FDA recommends consumers to stop using homeopathic teething tablets and gels

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers that homeopathic teething tablets and gels may pose a risk to infants and children. The FDA recommends that consumers stop using these products and dispose of any in their possession.

Homeopathic teething tablets and gels are distributed by CVS, Hyland's, and possibly others, and are sold in retail stores and online.

Consumers should seek medical care immediately if their child experiences seizures, difficulty breathing, lethargy, excessive sleepiness, muscle weakness, skin flushing, constipation, difficulty urinating, or agitation after using homeopathic teething tablets or gels.

"Teething can be managed without prescription or over-the-counter remedies," said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "We recommend parents and caregivers not give homeopathic teething tablets and gels to children and seek advice from their health care professional for safe alternatives."

The FDA is analyzing adverse events reported to the agency regarding homeopathic teething tablets and gels, including seizures in infants and children who were given these products, since a 2010 safety alert about homeopathic teething tablets. The FDA is currently investigating this issue, including testing product samples. The agency will continue to communicate with the public as more information is available.

Homeopathic teething tablets and gels have not been evaluated or approved by the FDA for safety or efficacy. The agency is also not aware of any proven health benefit of the products, which are labeled to relieve teething symptoms in children.

The FDA encourages health care professionals and consumers to report adverse events or quality problems experienced with the use of homeopathic teething tablets or gels to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program:

Source: FDA recommends consumers to stop using homeopathic teething tablets and gels

Introducing the Vulkan renderer preview

Today we're releasing the first developer preview of the upcoming Vulkan renderer for Unity, as announced at Google I/O. Vulkan is a new generation graphics and compute API that provides high-efficiency, cross-platform access to modern GPUs in both PCs and on mobile platforms. The recently released Android Nougat version from Google brings official support for the Vulkan API, and we're working towards enabling our users to boost the graphics performance to the next level.

Unity Labs scene running on Linux using the Vulkan renderer

Benefits

The main benefit of Vulkan over older mobile rendering APIs such as OpenGL ES 3.x is speed. Vulkan is designed to take advantage of multiple CPU cores by allowing the application to build command lists in multiple threads in parallel. This allows the application to take advantage of all of the CPU cores on the device, improving performance. The Vulkan preview release supports this via the "Enable Graphics Jobs" checkbox in the player settings. However, we're seeing large performance gains even when running the renderer in a single thread. In one of our internal benchmarks we're seeing up to 35% improvement in frame times on Android, compared to OpenGL ES 3.1 renderer, even though they're both running in a single rendering thread!

Getting started

Get the experimental build from our beta page. The build is based on Unity 5.5 beta 4 release. Remember to back up your projects before trying this out!

To enable Vulkan support, open "Player Settings…", go to the "Other Settings" pane and clear the "Auto Graphics API" checkbox. You are presented with an ordered list of graphics APIs to choose from. If Vulkan is not on that list, click the '+' sign at the bottom of the list to add it. Then drag Vulkan to be the first item on the list so that it'll be used whenever supported, and you're done! All your existing shaders will get translated to Vulkan SPIR-V (unless specifically disabled via #pragma only_renderers or similar), and the idea is that things should "Just Work".

You can also experiment with the Enable Graphics Jobs checkbox, it can give a nice performance boost especially on multi-core CPUs.

NOTE! When targeting Android, make sure you never have both "Multithreaded Rendering" and "Graphics Jobs (Experimental)" settings enabled at the same time. They are mutually exclusive, and in the final version we'll silently ignore the Multithreaded Renderer setting if Graphics Jobs are enabled.

Now, just build & run, and if everything went as planned, you should see something like this in the player log at startup:

Supported devices

This preview build has Vulkan support enabled for the following targets:

Windows standalone (no Vulkan support in the editor yet)

Android

Linux standalone

On Windows, we've been mainly testing on Nvidia and AMD GPUs. Remember to update your GPU drivers! Vulkan is a new technology and the drivers keep improving constantly, so before reporting a crash, check first if an updated driver fixes the problem.

On Android, we've tested on the following devices:

Samsung Galaxy S7 (European version, with ARM Mali GPU). Make sure you have the latest firmware, with build date August 2016 or later. Previous firmwares have older drivers that are known not to work.

Nvidia Shield Tablet (both versions), Shield Console.

Google Nexus 6P, 5X (although you might see more issues on these handsets compared to the others).

The following devices are known not to work with the currently available firmware:

Samsung Galaxy S7 (US version, with Qualcomm GPU). We expect that an upcoming firmware with an updated driver should fix this.

On Linux, only the Nvidia GPUs have been tested. You'll need to have libvulkan1 installed (either from your distro or via the LunarG Vulkan SDK) and recent enough drivers (367.x or newer). However, we've seen random hangs when transitioning from the splash screen into the game itself. So when testing this experimental release, you might consider disabling the Unity splash screen, if you have that option.

Known issues

As this is an experimental developer preview, there are some known issues we're working on. We also welcome your feedback! Please let us know of any bugs or issues you find:

Graphics jobs on Vulkan are especially experimental at this stage. If you see crashes, try disabling Graphics Jobs to see if that's the one causing it.

GrabPass is not supported with Graphics Jobs.

On Nvidia GPUs, when rendering with multiple cameras with MSAA enabled, display corruption may occur.

On Android the Graphics Jobs are currently configured to run in 2 concurrent threads only. Because of this, you'll usually get better performance by using the Multithreaded renderer instead (this is the existing client/worker threaded renderer).

Compute shaders haven't been thoroughly tested yet, YMMV.

We hope you'll have fun experimenting with the new renderer. Please talk to us about it at our forums: what works, what doesn't, what you like about it and what you're missing. If you believe you've found a bug, please report it via our bug reporting system (make sure to mention it refers to the experimental Vulkan build). We're especially interested in cases where the Vulkan renderer would be slower than GL ES 3.x on Android, or significantly slower than DX11 or DX9 on Windows.

Source: Introducing the Vulkan renderer preview

10 Common Nexus Android 7.0 Nougat Problems & How to Fix Them

Google's Android 7.0 Nougat update delivers new features and enhancements. It also brings some problems to Nexus smartphones and tablets and today we want to show you some fixes for common Nexus Android 7.0 Nougat problems.

The Nexus Android 7.0 Nougat update went through an extensive beta ahead of its official release. The Android N Developer Preview helped Google weed out a number of Nougat problems but it failed to squash them all.

As we push away from the Android 7.0 Nougat release for devices like the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X we continue to hear complaints about various Nougat problems including issues with battery life, Wi-Fi and more.

We expect complaints to pickup as more people decide to download and install the new mobile operating system.

Google is planning a maintenance release for Nougat but Android 7.1 probably won't arrive for a few more weeks. Until then Nexus owners, you're on your own.

Today we want to go over some of these Nexus Android 7.0 Nougat problems and offer some potential fixes ahead of the first major bug fix release. These fixes have worked for us and others over the years and there's a chance they'll help you get rid of your problem.

How to Fix Android 7.0 Nougat Installation Problems

Some of the earliest Android 7.0 Nougat problems were installation issues and we continue to hear and see complaints about Nougat installation problems as we push deeper into the year.

If you are attempting to sideload Android 7.0 Nougat on your phone or tablet and you're running into an issue, take a look at our in depth guide. It will walk you through the process and help you work out the kinks in your installation.

If your Nougat installation is simply getting stuck during the OTA process, there are a few remedies you can try.

First, try force restarting the device. We've put together a guide that will take you through that process. It can be a little tricky for new users but once you get the hang of it you'll be able to get it done in no time at all.

