There’s Already a Google Glass App That Let’s You Take Photos With a Wink

Last week we reported that the ability to control Google Glass with the wink of an eye was a very real possibility. Now, an enterprising chap by the name of Mike DiGiovanni has made that a reality.

The developer has created an app called Winky, which lets you power up Glass from standby and take a picture with just a single wink. There’s even a video of the process in action. Clearly, a long deliberate wink is required—so as not to misinterpret blinking, presumably—but it’s pretty neat that it’s possible to command the device without touch or voice.

Indeed, DiGiovanni thinks that it “really changes things”, and one suspects that it won’t do much to help ease the privacy concerns surrounding Glass. But we’ll be able to find out in real-time, because DiGiovanni has made the source code for the app available on GitHub, so that early adopters will be able to take as many wink-triggered pictures as they like. Creep shots have never been so easy.

Samsung Galaxy S4: Everything You Need To Know

At a packed event in New York’s Radio City Music Hall Thursday, Samsung revealed its newest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S 4. Following in the footsteps of the bestselling Android phone on the market, the Galaxy S III, the S 4 sports a number of unique new features, while keeping some favorite options from its predecessor.

A far from ordinary event, the announcement was full of song and dance numbers, some bizarre theater moments, and a few surprises.

A Familiar Look
At first glance, you’d be forgiven for mistaking the Galaxy S 4 for the Galaxy S III. The phone sports a very similar look and feel to its predecessor, in a slightly thinner body, with a slightly larger 5-inch screen. The handset is made entirely of polycarbonate, and will be available in two options: black mist and white frost.

The phone has an updated 1080p Super AMOLED screen. Depending on the market you’re in, you’ll get a 1.9Ghz quad-core processor or a 1.6 octa-core processor under the hood as well as 2GB of RAM.

An IR-blaster built into the phone allows it to replace your television’s remote control. Samsung’s WatchOn software works as a virtual TV Guide of sorts to enhance that experience.

A 2,600mAh battery powers the handset, and while Samsung didn’t specify at the event what that 2,600mAh would get you, it did say that it was constantly working on software tweaks to ensure you get the most out of that battery.

The Camera Is Where The Galaxy S 4 Shines

The Galaxy S 4 camera saw an improvement on both the hardware and software side of things. The phone has a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, and a 2-megapixel forward-facing camera.

The handset sports some of the same features at Samsung’s Galaxy Camera, including several of the scene modes as well as the on-screen mode dial. All in all, the phone has 12 different shooting modes.

One particularly noteworthy feature is Samsung’s DualShot, a feature not entirely unlike a feature announced by LG Wednesday, which allows you to take a photo with both the front and rear camera at the same time and then combine the two together into a single photograph.

Another interesting camera feature is Cinema Photo, similar to Cinemagram, which lets you pick one piece of your photo to move, while keeping the others still.

The Galaxy S 4 comes running Android 4.2.2, currently the most recent version of Android. Along with Android’s stock features, Samsung has added a number of other Galaxy-specific software features to the phone that make it stand out from the pack.

Samsung’s Smart Scroll feature allows you to scroll through websites by tilting your phone. A Smart Pause feature lets you control the screen with your eyes. Similar to LG’s ‘Smart Video’ feature, the feature stops and starts video based on whether or not you’re looking at the screen.

If you’re watching a movie and put your phone down to grab a snack, video play will stop until you return and look at the screen again.

Group Play lets you share music, photos and games with the people around you. The feature can also be used to play music together as a group, turning your friend’s phones into a makeshift surround system of sorts. For instance, your phone might play the role of the right speaker, while your friend Bob will be the left. If your friend Sarah decides to join in on the fun, her phone can be the center speaker in your system, and so on.

An Air View features lets you hover your fingers over an email, S Planner, or image gallery to view a larger preview of content before selecting it, and an Air Gesture feature allows you to change a song, scroll through a web page, or answer a call by just waving your hand.

An S Health feature attempts to replace your FitBit, and works as not only a pedometer, but also a way to keep track of what you eat and your sleeping patterns. An optional ‘S Band’ syncs via Bluetooth with your phone and can be used when it might not be practical to tote your S4 along with you.

Finally, S Translate helps you translate your email or text messages into one of nine different languages, using text or voice translation. The feature can translate from both speech-to-text and text-to-speech.

