Shared posts

27 Dec 20:25

Price of 40-year-old cancer drug raised from $50 to $768 a pill

by Rob Beschizza

The cost of lomustine, a veteran cancer drug, have skyrocketed after a startup bought the rights to it and hiked prices 1,400 percent.

According to the Wall Street Journal, lomustine was sold by Bristol-Myers Squib for years under the brand name CeeNU at a price of about $50 a capsule for the highest dose. The drugmaker sold lomustine in 2013 to a little-known Miami startup called NextSource, which proceeded to hike lomustine's price nine times since. It now charges about $768 per pill for the medication.

According to an analysis done for the Journal by Truveen Health Analytics and Elsevier, NextSource this year raised prices for the drug, which it rebranded as Gleostine, by 12 percent in November following a 20 percent increase in August.

Nextsource CEO Robert Dicrisci, pictured, says they base pricing on "product-development costs, regulatory-agency fees, and the benefit the treatment delivers to patients." As it didn't develop the drug and regulatory fees are not up 1,400%, that leaves the last part of his formulation. It is, in all fairness, a good way of suggesting that your life is surely worth every penny you have.

27 Dec 01:33

Best Calendar Apps for Android 2017

by Marc Lagace

A calendar app can help keep track of your busy schedule.

With a busy, awesome life full of parties, appointments, and work deadlines, keeping track of everything on your schedule can seem almost impossible. Unless of course, you've got a handy calendar app in your pocket to help ensure you don't accidentally overbook yourself or miss your niece's recital. With that in mind, we've put together our favorite calendar apps for android.

Check out our picks here!

Google Calendar

Google's own calendar app has been refined over the years to a point where it's both elegant and functional. And it's not just for Google stored calendars, either, with support for "all calendars on your phone, including Exchange."

Some of the nifty features on hand include a schedule view with photos and maps of places you'll be heading to, smart suggestions on places, people and the ability to create calendar events based on reservations for things like flights and restaurants that appear in your Gmail inbox.

Sometimes stock is more than enough. Google's calendar app is more than capable to handle all your scheduling needs while keeping things simple and clean. With the power of Google behind it, this app is smart enough to suggest titles, contacts, and places as you type in your event information. It will also automatically scan your Gmail and add reservations for flights, restaurants and more if you allow permission for it. Essentially, if you've enjoyed using other Google products and apps, you'll be more than happy with everything that Google has included here.

If it didn't already come pre-loaded on your phone, you can get it for free. Additionally, Google Calendar also works with Google Assistant. So you can ask your Assistant to add an item to your calendar and be done with it! With the latest update, you can now drag and drop events within your calendar as well, making it easy to reschedule an event without taking too much time to do it.

Download: Google Calendar

Microsoft Outlook

Not the first app you might think of when looking for a calendar, but the truth is that Microsoft Outlook on Android is really good. It combines your email, including Gmail, and calendars, including Google, inside one app so you can manage both in one hit.

Microsoft Outlook is a good option if you want to access your email and calendar all in one place, with access to great features. Event icons are just one of the features that the Sunrise team has brought into the fold. Try typing "coffee" or "lunch" the next time you create an event and just see what happens in your agenda view. Outlook gets regular patches to streamline the user process, and recently they added functionality for 10 new languages including Uzbek and Bosnian Latin.

Download: Microsoft Outlook (free)

DigiCal Calendar

Being able to personalize not just the content of your calendar, but also the way it looks and acts is a perk that just about everyone would like to take advantage of. That's also exactly what DigiCal does. You can switch between nine different themes, color code events, and even view multiple agendas all at once.

There are six different widgets you can use to keep an eye on your calendar from your home screen, and you also get access to the weather profile so that you can plan your day accordingly. If you like to color code things in order to keep better track, there are 42 different colors available for you to use.

Download: DigiCal Calendar (free)

How do you keep track?

There are plenty of excellent calendar apps out there but these are our pics for the best of the best. Do you have a favorite calendar app that ought to have been on our list? Let us know about it in the comments below!

December 2017: We've updated this post with new updates for Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, as well as replacing Sol Calendar with DigiCal!

25 Dec 01:59

Best Android games of 2017 for your new phone, tablet, or Chromebook

by Matthew Sholtz

With Christmas only a day away, I thought it would be nice to compile the best games of the year in one of our gaming roundups so that everyone can find some quality releases to play through on their new phone, tablet, or Chromebook. I have personally hand picked every single one of these games, so there may be some included in the list that you may have never heard of, but rest assured every game is a high-quality release.

