sincity

You can now control the Nest Secure alarm system using Google Assistant. You’ll be able to check on the status of your alarm system from anywhere if you’ve got a connected Google Assistant device, which should include Android phones and Android Wear devices. What this means is that if you’ve left the house in a rush and forgotten to set your alarm you'll be able to arm the system by giving a voice command to your smartwatch. You can even toggle between the different security modes you’ve got set up on your Secure. As Nest is a Google company (originally bought by Google, then an Alphabet company, then re-absorbed into Google), it’s surprising that Google Assistant integration has taken this long to come to the device. Some set-up requiredIn February 2018 Google Assistant worked its way into the Nest Cam IQ, effectively turning it into a smart speaker. You won’t get the same functionality here as the Secure lacks the two-way audio that the Cam IQ has, but the feature is live now if you’ve got a Google Assistant speaker and a Nest Secure. It’s worth noting that the Google Assistant feature won’t work if you’ve got your Nest Secure set up to only arm with a PIN, so you may have to fiddle with your settings a little to take advantage of this new feature. If you're worried about burglars taking advantage of the voice control feature to disable your alarm the amount of voice control is fairly limited, with the deactivation feature only available in the moments directly after the alarm has been set. Looking to beef up your home security? Check out: Best security camera: keep an eye on your home from your smartphoneVia Digital Trends http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/r0zWOCYxI90

Since the Amazon Echo Button launched in September 2017 as a fun game accessory for your Amazon Echo devices, Amazon has only released 22 Alexa skill games for the device, most of which don’t have the greatest reviews. Thankfully, Echo Button owners hungry for new content may not have to wait long as Amazon announced on Tuesday the release of the Gadget Skills API Beta. Now, independent developers can use the Alexa Skills Kit to integrate the Echo Button’s “inputs and actions” into their Alexa apps. As part of the announcement, Amazon unveiled some games that indie devs with advance beta access created, such as Color Tap (which tests your reaction speed), Simon Tap (the classic Hasbro game, only with Alexa and your Button) and Freedom Buttons (a recording of Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech that lights the Button like a candle). The Freedom Buttons Skill shows Amazon trying to make good on a CES promise to add some non-game Skills to Buttons. Amazon's documentation page mentions how the Button can act as a “sound effect generator” or a colored light-up indicator—turning red when your timer hits zero, for example. Amazon even suggests devs can “add Echo Buttons to an existing skill”. So if you had an Alexa-enabled smart speaker or smart TV, for example, you could theoretically tell Alexa to make your Button an instant on-off switch for that device. Of course, with only one possible input available, your Button’s capabilities are fairly limited as an accessory to other devices; we’re curious how many devs will take Amazon up on their beta offer. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3nAgVZa8Go45eoan3i9K8M.jpg Credit: Amazon Amazon’s announcement also contains a hint that the Echo Button isn’t the only Amazon gadget that could work with the new API. The graph above specifically points out that the Gadget Controller Interface could work with any Amazon gadget, not just the Button. There are already a ton of gadgets with Alexa support, but Amazon’s new Gadget SDK could make it easier for developers to create their own game accessories with Alexa built in. With the SDK, Amazon says, Alexa can "control your gadget to move motors, play sounds, flash lights, or trigger other actions based on customer interactions with Alexa". So if you own an Echo but don't want to drop £20/$20 on a pair of Buttons, you should still keep your eyes peeled for other cool Alexa Gadgets in the near future. These are the best Amazon Kindle deals this month!http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/qEv377fg9Qk

Tech companies are facing scrutiny like never before. As Mitchell Baker, executive chairwoman of the Mozilla Foundation says, the mood had turned around completely since 2010 – the year of the Arab Spring, when web companies were hailed as a tremendous force for positive change. "We think we need to look for other ways. Prototyping, testing out things, showing how something else is possible."Mitchell Baker Then, social media was a way for people whose voices were stifled by mainstream media channels to spread awareness and organize protests. Now, Facebook and Twitter are struggling to encourage civil conversations, and the Cambridge Analytica scandal has thrust their privacy practices into the public eye. Against this backdrop, Mozilla (creator of Firefox) has updated its manifesto – a set of guiding principles the non-profit organization uses to direct its work. We spoke to Mitchell Baker, executive chairwoman of the Mozilla Foundation, about the reasons for the update and the role of tech companies in society today. A disturbing setting"We’ve always been a technology organisation that’s focused on the impact of technology on society," Baker said. "To have a healthy society, you need to have a healthy infrastructure. To have healthy discourse, the tools need to be built with that in mind. "It’s become apparent that the state of technology and business really can impact on overall society. We’re starting to see that become prevalent. We’re relieved that the big tech business models are becoming broadly known, but the setting in which it’s happening is disturbing." "Acknowledging that tech has an impact on society and reflects the people who build it is really important."Mitchell Baker Baker doesn't claim Mozilla has all the answers to this problem, but thinks the tech industry can do better and should spend time experimenting with alternatives to current practices. "We are a global brand, but we’re not like the others," she said. "We're a non-profit and see the internet as a public service and we want to be clear and direct so we can attract new ideas. We need new ideas and innovation. "We think sometimes you end up with a product that is good for consumers on a mass scale – that’s Firefox – but we think we need to look for other ways. Prototyping, testing out things, showing how something else is possible." Your advocate for privacySo what are the alternatives? Baker accepts that advertising is the main revenue source online, just as it has always been in print publishing, but Mozilla is experimenting with ways to detach it from users' data. In US, it's testing targeted advertising where all the targeting is done within the user's own copy of Firefox. Information about your browsing is never transmitted externally. "Your copy of Firefox is your advocate for privacy on the internet," she explained. "Google thinks the website should come to you as close as possible to how the designer made it, but we make the browser your protection. Your copy of Firefox knows a lot about you, so can we let it select which are the best ads for you? It takes some experimentation." http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YhJB6UYkQfRdaKu3YisHNL.jpg Some Firefox users in the US see sponsored Pocket recommendations when they open a new browser tab. Recommendations are made locally, without any data being transmitted to Mozilla The experiment launched with Firefox Quantum as part of Pocket Recommendations. When users open a new browser tab, they're shown a selection of stories that other users have saved to Pocket. In certain parts of the US, this includes a number of sponsored posts (ie ads). Baker made it clear that this is only an experiment for now, though it could be rolled out more widely if it proves successful. "You have to try this and see if the interface works," she said. "It’s tricky to give people choice in a way that’s understandable. Depending on the results, it may show the promise that things can be done differently. Possibility is a strong motivating force." Reaching a tipping pointWe asked Baker if she thinks we've reached a tipping point with regard to use of personal data and civil conversations. "It’s certainly a reflection point," she said, "but is it enough to make the scales tip for good?" "We think the internet should elevate civil discourse."Mitchell Baker She added that the updated manifesto, which is seen by everyone who works with Mozilla, has had a real effect on the way people behave, making them think about how they react online. "We think that acknowledging that tech has an impact on society and tech reflects the people who build it is really important," she said. "We think the internet should elevate civil discourse. We’re dedicated to trying. Some employees of Mozilla have said, ‘What is my attitude – am I in a state of constant fury, or am I taking a step back to be civil?’ The manifesto is an expression of what could be possible." What's the best browser you can download today?http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ZmsUXDPmKME

