What Was SurDoc? SurDoc was a free online storage service that started every new user off with 100 GB of storage, enough space to keep thousands of photos and music. Letsupload is similar in that it offers a whopping unlimited space, though if you visit the link above, you’ll find several others that we prefer, like Degoo and MEGA. File sharing was also supported, and your account came with free software for your computer and phone....
Jones Soda has cultivated its “The People’s Craft Soda” image over the past 25 years by way of each bottle’s unique label, which customers often submit. Recently, the beverage company merged that concept with augmented reality to create special labels that unlock videos about their depicted subjects. This enables it to impart more information than a static print label could, while also encouraging consumers to interact with the product more directly....
The Framework Laptop is almost absurdly configurable, right down to which ports appear on its sides. Want four HDMI ports on a single laptop? No problem. But useful as this is, the configurability is almost a byproduct of something more important. The Framework Laptop is totally repairable, and completely upgradeable. There’s no longer a need to buy a whole new computer, just because the screen is cracked, or you ran out of storage space....
E3 has come and gone, bringing with it a ton of new game announcements. One of the most exciting revelations from the Nintendo E3 Direct, though, was the reveal for Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, a complete remaster of one of Nintendo’s most iconic strategy games. It’s been over 20 years since the release of the first Advance Wars, which means there are plenty of strategy lovers who haven’t had a chance to try it out yet....
Older Kindle models will start to lose their built-in internet access in December. The change comes because mobile carriers are ditching 3G networking technology in favor of newer 4G and 5G networks. Aging Kindles without Wi-Fi won’t be able to connect to the internet at all. Cutting the Cord Don’t worry if you’ve bought a Kindle reading device recently. The newest Kindle devices with 4G will still work, but for older devices that shipped with support for 3G and Wi-Fi, including the Kindle Keyboard (3rd generation), Kindle Touch (4th generation), Kindle Paperwhite (4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th generation), Kindle Voyage (7th generation), and Kindle Oasis (8th generation), only will be able to connect using Wi-Fi....
The OP-Z really is a marvel of design, a masterclass in building a modern musical instrument. It has no screen, but it’s easier and faster to use than many devices that do. Play and program by pressing combinations of its tiny buttons, and yet it is intuitive, fast, and easy—once you’ve learned the basics. It has its own personality and plenty of quirks, but the OP-Z might be the most intuitive and fluid sequencer around....
Netflix just upgraded the audio in its Android app to “studio-quality,” with tweaks to the audio codec that make it easier to hear in noisy environments and stop things going bad when your cellular connection falters. With this in mind, what kind of audio experience do we get from other streaming services? Letter Soup The Netflix Android update adds “Extended HE-AAC with MPEG-D DRC (xHE-AAC).” This seems aimed entirely at improving the mobile audio experience, by “improving intelligibility in noisy environments,” and adapting to variable cellular connections....
Phone codes are vulnerable to interception by hackers, Alex Weinert, director of identity security at Microsoft, wrote in a recent blog post. Text-based codes are better than nothing, observers say. But users should replace phone-based authentication with apps and security keys. “These mechanisms are based on publicly switched telephone networks (PSTN), and I believe they’re the least secure of the MFA methods available today,” he wrote. “That gap will only widen as MFA adoption increases attackers’ interest in breaking these methods and purpose-built authenticators extend their security and usability advantages....
Since the original hardware reveal, many users have spoken out about the odd design choices Sony has made with the PlayStation 5. Concerns about the look of the PS5 jumped back into the spotlight recently when a video detailing the internal layout of the PS5 was released by Sony. In the video, Sony tears down the PS5 completely, showing just how easy it should be for gamers to upgrade the internal components....
The idea behind Rich Communication Services (RCS) was to create an Android equivalent to Apple’s iMessage. By expanding on the services offered by traditional texting systems, users would be able to send higher-quality images, read receipts, and more. In short, it would make texting more like using an instant messenger. Now that major carriers are backing out of the Cross Carrier Messaging Initiative (CCMI), experts say the future of RCS could be more limited than before....
