Sony’s new Xperia XA Ultra

Amidst the rumors that it could be killing off some of its smartphone lines, Sony just announced a new Xperia smartphone. The Xperia XA Ultra is being pushed as the "perfect nighttime selfie" phone with its 16-megapixel front-facing camera, low-light sensors, and optical image stabilization for blur-free shots.

The "selfie" appeal comes from the powerful front camera, but the rear camera is formidable as well at 21.5MP. The front camera also has a "gesture control" feature which lets you wave your hand in front of the lens to start a shutter timer. Aside from strong cameras, the Xperia XA Ultra is designed with a huge, 6-inch borderless screen and is supposed to last up to two days on a single charge. That's quite a claim since the handset only has a 2,700 mAh battery. A quick charger will be available for the handset, allowing it to get 5.5 hours of battery life with just 10 minutes of charging.

While Sony's previously announced Xperia X and X Performance tout top specs, the XA Ultra instead will impress with its cameras and large display. It's powered by an eight-core MediaTek MT6755 processor and comes with just 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, which is expandable via microSD card to 200GB.

Sony certainly isn't the first to market a smartphone to selfie lovers. HTC did the same in the past with the 13MP Desire Eye. While a 16MP camera makes for much sharper, clearler images than the 5MP front-facing cameras on both the iPhone 6s and the Samsung Galaxy S7, every smartphone is a decent "selfie" device. The large size of the device will likely appeal to some customers as well, especially since a 6-inch display will let you view and edit those selfies much better than smaller handsets would.

The launch of the XA Ultra lends weight to the rumors that Sony is abandoning its C, M, and possibly its Z handset series to focus its mobile efforts solely on the X range. That's not to say that Sony won't make affordable and mid-range smartphones anymore—the company may still produce them but lump all of the models into the X series. Sony hasn't released pricing for the Xperia XA Ultra yet, but it will be available starting in July in select markets.

Posted By: CrackShare on May 17, 2016

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Opera launches an iOS app to expand its free, unlimited, ad-blocking VPN

Opera Software has taken its VPN campaign to iOS with a free, unlimited virtual private network app. Launched on Monday, the new app follows Opera’s debut in late April of a free built in virtual private network in the beta version of its PC and Mac browsers. Opera’s VPN services are offered by SurfEasy, a Canadian VPN provider that Opera acquired in early 2015.

Opera says one reason it decided to offer the app was to help people get around corporate and school firewalls. “Every day, millions of people, from students to working people, find that social-media sites… are blocked when they surf on their campus or workplace Wi-Fi… we help people to break down the barriers of the web,” SurfEasy president Chris Houston said in the iOS app’s announcement.

Opera’s new VPN app will find a formidable opponent in Netflix, however. Since its expansion to pretty much every country on the planet, Netflix has cracked down on VPN use. In my tests, the new Opera app didn’t get around the “great firewall of Netflix”.

That said, if you do run up against other regionally restricted sites you can always give Opera’s VPN a try. Currently, Opera VPN for iOS offers exit servers (where websites think you are) in the US, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Singapore.

The new Opera VPN app also includes ad-blocking features to kill online ads and web trackers that follow your browsing habits online to better target advertising.

Using Opera VPN is pretty straightforward. All you do is download and install the app from the App Store. Click through the agreements for the terms of service and privacy policy. Then you hit a few more Continue buttons to add a VPN profile to your device.

Once that’s done, the app starts working automatically. If you want to change exit locations, just tap the lightning bolt icon (upper-right corner on the iPad version). Next choose the country you’d like to ‘appear’ in and that’s it.

The story behind the story: One thing privacy-conscious users will want to do is read the VPN app’s privacy policy closely. This app is doing something that is not all that common in paid VPNs – at least not the more respected and well-known ones. In fact, even SurfEasy’s branded service says it doesn’t do this.

The fine print on privacy

Specifically, Opera says it “may” collect usage data while connected to its VPN, including the web addresses you visit. It’s not clear whether the company is actually collecting your web history while using this VPN, or if it’s just reserving the right to do so in some unforeseen future.

We contacted Opera for comment, and received this response from SurfEasy’s Houston: “While the Opera VPN is completely free to the user, we do use anonymous market insights derived from customer usage to help support the service. We make this information available to third parties who are interested in better understanding the mobile ecosystem and how it’s evolving.”

In other words, it sells user data to marketers. Houston added, however, that the data is aggregated and not focused on individual activity. “It’s important to understand that this is not data about what you do with your phone, but rather this is data about how a large group of people use their phones.”