Thousands of Mac users are crying foul at Apple following the release of macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 having rendered key third-party display products and services useless. Particularly, neither DisplayLink docking products nor the Duet Display Mac app are working in this latest version. A DisplayLink product manager responded to complaints on its own support forums, confirming that macOS 10.13.4 is to blame for the error, and that it’s working on a fix. This update specifically renders the display capabilities of its docks inert, while other functions remain unaffected. “In the meantime, we are releasing a new driver [4.3] that will enable clone mode, but not mirror or extended mode displays in 10.13.4,” the product manager writes. “If you require mirror or extended mode displays, we recommend that you stay on macOS 10.13.3 at this time.” iPad extended displays aren’t working eitherMeanwhile, Duet Display – a $19.99 (£9.99) Mac App store program that, for another 20 bucks a month, can act as your Mac’s second display via Lightning cable – isn’t working either. Following the macOS 10.13.4 update, the Duet client app hangs without starting. Duet Display developer Duet Inc. is advising its customers to refrain from upgrading to the latest macOS so as to avoid the issue, according to MacRumors, as well as contact Apple directly through its bug reporting features. Worse off is that desktop extension apps, like Air Display and iDisplay, are also reportedly experiencing related issues, also according to MacRumors. The website also cites speculation in said discussions around these issues that Apple’s eGPU support in the operating system update is to blame. As far as we can tell, it doesn't seem like macOS 10.13.4 has affected external display connected directly to MacBooks through mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt. We’ve contacted Apple for comment and will update this story should we receive a response. Regardless, it’s wise to avoid updating to macOS 10.13.4 if you use any of the aforementioned products or apps to extend your Mac’s display. If you already updated when Apple released the version last week, you can revert to the previous version of macOS using the Time Machine feature – that is, assuming you backed up before updating. Which, you did, right? Here’s everything we hope for from macOS 10.14Via SlashDot http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/CKTbcbqEakE

Amazon has announced that Amazon Alexa users can now add music, podcasts and live radio into their Alexa Routines. First launched back in 2017, Routines are a way to get your smart assistant to accomplish multiple tasks with a single command – say “Alexa, I’m home” for example, and you could have your lights, heating and TV switched on in one fell swoop. Now, though, you could add whale sounds from Spotify to that Routine for those particularly stressful days. Your Routines can include music from a specific artist, album, playlist or radio station and supported services currently include Amazon Music, Spotify, Deezer, TuneIn and Pandora. According to Amazon you can also create a volume action to control how quiet or loud the audio output will be. Routine rhythmsThese more well-rounded Routines appear to be part of a concentrated effort on Amazon’s part to make Alexa a more personable assistant that’s useful beyond single commands and actually helps you in your daily routine. Alongside these music controls you can also use Routines to get weather, news and traffic reports, control your smart home and have Alexa chime in with a phrase like “welcome home.” Conveniently, it’s also possible to schedule these Routines so if you’d like to wake up on a weekend morning with your favourite podcast playing while your smart coffee maker starts brewing you can. Despite the fact that Alexa was able to use Routines before Google Assistant, it’s worth noting that music integration is already available in Google Routines. Google Assistant Routines can also support audiobooks and while there’s no Audible support for Alexa Routines just yet, we imagine that’ll be in the works too if Amazon wants to be on even footing with its rival. You’ll find the ability to customize your Routines with music in the Amazon Alexa iOS and Android app as it rolls out over the next day or so. These are the best Amazon Alexa skills and how you can install themVia VentureBeathttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/Eeju0qwBpyc

If you’re not familiar with Kodi, you should be. As an all-purpose media player, Kodi is second to none. It offers users the ability to stream, download and access content from one convenient place. More than that, it’s both free and open source, so it’s constantly adapting and becoming more versatile. Of all the amenities Kodi provides, one of the biggest selling points is the fact that it lets users stream live TV without having to commit to a particular cable provider. In fact, it makes cutting the cord even easier since users can instantly program Kodi to stream virtually any TV channel around the world. Of course, none of this would be possible without the abundance of Kodi add-ons that are currently flooding the internet. Please be advised that we at TechRadar do not condone or endorse piracy, so this list will only feature official (and legal) live streaming add-ons. So, without further ado, check the list below for our top live streaming add-ons. (Note that unless otherwise specified, every add-on in this article can be found in the Kodi repository by opening Kodi and going to Add-ons > Downloads > Video add-ons.) How to watch live TV on Kodi: The best Kodi live TV add-onshttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/F28gvcUFcXsEgko6YuuY89.jpg USTV NowThis official streaming channel features live streams from the top US broadcasters, including NBC, ABC, CBS, and more. Note that you can stream up to seven networks with a free subscription, but you need to pay $20 (£14) to unlock all 21 available channels. PS VueAt its core, PS Vue was made to be a convenient cable replacement. Offering more than 50 live TV channels, you’ll need a subscription in order to use this add-on. Prices start around $40 (£28) a month, with different viewing options depending on the exact subscription. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/F3AWCqgSpeCqiV2zzRitiK.jpg iPlayer WWWEssentially, this is the Kodi version of the BBC’s popular iPlayer platform. A subscription is required, but once you’re logged in, you can stream live UK TV and radio. You’ll need to use an IP in the UK, but users outside the country can stream with a VPN (read more about this below). ITVSimilar to iPlayer, the ITV add-on (which you’ll find here) lets you live stream ITV broadcasts. You can take advantage of tons of live shows while also gaining full access to ITV’s hearty repository. Again, you’ll either need to be in the UK or use a VPN to access this add-on. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/G385KhWMJXknjB5CSGscdN.jpg Pluto.TVA versatile add-on that offers both live streams as well as a deep repository of on-demand content, Pluto.TV requires users to create an account, but the service is free to use. It also has a large selection of news broadcasts. Comet TVAs part of the Syfy network, Comet TV is a dedicated Kodi add-on for all things science fiction. It offers its own set of live streams, as well as a robust repository of older on-demand series and films. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zYtcvJwdyRvnAKHT89wcbR.jpg NewsONProviding both live US cable news streams as well as regional state-by-state broadcasts, NewsON is the one and only Kodi add-on you’ll need to stream live news. As an all-purpose news aggregator, it’s simply the best. See also: The best Kodi add-ons and how to install themhttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/S2E3xX5E5Hrgd28XhfHDFU.jpg CheddarBroadcasting daily from the New York Stock Exchange, Cheddar is a live streaming add-on that’s geared specifically toward millennials. With no subscription required, you can access all the latest breaking tech and financial news, as well as a large repository of older broadcasts. The best Kodi live sports add-onsLooking to get your sports fix? Yup, Kodi can help with that too. Again, keep in mind that this list only includes official add-ons, so most will require a subscription. That said, the great thing about Kodi is that it caters to every audience around the world, so whatever your sport of choice, from baseball to football, you’re sure to find an add-on that streams it. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Ev4qYmg4mT9txgLG6gtWue.jpg DAZNFor roughly $20 (£14) a month, this add-on features tons of live sports streams, including boxing, hockey, and more. That said, DAZN usually offers a one-month free trial, so you can sign up, try it out, and see if you like it. Bear in mind that this add-on is currently only available in Germany, Canada, Austria, Switzerland and Japan. Fortunately, you can still use a VPN to spoof your location and stream, as we’ll discuss later. ESPN PlayerThis handy sports add-on gives you access to the wide world of ESPN sports, all from the comfort of your streaming device. You’ll need an ESPN subscription to use it, but once you’ve logged in you’ll notice a sizeable backlog of recaps, highlights, and more. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5VyQuWJpw5Df8kwFZ3bqdW.jpg NBC Sports Live ExtraEssentially the Kodi version of the streaming service, you can sync your NBC Sports account to your Kodi device to live stream everything from racing to boxing and more. Note that you’ll need to sign up first. See also: How to watch movies on KodiSportsnet NowAs one of the few Canada-based sports add-ons, Sportsnet Now gives users full access to live Canadian sports broadcasts. You’ll need to use a Canadian IP address to stream, so a VPN may be helpful for people who are outside Canada. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mMTtzXF65w4E8Djo3L7mPY.jpg MLB.TVYou’ll need a subscription to stream, but once you sign up you’ll have access to every baseball event in the US. Like the NBA and NFL add-ons, you can watch old highlights and other clips for free with the MLB.com add-on. NBA League Pass and NFL Game Pass are also available in the Kodi repository. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xz5f48DTRv89icgRb69ZtM.jpg Why you should use a VPN with KodiWhether you use Kodi as a cable replacement, a gaming machine, or simply a music service, it’s important that you use a VPN. Not only will you be able to access more streams, but you’ll also be able to instantly secure your entire online network. This means you can use Kodi without worrying about your information being tracked or recorded. A VPN can also help you bypass any throttling in the event that your ISP is purposely – whether it notifies you or not – slowing your network down. While a VPN won’t usually increase your streaming speeds, it can help restore them to their baseline. When choosing a VPN, it’s important to factor in three main criteria: anonymity, privacy, and plenty of server options. In our experience, ExpressVPN offers the best overall bang for your buck. As our highest rated VPN service, it’s a clear winner. And because the firm’s apps use the OpenVPN protocol by default, it’s the perfect VPN for streaming. See also: The best VPN service providers of 2018http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/I_krrjGahrc

