TV Catchup for Android arrives on Google Play

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/04/tv-catchup-android/

TVCatchup, our favorite and most-used TV-watching service has brought its app over to Android. The service, which we've found to be much more reliable than the BBC's live streams on our flaky connection, lets you watch nearly 60 free-to-air channels available in the UK. The ad-supported app is available for free on Google Play right now -- as long as you've paid your license fee, folks.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Software, HD, Mobile

TV Catchup for Android arrives on Google Play originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 07:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Central  |  Google Play  | Email this | Comments

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Bottle Blender Mixes Fresh Fruit and Water To Flavor Your Boring H2O [Bottles]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5939652/bottle-blender-mixes-fresh-fruit-and-water-to-flavor-your-boring-h2o

If plain old water doesn't quench your palate, but you don't want to spring for a fancy flavor-enhanced pre-bottled alternative, feast your eyes upon the Aqua Zinger DIY H2O infuser. It lets you imbue your water with everything from fresh fruit essences, to spices, to candy corn.

What's particularly neat is that you don't need to plug the $26 Aqua Zinger in or ever charge a battery. The blending mechanism is completely manual. You just fill the bottom capsule with whatever you'd like your water to taste like, and attach it to the bottle. The act of screwing it onto the Zinger's base pulverizes and blends what's inside, while a fine mesh screen ensures that only your water can flow between the chambers and absorb the flavors. The website suggests such ingredients as cucumber, mint, or lemon and lime. But deep down you know you've always wanted Evian to introduce a Skittles or Starburst option.

[Zing Anything via PSFK]

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Shocker: smartphone users like bigger screens, market share may respond accordingly

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/03/shocker-smartphone-users-like-bigger-screens/

There's been a trend towards big smartphones. Sometimes, really big. Even so, concerns have persisted that the cart is driving the horse -- that customers are buying big phones because that's what's available, not because they have a preference. Kantar Worldpanel ComTech might not put that issue to bed once and for all, but its latest study suggests that there's at least some appeal to all that extra glass. Among Android phones sold in the past three months across eight countries, 29 percent of them had a screen larger than 4.5 inches. Their owners were unsurprisingly more active as well, using the internet and watching videos more often than those whose phones have more modest displays.

Market share might be following suit. Throughout the countries Kantar is tracking, Android still has roughly half or more of the market, ranging from 46.8 percent in Brazil to a staggering 86.8 percent of Spain. In Europe alone, it was up by just over a fifth from a year ago. We know iOS is taking a beating outside of the US as a result. Before anyone calls the trend irreversible, however, remember that we're on the edge of an unpredictable period: we know some mobile fans have been holding out for a new iPhone, and all the apparent rumors have Apple choosing a b! igger sc reen that might satisfy some outstanding gripes with screen sizes. We're also anticipating at least a few Windows Phone wildcards that could shake up the status quo and make this a three-horse race.

Continue reading Shocker: smartphone users like bigger screens, market share may respond accordingly

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Shocker: smartphone users like bigger screens, market share may respond accordingly originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 14:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TechCrunch  |  Kantar Worldpanel ComTech  | Email this | Comments

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Use Gmail and Google Docs to Easily and Quickly Track Anything [Quantified Self]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5939539/use-gmail-and-google-docs-to-track-anything

Google Docs and Gmail can be used together to create a simple yet flexible way of tracking just about anything. For example, you can easily track your expenses, create a workout log, or set up a food diary. Here's how.

The Power Tips for Google blog offers this awesome tip for setting up a form in Google Docs and then quickly accessing it in Gmail. The system is really easy to set up:

1. Basically, create a spreadsheet in Google Docs and then go to Tools > Create form in the menu.
2. Edit the form to add the items you want to record (e.g., date, amount, payment method, description, categories, etc.)
3. Click on the "Email this form" button to email it to yourself.
4. Whenever you want to add log something and have it entered into your spreadsheet, you can quickly submit the form from within that email.

That's it!

Well, one more thing. For easy access to the form, enable the "Quick Links" lab feature (under Settings > Labs in Gmail) and you can add a permanent link to the form to your menu.

There are lots of ways you can use this. Our one-minute personal inventory form would be great to set up with this system. You can even share the form with other people, for simple group tracking.

Track Your Expenses Using Gmail and Google Docs | Power Tips for Google Docs

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OLPC delivers big OS update with text-to-speech, DisplayLink and WebKit

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/02/olpc-delivers-big-os-update-with-text-to-speech-displaylink/

While most of its energy is focused on the XO-4 Touch, the One Laptop Per Child project is swinging into full gear for software, too. The project team has just posted an OS 12.1.0 update that sweetens the Sugar for at least present-day XO units. As of this latest revamp, text-to-speech is woven into the interface and vocalizes any selectable text -- a big help for students that are more comfortable speaking their language than reading it. USB video output has been given its own lift through support for more ubiquitous DisplayLink adapters. If you're looking for the majority of changes, however, they're under-the-hood tweaks to bring the OLPC architecture up to snuff. Upgrades to GTK3+ and GNOME 3.4 help, but we're primarily noticing a shift from Mozilla's web engine to WebKit for browsing: although the OLPC crew may have been forced to swap code because of Mozilla's policies on third-party apps, it's promising a much faster and more Sugar-tinged web experience as part of the switch. While they're not the same as getting an XO-3 tablet, the upgrades found at the source link are big enough that classrooms (and the occasional individual) will be glad they held on to that early XO mo! del.

Filed under: Laptops, Software

OLPC delivers big OS update with text-to-speech, DisplayLink and WebKit originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Sep 2012 02:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phoronix  |  OLPC Wiki  | Email this | Comments

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