If your installation gets stuck you can also try letting your device's battery die (yes, this can take awhile). Once it dies, recharge it to 100% and then try the installation again. This has worked for us in the past but there is another way.

If neither of those work, you can try clearing the cache partition. Here's how to do that on most Nexus smartphones and tablets:

Press and hold Power and Volume Down buttons simultaneously until you see something other than Google on the screen.

At this point, you should see a large arrow at the top of the screen.

Tap Volume Down repeatedly until you see Recovery in the arrow.  Then tap the Power button.

You should see an android on his back with its chest open showing red triangle and exclamation mark.

While holding the Power button, tap Volume Up once then release the Power button.

You should now see a list of items at top of screen.

Tap Volume Down until the item to erase or wipe the cache partition is highlighted.  Then tap Power button to initiate the process.

A status messages will appear at the bottom of the screen.  Be patient because this can take 10-15 minutes to complete. When that's done restart your Nexus device.

How to Fix Android Nougat Battery Life Problems

If you recently installed Android 7.0 Nougat on your Nexus smartphone or tablet and you're seeing abnormal battery drain, there's no need to panic.

If you installed within the past two days, don't take any drastic actions yet. It can take a couple of days for new software to settle in with the hardware. If for some reason the drain persists after two days, you'll want to get to work.

We've put together a list of fixes for Android 7.0 Nougat battery life problems. These fixes will work for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X and Google's other Nexus-branded devices.

Take a look at the list before you throw your device against the wall or contact Google for a replacement.

How to Fix Android Nougat Charging Problems

Nexus charging issues are extremely common and we're hearing about problems after the release of Android 7.0 Nougat. Here are a few fixes to try if your device's charging mechanism suddenly stops working like it should.

If you can, charge your Nexus smartphone or tablet to 100% battery. Once it hits that mark, let the charge start to fall.

Before the device's charge gets down to 0% battery, around the 5% mark, you'll want to charge the battery up to 100% again. Repeat this three to four times and charging could return to normal.

If that doesn't work, you'll want to check your charging cable. If you're using a third-party charger, try using the charger your Nexus device came with. If you are using the stock charger, try using a charger with the same voltage.

You can also try swapping out the wall charger for a USB cable. Plug your Nexus device into a computer and charge it.

How to Fix Android Nougat Wi-Fi Problems

Surprise, surprise. Some Nexus owners are running into Android 7.0 Nougat Wi-Fi problems. This actually isn't much of a surprise given that Wi-Fi problems are among the most common issues for phones and tablets.

If you're running into a Wi-Fi issue while on Nougat, the first thing to do is check your router. We recommend unplugging your router for a solid minute before plugging it back in to see if that helps resolve your issue.

If you can't do this because you're in a public place or if you're positive it's not a router issue, try these fixes.

First, you'll want to go in and forget the Wi-Fi network giving you problems. Head into your Wi-Fi settings, either in the Settings menu or via Quick Settings and select the desired Wi-Fi connection. Choose Forget (this will make your device forget the password so make sure you know it) and then reconnect to see if the connection improves.

If that doesn't help, we recommend updating your applications. And if that still doesn't help dislodge your Wi-Fi issue, you'll want to boot your Nexus device into Safe Mode in an effort to single out problem apps. Apps have been known to cause issues with connectivity and they could be causing the problem on your device.

How to Fix Android Nougat Bluetooth Problems

Bluetooth problems are also extremely common on Nexus devices and we're seeing complaints about Nougat Bluetooth issue as we push away from the release.

If your Bluetooth connection(s) starts acting up after installing Android 7.0, try turning it off then back on again to see if that helps. Believe it or not, this can sometimes remedy the problem.

If that two second fix doesn't work, you'll want to go in and forget the Bluetooth connection causing the problems. Head into your Settings, select the Bluetooth device and tap on Forget. Try reconnecting to the device.

If this doesn't work, try booting your Nexus smartphone or tablet into Safe Mode. Again, to do this, follow Google's instructions. Safe Mode will disable third-party apps and help you isolate potential culprits. There's a chance one of your apps is causing the problem.

If that remedy fails, you can try wiping the system cache (instructions above) or factory resetting the device. These should obviously only be used as a last resort.

How to Fix Android Nougat Data Problems

Android 7.0 Nougat data issues are popping up for some Nexus owners and we expect complaints about cellular data to continue throughout the year.

Fixing Android data issues can be a bit tricky but here are a few things to try before you contact customer service.

If you're positive, absolutely positive, that these data issues have nothing to do with an outage at your carrier/Google/another service, try a simple reboot. Power down your device and turn it back on and see if that helps.

If it fails, try switching the device to Airplane Mode. This will turn off all of your connections. Turn Airplane off and see if that helps establish your connection.

If that doesn't help, go into your Settings. Go to Wireless & networks and head into Cellular networks. Try toggling Cellular data/LTE off and on.

If you're still unable to get cellular service, you'll need to get in contact with your carrier or Google. If they can't help, you might have to perform a factory reset.

How to Fix Android Nougat Performance Problems

If you start noticing abnormal amounts of lag and stuttering after you install Android 7.0 Nougat, try these fixes.

We recommend clearing your cache partition if you haven't done so in awhile. The instructions are located near the top of this page.

This is a proven fix for lag issues and it's worked for us and our Nexus smartphones and tablets in the past.

If that doesn't help your device's performance with Nougat, you can try using an application like Qualcomm's Trenpn Profiler to monitor your device's CPU activity.

You might also use Nougat's new RAM Manager tool located in Settings > Memory. This tool allows you to see what might be slowing your device down.

You can also try deleting files that you no longer need and cutting back on the amount of widgets you're using.

If you can't find a permanent fix, it might be time to backup your files and perform a factory reset to see if that helps.

How to Fix Android Nougat App Problems

Nexus users are running into issues with various apps after installing Android 7.0 Nougat. App issues are extremely common after a new operating system is released.

If an app starts acting up, the first thing to do is check for an update. Developers have rolled out Nougat support updates with features and fixes and there's a good chance the new version will help iron out your problem. Just be sure to read reviews from Nougat users before you install.

If that doesn't help, and you can't find anything on the developer's forums/website (for instance, SoundCloud has a community forum and Spotify has a help page dedicated to Android problems), get in contact with the developer so that it's aware of the issue.

How to Fix Android Nougat Sound Problems

If your sound stops working properly after you download the Android 7.0 Nougat update, there are a few things to try before performing a factory reset.

First, try a simple restart. Reboot your phone or tablet. More often than not, this will only temporarily fix the issue.

If that doesn't work, boot the device into Safe Mode. This will disable third-party applications. There's a very good chance one of your apps is causing the problem with Nougat.

How to Fix Android Nougat Random Reboots

Android 7.0 Nougat random reboot problems are popping up for Nexus 5x users and owners of Google's other Noguat-powered devices. Fortunately there are a few fixes to try before getting in contact with Google/your retailer for a replacement device.

First, try restarting your Nexus phone or tablet. If that doesn't help, try updating your applications. You might also want to clear App data and cache. To do that, go into Apps in Settings, click an app, and tap Storage. Select Clear Data and Clear Cache to see if that helps resolve your problems.

If you're using a Nexus 5x and you're running into a continuous bootloop problem with Nougat, you'll want to contact customer service.

It appears that these issues might be related to hardware and you might be able to get yourself a new phone if you hurry.

How to Fix Android 7.0 Problems If Nothing Else Works

If none of these fixes work for you and your device, there are several other resources to take a look at before giving up.

First, we recommend looking at Google's Nexus Help Forum. There are tons of friendly and knowledgeable users on there. More importantly, there are tons of potential fixes.

If you can't find anything there, we recommend performing a factory reset on the device to bring everything back to the way it was when you first bought the device.

