The new in the world of technology

Looks like carrier billing for  Airtel  and  Vodafone  is going live in India for Google Play Store. Google had officially announced the partnership at the Google Playtime event in India in October, but didn’t share any timeline. In May this year, Google had announced carrier billing with Idea Cellular, although the service wasn’t rolled out immediately. Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) allows you to buy apps, music, books, and movies from the Google Play Store while the cost is reflected in your postpaid mobile bill or taken off your prepaid balance. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the roll-out has been underway since last few days, but I can confirm now that it is working for me. I just set it up, and made the first purchase. You can set up carrier billing under the ‘Add a new payment’ option. It was seamless, really. To use the integrated billing system, each time you need to make a purchase, simply choose ‘Bill my Airtel Account’ on the payment me...

This was a year full of innovation in the PC space. What makes the year particularly interesting, however, is that many of its advancements are in early stages. Call it the year of the beta: many advancements were either first introduced in 2016, or barely made their way from the concept stage to the market. PCs started to think for themselves Artificial intelligence has taken on significant real-world importance in everyday computing, after spending decades as a  darling of science fiction , and relegated to  researchers running experiments on massively parallel systems . And indeed, “strong AI” –a machine that’s as intelligent as a human – remains a goal that’s likely far in the future. But there’s a different kind of AI that’s becoming real  today , called practical AI. Companies are integrating it into our PCs, and other devices, by way of personal digital assistants, bots, and learning algorithms. We can debate whether these are “real AI,” or merely examples...

Rumors of a few new HTC devices, code-named the “Ocean series,” have surfaced, but they were initially brushed off by the company as concepts created by HTC designers that would ultimately never come to fruition. Now, it looks like that has changed. A number of rumors have been surfacing over the past few months suggesting that the HTC Ocean is, in fact, a series of phones. Here’s everything we know about the HTC Ocean so far. Release date Rumors about the phone have been swirling for months, but it’s still been unknown when exactly the phone would be launched. Now, a little more info has surfaced. According to Taiwanese news outlet ePrice, HTC will launch the Ocean phone or phones on January 12. In fact, HTC has scheduled an event for that date — an event it’s calling “For U.” The company has yet to confirm the purpose of the event. According to ePrice, the phone will go on sale on January 24, but it’s unknown exactly where it will go on sale. Is Ocean a series of three phones...

Showcasing a new user interface prior to CES 2017 next week, the Samsung Smart View app was just Chromecast  or Roku, users will be able to send video from the app directly to a Samsung television. updated with new functionality that allows direct streaming from third party video apps like Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and Youtube. Similar to mobile device casting on devices like a While Netflix isn’t shown in the image examples  on the App Store page  for the Samsung Smart View app, it’s possible that the app will support Netflix at some point in the near future. Among the icons for the streaming services, Samsung has included a Live TV icon for perusing upcoming and recently watched shows. Samsung has also updated the interface for browsing photos and music stored on your mobile device as well as the virtual remote control interface; ideal if the physical remote gets lost in the couch cushions. Along the top of the new user interface, users will be...

Magic Lantern, the company behind the open-source firmware mods for Canon EOS cameras, showed off a potential game-changer. With a piece of “proof-of-concept” code posted to  its forums , Magic Lantern found a way to enable the shooting of in-camera digital negative (DNG) RAW files. Compared to the proprietary RAW formats used by camera manufacturers (like Canon’s CR2), Adobe’s open DNG format is smaller and easier to work with in programs like Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw. Furthermore,  Petapixel speculates  that Magic Lantern could enable 24p DNG RAW video in cameras with powerful enough processors, like the EOS 5D Mark III, although the current state of the tech is geared for still photos only. Magic Lantern user “a1ex” created the code by looking at how Canon processes its own RAW files. With a bit of technical wizardry, it was discovered that the output file could be changed to a completely lossless, 14-bit DNG file which would be accurately read by Adobe’...

One of the oldest and most used tools in Photoshop is the pen selection tool. Throughout its existence, it cemented itself as the go-to solution for making precise cuts within images. Until now, the pen selection tool has been mainly limited to desktop computers, but thanks to an appropriately titled app Exacto, you can now precisely cut out subject matter on your iOS device. Developed by  Samer Azzam , the man behind  ProCam 4 ,  Exacto  is a single-purpose app for iPhone and iPad that brings the desktop-pen functionality to mobile devices. It’s not the most simple solution to editing out certain components of an image, but what it lacks in convenience, it attempts to make up for in precision. Much like the desktop version of the pen selection tool, Exacto lets you meticulously create points around the selection of an image you want cropped out. Unlimited undo and redo make it easy to correct accidents and the autosave feature ensures no image gets lef...

