Author archive - Christina Warren

7 Gadgets for the Ultimate Connected Living Room

Stop me if you've heard this one before: The living room is about to become totally connected. For the past decade or longer, users were promised a world where live TV, digital video from Netflix, Hulu and YouTube, and purchased or downloaded content would all be available from one interface using one remote. A decade later, we've failed to reach that apex of what remains the true holy grail for the connected living room, but we're getting closer than ever.

Even five years ago, the idea that it would be normal to have a wireless set-top box connected to a television set seemed far-fetched. Today, it's hard to imagine a world without having access to Netflix on your big screen. Read more...

Facebook Finally Gets Hashtag Support

Hashtags are coming to Facebook to help users better surface conversations.

Support for the all-but-ubiquitous topic organization system was rumored in March and will roll out to a small percentage of users Wednesday. Facebook will roll out hashtags to more users in the coming weeks.

The social network wants to make it easier for users to find content already on Facebook, and functional hashtags are the first step. According to Facebook, many users already post hashtags anyway, so why not make them work. Hashtags will be both clickable and searchable, so, for example, topics like #NSALeaks or #NBAFinals will now exist. Read more...

Hands On With iOS 7: It’s Just the Beginning

When Tim Cook unveiled iOS 7 at WWDC this week, he called it "the biggest change to iOS since the original iPhone."

He's rightiOS 7 isn't just a visual overhaul of Apple's venerable mobile operating system; it's a near-total rethink of many of the core paradigms that have come to make iOS, well, iOS.

iOS 7 looks different, sure, but even in beta, it feels different, too. As Marco Arment wrote on his blog, this "isn't just a new skin."

Interactions and Animations

Interactions and animations are much less subtle on iOS 7. Ken Burns-style transitions abound, making it feel both modern and slightly disorienting. Tapping on an icon or on a folder diagonally zooms in on its content. Tapping away or pressing the home button zooms back out. Read more...

Hands On With iOS 7: It’s Just the Beginning

When Tim Cook unveiled iOS 7 at WWDC this week, he called it "the biggest change to iOS since the original iPhone."

He's rightiOS 7 isn't just a visual overhaul of Apple's venerable mobile operating system; it's a near-total rethink of many of the core paradigms that have come to make iOS, well, iOS.

iOS 7 looks different, sure, but even in beta, it feels different, too. As Marco Arment wrote on his blog, this "isn't just a new skin."

Interactions and Animations

Interactions and animations are much less subtle on iOS 7. Ken Burns-style transitions abound, making it feel both modern and slightly disorienting. Tapping on an icon or on a folder diagonally zooms in on its content. Tapping away or pressing the home button zooms back out. Read more...

Apple Announces iWork for iCloud

Apple showed off iWork for iCloud at WWDC 2013, a version of iWork that runs in the cloud — and in the web browser.

iWork for iCloud looks like a cross between Office 365 and Google Docs. It has the user-interface polish of some of Microsoft's Office 365 web offerings and the speed of some of Google's offerings.

With iWork for iCloud, users will be able to create and edit documents on Macs, iOS devices and web browsers on which those apps aren't even installed, which presumably includes Chrome on Android. During the keynote, a representative from Apple demonstrated how a Windows 8 user can edit a document in Chrome or Internet Explorer. Read more...

Apple Unveils iOS 7, ‘Biggest Change Since the Original iPhone’

At WWDC 2013, Apple has officially unveiled the next generation of iOS, iOS 7.

Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced iOS 7, calling it "the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of the iPhone."

As rumored, iOS 7 has a less skeuomorphic look, with a more flat design and lots of whites tinged with color. That doesn't mean, however, that the new iOS is free from gradient or panache. Instead, it's a more modern take on what makes iOS iOS.

Control Center

New in iOS 7 is a Control Center. It's an area that can be activated from within any app that brings control to Wi-Fi, brightness and other frequently accessed settings. Read more...

Apple Announces OS X Mavericks

At WWDC 2013, Craig Federighi, SVP of software engineering at Apple, unveiled the latest version of OS X, OS X Mavericks.

With OS X Mavericks, Apple is moving away from the cat-themed names of the first nine versions of OS X and is moving to a brand new California-themed naming convention.

The three standout features of OS X Mavericks are:

• Finder Tabs — Finder finally gets tabs. While third-party apps such as Total Finder have offered a tabbed Finder experience for some time, now it's native.

• Tagging — Files, folders and documents can now have tags for better organization.

• Multiple Displays — The fullscreen mode from OS X Mountain Lion now supports multiple displays and using Airplay, users can use an Apple TV powered monitor or TV as a full secondary display. Read more...

iOS 7: What We Want

Apple's biggest announcement at WWDC 2013 will almost certainly be iOS 7

The debut of iOS 7 is an important milestone for Apple in many ways. Six years into the iPhone and five years into the App Store, the smartphone landscape has changed.

Now, perhaps for the first time, Apple faces real competition in brand mindshare from Samsung and its domination of Android, and users are intrigued by the look of other platforms, including Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10.

Although I'm primarily an iOS user, I'm fortunate enough to get to test and review basically every major device on the marketplace. As a result, I've had a chance to see what other options are available to iOS users. Read more...

iOS 7: What We Want

Apple's biggest announcement at WWDC 2013 will almost certainly be iOS 7

The debut of iOS 7 is an important milestone for Apple in many ways. Six years into the iPhone and five years into the App Store, the smartphone landscape has changed.

Now, perhaps for the first time, Apple faces real competition in brand mindshare from Samsung and its domination of Android, and users are intrigued by the look of other platforms, including Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10.

Although I'm primarily an iOS user, I'm fortunate enough to get to test and review basically every major device on the marketplace. As a result, I've had a chance to see what other options are available to iOS users. Read more...

USA’s ‘Graceland Undercover’ Gives Second Screen a Starring Role

When the hot new show Graceland debuts on USA Network June 6, the action won't be confined to the TV screen. It will launch alongside new second screen initiative, Graceland Undercover, that promises to take viewers inside the characters and the action.

Graceland is the latest show from creator Jeff Eastin, the man behind the USA hit White Collar. It's a show about a house in Southern California occupied by agents from three different government agencies — the DEA, the FBI and ICE. The agents live together and work undercover on a variety of cases and stings. There was a real "Graceland" in the 1990s, comprised of undercover agents from different agencies, and aspects of the show are based on those agents and their stories. The ensemble cast includes Daniel Sunjata (Rescue Me) and Aaron Tveit (Les Miserables) Read more...