If that doesn't help, contact Google or the retailer where you bought your Nexus device to see what can be done. If you're lucky, you'll get a replacement.

9 Things to Do Before Installing Android 7.0 Nougat

Get Familiar with Android 7.0 Nougat

One of the first things you'll want to do before installing Android 7.0 Nougat is to get familiar with the update if you haven't already. Blindly installing Android 7.0 Nougat on your device is a bad idea, particularly for novice Android users.

If you haven't been following the Developer Preview, now would be a great time to get acquainted with Android 7.0 and its various changes. There are many. Some are big and obvious, others are much smaller and harder to locate. 

We've put together a guide that will walk you through Android Nougat versus Android Marshmallow. If you're coming from the Marshmallow update, and we assume most of you are, this will come in handy. 

Google's also outlined many of the update's key ingredients and you can take a look at those right here and right here. 

It's in your benefit to dig into the update prior to installing it. This way, you won't be caught off guard by any of the changes. 

Source: 10 Common Nexus Android 7.0 Nougat Problems & How to Fix Them

Picosun Patents ALD nanolaminate to Prevent Electronics From Overheating

ESPOO, Finland, September 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Picosun Oy, the leading provider of high quality industrial ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) technology, has patented a novel ALD nanolaminate to protect electronics such as smartphones, tablets, computers, and lighting devices from overheating.

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140528/689557 )

As both consumer and industrial electronics become faster, smaller, and more efficient day by day, overheating of the components such as batteries, microprocessors, and LEDs has become one of the key problems in the industry. Overheating leads to performance losses, failures in operation, and shortening of the device lifespan - and even to direct dangers, as heated batteries pose a risk of explosion.

Picosun's patented(*) 'phonon superhighway' nanolaminate coating conducts heat efficiently away from the device interior, decreasing its temperature even 20 degrees. The heat is distributed through the casing of the device, along its surface. The coating can be applied at low temperatures on large batches of items with fast and cost-efficient processing in Picosun's fully automated production ALD reactors.

"Our aim at Picosun is to utilize the ALD method not only to advance technological development, but also to improve the usability, safety, and lifetime of technical devices. Our new, patented nanolaminate coating addresses directly these challenges by solving one of the key problems in today's electronics - overheating of the components. Many world-leading electronics manufacturers have already expressed interest towards our invention. We are excited to present this novel ALD solution to our customers to help them improve the performance, reliability, and safety of their products," states Juhana Kostamo, Managing Director of Picosun.

(*)Application no. WO2016146881; "Heat-conductive ALD Coating in an Electrical Device"

Picosun provides the most advanced ALD thin film coating technology to enable the industrial leap into the future, with turn-key production solutions and unmatched expertise in the field. Today, PICOSUN™ ALD equipment are in daily manufacturing use in numerous major industries around the world. Picosun is based in Finland, with subsidiaries in North America, Singapore, Taiwan, China, and Japan, and a world-wide sales and support network. For more information visit http://www.picosun.com.

SOURCE Picosun Oy

Source: Picosun Patents ALD nanolaminate to Prevent Electronics From Overheating

Best innovations come from the most surprising places: Sundar Pichai

By Sundar Pichai

When I was growing up in India, it was hard to get access to a computer. Now hundreds of millions of people have smartphones — powerful devices — all the time. We're communicating, consuming, educating and entertaining ourselves in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. And we're only beginning to understand the full potential of what these devices can do.

Often the best innovations come from the most surprising places. For decades, fishermen of Chennai faced the problem of invisible maritime borders sometimes sparking international incidents and detentions.

Advay Ramesh, a 14-year-old from Chennai, decided to do something about it. He wanted to give those fishermen the same kind of location information he got whenever he checked Google Maps. So he designed a new kind of tablet that would run an application to warn fisherman whenever they strayed past those borders.

An incredibly inventive 14-year old just used technology to provide a potential solution to a problem that had vexed people for decades, proving yet again that great ideas know no borders.

I love seeing innovation like Advay's coming out of India, especially from students so young. India is becoming an important centre for new technologies — even though less than a third of the population has access to the Internet. Imagine the inventions and progress we will see when everyone has an easy time getting online and getting the information they need.

The future is a familiar country

Google for India

The progress of the last few years has been stunning. Last December, I had the chance to see the progress of Digital India when I met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Around that same time, at our Google for India event in Delhi, I outlined our goals of bringing more people online. In the last nine months, our teams around the world, and especially in India, have worked hard to make this a reality.

To improve access to the Internet, we have been working with Indian Railways and RailTel on providing Wi-Fi at 400 train stations across the country, with 100 of those by the end of the year. We are already at 50 stations connecting more than 3 million people every month, with more coming online all the time. Additionally, in partnership with Tata Trusts, we've brought our Internet Saathi training programme to 10 states, empowering rural women to enhance not just their lives but also drive change in their communities.

For example, Chetna from Alwar district in Rajasthan, learnt about mustard farming techniques at the Internet Saathi programme to improve her earnings and is now a source of inspiration in her community.

And we've launched an Android skilling programme, so more Indians can build apps and businesses of the future, and reach billions of people on our open mobile platform. We have also been adapting our own products to better serve the latest wave of Internet users in India.

Mindful of data connectivity and affordability, we launched features such as Maps Offline and YouTube Smart Offline, allowing users to navigate without a data connection or away to download their favourite videos to when data rates are cheaper. We launched a keyboard that makes it easy to input 11 Indian languages, already used by millions of people.

And for search results in Hindi-speaking areas, we give users an ability to switch between English and Hindi on mobile.

There is still much work to be done, and much more to come. Over the last 10 years we've invested heavily in machine learning and artificial intelligence to make our products more assistive to people. We-'ve trained our software to recognise words and sentences, and learn what they mean.

Machine Learning

These advances help millions of people ask their devices how much traffic they'll hit on the way home and then find alternative routes, or the closest restaurant serving their favourite cuisine. Machine learning is helping people in India do voice searches in Hindi, translate phrases from Urdu to Marathi, and find all their photos of T20 matches in Google Photos. Machine-learning technology will be the 'smarts' that power the next generation of devices for everyone, in India and beyond.

Over the last year, we have noticed something important about improving our products in India: it makes them better for everyone around the world. In an increasingly mobile-first world, India gives us early insights into the future of the Internet.

Moreover, we learned the issues Indians may have with connectivity, and data constraints can be universal. We dreamed up Maps Offline for India, but people in the United States and Europe are finding it just as useful. Simply put, solving for India is inspiring new Google innovations. Today, at our second edition of Google for India, we will reveal a few major updates to our access programsme, platforms, and products —new things built for and inspired by India that move us a few steps towards the vision of making the benefits of the open Internet available for everyone.

(The writer is CEO, Google)

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Source: Best innovations come from the most surprising places: Sundar Pichai

Mobile phone use 'causes rows among third of UK adults'

Mobile phone use 'causes rows among third of UK adults'

26 September 2016

From the section Business

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37468560 Read more about sharing. Close share panel × Image copyright Thinkstock

One in three UK adults has argued with their partner about using their mobile phone too much, according to a survey by Deloitte.

The rows were most common among 25-34 year olds the report found, while 11% of over 65s admitted arguments about overusing phones.

Four out of five UK adults now have a smartphone - equivalent to 37 million people - Deloitte said.

Smartphone users now outnumber people with laptop access for the first time.

'Anti social'

Deloitte's sixth annual Mobile Consumer Survey analysed the mobile phone habits of more than 4,000 UK consumers.

About a tenth of respondents admitted using their handsets "always" or "very often" while eating at home or in restaurants.

And a third said they regularly used their devices while with friends or watching television.