Read More

Best Android games of 2017 for your new phone, tablet, or Chromebook was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

23 Dec 02:13

Amazon buys smart doorbell and camera maker Blink

by Joe Maring

Amazon keeps growing its smart home arsenal.

Back in 2014, a young startup by the name of Blink hit the scene with a smart home security camera that promised to be affordable, truly wireless, and filled with the most important features. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Blink followed up this initial release with more advanced security cameras and even a smart video doorbell. Now in late December of 2017, Amazon's officially purchased the company.

The acquisition was announced on Blink's website, and although it hasn't been disclosed how much money Amazon paid for Blink, the fact that it's already been acquired just three years after launching its Kickstarter is mighty impressive.

Blink says it'll continue to support its products and customers and that nothing will be changing right now, but it remains to be seen whether or not this continues a year or two down the road. Blink could keep selling products under its own name, or we could see its tech migrated into Amazon-branded hardware.

Either way, it'll be interesting to see what comes of this deal as we exit 2017 and move on throughout the new year.

Amazon Prime Video finally makes its way to Android TV

22 Dec 01:52

Eric Schmidt leaving Executive Chairman role, becoming 'technical advisor' at Alphabet

by Andrew Martonik

January will bring a big change at the highest ranks of Alphabet.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is stepping down from his position as Executive Chairman of the Board at Google's parent company Alphabet. He will remain at the company in a new position as a "technical advisor," and remain on the Board of Directors in a typical member capacity, building on his 17 years at the company thus far.

Google co-founder and current Alphabet CEO Larry Page made the following statement on Schmidt's move:

Since 2001, Eric has provided us with business and engineering expertise and a clear vision about the future of technology. Continuing his 17 years of service to the company, he'll now be helping us as a technical advisor on science and technology issues. I'm incredibly excited about the progress our companies are making, and about the strong leaders who are driving that innovation.

In the company's announcement of the change, Schmidt said the time was right for him to make a move away from the Executive Chairman role and into a more general advisory position, as he sees Alphabet's structure working very well under the leadership of Larry Page, Sergey Brin and current Google CEO Sundar Pichai. With this less-defined position at the company, Schmidt plans to spend even more time on "science and technology issues, and philanthropy."

The change in Schmidt's position will be finalized in January, when the Alphabet Board next meets. The Board is also expected to appoint a new non-executive chairman.

22 Dec 01:49

A pig and his five-dog posse

by Clive Thompson

Given the many historic records for dreadfulness that 2017 handily destroyed, let's try and find some a tiny moment of joy upon which to end the year, shall we?

So: Behold Chowder, a 6-year-old Vietnamese potbellied pig. He lives with five rescue dogs, all of whom are apparently fast friends. There are several shots of this crew hanging out at at My Modern Met, and if you need a steady stream of such imagery to survive whatever horrors 2018 is nursing its in cradle, there's an Instagram feed for these animals at @piggypoo_and_crew.

Images used with permission of @piggypoo_and_crew

21 Dec 13:53

Amazon files trademark for 'Amazontube,' may be planning a YouTube competitor

by Ryne Hager

The drama between Amazon and Google continues. This time outlets are reporting that Amazon may be considering launching a YouTube rival after Google announced pulling support for the service from Amazon's Echo and Fire TV devices. This assessment is based on a recent filing to the USPTO for the name "AMAZONTUBE." While the timing of the filing might imply a connection, Amazon has actually owned the amazontube.com domain since 1998

Amazon's filing with the USPTO is dated December 5th, which lines up precisely with the news of Google pulling the plug on YouTube support for Amazon's devices.

Read More

Amazon files trademark for 'Amazontube,' may be planning a YouTube competitor was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

19 Dec 20:57

What the world needs now is cute, sweet puppies

by Jason Weisberger

Taking a deep breath.

