Microsoft Exec Explains Quantum Break PC Release, Confirms No Steam Version

Not everyone was happy this week with the news that Quantum Break, which was announced as an Xbox One exclusive, would also be coming to PC at launch in April. Now, Microsoft executive Aaron Greenberg has defended and explained this move, and also confirmed more console exclusives are on the way.

Quantum Break coming to PC does not signal a move away from console on Microsoft's part, Greenberg stressed during an appearance on the latest Major Nelson podcast (via DualShockers)."People should know: Xbox is a big priority and a huge commitment," he said. 

"Please do not let the fact that we are also launching a game on the same day on Windows 10 change your perspective on the importance of the console business [or] our commitment to innovating on console."Greenberg went on to say that Microsoft will continue to launch new Xbox One exclusives. Bringing a game like Quantum Break to PC is instead an effort to "[grow] the gaming ecosystem," he said.

"From our CEO down at Microsoft, there's tons of commitment and enthusiasm for our [console] business [and] we're having tremendous success," Greenberg added, noting that Xbox One exclusive game sales were strong in holiday 2015 and that overall, "business is good."

Greenberg acknowledged that fans won't always agree with every decision Microsoft makes, but the company is committed to trying new things.

"Some times we're innovating, some times we're experimenting, sometimes we're charting new ground on different things," he said. "We always want to hear people's feedback, we're always listening. While they might not always agree with 100 percent of everything we do, we love the feedback."

"We want to do different things and try different things and say, 'Hey, what do you think of this, what do you think of that?' We do listen. Good and bad, we appreciate [the feedback]."

Also during the podcast, Greenberg confirmed that Quantum Break will not be available on Steam.

"Quantum Break on Windows 10 is a Windows Store exclusive," Greenberg said when directly asked if the game would come to Steam.

Another Microsoft game, Fable Legends, will not be available on Steam, either.

Microsoft's top gaming boss, Phil Spencer, has praised Steam for what it's done for the PC gaming space over the years. "They've been the backbone of PC gaming for the last decade," Spencer said in March 2014. "As a Windows company, I appreciate what they've done."

It's not surprising, however, to learn that Microsoft would prioritize its own store over a competitor.

In other news about Quantum Break, everyone who preorders the digital Xbox One edition gets a free copy of the Windows 10 PC version. The console and PC versions support shared saves, though there is no cross-play because Quantum Break is a single-player game.

Posted by Editorial Team on 11:13 PM in

iPhone 7 may not have headphone port so it can be even thinner, reports say

Apple could drop the headphone jack from the next iPhone so that it can get even thinner, according to reports.The iPhone 7 might have people plug their headphones into the Lightning port rather than the traditional 3.55mm hole, according to a rumour from MacOtakara.

As well as allowing the phone to become much slimmer, the change could also bring new features to the headphones. The new headphones would be able to draw power so that they could include an amplifier, for instance, or send more detailed information back to phones such as a request to open specific apps.

But it will also mean that owners of existing phones will have to buy adapters, which will be able to convert the old format to the new USB one.

The report said that the phone kept much of the same shape, but slightly thinner. The current iPhone 6s is not much wider than the size of the 3.55m slot, which is a standard port and so cannot be re-sized.

MacOtakara has been the source of disproved rumours in the past, and it is apparently based only on leaks of the phone’s size. But Apple has been pushing to make the iPhones more and more thin, and that is thought to have been part of the reason that Apple dropped its old connector for the new and much thinner Lightning one.

Other companies that make super-thin phones have already made the same move, using USB audio rather than the traditional input.

Apple’s next major iPhone is expected to be released in September, a year after the current iPhone 6s.

Posted by Editorial Team on 11:04 PM in

Leaked image of the new mini iPhone 5SE appears

Rumors about a smaller, four-inch "iPhone 5SE" have been swirling around for months. We might have just gotten the first hard evidence that Apple is really planning a new, mini iPhone.

Apple blog 9to5Mac published images of what appears to be the new iPhone 5SE to the right of an iPhone 5S. Both phones have the same profile, with a four-inch screen. But the iPhone 5SE has rounded edges, a Touch ID home button and the on/off button placed on the right-hand side of the phone, similar to the newer iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S models.

