Fleksy brings a predictive messaging app to the Gear 2 smartwatch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/18/fleksy-messenger-app-gear-2-tizen/

Fleksy's already brought its intuitive touch keyboard to the Galaxy Gear, but now Samsung's smartwatches all run Tizen, it needed an upgrade to operate on the phone maker's own OS. That's exactly what the company has done with the release of a new messaging app for the Gear 2 smartwatch, which delivers a diminutive yet fully-featured predictive keyboard capable of accessing your SMS conversations and contacts. As a dedicated messaging app, it also handles all of the heavy lifting, letting you send and receive messages directly from your wrist. In order to operate, the app syncs with your Samsung smartphone, which Fleksy says "integrates all information from both devices." There's no word on whether you'll be able to load Fleksy Messenger on the original Gear, but it is now available as a free download from Samsung Apps. Hopefully an enterprising developer will port it over.

Filed under: Wearables, Internet, Software, Mobile, Samsung

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Scientists use lasers to understand how water stays liquid below its freezing point

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/18/scientists-superchilled-water/

We only remember a few things from science 101, but we're reasonably certain that water boils at 212 degrees (Fahrenheit) and freezes at 32. Scientists at Stanford's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, armed with a Linac Coherent Light Source X-Ray Laser, however, have shown us otherwise. Should you be armed with such a device, the normal rules of physics no longer apply, and -- for the first time -- it becomes possible to observe water right down to its molecular level, even while it is supercooled as a liquid to minus 52 degrees Fahrenheit.

Although supercooling water has long been possible, it's been mostly impossible to observe and understand what happens during this process. One of the key things that the SLAC team has discovered, by using the X-Ray laser, is that water is able to, for want of a better word, "sweat." As they sent chilled droplets down a vacuum chamber into the eye of the laser, they observed that some droplets rapidly evaporated, allowing the rest of the water to enter its supercooled state. What's the point in all of this? The atmosphere absorbs different levels of solar radiation depending on if the water is in a crystalline or liquid state. Being able to understand how much of each is floating around the earth at any one time is key to being able to predict levels of climate change -- and, hopefully, finding a way to prevent it.

[Image credit: Greg Stewart / SLAC]

Filed under: Science

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Amazon's Firefly recognizes everything you see and hear, then lets you buy it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/18/amazon/

So yes, Amazon's phone is a real thing... and it's turning out to be quite a sales tool, too. Jeff Bezos just pulled back the curtain on the device's Firefly feature, which scans music, art and even products you have laying around in the real world. Why? So you buy can it all from Amazon, of course.

Here's how it works: you'll be able to use the phone's Firefly app (which you can invoke with a dedicated button) to snap images of DVDs, books, QR codes, CDs, bar codes, and more. From there, the app chews on that data to recognizes it and finds them in its massive database. Music and video are no match for Firefly either, as the app can listen in on content of both types -- you'll get a more detailed view, along with the ability to buy that stuff directly from Amazon (or, you know, play it through iHeartRadio).

The initial impression Firefly gave off made it seem like an app tailor-made to drive more sales on Amazon, but there's a little more to it than that. With the ability to recognize street addresses and phone numbers, Amazon wants to make Firefly a part of your everyday life -- Bezos probably doesn't want you to scribble down another address ever again. And here's the really big bit: Amazon is making a Firefly SDK available to developers, so they can bake those audio, visual, and text recognition smarts into their own apps. Want to add your lunch to MyFitnessPal? Snap a photo of it, and let Firefly do all the heavy lifting in the backend; that corresponding nutritional data should be where it should before long.

Amazon's Fire Phone. Will you get one?

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BlackBerry is getting Amazon's catalog of 200,000 Android apps

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/18/blackberry-gets-amazon-appstore-library/

BlackBerry users haven't exactly had an abundance of apps to choose from lately, due in no small part to the once-legendary phone maker's dwindling market share. However, the company just reached an app library deal with Amazon that could give you a reason to hang on to that Q10 or Z30. When BlackBerry 10.3 launches in the fall, it will have access to the Amazon Appstore's catalog of 200,000-plus Android apps -- you'll have little trouble finding Minecraft, Netflix and other big-name titles.

BlackBerry's own app library isn't going away. However, you can't count on the official media stores lasting for much longer; BlackBerry World's music and video sections are shutting down on July 21st. While you'll still have access to your existing purchases, you'll have to look to third-party services for anything new. That's unfortunate if you regularly shop for flicks and tunes from your phone, but the larger Android library might help mitigate the loss.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Amazon, Blackberry

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Source: Inside BlackBerry

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These Emotions Make Things Spread Like Crazy Online

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/these-emotions-make-things-spread-like-crazy-online-2014-6

If a piece of content makes a reader feel a certain way, the reader is more likely to share it on social media.

Which emotions lead to the most shares?

BuzzSumo's Noah Kagan analyzed the top 10% of articles that get shared online. From those articles, he found that articles that make a reader feel "awe" get shared most. Making a reader laugh means a higher probability of sharing too. Articles that make people feel sad get shared infrequently.

Other factors that contribute to an article's shareability include length (aim for about 2,000 words) and use of photos. Chart via Statista.

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