19 Dec 20:56

Rich people in Bristol install anti-bird spikes in trees to keep shit off their cars, rendering trees "literally uninhabitable" by local wildlife

by Cory Doctorow

Two trees in a fancy neighbourhood in Bristol, UK have had strips of anti-bird spikes nailed to their branches, rendering them "literally uninhabitable" by local wildlife, according to local Green Party councillor Paula O'Rourke. (more…)

19 Dec 20:54

26 new and notable Android games from the last week (12/13/17 - 12/19/17)

by Matthew Sholtz

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Games

Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty

Android Police coverage: Take a trip down memory lane with 'Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty'

I have been waiting a long time to see Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty come to Android.

Read More

26 new and notable Android games from the last week (12/13/17 - 12/19/17) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

19 Dec 14:34

Watch this experiment on mice squeezing through tiny holes

by Andrea James

Woodworker Matthias Wandel has mice in his workshop, and he wanted to see how small a hole mice could crawl through. But after setting up his ingenious little test, a challenger appears: the wily shrew! (more…)

19 Dec 01:36

Watch rescue video of puppies trapped in a pool of tar. It has a happy ending.

by David Pescovitz

In Udaipur, Rajasthan, India, three puppies were immobilized in a pool of tar. Fortunately, someone called Animal Aid, an organization that rescues and treats street animals.

Prying them loose was impossible for the tense rescue team, so we had to cut the tar loose from the rocks below and bring the puppies and the tar and gravel they were stuck in back to the hospital. Determined volunteers and staff spent hours to soften the tar with oil and dishsoap, with time out only to plant kisses on the puppies’ noses. Multiple warm baths later…and wow. For babies who had been on the brink of death, this is what happiness looks like.

19 Dec 01:34

Anatomy of how crooks use financial secrecy in the UK and New Zealand to rip off international investors with impunity

by Cory Doctorow

The financial secrecy regimes in New Zealand and the UK create many opportunities for "jurisdictional regulatory arbitrage," playing each system's weaknesses off against the other to operate in near-perfect secrecy, creating companies whose owners are anonymized but still able to cash out the firms' profits -- an enormous boon to fraudsters who run Ponzi schemes and other dodgy enterprises that rely on the UK and New Zealands' reputation as places of good governance and financial uprightness. (more…)

19 Dec 01:19

Facebook announces Snooze feature to give you a break from certain people

by Paul Fidalgo

Facebook may have saved many a friendship when it first introduced the "unfollow" feature, wherein a user can tune someone out completely without the drastic step of unfriending them. But there may be times when you just need a break from someone in your network, but you don't necessarily want to ignore them forever. Facebook hopes to address this need with its newly announced feature, Snooze, coming within the next few days.

Read More

Facebook announces Snooze feature to give you a break from certain people was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

19 Dec 01:15

12 new and notable Android apps and live wallpapers from the last week (12/12/17 - 12/18/17)

by Matthew Sholtz

roundup_icon_largeWelcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Featured App

Lockfeed Lock Screen for Instagram Pinterest &more

Today's roundup is presented by Lockfeed Lock Screen for Instagram Pinterest &more, from Krots.

Read More

12 new and notable Android apps and live wallpapers from the last week (12/12/17 - 12/18/17) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

19 Dec 01:13

OnePlus looks back on its successes and failures in 4 year anniversary short film [Video]

by Ben Schoon

Small startups rarely make it in the smartphone market, but OnePlus has proven to be an exception to that rule. Over the course of over half a dozen smartphone launches, the company has proved to be fairly successful. Now, it’s looking back at its history so far.

more…

14 Dec 20:00

Google Chromecast returning to Amazon in possible de-escalation of YouTube dispute [Update]

by Abner Li

In early December, Google and Amazon’s product dispute escalated resulting in the removal of YouTube from the Echo Show, but more importantly Fire TV. Today, the online retailer appears to be acquiescing to Google’s complaints over the lack of Chromecast devices on sale.

more…

14 Dec 19:45

Disney buys Fox in all-stock deal, making Rupert Murdoch the largest shareholder in the company

by Cory Doctorow

Most of 21st Century Fox's assets now belong to Disney, a company that is famous for its liberal messaging and blockbuster movies that stress social justice themes, from Star Wars to Coco to Frozen, and Rupert Murdoch, the architect of the right-wing takeover of nations on several continents, is now the single largest shareholder in Disney. (more…)

13 Dec 22:18

Google PhotoScan version 1.5 adds automatic saving to Google Photos [APK Download]

by Scott Scrivens

It's been a while since we've seen an update to Google's handy photo digitizing app, PhotoScan. Back in April, version 1.4 brought with it in-app sharing and the ability to turn off the glare removal feature – although I'm not sure why you'd want to do that. Version 1.5 is now available on the Play Store, and it now saves your creations to Google Photos automatically.

