You shouldn’t need five chat apps

Posted on by Joe Levi

When the Internet was coming into its own back in the ’90’s, we were migrating from “classic” uses (Archie, Finger, Ping, Usenet, FTP, Email, web browsing, etc.), to a more “modern” set. Chances are that you’ve heard of a couple of those, whereas the others have all but faded out of commonality. Today web technologies power most of what we do, and it looks like email is next on the chopping block. If that’s the case, will chat apps replace ...

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A closer look at Google I/O 2016 keynote

Posted on by Joe Levi

Google I/O’s keynote was yesterday and today all the developers are attending learning sessions where they can dive deeper into some of what was presented in the keynote – and a quite a bit more. Now that the hype from the keynote is over, and the glitz and glamor are starting to wear off, let’s take a closer look at the Google I/O 2016 keynote and see what we really learned.Google I/O 2016 KeynoteIn the keynote, a spoken sentence could contain several announcements or unveil numerous changes to the current ecosystem. Sometimes the full impact of what that sentence ...

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Take back your privacy with encryption – before it’s too late

Posted on by Joe Levi

All of us are born with certain “natural rights” – rights which are are not dependent on the laws, customs, or beliefs of any particular culture or government, and are therefore universal and inalienable. Among those are the right to privacy, of which I’m an advocate. Since the world’s governments aren’t doing a very good job respecting privacy (let alone protecting it like they should be), the responsibility falls to us, individually. Thankfully, ...

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Pocketnow Smart Home: Beautify your home with a smart sprinkler controller

Posted on by Joe Levi

In recent years, our phones have evolved into the “universal remote control” – not for our televisions, but for our homes. That’s where the Pocketnow Smart Home series comes in! Thanks to a combination of sensors and Internet of Things innovations, taking your old-fashioned home and turning it into a smart home isn’t as difficult, or as expensive as you might think – and it’s all controllable from your phone, phablet, or tablet.•If you’ve been following our smart home series, you’ve seen how ...

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Android N first impressions (video)

Posted on by Joe Levi

Now that Android 6.0 Marshmallow is running on 2.3% of devices, it’s time for us to start talking about the next version of Android – Android “N”. Marshmallow was released in October 2015, but the Developer Preview of that version (Android “M”) was first unveiled in May 2015 at the Google I/O conference. Just as before, we ...

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Who would ever need a 6GB Smartphone?

Posted on by Joe Levi

“Who would ever need a 6GB smartphone?” Questions like that will get you in trouble. Despite the fact that he says he never said it, Bill Gates still gets cited as the guy who said we’d never need more than 640KB RAM in our computers, and we’ve seen how that turned out. If the Vivo Xplay 5 is to be considered today’s benchmark, the 6GB smartphone is just around the corner. But that brings us back to the question: How much RAM is “enough” in our smartphones, and is 6GB “too much”?To ...

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ASAP Dash: Everything it’s cracked up to be, or just another portable battery?

Posted on by Joe Levi

There’s a new portable phone charger making the rounds that’s making claims that seem too good to be true. It’s called the ASAP Dash and it claims to be the world’s fastest pocket-sized charger.Charging batteries can be compared to filing a bucket with water. If you have a small hose, it will take a long time to fill the bucket, but you won’t spill a drop. If you have a big hose, say a firehose, that bucket might fill in just a second or two ...

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Pocketnow Smart Home: automation with rules and scenes

Posted on by Joe Levi

In recent years, our phones have evolved into the “universal remote control” – not for our televisions, but for our homes. That’s where the Pocketnow Smart Home series comes in! Thanks to a combination of sensors and Internet of Things innovations, taking your old-fashioned home and turning it into a smart home isn’t as difficult, or as expensive as you might think – and it’s all controllable from your phone, phablet, or tablet.•If you’ve been following our smart home series, we laid its ...

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Pocketnow Smart Home: adding sensors and devices

Posted on by Joe Levi

In recent years, our smart phones have evolved into the “universal remote control” – not for our televisions, but for our homes. That’s where the Pocketnow Smart Home series comes in! Thanks to a combination of sensors and Internet of Things innovations, taking your old-fashioned home and turning it into a smart home isn’t as difficult, or as expensive as you might think – and it’s all controllable from your phone, phablet, or tablet.•So far in the series we’ve already covered the ...

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How anti-encryption laws put everyone at risk

Posted on by Joe Levi

California and New York are working on bills that would prohibit (or severely restrict) encryption on phones. Why is encryption so important, and why are encryption laws that prohibit your ability to secure your devices and data such a bad idea?Back before these United States of America were recognized as a country, we were colonies of Great Britain. Pilgrims to the Americas were typically fleeing governmental or religious oppression, seeking a new start is a far-off land, free from the shackles and scrutiny of over-reaching governments and tyrants. That was a long time ago, and what does ...

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Pocketnow Smart Home: selecting your sensors

Posted on by Joe Levi

“A smart home is only as intelligent as the sensors supplying data.”Most homes today only have a few devices to monitor environmental variables, but you already may have a few more than you think. You have a thermostat which controls your heating and cooling system. Your refrigerator/freezer has a couple thermostats inside to tell it when to turn on and off to make sure your food doesn’t go bad – it’s even got a smart switch that turns the little light off when you close the door. Even your sprinkler system could be considered a “smart” device of ...

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Pocketnow Smart Home: selecting your sensors

Posted on by Joe Levi

“A smart home is only as intelligent as the sensors supplying data.”Most homes today only have a few devices to monitor environmental variables, but you already may have a few more than you think. You have a thermostat which controls your heating and cooling system. Your refrigerator/freezer has a couple thermostats inside to tell it when to turn on and off to make sure your food doesn’t go bad – it’s even got a smart switch that turns the little light off when you close the door. Even your sprinkler system could be considered a “smart” device of ...

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Is there any excuse for apps that refuse to rotate?

Posted on by Joe Levi

A long time ago, the screens on our phones were square – and they didn’t rotate when you turned them. These days our screens are notably more rectangular – most mimicking the ratio of our televisions and computers. Videos and pictures are best viewed in landscape, but text is easier to read in portrait.Thankfully, today’s phones can detect the orientation in which they’re being held and automatically rotate the screen accordingly. Most apps roll with it, either stretching or condensing to fill the available width and height, but the good ones reflow their ...

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Five things LG needs to do to make the LG G5 launch a success

Posted on by Joe Levi

“Life’s good… especially when you’ve got a flagship smartphone from LG in your pocket.”With the LG G5’s formal announcement expected to be made at MWC 2016 in Barcelona next month, the rumor-mill is in full force, churning out leaks-a-plenty. Leaks and rumors are one thing, and we could add our voice to an already growing choir of anonymous sources, educated guesses, and outright speculation. Instead, let’s take a look at some of LG’s past offerings and where other players in the industry are today, then come up with five things LG needs to ...

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Pocketnow Smart Home: securing your castle with a smart lock

Posted on by Joe Levi

They say a man’s home is his castle, and just like any good castle, a good home has to be secure. The best way to go about securing you home is by using strong, reliable deadbolt locks on your doors. Those deadbolts only work when they’re locked, and to unlock them you need a key. These days, technology makes things super-convenient, but that convenience can also open us up to vulnerabilities that we’d never considered before.In days gone, by if a person wanted to make a copy of a key they’d have to either take that key to a locksmith or someplace with equipment ...

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