Looking for something yummy to cook for dinner? Google wants to help — in fact, Google’s mobile search results will now show you recipe suggestions when you’re searching for food. Google has made good use of its “knowledge graph” in the past few years, helping users find better results for their searches straight from search itself. In this case, you’ll see a carousel of cards at the top of the display with recipe suggestions, and when you click on those cards, you’ll be taken to the recipe itself. Google is even giving you a few extra filters for those recipe results — under the search bar, you’ll get more suggestions that you can use to refine your search. For example, when we searched for “chicken soup,” there were links to “noodle soup” “chicken noodle,” and so on. You’ll also get a “view all” link, which will take you to a more detailed view of the recipes Google is suggesting. All in all, Google is getting pretty serious about helping people find the food they w...

Instagram only gives you one opportunity to link to outside resources inside its photo sharing platform. This might not be a problem for a majority of the users, but for those wanting a little more customization and even more options, it leaves much to be desired. Enter  Linktree , a free tool for Instagram designed to improve traffic to your outside link, be it a blog, portfolio, or store. How it works is fairly straightforward. After connecting Linktree to your Instagram profile, you’ll receive a single link to place in your Instagram bio. Once that link in place, you can customize what it’s linked to within your browser, be it a single website, or a collection of sites you’re looking to direct followers to Say you’re a photographer who’s using Instagram as a marketing tool for your wedding photography. Using Linktree, you can direct Instagram followers to your blog, your portfolio site, and even your other social media accounts. Until now, you would’ve been stuck c...

Apple’s new AirPods have been generally well received since their release, but some users have been uncovered by Patently Apple , it’s a magnetic mechanism that wraps around the user’s ear. complaining of one major issue — they tend to fall out and when that happens it would be very easy for them to get lost. The solution? Well, according to new Apple patent The magnets attract each other through the ear tissue, keeping the AirPods in place and ensuring that they don’t get lost. Of course, it’s not certain if Apple filed this patent with AirPods in mind — one of the images clearly shows a wired pair of headphones, and the patent was filed in June. The concept, however, would help keep both wired and wireless earbuds in place. The issue of keeping AirPods in the ear has been arguably the biggest issue related to the AirPods, and for good reason — they’re pretty expensive little devices, so losing them is definitely not something you want to do. It’s possible that Apple decide...

There are few things worse than having an alarm clock unexpectedly go off on a day when you would a less-than-enthusiastic Engadget staffer  — have reported alarms going off a full day earlier than expected. As any of the people who experienced this firsthand could likely attest, an issue such as this has the ability to throw off anyone’s day. otherwise prefer to indulge in a bit of beauty sleep. For some Sonos owners this week, that dreary-eyed fear has come startlingly true as throngs of owners — including To Sonos’ credit, it is already taken to its own  community announcement board  and acknowledged the ongoing issue. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an immediate explanation as to what is causing the alarm glitch and cautions users to simply delete their alarms to avoid the issue altogether. While this helps avoid the dreaded unwanted wake-up call, those who rely solely on Sonos as a means of waking up each morning will have to resort to an alternative. “Since t...

Whether you are a professional photographer who needs to impress clients, a photo retoucher applying for a job, or a Photoshop educator looking to attract new students, being able to show before-and-after samples of your image editing could be really helpful. While there are plenty of ways for doing this, a new web app called Revision looks to make the process as easy as possible — and interactive. Developed by 17-year-old Polish photographer  Łukasz Oślizło ,  Revision  automatically creates a before/after comparison image with a slider to transition from one to the other. You have probably seen examples of this all over the web and if you have ever wondered how to create your own, Revision may be the answer you’re looking for. Simply upload two versions of an image and after a few seconds of processing, Revision takes care of the rest and spits out the interactive comparison. It works on mobile devices as well as desktop computers. Users can then share their be...