Previously, you would have to select which photos from PhotoScan you wanted to keep, and then choose to save them to Google Photos.

Read More

Google PhotoScan version 1.5 adds automatic saving to Google Photos [APK Download] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

13 Dec 22:17

You can finally play Spotify on multiple Amazon Echo speakers

by Joe Maring

Available first in the U.S., UK, Canada, Germany, and Ireland.

Amazon's Echo smart speakers are truly awesome, and with fun hardware like the Echo Show and Echo Spot, they're only getting better. However, as many improvements as we've seen on both the hardware and software fronts, one feature that's been noticeably absent since multi-room audio was added in August is the ability to stream Spotify on multiple Echo speakers at the same time.

Thankfully, this changes today.

Multi-room audio on Echo speakers now officially supports Spotify, meaning you can finally listen to all your favorite tunes through the service on more than one Echo at once. Spotify will work with multi-room audio on Echos in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Ireland at first, but we should see it expanded to more countries in the near future.

In addition to Spotify, Amazon is also adding similar support for SiriusXM. However, SiriusXM is launching first in just the United States.

13 Dec 13:26

The Year in Search: the questions we asked in 2017

by Simon Rogers

As 2017 draws to a close, it’s time to look back on the year that was with our annual Year in Search. As we do every year, we analyzed Google Trends data to see what the world was searching for.

2017 was the year we asked “how…?” How do wildfires start? How to calm a dog during a storm? How to make a protest sign? In fact, all of the “how” searches you see in the video were searched at least 10 times more this year than ever before. These questions show our shared desire to understand our experiences, to come to each other’s aid, and, ultimately, to move our world forward. 

growth of how searches over time

Many of our trending questions centered around the tragedies and disasters that touched every corner of the world. Hurricanes devastated the Caribbean, Houston and Florida. An earthquake struck Mexico City. Famine struck Somalia, and Rohingya refugees fled for safety. In these moments and others, our collective humanity shined as we asked “how to help” more than ever before.

We also searched for ways to serve our communities. People asked Google how to become police officers, paramedics, firefighters, social workers, activists, and other kinds of civil servants. Because we didn’t just want to help once, we wanted to give back year round.

Searches weren’t only related to current events—they were also a window into the things that delighted the world. “Despacito” had us dancing—and searching for its meaning. When it came to cyberslang like “tfw” and “ofc,” we were all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. And, finally, there was slime. We searched how to make fluffy, stretchy, jiggly, sticky, and so many more kinds of slime….then we searched for how to clean slime out of carpet, and hair, and clothes.

From “how to watch the eclipse” and “how to shoot like Curry,” to “how to move forward” and “how to make a difference,” here’s to this Year in Search. To see the top trending lists from around the world, visit google.com/2017.

Search on.

13 Dec 13:23

You can follow hashtags on Instagram now, not just people

by Rita El Khoury

If you have a few favorite hashtags on Instagram that you keep your eye on, the only way to do so until now has been to search for them and see what's newly tagged with them (unless a third-party app had the option to follow them). Now Instagram is giving you the option to follow tags, just like you would people. It's one of the Instagram features that were leaked a few weeks ago.

Read More

You can follow hashtags on Instagram now, not just people was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

13 Dec 03:17

How a maker with Type I diabetes led an open source project to create a free-as-in-code artificial pancreas

by Cory Doctorow

Dana Lewis kickstarted the Open Artificial Pancreas System (previously) by trying to solve her own problems with monitoring her glucose levels, calculating insulin doses, and administering them around the clock -- an onerous task that her life depended on, which disrupted her sleep and challenged her to make reliable calculations regarding dangerous substances while her blood-sugar levels were troughing or spiking. (more…)

11 Dec 23:08

Cheggers dead at 60

by Rob Beschizza

A headline meaningful only to Britons of a certain age, and for all others a momentary visit to the strange alternative reality of UK childrens' light entertainment in the 1970s and 1980s. Keith Chegwin is dead at 60.

Chegwin was known for hosting programmes including children's game show Cheggers Plays Pop and Swap Shop. ...

He went on to make infamous Channel 5 nudist gameshow Naked Jungle, appearing naked except for a hat, and also starred as himself in Ricky Gervais show Extras....