Releasing a smaller iPhone 5SE makes a good deal of sense for Apple. In the fall, when Apple is expected to release the iPhone 7, Apple would typically be expected to retire the iPhone 5S, which will be three years old in September.

But the iPhone 5S is the last four-inch iPhone on the market. Though Apple doesn't break out sales numbers for different versions of the iPhone, Wall Street analysts believe that there has been a large amount of staying power for the iPhone 5S because of its smaller size.

There have been fake "leaked" iPhone images in the past, including one that was floating around last week. But the fact the latest iPhone 5SE image is next to the iPhone 5S for scale gives it some more weight than other images.

According to 9to5Mac, the new iPhone 5SE will be a significant upgrade from the iPhone 5S. It will have an 8-megapixel camera in the back and a 1.2 MP camera in the front, similar to the iPhone 6. It will be able to make Apple Pay transactions, and it will have the same A8 processor that's inside the iPhone 6.

The iPhone 5SE is expected to be available in the same gold, silver, gray and rose gold colors that are available for the iPhone 6S, and Apple is expected to unveil the new four-inch phone in March.

 

Posted by Editorial Team on 10:59 PM in

Protect your iPhone, Get a Backup Battery, and Save 15 Percent (Deal of the Day)

There comes a time — as you board a train, usually — when you realize you have become hopelessly dependent on your smart phone. It reminds you of this by going dead, taking with it your digital ticket, the name of your stop, directions to your meeting, details on the person you’re meeting, and your money. Frustrated, you throw it to the ground in childish rage, it smashes, and you now have no way to get home.

You need a backup plan, and the PowerShadow case by Spyder could be it. Just putting it on your iPhone will protect your digital life from your tantrums. And the case includes its own very thin battery. So when your phone goes dead, you just push a button on the case to bring the handset back to life and to recharge its battery. LEDs on the back of the case tell you how much of your backup power is left, and you can charge battery and phone using a microUSB cable — either the one that came with your iPhone or one of the slick docks that Spyder makes to go with the PowerShadow cases.

Posted by Editorial Team on 10:01 PM in

Voice Control for the Apple TV Is About to Get Much More Useful

The fourth-generation Apple TV is generally great, but it does have a few issues, one of which is entering text with the included remote. Apple quickly added the ability to use the Apple Remote app to make entering text easier, but with Siri built in, it always seemed like the voice control should be more robust.

Soon, users will be able to do a whole lot more with only their voices, thanks to the inclusion of voice dictation. The feature was introduced in the latest beta version of tvOS, Macrumors reports. Dictation isn’t just useful for searching, but can also be used for entering user names and passwords, which should bring a sigh of relief to anyone who has struggled to enter a long password using the remote.

Once the software update bringing this new feature goes live later this year, you’ll be asked whether you want to enable dictation. Once you do, the search bar will allow you to hold down the Siri button on the remote and simply say the text you want to enter, with a level meter appearing on the screen to let you know whether the remote is able to hear you clearly.

Dictation isn’t the only way to better control your Apple TV with your voice in the coming update. Users will now be able to search the App Store using Siri and commands like “search the App Store for VLC.”

These new features are the latest added to the increasingly feature-rich tvOS 9.2, which is now in its third beta. Other features added so far include iCloud Photo Library and Live Photos, Bluetooth keyboard support, an updated app switcher, and the ability to group apps into folders, similar to iOS.

While the features are available to beta users now, there is no official word yet on when the update will be released, though it will likely be released this spring alongside updates to Apple’s other platforms. An Apple Watch-focused event is rumored to be planned for March, and assuming it actually takes place, we’ll likely see many of these new Apple TV features shown off then.

Posted by Editorial Team on 7:18 PM in

Instagram Now Shows How Many Times Your Videos Have Been Viewed

Similar to Facebook, you’ll now be able to see how many times an Instagram video has been viewed by the app’s 400 million-plus users. Today the company is beginning to roll out view counts, which will appear below video posts where likes would normally appear. You can tap the view count to see the number of likes for each video. but Instagram says it’s giving priority to views because “it’s the best way to show how the community is engaging with video.” According to the company’s blog post, the amount of time people spend watch videos on Instagram has jumped up 40 percent. “We are seeing wildly creative and engaging first-person narratives come to life on Instagram.”

