Timothy J. Seppala

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Stories By Timothy J. Seppala

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    Streaming
    Streaming By Timothy J. Seppala

    Music streaming is fueling vinyl's resurgence

    Streaming has been blamed for killing off the CD, but industry experts agree it's helping bolster the growth and quality of another physical music format: vinyl. Since 2015, streaming income has eclipsed CD sales, and the likes of Apple Music and Spotify have become major players in the music industry. This year the Recording Industry Association of America reported that 75 percent of music revenue in the United States came from streaming services. In the past three years, vinyl sales in the US have steadily risen about $2 million annually.

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    Google
    Google By Timothy J. Seppala

    Google's AR Stickers are now appropriately called Playground

    For the AR fans out there, Google didn't forget about you during its Made by Google event. The newly renamed Playground app (née AR stickers) brings in animated characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and even virtual Donald "Childish Gambino" Glover's dance moves to Pixel cameras.

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    Streaming
    Streaming By Timothy J. Seppala

    Netflix's 'Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' trades kitsch for pentagrams

    Kiernan Shipka might be best known for her work as Sally Draper on Mad Men, but since then she's had a number of roles that should change your perception of her. Now we have an idea of what her take on Sabrina the Teenage Witch looks like in Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Check out the trailer below and you'll see all manner of witches, witchcraft and creatures of the night.

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    TV & Movies
    TV & Movies By Timothy J. Seppala

    'Dance Dance Revolution' is going to the movies

    The world is burning and there's only one way to stop it: through the power of dance. At least that's the premise of the upcoming Dance Dance Revolution movie. Yep, some 20 years later a film studio picked up the rights for the once-wildly popular rhythm game. As for any casting details or who's directing the film, that info isn't available at the moment. Variety reports that publisher Konami is onboard as a production partner.

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    Streaming
    Streaming By Timothy J. Seppala

    YouTube TV adds NBA League Pass for cord-cutting sports fans

    If you're all-in on YouTube TV and want more basketball in the mix, that's an option now. For $40 a month, you can add NBA League Pass to your subscription, or you can pay $249 for the entire 2018-2019 season up front -- as spotted by Cordcutters. This means you'll get every out of market game, commercial-free. Earlier this year, YouTube TV added MLB.tv to its sports streaming lineup, and it launched with the MLB Network and others for watching live games and sporting events. All that to say, the streaming service has slowly become a solid destination for sports fans since arriving early last year.

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    Tomorrow
    Tomorrow By Timothy J. Seppala

    What will Android look like in the next ten years?

    A decade ago, Android launched... to a world of challenges. But back in 2008, Google wasn't worried about artificial intelligence, it was just trying to make a stable mobile operating system. One that stood out in a very crowded playing field. Back then, the competition was Apple, BlackBerry, Nokia/Symbian, Palm and Windows Mobile. By 2009, however, Android's market share was steadily climbing, and by early 2010, sales inched past that of iOS devices (according to Statista). Android's upward trajectory hasn't stopped since. Now, Statista reports 88 percent of all smartphones sold run Google's mobile operating system, with iOS devices making up around 12 percent (based on total sales). What started as an alternative mobile experience for nerds has gone full mainstream. But what does that mean for the future of Android?

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    Cybersecurity
    Cybersecurity By Timothy J. Seppala

    Lockly's smart locks promise better security through algorithms

    Lockly thinks it has what it takes to stand out in the nascent smart lock market. Its latest model, the Secure Plus, uses a 3D fingerprint sensor combined with proprietary algorithm-based passcode tech which, together, supposedly makes the setup "virtually impenetrable," according to the company. The lock is available in deadbolt and latch-style configurations and you can still use a physical key to lock and unlock the door in case of an internet outage.

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    Buying Guides
    Buying Guides By Timothy J. Seppala

    How to buy a turntable

    So you want to start collecting vinyl. Great! Record sales have been steadily climbing, and in March, physical music outsold downloads for the first time in six years. You might've even started buying vinyl already to get in on the action. But given how long the format has been around, picking out a turntable can be as daunting as building a home HiFi system to connect it to. It doesn't have to be. You can spend anywhere from $60 on a Crosley all-in-one at Target to more than $3,000 for an audiophile-grade deck, with plenty of options in between. But what's the difference between a budget turntable and something that costs more than a few months' rent? And do you really need to spend that much? What are the features you shouldn't go without? Let us give you a hand.

