The Alphabeats headband combines your choice of music with an EEG brainwave readout to help train your brain to function in its optimal state.
Digital Trends
Gmail for Android is constantly receiving really helpful updates, but if you’ve gotten tired of dealing with hundreds of mailing lists, you’re going to like this one.
TalkAndroid
The case for choosing the Google Pixel 8 over the Pixel 8 Pro is stronger than ever, as its camera, battery, and software all impress in our review.
Digital Trends
StandBy mode is one of the coolest new features in iOS 17. Here’s how to make it even better with a few helpful apps!
Digital Trends
According to its creators, the Apollo wearable device improves sleep and the power of your nervous system.
Digital Trends
MediaTek’s reputation in recent years has grown in leaps and bounds with its Dimensity processors to be found in smartphones across the segment in almost every category, not to mention the chips that power smart devices such as smart TVs and Amazon’s speakers, tablets, and smart displays. According to today’s announcement of its new partnership […]
Come comment on this article: MediaTek and Nvidia team up to make car cockpits smarter and better connected
Samsung’s mid-range Galaxy A54 does one particular thing way better than Apple’s more expensive iPhone 14. And I need to talk about it.
Digital Trends
Apple has released iOS 16.4! Here are some of the best new features that are coming to make your iPhone even better.
Digital Trends
Apple is set to release iOS 16.4 any day now. Here are some of the best new features that are coming to make your iPhone even better.
Digital Trends
Apple got something perfect with the iPhone X and iPhone XS. And all these years later, the iPhone 14 Pro still can’t beat them in one important way.
Digital Trends
For the past several months, TikTok has been working on new ways to age-restrict certain types of content as part of a broader push to ramp up safety features for younger users. The app unveiled a new ratings system earlier this year, called Content Levels, to help it identify more “mature” content.
Now, the company has another update on those efforts. In a blog post, the company says that it’s launching a new version of its “borderline suggestive model,” which the company uses to automatically identify “sexually explicit, suggestive, or borderline content.” According to a TikTok spokesperson, the new model is better able to detect so-called “borderline content,” videos that don’t explicitly break the app’s rules, but may not be suitable for younger users.
TikTok isn’t the only platform to filter out this type of content from recommendations. Instagram has long attempted to weed borderline content out of its recommendations as well. But content with more “mature” themes, but that doesn’t contain explicit nudity, has long been more difficult for automated systems to consistently detect. TikTok didn’t offer specifics on how much more accurate the new system is, but it shared that in the last 30 days the company has “prevented teen accounts from viewing over 1 million overtly sexually suggestive videos.”
Elsewhere, the app is also rolling out the ability for creators to restrict their videos to adult viewers. This feature was previously only available for live videos, but will now be enabled for short-form clips as well.
Have an iPhone? Looking for a smartwatch? The Apple Watch Series 8 is the new go-to pick. It’s powerful, familiar, and oh-so-good at everything it does.
Wearables | Digital Trends
Apple’s Far Out event has given us many announcements, including the Apple Watch SE 2. Here’s what we’re getting from the new, cheaper Apple Watch this year.
Wearables | Digital Trends
Oppo’s ColorOS 13 will start its release in August, and we’ve got all the news — plus some hands-on experience with the new software.
Android | Digital Trends
If you have an Apple Watch, you can get even more out of your Apple TV in terms of working out and getting fit.
Wearables | Digital Trends
Fitbit has long offered sleep tracking, but with its new Sleep Profiles feature, it’s getting even better.
Wearables | Digital Trends
Blackberry’s death has been a long time coming and attempts to revive it are misguided.
Mobile | Digital Trends
We found four things that we liked and four things we didn’t like during Samsung’s Unpacked February 2022 event.
Android | Digital Trends
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is the top folding smartphone you can buy at the moment, but happily that doesn’t make it better than the newcomer Oppo Find N.
Android | Digital Trends
The pandemic has brought a lot of changes, but one you may not be expecting is in hotel rooms, where TV remotes are quickly becoming artifacts of a past era.
Mobile | Digital Trends
Android 12 might just be fresh off the oven, but Google is following it up with Android 12L as it optimizes its mobile operating system for foldables.