Posted By: CrackShare on May 13, 2016

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Take Screenshots and Record Videos on an Xbox One

Microsoft’s Xbox One allows you to easily 
capture a screenshot or record the last thirty seconds of gameplay as a video. You can also use the Game DVR app for more fine-grained recording options. All video clips are saved in 720p resolution at 30 frames per second.

There’s one catch: you can’t copy your captured screenshots or videos directly to a USB drive. The best way to get them to your computer is to upload them to OneDrive. But we’ll show you how to do that near the end of this guide.

How to Take a Screenshot

You can only take a screenshot in a game, not in the Xbox One’s dashboard interface. While in a game, double-tap the Xbox button at the center of your controller. The Snap menu will appear. Press the Y button on your controller to save a screenshot.

If you have a Kinect and have voice commands enabled, you can also just say “Xbox, take a screenshot.”

How to Record the Last 30 Seconds of Gameplay

Your Xbox One is always recording your gameplay in the background, but it won’t actually save that gameplay video unless you tell it to. To save the last 30 seconds of gameplay, double-tap the Xbox button at the center of your controller to open the Snap menu (just as you would with a screenshot). Tap the X button on the controller to save the video.

If you have a Kinect, you can also say “Xbox, record that.” As with screenshots, the video recording feature only works in games–not in the Xbox dashboard.

How to Use the Game DVR for More Recording Options

If you’d like to make a longer or shorter video, you’ll need to use the Game DVR app. While playing a game, double-tap the Xbox button on the center of your controller, select the “Snap an app” icon at the bottom of the sidebar, and select “Game DVR.”

If you have a Kinect, you can instead say “Xbox, snap Game DVR.”

Select “End clip now” and you can choose to save the last 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minute, or 5 minutes of gameplay to a clip.

You can also choose to start recording from here, but the clip you record can only be up to 5 minutes in length at the maximum. To do so, select “Start recording” from here and then select “Stop recording” when you’re done. If you have a Kinect, you can say “Xbox, select” and then “Start recording” to begin. Say “Xbox, select”and then “Stop recording” when you’re done.

To switch focus between snapped apps, double-tap the Xbox button on your controller and use the left stick or directional pad to select from the app icons at the bottom of your screen. if you have a Kinect, you can instead say “Xbox, switch.”

Any clips you record in Game DVR are temporary and will be automatically deleted after a period of time unless you choose to save them. 

To save them, select “View all captures,” select a clip, press the menu button on your controller, and then select “Save.”

How to Get Screenshots and Video Clips Off Your Xbox One

To work with screenshots or videos you’ve captured, open the Game DVR app. Head to My games & apps > Apps > Game DVR to launch it.

Select the screenshot or video clip you want to share or upload in the app, press the menu button, and select “Edit.” If you haven’t yet downloaded the free Upload studio app from the Xbox Store, you’ll be prompted to automatically download it.

You can also choose to set a screenshot as the background image for your Xbox dashboard by selecting it, pressing the menu button, and choosing “Set as background” from here.

In the upload studio app, you’re free to edit your project all you like–but you don’t have to do anything if you just want to upload it to OneDrive. Select “Finish” when you’re done.

You’ll be given the option to upload your screenshot or video clip to OneDrive. You can then access it from the OneDrive feature in Windows 10 or the OneDrive desktop client,  One drive, or OneDrive mobile app on other platforms.

Yes, you do have to upload screenshots and video clips one by one–there’s no way to batch upload multiple screenshots at once

It would be nice to see Microsoft improve this feature a bit, allowing easy transferring of screenshots and video clips to connected USB drives or at least batch uploading of multiple files at once to OneDrive. Microsoft may do so in future updates. In fact, the Xbox One didn’t even include a way to capture screenshots when it first shipped–that arrived in an update.

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New Look for Instagram

Share your photos and videos, and keep up with your friends and interests

Instagram is a simple way to capture and share the world’s moments. Follow your friends and family to see what they’re up to, and discover accounts from all over the world that are sharing things you love. Join the community of over 400 million people and express yourself by sharing photos and videos from your day––whether it’s your morning routine or the trip of a lifetime.

Use Instagram to:

1.Edit and share photos and videos with filters and creative tools to change photo brightness, contrast and saturation, as well as shadows, highlights, perspective and more.
2. Discover photos and videos you might like and follow new accounts in the Explore tab.
3. Send private messages, photos, videos and posts from your feed directly to friends with Instagram Direct.
4.Instantly share photos and videos on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and other social networks.