Video views won’t really make any difference for everyday Instagram users like you and I. But for the app’s most popular creators, it’s a pivotal metric to see how their content is faring on Instagram versus, say, Vine or YouTube. “We think it’s important to help someone like Zach King, who is getting 5m views/day, or Rachel Ryle, who is getting hundreds of thousands of views/video, understand the depth of ways people are engaging with their videos.” It’s also something advertisers are keenly interested in. Instagram registers a view each time any video has been watched for at least 3 seconds — identical to Facebook’s approach. Today the company will begin testing view counts with some users before rolling out the feature to everyone over the coming weeks.

Posted by Editorial Team on 7:16 PM in

Report: Google's VR Headset Won't Need a Phone, PC or Game Console

The current state of virtual reality isn’t elegant. There are headsets like Samsung’s Gear VR and Google Cardboard that require a smartphone. Then there are the beefier VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, which connect to an expensive PC, and the PlayStation VR, which connects to a PlayStation 4.

A new report from the Wall Street Journal says Google is developing a VR headset that is entirely self-contained and doesn’t need a smartphone, computer or a game console to work — it’s reportedly a true all-in-one device that would simplify the VR experience.

See also: 8 hidden features every Samsung Galaxy phone user should know

The Journal’s report follows another from the Financial Times that claimed Google’s VR headset will be a competitor to the Gear VR.

According to the Journal, the Google VR headset will “aim for the middle ground: a quality experience not tethered to an expensive PC or game console.” The report’s sources say the headset will have a screen, high-performance processors made by Movidius and outward-facing cameras. The processors will reportedly “use the cameras’ feeds to track the motion of the user’s head.”

The report also corroborates the FT’s news that Google is upgrading Android to work better with VR headsets. “One change would allow a phone to stay on even when it hasn’t been touched for a while,” the report says.

There’s no word on when Google will announce its VR headset, but it could happen at the company’s annual I/O developer conference in May.

It’s also worth pondering how much this kind of VR headset would cost. Samsung currently sells its latest Gear VR for $99, but that device is limited to a few Samsung smartphones, which you have to buy separately. The Oculus Rift costs $600, but you’ll need to have a powerful PC in order to run it properly; a complete Oculus VR and PC setup will cost around $1,500.

Regardless, it’s clear Google is getting really serious about VR. If Cardboard was a mere hobby to gauge interest in VR, a standalone headset could be a sign that VR really will be the next major computing battleground.

Posted by Editorial Team on 7:14 PM in

Microsoft's big plan for the Xbox One: Make it more like Microsoft Office

Both the Microsoft Xbox One and the Sony PlayStation 4 launched in the November of 2013. Since then, Sony has sold almost 36 million PlayStation 4s — while a lagging Microsoft has stopped reporting sales of the Xbox One entirely (analysts peg sales at around 18 million units). 

But Microsoft has a plan to turn things around for the Xbox One by bringing it closer in to the rest of the Microsoft business. You can see the hint in an unlikely place: The announcement earlier this week that "Quantum Break," a forthcoming Xbox One flagship game, will also be coming to Windows 10. 

Under the auspices of CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has shifted its focus away from trying to strong-arm competitors out of the market, and towards a future of providing apps and services on the iPhones, Android phones, and Macs that they already love using. 

We've seen it with Microsoft Office, which is shifting its model from boxed software to a subscription-based service available via the Internet. With the Office 365 service, customers pay their $10/month (or more if they're a business) and get access to all the Office apps they want on phones, PCs, tablets, and pretty much everything else, straight up.

That includes old standbys like Word and Excel, alongside new and neat experimental apps like the GigJam work-sharing app. And with products like Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage, your work and documents can follow you between devices. So far, so good, with Office 365 booking big numbers.

Now, it's the Xbox's turn to make that same exact jump. Not everybody is going to love it. But the potential opportunity here for Microsoft is, for lack of a better term, game-changing.

