What is two-factor authentication (2FA)?
Everything you need to know to make sense of tomorrow’s security needs
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Authentication has been a part of digital life since MIT set up a password on their shared-access computer in 1961. Today, authentication covers virtually every interaction you can have on the internet. But up until 2010, the security of most online shopping sites and services only required a basic password. Since then, online spending has grown to over $1 trillion annually in the US alone.
Science fiction is fundamental to gaming and has been part of gaming culture from the very beginning. Today's science fiction games have evolved significantly from the early classics like Asteroids and Zaxxon. No longer is the genre confined to spaceships and blasting things (although there's plenty of that to be found!), instead it's expanded into themes like exploration, isolation, and revolution, to name a few. The best part is, these incredible gaming expriences (which are among the best Android games out there) are available to play on your phone or shiny new Chromebook.
How to turn off Amber Alerts and other emergency notifications
You should probably turn them back on after your movie
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The best 5G Android phones, iPhones, and tablets make it easy to turn off most notifications. However, some notifications, such as Amber Alerts, can take some effort to silence. When a child is abducted, law enforcement officials notify FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) via its Integrated Public Alert & Warning System. FEMA then issues an Amber Alert through the WEA (Wireless Emergency Alert) system.
Amazon’s inability to monetize Alexa is the biggest problem no one’s talking about
Alexa may lose $10 billion this year, revealing major monetization problems for smart assistants
In many ways, the 2014 launch of Amazon Alexa smart assistant was like the launch of ChatGPT eight years later. Both were marvels of machine learning that fundamentally changed the way we framed our interactions with technology. Both had rendered fact from what had previously been science fiction and techno-fantasy, and both inspired millions of people to ask them meaningless questions to experience the novelty of "talking" to a machine. But whereas ChatGPT is on track to make its parent company, OpenAI, $1 billion this year, Alexa is reported to have cost Amazon upwards of $10 billion in the same time frame. To get an idea of why, we will have to get into the weeds a little.
It's been nearly two years since the unstoppable rogue-lite hit Vampire Survivors dropped on Steam and nearly a year since its surprise release for mobile and developer Poncle just keeps making it better. Sure, some of the updates are paid DLC, but the amount of free content updates to the game is mind-boggling at this point. There's a reason why it's on our list of the best Android games. Oh, did we mention that the base game is free and doesn't force you to watch ads? You really don't have a good excuse not to download this onto your favorite Android gaming phone.
How to manage your e-book library with Calibre
Take control of your e-book collection by using Calibre
There’s no question that Amazon rules the e-book market, but they’re far from the only player in the game when it comes to e-reading apps or hardware. In fact, if you’re not shopping around for your e-books to find the lowest price, you’re basically throwing money away. Even though this competition is good for consumers, it can make managing your e-book library a bit of a nightmare across services. Thankfully, there’s Calibre, an application that can help you manage all of your e-books (no matter where you bought them or their file type) and help you get your documents onto your top-of-the-line e-reading device no matter which one you own.
Sega Forever games ironically disappear from the Play Store — not a first for Sega
It's double ironic as the Forever games replaced titles Sega removed in 2015
Few companies in the history of video games have had the rollercoaster ride that Sega has endured throughout the years. Thus, for every high in Sega’s history, there must come the inevitable low and with it, the loss of something good. Sega appears to be shutting down its Sega Forever mobile game service.
20 best kids game on Android in 2023
Not only will your kids have fun with these games, but you'll also get some quiet time
If you're like us, you've been playing games for decades. But as time marches on, and we have kids of our own, we must pass the torch on to them and keep the passion for gaming alive. But just as we've matured, so too has the mobile game market, and developers have become more savvy at using psychological tricks to exploit us (and our kids!) into playing one more game or spending one more dollar. We get it: everyone needs to make a living, but when it comes to games for children, a higher standard must be set. To that end, we've put together a list of some of the best kid-friendly games on the Play Store. Whether you're looking for Android games appropriate for four-year-olds or want to dig up a few tablet games worthy of your Fire Tab, Android Police has you covered.
What is an E Ink display, and how does it work?
Learn about how the fascinating screen technology works
When Amazon dropped the first Kindle on the world in 2007, it single-handedly created the e-reader market. Even though devices like the Kindle and the Kobo can't compete with a high-end tablet in terms of 24-bit color depth or 60Hz refresh rate, they blow those devices out of the water when it comes to battery life by taking a different approach to their displays.