When Can I Get One?
If you blinked during the event, you might have missed the Galaxy S 4’s release date. A slide briefly noted that the phone would be available starting in April.

No price points or specific carrier availability information was shared on stage. But in the U.S. Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, U.S. Cellular and Cricket have all committed to carrying the handset.

What do you think of the Galaxy S4? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Source: Mashable

Apple Not Focused On Developing Cheaper iPhone, Says Marketing SVP Phil Schiller

Earlier this week, reports that a cheaper iPhone is in the works caused plenty of buzz as observers speculated about how such a device could help Apple target emerging markets, including China. But an interview Apple Marketing SVP Phil Schiller gave to the Shanghai Evening News (link via Google Translate) was a strong enough refutation to the rumors for Reuters to withdraw its original report about a less pricey version of the gadget. (TNW confirmed with Apple that this was an official interview).

Schiller told the newspaper that Apple is not focused on issuing a less expensive version of the iPhone to grab market share: “We are not like other companies, launching multiple products at once, then hoping one will get the attention of consumers,” Schiller said.He added that Apple only uses top technology and high-quality components when developing new products.

Reports have circulated since early 2011 that Apple is working on a less pricey iPhone. Such a device would cost roughly half as much as current iPhones and be made with less expensive parts, like a shell made of polycarbonate plastic, or recycled components. A more affordable iPhone would help Apple compete with Android handsets in developing economies including China and India. Schiller’s interview with Shanghai Evening News comes at the same time as Apple CEO Tim Cook’s visit to China, where he has been focused on opening the way for Apple to gain greater market share in that country.

Source : TechCrunch

UniFlash for Android Flashes, Manages, and Installs ROMs From Your Desktop

Android/Windows: UniFlash is a Windows utility that lets you download, flash, back up, restore, and install new ROMs on your Android device, all from the comfort of your desktop.

UniFlash is designed for people who love to experiment and play with their Android device, but the UI is easy to use and simple enough that even someone looking to install a new ROM for the first time will feel comfortable using it. There are some prerequisites though: the app only supports devices that are rooted (check out this always up to date guide to rooting your Android phone) for instructions how), with unlocked bootloaders, USB-debugging enabled( to put your pre-ICS phone in USB debugging mode, just head to Settings > Applications > Development and check USB Debugging. In ICS, go to Settings > Developer, enable developer options, then enable USB debugging,) and a recovery tool like ClockworkMod’s ROM Manager installed.

Once you’ve met the pre-reqs, connect your phone to your computer, and let UniFlash identify your device. On the right side of the window, you’ll see your phone’s make and model, ROM version number, available storage, and more. On the left, you have options to back up your device (which we suggest you do before using the app to do anything else), restore it, mod or install new ROMs, download new ROMs and other software to install, sideload APKs, copy files to and from your device like an external drive, and more. The app even lets you flash a new kernel, something wholeheartedly endorsed.

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. UniFlash is incredibly comprehensive, and lets you remove system apps like carrier-installed bloatware, update pre-installed ROMs quickly, and do wipe/resets from your desktop. Keep in mind though that whole the app worked well in our tests, your mileage may vary depending on your device model. You can pick it up over at the XDA Developer Forums at the link below and read more about it in this thread. UniFlash supports Windows systems running XP and higher.

Download UniFlash from the source link, and please note all other information can be found over at the original thread, which you’ll find via this link. If you it any snags, then once again, please head over to the experts.

Check out Android Apps gallery to explore more apps for your Android smartphone or tablet device.

ZTE to launch Mozilla-based smartphones early next year

ZTE just can’t get enough mobile OS’s. The manufacturer is all over Android, it’s got Windows Phone 8 coming out of leaky pores, and now it’s revealed plans to launch phones based on the Firefox OS (formerly “Boot to Gecko”) as early as the the first quarter of next year. That’s not so surprising, perhaps, given that Mozilla already told us it was working with ZTE to bring its HTML-5 powered platform to life, but it further emphasizes the fact that Chinese smartphone giants are casting about for a viable alternative to Google.

Source: WSJ

Don’t Know How To Code? Use Scroll Kit To Build Your Next Website

So this thing called the Internet makes it easy for pretty much anyone to have a voice and get messages across. The problem is that building beautiful, intuitive websites typically requires some knowledge of code. New York City-based Scroll Kit is trying to change that, with an intuitive web app that allows anyone to build compelling experiences with no background knowledge necessary.

