DigitalOutbox Episode 196

DigitalOutbox Episode 196
DigitalOutbox Episode 196 – Nadella heads up Microsoft, farewell Sony Vaio

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Shownotes
1:09 – Insider Nadella Named Microsoft CEO
5:41 – Sony announces it will lay off 5,000 staff, exit the PC industry and spin out its TV business
8:43 – UK government launches Year of Code campaign and £500,000 fund to train teachers in programming
13:11 – Anti-piracy app launched by music industry
15:23 – Android Marches Onto Another Landline Phone
16:27 – Ready to cast: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK
20:57 – Amazon Acquires Video Gaming Studio Double Helix Games
24:46 – Xbox One’s first major update split in two, launching in February and March

Picks
Ian
Threes
– £1.49
– There’s a cramped and claustrophobic 4×4 grid that is littered with numeric tiles. When you swipe the screen, all the tiles are shunted over. Unless, that is, they’re already up against the edge of the grid.
– With this restriction in play, you can slip two numbers on top of each other. So, you can squash a blue ‘1’ tile with a red ‘2’ tile, which snap together to create a ‘3’ tile. Or you can squash two identically numbered white tiles (two ‘6s’, for example), which snuggle up and get added together (to form a ’12’ tile, for example).
– Your goal is to make as many combinations as possible before the grid inevitably fills up (a new tile is introduced every time you swipe) so that when you tot up all the tiles, you end up with a very high number indeed.

DigitalOutbox Episode 195

DigitalOutbox Episode 195
DigitalOutbox Episode 195 – Google sells Motorola, Facebooks Paper and 30 years of Mac

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Shownotes
0:54 – Facebook Paper
5:00 – Tech Financials
10:59 – Samsung to open more than 60 dedicated stores across Europe with Carphone Warehouse
12:28 – Samsung And Google Bury The Apple Hatchet, Sign 10-Year Patent Agreement
14:38 – Lenovo To Buy Motorola Mobility From Google For About $3B
17:16 – Google buys UK artificial intelligence start-up DeepMind
19:57 – Google brings Chrome apps to Android and iOS, lets developers submit to Google Play and Apples App Store
22:40 – Microsoft changes SkyDrive name to OneDrive, six months after losing court battle to BSkyB
23:38 – Microsoft testing Windows 8.1 update that hides tile interface by default
25:07 – The NSA is reportedly scouring Angry Birds and other apps for user data
26:31 – UK government tackles wrongly-blocked websites
29:38 – Government websites on rise again despite cull
33:07 – 30 Years of Mac

DigitalOutbox Episode 194

DigitalOutbox Episode 194
DigitalOutbox Episode 194 – Obama reforms NSA, Twitter abuse and Windows 7

Playback
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Shownotes
1:11 – BlackBerry team as sales continue to plunge
5:53 – Ex-footballer Collymore accuses Twitter over abusive messages
11:00 – UK mobile and broadband providers must let you leave mid-contract if they hike their prices
13:35 – Forget Glass, Google[x] is testing a smart contact lens for diabetics
15:16 – Windows 7 ‘back by popular demand’, says HP as it targets wary consumers
17:43 – Apple Promises to Fix iOS 7 ‘White Screen of Death’
19:38 – Nintendo forecasts loss amid weak Wii U sales
23:20 – Kinect to blame for BBC iPlayer on Xbox One delay, says developer

Picks
Ian
Stockfish for Mac
– A beautiful, powerful chess app.
– Play two-player games on the beautiful chess board, or get instant accurate analysis of any game. Stockfish will tell you who’s winning and calculate the best move.
– Supports retina screens
– Stockfish is powered by the open source Stockfish chess engine, which is one of the strongest chess engines in the world.
– If you have a Mac Pro (or any Mac for that matter), the Stockfish engine can take full advantage of your hardware. Just open up the preferences and hit the “Optimize for Maximum Performance” button. Stockfish’s analysis speed scales nearly linearly with the number of cores you dedicate to analysis.
– Free

