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What developers must do to make in-app purchases morally responsible

Jul25
by on July 25, 2014 at 6:31 pm
Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Around the Web, Design & Dev

money trash
Mat Peterson is the founder of Shiny Things, a Sydney based app development company building educational apps aligned with educational curriculums. In-app purchases (IAPs) aren’t popular with parents. Cases of children racking up hundreds of dollars worth of IAPs, unwittingly funded by their parents’ bank accounts, are becoming increasingly common. You don’t have to look far to find horror stories about IAPs. Apple was forced to pay nearly $32.5 million to a group of parents in the US after complaints their kids had amassed huge bills through IAPs made without consent. Similarly, Ilana Imber-Gluck has filed a class action suit against…

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Now you can turn any speakers into a wireless Spotify music system using an Android device

Jul25
by on July 25, 2014 at 5:31 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

Spotify_2.jpg
Spotify just updated its Android app’s Spotify Connect feature to let the app act as a remote to control other devices playing Spotify tunes. Now you can hook up your tablet to your home speakers and control the jams with your smartphone. The Spotify change log in Google Play states the following: Want to use Spotify Connect on any speakers? Plug a phone or tablet into both a charger and your speakers. Log in to the same Spotify account on another device, and use it as a remote. So if you want better quality audio than what’s available from Bluetooth speakers and you…

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Google Docs now turns Microsoft Word tracked changes into Suggested Edits automatically

Jul25
by on July 25, 2014 at 5:14 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Google, Product Updates

Google Developers Event Held In San Francisco
Microsoft Word is still the world’s go-to application for writing reports, essays and other documents, but Google is trying to make it easier to switch to Drive and Docs. Announced at Google I/O and introduced at the end of June, ‘Suggested Edits’ allows contributors to recommend changes in the sidebar. The author can then reply, dismiss or confirm the changes as they continue editing. Starting today, tracked changes from .docx files will be imported as Suggested Edits; likewise, Suggested Edits will be exported as tracked changes in Microsoft Word. It’s a small tweak, but one that makes Google Docs more…

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China’s Baidu follows in Google’s footsteps as it reveals it’s working on partial self-drive cars

Jul25
by on July 25, 2014 at 4:41 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Asia

baidu logo
Google took the wraps off its self-driving cars in May, and now Baidu — commonly known as China’s Google — has also revealed that it is working on a similar project. Kai Yu, Baidu’s deputy director of its Institute of Deep Learning, told TNW in an interview that the company doesn’t view it as a driverless car, as he still envisions a driver being in control. “This is actually an intelligent assistant collecting data from road situations and then operating locally… We don’t call this a driverless car. I think a car should be helping people, not replacing people, so…

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Lyft launching in New York City after concessions with regulators

Jul25
by on July 25, 2014 at 4:24 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

lyft_car_on_road
Earlier this month, Lyft announced it was launching its regular-folks-as-taxi-drivers service in New York City (NYC). But regulators put the brakes on the launch and Lyft stated that is was going to work on getting approval from the the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission. Those negotiations appear to have been fruitful with Lyft announcing that it would be launching its ride sharing service in NYC starting this evening at 7pm ET. In a blog post it stated: Tonight, after making positive progress with local and state leaders, Lyft will launch in all five boroughs of New York City. We’ve finalized an agreement to…

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