The larger-than-life character, described by his family as "a loving husband, father, son, brother, uncle and friend" leaves two children and his wife Maria. He had been cared for at a hospice in recent weeks.

Photo: BBC

Here is footage from the nude game show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4jRCfhIUy8

11 Dec 23:07

France imposes "total ban" on mobile phones in schools

by Mark Frauenfelder

French primary and secondary school students will no longer be allowed to use their phones in class, or during breaks and lunch. The French education minister says the ban is necessary because "These days the children don't play at break time anymore, they are just all in front of their smartphones and from an educational point of view that's a problem."

From The Telegraph:

Peep, one of France's biggest parents' associations, has already expressed scepticism. "We don't think it's possible at the moment," said its head, Gerard Pommier.

"Imagine a secondary school with 600 pupils. Are they going to put all their phones in a box? How do you store them? And give them back at the end?," he asked.

"One must live with the times. It would be more intelligent to pose rules and discuss their meaning with pupils," said Peep, pointing out that "adults themselves are not always exemplary with mobiles".

But for the education minister the issue of mobile phones and tablets is a matter of "public health". "It's important that children under the age of seven are not in front of these screens," he added.

11 Dec 23:06

This 6-year-old made $11 million on YouTube in one year

by David Pescovitz

Meet Ryan, age 6. He's the host of Ryan ToysReview on YouTube. He earned $11 million in revenue in twelve months. From the Washington Post:

What has grown into a viral phenomenon began with a simple, unremarkable 15-minute video about a Lego Duplo train set. When his family started recording and posting the videos in March 2015, the 3-year-old barely had any views let alone reviews, according to a profile of Ryan in Verge. In his first video, he simply opened a Lego box, set up the blocks, and played with them.

“Ryan was watching a lot of toy review channels — some of his favorites are EvanTubeHD and Hulyan Maya — because they used to make a lot of videos about Thomas the Tank Engine, and Ryan was super into Thomas,” his mother, who declined to be named, told TubeFilter last year.

“One day, he asked me, ‘How come I’m not on YouTube when all the other kids are?’ So we just decided — yeah, we can do that. Then, we took him to the store to get his very first toy — I think it was a Lego train set — and it all started from there.”

"6-year-old made $11 million in one year reviewing toys on YouTube" (WaPo)

11 Dec 23:05

Apple confirms it is buying Shazam

by Corbin Davenport

Last week, a report from TechCrunch claimed that Apple was about to buy Shazam for an unknown amount. For the unacquainted, Shazam is a music-detection app, but the company behind it has been looking into AR and other technologies Apple could be interested in. The buyout has now been confirmed by Apple in a public announcement.

"We are thrilled that Shazam and its talented team will be joining Apple. Since the launch of the App Store, Shazam has consistently ranked as one of the most popular apps for iOS.

Read More

Apple confirms it is buying Shazam was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

11 Dec 23:05

10 new and notable Android apps from the last week (12/5/17 - 12/11/17)

by Matthew Sholtz

roundup_icon_largeWelcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Apps

Outings: Discover Beautiful Places

Android Police coverage: Outings by Microsoft Garage is a beautiful personalized travel discovery application

Outings: Discover Beautiful Places is an all-new Microsoft Garage project that offers a beautiful and fun way to discover new travel destinations.

Read More

10 new and notable Android apps from the last week (12/5/17 - 12/11/17) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

11 Dec 23:01

Google’s research team releases three new experimental photo apps for Android & iOS

by Abner Li

Inspired by the success of Motion Stills, Google is releasing more photography apps built on experimental technology. Today, Google is launching three new “appsperimentals” for Android and iOS that take advantage of recent phone and computer vision advancements.

more…

10 Dec 21:12

Margaret Thatcher sold off public housing to create "the dignity of ownership" and today 40% of that housing is owned by gouging landlords

by Cory Doctorow

The theory behind Margaret Thatcher's sell-off of publicly funded council housing under the "right to buy" scheme was that poor people would buy their houses and then the structural factors keeping them poor would vanish in a puff of smoke, and the poor people would stop being poor (also, and as a completely unintentional side-effect, owning a home is correlated with voting for Tories and renting is correlated with voting Labour, but again, that was totally not what old Maggie was thinking, honestly). (more…)