"Smartphones can enhance social lives, but overuse can be perceived as anti-social, and cause arguments," said Paul Lee, head of technology, media and telecommunications research at Deloitte.

"They are personal devices, but their usage impacts those around them. As with most emerging technology, consumers will need to learn how best to run their lives with smartphones, as opposed to having their lives run by their devices."

One in three UK adults - and half of 18-24 year olds - said they checked their phones in the middle of the night, with instant messaging and social media the most popular activities.

Meanwhile, one in ten smartphone owners admitted reaching for their phone as soon as they woke up - with a third grabbing the device wi thin five minutes of waking.

'Peak smartphone'

But despite the popularity of handsets, the report warned the smartphone market was reaching saturation point.

Growth in new users slowed to 7% in the year to June 2016, from 9% in the previous 12 months.

And according to the study, only a fifth of adults using feature phones said they planned to trade up to a smartphone.

"It is clear from our research that we are reaching an age of 'peak smartphone'", Mr Lee said.

"Given the market saturation, in the next 12 months, we expect smartphone penetration to rise modestly, perhaps by no more than two or four percentage points,"

But while producers of some other handheld gadgets have struggled to persuade users to keep buying newer models, this is not a problem phone manufacturers will face, the report predicts.

"Smartphones will not suffer the same fate as tablets. The replacement market is likely to remain healthy, and given the sizeable base of exis ting owners, smartphone sales are likely to remain in the tens of millions for the foreseeable future," Mr Lee said.

Source: Mobile phone use 'causes rows among third of UK adults'

HP Stream 8 Tablet - 5901tw Tablet

 INTRODUCTION:

HP Stream 8 Tablet - 5901tw is a single sim voice calling Windows tablet from HP. The design I very simple. Armed with a quad core processor. Getting in to the details of the Windows HP Tablet.

DESIGN:

HP Stream 8 Tablet looks very premium. The back panel has very smooth finish. The tablet is black in color. There is a windows logo at the front bottom panel. The design is very simple and black in color which is glossy and attracts lot of finger prints and dust. Slightly curved at the edges and the bezels are medium sized. The tablet doesn't look too slim, but not even fat with a thickness of 8.9mm. To the right come the volume rockers and a power button which are very responsive.

                                

The front camera is placed above the display to the center. The rear camera is at the back side. The three capacitive touch buttons on the display itself. It comes in unique black color with smooth finish on all sides. To the rear side there comes the branding and stereo speakers are also available. The charging slot sits to the top.  And the 3.5mm audio jack beside the charging slot. Sim card slots and sd card slot are available. The dimensions of the tablet are 124 x 209 x 8.9 mm. The weight of the device is 410.

DISPLAY:

HP Stream 8 Tablet comes with a 8 inch IPS LCD display. It displays around 16M colors. It has a HD resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It is a multi touch capacitive screen. It has a very good display with vibrant colors. And provided with wide viewing angles.

                                                                   

FEATURES:

HP Stream 8 Tablet is a smart tablet with best features supporting voice calling and 3G. It is powered by the quad core, 1.8 GHz Intel Atom Bay Trail-T CR Z3735G processor. It is running on the OS Windows 8.1 version. It has an internal memory of 32GB and 1GB RAM. Expandable memory provided up to 32GB.

                                              

Having primary camera of 5MP with LED flash and Auto focus is provided. It captures pictures at 2542 x 1944 pixels. Stereo speakers are given. Wi-Fi, Hotspot, Bluetooth, GPS options are available. 2MP front shooter is provided for video calling and selfies. It has 4000mAh li-on non removable battery which provides long lasting back up. It has dual sim support. The sim slots support GSM. Proximity, gyroscope, ambient light and accelerometer sensors are available.

PERFORMANCE:

Coming to the design it got a very standard body made up of plastic. The front is all gloss. The colors look nice and crisp. But the problem is the screen is a bit reflective. As you see there is nice feed back on the control buttons. The viewing angles are good. The user interface is pretty simple and easy to use. The ear phone quality is very good for music. The over all performance is ok. the performance is really nice and decent enough with this 1.8GHz quad core processor.

There are no lags identified and every thing is really smooth. It got 4000mAh battery which is really awesome it gives back up around 1 day in normal usage. And you don't need to worry about the charging. The camera works really well. Pictured captured at low light are also good. The color and clarity of the images captured are pretty decent and natural. The major advantage of this tablet is it is running on Windows 8.1 which is very professional.

VERDICT:

HP Stream 8 Tablet is a very good tablet which has no lag times at all and works on the best processor with good speeds. The thing is its design looks very premium and nice glossy display. It is available at a price range of Rs 17,199/- Which is a bit pricy.

Source: HP Stream 8 Tablet - 5901tw Tablet

Some Surface Pro 3 Tablets Still Experiencing Battery Issues

Last month's firmware update failed to solve the battery drain issue for some Surface Pro 3 owners, who are still getting barely an hour or two between charges.

Despite a recent firmware update from Microsoft, battery problems continue to plague some Surface Pro 3 devices.For months, owners have been flooding Microsoft's online support forums with complaints about the tablet's poor battery performance. Instead of lasting several hours between charges—up to 9 hours if used primarily for web browsing—some users could barely make it an hour or two before having to seek out a power outlet.Late last month, Microsoft finally acknowledged the battery-draining issue and released a firmware update. Unfortunately for some users, the update failed to solve the problem.After the Aug. 29 update, some users returned to the company's support forums to report that their batteries are still draining at an alarming rate. The previous fix appears to have worked on devices with batteries from Simplo, a Taiwanese mobile battery maker. However, users whose tablets are powered by cells sourced from LG are still reporting poor battery life. Today, a Microsoft spokesperson told eWEEK that the company is investigating the issue. "We are aware of a battery issue that is affecting a limited number of Surface Pro 3 users. We can confirm that the issue affecting these customers was not caused by the software updates issued on August 29th," said the spokesperson in an email statement. "Our team is actively looking in to the issue to determine the cause and identify a fix. We will post an update as soon as we have more information to share."Of course, Microsoft isn't the only device maker to struggle with battery-related woes lately.Last week, following multiple reports of fires and explosions caused by faulty batteries in Samsung's new Galaxy Note7 smartphone, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) formally issued a recall of the device. "Since the affected devices can overheat and pose a safety risk, if you own a Galaxy Note7, it is extremely important to stop using your device, power it down and immediately exchange it using our U.S. Note7 Exchange Program," urged Samsung in a Sept. 15 statement.In the United States, Samsung received 92 reports of batteries overheating, 55 of which involved property damage. The company also received 26 accounts of burns.On Sept. 8, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a brief statement warning air travelers about flying with the device. "In light of recent incidents and concerns raised by Samsung about its Galaxy Note 7 devices, the Federal Aviation Administration strongly advises passengers not to turn on or charge these devices on board aircraft and not to stow them in any checked baggage," said the advisory.Last Friday, following the formal recall, the FAA reminded airlines that "U.S. hazardous material regulations prohibit air cargo shipments of recalled or defective lithium batteries and lithium battery-powered devices, and passengers may not turn on or charge the devices when they carry them on board a plane." Following new safety requirements issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT),  Delta, United and o ther airlines prohibited the use of affected Note7 smartphones on their flights.
Source: Some Surface Pro 3 Tablets Still Experiencing Battery Issues

Surface Pro 3 plagued by more battery problems

Editor's note: This article has been updated with a statement from Microsoft.

History apparently repeats itself. In late August, Microsoft released an update for the Surface Pro 3 firmware designed to fix the battery problems plaguing some users. Now, yet more users are complaining about new battery issues that are just as crippling—and in some cases more so—than the original problem. On top of that, these newly affected users may very well be ones that weren't affected by the first round of battery life woes.

