Facebook Messenger is getting a complete overhaul, and if you've been increasingly frustrated by how much cruft there is in the way of your chats, this new app might make you very happy. Messenger 4, the social network says, puts simplicity at the forefront, with the promise of easier navigation, cleaner designs, and more.
Google just loves making magic using algorithms, accomplishing through software what would normally require hardware to pull off. From HDR to bokehs, Google’s Pixel phones have rivaled smartphones with more cameras precisely because of that. With the Pixel 3, Google teased a new Night Sight feature that has yet to officially arrive even on the Pixel 3. Good thing, then, that this is Android and Pixel owners of all generations can unofficially marvel at the feature before it even becomes officially available.
Web apps have been battling for supremacy ever since browsers could display more than just text and images. Initially there were these heavy and clunky web applets vying for space against desktop apps. Things then took a different turn with the arrival of smartphones and mobile apps. Now with Google as its biggest champion, web apps have taken on a new name and a new strategy. With Chrome 70, Google is aiming to put Progressive Web apps on the same level as native apps, be it desktop or mobile, though it may still need a few rounds of polishing before it gets there.
Skydio's self-flying drone is getting Apple Watch control, bringing the key autopilot features of the intelligent flying camera out of the app and to your wrist. Arriving as an update today, the new Apple Watch interface promises to make it even easier than before to operate the Skydio R1 and navigate through its various tracking modes. At the same time, the R1 drone is also arriving in Apple Stores.
Forget 160 characters. GIFs and videos are the new thing in social media and the Interwebs. Creating those, however, aren't exactly easy unless you've got a knack for video editing. Or you have tools that simplify the task. The latter is what Adobe is aiming for with the new Premiere Rush. Revealed as Project Rush a few months back, this new member of Adobe's suite practically puts an "all-in-one" video editor in the cloud, ready to export your latest masterpieces to YouTube, Facebook, and more.
Google’s launch of the Home Hub smart display isn’t just a one-off product launch. It’s actually a cog in a machine that’s now starting to swing into full gear. That machine is Google’s Connected Home, a.k.a. smart home, thrust and it is the unspoken underlying theme of Google’s event earlier today. Because what better than a new Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL phone to run the updated Google Home app that will put you in touch with over 10,000 connected devices in your home.
PCs, both laptops and even desktops, are finally getting on the biometrics bandwagon. While most new laptops mostly use Windows 10’s Hello face recognition, there is a growing number that use fingerprint sensors as well. They’re still not as numerous as, say, the fingerprint scanners found on almost every smartphone (except newer iPhones). Wouldn’t it be nice if you could use your phone’s fingerprint sensor to unlock your PC? Well, you actually can, if you’re willing to play with some third-party apps on both Android and Windows PC sides.
Yahoo still wants your data. Despite having basically proven its inability to protect its own customers, it’s still having a go at getting users to put more and more of their personal lives under its care. After all, it has a new owner, Verizon’s Oath, so maybe a new culture. And most importantly, it has a new chat service. After finally putting Yahoo! Messenger to rest and experimenting with a Yahoo-less Squirrel Chat, the company is now bringing out Yahoo Together. And, no, it doesn’t have an exclamation point in its name this time.
With a new Google Pixel phone comes a new exclusive Google Pixel Launcher. While Android remains fundamentally open source, it isn’t news that Google likes to add some special sauce exclusive to its Pixel phones. Fortunately, some of those are easy enough to extract and port to other phones and other Android versions. One of the most popular is that Pixel Launcher, which you can now install on any other phone running at least Android 8.0 Oreo to get a very small piece of the Pixel Pie.
We're about two weeks away from Google's not so secret Pixel 3 event but, unless it was just trolling us big time, we almost know everything there is to know about Google's 2018 bets. Even down to the wallpapers they will be flaunting. That came through leaked wallpapers that was at first compatible with the very few Android Pie phones around. Fortunately, thanks to some rather talented developers, those live wallpapers are now ready for anyone with a slightly older device to enjoy.
There was perhaps very little love for Samsung's TouchWiz Android skin. It definitely wasn't something owners of other phone brands pined for. But with Samsumg's new "Samsung Experience" UX, it might have finally become something Samsung fans would want to install on their devices ahead of the official release. Fortunately, some have been able to yank out the Samsung Experience 10.0 Launcher from an early build of the Android Pie-based firmware so you can take it for a spin and be prepares for what comes next.
Apple's acquisition of Shazam has been completed, bringing the music-identifying service in-house and promising a pleasant treat for users in the process. The deal was announced back in December 2017, but for a while it looked like European regulators might step in and throw a wrench in the works.