Technology and Body

What to Expect at Monday's Apple Watch Event — and Where to Watch It Live Apple’s mysterious March 9 announcement is nigh, which means that approximately 200 thousand billion blogs have started rumors about what exactly the company plans to announce.  Judging from the cheesy watch pun that accompanied Apple’s invites to the event, we know that there’ll be plenty of new details on the Apple Watch, including its much-anticipated spring release date . But does Tim Cook have anything else up his sleeve? We’ll be there, liveblogging the event for you bright and early on Monday at 10 a.m. PT.  On Monday, join me, Rafe Needleman, and David Pogue for real-time updates on what Apple is announcing, as well as our live analysis and commentary. After Apple execs leave the stage, stick around in the liveblog to text chat with Pogue to get his take on the news.  Apple Watch (Via Yahoo Tech) Ever since Apple unveiled the  App...

WhatsApp Says It’s Not “Permanently” Banning Users From Its Service, Just Blocking Third-Party Clients Quite a few reports circling the web this week appear to indicate a tightening of WhatsApp’s policy toward the usage of third-party WhatsApp client applications. That is, word has it that those using an unofficial app will be banned from WhatsApp for life . However, that’s not exactly the case, WhatsApp explains. In fact, there’s been no larger policy shift since we last reported on the now Facebook-owned company’s crackdown on third-party app usage earlier this year. As you may recall, in January, WhatsApp began banning users from its service when they were found to be using a third-party (unofficial) WhatsApp mobile application. In order to be allowed back into WhatsApp, users were asked to uninstall the offending app from their phone, then download the authorized version of WhatsApp from the app store instead. The company also explained the policy...

What To Expect From The Apple Watch Event The Apple Watch is set to be the star of Apple’s special event on Monday in San Francisco, putting us in the rare position of actually knowing a lot about what’s coming in advance.  That’s because Apple officially introduced the Apple Watch to the world last September at its special iPhone event, even showing off working hardware (and letting journalists like us try on versions of the Watch running locked demo loops of its software). Monday will still offer plenty of surprises, however, so here’s a look at what we know, what we expect, and what we’d like to see but probably won’t. Apple Watch Apple’s wearable will come in three separate collections , including the “Watch,” “Watch Sport” and “Watch Edition.” The Sport model will be the most affordable, offering an anodized aluminum case, special strengthened glass Apple calls “Ion-X,” and shipping with plastic bands in a variety of brigh...

Google Launches A New Tool To Sell Car Insurance To U.S Web Searchers Confirming earlier reports that Google has been plotting a move to help sell consumers auto insurance in the U.S., the search giant announced this morning it’s launching a new feature called “ Google Compare for Auto Insurance ,” a comparison-shopping site that lets you compare the rates from different insurance providers. The option to compare rates will begin popping up after a consumer does a Google search for “car insurance” using Google’s search engine. Initially, the service is being made available to California residents, but Google says other states will soon follow later this year. Consumers who enter in this search query will see a small, gray questionnaire appear, asking for their zip code, and other information about their vehicle. If they choose to fill that out, Google will return a comparison unit listing insurance premiums, provided by its insurance advertiser partners. Alterna...

Cyber scammers circulating fake messages on WhatsApp WhatsApp users across the world are being targeted by cyber scammers who are circulating fake messages inviting users to test the new calling feature that fills the phone with dangerous malware. WhatsApp users across the  world  are being targeted by cyber  scammers who are circulating fake  messages inviting users to test the new calling feature that fills the phone with dangerous malware. If users click on the link, they are taken to another website where they are asked to take a survey on behalf of the popular messaging service, according to the  Daily Star.  However, the survey forces people to download applications and  software  that might contain dangerous malware. WhatsApp has not announced the calling feature officially. However, some users claim to have used it.

Microsoft Releases Preview Build for Office for Mac 2016 Mac: Microsoft Office for the Mac hasn't been fully updated since 2011, but Microsoft just put the training wheels on its preview build for Office 2016, and you can check it out for free right now. The preview comes packed with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. As you'd expect, it sports a brand new look, full-screen views, and Retina display optimization. Office 2016 only supports Yosemite, so you'll need to get your Mac upgraded to the newest OS if you're interested in checking it out. You can download the preview right now from Microsoft.

Reduce Data Consumption in Mobile Chrome with These Settings iOS/Android: With mobile data caps becoming ubiquitous, anything you can do to reduce data consumption helps. Depending on your OS, Chrome has a couple of options you can use to cut that number down while browsing. As tips blog Addictive Tips points out, iOS has one option that's not available for Android: disabling the preloading of webpages. To turn this off, go to Chrome's settings > Advanced > Bandwidth > Preload webpages. You can choose to either disable it entirely, or only preload webpages while on Wi-Fi. This should help save you some data. The other option, which is available for both Android and iOS, is data compression. This used to be a flag that was buried in the Chrome beta, but now it's a baked-in feature for Chrome on both platforms. In iOS, this can be found under the same Bandwidth menu. In Android, go to Settings, scroll down to the Advanced section, and enable "R...

How to Stop iTunes, iPhoto and Image Capture from Automatically Launching When Connecting iPhone Ads by Google I’m sure you’re familiar with that icon pop in the Dock . It happens when there’s an error with an app or when you connect your iPhone. iTunes goes crazy and asks you to download and install the latest update. And of course, all you wanted to do was charge the damn thing. It also happens when you connect your camera . This time either iPhoto or Image Capture pops up. This of course, is a helpful feature. But you might want to disable iPhoto and go with Image Capture, for example, or ditch the default apps altogether and sync with a third party app like Lightroom. Follow the steps below to disable auto launch for iPhoto, Image Capture, and iTunes respectively. Stop iPhoto or Image Capture from Opening Automatically Open iPhoto and go to iPhoto -> Preferences . In General you’ll see an option called Connecting Camera Opens:  and by def...

