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First There Was GPS, then There Was Infotainment The global positioning system (GPS) was initially developed during the 1970s, but it didn’t become fully operational until 1994. Shortly after the system became available, a number of automakers took advantage of the technology. Earlier attempts at original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in-vehicle navigation systems had met with failure because they depended on dead reckoning navigation. The first original equipment (OE) GPS navigation systems were relatively primitive by modern standards, but the technology progressed quite rapidly....

What Is a PCT File? A file with the PCT file extension is a Macintosh PICT image, and was the default file format for the (now discontinued) QuickDraw Mac program. Some applications still use the format, but PDF has all but replaced it. The image data in one of these picture files might be in the original PICT 1 format or the PICT 2 format introduced in Color QuickDraw. The first can store eight colors, while the second and newer format supports thousands of colors....

Panic announced the final price of the Playdate at $179, which Engadget notes is $30 more than the company originally planned to price the handheld system. The company also announced that it will launch a 15-minute video on Tuesday, which will include updates about the system as well as information about pre-orders. Originally announced in 2019, the Playdate is a small handheld gaming system akin to the Gameboy or Gameboy Color....

How to Add a Polaroid Frame to an Image With Tuxbi Tuxbi is a web-based photo editing tool that provides hundreds of free borders and other graphical assets. To frame a photo to look like a Polaroid using Tuxbi: There are other free photo editing tools on the web that offer similar types of borders. There are also free Polaroid templates that you can download and use in your own editing software....

According to Reddit, a number of users have been asking for a better way to find new communities and posts that match their interests, and its answer is the Discover tab. The new feature will appear as a compass icon on the app’s bottom bar (next to the Home button). Once selected, the tab will provide suggestions based on the communities they’ve already joined and topics they spend a lot of time exploring....

How to Use an iPhone in the Winter Below are some tips on what to do if you’ll be in a situation where your mobile device will struggle to stay warm. Give It a Case Snowy days are often moist, especially if snow is melting on your body or you’re working up a sweat moving around a lot. Dropping your phone in snow is another reason to use an iPhone case....

It’s called “The Frame,” and Samsung just announced a new matte-finished version that makes it look even less like a screen when turned off. The downside is that to complete the illusion, you can never, ever turn the thing off, or it will revert to being the familiar black hole in your living room. “The Frame is a great option for homeowners that love their tv but don’t love the look....

The new fingerprint IC, dubbed S3B512C, is intended to act as an all-in-one option for biometric card security. Current biometric cards use separate chips for fingerprint scanning, information storage and protection, and encryption. By having a single IC handle all those functions, Samsung hopes to optimize biometric card design and streamline how we use them. A card with the S3B512C chip would be able to read your fingerprint, authenticate and store that information for future use, and securely encrypt the information against tampering....

When Will the Next Samsung Unpacked Take Place? We expect the next Samsung Unpacked to happen in the first week of February (2023). The event will likely feature the release of the Galaxy S23 smartphone and the latest OS update, One UI 5.1. Samsung has not yet released any details. The last Unpacked event on August 10, 2022, unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Galaxy Z Flip 4, and Galaxy Watch 5....

Refurbished Versus Used It’s important to differentiate between “refurbished” and “used.” These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are by no means the same. Refurbished phones generally have gone through a professional reconditioning process, either by the manufacturer or a qualified retailer. These phones are checked for defects and cosmetic damage and are reset to a factory default status. Refurbished phones may come with an offer of a limited warranty against defects to encourage confidence in buyers who may be hesitant to buy a refurbished product....

While most iOS 16 features are available to all compatible iPhones, some, including two accessibility features, require more modern iPhones to function at all. It’s a move that means people whose iPhones don’t make the cut will need to upgrade if they want to get the full iOS 16 experience, but experts believe that it’s one that Apple was right to make—and it might not have had much of choice in the matter....

The 14.7.1 patch was released on July 26, and fixes a recent bug that prevented some Apple Watch owners from unlocking their device with Touch ID. But some people on the Apple Developer forum say they’re getting “No Service” messages from their carriers since installing the update, according to 9to5Mac. “Updated my software to 14.7.1 recently and lost my cellular data completely,” one person writes on the Apple Developer forum....

The Roam is an interesting release for Sonos. In 2019, the brand came out with the Sonos Move, which amounted to its foray into the portable Bluetooth space. Before, Sonos primarily focused on in-home, multi-room speakers that connect via Wi-Fi and the Sonos app. The Roam is the first true portable speaker because it comes in the same size and shape as something like a JBL Flip or the Ultimate Ears speakers that have taken large ownership of the market....

Type of Protection/Security: Virus & Malware, Privacy, and Parental Controls The benefit to Sophos Home Premium being built from Sophos’ enterprise offerings is that you’ll get plenty of protection. The application uses virus definition scanning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning from SophosLabs and SophosAI to monitor for Zero-Day exploits, new viruses and malware, and other threats. Added to the basic protection Sophos Home Premium also includes privacy protection that will secure your webcam and protect you when you’re moving around the Internet as well as parental controls that let you determine what sites your children can and cannot visit....

The PSP on the Outside While Sony’s PlayStation Portable was the most powerful handheld game console at its launch, it was also the largest and heaviest. It’s still one of the nicest looking, though, with a sleek, rounded industrial design aesthetic. The button configuration matches that of its big brother, the PlayStation 2, except the PSP only has one shoulder button on each side and has only a single analog nub instead of the PS2’s dual sticks....

Music streaming services are neat—you can listen to anything, anytime. Playlists and AI curation are both great ways to find music, but they’re limited, because they aren’t geared to give you anything new. “There is one key element that music streaming services seem to neglect, and that would be a method of picking out music you might otherwise not listen to,” writer, filmmaker, and music fan Daniel Hess told Lifewire via email....

Announced during the Google Developer Keynote at Google I/O on May 18, Spotify on Wear OS will provide the ability to download music directly to Android smartwatches. According to Android Police, you’ll also be able to stream music directly from the smartwatch app. The new Spotify app has been built to act as a standalone application on your Android smartwatch. It won’t rely on connecting to the smartphone app, which means you don’t need to have your phone with you if you plan on listening to music while on the go....

The new trend in computer displays seems to be stacked, double-height monitors, screens that tend to be more square, or have a mild portrait orientation. The idea is you can view apps and windows above and below each other, rather than side-by-side like you would on a widescreen monitor. But what are they good for? And is it worth switching? Depends on what you’re doing. “We are observing this development with interest, and, generally speaking, we do see a small market for double height displays, but it is rather specific and [covers] niche needs....

“Streaming apps tend to be designed to get users to watch as quickly as possible,” Stephen Lovely, editor in chief at CordCutting.com, told Lifewire via email. “There are a lot of reasons for this: they want to pad their ‘hours streamed’ stats; they want to avoid frustrated users giving up on finding the perfect movie; they want to get a user hooked on a new show; they want to obscure the limits of their own catalog, etc....

For those living in the big city, finding a new, more eco-friendly option to commute to work can be a necessity. Thankfully, electric scooters are being seen more frequently in cities as a fast way to cut down on commute times. Some brands offer budget-friendly options, and at around $200, the Swagtron Swagger aims to fill this niche. Over the course of a week, we test drove the Swagtron over a wide range of road conditions, checking for design, performance, and battery life....