Xbox-as-a-Service

Even though Microsoft is no longer announcing Xbox console sales, the company recently announced another interesting statistic in its quarterly earnings: There are 48 million monthly active users of its Xbox Live gaming service, across both the last-generation (but still popular) Xbox 360 console and the newer Xbox One.

The Xbox Live service comes in two subscription tiers: Silver, which is free, and Gold, which is $60 per year. Silver subscribers can buy games, movies, and TV shows from the Xbox's digital store. But subscribing at the Gold level gets you some crucial perks, including the ability to play multiplayer games online and a handful of "free" games every month. 

 Xbox Live got its start in 2002, with the original Xbox console, that subscription model fits right into Nadella's very modern Microsoft strategy. In fact, the new Windows 10 operating system almost entirely exists to be a funnel towards Microsoft's subscription services.

(Business Insider/Matt Weinberger) The Xbox app in Windows 10 is like Facebook for your gaming life.

In the same way that Microsoft Office is shifting away from a boxed product you buy once, Microsoft is maneuvering Xbox Live to be the center of your gaming world, whether you're gaming on the Xbox One console or on a Windows 10 PC. 

That line is already blurring, too, with last year's update to the Xbox One console to put a specialized version of Windows 10 at the core of its operating system. And Windows 10 itself has an Xbox app that lets you stream gameplay from an Xbox One console to your desktop.

Gamers, who have already noticed the shift in Microsoft's thinking, have dubbed the concept "Xbox as a service." And it's real.

Quantum breakdown

This is where "Quantum Break," a stylish action game starring Hollywood talent like Shawn Ashmore and Aidan Gillen, comes in.

When it was originally announced in 2013, "Quantum Break" was billed as an exclusive game for the Xbox One video game console. This week, it was announced that there also be a PC version, which buyers of "Quantum Break" for the Xbox One get for free. Most important, you also can sync your saved games across the two via the cloud.

Furthermore, Xbox boss Phil Spencer went to the gaming press and said that this would be a "platform feature" for the Xbox and Windows 10. Buy the game once, get two copies that you can play anywhere. It's a stark contrast to the usual way these things go, which is where publishers put a game on the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4 first, where the market is considered to be most lucrative, and then release a PC version later, if ever.

View gallery

.

(Remedy Games) "Quantum Break."

 So by putting "Quantum Break" on Windows 10, two things will happen:

First off, it makes this big, flagship, flashy game something you can only play on Microsoft devices, whether that's an Xbox One console or a Windows 10 computer. Second, it paves the way for more Xbox-exclusive games to come to the Windows 10 PC in the future. Judging from Spencer's comments, that second part is a done deal.

Sony has offered this kind of so-called "cross-buy support" for some while on select games, letting you buy a game once and play it on your PlayStation 4 or the handheld PlayStation Vita console.

But the big difference is that the slow-selling Vita sold 12 million units worldwide as of August 2015, dating back to its 2011 launch. Meanwhile, Windows 10 is on 200 million PCs and tablets and counting since it launched in July 2015.

Not all of those Windows 10 users are interested in gaming. But if you assume that 30% of 200 million Windows 10 users are interested in gaming, that's already a potential audience of 60 million customers for "Quantum Break" and any other Xbox game available on Windows 10.

Compare that with the 35.9 million PlayStation 4 consoles sold, and suddenly Microsoft's position in gaming doesn't look so bad.

Tightrope

The "Quantum Break" news caused a stir in the gaming world when Phil Spencer responded to an unhappy fan who said that they canceled their preorder of the game in protest of the decision to bring it to Windows 10. Spencer stood by Microsoft, saying that it's good for everybody if more people get to play more high-profile games.

That angry gamer is an outlier — most customers don't really care much where they play games, so long as they can play them.

But it highlights two important questions that Microsoft is going to have to answer going forward, if it really wants to make this "Xbox as a service" thing happen.

Namely: If Xbox games are coming to Windows 10, then why own an Xbox One? And why should PC gamers pay $60 a year to get online gameplay, a feature they've gotten for free since PC gaming was invented?

It means a tightrope walk for Microsoft. If it focuses too heavily on Windows 10 gaming, it alienates the passionate gamers who have sunk lots of cash and time into Xbox games. If it focuses too heavily on the Xbox One side, it won't ever get to turn those PC gamers into Xbox subscribers.