Features:

Color:

If the lens is a bridge into the bolder, simpler glyph, the rainbow is a bridge into the colorful gradient. Color has always been a huge part of Instagram — you see it in the classic app icon, filters, and the community’s photos and videos.

When we started reimagining the rainbow, we looked at more minimal options, but ultimately we needed more warmth and energy to complement the glyph.

Glyph:

We realized we needed to move past a rendered camera to get a flexible, scalable glyph, but the previous glyph proved to be a weak basis for an icon. To maintain the previous icon’s gravity, we had to figure out how to give the new mark more character while also removing what was unnecessary.

The question then became, how far do we go? If you abstract too much, the glyph doesn’t feel tied to the history and soul of Instagram. If you make it too literal, it’s hard to justify changing from what we currently have.

After a lot of refinement, we landed on a glyph that still suggests a camera, but also sets the groundwork for years to come.

One visual identity:

Our family of apps — Layout, Boomerang, and Hyperlapse — also have a new, unified look. We carried the gradient through each icon, and designed them on the same grid to make the system feel cohesive. We also updated the Layout and Boomerang icons to better represent what the apps help you create — a collection of photos, or a mini video that loops forward and backward.

New UI

Around the same time we started rethinking the icon, we began iterating on the UI, working to create something simple and clean so that people’s posts are the focus in the app.

While the icon is a colorful doorway into the Instagram app, once inside the app, we believe the color should come directly from the community’s photos and videos. We stripped the color and noise from surfaces where people’s content should take center stage, and boosted color on other surfaces like sign up flows and home screens.

As we reduced color and noise in the UI, we saw interaction patterns that no longer felt native on iOS and Android devices. By paring down the new interactions and using standard iOS and Android components, fonts, and patterns, people will be navigating familiar terrain. We also redesigned our icons in a way that feels at home on Android and iOS.

Download

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Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is investigating whether trending

Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook is investigating whether trending

Mark Zuckerberg is chiming in, and he reiterates: There’s no evidence Facebook’s trending topic curators are suppressing conservative news.

Earlier this week, Gizmodo reported that contractors employed by Facebook to select trending news stories to present to Facebook users
regularly censored conservative news stories. With Facebook one of the largest drivers of traffic to news sites, the allegations were alarming, so much so that a US Senate committee launched an inquiry to look into the matter.

“We take this report very seriously and are conducting a full investigation to ensure our teams upheld the integrity of this product,” Zuckerberg wrote in a
Facebook post today. “If we find anything against our principles, you have my commitment that we will take additional steps to address it.”

Zuckerberg added that he plans to invite “leading conservatives and people from across the political spectrum” in the coming weeks to share their views.

Posted By: CrackShare on May 12, 2016

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Stop sharing Wi-Fi passwords after public backlash for windows10

When Windows 10 first launched, one of its most controversial features was Wi-Fi Sense. If ticked, a couple harmless-looking boxes shared internet access to your Facebook, Skype and Outlook friends by default.

The setting (and its enabled-by-default nature) caused some people to get a little angry, although Microsoft defended Wi-Fi Sense as a useful feature. A year later, and it looks like Microsoft is changing its tune.

In the latest version the Windows 10 Insider Preview, Microsoft is removing the Wi-Fi Sense feature. According to Gabe Aul, the VP of Engineering , the change is owing to maintenance costs and low use:

We have removed the Wi-Fi Sense feature that allows you to share Wi-Fi networks with your contacts and to be automatically connected to networks shared by your contacts. The cost of updating the code to keep this feature working combined with low usage and low demand made this not worth further investment. Wi-Fi Sense, if enabled, will continue to get you connected to open Wi-Fi hotspots that it knows about through crowdsourcing.

Changes to the Insider build normally filter through to regular Windows updates in a matter of months, so if Wi-Fi Sense has bothered you in particular, there should only be a little while left to wait.

The feature was a classic case of good intentions gone wrong. People tend to hate features that do things without explicitly telling them, especially when it involves sharing access to personal wi-fi networks. With the proper messaging (and having it off by default), Wi-Fi Sense could have been a powerful tool to make everyone’s lives a little easier. Instead, it will just live on as a final-round question on the geekiest trivia quiz.

Posted By: CrackShare on May 11, 2016

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coming soon new editor Outlook 2016 for Mac

The new email editor will start to roll out in May.

Welcome to the new editor in Outlook 2016 for Mac. Enhanced formatting support has been one of the most frequently requested improvements in Outlook 2016 for Mac. Today, we are laying the foundation with the new editor and will continue to build on this work in future updates, including support for Tablets.

