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Karma's shareable hotspot service to support Sprint LTE
While Karma had a good idea when it launched its shareable hotspot service last year, it had to rely on Clearwire's WiMAX data -- not what we'd share with others when the technology is on its way out. The company is catching up, however, with a new deal to use Sprint's LTE. The upgrade gives the prepaid provider not just a much faster network, but also expanded coverage that blankets large parts of the US. Just don't expect an immediate transition. Karma says it will be giving hotspot owners "exclusive upgrade options" in the future, which hints that it will take some time (and likely money) before customers can take advantage of the speed boost.
DropBox buys selling app Sold, generates linguistically nightmarish headlines
Dropbox has picked up Sold, effectively shuttering the service in its current iteration. For further proof of this, consult the selling app's about page, which has been reconjugated to read in the past tense. Sold isn't accepting new items from sellers at the moment, but the site is happily assuring all interested parties that the team behind the iOS/Android app will become a part of Dropbox's happy family, helping to work on the "exciting new experiences" it's seen dotting the horizons of the sharing service's roadmap.
New Xbox Live terms of use wants your most current contact info - for safety
Microsoft announced it will roll out a new Xbox Live terms of use this week, which will require users to "commit to keeping their contact information up to date." For example, this means users must keep their linked email addresses and phone numbers updated on their Xbox Live accounts. Those that accept the new terms of use will also allow Microsoft to share personal information "such as your name, address, email address and date of birth" with services that users link accounts with on Xbox Live such as Netflix, Hulu and ESPN. The current terms of use uses similar language in describing how Microsoft already shares private information: "If you choose to link your Services account with the account of a Microsoft party on the Xbox LIVE service (for example, a game publisher or app provider), you agree that Microsoft may share limited account information with that Microsoft party. Such account information may include name, address, email and age but will not include any credit card or other payment information." Those "Microsoft parties" are the company's "affiliates, resellers, distributors, service providers, partners and suppliers," so the new terms of use appear to stretch beyond that to these third-party services. As it stands now, users can access their account settings on Xbox.com to opt-out of sharing contact information with Xbox partners.
PS4 FAQ clarifies sharing digital games, PlayStation Plus benefits
Sharing physical copies of games on the PlayStation 4 may be simple - a claim Sony famously demonstrated with this viral video - but as detailed by the PS4 FAQ, sharing digital games is a bit more complex and restrictive. According to the FAQ, users will need to register one PS4 as their primary system, and on that system, downloaded games can be played by anyone. Users can also re-download their digital copies of games on other systems as long as they're signed into the PlayStation Network, but only that user can start up the game. Designating a primary console also unlocks several other features, including Remote Play on Vita and the ability to purchase and pre-order content via the PlayStation App and have said content automatically download to your PS4. The FAQ also states that once you've chosen a primary PS4, "you can use up to 2 systems concurrently: the system activated as your 'primary' PS4 system, and one other system." The FAQ also claims that, if a primary console is registered to an account with a PlayStation Plus subscription, there will be "numerous benefits" available to other users on that system, such as access to online multiplayer. The PlayStation Plus-holding account does not need to be logged in to utilize this feature. The PS4 FAQ doesn't specify what other benefits for secondary users PlayStation Plus offers, or if the features mentioned will be enabled with the PS4's day one patch. Maybe Sony is saving that answer for FAQ Part 2: Electric Boogaloo.
PlayStation 4 FAQ explains sharing games and displaying 2,000 count friends lists
Need for more PS4 info after news about the companion app and day one 1.50 firmware update popped up earlier today? SCE President Shuhei Yoshida just tweeted a link to the system's official FAQ, which answers questions users might have about game sharing and how friends lists work across the new system and older PS3s. As Sony was kind enough to point out during E3, game sharing on discs is simple and familiar. When it comes to downloaded games it's all about which system is designated as your "primary" PS4, which is where content you purchase through the app will automatically download, and is the one that hooks up to your PS Vita. Only one system can be your primary system at a time, and as long as your games are on that console, any user can play them or enjoy your PlayStation Plus features. It's similar to the current experience on Xbox 360, with an added bonus because your account can be in use on two systems at the same time. Your PlayStation Network account will still work on other PS4s, but if you download a game there, only your account can play it. Switching to a different console as your primary is also possible, as long as you deactivate the current primary first. The other issue is how your new friends list will work across devices. On the PS4 you can have up to 2,000 friends, but the PS3 will only display 100 of them. If you're mobile, your Vita or PlayStation app should be able to display all 2,000. If there are any questions left, hit the FAQ and take a look.