Setting up a smart home is an attractive proposition, one which gets less attractive as you add on the price of each individual item. Before you know it you’ve racked up a bill of hundreds of pounds, and you’re still short a smart plug. If this sounds familiar, then you may be in luck. Smart home giant Hive has created a payment plan called Hive Warm Welcome Home Plan that includes all of the essentials for setting up your smart home, spreading the cost across a year, bringing it down to a much more palatable £27.99 a month. The package includes the Hive Thermostat, a Smart Plug, a Motion Sensor, two dimmable Hive Active Lights, a Hive Hub and receiver, and an Amazon Echo smart speaker. Big bundle, little priceThe Echo Dot isn’t the best speaker on the market in terms of its sound quality, but if you’re just looking to get started with your smart home setup, or already have an Echo and want the smaller smart speaker for a second room, it’s tough to beat. It’s an impressive little bundle, full of devices that we think highly of. What’s even better is that the price includes Hive Live, which gives you access to extended warranties, advanced services, and discounts on Hive products for when you inevitably want to supplement or upgrade your kit. There are different bundles available, meaning that if you don’t need professional installation the price can be as low as £19.99. After 12 months, you’ll drop down to £2.99 per month for Hive Live regardless of which package you’re on. Check out all the options on the Hive Warm Welcome Home Plan page. Want to know what you'll be getting? Check out the Hive Active Heating review that contains the other Hive devices.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/xOShK_1B9Rw

Although Siri was the first voice assistant to enter the market, it now faces stiff competition from Amazon and Google. Therefore it comes as no surprise that Apple is allegedly on the hunt for 161 new employees to join the Siri team and make it smarter and more sophisticated than its rivals. According to data site Thinkum, the latest hiring stats from Apple suggests that the number of new positions containing the word Siri has ramped up over the past few weeks. The site reports that there are now 161 Siri-focused roles, which are mostly based at Apple's new headquarters in the Santa Clara Valley, California, U.S. The numbers show that Apple has always been on the lookout for new Siri team members, but there appears to have been a surge in positions since February 2018. As you'd expect, most of these roles are for software engineers with job descriptions that focus on improving Siri's general knowledge and knowledge graph. Getting Siri-ousThis move comes as no surprise. Digital voice assistants are getting smarter and more sophisticated. And while they're still probably used mostly for playing music and barking commands about which track to put on next, they're increasingly being tasked with making our lives easier through support with routine tasks or home automation. This means that as we're demanding more and more from our voice-activated friends they need to keep up. Although which AI assistant you prefer from Alexa, Assistant and Siri could largely be down to personal taste, Amazon's offering is currently considered the best for advanced tech, accuracy and a good price point. With rumors suggesting Google is pushing even further voice tech advances this year, it's no surprise that Apple, once the pioneer of voice-activated smarts, is looking to bolster its efforts and try and put Siri ahead of the pack. But let's not speak too soon. Although Apple certainly appears to be ramping up its Siri team that doesn't mean it'll advance ahead of the competition any time soon. Watch this space. Digital assistants: Siri vs Google vs Alexahttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/C49EI04yufg

Gaana and Saavn, two popular streaming services of Indian content in the country, will now be available on Google Home and Google Home Mini. The news comes smack in the middle of Google’s reveal of its ambitious plans for expanding into the Indian market and the upcoming Google launch on April 10. Google Home users will also have the option of setting either, Gaana or Saavn, as their default streaming service. The reason for the partnership is probably the fact that a lot of content that’s available on the local streaming services, isn’t available on Google’s default application, Play Music. This is especially true for indie and regional content. A user on Reddit noticed the availability of Gaana and Saavn on the list of available music services for Google. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jYxJi5XDzWtZfLmA6TV3Nf.png Screenshot on Reddit Smart home products haven’t quite taken the nation by storm, but Amazon’s Echo speakers are already in the market equipped with skills tailored for the Indian user. Amazon has its own music streaming service, Prime Music, which already features localized and regional music content. It has deals with some of the leading music labels in India such as Sony Music, T-Series, Zee Music, Tips, Saregama, and Times Music among others. Amazon’s a step ahead of Google with respect to Saavn, since its Echo devices come pre-enabled with the service. Though Google first launched the Google Home speaker in 2016 but hasn’t launched anything from that series in India, yet. However, their smartphones have been in the market for a while now and been appreciated by the users. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/aRTEq4d3D5Y

Google may be making a smart display to rival the Amazon Echo Show, which both comes as a surprise and also makes total sense. Up until now, it’s looked like Google was leaving the manufacture of a Google Assistant-powered smart speaker with a screen to third-party companies like JBl and Lenovo (pictured), but now it looks like the search giant may be getting its own hands dirty. This revelation comes from an interview that Google VP Rishi Chandra had with Variety. Now, Chandra didn’t officially announce a new product, as much as give us a hint of a plan with a delicious double negative: “I’m not saying we are not going to do it.” Are you seeing what I’m seeing?Chandra claims in the interview that the smart display is “an emerging category”, and that Google’s strategy could follow the pattern of its smart speaker rollout, with Google own brand devices sitting alongside third-party devices. Google is clearly treading a fine line, with a push to proliferate Google Assistant into as many devices as possible (including smartwatches with Android Wear and cars with Android Auto), it can’t risk making Assistant an unattractive proposition to manufacture for. At the same time it does seem strange that its own range is incomplete presently. The timing is also relevant, as Google has recently re-absorbed Nest from its parent company Alphabet. The reason this is important is to do with the use-cases for a smart display. Above and beyond watching YouTube videos (which you can’t currently do on an Echo), being able to look at the live feed from a video doorbell like the Hello that Nest is about to release, could make a Google smart display a more essential piece of kit. And that seems to be Google’s target: “The simple truth is we need to become a must-have product,” Chandra said, “I’m looking for daily-use cases.” Could security camera and doorbell monitoring be that daily necessity? Possibly. Want more smart speaker news? Check out: Amazon Echo and Google Home patents show the power they have to compromise your privacyVia Tom's Guide http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/IaaP5PpSmu4

Smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home always listen to everything we say; but until they hear trigger phrases like “Hey Google”, they aren’t supposed to record or respond, preserving our sense of privacy. But patents recently uncovered by the New York Times show that Amazon and Google developed and patented tech that could have smart speakers or smart home devices capture intimate details of people’s lives in order to develop advertising profiles for their customers. Amazon’s patent, titled “Keyword determinations from conversational data”, would have your Echo use “voice sniffer algorithms” to listen for trigger phrases indicating your interest in a potential product. They would then record and analyze that data for your personal interests, and then sell that data to “advertisers or content providers” for personalized ads. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DWcCdZHZtCisd5iiSmdrg.jpg (Courtesy of the USPTO) So if you told your friend over the phone that “I love to ski” or “my mother loves crossword puzzles”, you would then find ads for a ski resort or gift ideas on your browser. Amazon vehemently insisted that it does “not use customers’ voice recordings for targeted advertising”, and that this patent was submitted years ago while they were still “explor[ing] the full possibilities of new technology”. Google, meanwhile, patented technology to employ its Nest smart home devices to literally capture images and video of your house for advertising purposes, compiling profiles of your family members “to ascertain gender, age, fashion-taste, style, mood, known languages, preferred activities, and so forth” for each person. In one example, a smart device would notice a shirt with Will Smith’s face on your floor, triggering it to search your browser history for Will Smith. Google Home might then say, “You seem to like Will Smith. His new movie is playing in a theater near you.” http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bEa79q4YrDkNBY3JPwPrk.jpg Google wants to watch you, but at least tell you that it's watching? (Courtesy of the USPTO) A second Google patent put forward a number of other ways that your Nest security devices could study and profile users in the name of protection. For example, Google’s smart home could use sensors and audio monitoring to determine if a child is home alone, then keep the front door’s smart lock bolted until an adult gets home. Google even suggested they could monitor people’s “habits” and “emotional states”, or predict through audio recordings if children are up to “mischief”. They would profile everything from “how often a household eats together” to the probability that someone has Alzheimer’s disease. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ghGsubaArDuwsF5dZzanh.jpg Do you prefer to binge alone or Netflix and chill? Google's patented devices would find out. (Courtesy of the USPTO) Like Amazon, Google insisted that their Google Home devices did not invade user privacy, and that “Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patent applications”. Trusting tech in a post-Cambridge Analytica worldIt’s relatively safe to say that Amazon and Google haven’t implemented most, if not all, of these patent ideas, at least as of now. Many of the ideas above are absurdly invasive, and are more likely to get users to smash their smart devices with a hammer than to buy Independence Day on Blu-ray. Amazon Echo and Google Home have lights that indicate when you’re being recorded, and smart speaker owners can check out Amazon’s and Google’s recording pages at any time to delete any data the tech giants have on them. When defective Google Home Minis started recording everything users said, Google swiftly resolved the issue. Nevertheless, these patents are an excellent reminder of the power smart devices have to compile personal profiles on users, profiles that can be used for political or monetary gain. The Cambridge Analytica-Facebook scandal shows that worldwide governments are increasingly concerned about how much data is being compiled about us by tech companies, and who those companies give that data to for profit. Like Facebook, Amazon and Google sometimes provide information to third parties about their users. The Times report pointed out that Amazon and Google may not share recordings with third-parties, but that Amazon will provide some requested user data like ZIP codes to Alexa Skills partners, and that Google will sometimes provide transcripts of users’ audio recordings to third parties. Even if these companies don’t sell our data or monitor our movements intentionally, their smart home devices can be vulnerable to hacking. A security company hacked Amazon Echos to secretly record users, 24/7, without any trigger words. And smart home devices, like the Amazon Key have been foind to be easy to compromise. The fact that Facebook has delayed its smart speaker reveal shows that people won’t trust them with their private data. Whether or not Amazon and Google will be able to maintain users’ trust and avoid their own privacy scandals in the future remains to be seen. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/c3W4w7GOebY

It’s been a long time since I last reported on my novel’s progress, but it’s still coming along and presenting new challenges to be solved by hardware, software and scented candles. I wrote my whole first draft – the block of clay to be carved, squished and beaten into a sculpture – using the distraction-free word processor FocusWriter. The result was a 90,000-word plain text document that’s full of ideas, but giant and unwieldy. I wanted a more holistic view – a way to see and tune chapters without losing sight of the overall structure (such as it is). Scrivener isn’t cheap, but its organizing tools and various pinboards meant it seemed like the best software for the job. It’s a shame that the most recent version is only available for Mac, but Windows users can’t be choosers. On the chopping blockDividing the raw text into chapters was much easier than I’d expected; Scrivener lets you import a giant file, then split it into chunks with a couple of clicks. You don’t have to copy and paste each scene individually, thank goodness. I’ve already worn out one laptop – I don’t want to destroy the C, V and Ctrl keys on this one. I chopped my novel into scenes, then made a folder for each chapter and felt terribly pleased with myself – until I realized how many things needed rearranging. Now I have about 30 empty chapter folders and all my scenes in one long list. It was like sorting your trash for recycling, then finding out it’s all going in the same incinerator. Still, even destruction is a kind of progress – or so I keep telling myself. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XecG42hFWmLiW9JMt8JFaH.jpg It hasn't quite come to this, but I have broken one laptop keyboard with enthusiastic typing Editing is a far more technical process than writing, and not as fun as just letting all your ideas explode onto a blank page. It’s easy to feel like I’m treading water, and sometimes I definitely am. After spending a particularly long time rewriting one early scene, I re-read the original and saw that I hadn’t made it better in any objective way – just differently bad. I’ve also deleted about 18,000 words (I got seriously carried away with describing a couple of locations), leaving giant gaps that need filling with fresh, interesting new material. I know what needs to go in those holes, but when I’m not working in chronological order, one chapter to the next, it can be hard to find my flow. Old software, new ideasAlthough Scrivener offers its own little no-frills writing app, FocusWriter still feels like the best place to be creative. When I see its familiar, slightly cheesy faux-wood background (I never changed it from the default), the ideas suddenly start to come much more easily. The Evernote app is brilliant too. The best thoughts often bubble up when I’m not looking for them, and it means I can quickly jot them down on my phone before they burst. Any note-taking app would do, but I'm also fond of Evernote's browser extension, which lets you clip interesting web pages (or screenshots) for future reference with a single click. The muse might visit me even more readily if I light the Oscar Wilde candle again. Alternatively, it might just make the room smell like herbal aftershave, and my novel will end up being set in a dystopian barbershop. Either way, it'll be something novel. Cat Ellis has turned to technology to help write her first novel. Follow her progress in her Sculpt Fiction column. The best free software for writershttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/y8YJaYaqBFw

