Google Launches Chrome Remote Desktop App for iOS [iOS Blog]

Google today launched a Chrome Remote Desktop app for iOS, which allows Chrome users to access their Mac or PC desktop computers remotely using an iOS device. Google has had an Android version of the Chrome Remote Desktop app for several months and has finally brought the tool to iOS.



To access a PC or Mac remotely with the new app, users will first need to install the Chrome Remote Desktop, which is a free download from the Chrome Web Store. With both the browser app and the iOS app, it’s possible for users to access their computers on an iOS device through the Chrome browser with a few simple taps after verifying through a generated code.

Securely access your computers from your iOS device.



- On each of your computers, set up remote access using the Chrome Remote Desktop app from Chrome Web Store.

- On your iOS device, open the app and tap on any of your online computers to connect.

In addition to allowing access from an iOS device with the new app, Google’s Chrome Remote Desktop feature also allows computer-to-computer access, which Google suggests is useful for securely accessing files on one machine from another or giving a friend temporary access to help solve a computer problem.



The Chrome Remote Desktop app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

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Posted in 2015 at 11:15PM, January 12

Tech and gadgets will improve your vacation this year… unless they totally ruin it

2015 has just started but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t already planning your next escape from your regular day-to-day life. But before you do that, you might make sure you pack all your gadgets, as tech toys might play an important role in your next vacation, significantly improving it, or totally ruining it, depending on how you feel about technology in general. Online travel resource Travel and Leisure has recently published a look at 11 trends that are changing the way we travel and many of them closely connected with current tech developments.

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Posted in 2015 at 11:00PM, January 12

Apple Maintains Mac Sales Momentum in Holiday Quarter

Apple saw an increase in its U.S. PC shipments during the recent holiday quarter, according to PC shipping estimates from Gartner. Apple shipped over 2.1 million Macs in 4Q14, up from 1.9 million Macs in 4Q13, marking an 11.5 percent increase. Though the company's shipments were up, its growth rate slightly trailed the overall market, resulting in a share of 11.7 percent down from 11.9 percent in the year ago quarter.



With its 11.7 percent share of the market, Apple is the third largest PC vendor in the United States, behind HP and Dell, which captured 29.2 and 22.6 percent of the market, respectively. Lenovo and ASUS came in behind Apple, with 10.2 and 6.8 percent of the market, respectively.




Gartner's Preliminary U.S. PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 4Q14 (Thousands of Units)


Overall, U.S PC shipments totaled 18.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014, a 13.1 percent increase from the year ago quarter. HP saw the largest amount of growth in the U.S. at 26.2 percent, followed by Lenovo's 21.6 percent growth, Dell's 13.5 percent growth, and Apple's aforementioned 11.5 percent growth.




Apple's U.S. Market Share Trend: 1Q06-4Q14 (Gartner)


IDC has also released its own estimates of Apple's U.S. PC shipments during the holiday quarter, which are quite different from Gartner's estimates. According to IDC, overall U.S. PC shipments totaled 17.6 million, with Apple responsible for 2.2 million of those with a growth rate of 18.1 percent.



In IDC's estimations, Apple's share of the market grew from 11.3 percent in Q413 to 12.7 percent in Q414, rather than declining slightly as in Gartner's estimate.



Apple does not rank as one of the top five worldwide vendors in Gartner's data, which ranks ASUS above Apple, but in IDC's data, Apple ranks higher than ASUS and is counted as the number five worldwide PC vendor. IDC's data suggests that Apple's worldwide PC marketshare climbed to 7.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014 with a record breaking 5.7 million shipments, while Gartner's data suggests ASUS was the number five worldwide PC vendor with 6.2 million shipments.



It is important to note that data from Gartner and IDC is preliminary and that the numbers can shift. Last year, for example, Gartner predicted shipments of 2.2 million for Apple in Q4213, later revising that number to 1.9 million.

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Posted in 2015 at 10:19PM, January 12

Chevrolet unveils its boldest attempt yet to compete with Tesla

Chevrolet isn't content to let Tesla get all the hype for electric cars. The iconic Detroit auto manufacturer this week unveil its Bolt EV concept that's designed to deliver 200 miles of travel per charge and that will be priced starting at $30,000.