Latest Skitch update for Mac brings new toolbar, Mavericks performance boosts
It's been about three weeks since Apple released the Mavericks gold master to developers, and we're starting to see the first apps fine-tuned for Cupertino's latest OS in the App Store. Skitch is one such example, with a new streamlined toolbar and footer pane tweaked to make changing the file type, name and size of what your viewing easier. The app's new icon is migrating over from iOS too, and the company also said that screenshots across multiple monitors and power management have been improved. These aren't huge changes by any means, but they're still better than sandboxing a browser plugin, right?
US Instagram users will soon see ads in their feeds
Instagram is gearing up to monetize all of your colorful border-enhanced photos, and you may not like what that means for your feed. Beginning "in the next couple months," Instagram users in the United States will see "an occasional ad" sandwiched between their friends' photos and videos. The company is insisting that the advertisements will flow with regular content -- and if you don't like a particular ad, you can hide it from view and let the team know what you didn't like. As a final note, the firm clarified that the introduction of ads won't affect ownership rights of the pics and vids you upload -- so if a family member pops up in a sponsored post with a Coke in hand, you'll probably want to send some feedback.
Wii U update 4.0 brings Wii games to the GamePad's screen
Nintendo's pushing out version 4.0 of its Wii U system software, and it's bringing a few unexpected -- yet welcome -- changes. Ironically, tweaks to how the hardware handles titles from The Big N's last home console headline the update. Folks taking Wii games for a spin will now be able to do so using just the GamePad's screen, and enjoy Dolby Pro Logic II surround output -- though you'll still need a Wii remote to play. Iwata and Co. have also rolled in an image sharing tool that mirrors the one on the 3DS, which lets gamers share screenshots on Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. With the fresh code in tow, demos from Nintendo can be downloaded automatically and a variety of USB keyboards are supported, to boot. The box's internet browser also got some attention, as it's been bolstered with the ability to open PDF files and remember user login details for web sites. Check your Wii U for the update or click the source link for the full changelog.
Instagram refreshed for iOS 7 with larger images and videos, available for download today
Instagram may have missed the initial iOS 7 update run last week, but the retooled iPhone app is good to go now. Version 4.2, available for download today, brings design tweaks that mesh better with the latest iOS, with a slightly simpler interface and rounded profile pictures in the feed. Additionally, photos and video are a bit larger, and the resolution has been increased as well, enabling a better viewing experience overall. Instagram for iOS 7 can be yours right now. You'll find the download at the source link below.
Apple is silently telling us to stop asking for near-field communication
We've been hearing rumors about an NFC-enabled iPhone and/or iPad for years now, and the song is always the same: "Sources say the next iDevice will have NFC, and it's about time!" Yet here we sit, with a pair of new iPhones just a day from launch, and no NFC in sight. If there's anything the iPhone 5s and AirDrop should tell us, it's that we should stop expecting an Apple smartphone or tablet with near-field communication, at least for a while. NFC speaks two languages It's important to separate the two primary uses for NFC: Sharing and payments. NFC mobile sharing is useful for everything from virtually handing documents to a coworker, to (apparently) getting naughty videos from your spouse before a business trip. This is an NFC feature that can be used by the widest range of people, and all that is needed is two individuals with compatible devices. NFC payments are quite different -- not in how it works, but in how useful it really is. Finding retailers that accept NFC payments isn't exactly easy. If you don't live in a place like San Francisco or New York City, the ability to use a virtual credit card on your smartphone isn't just a rarity; it's barely even an option. I know this because I live in a midwestern city where people will line up overnight for a new Nexus or Galaxy smartphone, but if you asked a cashier at local store if they accept Google Wallet they'd stare are you like you were from another planet. AirDrop uses Bluetooth and ad-hoc WiFi rather than near-field communication, but it accomplishes the same feat when it comes to mobile sharing. If you have an iPhone 5, 5s, or 5c (or 4th gen iPad, 5th gen iPod, or iPad mini), you can share files with other compatible devices simply by selecting the file and the recipient. It's a no-setup, no-hassle way to send files locally, and you don't need to smash your phones together to make it work. With AirDrop, Apple has duplicated the most useful feature of