When the original Surface Pro 3 battery problems hit the issue appeared to affect people who had a device with a Simplo brand battery. Now, the people in this Microsoft forum thread appear to be mostly users with LG-made batteries.

The new problems appear to be varied. Some people can't take their tablets out of the charger without the Surface shutting down, similar to the Simplo battery issue. Others say their battery won't charge when plugged in, but it shows a certain amount of battery life. The minute they unplug their Surface, however, the device shuts down.

So far Microsoft hasn't said much about the issue. Barb Bowman, a Microsoft MVP and community moderator on the forums, said on Tuesday, September 13 that Microsoft is aware of the issue and investigating. Since then there haven't been any significant updates from Microsoft's side in the forum thread.

Update: A Microsoft representative sent along this statement:

"We are aware of a battery issue that is affecting a limited number of Surface Pro 3 users. We can confirm that the issue affecting these customers was not caused by the software updates issued on August 29th. Our team is actively looking in to the issue to determine the cause and identify a fix. We will post an update as soon as we have more information to share."

The impact on you at home: If you have a Surface Pro 3 and aren't experiencing any issues then you are probably in the clear. Anyone who hasn't yet received the new firmware update or seen any battery problems might want to hold off on installing the new firmware if you can. That said, it's not clear if the firmware update is causing this issue. Some users have been complaining about the issue since the Anniversary Update rolled out to the Surface Pro 3 in early August. The new SP3 firmware rolled out about four weeks later.

For those already suffering battery woes it's probably worthwhile to add to the chorus of users dealing with battery problems on the Microsoft's forum thread.

[via Thurrott.com]

Source: Surface Pro 3 plagued by more battery problems

Ugandans driven to despair by spending on MPs' cars as basic services suffer

A fifth of Ugandans live below the World Bank poverty line, and as many as 60% hover close to it. Meanwhile, the government plans to spend billions of shillings on cars for its legislators. Photograph: Ivoha/Alamy

Beckie Mauso has had enough. The 28-year-old wife of a police officer in Uganda has a heart problem that requires her to visit hospital regularly. But every time she has sought treatment at the Mulago national referral hospital, she is told there are no drugs and referred instead to another public hospital.

"There is no help there either," Mauso says. "They have never given me even the simplest tablets. They sent me to buy syrup at a private clinic and I paid 90,000 Uganda shillings [£20]."

She doesn't believe this is because the government has no money to fund health facilities. She maintains the money is being misused.

Mauso is just one Ugandan raging at government plans to spend billions of shillings on cars for MPs. "As wives of serving officers we aren't allowed to demonstrate, but this time I am ready to join those speaking against that," she says.

The government wants to allocate some 64bn shillings (£14m) for legislators to buy cars, which, they say, will allow them to work more efficiently in their constituencies. However, Ugandans say the country is too poor to afford such a huge cost.

Uganda, with a population of 37 million, has more than 400 MPs. In this parliament, each MP will receive an extra 47m shillings to buy a car. MPs can also claim mileage costs and are entitled to a medical allowance for treatment abroad and a retirement package – among other perks.

The move has angered Ugandans, many of whom are struggling to put food on the table or access affordable healthcare. One has even gone to court to block the move, although some analysts said it is unlikely to succeed.

"I have no problem with MPs being given money, but our cries should also be heard. What we are asking is simple – let us have drugs and health workers in hospitals," said Lilian Nabaggala, who lives in the capital, Kampala.

Loyce Nandela, a resident of Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb, said: "Look around; everyone is not happy. Teachers haven't been paid, intern doctors have been striking – but you have more money to give MPs."

But Denis Hamson Obua, a legislator from the ruling party, the National Resistance Movement, said the the extra money wouldn't be enough to buy a new vehicle "befitting the status of an MP". "Democracy is expensive," he said. "And I think we are being fair to the public because that money they are giving us can't even buy a new car."

In April, the government said it could not afford the 31bn shillings needed to replace the country's only radiotherapy machine.

In August, public universities delayed opening for the new academic year because non-teaching staff were striking over unpaid salaries.

Health centres have at times gone for months without drug supplies while 29% of households use water from unimproved sources (pdf). Youth unemployment remains the highest in east Africa.

Almost 7 million Ugandans (one-fifth of the population) live below the World Bank poverty line of $1.90 a day and more than 60% are thought to hover close to the line.

Ugandan MPs are among the best paid public officials in the country, earning at least £54,000 annually. On top of that, they have received extra money – outside their normal pay.

At the start of their five-year term in office in May, President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for 30 years, handed 362 legislators, mostly from his ruling party, 5m shillings each as a gift.

Analysts said it was a sweetener to legislators to vote in the speaker he wanted. It is expected that Museveni, 72, will ask MPs to remove an age-limit clause that would technically end his rule when he reached 75.

"There is an issue of misplaced priorities," said Cissy Kagaba, the director of Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda. "Political benefit for the few [severely] upsets us as taxpayers. At the back of it all, roles and demands from the population remain unattended too."

Dr Gerald Karyeija, an academic at Uganda Management Institute, said: "Whenever the public sees MPs getting something, it elicits public dismay because the government has failed to delivery [to the ordinary people]. The public thinks it is getting a raw deal. The challenge is that we have a very big number [of parliamentarians] and maintaining it is very difficult.

"The country had 382 legislators in the previous parliament. The government has created new districts to create smaller administrative units, arguing it would ease service delivery. But it has come at a cost – more MPs and other public administrators are required, eating into the money that would otherwise be used to extend social services to the locals."

Beatrice Anywar, an independent MP, said: "The country is crying [out] for more doctors … not MPs."

Obua agrees that Ugandans are getting a raw deal when it comes to service delivery, but said the problem was not MPs. "It is corruption. If we fought stealing of public funds, the sky is the limit for Uganda."

Many Ugandans believe the focus should be on a smaller parliament, one that taxpayers can afford. For Mauso, basics such as drugs in hospitals should be the top priority.

Source: Ugandans driven to despair by spending on MPs' cars as basic services suffer

GoPro's Most Important New Product Isn't a Drone

If you watched GoPro's (NASDAQ: GPRO) Hero 5 and Karma Drone product launch event on Monday, you may have missed arguably the most important product coming into the company's lineup. It isn't a camera or a drone or image stabilization technology. It's a keychain attachment that could make getting videos from your camera to your phone a breeze. 

GoPro is great at making cameras and has really improved its video editing software, particularly with the Quik app that makes it incredibly easy to make a great video. But getting data from the camera to a smartphone or tablet has been a problem. Enter Quik Key. 

Quik Key isn't big, but its impact on GoPro users could be massive. Image source: GoPro.

The device that makes GoPro a breeze

Quik Key is nothing more than a dongle that allows your microSD card to plug into your Apple iPhone or iPad. It attaches to a keychain or can be used independently with an included carbineer. For now, the product is only Apple compatible, but that could change in the future if it's successful.

The Capture app, which is what smartphone users can use to control a GoPro camera remotely and download media to the smartphone, will be the point of connection to Quick Key data, adding functionality to an app users are probably familiar with. People can download individual images, full videos, or sections of a video. And with the Apple Lightning adapter the data transfer speeds will be a lot faster than a wireless connection.

This may seem like an unnecessary device on the surface -- unless you've tried to view, download, and edit GoPro content in the field. Sitting on a chairlift is a great time to edit some videos from your last run, but it's nearly impossible to do that with a wireless connection. Plus, the battery drains rapidly when the GoPro is sending content to a smartphone.