Scroll Kit provides users with what’s basically an empty canvas on which they can place anything — text, pictures, whatever — and with one click publish it to the web. The product goes beyond most WYSIWYG web editors, allowing users to control pretty much every pixel of a page and rearrange page elements at will. While the tool proves that you don’t need to know how to code to build something beautiful, the real point is to show that even if you do know how to code, that doesn’t mean you will be able to build a great website.

Up until now, Scroll Kit has been operating pretty quietly, letting early users create sites and rolling out features to support the product. The two-person team, made up of Cody Brown and Kate Ray, basically issued a manifesto today on how the future of the web should be accessible to anyone. The three key tenets: providing an open canvas for development, letting users get feedback from people they know, and allowing people to “play” — that is, making website building actually fun.

So far, Scroll Kit users have primarily used the site to build personal websites and web-based birthday or holiday cards to share with friends and family. Everything that gets published is hosted by Scroll Kit, and the team continues to add new features. Those include custom domains — so that users can host their creations on their own URLs — as well as embeddable videos, and the ability for users to draw their own images. The service is essentially free, but Scroll Kit plans to make money by charging for additional features.

Scroll Kit is currently just the two founders, but it’s been funded and is looking to bring on more designers and engineers to further extend its capabilities. The startup raised just short of $225,000 in seed funding to do so.

Source: TechCrunch

Facebook in Talks to Acquire Face.com for ‘Tens of Millions’ [REPORT]

Facebook may be about to acquire facial recognition tool Face.com, according to multiple reports.

Israeli business publication Calcalist, which has accurately leaked acquisitions of a number of Israeli companies in the past (including Apple’s acquisition of flash storage company Anobit), says that Facebook is in talks to purchase the startup for “tens of millions of dollars.”

Face.com already powers two photo apps on Facebook’s platform, Photo Finder and Photo Tagger. The company also has a public API, which it updated in March to enable third-party apps to estimates the ages and moods of people in photos.

Rumors that Facebook was interested in acquiring Face.com have appeared before, but the two companies disagreed over price, TheNextWeb reports.

Should the latest rumor be true, this will be Facebook’s first major acquisition since going public earlier this month — unless last week’s rumor about Facebook’s interest in acquiring Opera happens to be true.

A Facebook spokesperson said the company does not comment on rumors.

Source: Mashable Tech

NYT: Facebook Is Working on Its Own Smartphone (Again) [Rumors]

The concept of a Facebook phone has floated around since 2010, though it’s never come to fruition. Even last year’s efforts between the Big Blue and HTC amounted to nothing more than a basic Android handset. But now the New York Times reports that Facebook is buying up phone-designing talent—which could mean Facebook phone is still a possibility.

The Times reports that Facebook is gradually building a small, select team of ex-Apple employees to work on Project Buffy—an initiative initially entered into with HTC, but one which still has legs, at least for Facebook. From the article:

“Employees of Facebook and several engineers who have been sought out by recruiters there, as well as people briefed on Facebook’s plans, say the company hopes to release its own smartphone by next year. These people spoke only on the condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing their employment or relationships with Facebook.

“The company has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple software and hardware engineers who worked on the iPhone, and one who worked on the iPad, the employees and those briefed on the plans said…

“One engineer who formerly worked at Apple and worked on the iPhone said he had met with Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, who then peppered him with questions about the inner workings of smartphones. It did not sound like idle intellectual curiosity, the engineer said; Mr. Zuckerberg asked about intricate details, including the types of chips used, he said. Another former Apple hardware engineer was recruited by a Facebook executive and was told about the company’s hardware explorations.”

As Business Insider points out, it’s interesting that Facebook is developing an entire eco-system of mobile software in plain sight: it’s core app, Messenger, and now Facebook Camera. There have even been some suggestions that Facebook is keen to buy Opera. While that’s no evidence that Facebook is planning on developing its own mobile operating system, it does mark it out as one of the few companies that could.