near-field communication without buckling and including NFC technology in its new devices. Buy why? Apple isn't on board the NFC train, but why? It could be that the technology doesn't seem secure enough to bet on, or that with so few merchants accepting NFC, including it wouldn't actually pay off. In the end, it's almost certainly a mix of many factors, but one angle I don't see mentioned very often is that by adopting near-field communication, Apple might be helping its competitors more than itself. I don't think it's hard to argue that if the new iPhone 5s and 5c included NFC, merchants would have a much greater incentive to invest in the technology. This could benefit Apple, of course, but it would boost long-suffering NFC stalwarts such as Google Wallet (which, ironically, just launched a non-NFC iOS app today) even more. NFC is struggling and growth is slow. By refusing to include it in new devices, Apple is certainly not doing it any favors -- in fact, without an iDevice in its corner, NFC may never break into the mainstream. That's a powerful position for Apple to be in, and one they won't be in a hurry to give up. Will we ever see an NFC-enabled iDevice? It's not entirely out of the question. Apple already has patents on the books that would use near-field communication for sharing, though the systems described work much like AirDrop already does but substitutes Bluetooth for NFC. Regardless, Apple already has everything it needs to wage a long war against near-field communication if it chooses to. With AirDrop handling the local sharing, Passbook acting as a go-between for things such as gift cards and event passes, and a retail scene where NFC is still a non-factor, there's almost no reason to even consider it.
Ask Engadget: share a single muni-fi account with multiple devices?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, then here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is from Zoe, who needs to help out her mum (she's in the UK) with a tricky WiFi problem. If you're looking to ask one of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "My mum's retirement community offers a municipal WiFi service for £130 per year, but only provides a login that can be used on a single device at a time. More annoyingly, that device has to use a web browser, which means that you can't access it using an Apple TV at all. To get around that, I've leant her my Mac Mini, and then I share the WiFi connection over Ethernet to an Airport Extreme. Unfortunately, this only works for short bursts at a time before the DHCP or connection sharing goes screwy and needs to be reset. My question, therefore, is what can I buy that will connect to this crappy WiFi and share that connection to the other wireless devices around the home? Would it be possible to use Raspberry Pi or some other small device to do the job? All it has to do is be stable and have an uptime longer than 2 hours. Thanks!" This is the sort of question that most geeks love getting their hands on, because it's a good old-fashioned problem. You'll just have to ignore all of the people who tell your mom to move house instead of coming up with a useful solution. Either way, we did think that perhaps there was a way to share this connection using a hotspot device, but they primarily use Ethernet. As such, we're going to turn this question open to our community for some sage advice. Surely there must be a simple way to do this without depriving Zoe of her Mac Mini?
Apple patent shares your music's tempo to start private dance parties
Headphone parties, or silent discos, seldom translate well to mobile devices -- the likelihood that every listener has the same songs is rather slim. If Apple implements a newly granted patent, however, it could be easy to start those private gigs. The technique shares the tempo of a master track with other devices invited to a party; those gadgets automatically pick similarly paced tunes and sync their playback. Participants could be part of an ad hoc local network, but the approach would also work when people are miles apart. Apple even proposes a social networking element that lets aspiring DJs share avatars and other identifiers. While there's no guarantees that the patent will reach shipping products, we wouldn't be surprised to see iPhone owners grooving in unison at some point in the future.
Google patents drag-and-drop content sharing with nearby groups
Proximity-based content sharing systems for mobile tend to focus on one-at-a-time transfers -- see Android Beam and Apple's upcoming AirDrop as examples. Google, however, has just patented an interface that would simplify sharing content with nearby groups. Users would only have to drag private items into a public space to share them with everyone inside of a certain range; the reverse would hide those items once again. The approach wouldn't be limited to files, either, as it could be used for invitations to chat sessions or events. Google won't necessarily take advantage of its sharing patent, but the concept is simple enough that we wouldn't be surprised to find it in future apps or Android revisions.
