Smart Voip : Daily Roundup: Apple Watch review, Windows 10 and more!

Ready to get caught up on some of today's top stories? Find out what we thought about the Apple Watch in our review, learn about what's changed in Windows 10 from Microsoft's design lead and read why Secret is shutting down. Get all the details about these stories and more in the Daily Roundup.

Apple Watch review: a status symbol for iOS devotees

Mankind's fascination with watches capable of more than simply telling the time is nothing new. But recently, our collective interest in intelligent timepieces has spiked, and we have more and more powerful wrist-worn computers to choose from than ever - whether made by startups with record-setting Kickstarter campaigns or the biggest names in consumer electronics. Of course, the biggest name of all, Apple, had yet to release one of its own. Well, the Watch has arrived, and its maker has loftier aspirations for it than the smartwatches preceding it.

Windows 10 design lead explains what's changed (and what hasn't)

Albert Shum, the design team lead for Microsoft's OS team, has outlined through some of the decisions made in its new OS. He reiterates that - especially now Windows 10 is out in the open - the work here isn't yet done, with the blog post focusing on where the team's received the most.. "feedback", including the new menu options found on mobile iterations.

Secret's out: The rise and fall of the anonymous social app

Secret, the app that was practically synonymous with the anonymous-app movement, is shutting down. David Byttow, Secret's co-founder and CEO, explained in a Medium post yesterday that the reason for the shuttering is that the app no longer represents the vision he had when he started it in January last year. And if the lackluster activity in my Secret feed of late is any indication, I'm guessing the severe decline in users is a reason too.

Jeff Bezos' first proper test rocket has successfully launched

Elon Musk may be the most famous tech billionaire with an interest in spaceflight, but he's certainly not the only one. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also has a company, Blue Origin, which is doing similar research into reusable craft to get us to-and-from the heavens. The normally secretive outfit has just revealed that its first test vehicle, New Shepard, made arguably its most important, partially successful test flight yesterday.

Living with Samsung's Galaxy Note Edge in an S6 world

I was torn this past winter. I knew the Galaxy S6 was imminent and that there'd likely be a model with a curved screen, but I was dying to see what it was like to live with its bigger precursor, the Galaxy Note Edge. Would I feel a twinge of regret when the shiny new Samsung handset arrived, even if the older phone still had some advantages? There was only one way to find out. I spent a few weeks with the Note Edge to see not just whether I would enjoy that uniquely shaped screen on its own terms, but whether it would still hold its own against the faster, curvier Galaxy S6 Edge.

Watch Tesla's souped-up Model S beat the world's fastest sedan

Tesla's Model S P85D is quick. Or is it fast? Can it be both? Ever since Elon Musk unveiled the company's speediest car ever, it's become the fashionable thing to take the P85D to a drag strip and pit it against some old-school gas-powered muscle. Motor Trend did the same, choosing the all-American Dodge Charger Hellcat (the world's fastest sedan) as the Model S' opponent. Now, it's not the first time that these cars have gone head-to-head over a quarter mile, but when they first met, the 707-horsepower Hellcat had such a dismal run that it needed an official rematch with a better driver behind the wheel.

Play classic MS-DOS games without even leaving Twitter

Although they went live at the very start of the year, it was like all of our Christmases had come at once when Archive.org added 2,400 playable MS-DOS games to its website. Retro titles like Maniac Mansion, Oregon Trail and Doom are all available, with the only downside being that you have to visit each specific game's page to play them. However, the eagle-eyed folk at Wired noticed these have recently started working on Twitter, meaning you can get all of your social networking done while simultaneously saving Sandy Pantz from the evil Dr Fred.

Smart Voip: James Potter

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Smart Voip : Ford explains why Sync supports Apple and Google car apps

With both Apple and Google wrangling to become the infotainment center of your next new car, Ford will be choosing neither. Or both, depending on how you look at it. During an interview with Re/code, Ford CEO Mark Fields provided some details on how his company will be leveraging its in-house designed Sync system to act as middleman between smart devices and vehicles.

Like many other carmakers, Ford will equally support both Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto services, but Sync is still the primary system. The reason is simple, Ford CTO Raj Nair explained to Re/code, "We want to make sure you are not pushed into a decision on a $40,000 car based on your $200 smartphone." And since neither Apple's or Google's offerings can do everything that the other can, Sync will be able to leverage the features of either regardless which OS drivers use. As such, Ford is touting a high level of flexibility with Sync -- like letting drivers navigate with Google Maps through their phone but still play Sirius stations using the in-dash receiver.

