mobile
Latest
An app claims mindfulness, not calorie-counting, can help me lose weight
It's a brand-new year, and just like many people, one of my resolutions is to lose weight. But instead of just cycling on a bike or going on a juice cleanse, I'm checking in on an app for about 10 minutes a day. The app is called Noom, and so far, surprisingly, it's been helpful. This isn't due to some secret diet or a crazy workout regimen. Instead of focusing on your body, Noom's weight-loss strategy centers around something far more important: your mind.
Microsoft's mobile Edge browser begins issuing fake news warnings
Microsoft's Edge mobile browser has started flagging fake news sites as part of its latest update for iOS and Android. Previously only available as a desktop plug-in, the feature is powered by news rating company NewsGuard -- which makes a point of using journalists, not algorithms, to identify "unreliable" websites. Its eponymous fake news extension is also available for Chrome, Firefox and Safari.
Meizu made a smartphone without any ports
Some phonemakers followed Apple's lead and got rid of the headphone jack, but Meizu has gone above and beyond that. The company has announced a new phone called "Zero," which doesn't have a headphone jack, a charging port and a speaker grill. It doesn't even come with a SIM card slot and buttons you'd usually see on a phone -- the only elements that disturb the surface of its all-display, 7.8mm-thick ceramic unibody are its 12MP and 20MP rear cameras and two pinholes. One is a microphone, while the other is for hard resets.
The Morning After: A better foldable phone?
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. This morning, we're looking at an impressive take on a "foldable" phone and counting Netflix's Academy Award nominations. Plus, there's a date for The Expanse on Amazon Prime, and Fender has a guitar that blurs the line between acoustic and electric.
Instagram denies that it's limiting the reach of posts
Over the past few months, you might have seen Instagram posts claiming that the platform has only been showing your photos to seven percent of your followers. Turns out it's just some weird copypasta, which became big enough for the company to address. In an official statement posted on Twitter, Instagram has clarified that it hasn't made any changes to its algorithm recently and that it never hides users' posts. If you scroll down far enough, you will come across everyone's photos -- it's just that you might have a hard time seeing some friends' posts if you don't interact with them regularly and you're following tons of people.
Xiaomi's flexible phone concept folds on both sides
Xiaomi truly is working on a foldable phone, company president and co-founder Lin Bin has confirmed in a teaser he posted on Weibo. In the video, you'll see the executive using a tablet-sized gadget -- until he folds its sides and uses it like you would any phone. Its UI even automatically resizes itself to occupy just the middle part of the screen, so you won't have to flip the device to look at the folded parts of the display.
LG's MWC teaser hints at phones with more touchless gestures
Besides the potential of foldable/expandable devices and 5G, what else can we expect to see at Mobile World Congress next month? According to LG's invite to its Premiere event on February 24th, we'll say "Goodbye Touch." The video clip shows a hand summoning and dismissing text with a simple wave, similar to things we've seen from tech like Samsung's Air Gesture that arrived in the Galaxy S4. Presumably LG's implementation will be far more advanced than what we experienced back in 2013, but we'll have to wait and see.
Wood block connects you to coffee shop WiFi with a tap
It's not very fun to connect to WiFi at a café or hotel. If you don't have to ask staff for a password, they'll have to print it somewhere -- and it's still a hassle when all you want to do is check your email. Ten One Design thinks it might have a friction-free answer. It's releasing the Wifi Porter, an unassuming wood block that connects your handset to the local network with a tap. NFC-equipped Android phones and 2018 iPhones (the iPhone XS and XR) just have get near the block to get a connection prompt, with no app or password required. If your device doesn't have those luxuries, you can still connect using a QR code on the bottom.
Apple fixes a host of bugs for iOS, Apple Watch and HomePod
Don't look now, but you'll have a lot of updating to do if you live deep in the Apple ecosystem. Apple has released updates that tackle a host of issues for iOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS and HomePod. For iPhone and iPad users, iOS 12.1.3 mostly addresses specific but annoying bugs. It'll prevent photos from displaying artifacts when you send them from a share sheet, prevent some CarPlay systems from disconnecting from newer iPhones and solve audio distortion if you use external audio input devices with the latest iPad Pro. It likewise addresses a problem scrolling through images in Messages while looking at the Details view.
Spotify's mobile app lets you block artists you can't stand
Spotify has introduced a new feature that will let users block music from artists they no longer want to hear. A "Don't play this artist" feature appeared in the latest version of the Spotify app for iOS and Android, as first spotted by Thurrot. The company hasn't made any mention of it and no details are included in the most recent update notes. Engadget reached out to Spotify for more details and will update this post if we hear back.