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    Wearables
    Wearables By Timothy J. Seppala

    Your phone can wirelessly charge Huawei's new AirPod-like Freepods

    Apple's stumbles with wireless charging could be Huawei's gain. The Chinese tech giant's upcoming Freebuds 2 Pro truly wireless earbuds look an awful lot like Apple's AirPods and in a twist, their battery case can supposedly be charged via the forthcoming Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, according to marketing materials obtained by WinFuture (translated).

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    PlayStation
    PlayStation By Timothy J. Seppala

    PlayStation Now users can download certain PS4 and PS2 games

    The biggest hindrance to Sony's PlayStation Now streaming service is lag. Because the game isn't stored locally, whatever device you're playing on has to send your button mashing back to Sony's servers to process the input and then feed it back to your TV screen. That's changing. PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 2 games remastered for PS4 on the service will be downloadable as well as streamable starting today, according to the PlayStation Blog.

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    Amazon
    Amazon By Timothy J. Seppala

    Amazon's Echo Input offers Alexa for your existing speakers

    The latest gadget Amazon is shoehorning Alexa into is an audio dongle called the Echo Input. The $34.99 media bridge has line inputs, Bluetooth and a far-field mic. Think of it like a combo Chromecast Audio and Google Home Mini, but without the speaker and sold by Amazon versus Google and you've got the basic gist.

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    Amazon
    Amazon By Timothy J. Seppala

    Amazon's Echo Sub adds some much-needed bass to its smart speakers

    The Echo is a fine enough smart speaker, but what it's lacking is any sort of oomph in terms of sound quality. That's why Amazon will release the Echo Sub this October. The diminutive bass-maker features 100W of power, a 6-inch downward firing woofer and will work when paired with either a lone Echo or a pair, for a true 2.1 stereo setup. The stereo pairing feature is brand new, as well. Prior, you could only group separate Echo devices together for multi-room listening. More than that, Amazon is opening up its multi-room API to third parties.

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    PlayStation
    PlayStation By Timothy J. Seppala

    'PUBG' could be en route to PlayStation 4 this year

    Since 2017, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has been exclusive to PC and Xbox. That could be changing. The battle royale game may appear on PlayStation 4 soon if a Korean ratings board slip-up (spotted by Eurogamer) is to be believed. Each time I've spoken with PUBG Corp over the past year, whoever I've talked to said that a PlayStation 4 version wasn't in the cards because the team wanted to get the Xbox version up to par with the PC first. It looks like that time may have come.

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    Gaming
    Gaming By Timothy J. Seppala

    The massive 'Gwent' overhaul comes home October 23rd

    Netflix casting its Geralt for the upcoming show based on The Witcher isn't the only reason fans of the fantasy franchise have to be excited. Developer CD Projekt Red has announced a release date for spin-off digital card-game, Gwent: October 23rd on the DRM-free GOG store. Come the end of next month, the game will finally exit beta (after debuting in June 2016) and when it does, it'll arrive with its revamped single-player campaign, "Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales." The developer has said this narrative will have stronger ties to the Witcher universe than the previous single-player mode.

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    Cybersecurity
    Cybersecurity By Timothy J. Seppala

    State Department email breach leaks employees' personal data

    The latest government data breach affected State Department employee emails. On September 7th, workers were notified that their personally identifiable information was obtained by an unnamed actor, according to a recent report from Politico. It apparently impacted "less than one percent" of employees and direct victims of the breach were alerted at the time. Apparently, this didn't affect classified information, so at least there's that.

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    Streaming
    Streaming By Timothy J. Seppala

    CBS All Access' 'Star Trek: Discovery' is viewable offline with a catch

    We're inching closer to a future where more of our streaming services make their offerings available offline. The latest is CBS All Access, as spotted by TechCrunch. Unfortunately, this feature is exclusive to folks paying for the no-commercials tier. In addition to Star Trek: Discovery you'll also be able to grab a range of TV episodes from the service's catalog including Big Brother and Survivor.

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    Mobile
    Mobile By Timothy J. Seppala

    Walgreens' and Sprint's partnership expands to Chicago and Dallas

    If your options for a new phone are limited by your budget, transportation options or not wanting to sign a contract, an expanded partnership between Sprint and Walgreens could help you out. The pair recently announced that by year's end, between the Chicago and Dallas-Ft. Worth metro areas the there will be some 80 new Sprint Express locations at the corner-store chain. The two promise further details will be announced within the next few months.

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    Accessories
    Accessories By Timothy J. Seppala

    The crowdfunded Moto Mod keyboard is dead

    More than a few companies tried burying bad news during yesterday's Apple keynote. The latest to come to light is a tough blow for fans of physical keyboards: Livermorium announced that it's ending work on its Moto Mod keyboard. In an update on its IndieGogo page, the company writes that it can't scrounge up any interest in selling the accessory, largely due to the Moto Z being "extremely unpopular in most places."