When the Sync 3 platform debuts this summer, it promises a better touchscreen than its predecessor, new apps and the ability for future updates to occur over Wi-Fi, not just via the OBD-II port or USB. Ford is also working on adding cellular capabilities to its vehicles, and has its own tech for btoh semi- and fully-autonomous driving, though there's no word on when those features will actually roll out.

[Image credit: Andrew A. Nelles/Associated Press]

Smart Voip: James Potter

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Smart Voip : Xbox One game streaming on Windows 10 is a killer app

With the release of Windows 10, Sony won't be the only company to offer game streaming from its consoles. Today we finally got our hands on Windows 10's Xbox One game streaming feature, which lets you bring your entire Xbox gaming experience to any PC running the new OS. And even in its early state, it looks like it will satisfy even the most demanding gamers. Microsoft made a risky bet by demoing the feature with Sunset Overdrive, a fast-paced game where you'd notice the slightest hint of slowdown. And as you can see in the video below, it's virtually indistinguishable from the native Xbox One experience while running on a Surface Pro 3.

Windows 10 streamed Sunset Overdrive at its full resolution, and there weren't any major issues or delatys. Having spent dozens of hours with the game on my Xbox One, I didn't notice much of a difference playing it streamed. All of its acrobatic maneuvers and twitch-heavy gunplay felt as responsive as ever. Best of all, you don't need any crazy hardware to stream games with Windows 10. The demo was running on a fairly typical Intel Core i5 system, and it can run on even slower computers if they have some form of H.264 encoding (because the stream is coming over as a video file). Naturally, your Xbox One gets locked down when you're streaming something, since it's still doing the heavy lifting.

So far, Windows 10's game streaming only works with an Xbox One on your local network. But according to Kevin Unangst, senior director of marketing for Microsoft Studios, the company could eventually implement remote play. That's something Sony already offers with the PlayStation 4 (and 3, to a lesser extent) over its Vita handheld and some Android devices. But for many people, streaming a game on a PC they already own sounds a lot more useful than having to buy a separate device.

Smart Voip: James Potter

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Smart Voip : Here's what happens when a lithium-ion battery overheats

Lithium ion batteries are practically ubiquitous; they power everything from laptops and cell phones to cameras and tablets. But before they can start providing the juice for bigger and more demanding applications, research about their failure needs to happen. That's where the fine folks at University College London come in -- they've used 3D-and-thermal imaging to track exactly what happens when the power cells overheat, inside and out. As you can see in the GIF above, the results aren't pretty. After cranking the heat on a pair of the batteries to 250+ degrees Celsius (482 degrees Fahrenheit) and keeping an eye on them with the aforementioned techniques, researchers witnessed one of the batteries blow its top. Prior to that happening, during what's known as "thermal runaway," the core collapsed.

What's that mean?

Well, according to the paper published in Nature, the change in temperature that lead to a destabilizing further change in temperature elevates the risk for internal short circuiting and damaging any nearby components. That only happened in a battery without internal support, though. The cell that wasn't lacking such a feature was a bit different. After hitting about 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit) the copper internals melted, the heat spread outward and caused thermal runaway. It sounds quite a bit less violent, actually.

This isn't the sort of thing that would happen under normal operating conditions at all, and UCL's Dr. Paul Shearing readily admits that. However! He says that this sort of testing provides invaluable knowledge regarding how the lithium-ion cells fail and will hopefully help how safety aspects are designed and considered in the future. I'd imagine that Boeing is paying pretty close attention to these experiments. Call it a hunch.

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Smart Voip : Where to watch Tesla's 'The Missing Piece' livestream

Tesla is known for its amazingly quick electric vehicles, but if the chatter around today's event is true, the Elon Musk-led company will be introducing a home battery solution this evening. The livestream will be viewable on the car company's site beginning at 11 PM ET. So put on your pajamas and snuggle up with your computer to see if you'll be adding a battery to your home in the not-so-distant future.

Fact: Of all the fossil fuel consumed in the US, ⅓ is used in transportation and ⅓ goes to electricity production.

- Tesla Motors (@TeslaMotors) April 30, 2015

2,000 million metric tons of CO2, is produced by electric power sector. That's like burning 225 billion gallons of gas. Time for change.

- Tesla Motors (@TeslaMotors) April 30, 2015

Smart Voip: James Potter

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Smart Voip : Microsoft wants third-party apps for its fitness tracker

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Smart Voip : Turn your home into a haunted house with AR game 'Night Terrors'

You're home alone. It's the dead of night and all of the lights are off; you creep down the hallway with one hand dragging along the wall, your phone serving as a makeshift flashlight. You hear a young girl's voice whisper from the bedroom in front of you and the hair on the back of your neck stands up straight. You pause. Your heart pounds. A dull ringing assaults your ears. You creep forward, holding the phone higher, when suddenly -- a high-pitched shriek as your phone's light starts rapidly flashing and a deformed, undead monster barrels down the hallway directly toward you. You drop your phone. Game over.

