expressive GIF, starring... you.
Instagram's latest Stories sticker is a direct link to group chats
Instagram is introducing a new feature that will let users start private group messages around specific Stories. The company announced the change on Twitter today. Users will soon be able to add a "join chat" sticker to their Stories. If followers tap the sticker, they'll be added to a private group chat -- though the author will have the ability to approve or deny requests.
Instagram can turn question stickers into live Q&As
Instagram's question stickers have at least one main problem: you have to be patient while awaiting the answer. Now, however, you might just get some instant gratification. The social network is introducing an option to respond to a question in a Story by going live. This could be most helpful for creatives who want to start an impromptu Q&A (say, a beauty blogger offering makeup tips), but it should also be handy for answering deep questions or anything else where a Story would be too short. Broadcasters can share photos and videos from their camera roll, too.
Google is resurrecting blob emoji again
Fans of Google's now-dead blob emoji have a reason to be happy today. The company announced that it's resurrecting its cute, flatly designed characters, albeit as a sticker pack for Gboard and Android Messages. What's the occasion? Well, it's World Emoji Day, of course. This isn't a direct replacement for the standard circular emoji Google adopted after unceremoniously killing its own version off, but if you're feeling nostalgic for a time before Android O it should do the trick.
Sticker company warns against skinning the Nintendo Switch
Given the portability of the Nintendo Switch, owners may be tempted to personalize theirs. The only problem is that according to dbrand, a company that makes covers for devices like phones and laptops, the system and its controllers don't react well to vinyl wraps. As described in a Reddit post and a series of tweets, the company indicates that it tested a few options with a pre-release console and a retail model, and found that its screen-printed coating has peeling issues.
Twitter's Snapchat-like stickers are now available to all
After announcing its intentions late last month, Twitter has finally jumped on the sticker bandwagon. The company announced it has completed the rollout of its "visual spin on hashtags," allowing you to furnish your photos with strategically-placed emoji and other custom-made cartoons. They're searchable too, just in case you want to see other people's crazy creations.
The future of fitness could be a chest-worn sticker
For the last couple of years, medical science has been working on a way to build health sensors into stickers for better patient monitoring. It looks as if the folks behind AmpStrip might have gotten there first. AmpStrip is a piece of wearable technology that sticks onto your chest (we're told that the ideal location is below your nipple) and monitors your vitals without needing any other of the numerous fitness products we've seen on the market.
Estimote's stickers let you add tiny sensors to just about anything
The problem with the internet of things is that you often have to buy expensive add-ons or replacements to get all those clever sensors; you may not want to buy a bike computer just to track your rides. If Estimote has its way, you won't have to. Its new Sticker beacons let you graft wireless sensors on to nearly any object, giving it location, motion and temperature data that you can check through apps. You can figure out the length of your last bike trip just by slapping a sticker on the frame, or find out when your flowers need watering by using an augmented pot. Estimote even pictures stores using the tags to automatically cue up product info on a nearby screen, so you could find out whether some hot new shoes come in your size just by taking them off the shelf.
StickNFind Bluetooth stickers let you tag and locate your goods with a smartphone (hands-on video)
We've all misplaced keys, gadgets and occasionally even children. Well, no more. StickNFind is a nifty, inexpensive solution for tagging and locating electronics, keys and pets. For roughly $25 a pop (estimated retail), you get a small adhesive disk that can be affixed to any flat surface or attached to a keychain. Inside, there's a replaceable CR2016 watch battery that's said to last more than a year, a Bluetooth module and antenna, an LED-lit ring and a piezoelectric speaker. A free Android or iOS app then lets you hone in on any stickers within a roughly 100-foot (line of sight) range. The current version can only display distance, but an update, set to hit before StickNFind ships, will add direction, leading you directly to your target. You can also activate a (fairly faint) beeper, and an LED ring around the perimeter of the sticker, further helping you to find the device, even in a dark room. The app will offer several other features, including a "Virtual Leash" that alerts you when the sticker goes out of range -- a "Reverse Virtual Leash" will make the device (perhaps attached to your keys) beep, letting you know you've left your smartphone behind. The product designers will also be offering an SDK, so developers can even create their own apps for StickNFind. For example, you could write an app that uses the stickers as triggers -- apparently one museum plans to affix the device to art, so as visitors approach, a text notification will pop up describing the piece. Another company is considering using stickers at an upcoming conference, and with Bluetooth transmitters placed around a venue, they can track the precise location of attendee badges (and the individuals wearing them), and even send "pages" by triggering the beeper and light. During our hands-on, StickNFind worked quite well, though as we mentioned, the current alpha version of the app only displays distance, not direction. The device is currently available for "pre-order" on Indiegogo, with an estimated March ship date. You can snag a sneak peek of it in action though, in our hands-on video after the break.