Android | Digital Trends
Mount St. Helens, Vesuvius, Krakatoa: history is full of volcanic eruptions that took humans by surprise and caused devastating damage. But with the help of drones, an international team of scientists from the US and seven other countries say they’ve…
Engadget
Chromebooks aren’t known for being particularly gaming-friendly. They have access to the Google Play Store, which does open up quite a few games that you can play, but they’re usually either really not optimized for Chromebook hardware or clunky on that particular form factor. You can also almost completely forget about any true modern AAA […]
Come comment on this article: Chromebooks just turned into much better gaming machines thanks to NVIDIA GeForce Now
The Motorola RAZR had a fairly bumpy launch. People couldn’t buy it, there were tons of quality control issues, and at the end of the day it just didn’t seem like a great phone. Well, even mediocre phones can still get successors, and it looks like the Motorola RAZR 2 is right around the corner. […]
Come comment on this article: The Motorola RAZR 2 is supposedly coming this year with a bigger screen, better processor
OnePlus has dropped an update for the OnePlus launcher on your smartphone that adds a few useful little tweaks to navigation and search. I’ve already seen it on my OnePlus 8, and it’s a pretty nice upgrade. OnePlus Launcher v 4.4 So what’s new? Once you grab the update from the Play Store, you’ll notice […]
Come comment on this article: OnePlus Launcher updated to version 4.4 with better app switching and quick search gestures
It’s about that time of year again when we dig into Google’s shiny new music streaming service. YouTube Music was designed to eventually replace Google Play Music, which seems like the most beloved music streaming app on the internet. But here we are, two years later, and we’re only just now starting to see YouTube […]
Come comment on this article: YouTube Music 2020 review: Getting better every year
NASA’s Artemis program will eventually need robots to help live off the lunar soil, and it’s enlisting help from the public to make those robots viable. The space agency has picked winners from a design challenge that tasked people with improving the…
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Android TV doesn’t always get priority on updates and new app features, but it’s still always nice to see. Spotify has dropped a pretty big overhaul of their Android TV application on the Play Store, delivering a much more polished UX while you jam out on your TV. Spotify on Android TV The new app […]
Come comment on this article: Spotify revamps its Android TV app, looks better than ever
Google has announced a new camera app specifically for Android Go smartphones. This continues Google’s trend of pushing more lightweight, simpler versions of their apps to lower-cost devices, making Android even better on smaller budgets. Camera Go With Android Go officially crossing the 100 million device threshold, it’s a big part of Google’s mobile ecosystem. […]
Come comment on this article: Camera Go is a better camera app for Android Go smartphones
Samsung has updated their SoundAssistant app on the Galaxy Store, which is typically the app you use to customize the sound experience on a Galaxy smartphone. This update goes a bit further, though, and lets you change up your volume indicator and apply some theme elements to it. It’s a pretty neat update. Samsung SoundAssistant […]
Come comment on this article: What is Samsung SoundAssistant? Here’s how to make your music sound even better
Last September, we announced a series of changes to better protect kids and their privacy on YouTube and to address concerns raised by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Specifically, that all creators will be required to designate their content as made for kids or not made for kids in YouTube Studio, and data from anyone watching a video designated as made for kids will be treated as coming from a child, regardless of the age of the user.
In November, we released a setting in Studio to make it easier for creators to designate their content. And today, we will begin to roll out these changes globally. We wanted to outline what you will start to see in the coming days.
According to the FTC, a video is made for kids if it is intended for kids, taking into consideration a variety of factors. These factors include the subject matter of the video, whether the video has an emphasis on kids characters, themes, toys or games, and more.
To help us identify made for kids content, in November we introduced a new audience setting in YouTube Studio to help creators indicate whether or not their content is made for kids. Creators know their content best, and should set the designation themselves. We also use machine learning to help us identify this content, and creators can update a designation made by our systems if they believe it is incorrect. We will only override a creator designation if abuse or error is detected.
YouTube now treats personal information from anyone watching children’s content on the platform as coming from a child, regardless of the age of the user. This means that on videos made for kids, we limit data collection and use, and as a result, we need to restrict or disable some product features. For example, we no longer serve personalized ads on this content or support features such as comments, live chat, notification bell, stories, save to playlist, and others.
Many creators around the world have created quality kids content for their audiences, and these changes will have significant impact. We’re committed to helping creators navigate this new landscape and to supporting our ecosystem of family content. We’ll share more in the coming months. In the meantime, we continue to engage on this issue. For example, we participated in the FTC’s public workshop and submitted our comment on COPPA, where we discussed the importance of clear guidelines that help creators live up to their legal obligations and support access to quality kids content.
We still recommend parents use YouTube Kids if they plan to allow kids under 13 to watch independently. In fact, tens of millions of people use YouTube Kids every week, and recently we saw an all-time high of weekly viewers since the app’s launch. Starting today, you will see a YouTube Kids promotion across all made for kids content. We also continue to improve the product. For example, we recently launched signed-in support for YouTube Kids on the web and connected devices — such as smart TVs — so parents can now access and control their child’s YouTube Kids experience across even more surfaces.
Responsibility is our number one priority at YouTube, and this includes protecting kids and their privacy. We’ve been significantly investing in the policies, products and practices to help us do this. Today’s changes allow us to do this even better and we’ll continue working to provide children, families and family creators the best experience possible on YouTube.