That's basically the premise of Night Terrors, an in-development, augmented reality game for mobile devices that maps out the entirety of your house and fills it with terrifying creatures, turning a home into a real-life survival-horror game. It's currently looking for $70,000 on Indiegogo -- developers say they've already created a system that understands spatial elements such as walls and complex floorplans, and they're using physical special effects rather than CGI. It sounds like an innovative and truly horrifying project, even as its narrative plays off of an overused gaming conceit: Save the girl and be the hero. That's so close to being cliche, it's scary.

Smart Voip: James Potter

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Smart Voip : Secret's out: The rise and fall of the anonymous social app

Secret, the app that was practically synonymous with the anonymous-app movement, is shutting down. David Byttow, Secret's co-founder and CEO, explained in a Medium post yesterday that the reason for the shuttering is that the app no longer represents the vision he had when he started it in January last year. And if the lackluster activity in my Secret feed of late is any indication, I'm guessing the severe decline in users is a reason too. Its recent design overhaul probably alienated a lot of folks and the departure of co-founder Chrys Bader can't have helped things either.

Yet, for a little while there, Secret was the hottest app around, at least with a few early adopters and media watchers intrigued by the idea of covert confessions and mysterious missives. For many, it offered an inside look at the Silicon Valley gossip mill -- there were rumors about Yahoo buying Evernote (false), Vic Gundotra leaving Google (true) and Nike shutting down its FuelBand division (not quite). Many also used it as an anonymous form of Tinder. With the help of third-party messaging services (Secret would eventually have a built-in messaging feature), it became a little like blind-date roulette -- where you don't know what the other person looks like until you meet -- thus adding a bit of spice to the normal hookup.

It became a little like blind date roulette -- where you don't know what the other person looks like until you meet -- thus adding a bit of spice to the normal hookup.

For most people, though, Secret simply offered a way to vent out loud to a group of friends -- or folks in your phone's contacts list anyway -- without anyone knowing who you were. The original idea, at least from what I could glean from an interview with Bader back in the day, was to foster a safe environment so that people would feel comfortable saying all sorts of things without fear of repercussion. It's an idea that must've resonated enough with people that Secret has garnered nearly $35 million in funding.

But, well, human nature is a strange thing, and things didn't always work out that way. For one thing, anonymous comments are often anything but supportive, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone on the internet. After all, everyone knows anonymity very often leads to bad behavior online (GIFT, anyone?).

Further, because the secret is constrained to friends or friends of friends, it isn't very difficult to figure out who's saying what, especially if you have a small social circle. If you exposed your infatuation for a boy at school, it's very likely that a close bud would figure out it's you who said it. That might not be so bad if it's something as innocent as that, but for something much more salacious? It might be a little TMI. Secret did change its design so that you could share your confessions on a global location-based list instead, but that made it a little too similar to other anonymous-sharing apps like Whisper and Yik Yak. The company also tried other features like "Dens" for companies and schools and event-specific feeds, but those didn't quite work out either.

For me, I'll admit to using Secret quite heavily for a few months, letting loose private thoughts about topics too personal to ever chat about with family and friends. It was thrilling at first to finally be able to reveal these pent-up feelings, but in the end, it felt a bit hollow. I wasn't revealing my innermost desires to a confidante or a trusted BFF; I was just posting them on an app to no one in particular. It was a brief flash of catharsis, sure, but that was about it. It didn't really do anything to alleviate feelings of sadness or despair.

That's not to say that anonymity doesn't have its place on the internet -- of course it does. Other anonymous sharing apps exist for those who want it -- Whisper recently reported it hit 10 million users for example -- and of course you can always use pseudonyms to mask your real identity, especially if you want to protect your privacy. And, in a way, I understand why Secret was an attractive idea -- it feels good to be able to reveal your true self, even in such an artificial way, to anyone willing to listen. But in the end, I felt that talking to real people was more satisfying. And I'm guessing I'm not the only one.

Smart Voip: James Potter

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Smart Voip : Daily Roundup: Windows 10 plans, Apple Watch issues and more!

In today's edition of the Daily Roundup, Microsoft kicked off its annual Build developer conference by showing off some of the tools developers can use to get their Windows 10 apps up and running. We also learned the official name for the company's Project Spartan browser and witnessed some of the HoloLens headset's new tricks. One tidbit we didn't learn, however, was a release date for Windows 10. Of course, Microsoft wasn't the only company making headlines today. Hulu snagged streaming rights for Seinfeld and some Apple Watch users are discovering dark tattoos can mess with the device's heart rate sensor.

