Meet the chat app where you can role-play as Bill Gates talking to Steve Jobs’ ghost

You might not realize but role-playing online as real people and characters from fiction is a huge thing. A quick search of Twitter or Tumblr throws up thousands of people who indulge in it as a hobby. It’s the inspiration behind Studio, a new messaging app with anonymous role-play using trademarked characters and famous people at its heart. The developers have included a copyright statement on Studio’s website saying they “claim no ownership or rights over the videos or the fictional characters used in the creation of the content” and that “none of the content that is used in the app has been…

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If you think the Apple Watch is unintuitive you should watch this iPhone introduction

My Apple Watch arrived three weeks ago and I still struggle with it sometimes. I’ll try to access the ‘glances’ from within an app (not possible), try a  Force Touch ‘deep press’ only to be met with a Watch shake (the equivalent of an alert sound on the Mac), or try the Digital Crown on interfaces where there’s nothing to scroll. So yeah, there’s a learning curve to the Apple Watch. I’m also unsure what to demo when people ask me why they should get one. There are about 20 reasons why the Apple Watch is cool, useful or even unmatched. But I can’t…

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You can now hail an Uber straight from the Foursquare app

Getting to a restaurant or business from Foursquare is about to get a bit easier – the company has partnered with Button, an app-linking service, to integrate the taxi service into its app. When you click the map on a business’ Foursquare page, you’ll see the option to travel there with Uber and be able to select the type of vehicle you prefer. “Uber was already a Button partner, so Foursquare just had to link to it through the platform.” It’s a small but useful addition – if you’re looking up a business on Foursquare, there’s a good chance you’ll…

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Get 39% off the Striiv Fusion Activity and Sleep Tracker

Fitness trackers are great for working out, but many are not very suitable for everyday life. In contrast, Striiv’s wristband is made for wearing 24 hours a day, and it even tracks your sleep patterns. Along with counting the steps you take, the distance you travel, the calories you burn and the time you spend being active, the Striiv monitors you at night to see how soundly you sleep. All the collected data is sent to your phone via Bluetooth, and you can view it via Striiv’s app. It is also water-resistant, and the small touchscreen offers at-a-glance updates from…

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Google launches a central hub for your security and privacy settings

Google has changed the way in which you can keep on top of your privacy and security settings across its services in a bid to make it easier for users. The new ‘My Account’ page aims to provide more context around your privacy decisions in relation to Google’s services. For example, the ‘privacy checkup’ wizard will run you through settings like whether Web and account activity are being recorded, or whether you want to keep a YouTube ‘watch’ history. There’s a security checkup on the page that will walk you through security settings and recent events, connected devices and which apps have access to your account…

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The death of stock photos

A woman being accosted by floating hamburgers, a man with an eyepatch holding an abacus, and an astronaut feeding a horse in a harem costume may seem like scenes out of a dystopian sci-fi novel, but they are not. They are examples of the bizarre world of stock photos, where images are as ridiculous as they are useless. While these may be extreme examples, the fact remains that stock photos do not depict reality. They show a world of homogeneous families, smiling employees in offices, and couples frolicking on beaches at sunset. Consumers do not connect with these generic, out-of-touch…

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GoPro adds a touchscreen to its low-end Hero action camera

GoPro today announced a revised Hero action camera which brings higher-end features to the lower end of the company’s range. Most notably, the Hero+ adds a built-in touchscreen display – as found on its Hero 4 model launched at the end of 2014 –  and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth support, but there are some other upgrades too, like the ability to record 1080p footage at 60fps. It can also now manage 8-megapixel still images, rather than 5-megapixel. The camera is due to go on sale in the US for $300 before the end of this week, and is scheduled to retail outside the US from…

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