We’ve been talking a lot lately about the perks and perils of Microsoft Office, especially the program you begrudgingly used to write your college papers: Word. In what appears to be an unrelated move, Apple just made a whole host of productivity apps free. Get excited for Pages! (Borat voice: “Not!”)
Apple has released updated versions of its iWork, iMovie, and GarageBand apps today for both macOS and iOS. Aside from some of the improvements that it has made to these apps, it has also made a big change rather quietly. The company has decided to make the aforementioned apps free for all macOS and iOS users. This eliminates the need to buy new Apple hardware to get these apps for free.
Apple previously provided free copies of these apps to those who purchased new hardware. Free copies were included with a new Mac or iOS device. Now that the apps are free for everyone, users don’t have to buy new devices from Apple to get these apps for free.
This obviously makes the apps available for free to those who are using an Apple device even if they’ve never bought a new one themselves or are using an older device. Now they too can use iWork, iMovie, and GarageBand on their devices without having to pay a lot of money for Apple’s software.
Apple decided to bundle these apps for free in late 2013 with new iOS devices and Macs or offering them as free downloads to those who picked up new hardware.
The iWork apps which include Pages, Keynote and Numbers were previously priced at $19.99 on Mac and $9.99 on iOS individually. iMovie and GarageBand cost $14.99 and $4.99 respectively on Mac and $4.99 on the App Store.
iWork, iMovie, And GarageBand Apps Are Now Free For All Users , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
The folks over at Tumblr have launched a new standalone app called Cabana which will enable you to watch online videos with your friends. You basically video chat with your friends or family members and then watch YouTube videos together. This isn’t something that hasn’t been done before. Google already made this possible with YouTube party mode for Hangouts and with Uptime.
It’s evident that this app is meant for a certain age group, Tumblr’s own prototype proved to be a hit among teens that were aged 13 to 18, and they’re likely the target demographic for Cabana.
Six users can chat at once in Cabana and all users will have the ability to pause and change the video that the entire group is watching. The app features YouTube integration so it lets users tap into the world’s largest online video sharing website for endless hours of entertainment.
Cabana lets users invite their friends from Tumblr or anyone in their contacts list. However, there is one caveat. Users from outside the United States can’t be invited. Since Cabana is only available for iOS right now, users in the United States who are on Android won’t be able to get in on the action as well.
Tumblr hasn’t said if and when it’s going to release Cabana for other markets but it does confirm that the Android version is going to be available next month.
Tumblr’s Cabana App Lets You Watch YouTube Videos With Friends , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Many of you might have heard by now that the co-founder of Android Andy Rubin is heading his own company now after he left Google and he has been working on a mystery smartphone project. His company is called Essential and it’s believed to be working on a new smartphone, at least Rubin teased that much himself, but he hasn’t revealed much about the handset so far. Apparently, the Essential smartphone specifications have appeared online courtesy of a benchmark result.
The benchmark result reveals that the Essential smartphone specifications might include Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 835 processor with 4GB of RAM. It may also feature a 12 megapixel rear and 7 megapixel rear camera.
It merits mentioning here that not all information mentioned in a benchmark listing has the potential to be true. That’s why take it with a grain of salt when you see that the listing mentions this smartphone having an 18 inch display with a unique 2560 x 1312 pixel resolution.
With what we know about this handset so far, it appears to be a proper flagship-level smartphone that could very well take on the likes of the LG G6 and the Galaxy S8. It has previously be confirmed that the Essential smartphone will be running Android but whether it will be a heavily customized version of Android remains to be seen.
It’s unclear right now when Rubin’s company plans on unveiling its first smartphone, it could happen over the next few months.