The potential upside is tremendous, though. If Microsoft can walk this tightrope and change people's thinking about the Xbox brand, turning it from a $350 piece of hardware into a $60 service that enables a better gaming experience for gamers no matter where they might be, it can tap a huge and growing customer base. 

With Windows 10 already on the Xbox One, that shift is already happening under people's noses. And it all suits Nadella's master plan of shifting Microsoft towards a services business.

View

Posted by Editorial Team on 7:12 PM in

Microsoft patents a modular PC with stackable components

Above: One design in Microsoft's "modular computing device" patent.

Image Credit: Screenshot

Microsoft has patented a “modular computing device” that would enable people to put together the exact PC components they want, allowing for replacement of certain parts rather than forcing people to buy entire new computers when they want upgrades.

Microsoft applied for the patent in July 2015, and it was published earlier this week, on February 11. One of the patent’s authors, Tim Escolin, is a senior industrial designer on Microsoft’s Surface devices and accessories team.

Above: The “stack” of hardware components in Microsoft’s modular computing device.

Image Credit: Screenshot

As the Surface tablet has picked up traction and led to the launch of similar devices from Google, Apple, and Samsung, the Surface brand has become more valuable within Microsoft. It helps that Microsoft has an innovative and exciting executive for the Surface team — corporate vice president Panos Panay. In October, he very enthusiastically demonstrated the Surface Book, the Surface Pro 4, and the Display Dock, and it wouldn’t be hard to imagine that Microsoft might have his group come out with additional types of new hardware.

Modular hardware, specifically, has been an area of some interest for Microsoft. Microsoft recently came out with the modular Xbox One Elite controller in partnership with Scuf Computing.

At CES in 2014, Microsoft helped promote gaming PC maker Razer’s concept for a modular PC called Project Christine. But two years later, the system is still not available for consumers to buy. This past September, Acer introduced a modular PC called the Revo Build Mini PC for the low entry cost of $225.

Perhaps the most prominent modular consumer electronics project is Google’s Project Ara series of smartphones. Google has been collaborating with crowdfunded Phonebloks on Project Ara.

Of course, if you build a PC yourself, it is modular in the sense that you can add or remove components, but it’s not very sleek. The device depicted in this patent does look pretty dang cool, and even accessible.

Interestingly, a display is included in the hardware design (unlike the Acer product). The stackable hardware connected to the display using a hinge can contain a removable battery, a processor, a graphics card, memory, storage, speakers, and a wireless communication element. There could even be a gesture recognition component or a holographic projection unit (hello, HoloLens!).

Each of these components can also have housings that are connected magnetically and are swappable.

Above: Housings of the modular components.

Image Credit: Screenshot

“In this way, the computing device may be altered and changed readily by a user in an intuitive manner without requiring detailed knowledge of the hardware,” as the patent’s authors put it.

Of course, the mere existence of this patent doesn’t mean Microsoft plans to release this type of hardware. But it does show that at least two people inside of the major technology company have given a modular PC some serious consideration.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Posted by Editorial Team on 7:06 PM in

If You Had Purchased $100 of Apple in 2002

The incredible run of Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) stock has been well documented, along with the share price's short-term movements, the company's cool factor and its product lineup. Examining the outcome of buying $100 worth of Apple shares at the beginning of January 2002 provides a means of analyzing the stock's movements.

The First Five Years.

The closing share price on Jan. 2, 2002, which was the first day of trading for the year, was $1.66. (All prices have been adjusted for subsequent stock splits.) Rounding to the nearest whole share, the $100 would have bought 60 shares. By the end of the year, the stock price fell to $1.02 a share, and the value of the position shrank to $61.20.

Compare Apple's performance to a stock market index to see how it compares with the overall market or sector. Two appropriate indexes are the NASDAQ Composite Index, which includes many technology companies, and the S&P 500, which is representative of large-capitalization companies. If you had chosen to place the money in a passive index, you would have fared better over a one-year period. Your $100 would have been worth $67.48 if you had invested it in an index fund tracking the NASDAQ Composite Index or $76.20 if you had invested it in an index fund tracking the S&P 500.