Microsoft invites Android and iOS apps to join Windows 10

Today was the start of Microsoft's annual Build conference and the company unleashed a slew of new details for the future of its cloud services, Office suite and, perhaps most notably, upcoming Windows 10 operating system. One of the biggest reveals was that the Redmond giant is making it easier than ever for Android and iOS developers to port their apps over to Windows 10. For more from today's Build keynote, click here.

Windows 10's web browser is called Microsoft Edge

Another notable tidbit from today's keynote was the announcement of Project Spartan's official name. Up until this point, Microsoft's upcoming Internet Explorer replacement had been discussed under its temporary, Halo-inspired codename. Today, though, we know what we'll be calling it when Windows 10 launches: Microsoft Edge. The company also showcased a video highlighting Edge's minimalist look, annotation features and slick tabbed interface.

Hillary Clinton wants all police to wear body cameras

Law enforcement accountability has been in the news a lot of late, so it's no surprise to see presidential hopefuls discuss the matter as we head toward next year's election. Candidate Hillary Clinton used a speech today to call for every police department in the US to issue body cameras to officers in an effort to improve both accountability and transparency.

Hulu's the exclusive online home of 'Seinfeld' and 'Fear the Walking Dead'

What's the deal with watching Seinfeld online? Well, Hulu provided the answer today, announcing it had secured exclusive streaming rights for the popular sitcom. While it wouldn't discuss exact numbers, rumors suggest the company may have paid as much as $1 million per episode for the show. Hulu also shared several other content announcements, but the show about nothing was clearly the biggest news.

Dark tattoos can throw off Apple Watch's heart rate sensor

Various versions of the Apple Watch have been slowly reaching consumers' hands and wrists, but some early adopters are apparently running into a few issues with some of the wearable's features. iMore looked into the matter and found that those with dark tattoos on their wrists (especially those with solid colors) may have trouble reliably using the Apple Watch's heart rate sensor. If you haven't ordered one already, it might be a good idea to try one on in person to make sure all its features work on your particular wrist.

Your Apple Watch is late because of bad haptic feedback parts

Of course, if you already ordered and Apple Watch and are wondering what's taking so long to get it to your doorstep, The Wall Street Journal might have an idea. According to the paper's sources, Apple ran into issues with parts related to the Watch's Taptic Engine, the vibrating unit that provides input feedback. As a result, a supplier switch may be to blame for the long waits some consumers are experiencing.

You can buy your own smell-o-vision VR headset, if you wanna

If revamped PC operating systems and fancy wearables aren't exciting enough for you, perhaps the promise of actual smell-o-vision will do the trick. FeelReal is taking to Kickstarter to fund its virtual reality attachment, which can pump air, water and a variety of scents right into your face to amp up the immersion factor. The company expects dev units to be available in the summer, with a consumer version to follow later in the year.

[Image credits: AP Photo/Mark Lennihan (Hillary Clinton); Michael Lovell @ YouTube (Watch tattoos); iFixit (Taptic Engine); FeelReal (VR headset)]

Smart Voip: James Potter

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Smart Voip : 3 atom-thick transistor promises ultra-thin electronics

Researchers from Cornell University announced a breakthrough in transistor technology in the latest issue of the journal, Nature. The team has reportedly developed a novel and highly efficient method of producing an experimental material known as transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD). TMD is an exceedingly thin (but highly conductive) film, which makes it useful in many high-tech applications -- everything from solar cells to flexible, wearable gadgets -- but also makes it a huge pain to produce in appreciable quantities. That is, until now.

"Our work pushes TMDs to the technologically relevant scale, showing the promise of making devices on that scale," Saien Xie, one of the paper's lead authors. TMD, like the similarly touted wonder-material graphene, could help extend Moore's Law by providing a stable and compact substrate onto which engineers can pack an ever-increasing number of circuits. However, since it's only three atoms thick, TMD production typically suffers from a high rate of breakage and failure. The new method from Cornell, which mixes diethylsulfide and a metal hexacarbonyl compound atop a silicon wafer and then bakes them for 26 hours in hydrogen gas, has proven far more successful.

Out of a batch of 200 such wafers created for the study, only two failed -- that's a 99 percent success rate. With these results in hand, the research team hopes to streamline the manufacturing process as well as improve the consistency of the resulting film. The technology is still at least a few years away from being commercially viable but when it is, we could see it usher in a new era of paper-thin, super-powerful electronics.