Perhaps rather ambitiously, the Times also suggests that Facebook might even release a phone as early as next year. It remains to be seen how realistic that is—but it certainly seems like Zuckerberg is still keen to give the idea a shot.[New York Times]

Image by Johan Larsson under Creative Commons license

Source: Gizmodo

Why Facebook Just Launched Its Own Instagram

Just a month after announcing its plans to devour hit app Instagram to the tune of $1 billion, Facebook has released its very own photo sharing app. But is two a crowd?

Camera, Facebook’s brand new photo sharing app, is built to do precisely the same thing as its wildly popular stepsister, but it feeds directly into Facebook rather than into Instagram’s walled garden, population 40 million and growing. It may not officially have Instagram DNA, but Facebook Camera offers up a palette of 14 filters to please any budding mobile photog, though they sport more literal labels (“Neon” and “Golden”) than in Instagram’s own moody toolkit.

Tinker with your photo (you know you want to crop it into a square, go ahead), apply a filter to set the tone, tag a friend and send it straight to Facebook. Like Instagram photos on Facebook, it’ll appear on your Timeline at full-width – and fast. Facebook Camera, which was built independently of Kevin Systrom and co., runs circles around the regular Facebook app in terms of speed and navigability. If you mainly use Facebook to share photos with friends, Facebook Camera is a sleek, lightweight way to beam your pictures to the social network – but it’s no Instagram.

Or Is It?

Facebook Camera takes more than a few cues from the photo sharing service we all know and love, but it’s got a leg up with that whole 90-plus-million-strong active userbase. But why did Facebook make its very own Instagram at all? Facebook has been building this app for the better part of a year, since well before it successfully put the moves on Instagram. In fact, at least some photo filter features were ready to roll last August, according to engineers involved with the project.

Facebook couldn’t just sit on its hands while Instafever spread like so much Toaster-tinted wildfire. As the company made a move for the photo sharing app, it was smart to develop its own in parallel – it certainly has the resources to do so. Facebook Camera was insurance that the king of social won’t look like a lumbering giant next to the hot photo filtering craze that has all the social media whippersnappers in a tizzy. Instagram innovated, and gave us something we didn’t know we needed until there we were, huddled over an iPhone screen tweaking a teensy square photo with the zeal of a less digital artist. As ReadWriteWeb Editor-at-Large Dan Frommer puts it, “Facebook bought Instagram because it’s doing something new and different that’s special; because it represented the biggest existing threat to Facebook.” It wanted to assure us that, as the true sovereign of social, it can meet the evolving needs of its vast kingdom – there’s no need to let our eyes wander.

The polished little in-house photo app – which was developed independently of the Instagram team – must have been burning a hole in Facebook’s pocket. And the company might as well siphon off Instagrammers while it watches the clock – they’ll all end up in the same place anyhow.

Beyond Instagram, Facebook Camera also throws some elbows in the direction of Google+’s slick photo features. Google+ is still floundering when it comes to engaging users, but the site has a dedicated base of photogs who enjoy tools like Instant Upload and the large lightbox photo view, which Facebook mixed into its own recipe in February.

Camera isn’t Facebook’s only spinoff app. Last year it released Messenger, another service that serves its purpose far better than the Facebook app itself. Just like with the ill-fated Pool Party and the advent of Google+, there likely isn’t room for two.

It’s hard to say what Facebook will do with its new set of photo sharing nesting dolls. Once the Instagram buy goes through (assuming it’s smooth sailing), the social giant will have the choice of integrating the two, or deep sixing one altogether. And after Instagram’s loyalist outcry, it’d be wise to handle both the popular product and the brand with kid gloves. May the best-loved app win.

Source: ReadWriteWeb

The Compact Bluetooth iOS Remote That Apple Won’t Give Us

Apple’s wireless Bluetooth keyboard plays wonderfully with all of the company’s hardware, from laptops to iOS devices. But for whatever reason, Apple has limited its lovely aluminum remote to IR, so it won’t work with your iPhone or iPad. So Satechi has stepped in to save the lazy day.

Its Bluetooth multimedia remote might not be as sleek as Apple’s hardware, but it makes up for it with extra functionality including a dedicated mute button, a camera shutter release, and a duplicate home button so you can even activate Siri from afar. Furthermore, there’s a sliding panel revealing a compact set of numeric buttons for selecting specific tracks or chapters, and on a single battery it will run for at least six months. Totally worth the $40 they’re asking if it means you no longer have to reach an extra six inches to skip a track on your phone.

Source: Gizmodo Tech