As smartphones and tablets become more powerful, it's common for them to be used as a primary device in place of laptop and desktop computers. Even though many tasks that were once the exclusive domain of traditional computers are intuitive to accomplish on your smartphone, some tasks, like unzipping a compressed file, aren't as simple to manage on an Android device, even if you have one of the best Android tablets.
Boox might not be as big of a name in the e-reader game as Kindle or Kobo, but it's quickly catching up. Thanks to its swift development of competitive e-reading hardware, Boox has positioned itself as one of the top e-reader manufacturers in the market, with devices that range across a plethora of use cases, whether you're looking for a pocketable color e-reader for your favorite magazines, or need something with a large paper-like screen to annotate PDFs.
In the six years since TikTok launched overseas, it's inspired over two billion downloads worldwide (over one billion on the Play Store). It has over one billion monthly active users. Those numbers put it in the same league as Facebook and YouTube. However, it also invites the same problems that plague all large social media sites: spam.
What are Google Local Guides?
Your love for food pics, 30-second videos, and city secrets can earn you bragging rights in the world of maps
A simple Google search of any location, such as a coffee shop, restaurant, supermarket, mall, or library, displays a map of the place to help you navigate. However, if you want an idea of the quality of service you'll get, you need a review from someone who's been there. That's where Google Local Guides comes in.
Slack's revamped UI feels like a step in the wrong direction
Adding more clicks to do the same tasks is a great way to make people upset
Back in August, Slack announced it would introduce a new user interface to increase focus and productivity. Those changes started showing up earlier this month: buttons moved around, colors changed, and — perhaps most egregious of all — the workspaces consolidated into one icon. To say that some users are not happy about these changes would be a bit of an understatement.
The growth in online shopping over the last 20 years has brought a new problem: package thieves. Even though stealing mail can come with federal charges and land you in jail for five years, up to 210 million packages were stolen in 2021. How can you prevent your Amazon deliveries from being swiped from your porch while you watch helplessly from work on your Ring Video doorbell? The answer is Amazon Hub.
For over 10 years, Instagram has been a cornerstone of the online presence for millions of people and organizations. The online social network has 500 million daily users, and for 10 years, one feature that's been requested over and over has been the option to add more links to the Instagram bios. Instagram has finally given in to the will of the people. Now all accounts — personal, business, and creator — can add five links to their bios. And if you're looking to upgrade your pics, check out these top phones with cameras for ultrawide photography.
ChatGPT was officially unveiled to the world in November 2022, and it was immediately heralded as an inflection point in human history. Although web-based tools powered by artificial intelligence (such as Google's DeepMind and Stability AI's Stable Diffusion) were already circulating, OpenAI's ChatGPT caught the focus of the public like no other AI tool had before. With all the buzz ChatGPT has been generating, it was only a matter of time before developers started making browser extensions to expand its flexibility. But when it comes to ChatGPT-based browser extensions, there's a lot to choose from, and Android Police is on the beat to help you sift the wheat from the chaff, just like we do with our roundup of the best smartwatches.
Ordering online makes shopping easy, but entering shipping information can get tricky, especially if you moved or have multiple addresses saved to your account. It's easy to accidentally send a package to an old address or the wrong family member. But, with a few simple steps, you can update the shipping address and redirect packages so your gifts and gadgets (maybe a new Google Pixel 7) arrive at the right destination.
Niantic's augmented reality juggernaut, Pokémon GO, is an unstoppable phenomenon at this point. Between nine generations, over 1,000 pokemon, and numerous monthly events, Niantic always has something new to drop on us. To make the most of your Pokémon GO experience, you need to equip yourself with some in-game items like Potions and Star Pieces. Normally, to get your hands on these kinds of goodies you'd have to spend some coins at the in-game store or wait for a level-up reward, but if you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you have access to another source of items via Amazon Prime Gaming. And before you go out to use those new items, don't forget to get yourself a nice power bank.
How do fitness trackers and wearables measure vital signs?
Your heart rate isn't going to measure itself
Ever since the first Fitbit dropped, fitness trackers have held a place in the zeitgeist of the tech world. Although it wasn’t the first fitness tracker by a longshot, it is the one that laid the foundation for the billions of dollars that fitness wearables generate today.