Essential Smartphone Specifications Possibly Revealed , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Last week, Nintendo announced that it was discontinuing the immensely popular NES Classic Edition in the US. Today, the company confirmed that the mini console will be discontinued in Europe as well. That probably isn’t the most surprising news given its discontinuation in the US, but now we’ve got official confirmation from Nintendo. Nintendo confirmed to Eurogamer that it has … Continue reading
Lutron has announced that its connected lighting systems now work with Google Assistant, enabling users to control their home’s lights using voice commands. The new Google Assistant integration works with the company’s HomeWork QS, Caseta Wireless, and RadioRA 2; homeowners can control the system using the Google Home device or one of the Android smartphones that offers Google Assistant. The … Continue reading
A PSA from a nonprofit working to end gun violence is getting a lot of attention, thanks to the striking comparison it draws.
“Introducing Teddy Gun” presents a child’s toy bear and notes the strict safety manufacturing guidelines and rules such products must follow. But in a twist, it turns out the seemingly ordinary teddy bear is actually a bear-shaped gun.
“Regulations are for our safety. So why don’t we use them for guns?” the captioning asks. The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence released “Teddy Gun” at the end of March as part of a new public awareness campaign calling for “common sense gun regulations.”
“More than 30,000 people die from gun-related deaths in the U.S. each year,” states a press release for the campaign. “While guns are arguably the most dangerous consumer product on the market, the governmental regulation involved in their manufacturing is minimal.”
For more information about the campaign and the actual “Teddy Gun” the organization created, visit TeddyGun.com.
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An Atlanta-based theater company has been hit with a barrage of criticism for staging a play that re-imagines biblical figures as queer.
The Out Front Theatre Company’s production of “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told” doesn’t officially open until April 27, but has already deemed “blasphemous” by America Needs Fatima. Paul Rudnick’s 1998 comedy follows Adam and Steve, a gay couple who navigate the centuries with Jane and Mabel, who are lesbians. Along the way, they encounter Noah’s ark, the first Christmas and other well-known Bible stories before traveling to present day New York.
America Needs Fatima members, however, took specific issue with the play’s portrayal of the Virgin Mary as a lesbian. The conservative Catholic group, which is based in Pennsylvania, launched an online petition asking Out Front Theatre’s Artistic Director Paul Conroy to cancel the production, The New York Times reported Monday.
“I vehemently protest your showing the blasphemous play ‘The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told,’ which, among other blasphemies, refers to the Virgin Mary as a lesbian,” the petition, which had over 42,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon, reads. “The Holy Mother of God is most pure and holy. To refer to her as a lesbian, or even to insinuate it, is an unspeakable blasphemy, which I reject with all my soul. I fear God’s wrath will fall upon us if reparation is not made.” The group then threatens to oppose the play “loudly, peacefully, and legally in as large a protest as we can help make possible” if Conroy chooses to stage the play.
Even though the theater company had been planning to mount “The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told” for over a year, Conroy told The New York Times that the pushback didn’t begin until March 27, possibly in response to America Needs Fatima’s petition. Since then, he said he and his team have been inundated with letters, emails, phone calls and Facebook messages condemning the production. Still, he vowed not to bow down to the criticism.
“I think everyone has their individual beliefs and they are entitled to that,” Conroy told Georgia radio station WABE. “If that’s what they believe, they don’t have to come and see our production, but to disrupt a production is where I don’t think it’s okay.”
In a Tuesday Facebook post, he thanked the theater’s patrons for their support, but acknowledged that the controversy had “taken its toll” on the play’s cast and creative team. “To put it blunty, our creative expression is under attack,” he wrote. “People who have never seen or read ‘The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told’ are telling us what is wrong with the show, and people who have never met us are telling us what they think is wrong with us… I can promise that you will laugh, cry and think ― all the things theatre should do.”
Meanwhile, the Out Front Theatre Company cited a statement it had received from Rudnick himself on its official Facebook page. The playwright, who is best known for 1993’s “Jeffrey,” praised the theater, which is dedicated to telling “stories of the LGBTQIA experience and community,” for its decision to move forward with his show in spite of the complaints it had thus far received.
“The play has always attracted a certain amount of controversy, mostly from people who haven’t read or seen the play, like the Fatima organization,” Rudnick wrote. “Blessedly, all sorts of people, gay and straight, and everyone from atheists to the most devout, most often end up truly enjoying themselves once they’re in the audience.”
