It’s a tight race between Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as both try to dominate the market of infotainment systems.

At CES 2016 which was held in January, the automaker Ford announced that both these services will be available on all of its 2017 models, provided they are equipped with a Sync 3 infotainment system.

While that was good news for owners, now Ford has a new announcement to make: the availability of Sync 3 will also be expanded to all of the company’s 2017 models, which means Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will, as well.

Many of the 2017 models – such as the Mustang, Explorer, Escape, and Fusion – were already compatible with the system, but the American automaker is no expanding the list to include every car (and light truck) in the production line. Later this year, the Super Duty heavy-duty truck will also be fitted with Sync 3 on its launch.

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatible with Ford’s Sync 3

The unpopular Sync with MyFord Touch system was replaced in 2016 by Sync 3, whose debut involved various improvements. The new service with its streamlined menus and more responsive touchscreen finally elevated Ford in the business of infotainment systems.

Also rolling out the compatibility with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will help Sync 3 become a more worthy rival for other carmakers’ systems, many of which already offer even better features.

Both Apple and Android services enable users to access their smartphones by using the built-in controls of their vehicles. The car’s infotainment system is covered by a layer of Apple or Android-specific features, such as similar interfaces, Apple Maps, Google Maps, or Siri voice control for Apple users.

If you want to pair your smartphone with the car’s dashboard, you have to download the corresponding app. Ford reported saying that everything regarding its infotainment system will be carefully maintained and constantly updated with over-the-air software updates.

But if you’re not a fan of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, Ford’s own app suite, called Sync AppLink, is still on the table. Apps for music streaming like Pandora, Spotify, and weather forecast like AccuWeather are already compatible with AppLink, but Ford hopes to attract even more developers.

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The day is nearly upon us, folks. According to a reputable source, the much-awaited iPhone 7 will apparently hit the shelves no later than Friday, September 16th.

Apple itself has yet to confirm or deny this rumor, but according to a tweet sent out by leaker Evan Blass, the next flagship handset will soon be released. The not-yet-official release date was originally not as precise, as Blass first posted that was going to release the new iPhone during the week of September 12.

Soon after his first tweet, people started replying about the confusion as to whether or not that date referred to the iPhone 7’s unveiling or the launch event. A follow-up tweet published on Saturday, July 23, quickly cleared things up.

Keeping in mind Blass’ unblemished track record regarding Apple rumors and the company’s history in releasing iPhones, it’s a safe bet that crowds have already planned to line up outside of Apple retail stores around the country on September 16.

Just to give some context for the rumor, some of the readers remember that the iPhone 6s was released by Apple on September 25 and iPhone 6 on September 9. Everything fits in place.

If that release date is true, it’s also easy to deduce the unveiling of the iPhone 7 will most likely be scheduled about 10-14 days prior to that. A quick glare at the calendar tells us that Tim Cook and co. might actually hit the stage on September 6 or 7, introducing the new smartphone to the world.

Meanwhile, how much do we know about the features included in the next-gen iPhone? According to pretty much every rumor out there, Apple is most likely saving the jaw-dropping features for the iPhone 7s (which may or may not be released as iPhone 8).

At the same time, the iPhone 7 is not to be overlooked, because a lot of interesting things could be rolling with it. In large part, those might be related to a huge advance forward in terms of camera technology.

But whether or not a dual camera system will be included, or whether iPhone 7 will be significantly larger, the truth is these are all rumors still. If Blass is to be believed, we might soon be sure, as we hold Apple’s new baby in our hands.

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A new algorithm has been added to the Google Play Store and it bears good news for users who are constantly fighting with the storage limitation.

According to an Android Developers blog post, the algorithm can reduce the size of the updates released for Android apps, while also displaying to users the actual size of the updates they install.

Google also revealed that over the last year, more than 65 billion apps were downloaded from the Google Play Store. Given the rapid growth that’s visible on the app front, developers are being forced to release more frequent updates so they can keep up with the new content.

At the same time, many updates include fixes of security issues and changes required by the users’ feedback. It didn’t take long, however, for Google to realize there was a problem regarding certain users who rarely connect to Wi-Fi networks.

Updates are straining in terms of data they require to download and install. That’s why the search giant looked for ways to reduce the size of app updates, while also showing to users how much data they require to download.