Path expands API access, now supports WordPress and other hand-picked apps
Path has previously limited its third-party app integration to the Nike+ platform, but the company just opened its doors a little wider. App developers can now ask for permission to use Path's sharing API, which they'll get if Path sees such apps as a logical fit. To get the ball rolling, the social network has already granted access to 13 partners that include WordPress, Strava Cycling and a bevy of smaller image services. Only some of these developers can send app content to Path as of this writing, but the rest should support the API in the weeks ahead.
Firefox for Android Beta gains new features and improvements
It's been a busy couple months for the folks over at Mozilla. The company rolled out a new logo, launched the first Firefox OS handset and shipped version 23 of its popular web browser. Still, Mozilla shows no signs of slowing down -- it just announced a new version of Firefox for Android Beta, which is ready for download and testing. The update brings a raft of new features and improvements, including WebRTC support for real-time web communications, a new Reader and Reading List with enhanced functionality, NFC Bump to share URLs on compatible phones, a Quickshare menu to share content with other apps and additional languages (Catalan-Spanish, British-English and Swedish) for a total of 24. Moreover, Firefox Beta for Windows, OS X and Linux gains a tweaked Browser Console to help web developers -- phew!
Xbox One allows limited sharing of Xbox Live Gold and digital games
Microsoft has announced that perks made available to Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be accessible to every user of that home's Xbox One console. This means that, so long as the owner of the Xbox One is a Gold subscriber, other people in the household will be able to have their own accounts and Gamertags, without having to sacrifice access to Gold-level services such as online multiplayer, DVR functionality and so forth. Gold privileges will also follow subscribers to other people's Xbox Ones, so if you have a Gold account and visit a friend who doesn't, you'll both be able to use Gold features for as long as you're logged in on their console. Microsoft also announced that similar functionality will be applied to digital versions of Xbox One games. When someone purchases and downloads a game onto their console, every one of that console's users will also have access to that game, regardless of whether the person who purchased it is signed in (Xbox 360 games work similarly now). Similarly, every game you've purchased digitally will be available to you on any Xbox One that you sign in on.
MixBit for iPhone: Shooting, editing and sharing bits of video
It's rare for individuals and companies to create one successful product after another, Steve Jobs and Apple being the notable exception. Today marks the official release of MixBit for iPhone, a free video app from Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, the two founders of a little success called YouTube. What makes MixBit different from the fairly recent video sharing apps like Vine and the updated Instagram? Well, while you can shoot video bits as short as one second long and up to 16 seconds long, you can also stitch up to 256 of those bits together to create an hour-long opus. [The MixBit approach is pretty different from the socially minded CrowdFlik, but both do involve stitching short clips together to deliver a full video experience. –Ed.] MixBit has a surprisingly iOS 7-like minimal interface, so it will be right at home once the new mobile OS ships from Apple. Recording is done by using a touch-and-hold gesture, and the individual clips are then stored as independent video elements. Those bits of video can be dragged and dropped to rearrange them, deleted with a tap or two or cut to a shorter length. Once you're done with your editing, the bits play back as one seamless video, at which time it can be saved and / or published. There's also no need to shoot your own video. Through MixBit.com, users can watch, download and then remix (hence the "mix" part of MixBit) videos that have been submitted by others. I can't wait to see what happens when someone takes bits of "4 Ways To Remove A Beard" and mixes them with "Free Hugs" to make "Removing Beards with Free Hugs." I might even pay to see that...
Pinterest introduces email alerts for price reductions on pinned items
Pinterest has been a boon for digital scrapbookers, and today, the company is rolling out a new feature to appeal to its bargain-hunting user base. When the price drops on an item you've pinned, an email will be zapped to your inbox to alert you to the discount. If you're the kind of person who uses the site to sort out your shopping needs, it might be right up your alley, but not all pinners will appreciate the influx of messages. The feature can be switched off from the account settings menu, though even when it's on, Pinterest insists that emails will be bundled to avoid clutter. Discount alerts are set for a gradual roll-out, so if you're not seeing the option under settings yet, sit tight.