DigitalOutbox Episode 193

DigitalOutbox Episode 193
DigitalOutbox Episode 193 – Big Dog, Nest and CES

Playback
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Shownotes
1:11 – BlackBerry teams up with Foxconn for budget smartphones as sales continue to plunge
2:30 – Blockbuster gone
3:23 – BT default ‘porn filter’ switched on
9:45 – Pirate Bay unveils ambitious new software scheme to foil anti-piracy measures
11:12 – Gmail now lets you email your Google+ connections, but addresses are only shared when you hit send
13:21 – Google acquires Boston Dynamics
16:15 – Google acquires Nest
21:28 – EE now has over 2 million 4G LTE subscribers in the UK
22:33 – Instant messaging overtook SMS in the UK last year, will surpass it by more than 2:1 in 2014
23:34 – NSA collects millions of text messages daily in ‘untargeted’ global sweep
28:38 – London rolls out smart parking sensors
29:55 – Nintendo 3DS game sales up 45% to 16m in 2013, as lifetime hardware sales top 11.5m in the US
32:49 – CES

Picks
Ian
Wordiest for Android
– Form two words from 14 letters (some with bonuses attached), then see how you did versus 100 other players given the same starting letters.
– Free, fun addictive

Chris
The Stanley Parable
– Get it from Steam 9.99
– Had me in stitches and a brilliant concept.
– Can’t say any more because it would spoil the game.

DigitalOutbox Episode 192

DigitalOutbox Episode 192
DigitalOutbox Episode 192 – Messaging, Spotify and No Man’s Sky

Playback
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Shownotes
1:45 – Technology firms seek government surveillance reform
3:27 – U.K. Social Media Users Get Legal Advice From On High On Avoiding Contempt Of Court
5:49 – Twitter Apps Updated With New Swipeable Design And Photo Support In Direct Messages
10:15 – Instagram Introduces Instagram Direct
11:53 – Spotify Goes Freemium On Tablets, Launches Free Shuffle Product On Smartphones
14:10 – Three UK announces customers can roam for free in the US, and launches 4G too
16:47 – The Next-Gen USB Plug To Be Smaller And Finally Reversible
18:46 – Aldi launches £80 tablet to rival Tesco’s Hudl
21:34 – Google (finally) lets you download your Gmail and Calendar data
23:30 – Chromecast gets Plex, Vevo, RealPlayer, Viki and more with massive app update
25:32 – CBBC HD, CBeebies HD, BBC Three HD, BBC Four HD & BBC News HD launch Tuesday 10 December 2013
28:16 – No Man’s Sky
32:07 – Nottingham teenager gets £450 refund after buying a photo of an XBox One on eBay

Picks
Ian
Boson X
– a new rotational runner from Mu & Heyo
– For iOS, Android, Mac and PC
– Great little time filler

Mindnode
– Easy to use mind mapping tool
– For iOS and Mac
– Syncs via iCloud (and it works!)

DigitalOutbox Episode 191

DigitalOutbox Episode 191
DigitalOutbox Episode 191 – Drones, Apple and Xbox One

Playback
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Shownotes
1:57 – Jeff Bezos promises half-hour shipping with Amazon Prime Air
5:38 – Ministers will order ISPs to block terrorist and extremist websites
8:26 – UK mobile networks agree to £50 charges cap on stolen phones, work towards eliminating roaming fees
11:23 – HBO shows are now available to purchase from the Google Play store in the UK
18:07 – Apple buys motion sensor maker PrimeSense
19:57 – EA reduces price of UK PS4 digital games to £59.99
22:50 – Microsoft Matches PS4 Sales With 1 Million Xbox Ones In 24 Hours, But Takes 11 More Countries To Do It
28:57 – Xbox One juddering plagues UK TV watchers
31:06 – Microsoft responds to Xbox problem with disc drive

DigitalOutbox Episode 190

DigitalOutbox Episode 190
DigitalOutbox Episode 190 – Child Porn Block and the Xbox One