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Posted in 2015 at 10:15PM, January 12

Viawear to Launch Fashion-Oriented 'Tyia' Wearable Aimed at Women [iOS Blog]

Shown off at CES for the first time this year, Viawear's Tyia is a wearable device that aims to bridge the gap between technology and fashion, much like the Apple Watch. Designed for women, the Tyia is a bracelet that focuses on delivering fully customizable notifications to let users keep tabs on messages, email, and social media accounts even when their iPhones are buried in purses and pockets.



According to Tyia's creators, the company's goal with the bracelet was to follow Apple's own lead and design something "absolutely gorgeous from the inside out" by focusing on the high-fashion jewelry aspect of the device.



Though it also includes a HealthKit-compatible accelerometer that measures metrics like steps taken, Tyia's true focus is on delivering notifications. It includes both a vibration engine and an RGB LED, both of which are highly customizable to allow users to create one-of-a-kind notifications for every app and situation.





The bracelet itself is available with gold or rhodium plating and inset with a semi-precious stone made of quartz, topaz, or another gemstone. In the first available versions, a quartz stone is fused to an 0.4mm sheet of mother-of-pearl, which serves as a light diffuser for the built-in LED. Internally, the Tyia has a 6-axis accelerometer and promises a 3-day battery life. It comes with a magnetic charger that snaps right into the bracelet to make charging a painless experience.



Tyia's notifications can be created with both custom colors and custom vibration strengths and patterns in the accompanying app, and variable vibration strength is one of the features that Viawear feels sets the bracelet apart from its competition. With different vibration strengths and patterns, an email might cause the bracelet to buzz slightly twice, while an emergency call could potentially be set to buzz much stronger for a longer period of time to let users know that it's urgent.



There's also an option to create notifications based on keywords, which is another unique feature that the Tyia boasts. For example, users can set a hashtag like #important or #emergency, and any tweet or message that includes that hashtag will set off a special notification that might flash red and white and vibrate strongly.





Because it's designed to serve as a wearable that's both fashionable and functional, the Tyia includes interchangeable straps. Though there are only leather straps included with version available for pre-order, Viawear plans to sell a range of different straps in multiple colors and materials. One band, for example, will feature Marsala, the wine-hued Pantone color of the year, while another will be constructed of a vegan material.



The company plans to develop an open API to allow third-party apps to take advantage of its fitness tracking capabilities, and it will collaborate with various designers for custom Tyia designs. Walter Chefitz, the company's Chief Creative Officer, has already worked to create a special diamond-encrusted Tyia with a green leather band, which he will sell on his Walt Adler jewelry site. In addition to collaborating with jewelery designers, Tyia also hopes to use its platform to help other fashion companies develop smart jewelry in the future.





Tyia is available for pre-order from the Viawear website at prices starting at $239. It will begin shipping out to buyers in the spring of 2015, which is also when the company plans to begin rolling it out to retail stores.

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Posted in 2015 at 08:30PM, January 12

Apple is going to charge more for the larger Apple Watch

Here's an interesting question for you... is Apple going to charge more for the larger 42mm Apple Watch? In the world of traditional watches, different sizes absolutely cost different prices. This is what I think.

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Posted in 2015 at 08:27PM, January 12

Apple Seeds Fourth iOS 8.2 Beta to Developers

Apple today seeded the fourth beta of iOS 8.2 to developers, nearly a month after seeding the third beta and more than two months after releasing the first iOS 8.2 beta.



The beta, build 12D5461b, is available immediately to registered developers as an over-the-air update and it can also be downloaded from the iOS Developer Center. Today's update also includes Xcode 6.2 beta 4 with WatchKit.



iOS 8.2 includes the WatchKit SDK, allowing developers to create apps, Glances, and notifications for Apple's upcoming wearable device ahead of its 2015 launch. The first iOS 8.2 beta, with WatchKit SDK and developer documentation, revealed several new details about the Apple Watch, including its heavy reliance on the iPhone and the different types of content developers can create for the device.



Along with iOS 8.2, Apple is also working on a minor iOS 8.1.3 update which is in testing and could come later this week.

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Posted in 2015 at 06:00PM, January 12

Apple just released iOS 8.2 beta 4

Apple on Monday released a new beta version of iOS 8.2, version 4, which developers and anyone else with access to a developer account can install right away on iPhones and iPads compatible with iOS 8. The update is available over-the-air (OTA), just like previous versions.

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Posted in 2015 at 06:00PM, January 12