Taking away the friction of using GoPro

The biggest weakness in GoPro's business over the past two years has been the product line's relatively painful process of turning photos and videos into great, sharable content. At a time when everyone has a camera in their pocket and Instagram and Facebook are only a click away, the process of downloading and editing GoPro content was too painful.

Improved editing apps helped the process, but a quick file-transferring device is a great step in the right direction as well. At $29.99, Quik Key won't be a huge moneymaker, but it could reduce friction consumers feel in buying a GoPro. And that's exactly the point.

With higher quality video content requiring larger data transfers and new products like the Karma Drone now in the lineup, quick data transfer will be key for GoPro users. Don't underestimate just how important Quik Key can be for getting more GoPro cameras in customers' hands and rejuvenating the sales cycle in 2016.

A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity

The world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.

Travis Hoium owns shares of Apple and GoPro. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple, Facebook, and GoPro. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Source: GoPro's Most Important New Product Isn't a Drone

Set Up Your Mobile Office — in the Middle of Nowhere — with PLUG

This post was originally published on this site

Whether you own a smartphone, tablet or laptop, the power intensive applications used today drain battery power faster than ever. And no matter how advanced these devices get, you never seem to have enough power when away from a power strip or receptacle. A new ultra-high capacity battery pack from PLUG is looking to solve this particular problem with a unit that not only lets you charge your smartphone and tablet but also has two AC wall outlets in a device that is surprisingly portable.

Currently PLUG is part of an ongoing successful Indiegogo campaign having surpassed its initial goal of $30,000 to more than $170,000, and it still has a month left on the funding run.

So why are more than 600 backers so excited about PLUG?

This is the second crowd funding campaign for the makers of PLUG, ChargeTech. In 2014, the company introduced the world's smallest portable power outlet and has since partnered with Google, NASA, Hilton and Toyota. This time around, ChargeTech says, the PLUG battery pack is three times more powerful.

What's in the PLUG Portable External Battery Charger?

The PLUG has 16 3,000mAh Tesla battery cells manufactured by Panasonic to deliver 48,000 mAh capacity with 250 Watts. The battery and integrated circuitry are housed in a form factor that is a mere 8.6″ x 5.6″ x 1.6″ weighing in at 2lb 3oz, which makes it slightly bigger than a hard cover book.

It has two AC outlets, two fast charge USB ports, one Type C USB output, and a dedicated charging port.

The PLUG also comes with an optional compact, weather-resistant, solar panel that can recharge the device entirely with solar power.

The pass-through charging lets you power your devices while the PLUG is still charging, so you can continue to use it just like a USB hub or surge protector.

It takes approximately seven hours to charge the PLUG with the charging cable that comes with the unit and with solar power recharging can take up to eight hours.

What Can You Charge with the PLUG?

The simpler answer would be what can't you charge with the PLUG? The ultra-high capacity and power of the device should allow you to charge and use laptops, desktops, smartphones, tablets, medical devices, flat screen TVs, game consoles, mini fridges, cameras, drones, hoverboards, printers, and much more.

The company says you will also be able to charge laptops up to three times, charge tablets up to seven times, charge phones up to 28 times, run a flat screen TV for four hours or run a mini-fridge for eight hours with the power from a single recharging of the PLUG.

Business Applications

A charger with this much capability provides many options for small businesses. Small operators that provide out door trips can use the PLUG to charge the phones, tablets, cameras and other electronics of their customers.

Business travelers attending conferences and retreats will be able to use and charge their electronic devices with the PLUG without having to go in search of an outlet. And if there is a power outage, the PLUG can supply enough power to keep your devices going until electrical service is restored.

Additional use cases include charging drone batteries for aerial video companies, charging equipment for photo shoots in remote locations and, of course, getting away from the office at the beach or elsewhere while still being able to keep your devices charged.

The devices are still available for a pledge of support on the company's Indiegogo campaign site. You can get a single PLUG for a $199 pledge and two units for $349. If you want the solar panel, you can get one PLUG and the panel for $349 and two PLUGS and two panels for $599.

As for availability, the company said it is in the tooling phase for PLUG, and it will provide regular updates on the progress to announcing any shipping dates.

Conclusion

PLUG can be an invaluable tool for anyone that greatly relies on their computing and electronics devices when they are on the road, a remote location or even at home during a power outage. The price is quite reasonable and the fact that companies such as Google, NASA, Hilton, and Toyota have partnered with the maker of the charger highlights the reliability of the product.

Images: PLUG

This article, "Set Up Your Mobile Office — in the Middle of Nowhere — with PLUG" was first published on Small Business Trends

Related

Source: Set Up Your Mobile Office — in the Middle of Nowhere — with PLUG

Dell Venue Tablet Swollen Battery

Hi,

We have a Venue 5130 Venue Pro tablet.  Its about a year out of warranty.  I noticed recently that the battery pack had expanded and was expanded from the tablet casing so it wouldn't shut.  I bought a replacement battery (not cheap) but only not started researching what the problem might have been and I can see that other people have had issues with their tables.  The old battery pack has expanded to a worrying extent - and since removal appears to have expanded further. 

Advice online seems to be to NOT try recycle this and to treat it carefully as its unstable.  Not sure what to do it with so?   If the battery packs are liable to being unstable how can they be installed in tablets to begin with.  Reading online it would appear that there are issues with such batteries if they are overcharged.  I don't know if that was the problem in my case.  All I know is the batter packy is swollen up to an unreal extent.  See Photo below. 

Another problem is Dell Customer Support doesn't appear to be contactable in a tangible way after the 12 month service period is up.  Negotiating the Dell website looking for a way to talk to a human about the problem is frustrating as everything leads to dead-end options, particularly at the weekend.  Not happy with Dell hardware and not happy so far with Dell service

A dissatisfied customer,

Mick

Source: Dell Venue Tablet Swollen Battery

Nexus 7 (Gen 1) Tablet Went Dead for No Reason

Used my Nexus 7 (Gen 1) Tablet Friday Lunch time, brought it home with me in my backpack, tried to use it in the Evening and nothing. It wasn't dropped or anything and has done that same short journey many times. The screen stays black so I cannot access any files, photos or notes I saved on it.

Tried holding both volume buttons and plugging into charge, tried holding in the on button but still nothing.

Tried plugging into a laptop the message comes up saying it does not recognise it anymore. But when I press and hold start button the laptop bleeps and recognises I am doing something to the tablet but does not recognise what the device is.

Tried connecting to different laptops and result is the same.

I tried connecting to a laptop with HDMI cable, but the laptop does not even notice anything has been plugged in.

My TV does not have HDMI port, and I am waiting for some adaptors arrive that I have ordered to try and connect using different methods to the TV and laptop.

I have tried using various programs including Dr. Fone and Yodot which enables you to access files on your device from your computer/laptop, but once again those programs do not even recognise any device plugged in. So Smart Switch and Helium will probably be the same result.

Tried disconnecting the battery for 30 seconds or so and reconnecting it but still dead.

Had a close look at other connections inside and all seems secure plus I cannot see any damage of any sort. All still looks new.

I'm not sure what is exactly wrong, but it seems something serious like a tiny crack in the mainboard which may cost me more than the tablet is worth to get it repaired. If it is just the screen, then I would have thought the laptops would still recognise it. It is around four years old, so I have had my money worth but would still be good to get the info from it.

If I had dropped it or something I could accept it but carrying it from one place to another in a soft case and getting such a problem is a mystery.Maybe you may have an idea of what the problem may be so I can but and replace it myself to save costs or maybe I have missed something I can try.

Thank you for your help and the info you are sharing on here.