Microsoft comes right out and says backup software is dead When you run a cloud, everything looks like it's approaching boiling point Microsoft's been making lots of noise lately about its send-your-snapshots-to-the-cloud service Azure Site Recovery. But now it's come right out and said it: Redmond reckons backup software deserves to die. “If cloud storage had existed decades ago, it’s unlikely that the industry would have developed the backup processes that are commonly used today,” Microsoft says . Redmond reckons that disaster recovery plans are all very well, but are hard to test and are probably not covering the diverse fleet of backup products most organisations have accrued over the years. Even organisations that can cook up holistic backup regimes still have to wrangle all manner of hardware and software, which adds up to complexity and cost and all the stuff tha...

How to pay with your smartphone without Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or Google Wallet Before you run out to get a new phone with mobile payment capabilities, check out these three apps that let you pay with the phone you have right now, no NFC required. With Apple Pay gaining steam and Samsung releasing its own system at Mobile World Congress 2015, called Samsung Pay , mobile payments getting mainstream. In the coming years I'm betting that nearly every phone will let you quickly check out without grabbing for your wallet. More about mobile payments Everything you need to know about NFC and mobile payments Samsung Pay in action (hands-on) ...

Apple’s Streaming Music Service Will Debut In June Apple’s streaming music service, which will be a totally overhauled version of Beats but with iTunes branding and tighter integration with Apple’s own devices and software, will make its official debut in June, likely at WWDC. A source with knowledge of the company’s current plans tells Techno Freaks June 8 is the target launch date, at least for an official unveiling.  9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman has reported that it will premiere at Apple’s annual developer conference event, which many suspect will fall between June 8 and June 12 this year, though no official dates have yet been set. Apple’s streaming music offering aims to bring in some of the Beats-style personalization and recommendation features of that current streaming service but will likely be mostly new on the software side, and without Beats branding , as we first reported back in September. Apple still apparently plans to offer the service across pla...

Microsoft And Google Collaborate On Angular 2 Framework, TypeScript Language Here’s a partnership that may come as a surprise to many: Microsoft and Google are working together to help make Angular 2 — the next (and somewhat controversial) version of Google’s JavaScript web app framework — better. Angular has been using its own AtScript superset of Microsoft’s TypeScript for a while now. TypeScript  is Microsoft’s attempt at extending JavaScript with features like type annotations, generics and modules. Going forward, the two languages will converge. Angular 2 will be written in TypeScript and developers will be able to write their Angular 2 applications in this language,too. The AtScript language made its debut last October, but it looks like the AtScript name will be retired in favor of TypeScript. Angular, at various times in its development, was written in plain JavaScript, Google’s own Dart language and AtScript (there are still separate ...

If You Run A Facebook Page, Expect The Like Count To Drop Soon Do you run a Facebook Page? Heads up: your page’s “Like” count is probably going to drop a bit soon, and it’s totally not your fault. The short version: Facebook is changing the way it’s counting likes, subtracting any accounts that have been either manually deactivated or “memorialized” after its owner passed. It’s something that probably should have been done since the beginning — but since it wasn’t, it’d be easy to think your Likes had dropped because of something you’d done. One thing that’s important to note: it seems that this only accounts for profiles that have been manually deactivated. Likes from profiles that could be considered “inactive” because the user just hasn’t logged in for a while will continue to count. The shift won’t happen immediately; Facebook says it’ll roll out in “the coming weeks.” So how many Likes might you lose? It’s tough to say. While Facebook says to expect a...

Signal Keeps Your iPhone Calls And Texts Safe From Government Spies Don’t want someone else handing your text messages, pictures, video or phone conversations over to the government? There’s an app for that. An iOS app called Signal is a project out of Open Whisper Systems, a not-for-profit collective of hackers dedicated to making it harder for prying government eyes to get a hold of your information. It gets high marks from both the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation as a comprehensive solution for protecting your privacy. The second version of the app, which launched this week on the App Store, makes it possible to send encrypted group, text, picture and video messages for free from iPhone to iPhone. For those who want to share with their friends on Android, the community organization currently has two Android apps — TextSecure and RedPhone — that need to be combined to do the same thing as Signal does on iOS. ...

Office 2016 For Mac Preview Now Available, No Office 365 Subscription Required Microsoft already told us Office 2016 for Mac was coming, but the public preview is out now as a free download , without any Office 365 subscription required. The updated software includes support for Retina displays, as well as iCloud syncing, and has a look and feel more in tune with the versions of Office currently available on Windows and mobile. Office 2016 for Mac includes redesigned versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook for Mac users, and can be installed and used right alongside Office for Mac 2011 for anyone hesitant to switch entirely to pre-release software for their productivity needs. The preview will be updated on an ongoing basis and includes an auto-update feature, and while each new build will expire 60 days after its release, the preview will remain freely available to download until the official launch. When it becomes shipping consumer...

Let’s Face It: The Apple Watch Will Sell More Than A Million Units In Its First Month As we approach AW-Day, the naysayers are coming out to put their hand in front of the bottle of champagne that will be used to christen the S.S. Apple Watch. The most prominent of those naysayers was Mark Wilson , a traditionally even-keeled fellow who, in his own way, is pushing the pro- and anti-Apple Watch argument forward. I won’t even debase his post with the term clickbait: he has a lot of good ideas and he comes from a place of love, not fanboi-ism. So here I go with my prediction: the Apple Watch won’t be a flop, it will be a success. It will change multiple industries at once and force entrenched players to rethink every one of their strategies. The watch will grow a fascinating ecosystem of accessories and new industries dedicated to shrinking commerce, mapping, interaction, and dating down to a watch’s smaller real estate will be born....