The original HomePod sounded great but sold in such low volume that when Apple stopped selling it in 2021, the remaining stock still showed a manufacture date of 2018. And yet now that it has been discontinued, the price for used speakers is rising. What’s going on? “For a small category of users—too small for the full-sized HomePod to continue as an ongoing product—the HomePod was the right combination of features,” writes Apple journalist Jason Snell on his personal blog....
The iPod touch began as a cheaper, slimmer version of the iPhone for people who didn’t need, or want to pay for, the iPhone’s cellular connection. It became a great way for kids to use apps and for restaurants to give to waiters. For many, including this author, it was a first step into truly mobile computing. Now, it has been supplanted by iPads and by hand-me-down iPhones. But in many ways, the iPod touch was better than all of these....
Apple’s iOS 14.5 includes a feature called App Tracking Transparency, which puts you in control of which apps get your data. You probably already know your favorite apps constantly track you behind the scenes, but Apple puts the control back into users’ hands. “This is a great step forward in the fight to reclaim our privacy,” Mark Weinstein, Founder and Chief Evangelist of MeWe, told Lifewire over the phone. No More Tracking Aside from being able to unlock your phone while wearing a face mask, and the addition of new Siri voices, iOS 14....
If you are a fan of old-school, turn-based JRPGs, you would probably prefer Xenoblade’s approach. If you’re more of an action gamer, though, you are more likely to like Last Story’s system. Winner: The Last Story Last Story is predictable and clichéd, whereas Xenoblade contains a more elaborate and original story with a few genuine surprises and a unique premise. While that should give Xenoblade the upper hand, its story is weakened by bland characters and a conventional approach, while the Last Story gets a leg up from more focused storytelling, sharper dialogue, and slightly more engaging characters....
“Big name players will certainly help increase the speed at which we are able to roll out self-driving fleets,” wrote TerraNet CEO Pär-Olof Johannesson, to Lifewire in an email. “Big Tech has their work cut out for them: prioritize safety in their rollouts.” A Self-Driving Future Autonomous vehicle technology has been in the works since the 1980s, but we’ve yet to really make self-driving cars normal and obtainable. Of course, big players like Tesla already are succeeding in the market, but experts say we need more innovation to make the technology more widespread and more accepted, and that Big Tech will help....
On Tuesday, Microsoft began rolling out the release of Windows 11, starting with computers running Windows 10 and those that launched with a preloaded version of Windows. Microsoft says that users will be notified of their eligibility over the coming months, and it’s aiming to complete the rollout sometime in mid-2022. Windows 11 introduces a number of changes to Microsoft’s core operating system, including a new Start Menu and a few other notable interface changes....
Dolby Vision is headed to the Xbox Series X and S for members of the Insider program. The Verge reports that Microsoft claims the HDR format will mean brighter highlights, sharper contrast, and more vibrant colors when used on a Dolby Vision-compatible TV. The HDR feature is currently only available to members of the Xbox Insider Alpha ring because it’s still in testing before general release. Dolby previously has said that the Xbox Series X and Series S will be the first-ever games consoles to support both Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos surround sound in games....
They really are going all-in on an electrified future. Well, at least some of them. For years, the Los Angeles Auto Show has billed itself as the tech showcase. It calls itself “Automobility,” cramming the overused word “mobility” in place of “show” to create a nonsense jumble of letters meant to signify the future of transportation. It’s typically marketing and bravado that, in addition to traditional car news, involves a host of startups, some of which we’ll hear from again....
A new Verizon program might be collecting information about your browsing history, location, apps, and contacts. The company says it uses the data to understand your interest, but some privacy advocates are sounding the alarm. “You should assume your wireless carrier captures at least some of the metrics associated with your browsing behavior,” privacy and cybersecurity expert Sam Dawson at ProPrivacy told Lifewire in an email interview. Data Sinks A recent report from Input notes that the “Verizon Custom Experience” app is set by default to allow access to your data....
The new iRobot operating system (OS) is based on the company’s Genius Home Intelligence platform, and it will be adding new features to Roomba vacuums. The company goes as far as to call it “an evolution” of the old platform and appears to have created prototype Roombas to test iRobot OS. According to iRobot, the new software platform will allow Roombas to understand more voice commands, recognize more objects, and house more “pet-centric features....
