News: Google's New Home Assistant Is an Amazon Echo Killer
Google first introduced Google Home, its latest smart product in the works, at the company's I/O conference in May 2016. It will directly compete against Amazon's Echo, which has so far been a success with over 3 million devices sold, and it was even featured as FBI Agent Dom's only real friend in the second season of Mr. Robot. Google may have their work cut out for them, but we're betting Home will knock Echo out of the water. Google Home is a personal assistant with a built-in speaker and ...
News: Apple Is Using a Sneaky Gimmick to Get You to Share Their Mother's Day Ad—Don't Fall for It
Celebrating Mother's Day just got more exploitative with Apple's Mother's Day ad. Their original Mother's Day ad shows photos and videos of mothers shot on an iPhone and uses the “Shot on iPhone” marketing line:
How To: Surf the Web Without Restrictions for Free Using Opera's Hidden VPN
The desktop browser market has some stiff competition going on, but Opera has always been able to maintain its market share by offering innovative features such as a data saver option. With over 350 million users, it's safe to say folks are appreciative of the efforts being made by the web browser's development team.
How To: Your One-Stop Guide to Secure, Encrypted Messaging
Now that smartphones have ensured that we're connected to the internet 24/7, online privacy has become more important than ever. With data-mining apps hoping to sell your information for targeted ads, and government agencies only one subpoena away from knowing every detail of your private life, encryption has become our last line of defense.
How To: Cross-Network Play Between Xbox & PlayStation Is a Great Idea... But We Deserve More
It was definitely a shocker when Microsoft proposed cross-network play between the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 last month. After all, Microsoft and Sony have been competing for the same user base for more than a decade now, and this new feature might actually decrease console sales as a whole.
News: The Pitfalls of Kickstarter Projects
"It just ticked me off," he said. In March 2011, Neil Singh paid $50 to back the Hanfree iPad stand on Kickstarter. The project was funded at $35,000, but production stalled, and the delivery estimates kept getting pushed back.
News: Signal, Snowden's Favorite Secure-Messenger App, Is Now on Your Desktop
Encryption is on everyone's mind these days, from the FBI's battles in court with Apple to WhatsApp's recent announcement of end-to-end encryption for their one billion users. Now you can add Signal, whistleblower Edward Snowden's favorite messaging app, back to that whirlwind discussion. Created by Open Whisper Systems, Signal is an encrypted messenger app that allows you to send text, images, video, and audio messages without the fear of prying eyes. They already have an Android and iOS app...
News: 'Nutrition Labels' Will Make Picking the Right Internet Provider Painless
Shopping around for a good broadband company or mobile carrier may soon be as easy as shopping for cereal, thanks to the introduction of broadband consumer labels by the FCC for both fixed and mobile broadband.
News: Snapchat Adds a Ton of New Features, Including Chat 2.0, Video Calling, Stickers, & More
Snapchat began rolling out a massive update on March 29th, dubbed Chat 2.0, that gives users a plethora of new features, basically transforming Snapchat into an all-purpose messaging app.
News: Google Has Outed the Location of the Batcave, & You Can Tour It Right Now
Nobody's supposed to know where the Batcave is, but as most everyone thought, Batman's underground lair lied below the estate of his secret identity, Bruce Wayne, in Gotham City.
News: It Only Took Twitter 16 Hours to Make This Chatbot Racist
On Wednesday, Microsoft launched a chatbot on social media that learns from conversation, and trolls quickly taught it how to be a shameless, Nazi-loving bigot. Oh Internet, an opportunity for a Hitler joke never slips past you, does it? This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
Watch Out Facebook & Twitter: Google's Stepping Up Their Live-Streaming Game
Live streaming has emerged as a major part of the way people share information. With celebrities and news/media personalities utilizing mobile live streaming effectively to reach thousands, the appeal has bolstered the fortunes of Twitter's Periscope and Facebook's Live. Now, Google is ready to join the fray, and it's backed by its enormous YouTube property. According to initial reports, Google is at work on a brand new application for YouTube simply called "Connect," which will take its curr...
