It's bendy, it's flexible, it's durable, it's virtually unbreakable, it's – glass

Gorilla Glass was a major breakthrough in phone durability. It is quite likely protecting your smartphone from damage right now.

Further developments promise stronger, safer, more durable & lighter vehicle windscreens in the near future.

Bendy flexible, durable, virtually unbreakable glass in these videos is definitely worth a look!



/ slow motion shatter laminated glass windscreen zone toughened tension compression Corning Glass Corning Wear pyrex optical fibre flexible light data low attenuation bend bent voice and data communication Internet data transport bend strain pane willow glass /

Make it easier to read text on your phone

Credit: Gizmodo

Even a 6 inch phone screen is small by any other standard – how big is your desktop, laptop or TV screen? Background lighting is often far from ideal – all struggle to cope with direct sunlight.

For these, & other reasons, text can be difficult to read on a phone screen. Below are some things you can do, on iOS & Android, to improve the situation.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/12/make-it-easier-to-read-text-on-your-phone/ / software running smart phone smart-phone smartphone pocket options improve readability serious problem eyesight squinting big difference usability text looking bigger sharper latest versions iOS Android accessibility options iOS 8.1 opening Settings General Accessibility Larger Text option toggle on off Bold Text feature device restart tap through Larger Text set your preferred text size applied system-wide system wide new setting affect all Apple’s apps Mail, Messages App Store third party third-party apps settings each individual app fully support iOS’ accessibility features Safari increase size text websites activate Reading Mode feature icon URL field accessibility settings applied improve legibility text device Zoom Increase Contrast options accessibility menu Display Zoom feature Display & Brightness section Settings app switch this on home screen icons text larger Android slider on/off switch bigger text Settings app select Accessibility Large text switch it on new setting applied lock screen Gmail third-party app accessibility menu colour inversion high-contrast text options experimental latest Android build high contrast text occasionally add light or dark outlines text home screens Magnification gestures triple-tap on the screen app enlarge text hold pan around the screen display /

Looking into the future: Samsung Gear VR review

Credit: Oculus/Samsung

At the moment, both software & functionality are extremely limited & it requires a Galaxy Note 4 for processing power & display, but it works & works well. And the software library … can only get bigger.

http://www.cnet.com/au/products/samsung-gear-vr/

http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/17/samsung-gear-vr-review/

https://www.oculus.com/blog/introducing-the-samsung-gear-vr-innovator-edition/ / can finally buy a virtual reality headset use it in your home cost accessible impressive virtual reality headset software Facebook's recently acquired Oculus VR team virtual reality very exciting a new medium technologically possible wireless consumer grade virtual reality Samsung's Gear VR feat illuminating vision near future palatable consumer experience dream completely realized incredibly accessible light comfortable attractive impressive visuals limited functionality extremely limited software library Samsung Galaxy Note 4 very expensive Oculus VR Samsung Gear VR virtual reality headset a new medium light comfortable accessible Gear VR most usable virtual reality headset first to market hype extremely limited selection software functionality Innovator Edition early adopters virtual reality enthusiast Gear VR headset strap review experience tech demo consumer product a few games experiences game demo mainstream consumer device test balloon world's largest electronics manufacturer gauge of success did people who bought it like it return 100 percent of them existence-proof John Carmack make it better review units to press on sale evangelize build virtual reality market demonstrative device distribute perspective for the VR enthusiast latest firmware your carrier insert 16GB microSD card powers VR computing power cpu central processing unit Gear VR's screen setup attach your Note 4 front of the shell docking area for the phone front micro USB microUSB micro-USB plug screen facing inward latch secure securing downloading operating system OS Oculus Home video player Gear VR Video Velcro straps run through a quick tutorial how to use the headset swipe wiping touchpad headset pause pausing movies in-game actions single back button ridged for quick location volume rocker pair a Bluetooth controller analog stick setting up setup set up Oculus Samsung bare-bones bare bones goal accessibility easy easier setup short recent history virtual reality headsets calibration calibrate calibrating cameras testing resolution settings download install firmware hardware restart headset's software suite Bluetooth gamepad headphones Maximum Immersion Experience one-eighth-inch audio jack translucent plastic functionality other electronics usage smartphone smartphone answer phone calls functionality text messages emailsnotifications VR Gallery Oculus Cinema /

Battery flat? You need a Plan V

We’ve all been there: you need to make a call, & your battery is flat. There’s a Plan V for that.