Smart Voip: James Potter

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Smart Voip : New Windows 10 preview comes with Aero Glass and an upgraded Cortana

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Smart Voip : Netflix and Ellen are making a 'Green Eggs and Ham' TV show

Hulu picked up Seinfeld, and now Netflix is working on a new show with Ellen DeGeneres -- but it's not a mid-90s sitcom at all. The two will create a 13-episode series based on the Dr. Seuss book Green Eggs and Ham that's due to arrive in 2018, aimed at kids around the world. According to Deadline, the writer behind the project is Jared Stern, who wrote Wreck-It Ralph, and has been trying to make a show based on the book for years. Also, the report claims this is supposed to be the "most expensive" animated show ever created for television. Ellen seems excited about it in her video announcement (included after the break, but I think if there's a high-budget Game of Thrones-rivaling Dr. Seuss adaptation in the works, then The Butter Battle Book might have been a better choice.

I'm producing a new show with Dr. Seuss for Netflix! You can watch it here or there. You can watch it anywhere. http://t.co/7LZQSXkVj9

- Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) April 30, 2015

NETFLIX ORDERS GREEN EGGS AND HAM
THIRTEEN EPISODES FOR THE WHOLE FAM

In 2018, This Classic Book
Comes to TV with a Whole New Look

Beverly Hills, Calif., April 29, 2015 -

Issued from Netflix headquarters.
Delivered straight to all reporters.

We'd love to share some happy news
based on the rhymes of Dr. Seuss.

Green Eggs and Ham will become a show
and you're among the first to know.

In this richly animated production,
a 13-episode introduction,

standoffish inventor (Guy, by name)
and Sam-I-Am of worldwide fame,

embark on a cross-country trip
that tests the limits of their friendship.

As they learn to try new things,
they find out what adventure brings.

Of course they also get to eat
that famous green and tasty treat!

Cindy Holland, VP of Original Content for Netflix
threw her quote into the mix:

"We think this will be a hit
Green Eggs and Ham is a perfect fit

for our growing slate of amazing stories
available exclusively in all Netflix territories.

You can stream it on a phone.
You can stream it on your own.

You can stream it on TV.
You can stream it globally."

Smart Voip: James Potter

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Smart Voip : Math explains why beating 'Tetris' is basically impossible

You're never going to beat Tetris. Sorry. You might be asking why I'm so pessimistic and even though that's perfectly natural, PBS' Game/Show will back me up here. While the seven multicolored falling bricks (officially called "tetrominoes") all fit together pretty nicely, they only occupy a space that's eight tiles wide when fully combined. Coupled with the size of the playing space -- the "well," as it's called, is ten tiles wide -- there's always going to be room for screw-ups that are out of your control. There's a ton of math, studies of probability and statistics to explain it all, too. As host Jamin Warren tells it (citing a research paper from 1996), failure is due in no small part to how the "bag" randomly generates pieces that're dropping.

Over a long enough game, the bag's going to screw you over and drop tetrominoes that make gaps that you won't be able to fill. Specifically, a nasty run of "S" and "Z" shaped pieces that'll ruin your up-to-that-point ideal flow is pretty much inevitable -- and even playing a game exclusively with the aforementioned pieces would hit a fail state in 70,000 turns. It's a cruel joke, sure, but that hasn't stopped the game from appearing on countless platforms, sides of buildings or T-shirts for almost 31 years.

[Image credit: Getty Images/alengo]

Smart Voip: James Potter

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Smart Voip : Land Rover fails in its bid to block Chinese copycats

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Smart Voip : Android's official texting app offers replies from notifications

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Smart Voip : Your Apple Watch is late because of bad haptic feedback parts

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Smart Voip : You can buy your own smell-o-vision VR headset, if you wanna

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Smart Voip : TomTom put its navigation know-how to work in an action cam

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Smart Voip : Xiaomi's affordable Yi action camera versus the GoPro Hero

The first thing my Spanish mother-in-law asked me when she saw the Xiaomi Yi was, "Is that a toy camera?" With its lime-and-aqua-marine color scheme, it's not hard to see why she might think that. But no, it is not. In fact, Xiaomi's Yi camera raised a few eyebrows when it was announced recently. Here was yet another action camera that looked suspiciously like a GoPro -- but, at the equivalent of about $65, it was almost half the price of the market-leader's cheapest offering (the $130 Hero edition), with a spec-sheet that bested it on many key features. Importantly (perhaps more so for GoPro), the Yi camera has the backing of Xiaomi, a brand that's gaining traction in China. A market everyone wants a slice of. But does it really best a GoPro?

Gallery | 16 Photos

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Smart Voip : Unreal game engine will support HTC's virtual reality headset

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