News: Whoops! Google Maps Error Ruins Woman's Life
Google Maps, once considered superior to Apple Maps, has contributed to a terrible mistake for one woman. A group of demolition workers in Texas were using the service to find a worksite, and to the dismay of homeowner Lindsay Diaz, Google was entirely inaccurate.
Deal Alert: Google's Giving 75% Off Any Movie Rental
If you've been looking to catch up on some of the Academy Award winners or nominees, or just feel like kicking back and watching a flick but can't find anything good on Netflix or Amazon Prime, then head over to the Google Play Store. Google is offering a single rental for 75% off the listed price, and the bargain is valid for the Play Store's entire collection of rentals. That means you won't be able to use the deal on newer buy-only releases like The Revenant and the Point Break remake. Als...
How To: 8 Fun (& Annoying) Easter Eggs in Google Hangouts
Google has added some fun Easter eggs to Hangouts that'll give you a few more ways to procrastinate throughout your day. All of them (except for one) work on the web browser version, the Chrome app, and the mobile apps for Android and iOS, and are activated by sending a specific message.
News: Whoops! Feds Accidentally Reveal Snowden as Their Email Spy Target
Anyone who paid attention to the Lavabit shutdown had a feeling it was connected to Edward Snowden, the high-profile NSA whistleblower. Ever since the government's case against Lavabit went public in late-2013, people have put two and two together.
How To: There's an Easy Way to Make Sure Your Earphones Are Always Tangle-Free
Headphones cables, USB cables, and other cords have a nasty habit of getting tangled up in-between uses. These tangles are almost always a result of us just mashing and twisting the cord up for "storage," which ends up taking several minutes to carefully untangle.
News: Zelda's Link Comes to Google Maps
An HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess arrived today for Nintendo's Wii U, and Google is celebrating the occasion by swapping in Link—the protagonist of the Legend of Zelda series—for the regular yellow Pegman on Google Maps.
Today Only: Linkin Park's 'Hybrid Theory' Album Free on Google Play
Here's some good news if you were hankering for a little early-2000s electronic-scream-rap-metal to get you through the day. Linkin Park's debut release, Hybrid Theory, the 48th best-selling album of all time, is available for free on the Google Play Store. Hate to break it to everybody abroad, but it looks like the album is free only to users in the U.S.
How To: Make Donald Drumpf Again
John Oliver sunk his teeth into Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during the long segment on the latest Last Week Tonight. The whole 21-minute video is definitely worth a watch, but the real fun starts around the 18-minute mark.
How To: See Your Lifetime Amazon Tab (& Wallow in Your Painful Consumeristic Guilt)
How much you've actually spent and how much you think you've spent are usually two completely different results, and is especially true on Amazon when it's so easy to click and buy. You might think you've given Amazon a couple thousand over your lifetime, when the fact is that it's three or four times that amount.
How To: This Trick Shows You Exactly When You Clicked on That Purple Link
When you click a link from Google search, the link itself turns purple to let you know you've already visited this page. But let's say you're searching for something similar a few weeks from now and you see one of these purple links—you'll probably think to yourself, "What was I reading about on that site?"—and if you don't remember, you'll end up clicking the link again. And if you're a frequent Reddit user, you know this pain all too well.
News: How to Use Speech-to-Text & Other Voice Commands in Google Docs
Google launched voice typing for Google Docs last Fall, and followed that up about six months later with voice commands that let you format and edit text as well. You can do things like select text, apply format settings like alignment and headings, and add and edit tables—all with your voice.
News: Facebook Reactions Are Live & Now You Can Die Happy
Have you ever run across a Facebook post that you don't necessarily want to "Like," but you're not really passionate enough about to bother stringing together a couple words for a comment? Well, you're in luck, as Facebook added five new "Reactions" that let you do more than just like a post, and they're now live for everyone.
News: Why Social Media Is for Women (& the Men Who Want to Date Them)
Gender standards are entirely pervasive. We raise our sons to be masculine and our daughters to be feminine, which perpetuates the gender role formula when they grow up to be parents and raise their own children. Part of this whole equation is that boys are supposed to remain stoic and project an air of strength, and girls are expected to be amiable while being held to unrealistic standards of outward beauty.