Austrian city builds public library with nothing but QR codes, NFC and stickers
Strangely, the Austrian city of Klagenfurt doesn't have a public library, even though it hosts the Festival of German-Language Literature. However, an initiative dubbed Project Ingeborg is turning the municipality into a book repository of sorts with 70 QR code and NFC chip-equipped stickers. Plastered throughout town, they direct users to web pages where they can download public domain works, largely from Project Gutenberg. Oftentimes, e-books will be located in relevant locations -- so you'll be sure to find Arthur Schnitzler's The Killer near the police station, for example. Come August, the team behind the effort will partner with local talent to distribute books, music and other digital content too. In an effort to build a stronger bond to the location, the organizers have prevented search engines from indexing the links, so you'll have to visit Klagenfurt to access the curated goods. If you'd like to turn your city into a library, the group hopes to release instructions for replicating their system soon. [Thanks, Michael]
Google Cr-48 Chrome laptop now shipping with stickers, the good kind
How is it that so few companies get it? While dozens of manufacturers will gladly slap an Intel, Microsoft, or NVIDIA advertisement on the palmrest of your brand new laptop, Google knows better than to partake in this annoying practice. Instead, it ships its Cr-48 Chrome laptop as a sticker-free slab of matte black stealth. At least it did. Now, don't worry, Google hasn't succumbed to the temptation to advertise (ironically) -- it's simply bundling this swank skin and a decal set with new Cr-48 shipments. The choice to apply is yours and yours alone, exactly as it should be. See the finished product after the break.
Fling joystick lets you get physical with Super Megaworm on the iPad
You know, some people take gaming very seriously, and there's no doubt that a good portion of them will be picking up this new peripheral from Ten One Design. For $24.95, the Fling tactile game controller promises to enhance some iPad games by overlaying their virtual D-pad with a physical mini joystick. And that's not it -- the funky spiral mechanism also provides resistance to simulate force feedback, meaning your thumb will always know its boundaries. Check out the video demo after the break. %Gallery-112504%
iPhone 4 gets stuck with NFC 'sticker' from Japan's Softbank
One of the lesser known predictions of the Mayan calendar foretells that 2011 will be the year of NFC. The contactless communications stuff looks to be building all kinds of steam in the Western world, but don't lose faith in your current smartphone if it doesn't already have it. Japanese carrier Softbank has responded to complaints about the iPhone 4's NFC deficit -- the FeliCa payment system is pretty popular over in the land of sumo, sushi and sun-rising -- by introducing a new "seal" for the back of Apple's latest and greatest. It sticks on, covering almost the entire rear, but is apparently thin enough not to get in the way of using one of Apple's own Bumpers alongside it. From our reading of the press release, the sticker doesn't actually communicate with the iPhone, it's just a dumb NFC card, but hey, other people don't need to know that when you're swiping payments with your phone, now do they? On sale in February at a price of ¥2,980 ($36).
Coexist laptop decal puts presumptions to bed, demonstrates your tolerance
You've probably seen something similar wrapped around Bono's cranium, but this iteration of the famed Coexist logo is taking on an entirely new meaning. Rather than attempting to get warring factions and crazed arsonists on the same page, Suzie Automatic is simply trying to get the computing world on the same TextEdit document. The Coexist banner laptop decal ($10) obviously works best on Apple machines (aesthetically speaking), but there's a bumper sticker ($7) and t-shirt ($15) for those who wouldn't be caught dead with equipment Designed in Cupertino. But we're preaching tolerance here, remember fanboy? [Thanks, Stig]
Turn your MacBook into the Justice League
We've written about MacBook decals in the past, but I couldn't resist showing this one to you guys and gals (especially the comic book fans out there). Stuff Off Decals is selling a Justice League sticker for MacBooks. The sticker is designed in the Justice League animated series fashion and features (from left to right) Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, The Flash, and Hawkgirl. Superman's "S" symbol lights up when you overlay the sticker on your MacBook's lid. The sticker is made of high quality vinyl and leaves no residue should you decide to remove it. At US$18, it's a little pricey, but for DC comic book lovers, this is a must have! Thanks to TUAW reader John for the tip! UPDATE: The creator of this decal (who had no idea I was going to write about it) just sent me an email. He is offering all TUAW readers 15% off the JLA decal as a thank you to TUAW readers for making his Iron Man decal a best seller after appearing on this site. Just enter "TUAW" on check out (will only work with Google checkout at this time, darn Paypal!) to get your 15% off! Sweet!
Etsy Find: Mmmmmmmm iPhone
Just in time for the weekend, here's an awesome vinyl sticker for the back of your iPhone that has Homer Simpson taking a bite out of your favorite brand's logo. It's made by Etsy user apjam, and while I'm sure it's not quite, you know, ... legal, it is a pretty funny way to play with the logo design back there. If it sprinkles your donut (so to speak), you can pick one up for under US$5 (assuming they go back on sale at some point). I usually like stickers for the back of MacBooks -- they always look pretty good and stay out of the way. But an iPhone sticker? I guess it looks OK, but I toss my iPhone around far too much to leave a sticker untouched back there. I guess if it was held on well and I was careful, it would be alright, but I don't know if the visual gag would be worth all of the scratches and scrapes. Have you put one of these on your iPhone? [via Neatorama]
iPhone 'End Call' sticker is an ironic solution to your reception problem
Not sold on those iPhone Antenna-aid bandages? Fret not, as we've got a whole 'nother round of laughs coming your way. What started as a concept has landed on Etsy as a buyable product: the 'End Call' vinyl sticker. As you'd expect, you simply place this guy over the iPhone 4's "weak spot" and then press it whenever you'd like to conveniently drop whatever call you're on. The only problem? This $4 add-on actually won't accomplish what it says in plain English.