Google announced that, now, only the changes brought to the apps in the Google Play Store will be downloaded (changes known as deltas). Then, they are merged with the apps that are already installed on smartphones, significantly reducing the size of the updates.

In the blog post, the company illustrated the power of the new delta algorithm with the help of two recent fixes to the Google Chrome browser for Android.

Originally, the major update from M46 to M47 had a size of 22.8 MB, while the M47 minor update was 15.3 MB. After the new algorithm was applied, the updates’ sizes were reduced to an impressive 12.9 MB and 3.6 MB, respectively.

While these updates can be reduced in size almost by 50 percent, Google also hopes to reduce the data strain of the expansion files required by some apps, such as mobile games. These additional downloads to a main app are much larger, but they will soon be reduced by 12 percent, on average.

With the news of the algorithm also comes the update that will display the amount of data necessary to download apps and updates in the Google Play Store. This will help users with limited data plans to be aware of how much they’re consuming.

Image Source: XDA Developers

Ask any girl: choosing a new hairstyle can be one of the most difficult tasks on this planet.

And while that might be an overstatement – we know that – it has a lot to do with the fact that we never know exactly how a new hairstyle would fit our faces or complement our appearance.

However, this problem has finally found a solution in the form of a piece of software created by researchers at the University of Washington. Meet Dreambit, the software that allows you to better imagine how you will look with a completely new hairstyle.

You don’t have to try that new bob or shave your head for real to see if a new hairdo will suit you – at least, not anymore. The software can even “turn back time” and allow you to see if a particular color or hairstyle would have looked good on you when you were 12 years old.

Dreambit is useful and entertaining at the same time

Using the software is really easy; all you need to do is upload a photo of you and then type a search term for what you would be interested (e.g. “black curly hair” or “1960s”). After looking through internet photo collections and different categories, the software will seamlessly give you the new look.

To offer an end result that fits your face as much as possible, the new software searches through hundreds of thousands of photographs that people have uploaded on the internet. Then, it copies and pastes only the elements of the appearance that look similar yours.

At the same time, its creators say the software’s abilities are fine tuned to change a person’s look while also keeping the original face shape intact, as well as their pose and expression.

“This is a way to try on different looks or personas without actually changing your physical appearance,” explains Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman, one of the developers. “While imagining what you’d look like with a new hairstyle is mind blowing, it also lets you experiment with creative imaginative scenarios.”

Many elements were involved in creating the new software, including facial recognition and processing, age progression, and three-dimensional reconstruction.

Thanks to the age progression software built by Kemelmacher-Shlizerman herself, the software can come up with different photographs representing a specific country, period, and age.
Image Source: Digital Trends

A spacecraft belonging to NASA managed to capture a photo of the sun that sends shivers down the spine of viewers. It seems that there is a dark hole growing on our sun. While the photos are grim, researchers reassure people that there is no cause for alarm just yet.

The dark hole growing on our sun is in fact an astronomical event that occurs regularly on the atmosphere of the sun. Data shows that there is no reason for alarm, the phenomenon being normal, and no chance of immediate death was detected.

The coronal hole indicates the location of the areas with low-density where the magnetic field of the star opens up, communicating directly with the interplanetary space.

The dark hole allows the sun’s hot material to escape from the corona, speeding outward towards open space. This results in dimmer areas compared to the bright ones where a higher density of plasma brightens up the star.

“Coronal holes are the source of a high-speed wind of solar particles that streams off the sun some three times faster than the slower wind elsewhere,” NASA declared.

According to the Space Agency, the dark hole growing on our sun can even last for a couple of months. In some instances, the hole can actually end up covering 25 percent of the surface of the Sun.

A professional animator, Tom Yulsman, made a short animated video of the massive dark hole growing on our sun. He did this by using the photographs released by the Space Agency.

At first, the video is distressing because it shows the sun being slowly swallowed by the dark hole. Some viewers were under the impression that our star is shutting down, transforming itself into a black hole. However, scientists are advising people not to lose sleep over the phenomenon because it’s a natural phenomenon that does not affect the density of our star.

The only influence that the dark hole can have is the fact that the solar winds that result from the corona of the sun can lead to the formation of solar storms. These kind of storms are dangerous because they can create significant damage to the satellite and radio communication systems.

Image source: Wikipedia