At CES 2016, Hyper is showing off both new and updated product lines, all of which are specifically designed with iPhone, iPad, and Mac users in mind. The highlights are a new USB-C hub for 12″ MacBook users, a USB 3.0 Lightning thumb drive, and a pair of slick Apple Watch accessories.
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Uber has announced that it will be sending location-based AMBER alerts to its drivers across all 180 U.S. cities in which it operates, following a successful trial in Colorado.
AMBER alerts provide information on missing children, including description and last known location, so that the public can be on the look out for them. Since the launch of the scheme in 1996, a total of 722 children have been safely found as a direct result of an AMBER alert.
Robert Hoever, director of special programs at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, described the Uber program as “an incredible asset.”
The AMBER Alert program’s success is built on the ability to reach the right people at the right time with these potentially life-saving messages. Uber’s presence in communities all across the country will be an incredible asset and we are proud to team up with Uber to increase the reach of the AMBER Alert program and help bring more missing children home safely.
Apps have proven a powerful addition to the AMBER alerts program, with mobile apps from Facebook and Waze already supporting them.
Via The Verge
Waze, the free crowdsourced navigation and traffic app, is to get AMBER alerts in the U.S., helping users look out for missing and abducted children. You’ll only see alerts for children in your local area, and for safety reasons details will only appear once your vehicle has been stationary for at least ten seconds.
AMBER alerts are created by law enforcement agencies to quickly alert members of the public to children who have been reported missing or are believed to have been abducted. Waze says the app will scan for new alerts every ten minutes, though once you’ve dismissed an alert it won’t be shown again for a further week.
Alerts will display all the information available, which will normally include a photo of the child, their name, age, description, where they were last seen, what clothing they were wearing and details of any vehicle known or believed to have been involved.
The update is expected to roll out shortly in the U.S. only. Waze is a free download from iTunes. It was last updated in December, with an iOS widget and improved traffic data.
Facebook added AMBER alerts to its mobile apps in January.
Notification Center in iOS is a panel that keeps track of all of your incoming notifications so you can easily access them. It has been around since iOS 5, but it has been completely redesigned in iOS 7. In this article, you’ll discover how to increase enjoyment of your iOS device by customizing Notification Center. First, you’ll learn how to change the way certain apps show notifications. Then you will learn how to set Notification Center to show only the notifications you want in a customized view.
First, there are a few important settings you’ll want to pay attention to. On your iOS device go to Settings, Notification Center and scroll down to the bottom. Confirm that under Government Alerts, both AMBER and Emergency Alerts are ON. Both of these settings are optional, but they are potentially life saving…
A feature that Apple originally introduced with iOS 6 but is implemented on a carrier by carrier basis is Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). Verizon and at least some Sprint iPhone users have a “Government Alerts” pane in Settings to enable both emergency alerts, such as those from FEMA, and AMBER alerts. Today, AT&T announced that the feature will be coming to its iPhone 5 and 4S users, as mandated by law, through an over the air software update.
These are government-issued safety messages that include AMBER Alerts, emergency alerts – such as man-made or natural disasters, and Presidential alerts.
Wireless Emergency Alerts are part of the FCC’s CMAS program and are mandated by law. You may turn off alerts (except for Presidential alerts) if you choose. Go to Settings >Notifications>Turn On/Off.
You can always disable the notifications if you’d like (except for presidential alerts), but AT&T notes users are “not charged for the data to deliver it and Wireless Emergency Alerts will never count against your messaging plan.”