— The YouTube Team
Qualcomm is best known for their high-end mobile processors, typically in Android smartphones, but that’s not all they do. In fact, they play a pretty big role in Bluetooth connectivity for your phone, too. They’ve announced a new aptX Voice Audio implementation for smartphones that should drastically improve call quality for headphones and headsets. This […]
Come comment on this article: Qualcomm is going to make Bluetooth audio way better at CES 2020
Qualcomm has announced a slew of new technology at their annual conference, all of which should make 2020 a very exciting year. We’ve got improvements to existing processors and security technology, plus some leaps in 5G connectivity. Snapdragon 865 5G The Snapdragon 865 is probably the biggest thing everyone had their eye on, and I […]
Come comment on this article: Qualcomm announces Snapdragon 865 with 5G, better in-display fingerprint scanners, and more
Qualcomm’s current flagship smartwatch processor, the Snapdragon 3100, really isn’t that great. It gets the job done, sure, but it can’t quite match custom SoCs from companies like Samsung and Huawei. And Wear OS watches clearly haven’t taken off, so some ingredient in the recipe is off. We’re hoping that changes with a next-generation wearable […]
Come comment on this article: Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3300 leaks again, giving hope for better Wear OS watches
Tile announced a refresh to their line of products, bringing some slight design changes and better functionality to the Tile Mate, Tile Pro, and Tile Slim. Each of these is made for different use cases, with differeing shapes and ways to stick them to your stuff. We got a chance to play with the entire […]
Come comment on this article: [Review] Tile Slim, Tile Mate, and Tile Pro make Tile’s lineup just a little bit better
We've long been fans of Logitech's MX line of mice, especially the Master series. They're attractive, reliable and have found a home in both our back to school and holiday gift guides. Today the company revealed the newest additions to the family: th…
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Google Fit does an excellent job of tracking all of your fitness goals, but one understated element of your daily health is how well you’re sleeping. If you have compatible apps and accessories you can pretty easily track your sleep by linking those things to Google Fit, but Google wants to take that a bit […]
Come comment on this article: Google Fit wants to track your sleep better, and it’s getting a dark mode, too
Asus’ newest flagship offers excellent hardware with a few quirks at a great price, and takes the American value-flagship crown in the US since the OnePlus 7 won’t be. Asus bore a disappointing history of half-baked and overpriced phones until they launched the underappreciated Zenfone 5 and 5Z last year at excellent prices, however the […]
Come comment on this article: The Asus Zenfone 6 is a better OnePlus 7 for the US
The last major phone teardown that made the news was Samsung’s poorly designed Galaxy Fold. It didn’t last very long, either, since Samsung contacted iFixit and asked them to remove it, stirring up even more bad press. The good news for Google is that their Pixel 3a looks (relatively) easy to take apart and repair, […]
Come comment on this article: Google Pixel 3a gets a teardown and comes out way better than expected
Snapchat has been working on a redesigned app for Android users for what seems like ages, and they’ve even teased some improved API integrations with high-end Android devices. This new app has finally released after years in development, and Snap says it should be significantly better than their previous apps. There aren’t any new features, […]
Come comment on this article: Is Snapchat’s new Android app any better?
Snapchat may soon get better for Android users, but that day is not today. On Monday, Snap teased its long-awaited Android redesign, something that should delight its frustrated users. But while the company is making changes, they're not all quite re…
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Microsoft may have totally abandoned Windows Phone but their Microsoft Launcher for Android is actually one of the better options for third-party launchers for your smartphone. It has a ton of extra features and integration with Microsoft services, and Microsoft frequently updates it with changes, fixes, and new stuff. The latest version of the launcher, […]
Come comment on this article: Microsoft Launcher 5.2 opens up to beta testers with UI changes and better Microsoft Rewards integration
WhiteSmoke Writing Assistant is a program that will help you clean up and improve your writing skills by checking your grammar, diction, and spelling, which guarantees you’ll be writing better emails and stories in no time. Whether you’re using this for business or personal projects, WhiteSmoke offers a plugin for all major browsers and checks […]
Come comment on this article: [TA Deals] Get better at writing with WhiteSmoke! (80% off)
Sony has announced some new software updates that will be coming to the Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra to deliver an even more premium audio experience for users. Sony’s phones typically already try to offer better sound quality with the company’s own ClearAudio+ and Clear Bass technology, but now the devices will also support High-Resolution […]
Come comment on this article: Sony delivers better audio on the Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra
Amazon is improving its Alexa voice assistant with each new update, enabling more natural conversation patterns and upgrading the system's ability to understand complex or vague questions. All of this is great for people who are sick of screaming, "A…
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Samsung has shown some fairly tepid interest in RCS messaging on Android, opting to stick with Samsung Messages as the default app on Galaxy devices instead of Android Messages. That’s pretty much removed Samsung phones from the new enhanced messaging features that Google has been rolling out. But RCS messaging is really cool, especially if […]
Come comment on this article: Samsung and Google are teaming up to create a better Android RCS messaging experience
Snapchat’s Android app is pretty universally hated for poor performance and the occasional lack of features next to its iOS counterpart, and it’s been that way since it first launched. Snapchat has teased nebulous “improvements” for a while now, but so far we haven’t actually see anything worth mentioning, besides UI updates that also go […]
Come comment on this article: New Snapchat update for Android teases better performance and new features
Toughened glass has long protected your phone against a singular drop, but one-and-done isn't how it works in real life — we've all seen butterfingers users whose device falls to the floor on a seemingly weekly basis. Those not-so-coordinated peopl…
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