To celebrate World Backup Day, AOMEI is giving TechRadar readers the opportunity to download AOMEI Backupper Pro free. This premium backup suite usually retails for US$49.95/£47.99/AU$83.99, making this a very special deal. You must register your software between March 30 and April 1, so act quickly! To get your free software, download and install the trial version of AOMEI Backupper Pro, then click the 'Purchase' link at the top and register with the license key AMPR-1R75D-YS3W1-45ZV6. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8DS8J5PAztzxAgmfPnNkEk.jpg With AOMEI Backupper Pro, you can back up anything on your PC – the entire system, a partition, or specific files or folders. You can also clone a whole drive, including your operating system, making it easy to transfer everything to a new hard drive. Restoring your backed up data is simple too, whether you want everything or just certain files. Everything is explained with clear step-by-step instructions. AOMEI Backupper Pro also offers tools for checking the integrity of a backup image, creating bootable rescue media (such as a DVD or USB drive), merging multiple incremental backups, and mounting an image to a virtual partition for browsing. World Backup DayWorld Backup Day takes place on March 31, and serves as a reminder of the importance of making regular backups. It doesn't take much for your important files to be lost – whether it's through theft, hardware damage, a ransomware attack or accidental deletion – and once they're gone they can be impossible to restore. You never know when disaster might strike. We store a huge amount of our professional and personal lives digitally, and a regular backup plan is the only way to make sure they're properly protected. It’s also a good idea to check out the best antivirus softwarehttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/HVylJLEUyQw

Image credit: Adition Smart speakers may be incredibly useful for our daily lives, but in terms of decor, let’s be honest: they’re basically dark, cylindrical paperweights that you probably keep in a corner. For people looking for a speaker that won’t stick out like a sore thumb, the Adition Lamp Speaker—an LED lamp equipped with speakers and Alexa support—could be Amazon’s fashionable alternative to the norm. In a blog post today, Alexa Business Development Principal Mariel van Tatenhove announced that Amazon has partnered with various Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) to create “white-box solutions”, or design templates from which manufacturers can create their own Alexa-enabled speakers. The Adition Lamp is one such template. “We envision a world where Alexa is everywhere, accessible through any connected device,” van Tatenhove said. We can't confirm if Alexa cackled in the background at this statement. As currently envisioned, the six-inch Adition comes with two two-inch speakers, two microphones, and button controls for volume and dimming, with dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and iOS/Android-compatible Alexa app support. But, again, companies willing to lease the ODM design would then add their own spin on it, so their Alexa lamps could have different features and dimensions. Van Tatenhove’s post also revealed two white-box designs for standard tabletop smart speakers with Alexa support, but they don’t necessarily stand out from other speakers in a very crowded market, compared to this new smart lamp design. If you can’t beat ’em…As we learned at CES this year, enabling Alexa and Google Assistant support is trending. From cars to the smart speakers of competitors, Amazon and Google want people using these voice assistants as their primary source of information and the way they make purchases. Most Alexa speakers, like the Ultimate Ears Megablast or Asus Lyra Voice, have designs separate from Amazon, or lease designs from other manufacturers like Qualcomm. But these speakers' Alexa support is often limited compared to what you’ll find from an Amazon Echo. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/twiRgAyezHsY2fPvzFmM8X.jpg The Adition's only current competitor is an Alexa-enabled lamp by GE By making white-box designs with native Alexa support available, Amazon is no doubt hoping manufacturers will come straight to the source and rehabilitate Alexa’s image. Ultimately, we’re excited about the potential for a flood of new smart lamp speakers onto the market. So far, only one such device is available: the GE Sol smart lamp, powered by Alexa voice support. Its unique circular design outshines the Adition’s, but its Alexa support likely can’t hold a candle to a first-party device. Via The Verge Next up: our Amazon Echo Plus reviewhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/vFgc0OHrejE

The public release of the so-called Windows 10 Spring Creators Update appears to be imminent, with Windows Central reporting an initial rollout date of April 10, citing anonymous sources. Simultaneously, the outlet’s sources say that Microsoft has signed off on the final Windows Insider Preview build of Redstone 4 – its internal name for the next big WIndows 10 update – as Build 17133. This means that Build 17133 will, barring any issues, be what Microsoft releases to manufacturers (RTM) for loading onto new products. Said Build 17133 has already been released to Windows Insider Preview members enrolled in the Fast Ring of its public beta test program open to anyone who’s interested. The build itself doesn’t introduce any new features, but rather fixes minor problems in previous beta releases – a telltale sign that Microsoft's testing process is complete. Spring Creators Update has sprungIn fact, Microsoft’s Dona Sarkar wrote in a blog post announcing the release of Build 17133 that “we are in the phase of checking in final code to prepare for the final release.” Knowing this, it’s easy to be confident that Microsoft is awfully close to releasing the official, public version of its Windows 10 Spring Creators Update. Plus, the purported April 10 release date falls on a Tuesday, the typical day of the week for Windows 10 updates to drop. The Spring Creators Update is expected to bring with it a host of major changes to the operating system (OS), including the Timeline feature that was originally slated for last year’s Fall Creators Update as well as the Fluent Design look applied to the entire interface. Near Share, a unabashed answer to Apple’s AirDrop file sharing technique carried out over Bluetooth, will arrive on the OS in addition to faster Bluetooth device pairing. Progressive web apps, programs that can be downloaded via Microsoft’s Edge browser and used therein so as to answer to Google’s Chrome web store, will be featured as well among many more changes. With all this in mind, we’ll be waiting with bated breath to hear from Microsoft shortly so as to get our hands on the final build of the Windows 10 Spring Creators Update in time for this purported April 10 release date. Now, here’s what we want from macOS 10.14http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/5ITSVF4UmLU

Smart home developer Leviton has a simple philosophy towards making its smart switches useful for consumers: make the switches compatible with every conceivable smart hub, network and speaker on the market. In a press release today, Leviton announced a partnership with Nest to make its Decora Smart technology compatible with Nest devices. Owners of the Nest Learning Thermostat, Nest Cam or Nest Protect can pair these devices with Leviton’s smart switches using a free app. On their own, Leviton Decora smart switches, dimmers and outlets connect to your Wi-Fi, allowing you to turn the switches off remotely with your smart device or to time them to automatically turn on or off at certain times of the day. You can even create a specific activity setting, like dimmed mood lighting in the living room for "Movie Night", and trigger it at any time. Linked with Nest devices, the capabilities expand even further. For instance, if a Nest Cam detects motion on your porch, or if Nest Protect senses carbon monoxide in the bedroom, Decora lights in those areas can be programmed to turn on or blink at intervals as a warning. Or, when Nest Thermostat detects you leaving or entering the house, it can trigger lights to turn off or on accordingly. Linking Leviton to your smart hubThese “Works with Nest” features work best for reactionary or automated features, but don’t give you much control unless you’re using Leviton’s specific app. Thankfully, the company has already integrated its Wi-Fi devices with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, so you’ll be able to control your light settings using a voice assistant you’re already comfortable with. Apple HomeKit users and Samsung SmartThings users aren’t quite so lucky. Leviton does sell smart devices that tie in with HomeKit or Z-Wave smart home ecosystems, but these are separate devices from the Wi-Fi device family, and unfortunately won’t work with Nest, Alexa or Google Assistant. It's disappointing that Leviton hasn't made its devices interchangeable between some major smart home ecosystems and others. But at least its specialized devices make sure that no smart home owner is left out. Our recommendations for best vacuum cleaner don't suckhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/907-jjMEero