Playback
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Shownotes
0:38 – Google and Microsoft agree steps to block abuse images
3:26 – Twitter Alerts come to the UK & Ireland
5:50 – .london calling – UK capital secures its own top-level domain
7:48 – TaskRabbit brings its online task and errand marketplace to London as it begins global expansion
10:32 – British Airways unveils digital billboards to remind customers how magical flying can be
11:44 – Sainsbury’s to cease online sales of games and consoles
16:37 – Once-popular media player Winamp closing down on December 20
17:19 – Google Play Music finally hits iOS with a free month of All Access and programmable radio in 21 countries
19:15 – Google kills Currents, launches a Flipboard-style Newsstand with support for newspaper paywalls
20:45 – Microsoft wants to sell you anti-Google mugs and t-shirts
22:46 – The Great Instagram For Windows Phone Photo Taking Controversy Explained
25:02 – Xbox One Review
45:10 – ‘Selfie’ named by Oxford Dictionaries as word of 2013

Picks
Ian
QuizUp
– Free general knowledge game
– Play against friends, randoms
– Over 250 topics
– Quick and slick

DigitalOutbox Episode 189

DigitalOutbox Episode 189
DigitalOutbox Episode 189 – PS4, Motorola Moto G and Tories rewrite History

Playback
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Shownotes
1:04 – Google launches Helpouts
4:39 – Motorola Moto G review
9:08 – Europe approves use of in-flight electronics during take-off and landing
10:45 – Snapchat Spurned $3 Billion Acquisition Offer from Facebook
15:03 – Conservatives erase Internet history
17:27 – Amazon to start Sunday delivery service
18:38 – Netflix is now available on TiVo set-top boxes for Virgin Media subscribers in the UK
22:13 – Elop Is Going To Do What Now
26:08 – BBC working on iPlayer app for Xbox One
28:50 – PS4

Picks
Ian
Humble New Tab Page
– Redesigned new tab page featuring your bookmarks, apps, most visited, recently closed, and weather in a custom layout.
– Features:
– Simple, clean design
– Highly customizable
– Fast loading and lightweight
– Completely free and open source
– This extension replaces the default new tab page. Drag and drop folders to create new columns or reorder them. The font, colors, spacing, and more can be customized from the options menu.

DigitalOutbox Episode 188

DigitalOutbox Episode 188
DigitalOutbox Episode 188 – Deja Vu – Blackberry Fail and Patents

Playback
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Shownotes
1:08 – BlackBerry Takes $1B Investment From Fairfax, Others, Replaces CEO Thorsten Heins
4:39 – Twitter Prices IPO Above Estimates At $26 Per Share, Raising $1.82B At Valuation Of Up To $18B
9:26 – Patent war goes nuclear: Microsoft, Apple-owned Rockstar sues Google
13:19 – Google Patented the ‘Heart’ Gesture and Other Fun Hand Moves
14:35 – Tesco petrol stations use face-scan tech to target ads
17:51 – Milton Keynes in UK to trial £1.5m driverless car scheme
20:05 – Google ordered to remove Max Mosley orgy pictures
22:08 – Google Now for iOS up to par with Android app, updated with notifications, reminders, and more
27:50 – Google Drive for iOS adds support for multiple accounts, single sign-in, and printing
28:00 – Microsoft finally takes on Google Docs with real-time editing in Office Web Apps
28:34 – Out of the picture: why the world’s best photo startup is going out of business
33:11 – Full Gran Turismo 6 game details revealed

DigitalOutbox Episode 187

DigitalOutbox Episode 187
DigitalOutbox Episode 187 – Googlefest

Playback
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Shownotes
1:09 – Passengers will be able to use gadgets for entire US flights
2:51 – Samsung is pulling another Amazon on Android, but this is even bigger
8:18 – Google upgrades Glass hardware, offering one-time swap for existing users
11:27 – Google launches build-your-own-phone project Ara
13:46 – Google+ Updates
18:36 – Nexus 5
22:14 – Android 4.4 KitKat: Google’s simpler, integrated operating system designed for every phone
28:12 – Reports that NSA taps into Google and Yahoo data hubs infuriate tech giants
31:54 – Adobe Breach Impacted At Least 38 Million Users

33:37 – Pirate cull: UK court orders ISPs to block 21 file-sharing sites

35:44 – Dell users: Latitude 6430u laptops ‘smell of cat urine’

Picks
Ian
Fantastical 2 for iPhone
– Updated for iOS 7
– See calendar and reminders in one place
– Natural language input
– Great design – £1.99 for launch period

Evernote Partners with UK Mobile Carrier O2
– Free 12 months of Evernote Premium for O2 users
– I applied it and it extended my current premium subscription