The next four years were far more lucrative for Apple's investors. Apple introduced new products, such as more advanced versions of the iPod. The value of the $100 investment climbed to $727.20. This is much better than the outcome for that $100 investment in an S&P 500 Index fund ($122.83 at the end of 2006), and the NASDAQ Composite ($122.03 at the end of 2006).

Gains Continue

The next five years, from 2007 through the end of 2011, included the introduction of the iPhone. The first generation was released in June 2007, with subsequent versions released in the ensuing years. In 2007, Apple's share price more than doubled. It reached $28.30 on Dec. 31, 2007, and the value of the $100 investment had grown to $1,698.

Investors were pleased by Apple's performance over the next few years. The following year, 2008, was rough for the stock, but the ensuing period through 2011 more than made up for it. On the last trading day of 2011, December 30, the stock price closed at $57.86. There was plenty to cheer about heading into the new year. Over the previous decade, the original $100 investment would have grown to $3,471.60.

Still Feeling Good in the Present

Apple generated tremendous free cash flow thanks to its success. This boosted cash and marketable securities, with it reaching $205.7 billion at the end of fiscal 2015. It was $81.6 billion at the end of fiscal 2011.

This allowed Apple to return cash to shareholders by initiating a dividend and buying back shares. The board of directors first declared a 38-cent dividend in 2012, which has grown to the current level of 52 cents per quarter.

Apple's stock closed at a price of $97.34 on Jan 29, 2016. The final tally means the $100 invested at the start of 2002 is worth $5,840.40. However, aside from price gains, investors also benefited from more than three years' worth of dividend payouts. This totals $379.26 and equates to a total value of $6,219.66 when factoring in both stock price gains and dividends, assuming the dividends are not reinvested.

Beating Passivity

This value is well ahead of a passive investment in either the S&P 500 or NASDAQ Composite. Based purely on price, the $100 investment in the S&P 500 would be worth $168.03. The same amount put into the NASDAQ Composite would have left an investor with $233.12. Although the totals climb by a few hundred dollars when dividends are added, it is still not even close to the value of the $100 Apple investment.

Posted by Editorial Team on 6:56 PM in

Get an Acer Chromebook 11 CB3 for $90

Cheap things come to those who wait. If you were a Chromebook early adopter, you might have paid as much as $250 to $300. Then prices began to dip below $200, and over the course of 2015, the Google-powered laptops went from bargain to cheap to dirt-cheap.

Today, they're oh-my-god cheap. While supplies last, Meh.com has the refurbished Acer Chromebook 11 CB3 for $90, plus $5 for shipping. On rare occasions I've seen Chromebooks at $99.99, but this is a new low. And just an insane price for a full-featured laptop! (For sake of comparison, Newegg sells the same refurbished model for $119.99.)

acer-chromebook-11-cb3-111-top-down.jpg

This laptop is $90. For real.

Acer

What can I tell you about Chromebooks that you don't already know? They boot and shut down almost instantly. They don't slow down over time, and don't hit you with sudden and inexplicable Blue Screens of Death. They don't get infected with viruses, spyware or the dreaded ransomware (though phishing is still a risk).

Of course, they don't run Windows software, either, so this isn't the right choice if you need, say, Microsoft Office, iTunes, Photoshop or the like.

It is, however, fantastic for everyday computing tasks: email, Facebook, YouTube, Netflix, Evernote and so on. That's because you can accomplish all of them inside a browser, which is the Chrome OS modus operandi.

I think Chromebooks are ideal for students, especially given that many schools are steering them to the Google ecosystem anyway (Docs, Drive and so on).

The Acer, as you might expect, has pretty basic specs -- Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of flash storage -- but Chrome OS doesn't need a lot of horsepower. And it's wholly cloud-driven, so your data gets stored mostly online anyway. Check out the wildly enthusiastic user reviews at Amazon (which, granted, are for a slightly different configuration). If you grabbed one of these last time around, hit the comments and add your own reviews to the mix.

This being a refurb, it comes with a 90-day Acer warranty. Even so, for $95 out the door, this is tough to pass up. Your thoughts?