Plan V attaches to you keyring, so you can’t leave home without it. When the need arises, attach a 9V battery, plug it into the charge port of your phone (microUSB & Lightning supported) & you have 800mAh of charge, around 4 hours of talk time on most phones, such as an iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S5.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1838401618/plan-v-the-failsafe-charger-you-cant-leave-home-wi?ref=category_location / Plan V battery back-up back up backup leave at home forget to charge failsafe charging device always on you small key size you need it your phone is flat need urgently call navigate meeting get out of a dangerous situation Plan V failsafe device don't need to charge small keyring like a car jumper cable connect a 9 volt battery Plan V device hook it up plug in insert connector square batteries smoke alarms widely available car jumper cable design production funds raised costs of production optimization optimizing product field trials performance tweaks marketing product wider availability design development working prototype mass production experience consumer electronics industry designed product manufacturing avoid cost schedule blowouts launch shipped on schedule safety environmental certifications Apple MFI certification iPhone international shipping /

Ad blockers under threat from Google, Microsoft & others

Credit: NetClean Development/Google

Do you enjoy advertisements interfering with your Web content? If not, you’re not alone, judging from the success of ad blocking software. Not surprisingly, advertisers are less enthusiastic, & there are claims that some of them are planning to do something about it in court.

http://www.itproportal.com/2014/12/09/ad-blockers-come-fire-internet-giants/

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Google-Others-Threaten-to-Sue-Adblock-Plus-Creator-467035.shtml

Hard to see how the complainants have a case.

Underlying this is the fact that, in the end, someone has to pay for Web content. Anything that doesn’t come at a direct cost, comes at an indirect cost. Usually, “indirect cost”, means advertising. If you have an alternative, there is a huge audience out there anxious to listen.

If Google is going to sue publishers of ad blocking software, what will they do about such software on their own sites?

AdBlock Plus for Chrome
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock-plus-for-chrome/kcobmjifdimfbihnbnafhcpmifgmjlka?hl=en

AdBlock
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock/gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom?hl=en / Internet giants media publishers Google Microsoft Le Figaro newspaper threatening legal action developers develop developer software block ads advertisement consumer websites rely advertising Japan Today $545 billion spent global advertising digital ads ad blocking software apps general public handful tech-savvy individuals Adblock Plus most popular ad blocking browser add-on active users in France United Kingdom Spain Adobe software developer Adblock 144 million active users worldwide publishers revenue alarming considering legal action no small matter affects all publishers advertising revenue Laure de Lataillade CEO GESTE association of web publishers gaming media music Sean Blanchfield CEO PageFair campaign against ad blockers Napster’s demise Google launch alternative web advertising Google Contributor charges users websites tested sites Mashable The Onion Science Daily /

Apple Maps Vs. Google Maps

Credit: TechRadar

After a squabble with Google, Apple released its own Maps app for iOS. As you may remember, & can see in the image above, it was less than perfect. Not only were the 3D renders inaccurate, but the the directional content was lacking, to the point that one state police force in Australia warned that it could get users killed.

Since that time, Apple has made changes, to staff (head of the iPhone software & Maps teams let go), & to the app itself. so how does it fare now?

Apple maps: how Google lost when everyone thought it had won
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/11/apple-maps-google-iphone-users

An update on the Google Vs Apple Maps war
http://www.nucloud.com/blog/an-update-on-the-google-vs-apple-maps-war/

Google Maps vs. Apple Maps: The most comprehensive design comparison you’ll ever see
http://bgr.com/2014/12/12/google-maps-vs-apple-maps-design-comparison/

And, a look back at some early mistakes:
http://theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com/ / Apple Maps hit iPhone iPad users US USA first appeared in September 2012 Google refused give Apple access voice-driven turn-by-turn map navigation lost 23m mobile users huge fall against 81m Google Maps mobile users ComScore market research company produced figures regular polls thousand of users statistics introduction Apple's maps iOS 6 software September 2012 littered with errors location Ireland named Airfield marked as an airport Paddington station had vanished Helsinki railway station park Tim Cook public apology Google Maps users Android base have not cannot upgrade to iOS 6 data MixPanel stand-alone app gained little traction with iPhone users Google has lost access very important data channel North American America market Ben Wood mobile analyst CCS Insight research company based in London had problems war of attrition Europe European other regional data mirror map data is hugely valuable monitoring traffic flows offer information on traffic jams determine determining user location fed back anonymously provide location-related advertising search important source of income search revenue desktop sites flattens default application average user Waze /

Stopknot – stop earbud tangling

Another solution to earbud tangling.




Credit: RadTech

Only just seen this, so haven’t had a chance to try it out, but it looks like a small rubber band could be adapted to the same purpose.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2014/12/11/stop-wasting-time-untangling-your-earbuds-with-the-stopknot/ / earphone ear bud earbud ear phone cable cord controller tangle knot coiling into a knotted mess pocket bag wind StopKnot RadTech slide earbud cable once control knotting quick step install StopKnot grips both earbuds 3.5mm audio plug StopKnot stops knotting use earbuds slide length adjuster flop around exercising working iPhone Samsung Bose Skull Candy Android smartphone mp3 player /