Month: October 2016

How to delete your Google Search History

Dan Uff October 22, 2016 0

As we all know, Google.com is a great search tool. I use it on a daily (sometimes even hourly) basis when searching for stories or how to's for this web site.

But not many people know, that when you do a search on Google, that they save that search to your "Search History" so that if / when you search for the same topic again, that search will come up faster and even be in a drop-down window for you to click on.

While handy, sometimes, you do not want that "footprint" to show up again. This could also be used by Google and/or advertisers to push related ads to you.

Fortunately, Google.com has a way for you to delete your Search history. Here's how:

Go to https://myactivity.google.com.
Sign in with your Google's email account.
You'll be presented with the "Google - My Activity" screen.
Select the "Delete Activity By" option from the menu on the left.
Next, you can delete the search activity by date.
Drop down the menu, you'll be presented with how you'd like the data to be deleted.
Select an option and then click DELETE.
Now your Google search history has been deleted with the parameters you've selected in option 7.
That's it.

It is a good idea to do the above once a month so nobody can find out what you searched for the previous month.

The Apple Store now selling Sonos Speakers

Dan Uff October 22, 2016 0

“Following their addition to Apple.com in the United States last month, Sonos speakers can now be purchased from Apple’s website in several other countries,” Joe Rossignol reports for MacRumors.

“Sonos Wi-Fi-connected PLAY:1 and PLAY:5 speakers are now available on Apple’s online store in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom,” Rossignol reports. “Prices are set at $249 and $649 in Canada, $299 and $749 in Australia, £169 and £429 in the United Kingdom, and €229 and €579 in many other European countries.”

Rossignol reports, “Apple is currently offering a free 3-month Apple Music gift card with the purchase of either speaker.”

For more information, click here.

Amazon wins patent for voice controlled, pocket sized Drones

Dan Uff October 21, 2016 0

Amazon wins patent for pocket-sized drones.

Amazon has been awarded a patent for a pocket-sized, voice controlled drone that can be used to help police in chases, aid firefighters in tackling blazes, and even find lost children.

The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will have a built-in software that will allow it to understand commands spoken by a user or controls from an app, according to a United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filing from Tuesday.

Amazon did not mention Alexa – its artificial intelligence (AI) personal assistant – but as the e-commerce giant already has experience in this technology, it could potentially build it into its drones.

The drone will have a microphone and a camera that will allow it to carry out several functions outlined by the patent including:

Finding a lost child whereby the drone's camera will identify a person's face or perhaps a barcode printed on the kid's clothes
Locating a vehicle when a person can't find it a parking lot by recognizing trait such as the make, model or color
In search and rescue missions to find downed airliners, sailors or ships lost at sea
To identify people trapped in a burning building
Following a suspect so that a cop car could cut off the runner
Recording stunts or other activities, effectively replacing current helmet cameras

Amazon said in the patent that the drone will "act as an assistant for the user" so that users can ask it questions such as "is the dryer still running?". It sees this device as something that can be carried in a person's bag or pocket and deployed at any time.

Potentially, the UAV could act as a body guard. "In situations in which a user feels uncomfortable or in danger, such as walking down a city street at night, the UAV may act as a deterrent to potential attackers, provide piece of mind, and, worst case scenario, document the crime for police," the USPTO filing said.

Drones have been a big focus for Amazon, which is already testing UAV's to deliver packages. The company has filed several patents around drone technology including one that shows lampposts and tall buildings being used as docking stations for UAVs to recharge.

It's important to note that being awarded a patent does not necessarily mean Amazon will develop this technology

Via: Amazon.com / CNBC.com

Amazon.com Exclusive: Stream Garth Brooks

Dan Uff October 21, 2016 0

Last week, Amazon launched a new streaming music service and tried to differentiate itself from the competition by using lower prices.

Now it's using Garth Brooks.

Amazon Music Unlimited — the service Amazon sells for $10, $8 and $4 a month — will be the only service streaming songs from the country star, who until today was one of the last big music acts who didn't stream their work.

You won't be able to stream all of Brooks's music today — just his new single, "Baby, Let's Lay Down and Dance" and two greatest hits albums. Amazon says Brooks's upcoming album "Gunslinger" will also stream on the service, as well as future projects like a Christmas album with his wife, Trisha Yearwood.

Amazon will also be the only digital service to sell digital downloads of Brooks's music. It says almost all of Brooks's back catalog will be for sale via its Amazon music store.

Amazon isn't announcing the terms of the deal, but it appears to be a long-term one; the company will also sponsor a Brooks concert tour next year.

Earlier this month, I asked Amazon music boss Steve Boom whether his company was interested in signing up artists for exclusive deals, as rival services Tidal and Apple Music had done.

"For us, the jury is out," he said, which in retrospect seems to be not entirely truthful. That one goes in the ledger, Steve.

We don't know whether this deal will be the first of many for Amazon or a one-off. But we do know that it's different from the Tidal and Spotify exclusives with acts like Beyoncé and Drake, because it's with an artist that hit his commercial peak a couple decades ago.

But Brooks is still a very big deal with a very large fan base — he has sold more albums in the U.S. than anyone except the Beatles — and Amazon may be correct in betting that many Garth Brooks fans have yet to sign up for a streaming music service.

So his presence on Amazon may be an effective marketing tool.

The deal is also a reminder of the rare leverage a handful of music acts enjoy when they, rather than a music label, own the rights to their music. Brooks controls the rights to almost all of his back catalog, except for "Man Against Machine," a 2014 album he put out with Sony Music's RCA label.

That control had previously allowed him to keep his music off of Apple's iTunes store. And two years ago, that control allowed him to launch GhostTunes, an online store that has been the exclusive place to buy his music online.

That store doesn't appear to have been a giant success, but it was his, at least until now. Amazon says GhostTunes will remain open, but says it intends to eventually operate the site itself.

Which means Brooks found a way to sell both his music and his store to the web's biggest retailer.

—By Peter Kafka, Recode.net.