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    Gaming
    Gaming By Timothy J. Seppala

    The 'Assassin's Creed: Odyssey' season pass will take you to Atlantis

    Of course Assassin's Creed: Odyssey will have a season pass. The first add-on pack will drop sometime in December, according to a post on the UbiBlog, with "two major new story arcs told across multiple episodes." Each episode will land six weeks apart from one another, there will be three episodes per arc according to IGN and the full-on second arc will be released sometime next spring.

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    By Timothy J. Seppala

    Snapchat is opening up your shared Stories to media partners

    Snapchat is opening up public, user-submitted videos to the "Our Stories" feature to its media partners. Soon, the likes of CNN and NBC News will pull from public videos to supplement their own stories. Deadline writes that media companies using Snapchat will likely overlay graphics and text to the videos for context. For example, folks attending a late-season baseball game and adding it to the Our Stories for the game could see their footage in a post from ESPN.

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    Apps
    Apps By Timothy J. Seppala

    Grammarly will fix your typos inside Google Docs

    Grammarly, the ultra-useful tool for checking your grammar while you type, is teaming up with Google Docs. The functionality has been in beta for the last month or so for Premium subscribers, and it's "gradually" rolling out to everyone who uses Grammarly for Chrome starting today. That's according to a blog post from the firm. As such, it'll only work if you have said extension installed and are using Google's browser. Curious if you've been granted access? Open up a Google Doc and look in the lower right for the red Grammarly logo.

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    Big Tech
    Big Tech By Timothy J. Seppala

    Google and Samsung partner to take next-gen texting mainstream

    Google is teaming with what's arguably the biggest Android phone maker to help push its new text-messaging standard to the masses. "Working together, Google and Samsung will ensure that our messaging clients, Android Messages and Samsung Messages, work seamlessly with each company's RCS (Rich Communication Services) technology," Google's Sanaz Ahari writes in a blog post. The first evidence of the partnership will be found in Galaxy S8 handsets (including the S8+ and Note 8) and newer devices like the S9 lineup.

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    Apple
    Apple By Timothy J. Seppala

    iOS 12 will fix your notifications September 17th

    iOS 12 will be released September 17th. After spending nearly half of June's WWDC keynote espousing the virtues of Memojis, Photo search and sharing, a half-hearted digital wellness initiative, and so much more, at the tail end of today's keynote Tim Cook announced that it won't be long before you can install the shiny new operating system on your cadre of Cupertino-designed devices. It's said that the software will improve the performance of your older Apple gadgets too (fingers crossed for my iPad Mini 3), with apps getting up to a 200 percent speed boost in launch speed.

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    Gaming
    Gaming By Timothy J. Seppala

    'FIFA 19' demo gives you an early taste of The Journey this week

    It's that time of year again: FIFA demo season. The demo's 2019 installment for, you guessed it FIFA 19, will be released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One September 13th, around two weeks before the full game. The playable teaser features 10 teams total including UEFA Champions League clubs Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

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    Apple
    Apple By Timothy J. Seppala

    Apple's iPhone event will be livestreamed on Twitter, too

    Don't feel like dusting off Safari or Edge tomorrow to watch Apple's next iPhone reveal? Well, for the first time ever, the event will be live-streamed on Twitter. The news first appeared as a sponsored Tweet from the hardware juggernaut yesterday, and TechCrunch confirmed it with the company. Tap the heart button on the tweet embedded below, and Apple promises you'll get updates as they happen.

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    Google
    Google By Timothy J. Seppala

    Alphabet's Loon internet balloons broadcast their strongest signal yet

    Mere months after shedding its "project" moniker, Google's internet-by-balloon moonshot, Loon has hit another milestone. Last month, the tech juggernaut pushed data packets across seven of its balloons at a distance of nearly 1,000 kilometers. Previously, the record was 100 kilometers across two balloons, according to a Medium post from Loon.

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    AI
    AI By Timothy J. Seppala

    Google and Harvard use AI to predict earthquake aftershocks

    Scientists from Harvard and Google have devised a method to predict where earthquake aftershocks may occur, using a trained neural network. The researchers fed the network with historical seismological data, some 131,000 mainshock-aftershock pairs all told, and more accurately predicted where "more than 30,000 mainshock-aftershock pairs" from an independent dataset occurred, more accurately than previous ways like the Coulomb forecast method. That's because the AI method takes multiple aspects of stress shifts into account versus Coulomb's singular approach.

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