We have been discussing mesh WiFi networks for the past couple of days,  reviewing the Eero system , as well as providing a setup  overview and impressions of Google WiFi . Well, if any of this interests you and you are ready to take the leap, Amazon currently has the Eero system at a discounted price, as well as Netgear’s Orbi system and Luma.  Typically priced at a solid $499, a 3-pack of Eero access points can be purchased for $461.83, which is almost $40 off the list price. It’s not the largest discount ever, but considering it has been labeled as our “Favorite Tech Purchase of 2016,” and that it doesn’t seem to go on sale all too often, any savings is good savings. On top of that, the Orbi system from Netgear is also on sale at a few locations for $379 (down from $399), but with Amazon Prime, you can at least ensure you’ll receive it within a 2-day window. For the price, it’s another mesh WiFi system that has received great reviews from all over the I...

According to notices arriving on  Galaxy S7  and S7 Edge devices  running the Android Nougat beta  through Samsung’s Galaxy Beta program, no new beta releases are expected before the stable update arrives next month. In other words, the beta program is done as Samsung looks to polish off the finishing touches before releasing the update to all.  As of today, Samsung says that the official version will arrive in January “as soon as possible.” Keep in mind that could mean a longer wait in the US on carrier variants. However, since a handful of  carrier variants were part of the beta test , updates could be here quicker than usual. For those of you taking part in the beta program, how have things gone?

Best Buy beat  ASUS  to the punch this week, posting up details of the upcoming  Chromebook Flip 2 , a sequel to the original  Chromebook Flip . Likely scheduled to debut at  CES  next week, the Flip 2 looks like a very nice successor to one of ASUS’s more popular Chrome OS options. Before being pulled on Best Buy, the listing detailed a 12.5″ Full HD touchscreen, Intel 4405Y processor, 4GB RAM, plus 32GB of eMMC flash memory. However, that RAM and storage option appears to only be for the entry model, with another possible model sporting 8GB RAM and 64GB of storage. On top of that, the specs include an aluminum chassis, 2 USB Type-C ports, 2 USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output, microSD card support, a backlit keyboard, plus a headphone/microphone combo jack. For pricing, it is reported that the 4GB RAM model will start at $499, while the 8GB model is possibly priced at $599. Until ASUS announces official details, though, we’ll just pencil that in. As a ne...

In mid-2016, Moto and Lenovo launched the  Moto Z , which could have been seen as the Moto X  lineup. However, following that event, Moto clarified that the Moto X is “ alive and well ,” but we still haven’t heard of any new devices launching within that lineup. That may soon change, though, if the latest CAD render video pans out to be accurate.  end of the Created by information obtained by  Onleaks  and then posted by  Android Authority , a CAD render video details a new Moto X for 2017, but before you start thinking this will be a top-tier flagship Android smartphone, you best apply the brakes. As shown in the video, this reported Moto X features dimensions of 150 x 73.8 x 8.4mm (up to 9.5 mm with camera bump), plus specs that include microUSB (not USB Type-C) and headphone jack. While the video details the hardware, no internals, such as processor and RAM, were provided. On the backside, we see the same camera ring as the Moto Z feat...

News are all around us nowadays but quality news reporting that also happens to be fast and website , various social networks ( @BreakingNews  with >9M followers,  +BreakingNews , and  Breaking News on Facebook ) as well as mobile apps including an  Android app  with over 500,000 installs. accurate is not easy to come by. Breaking News, a separate startup inside NBC News Digital Network, was one of the most popular and respected news aggregators that tried to solve that problem through a team of dedicated editors and a network of trusted partners. It then broadcast important news through its But alas,  NBC News decided at the start of the month  that the service was not generating enough revenue to sustain itself and that it was time to shut it down. The deadline? Tomorrow, December 31st. The team shared that in a  post on Medium  and then followed up with  another post listing the different team members  and offer...

ADW Launcher was one of my first introductions into Android customization. For the longest time, it first Android roundups I ever wrote  (warning: not an AP post) was about customization and had ADW Launcher as the first recommendation. was the cornerstone of my homescreen strategy and I'd spend hours perfecting a setup with icons, colors, widgets, until I'd start again a couple of days later. Heck, one of the But then Lollipop came and ADW looked completely out of place with the more modern interface. Apex, Aviate, then Nova became my go-to launchers, and I nearly forgot about ADW until this past June when it got  resurrected out of seemingly nowhere as a version 2 beta . I haven't tried ADW Launcher 2 yet, mostly because I'm too busy/lazy to mess with my homescreen setup as much as I used to, but I can tell from the screenshots and video that it has shaped up nicely and fits right at home with Marshmallow and Nougat. And now ADW Launcher 2 is available publ...