The biggest change is the ability to resize and rotate images. If you insert a very large image, for instance, you'll soon be able to make it more reasonably-sized for email recipients.

Let’s take a look at some of the key improvements.

Resize and format pictures

When you insert a picture in an email message, you’ll notice the new resize and rotation handles. You can use these to resize or rotate the image on the canvas. You can also pull up the context menu and select the Size and Position… option to manually set the size in the dialog, as shown below. Double-click an image in the editor to open up the full task pane with image editing controls

Rich formatting support

With the new editor in Outlook 2016 for Mac, you now have access to a richer set of fonts, font colors and bullet and numbered lists—plus enhanced font editing and hyperlink dialogs. These are available on the ribbon by using the familiar controls in the Message tab or using the menus for Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Notes and Signatures.

The update is important for the features it provides now, and also for those it will support in future, including tables. Currently, tables have to be copied from another Office program like Word or PowerPoint.

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Update Your Plex Media Library, Manually and Automatically

Besides the media itself, the most important element of a media server software is how up to date it is–you can’t watch videos if the server doesn’t know they’re there. Plex Media Server offers three ways to keep your media collection up to date so you always know what’s available.

How to Manually Update Your Library

The simplest method is to manually update your library. Even if you follow the later steps in this guide and completely automate the update process, you should always be familiar with the manual update process as it’s a great way to force an immediate update.

To manually update your Plex library, log into the web control panel for your Plex Media Server. On the main page, select one of your libraries from the left hand navigation pane, as seen below, like your “TV Shows” library.

Within the library, click on the circular arrow icon in the upper right corner.

This will trigger a manual update for that library, and Plex Media Server will rescan the directories assigned to that library. Repeat this process for all other libraries (e.g. Movies and Music) you wish to update.

How to Automatically Update Your Library

Manual updating is great if you need to force the update right that second, but for ease of use and really frictionless user experience, you really want to enable automatic updating.  Not only is automatic updating supremely convenient for you, but it’s practically a necessity if you have other people in your house. If Plex is always up to date then you, the manager of the media server empire, won’t be pestered with questions about whether a favorite show is up to date.

There are several ways you can automate library updates, and you’ll find all of them in a single menu within the settings of your Plex Media Server. Click on the Settings tool icon in the upper right corner of the Plex web interface.

Within the Settings menu select the “Server” tab along the top navigation bar and then select “Library” from the left hand navigation panel.

To see all the available options we’ll be highlighting, you need to click on the “Show Advanced” button to fully expand the library options.

With the advanced options visible, you’ll see the following entries in the Library settings menu:

There’s several options here and you should consider each one based on where your media is stored and your update needs.

Automatic Updates: The Best Option For Nearly Everyone

The top option, “Update my library automatically”, is the ideal one. Nearly every Plex user should check it. The only time automated library updates aren’t a viable solution is for Plex users with their media stored on a different computer from the Plex Media Server program (since the automatic detection of folders doesn’t typically work for folders on a network share).

Checking “Run a partial scan when changes are detected” is an additional option that can be paired with the automatic library update. This option will decrease library update time and amount of system resources used for library updates. It’s not a huge deal on a powerful system, but its a time saver regardless (and it’s quite useful if your Plex Media Server hardware is underpowered).

Scheduled Updates: Great for Media On Network Shares

If you find that automatic library updating doesn’t work for your system, you can always use the “Update my library periodically” setting to set an update schedule. This option works for both local files and files located on a network share (that is, a computer other than the one Plex Media Server is installed on), since it manually scans the entire directory structure at the frequency you specify. You can specify the update frequency in increments as low as every 15 minutes all the way up to once a day.

Automatic Trash: The Housekeeping You May Not Want

Finally there’s a small consideration regarding library cleanup. By default, the option “Empty trash automatically after every scan” is checked. If you have a fixed library (e.g. all your media is on a specific server on fixed internal drives) it’s a good idea to leave this checked. That way if you delete a bunch of stuff from your media server, Plex will automatically tidy up after you and remove all the entries for that media.

If, however, you use external drive that are sometimes removed from the Plex Media Server computer, you have media shared on the Plex Media Server that is located on a network share of another computer that isn’t always on, or some other situation where media you wish to keep in your library is not always online, do not check the “Empty trash” option. If you do, every time Plex runs an update scan and fails to see the offline media it will delete it (only to turn around and rescan the media, download all the metadata, and so on, the next time it’s online).

Once you have automatic updating configured just the way you want, you can sit back and enjoy one of the best benefits of Plex Media Server: always up-to-date and centralized management of your entire media collection.

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