iT BOX

10 app icon redesigns: The good, the bad and the ugly Redesigns happen. Whether a certain look has gone out of style, a brand's direction has changed, or it's just time for something fresh, many popular apps have changed the design of their icons. Instagram just changed its app icon, and while a new look was probably a good idea, many aren't happy about it.   nstagram is far from the first app to go through this. Sometimes it's a home run, but it's rare. More often a changed icon either takes a while to get used to or is just plain bad. Occasionally, the redesign lives in infamy.  May notable icon redesigns came after after Apple transitioned from iOS 6 to iOS 7, introducing a new design philosophy that departed from the skeuomorphism (think: leather texture and wood trim) of the past and embracing a more flat, simple aesthetic. Apps like Messages, Phone, Mail and Weather dropped the gloss in favor of minimalism, and plenty of third-party ap...

The Blisk browser is a web developer's dream come true With so many different devices and screen sizes people browse the web on, web developers need to make sure their websites will work on every platform and react properly to different screen resolutions. Now there's a developer-focused browser that makes that process a lot easier. Blisk is a free web browser seen by The Next Web that isn't made for the typical Internet surfer. It comes with a bunch of features that caters to web developers who want to test their projects without jumping between multiple devices and browsers at once. The Blisk browser comes with emulators for different devices, so when testing code, developers can easily see how it works on mobile screens, tablet screens and on their computer.  When looking at two different devices, developers can easily see how elements of their projects translate across devices with simultaneous scrolling, meaning if you scroll on your scree...

Google's Chirp may be the Amazon Echo rival that brings 'OK Google' into your home A Google-powered Amazon Echo clone seems inevitable, and a flurry of new rumors say it's coming.     Muttering “OK Google” may soon become useful all around your house, as Google reportedly preps an Amazon Echo rival dubbed “Chirp” that will extend the company’s voice and search capabilities into the home. Following up on earlier rumors about a Google-powered Echo clone, Recode claims that Google will showcase voice search and intelligent assistant capabilities at its I/O conference next week, with Chirp itself expected to debut later this year. The surprising part isn’t that Google may be creating an Echo rival but rather that it’s taken so long to do so. Google has big smart home ambitions, the power of Google Now and search, top-notch voice recognition technology, and even an appropriate form factor with the OnHub router (pictured above)—which Reco...

Nearly 100 classic NFL games headed to YouTube The NFL and YouTube have a new agreement that brings classic NFL games in full to Google's video site, as well as more NFL content in Google search.   The National Football League made a deal with Twitter in April, and now it’s lining up arrangements with Google leading up to the 2016-2017 season. The league and Google-owned YouTube just announced a renewal of their strategic partnership, which will bring more football to the popular video site. The biggest new addition will be nearly 100 classic NFL games available in full on YouTube. The plan is to choose three historic games for each of the 32 teams in the league for a total of 96 games. The games will be available on the NFL’s YouTube channel alongside its other videos. The NFL didn’t say exactly when the games would land on YouTube, only that they would be available before the start of the season, which kicks off Thursday, September 8.   ...

​Adobe finds Chrome is popular everywhere, even on Apple's iPhone Desktop or mobile, Adobe's numbers show that Google's Chrome web browser is becoming the most popular web browser on any and all platforms. It's not news that Google's Chrome is now more popular than Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) web browser. What is news is that Adobe is reporting, in its Google I/O Digital Index Report, that Android and iPhone users are moving from native browsers to Chrome. Adobe Digital Index (ADI) analysis has found that Chrome smartphone browsing is growing at a quicker pace than Safari smartphone browsing, This increase in Chrome use is taking place on both Android and iOS devices, which is surprising since Safari is the default browser on iOS devices. "IPhone users have to go out of their way to download the Chrome browser," said Adam Lloyd, an ADI analyst, in a statement. "The fact that people are actually doing so is a sign t...

European Court advisor: Dynamic IP addresses are personal data Dynamic IP addresses are subject to privacy protection rules, the Advocate General said in a non-binding opinion. The chief advisor for the European Court of Justice has declared that dynamic IP addresses are tantamount to personal data and should be protected under Europe's privacy laws, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) reports . The opinion, issued by Advocate General Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona, is online but has yet to be translated into English. The advocate general's opinions are non-binding but they typically dictate how the European Court of Justice will rule.  Sánchez-Bordona's opinion concerns the lawsuit that Patrick Breyer, a privacy activist and German pirate party politician, filed against the German government for logging visits to government websites. "Banning governments and Internet giants from identifiably recording our browsing habits is the...

How to fast-charge your smartphone when you're in a hurry You're leaving your home or office in 20 minutes and your smartphone's battery is almost dead. You want to get the maximum charge into it in the least amount of time possible. What do you do? Picture this: You're leaving your home or office in 20 minutes and your smartphone's battery is almost dead. ou want to get the maximum charge into it in the least amount of time possible. What do you do? Here's the best method I've found, and it works well for iPhone and Android smartphones, as well as tablets such as the iPad. #1: Use a good, powerful charger One of the fastest chargers I own is an iPad charger, and I use this to charge up pretty much all my devices as it cuts down the amount of time my devices are hooked up to a cord. And the difference is quite staggering. For example, my iPhone 6S Plus takes over three hours to charge up from flat to full using the supplied ...

The iPhone is boring, and I'm OK with that What was once exciting soon becomes boring. I remember the excitement that came with the launch of the first iPhone. It was a device that pivoted Apple and the entire smartphone market, forever changing the technology landscape But now, some nine years on, the iPhone has become boring.  Let me explain what I mean by boring. First off, it doesn't mean that I'm not using my iPhone as much as I once did. In fact, I use my iPhone more than any device I've ever owned. It's usually the first device I pick up in the morning, and the last device I handle before going to sleep. What I mean by boring is that the iPhone has reached a point where innovation appears to have slowed down. Take a look at what the first few years of the iPhone brought to the table - on-screen keyboards, apps, iMessage, FaceTime, Touch ID and such - and compare this to what we've seen lately - things such as bigger handsets,...

Tokyo is a wonderfully frenetic city of lights, high rises and concentrated insanity. It's equal parts "Blade Runner," "The Fifth Element," "Ghost in the Shell" and, well, just about every other sci-fi movie you can think of. For years, Tokyo's Akihabara district was the place to score cheap electronics. As the Internet became a thing and manufacturing largely moved out of Japan, Akihabara became just another place to snag gadgets, albeit one with a lot of cool stores. Then the situation changed again, with the arrival of Yodobashi Camera. The Japanese chain is legendary for its stunningly massive stores and low prices. Think of it as a sort of Walmart on steroids that focuses on electronics. Stack eight Best Buys on top of each other, and you're only starting to get close. For any gadget fan, the area is amazing. Here's what it's like. Akihabara Denki Gai Day or night, the Akihabara Denki Gai (which translates to Ak...