For the latest in LGBTQ entertainment, check out the Queer Voices newsletter.
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The Nevada secretary of state has accused her state’s Department of Motor Vehicles of facilitating voter fraud and said she has evidence non-citizens voted in last year’s presidential election.
Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske (R) wrote in a letter Friday to DMV Director Terri Albertson that DMV workers had been accepting voting applications from non-citizens and forwarding them to the secretary of state’s office. Cegavske said she had evidence non-citizens voted in the presidential election, but didn’t elaborate.
President Donald Trump has stoked fears of voter fraud, claiming repeatedly that millions illegally voted in the 2016 election. Like Cegavske, Trump has offered no evidence, but the White House is gearing up for a federal investigation. Voting fraud is extremely rare.
Cegavske, who supports requiring voters to produce a photo ID, said in January there was no evidence of voter fraud in the state during the presidential election. She said then that she was aware of any attempted fraud related to voter registration.
It’s unclear what changed.
“There’s nothing else,” Gail Anderson, Cegavske’s deputy for southern Nevada, told the Nevada Independent, referring to the secretary of state’s letter alleging voter fraud. “When we have information that can be provided, we certainly would do that.”
Cegavske’s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) seemed unaware of the evidence for Cegavske’s claim, but said Monday he “expects to hear more.”
Joe Gloria, registrar of voters in Clark County, the most populous in Nevada, told the Independent he was unaware of any voter fraud probe.
Federal law requires states to allow residents to register to vote at DMV offices.
The Nevada DMV director responded to Cegavske’s allegation with a strongly worded letter on Saturday that said the secretary of state’s office had signed off on the DMV’s voter registration procedures.
“Your letter comes as a complete surprise as you and your office have reviewed, contributed to, and approved the processes you are expressing concerns about,” DMV director Albertson wrote.
Albertson noted that DMV officials would flag suspect applications for further review by a county clerk or registrar to determine voting eligibility.
The governor defended the DMV in the public dispute. “They were operating under the policies and guidelines that were adopted pursuant to input, review and approval of the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office,” Sandoval told the Independent.
“I’m going to rely on (DMV Director) Terri Albertson — they are proceeding in accordance with what has been approved,” Sandoval told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “So I guess the ball is in the secretary of state’s court.”
The ACLU of Nevada said in a statement on Monday that election officials, not the DMV, had the burden of verifying the eligibility of voters.
Under the National Voter Registration Act, the DMV “cannot make determinations regarding voter eligibility” and must send voter registration applications to state election officials for a judgement, the ACLU said.
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What would you do for a free car? How about lock lips with it for more than 48 hours?
People are engaged in a bizarre kissing contest in Texas that will reward the last person slobbering on the vehicles with a free Kia.
Since 7 a.m. on Monday, contestants have been pressing their lips to two different cars inside of an Austin dealership as their marathon is broadcast to Facebook Live.
The “Kiss a Kia” contest started with 20 people, Fox 7 reported. By Tuesday afternoon that number was down to 11.
Different candidates left for “different reasons,” a representative for iHeart radio station 96.7 KISS FM, which is hosting the event, told The Huffington Post.
“Some left voluntarily, some were called out for their lips coming off the car,” said iHeart Media Director Zachary Wellsandt. “Everyone has been in great spirits, even those called out have taken it well and talked to us on their way home to some well-earned sleep.”
Fortunately, there are 10-minute breaks each hour — not that it makes idly standing, bending or kneeling next to a car for hours on end a cake walk, especially when you consider they’re also fighting a lack of sleep.
“Your nose is so red,” a female contestant told a male competitor as they came up for air during a quick break on Tuesday.
“Yeah, that was miserable,” he replied.
“Every hour seems longer than the one before it,” she remarked.
After each break, the participants must rotate places ― requiring a little wipedown of the car by their place taker. Those who were standing before the break will also have to sit in the next hour, and vice versa.
If after 50 hours there are people still hanging on, one of their names will be drawn at random to determine the winner, Wellsandt said.
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