Share your latest Netflix binge on Instagram Stories
We've all had that moment when we've just watched a great show or movie and simply have to tell everyone about it. If you're eager to show your friends why Marie Kondo has changed your life or urge them to check out a documentary about the disastrous Fyre Festival, you'll be pleased to know you can share Netflix titles directly to your Instagram Stories.
iRig Micro Amp delivers classic guitar tones with your phone
IK Multimedia is making it easier to bring a mini music studio on the road, especially if you have a newer iPhone. It just introduced an iRig Micro Amp that produces 15W while touting a USB interface, giving you a reasonably powerful yet portable amplifier with tone processing on iOS devices, Macs and PCs of all stripes. You don't need a headphone jack here, folks. It's larger than the company's earlier Nano Amp, but still compact enough that you can toss it in your backpack for impromptu practice sessions.
Apple Pay is now accepted at Target and Taco Bell
Some of the last holdouts on tap-to-pay services are finally hopping aboard. Target, Taco Bell, Jack in the Box, Hy-Vee and Speedway have all introduced support for Apple Pay (and services like Google Pay by extension), making it trivially easy to check out when you need to run an errand or crave a Taco Supreme. The rollout will be gradual in some cases. Target expects all its 1,850 locations to support the technology in the "coming weeks," while Taco Bell and Jack in the Box expect to complete their deployments in the "next few months."
Samsung updates older Gear watches with handy fitness tools
As focused as Samsung might be on the Galaxy Watch, it still has plenty of affection for its older smartwatches. It's rolling out an update for the Gear S3 and Gear Sport that adds a flurry of welcome features, particularly if you're fitness-minded. Samsung Health updates now support numerous indoor workouts, and you can string together workouts if you're switching between routines at the gym. The Health Widget, meanwhile, now delivers sleep stage info.
WhatsApp limits forwarding worldwide to fight hoaxes and rumors
WhatsApp limited forwarding in India as part of an effort to curb hoaxes and rumors that could lead to violence, and now that policy is spreading. The Facebook-owned messaging service has announced that it's lowering the forwarding limit worldwide from 20 people or groups to the same five Indian users have dealt with since July. The update applying the limit will start to roll out on January 21st, starting with Android users and reaching iOS later.
Who will be the first Netflix for video games?
Streaming detonated the film and television industries. As recently as five years ago, the advent of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and YouTube Premium sounded the death knell for multi-billion dollar businesses, altered the living-room habits of millions of people, and changed studio production structures permanently. Companies that adapted survived, and the viewing audience received a handful of clear benefits in return -- most notably the ability to watch high-quality shows and movies on demand and, most recently, an explosion of award-winning, culturally transformative entertainment options.
Motorola patent teases a RAZR-like phone with a foldable display
A newly-discovered Motorola patent may be our first look at Lenovo's rumoured RAZR foldable phone. Unearthed by 91 Mobiles, the filing contains several illustrations that seem to show a handset with a folding screen on the inside and a second, smaller screen on the outside.
iPhone SE goes back on sale as a $249 clearance item
Do you deeply regret passing on the iPhone SE before Apple cut it out of the lineup? You now have another chance to get it. Apple has quietly resumed selling the iPhone SE as a clearance item in the US, starting at $249 for a 32GB model (down from the original $349) and $299 for a 128GB version (a sharp drop from the initial $449). These aren't used models, either -- they're shiny new, or at least as shiny new as you can get for a phone that went mostly unchanged since its 2016 debut.
ActionDash brings 'digital well being' tracking to more Android phones
Late last year Google released a Digital Wellbeing app that surfaced insights about exactly how much you're using your phone, and in which apps. Apple installed a similar feature in iOS 12 with Screen Time, but on Android, Google's app only works with a few phones running Android P. For everyone else, there's now another option -- ActionDash, a free app from the developer of Action Launcher and Tweet Lanes. It keeps a record of everything from screen time, to which apps were opened and how many notifications were delivered.
Galaxy S10 leak suggests a lineup with three variants
Prolific phone leaker Evan Blass has already posted an image that appears to show the front of Samsung's Galaxy S10, and now he's tweeted a family photograph showing off three variants wrapped in cases. Left to right, you're apparently looking at the S10E, S10 and S10+, and while it's unclear what E could stand for, (Edge? Economy? Equilibrium?), the S10 is said to measure at about 5.8-inches with the Plus stepping up to 6.4-inches. The Plus seems to have a double-hole punch up front, while the rear cameras have a different multiple-lens alignment and count than the quad-camera Galaxy A9 that Samsung released last year. Of course none of these appear to be fold-up models featuring Samsung's Infinity Flex display, but the S10 will be its standard bearer that we're expecting to meet at an event just ahead of Mobile World Congress 2019 in February. Other than the front pic that flashed a hole punch-style camera, other leaks have pointed to a new Bright Night mode for its camera that could rival Google's Night Sight on Pixel devices. All should be revealed February 20th, one way or another.