Bonus deal: I don't know about you, but it seems like I can't have too many charge cables and wall adapters. (Granted, I have an unusually large number of mobile devices.) If you're constantly on the prowl for extras, pad your supply: Liger (via Amazon) has a two-pack of Apple MFi-certified 3.4-foot Lightning cables and 1-amp USB wall plugs for $12.95, shipped free for Prime subscribers. (Regular readers know that I strongly advise against buying Lightning cables that aren't certified.) The bundle is backed by a one-year warranty.

Bonus deal No. 2: In case you missed it yesterday, be sure to check out my post on how to get a free data plan for your iPad or other tablet. It's one of those things that sounds to good to be true, but isn't (kind of like RingPlus for free cell service). Ooh, speaking of that, RingPlus is now offering a couple new freebie plans, Giuseppe and Althea. The former gives you 1,200 minutes, messages and megabytes per month; the latter, 2,010 of each -- but only 67 per day. (Shrugs.) Just BYO Sprint-compatible phone and you're good to go!

Posted by Editorial Team on 5:34 PM in

3 annoying things about Facebook you can stop right now

Facebook is a classic “love-hate” relationship. Love the communication with family and friends. Hate all the nonsense clogging up the news feed. Fortunately, there are a few really easy steps you can take to control your Facebook experience.

1. Auto-playing videos

A year ago, Facebook decided that its users wanted videos in their News Feeds to start playing automatically when they scrolled past them. Wrong. Facebook users were understandably upset. Not only was it annoying to suddenly get blasted with sound, but videos use up cellular data on mobile gadgets.

Turning off auto-playing video is simple. For the Facebook website, go to your Facebook profile. Click the downward arrow in the upper-right corner and select "Settings." At the bottom of the left column, click "Videos." Then next to "Auto-Play Videos," choose "Off."

In Android, open the Facebook app and tap the icon with the three horizontal lines to the left. Then scroll down to "App Settings" and tap "Autoplay." You can set it to play "On Mobile Data and Wi-Fi Connections," "On Wi-Fi Connections Only" or, my personal favorite, "Never Autoplay Videos."

For iOS, open your Facebook app and at the bottom-right corner tap "More." Scroll down and tap "Settings" and then "Account Settings." Find and tap "Videos and Photos" and under Video Settings tap "Autoplay." You can set it to play "On Mobile Data and Wi-Fi Connections," "On Wi-Fi Connections Only" or "Never Autoplay Videos."

Auto-playing videos aren't the only things eating up your cellular data. Learn about four more ways your cellular data gets drained and how to stop them.

2. App notifications

Tired of a Facebook game app you installed years ago still sending you notifications every other minute? You can easily turn off app notifications if you know where to look. In fact, you'll probably want to remove most of your apps entirely because they can share your information with the app developers.

To find your installed apps, go to your Facebook profile and click the downward arrow in the upper-right corner. Select "Settings" and in the left column click "Apps." You'll see every app you've ever installed on the left.

Hover over an app and click the pencil icon to edit its properties. You can choose what information it can know about you and whether it can send you notifications. You'll want to change it to get only the most basic information possible and change Notifications to "No."

If you want to delete the app, hover over it and click the "X" icon. While this won't delete any information that it has previously gathered on you, it will stop it from collecting more. Learn more about how apps collect information and how to better protect your privacy.

3. Block News Feed posts you don't want to see

Do you have friends who post dozens of things on Facebook every day, but they’re mostly shares from political, potty humor or inspiration pages? You don't want to block your friend entirely, but you'd rather not see those posts you don't care about.

If your friend is constantly sharing from the same pages, you can actually block those pages specifically. Click the downward arrow in the upper-right corner of the post, and select "Hide all from ..." and you won't see any more posts from those pages.

If you just want to stop seeing posts from your friend without un-friending him, click the downward arrow and select "Unfollow ..." You can re-follow him later by going to your Facebook profile, clicking the downward arrow in the upper-right corner and selecting "News Feed Preferences." Then click "Reconnect with people you unfollowed," choose people you want to re-follow and click "Done."

By the way, I post digital tips and show clips throughout the day on my Facebook page, Facebook.com/KimKomando. Be sure to follow me.

Posted by Editorial Team on 4:51 PM in