MicroBot Sense is a tiny sensor that can monitor a vast array of different inputs – including temperature, CO2, light, sound and movement – and alert you when the levels get beyond a pre-set level. Combined with its portability, this means that Sense can work as an anti-theft device, an air-quality monitor, even an impromptu baby monitor. Practically any time that you can think about wanting to measure your surroundings, you can, and all for a pretty small amount of money. Doing it all for very littleThe Sense is currently a Kickstarter project, with a Super Early Bird discount bringing the price of a single unit down from the estimated $49.99 RRP to just $41 (about £30, AU$50). Unsurprisingly, the project has successfully met its goal budget with 30 days to go at time of writing. Sense works with Amazon Alexa and IFTTT, and Google Assistant integration is on the way. The integration of IFTTT means that you can set up a command for your heating to reduce if your home temperature gets too high, or your blinds to open once sunlight is bright enough, or, well, pretty much any integration of ‘if this, then that’. If all that sounds a bit much, there is a simple ‘Quick Check’ feature that you activate by pressing the sole button on the Sense’s 38mm x 38mm body. The Sense is battery powered, and given how little it is, lasts a surprising month on a single charge. It operates using Bluetooth Low Energy, which means it either needs to connect to your phone, or a tablet or MicroBot Hub (available for an additional $59). The one snag that we can see is that there’s a subscription plan, starting at $2.99 a month. Although if you’re a Kickstarter backer you get your first year for free. Want more smart sensor news? Check out: This smart home sensor sees through walls and could replace wearable fitness trackersVia The Ambient http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/SGkNJZAs_ig

Google may be set to open up even more control of smart home commands to users of its Google Assistant helper. Code found in the latest beta release of the Google app suggests that custom Routines (the smart home instruction tool kits that let a single command trigger multiple device functions) could be soon rolling out to the system as a whole. Routines already exist within the Google app, but are limited to presets to be tweaked, rather than having the option to build them from scratch as looks set to be offered here. Complete controlCustom Routines would give the user the ability to program a series of events to play out with a given trigger word, such as turning the heating on and closing motorised blinds for 'movie time'. Other new features that could be set to hit the general release of the Google app includes sticky sporting result cards during crucial games for teams that you follow, and new gesture controls for the Pixel Buds. As ever with beta tests, there's no guarantee that these features will get a general release. But custom Routines have long been requested by those living in Google's smart home ecosystem, so here's hoping that one makes the cut. Via 9to5Google Google Home review: Google's smart home controller put through its paceshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/3Z_WysB0L70

We’ve long been promised the voice-activated, automated, robot-butler-equipped home of the future, a nuclear age dream of the 1950s that’s inspired everything from The Jetsons to Back to the Future II. And while the smart home concept is now finally, slowly becoming mainstream, there remains a crucial barrier to entry – with so many devices to choose from, and so many smart home ecosystems to rule them all, where does the forward-thinking homeowner start? Apple, partnering up with Swedish property developers Trivselhus, is helping to develop a new neighbourhood that could help answer that question. Sommar Place, currently under construction in Milton Keynes, will offer 56 modern houses and apartments with a key difference from your standard new-build properties: they’re being built from the ground up with Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem in mind. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/fDUdEdWb8P9sT2rMu5R6nn.jpg So, as well as benefiting from Trivselhus’s 20 years experience in Scandinavian design, each home comes fully equipped with a whole range of HomeKit-enabled smart home products, as well as the Apple gear needed to control them. (You can find the full list in the Smart Home Furnishings boxout). Ready to goFrom smart lights to voice activated blinds and heating, as soon as a homeowner takes receipt of the keys to their new property, they’ll already be living in an established smart home. With each buyer also receiving a brand new iPad, iPod touch, cellular Apple Watch and Apple TV, they’ve all they need to start controlling and customising their smart home experience. “Over the last couple of years we’ve been working with Apple doing proof-of-demo installations on houses, just to see how workable it all is – obviously it’s an emerging platform to work on,” says Paul Armstrong, Technical Director, Trivselhus UK. “So we were working on things as they came to the market, trying to make sure that we went deep enough into the offering to make it worthwhile, and demonstrate a full working smart home rather than it being a token gesture, touching on as many smart home categories as possible.” It’s all focused around the Apple Home app, the core controller for the HomeKit devices. Here you can see all the smart home products active in your home, grouped into rooms (and easily identifiable with custom photos for each room of the house). Paired with a HomePod speaker, with a few taps and swipes, or carefully selected voice commands, your house can essentially run itself. These can be simple commands like asking the Siri voice assistant to turn up the temperature on smart radiator valves in the bedroom, or turning on the lights in the living room. It gets even more exciting when building “scenes”. These are commands that trigger multiple devices to act at once. For instance, a command of “good morning, Siri” could lift your bedroom’s mechanical window blinds, turn on the heated towel rack, give you a quick weather and news report from the HomePod and even turn on a connected kettle. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YUJBesG5MHbAUddJnHa2C5.jpg What we’re talking about is lifestyle, and offering something a little bit special, a little bit different.Ken Forster, Trivselhus UK What’s perhaps the most interesting element of the Milton Keynes smart home development is its relative affordability. A three storey, four bedroom townhouse with a reasonable sized garden and its own parking space costs just £450,000 – of which only roughly 1% of the cost can be attributed to smart furnishings. A similarly priced apartment in London would be the size of a shoebox. “Anyone can offer a package that’s an add-on, where you try to squeeze the living daylights out of somebody,” says Ken Forster, Managing Director, Trivselhus UK. “That’s not what we’re going to do here. What we’re talking about is lifestyle, and offering something a little bit special, a little bit different [...] We see our market advantage as acting in a completely different way, putting the consumer first.” http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/J3rieUpPsLHAKTe36zCRV9.jpg Apple’s eco-friendly credentials have been a big part of the company’s messaging in recent years, and the partnership with Trivselhus continues in that green-conscious direction. Thanks to the demands of the harsh Scandinavian winters, Trivselhus has to be ruthless when it comes to insulation and energy expenditure, and so the Sommar Place homes have been built to the same exacting standards. Each house the company builds typically positively sits 40% above the nation’s new build energy guidelines – and this is before factoring in any energy savings that could eventually be attributed to smart home energy management through automation. Building for the futureIt’s fair to have some concerns around building a home so connected and smart-focused. “When you start to think about putting this sort of technology into something that’s worth anywhere between £250k for apartments and £450k for townhouses, what you can not do is take any risks,” says Forster. “We’ve all seen data leaks and security issues. If we sell someone a house of this nature and someone manages to get past the front door smart lock, it wouldn’t take a genius to work out we’ve got a major problem.” This is about choosing really strong infrastructure, from the minute the buyer drives to the home to the moment they leave it. Ken Forster, Trivselhus UK As touched on by Forster, things like door locks and wall sockets (in a traditional home at least) may never be replaced for the lifetime of a tenancy – what happens if a software update renders them obsolete just a few years after purchase? Trivselhus believes its choice of smart products will act as a failsafe in this respect – the items it has installed can, with a few rare exceptions, be controlled and relied upon in an 'analogue', offline capacity. In terms of information security, any HomeKit data that is collected by Apple is anonymised and encrypted before it reaches the Cupertino mothership, meaning it’d be impossible to identify your particular living habits. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/JCQTxAbkUemNPAjensRRZQ.jpg “Working with Apple from the ground up has been key in this respect,” adds Forster. “It’s not about putting a Hive in, or this or that, picking and choosing technology – this is about choosing really strong infrastructure, from the minute the buyer drives to the home to the moment they leave it. From a security point of view, it’s absolutely rock solid.” Although it’s the first development of its kind to focus on Apple HomeKit products, the company’s key competition is also trialling similar schemes around the country. Samsung, for instance, has partnered with property developer Quintain to supply digital connected appliances to 3,000 rental apartments in Wembley Park. But there are few developments taking as holistic an approach to the smart home as Sommar Place. While this sort of neighbourhood remains novel, expect to see many more like it in the near future. Trivselhus alone has plans to build 1,000 similarly-equipped smart homes of the next three years, up and down the country. The foundations of the smart home of your dreams may be being laid sooner than you’d think. Apple HomeKit devices: great smart home appliances that work with iOShttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/HUmkeTOG1G8