How To: 15 Tips to Make You a Google Calendar Pro
Whether scheduling meetings, events, tasks, or even keeping tabs on the weather, a good digital calendar can help you stay on top of your game in ways that a normal calendar could never do. Indeed, there are many calendars to choose from, but Google Calendar is one of the best due to Google's excellent cloud service, feature-rich web-client, and their easy-to-use Android and iOS applications.
Behold the Glory: Watch 500 Episodes of the Simpsons at the Same Time
The Simpsons has used lots and lots and lots and lots of references to Stanley Kubrick's films. Seriously. So many. Alright, I'll stop.
Deal Alert: Get Google Play Music & YouTube Red for Only $5 a Month (Up to 5 Years!)
A couple days back we told you about the 30-day free trial for people interested in YouTube Red, and now Google is running a concurrent promotion that really sweetens the deal, especially if you're a first-time subscriber and own or plan to buy a Chromecast.
News: YouTube Red's First Originals Are Now Streaming
YouTube announced last October some of the original programming it was producing for its YouTube Red subscription service, and the first four originals went live on Wednesday, February 10th.
How To: Chrome's Download Bar Is Useless—This Extension Is the Fix You Need
Chrome's download bar has looked pretty much exactly the same for years now—a simple horizontal menu that spans the entire bottom of the browser and displays buttons for each of your recent downloads. It's not exactly pretty, and when it comes to functionality, the space it occupies could certainly be put to better use.
How To: Play Facebook Messenger's Secret Chess Game
Facebook just keeps coming up with more and more diversions to help you ignore your responsibilities. At least this diversion is a little more intellectual than most of the other things that can easily distract you on Facebook.
How To: Unlock VLC's Hidden Jigsaw Puzzle Mode
The VLC media player just celebrated its 15th birthday in February 2016, marking a decade and a half of hassle-free video playback for hundreds of millions of users on virtually every major operating system. The free and open-source player is so powerful and easy to use that it has almost completely vanquished all would-be competitors in its rise to the top.
How To: Enable Google's Material Design in Chrome's Desktop Browser
Google's design chief Matias Duarte has gained fame and acclaim for his recent visual revamp of the Android operating system, and now, Google's starting to incorporate this Material Design styling into more of its products.
News: How to Access Facebook's Hidden Messenger Website
Facebook's Messenger apps for Android and iOS make it easy to navigate between conversations, helps you keep in touch with your friends or heckle your enemies, and even lets you tag yourself or others in the conversation with hilarious nicknames to keep things interesting.
News: Follow These 20 YouTube Channels for the Best Videos on the Web
YouTube's massive user base comprises almost one third of all people on the internet, and collectively, users spend well over 100 million hours on the site watching billions of videos each day. Add it all up, and this means that YouTube is viewed by more people than any U.S. cable network—making it by far the favorite "TV station" of the internet generation.
How To: This Extension Brings YouTube's Best Mobile Feature to Your Desktop
If you've ever used the YouTube mobile app for Android or iOS, you've probably noticed a cool little multitasking feature it has. While watching any video, you can simply swipe down on your screen to shrink the video down to a thumbnail view, which then allows you to browse the rest of YouTube while the original video keeps playing.
News: Relive Your Childhood with 100 Classic Games from Atari's Vault
Get ready for a blast from the past.
How To: 10 Must-Have Chrome Tools for Lazy Students
Chrome apps and extensions are powerful tools for students: they can help optimize your web browsing experience by helping you take notes, check your grammar as you compose documents and emails, and even help you squeeze a little more juice out of your laptop's battery by freezing unused tabs and optimizing YouTube streams.
News: The 25 Worst Passwords That People Used in 2015
Some things never change. You'd think that with all the focus on web security, people might take the slightest precaution to keep their online activity private. Maybe there are more people suffering from Paula Poundstone's password troubles than we'd like to believe.
News: Netflix to Block VPN & Proxy Users from Streaming Content in Other Territories
Netflix subscribers (or friends of subscribers) have been able to utilize a virtual private network (VPN) or proxy service to gain access to content in other countries. Unfortunately, the movie and TV streaming service announced today that it will soon block those services so that viewers will only have access to movies and shows that are licensed for the country they're currently in.