Tapsbook gives photos new iPad organizing flair
There are small problems, big problems, and the "how on earth do I organize all my photos" problem. That last one may just prove to be the least tractable, especially for parents of young children who have seen the digital revolution overturn the traditional album, folder and shoeboxful strategy. Searchable and sendable they may be, but a pile of digital photos is a pile nonetheless. Add in the multiple, mobile sources for images and it gets even more tangled. Many, many companies continue to aim their product development efforts at this plump target. Flickr's recent move to a full terabyte of free storage has made Yahoo's prosumer photography site a more attractive repository for many; Shutterfly's buyout of ThisLife has brought some attention to the family-focused photo storage web service. ThisLife still hasn't delivered its iPad app, though, and there's a sense that the era of desktop supremacy for managing and sharing photos is drawing to a close. The future, my friends, is tablets. That "born tablet" approach for image organization and sharing is what the makers of the new Tapsbook app hope will set their offering apart from the rest of the field. Tapsbook, now available free on the iPad after a long beta incubation, is designed to aggregate images from a slew of different sources (including the iPad's local photos, Facebook images, Dropbox folders and Google+/Picasa storage) into manageable, attractive "books" based on the month or year the photo was taken. The auto-generated timeline books, and books grouped based on source folder, can be modified, tweaked and edited at will; it's also one-swipe easy to move images into a new, custom book of your own favorite photos. In fact, favoriting a photo anywhere in the app automatically flags it for inclusion in a "yearbook" best-of collection. Whole books or individual pages can be shared out as links or directly to your Facebook wall. %Gallery-195045% Once you assemble the images you want into a custom book, you can edit page by page to change layouts, add text and backgrounds, and scale/crop/rotate images with an innovative two-finger/one-finger UI that turns out to be quite intuitive once you try it a few times. The page editor seems to be the area of the app where the development team has really concentrated on producing a "best for tablet" interface, and it's quite slick. Unfortunately, there are some rough edges and bugs even in the page editor (it's too easy to lose track of an image when you change layouts, for instance), and other pieces of the app are in need of some additional simplification and polish. While the Tapsbook team is excited about the current offering, they acknowledge that there's more refinement and finishing to do; the UI is expected to receive a pretty dramatic overhaul in v2. The rough edges extend to the company's website, design and help text -- all could use a thorough review with a proofreader and editor. In terms of storage and pricing, there's some innovation there too. Tapsbook tries to be smart about cloudsourced images, and does not duplicate them when it's possible to reference the original. But for images that do need to be stored independently for Tapsbook to use them, you've got a choice: pay a bit more and Tapsbook provides the storage, or a bit less and you BYOcS (bring your own cloud storage) via Dropbox or Google Drive/Picasa, paying as you go to add more photos to your limit. As it happens, images with a max dimension of 2048 px don't even count against your Google storage quota, so that's a handy arrangement. The free version of Tapsbook allows you to share out up to 500 photos, so you have ample opportunity to try it out before you'd have to choose whether or not to invest in a monthly subscription or a per-photo buyup. (The monthly subscription cost is $2.99; the Dropbox/Google BYOcS starts at $1.99 for an additional 1,000 photos in your sharing quota.) It's certainly an interesting app now, and likely to get more interesting as it evolves. The question is, do we need another way to share our photos -- even a "tablet-first" approach like Tapsbook? The savvy and multi-source Everpix tool works with its own iPad app for album and individual image sharing, without the book metaphor; the Beamr app delivers full-res iPhone photos in a magazine-style album. It's a crowded App Store out there when it comes to photo tools. Maybe the best thing that can happen to the Tapsbook app, with its agnostic approach to image sources, is to become known as the cool front end for other services... especially those, like ThisLife, with a great storage and sorting story but without the iPad savvy.
Study: iPhone is the 'most social' device
In the last decade, content sharing has become a major part of modern life. Our daily interactions are largely built upon recommending articles, pictures, songs, videos and other digital artifacts. But what device do people do most of their sharing on? Thanks to a study by ShareThis, we know. iPhone users are the most active when it comes to social sharing of links across both mobile and desktop devices. ShareThis should know. The company is a publisher platform that provides social sharing buttons for websites. According to their findings, users are twice as likely to share content on a social network when they are using their mobile devices. Of those using mobile devices, 12.4 percent of iPhone users, 7.4 percent of Android and 6.3 percent of BlackBerry users are more likely to share on their devices. Only 5 percent of Mac users and 3.9 percent of PC users meanwhile are more likely to share when using their desktop. The study also contains an interesting bit of trivia about the iPad. Almost 50 percent of social activity through ShareThis on the iPad involves Pinterest.