Source: Nexus 7 (Gen 1) Tablet Went Dead for No Reason

NYC Kills Internet Browsing At Free WiFi Kiosks After The City's Homeless Actually Use It

Earlier this year, New York City undertook one of the biggest free city WiFi efforts ever conceived. Under the plan, an outfit by the name of LinkNYC is slated to install some 7,500 WiFi kiosks scattered around the five boroughs that will provide free gigabit WiFi (well, closer to 300 Mbps or so), free phone calls to anywhere in the country (via Vonage), as well as access to a device recharging station, 311, 911, 411 and city services (via an integrated Android tablet). The connectivity and services are supported by a rotating crop of ads displayed on the kiosks themselves.

The only problem? As part of the initiative, the city and LinkNYC attached an Android-powered tablet that lets anyone browse the internet for as long as they wanted. This, as you might expect, has resulted in some people camping out for long periods of time actually using the free service. That includes, unsurprisingly, New York City's ample homeless population. As Motherboard notes in a report, after spending m uch of August tracking usage of the kiosks, a snapshot view of daily use doesn't make for shiny marketing fodder:

"My small sample of Link users that Saturday afternoon suggests these kiosks are indeed mostly used by the city's least privileged. Of the 15 people I saw using a Link, only two or three of them would be likely to appear on LinkNYC promotional materials (i.e., one well-dressed woman making a phone call, or one middle aged, casually-dressed tourist waiting for his phone to finish charging).

Again, this shouldn't really be surprising, especially since the city has consistently claimed that one of its goals is to close the digital divide. Since June there has also been a lot of breathless hysteria about the fact that some of the homeless users have been using the tablets to watch porn. In response, LinkNYC began implementing internet filters that, as internet filters tend to do, didn't seem to work.

Responding to public complaints, LinkNYC announced this week that it would be discontinuing tablet browsing functionality at the kiosks:

"...Some users have been monopolizing the Link tablets and using them inappropriately, preventing others from being able to use them while frustrating the residents and businesses around them. The kiosks were never intended for anyone's extended, personal use and we want to ensure that Links are accessible and a welcome addition to New York City neighborhoods.

The announcement notes that the internet browsing will be disabled, but other services will still work:

"Starting today, we will be removing web browsing on all Link tablets while we work with the City and community to explore potential solutions, like time limits. Other tablet features—free phone calls, maps, device charging, and access to 311 and 911—will continue to work as they did before, and nothing is changing about LinkNYC's superfast Wi-Fi. As planned, we will continue to improve the Link experience and add new features for people to enjoy while they're on the go."

While countless news stories suggest that the move was primarily in response to overwhelming porn consumption, there's no real evidence that this was an epidemic of any real scale. While there have certainly been documented instances of public masterbation at the kiosks (this is NYC after all, and occasionally viewing a homeless person's gentials is not a new concept), LinkNYC has suggested that people camping out around the kiosks (sometimes bringing chairs, couches and crates with them) was the larger source of complaints by locals.

The real problem appears to be that the service put the city's homeless population on stark display, making them more difficult for city residents to ignore. On one hand it's understandable that homeless populations camping around the kiosks isn't great "optics" or olfactory ambiance for the city and local business owners, but at the same time it's not clear what one expects to happen when you provide the city's 60,000 homeless residents with free acc ess to technology they otherwise lack access to. LinkNYC says it's working with the city on a solution, and may restore public browsing at a later date with tougher filters and access limitations in place. Given the fact that filters historically don't work, it seems more likely that the free browsing will be gone for good.

Source: NYC Kills Internet Browsing At Free WiFi Kiosks After The City's Homeless Actually Use It

Microsoft is finally giving people a reason to use the Windows 10 app store

#Windows10 #AppStore – Microsoft is finally giving people a reason to use the Windows 10 app store : Microsoft has spent the last year making a major push towards the Windows Store, which sells apps that work across all Windows 10 devices – whether they are PCs, tablets, smartphones, or holographic headsets.

It's a fine idea. The problem is that, largely thanks to Microsoft's collapse in the smartphone market, developers aren't exactly rushing to fill the Windows Store with apps.

While bigshots like Facebook and Uber have brought their wares to the Windows Store, you're still not going to find popular apps like Snapchat and Pokémon Go.

This week, Microsoft announced that the Windows Store situation is going to get much better, very soon, thanks to the long-awaited arrival of Desktop App Converter, a tool that lets companies take their existing Windows software and convert it to a Windows 10 app.

Thanks to this tool, apps like Evernote and the popular doubleTwist media player are finally arriving in full force on Windows 10, according to a Microsoft blog entry.

Judging from this first wave of desktop apps coming to Windows 10, these apps aren't exactly the best examples of Microsoft's vision for a unified Windows 10 app store across devices, since they'll only work on PCs and PC-like tablets (including the Microsoft Surface).

The new Evernote app for Windows 10.

But there are a few benefits to getting these apps from the Windows Store, instead of the old-fashioned way of getting them straight from a developer's website.

Source: Microsoft is finally giving people a reason to use the Windows 10 app store

New York’s LinkNYC Free Tablet Kiosks Shutting Down Free Web Browsing

Announced in November 2014, LinkNYC is a project that aims to provide Wi-Fi coverage in all of New York City. There are now over 400 kiosks across 3 boroughs, all of which are equipped with tablets that came with free web browsing. These kiosks are repurposed from old phone booths. They sometimes feature advertisements, revenue of which fund the project itself.

The kiosks also provide free calls, free device charging, and free Wi-Fi. These have been really popular, especially among tourists, since they can easily find their way, look up stuff, and recharge their phones when out and about.

A Lin k Kiosk in New York City

Sadly, in a statement today, LinkNYC announced that they are shutting down the web browsing feature.

…some users have been monopolizing the Link tablets and using them inappropriately, preventing others from being able to use them while frustrating the residents and businesses around them. The kiosks were never intended for anyone's extended, personal use and we want to ensure that Links are accessible and a welcome addition to New York City neighborhoods.

According to Vice's Motherboard, many of these kiosks are constantly occupied by those who are poor and homeless. There are also reports of some attempting to use these kiosks for porn, as well as reports of some men masturbating around the kiosks.

Those that are among the least privileged should of course be entitled to the use the service, which is designed for the public. However, the problem seems to be that they are occupying the kiosk for hours on end, prohibiting others from using them. As we often see, in this case, a few bad actors ruined the experience for others. Honestly, I think a better solution might have been a time limit, but those are understandingly difficult to enforce.

Luckily, the free Wi-Fi, device charging, and maps features will still be available at LinkNYC kiosks. Those who wish use the web browsing features, however, might have to go elsewhere.

Source: New York's LinkNYC Free Tablet Kiosks Shutting Down Free Web Browsing

Geek deals: Save big on a refurbished Amazon Fire HD 6 tablet

Tablets don't have to be a big investment. If all you want is an affordable way to check Facebook, play mobile games, and stream Netflix, the 6-inch Fire HD 6 from Amazon is worth considering. And with today's coupon code in play, you can save a total of 40% off this refurbished tablet.

The Fire HD 6 sports a quad-core processor (two cores clocked at 1.5GHz, two at 1.2GHz), 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, a VGA front-facing camera, a 2MP rear-facing camera, Bluetooth, and 802.11b/g/n WiFi support. As for the 6-inch screen, it features in-plane switching, multitouch sensitivity, and an HD resolution of 1280×800.

More importantly, this tiny tablet is easy to bring with you wherever you go. It measures only four-tenths of an inch thick, weighs around 10 ounces, and the integrated battery provides up to eight hours of surfing and media playback. It also charges over a micro USB port, so you'll be able to use your existing cables, or even borrow a friend's charger.