Microsoft clearly looks to boost Cortana’s effectiveness and helpfulness with the next big Windows 10 update. Known internally as Redstone 4, this update introduces a new ‘Cortana Show Me’ feature that teaches users how to navigate key features of the operating system (OS). The firm has released a test version of this feature through its Windows Insider Preview, publicly accessible by anyone who’s interested should they want to test out a less-than-stable version of the OS. Specifically, this feature can be found in the Fast Ring of Windows Insider Preview Build 17128. This feature update follows one released just earlier this week that adds profiles to the Cortana digital assistant, allowing it to provide insights and reminders before you even ask. Windows 10 rookies no longerThe idea behind Cortana Show Me, which is available through the Microsoft Store within this preview build specifically, is to make newly-minted Windows 10 users feel acclimated more quickly and easily. To that end, the app currently provides detailed guides on several key OS functions and tasks, while voice activation will be added ‘soon’, a blog post announcing the feature reads. So far, here’s what Cortana can help new users with through Cortana Show Me: Update WindowsCheck if an app is installedUninstall an appChange your desktop backgroundUse Airplane ModeChange your display brightnessAdd nearby printers or scannersChange your default programsChange your screen resolutionTurn off Windows Defender Security CenterRun a security scanChange Wi-Fi settingsThese changes are particularly interesting as it appears Microsoft is hell-bent on seeing Cortana win the war of digital assistants between itself, Amazon, Apple and Google – particularly with Amazon’s Alexa soon to make it onto Windows 10 PCs this year. Widely assumed to be known as the Spring Creators Update when it finally launches, we expect to see this major revision to Windows 10 available to all (in the most stable version of Windows 10) sometime in April. Here’s what we hope to see in Apple’s macOS 10.14http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/5u7rk7Knd7s

Ring is one of the biggest names in video doorbells and cameras, and for good reason; its products are excellent and reasonably priced. And for a short period one product in particular is even better value. As part of the Amazon Early Easter Sale the Ring Floodlight Cam is reduced by a whopping £70. That means you can pick up the security camera for just £179, down from its usual price of £249. As you could probably guess from the name, the Ring Floodlight Cam is both a security camera and floodlight, meaning it works as a double deterrent for any ne'er-do-wells that may be scoping out your home. Get the Ring Floodlight Cam for just £179 on AmazonBig features, little priceThe camera is motion sensitive, and can record HD footage, with a 1080p resolution, so you should be able to get a crystal clear look at the nefarious loiterers. A nice touch is that the Ring Floodlight Cam has ‘motion zones’ which allows you to tell it to ignore the area of the camera’s 270 degree field of vision that is looking at your neighbour’s driveway, so you don’t get a notification every time they get in their car. Should a motion alert turn out to be someone that you don’t want on your property, you can use two-way audio to tell them to scarper, and set off an alarm if that doesn't work. You can see the video feed on your phone, tablet, and even Amazon device if you’ve got an Echo Show or Spot. Given that Amazon now owns Ring, it’s not surprising to see Amazon include it in the sale, but it is nice to see a good product get such a big reduction, even if it is only for a short period of time. Want to know what the best security cameras are at the moment? Check out: Best security camera: keep an eye on your home from your smartphoneVia Pocket-lint http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/85y7RiUgBKs

Nvidia has announced some great new updates to its GeForce Experience application including the long and heavily requested ability to create gifs out of your best gaming moments. With most of the best gaming moments being shared on Gfycat or as just plain GIFs, it was inevitable that Nvidia GeForce would be able to let you create some of your own. Nvidia has added the ability for everyone to export their Highlights as GIFs just as they could have previously shot short videos. Highlights, of course, is a ShadowPlay feature the GPU maker introduced in August 2017 that automatically captures gamers’ greatest moments. Up until now users have only been able to share these moments as images or videos. Pictures are easy to share but might only capture a single snapshot of a greater story, meanwhile, uploading video requires a YouTube account or another client. Being able to save and share moments as a GIF splits the difference between both as modestly sized segments everyone can share easily. Gamers will be able to create Highlights from even more games now that Call of Duty WWII, Tekken, Dying Light: Bad Blood and Escape from Tarkov have all joined the roster. Nvidia also released the first public SDK for Highlights along with support for the Unreal and Unity engines, so we’ll likely see an explosion of supported titles later this year. Shot by GeForceNvidia is also doubling down on the sharing nature of Ansel by creating a new Shot by GeForce portal where gamers can share and appreciate each other’s work like real art. Call it the Pintrest, Behance, 500px, Flickr of gaming if you want, basically this gallery space is the closest thing the GPU maker has created that’s akin to a social network for gamers. What’s more, Nvidia is kickstarting Shot by GeForce with a contest featuring Star Wars: Battlefront II. Whoever submits the best Ansel screenshot of the game’s arcade mode could win a Razer Blade Stealth laptop, a Razer Core V2 external GPU enclosure and a Star Wars Nvidia Titan Xp Collector’s Edition graphics card. We're on the ground at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco this week covering the latest in gaming, from mobile and consoles to VR headsets. Catch up on all the latest from GDC 2018 so far! What is ray tracing? Here’s everything you need to knowhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/SVyT0so9Itk