Normally, this tablet lists for $85, but Amazon is discounting it right now to just $55.99. Use code "TECHBAR10" in your shopping cart, and you'll save an additional $5.60. And since it's Amazon Prime eligible, subscribers can get two-day shipping at no additional cost. It's also certified to work and look like a new product, so you can rest easy. If there's a problem, Amazon's return and replacement system is simple and stress-free.

Our commerce group sources the best deals and products for the Geek Deals posts. We operate independently of Editorial and Advertising and may earn a percentage of the sale, if you buy something via a link on the post. If you are interested in promoting your deals, please contact us at commerce@ziffdavis.com.

For more tablet deals, head over to TechBargains.

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Source: Geek deals: Save big on a refurbished Amazon Fire HD 6 tablet

iPhone can now shoot RAW photos, here’s why it’s a big deal

Apple and Google have finally agreed on something: RAW photography with DNG files. With the launch of iOS 10, Apple adds RAW support to select iOS devices with DNG (iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro), the same file format many Android users have had access to since the launch of Lollipop 5.0 over a year ago. But what exactly is RAW photography and DNG anyway – and what's the big deal?

Smartphones traditionally snap the very familiar JPEG file that's easily (and instantly) shareable. JPEGs are automatically edited and adjusted by the software built into the camera or smartphone so they're ready to go. The downside is that JPEGs are heavily compressed. RAW file types, such as DNG, on the other hand, are untouched by that automatic software, leaving more of the photo's data intact. The untouched RAW file, whether opened on a desktop program or a mobile photo editor, offers more flexibility in retouching than a JPEG that's already been processed. As you might suspect, the tradeoff is that RAW files tend to be very large.

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The iOS 10 update, slated for release on September 13, will allow users to swap between the traditional JPEG and a DNG RAW file in third-party apps (Apple's native camera app, however, won't shoot in RAW). Several Android cameras (largely high-end options released since Lollipop 5.0) offer the option of RAW shooting in the native app or through third-party apps. Since DNG files are larger than JPEGs, the user will have the option to turn the feature on and off.

"RAW photography means you don't actually have to make all of the choices when you are taking a photograph."

While DNG may sound complex, the original idea behind the untouched file type is actually the opposite. Thomas Knoll, Photoshop's original co-creator who worked with Adobe to develop DNG in 2004, says that the goal of DNG is actually to make photography easier.

"[RAW photography] means you don't actually have to make all of the choices when you are taking a photograph," said Knoll, a self-proclaimed amateur photographer himself. "If you make a mistake on how you set up the camera, often, it's trivial to fix when you are processing the RAW file afterward. I've always thought that RAW formats, compared to JPEG, make photography easier to do."

Related: Google code hints of RAW + JPEG capture in Android camera app

With a JPEG, the camera automatically sets in information like the white balance and applies a sharpening algorithm. And while even a RAW file can't recover from extreme exposure errors, the untouched file type is more forgiving, giving the photographer more control, by allowing the parameters that the computer automatically sets for a JPEG to be adjusted manually in a number of different desktop and mobile applications. White balance errors are particularly easy to adjust, while RAW files also allow for fine-tuning the exposure by enhancing the darks and lights of the image separately.

Colby Brown/Adobe

Unedited RAW From a Nexus 6P, by Colby Brown.

Colby Brown/Adobe

Edited RAW From a Nexus 6P, by Colby Brown.

DNG support also allows mobile photographers to edit RAW files while on the go. In the past, working photographers would need to either download and edit the files on a desktop later, or carry a laptop with them. With RAW support in Adobe Lightroom Mobile running on powerful tablet like the iPad Pro, a photographer could edit photos remotely without carrying a laptop, or waiting until he or she gets back to a studio. And when using Adobe's Creative Sync platform, any changes made to a photo are reflected across devices.

We recently had an opportunity to edit RAW images on an iPad Pro, and, seamlessly, we could edit a photo on the tablet as we would on a computer. Lightroom Mobile has become advanced enough that photographers could make most edits on an iPad – easily and quickly – and now with RAW support, the iPad is finally capable enough to replace a laptop in a photographer's workflow. (For more advanced edits not supported in Lightroom Mobile, users can continue their workflow in Lightroom or Photoshop on a desktop, picking up where they left off.)

"RAW means you don't actually have to make all of the choices when you are taking a photograph."

There are a few downsides to working with RAW, like the larger file sizes that can slow down the camera. RAW files also have to be edited and saved as a JPEG before sharing online. But the editing flexibility is often considered worth the extra hassle, especially for images that be later edited anyway.

So if RAW photography is more forgiving, why did RAW build a reputation as a complex process? Part of that stems from accessibility issues, Knoll said. Different brands have different types of RAW files – Nikon users will see a NEF after the file name, for example, while Canon shooters will see a CR2. When new cameras are released, sometimes the manufacturer adjusts just how those files are processed, which means those new files are no longer accessible by programs older than the camera.

The compatibility issue was a big complaint among consumers – and one that Knoll himself had when he purchased a camera with a RAW format that Photoshop didn't yet support in 2002. That's when Knoll decided to work on developing Adobe Camera RAW, a software that takes different RAW file types and converts them into a universal format so that they can still be opened in older versions of the software. That's when DNG was born.

Colby Brown/Adobe

Unedited RAW photo from a Nexus 6P, by Colby Brown.

Colby Brown/Adobe

Edited RAW photo from a Nexus 6P, by Colby Brown.

DNG is a standard RAW file that's universally accessible. Unlike brand-specific RAW formats, DNG is publicly documented so manufacturers and software engineers can utilize the format. That allowed camera manufacturers like Leica – and now Android and Apple – to easily incorporate RAW capability.

Some brands may use different compression methods to create a smaller file or handle the data in slightly different ways, but on an image quality level, Knoll explained, there isn't a difference between NEF, CR2, and DNG. When a new camera is released, Knoll and the team at Adobe works to break down the file type into data about the camera's physical characteristics and the image's metadata, then add the conversion into Adobe Camera RAW. The RAW converter acts as a go-between to solve compatibility issues between different RAW types and software, often with programs that haven't yet been updated to include the new camera model.

While many brands still choose to use their own RAW format, DNG provides a standard benchmark and allows users of new cameras to convert their files for use in older software programs. Different brands may use different compression methods in their files, but as an Adobe-developed file type, DNG's structure includes Fast Load Preview data that allows for faster editing inside Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW. The DNG format is also considered safer for archival photographs – as a standard, it's likely that software programs 20 years down the road will still be able to access those files.

The basic structure behind a DNG file has remained largely unchanged since its introduction in 2004, although advances now allow for working with high dynamic range and panorama stitching.

DNG's universal use is the main reason why smartphone manufacturers are choosing to use that format, Knoll said. If Google and Apple had decided to develop their own RAW format, app developers would need to release an update for every new smartphone upgrade in order to maintain compatibility with images from that model.

Adobe Photoshop Co-Creator, Thomas Knoll

"The whole vision of DNG was to avoid the Tower of Babel issue where every new camera that comes out requires a change in the format and a new software update on every reader of that format," Knoll said. "As the number of cameras increase and the number of software applications that process RAW format increase, it becomes a geometric explosion, whereas if you have a standard format, both programs can be used literally without any complexity problems."

Smartphone photography's move into RAW could open up more possibilities for why the medium exploded in the first place. While smartphones made photo editing quick, DNG now also makes editing apps more capable. And while smartphones have made photography simpler and more accessible, Knoll said that access to the untouched data through RAW makes correcting some novice mistakes possible in ways that JPEGs couldn't achieve.

"[The availability of DNG] will improve the ease of use for smartphone camera technology in producing quality results," Knoll said.

Source: iPhone can now shoot RAW photos, here's why it's a big deal