Modern-day video games can look pretty darn amazing, and in the past, we saw seismic shifts between each console and graphics card generation. That hasn't been the case in recent years, however, as games focus less on pumping in more polygons and instead make small-but-meaningful upgrades with things like texture quality, resolution, lighting, and visual effects work. Ray tracing looks to be another one of those seemingly modest, but potentially significant upgrades that will hit the gaming landscape in the near future. What is ray tracing you might ask? It's a much more advanced and lifelike way of rendering light and shadows in a scene. It's what movies and TV shows use to create and blend in amazing CG work with real-life scenes. The drawback is ray tracing often requires extensive server farms to pre-render graphics. That's been too much to ask from a real-time, interactive video game running on a compact box in your home. Well, at least until now. At the Game Developers Conference, Nvidia, Microsoft, and AMD announced initiatives that will finally make ray tracing possible in real-time games, which means dazzling effects and much more immersive game worlds. Here's a look at what to expect, who's involved in this new push, and what they're bringing to the table. What is ray tracing?Ray tracing is a rendering technique that can produce incredibly realistic lighting effects. Essentially, an algorithm can trace the path of light, and then simulate the way that the light interacts with the virtual objects it ultimately hits in the computer-generated world. We've seen in-game lighting effects become more and more realistic over the years, but the benefits of ray tracing are less about the light itself and more about how it interacts with the world. Ray tracing allows for dramatically more lifelike shadows and reflections, along with much-improved translucence and scattering. The algorithm takes into account where the light hits and calculates the interaction and interplay much like the human eye would process real light, shadows, and reflections, for example. The way light hits objects in the world also affects which colors you see. With enough computational power available, it's possible to produce incredibly realistic CG images that are nearly indistinguishable from life. But that's the problem: even a well-equipped gaming PC only has so much GPU power to work with, let alone a modern game console. Ray tracing is used extensively when developing computer graphics imagery for films and TV shows, but that's because studios can harness the power of an entire server farm (or cloud computing) to get the job done. And even then, it can be a long, laborious process. Doing it on the fly has been far too taxing for existing gaming hardware. Instead, video games use rasterization, which is a much speedier way to render computer graphics. It converts the 3D graphics into 2D pixels to display on your screen, but rasterization then requires shaders to depict reasonably lifelike lighting effects. The results just don't look quite as natural or realistic as they would with ray tracing. The benefits of this technology probably won't seem individually mind-blowing, but the collective enhancements could really elevate the realism of interactive game worlds. Who is working on ray tracing?Microsoft is the biggest fish in this new video game ray tracing pond, as the company announced DirectX Raytracing (DXR) in the DirectX 12 API. They've created the structure for introducing and computing rays in the world, and have made it possible for developers to begin experimenting with the technology to see what's possible in their game engines. And they're not alone: Microsoft has been working with several of the world's biggest game makers and game engine creators to help introduce ray tracing into PC games. Electronic Arts' Frostbite and SEED engines will be compatible, along with the ubiquitous Unreal Engine and Unity engine seen throughout the industry. Creators can get started right away, too, thanks to an experimental DXR SDK available now. Microsoft will share further insight at GDC 2018 this week. Bringing ray tracing to life in games requires incredible GPU power, so unsurprisingly, Nvidia is also leading the charge. The company's RTX technology leverages a decade of work on graphics algorithms and GPUs, and they're working closely with Microsoft's DXR API to get developers up to speed quickly. According to Nvidia, "film-quality algorithms" and updates to their GameWorks API will deliver lighting, reflections, shadows, and related effects with a previously-unseen level of fidelity. And Nvidia's incoming Volta-class GPUs will be compatible, of course. And AMD won't be left behind, either. They haven't shared as much as Nvidia yet as of this writing, but they have announced "real-time ray tracing" capabilities via their ProRender rendering engine and Radeon GPU Profiler 1.2. However, AMD's announcement seems less focused on games at this point, and more about improving developers' workflows and results with a blend of ray tracing and rasterization. When will we see the benefits?While AMD's approach doesn't seem targeted towards games just yet, that same sort of mixed approach is probably what we'll see in the gaming world to start. As Microsoft's official blog post suggested, DirectX Raytracing will "supplement current rendering techniques." In other words, it'll make some improvements over rasterization, but not fully replace it. Even tomorrow's GPUs probably aren't fully up to that task. But ray tracing will be another tool in game developers' toolkits, and one that will become more and more important over time. Microsoft suggests that ray tracing will gain more focus "over the next several years" for things that rasterization just doesn't excel in, including global illumination. "Eventually, ray tracing may completely replace rasterization as the standard algorithm for rendering 3D scenes," the post concludes. That's a far-off possibility, but these are important steps in the right direction. Nvidia's new tech demos show that companies like Remedy Entertainment (Quantum Break) and Epic Games (Fortnite) are already learning the ins and outs of ray tracing and delivering dazzling results. It seems possible that we'll see ray tracing start to roll out in games running on high-end GPUs (like Nvidia's Volta series) in the near future, perhaps later in 2018. Nothing is concrete yet, however. For now, though, it's exciting to think that this long-awaited ability is finally on the horizon – and it will only help bridge the gap in graphical fidelity between interactive worlds and the kind of incredible CGI work seen on the big screen. We're on the ground at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco this week covering the latest in gaming, from mobile and consoles to VR headsets. Catch up on all the latest from GDC 2018 so far! Turing could be the name of Nvidia's next generation graphics cardshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/eN_iaMc21gQ

The new Shortcuts feature allows users to select their top four choices from the myriad of 14 quick actions. The old version of Google Maps listed four default quick actions which were, Satellite, Traffic, Train Routes and Download Area. The update shows three pre-selected options along with an ‘Add More’ button, where users can customise one more quick action into the shortcuts tab. Aside from the pre-listed options, some other choices are Food Nearby, Route Planner, Your Timeline, Your Place and Start Driving, which show up in the left-side corner hamburger menu in case users don’t want to add it to their shortcuts. Earlier this month, Google Maps had rolled another new feature for their app called Plus codes. These codes are meant to make finding locations easier with a ‘6-character code+city’ format. When users put that code into the app or on Google, it will show them the precise location without having to know the full address. In other updates, multiple language search was also added to Google Maps. Users can now search Maps in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati and Malayalam. Additionally, they introduced ‘Smart Address Search’ and ‘Add Address’ options so that people can add missing locations onto the app and search the general area for their destination if they don’t have the precise address. As of now, only a select few users have access to the 'Your Shortcuts' feature, even within India. But, it’s expected that it will roll out to more users in the coming weeks. Google Maps API goes public, opening the floodgates to Pokemon Go-like worldsAirtel and Google join hands to launch Android Go powered smartphones in IndiaHow to stop third-party apps from accessing your Google accounthttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/pY6wtFaodb8

Blood donations in India have always had a huge demand and supply disparity, which is largely due to the fact that people lack awareness about their options. Twitter India launched the #BloodMatters campaign, which is a new social initiative to highlight blood donations and why they are so important. Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare for India, commended Twitter on this initiative since it ties into the Swastha Bharat mission. Even Ravi Shankar Prasad, Information Technology (IT) Minister for India, supported Twitter’s venture by sharing how to access blood banks online through the Online Registration System (ORS) portal. Blood Donors India (@BloodDonorsIN) was the first Indian blood helpline to partner with Twitter India to bring momentum to their initiative. All users have to do is tweet to @BloodDonorsIn with their location, blood type, and contact details if they have a request they’d like to make. On the other hand, if there are users who would like to help out, they can follow the Blood Donors India account and retweet requests to get further assistance. Twitter will take their partnership a step further by amplifying the real-time communication between the blood donation helpline and people in need. Through Twitter Lite, Blood Donors India will have access to a real-time information exchange of blood donations throughout the country. Further, the automated response solution should be able to scale the helpline’s operations, which is currently operated by a group of volunteers. Through this project, Twitter hopes to bring in more blood donation helplines, blood banks and health institutions pan-India to create a larger network with a broader reach. Clarifying their aims and expectations from the initiative, Twitter India stated, “The platform aims to scale up the volume of blood donation conversation in India, the number of donors, and work with partners that can ensure safe, screened blood can reach those in need in time across India” Some people may remember Facebook’s campaign from last year to ease the process of donating blood in India. The reason blood donations are of paramount importance in India is because the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that there are only nine million units of blood available in India annually, whereas the actual demand is around 12 million units. Mahima Kaul, Head of Public Policy at Twitter India said, “Giving back has been a priority for Twitter since its inception and we believe the open exchange of information can be a compelling force for good in the world. #BloodMatters is a step in that direction.” “We are humbled to kickstart the initiative with @BloodDonorsIN, a handle that symbolises our mission of positively impacting the world by harnessing the real-time power of Twitter and hope to make a larger impact by extending its reach through Twitter Lite,” she added. Twitter looks to ban Bitcoin advertsTwitter pleads for help cleaning up its platformBookmarks - Now you can save tweets anonymously on Twitterhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/jihq90_ZuWY