Android

Google and Qualcomm are building a Snapdragon 810-powered Project Tango smartphone

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 30 May 2015 23:57:00 -0700

While we didn’t see any new Project Tango hardware at Google I/O this year, that doesn’t mean Google forgot about the platform in the slightest. Google today announced that it’s teaming up with Qualcomm to create a Project Tango smartphone powered by the Snapdragon 810 processor. These new smartphones will unfortunately only be geared towards Tango developers and device makers.

Qualcomm has just issued a press release, detailing that the smartphone will be available for purchase for developers in Q3, though no price estimate was given in the release. The image below gives us a good example as to what the Tango/Qualcomm phone will look like.

Now, there are already Project Tango smartphones out there, but they’re only available to a small subset of devs. But now that Google is partnering with a notable manufacturer to bring its augmented reality platform to a smaller form factor, it’s clear that Google’s intentions are to bring Tango devices to the public, even if it’s not sometime soon.
This news comes after Google just recently began selling its Project Tango tablet to the general public, no invite needed, for just over $500.

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Huawei and Volkswagen partnering for connected cars effort

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 30 May 2015 23:49:00 -0700

This week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Shanghai, notable Chinese smartphone maker Huawei announced a partnership with Volkswagen to bring connectivity to cars. Together they showed off a suite of apps that will allow users of Huawei phones to safely link their devices to infotainment systems mounted in select Volkswagen vehicles. Included in this suite are apps to aid navigation, text messaging, music, and phone calls.
To manage all of this information in real-time, Huawei has utilised MirrorLink to seamlessly connect devices. MirrorLink is an open technology standard designed to bring instant information to the car screen. It has gained ground abroad, but has not been introduced to the US.
Android Auto has also began rollout in the US, and Google has also created a partnership with Volkswagen, so it is unclear about how much ground MirrorLink will gain in the US, if any. Currently, only the Volkswagen Lamando and Golf 7 are running MirrorLink with Huawei’s suite of vehicle safety apps, and both are locally produced in China. Still, it’s good to see more manufacturers taking smartphone/automobile connectivity seriously.

Source:

Android Circuit: Sony's Xperia Z3+ Mistake, Galaxy S6 Beats iPhone 6, Samsung Risks Apple's Anger

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 30 May 2015 23:38:00 -0700

Taking a look back at seven days of news across the Android world, this week’s Android Circuit highlights a number of stories including the reveal of Android M, Google Now on Tap, Project Brillo and ‘The Internet of Things’, Google Photos spins out of Plus, Android loses market share to Apple, Samsung’s new camera control, The Sony Xperia Z3+, and how the Galaxy S6 beats the iPhone 6.

Google Reveals Android M, The Sixth Major Version Of The OS

As Google’s annual I/O developer conference opened, the big focus was on the next version of Android. Android M (which confectionary the M will be named after is still to be announced) brings in a sea of changes to Mountain View’s mobile operating system, and Forbes’ Gordon Kelly has taken a look at the differences between M and its predecessor, Android Lollipop (L):

Well, just like Apple’s upcoming iOS 9. Android M will also focus primarily on optimisation with speed and battery life central to the experience. That said there is still a lot of key differences between Android M and Android Lollipop, the first of which is a potential game changer.

Tapping Into The Contextual Market

The biggest change is Google ‘Now On Tap’. This moniker covers a sea of updates and improvements to the contextual ‘Google Now’ application which is currently available through a long-press on your Android smartphone’s home screen. It brings even more granularity to a search, with Google Now able to interpret data from any app that you are currently using. TechCrunch’s Frederic Lardinois explains what it will tap into:

Say you are playing a song in Spotify. Tapping and holding the home button will bring up more info about the song you are looking at. But you can also do a voice query and ask: “Who is the lead singer?” Google Now already knows what song is playing and using data from the Knowledge Graph project — it can (hopefully) answer your questions.
Similarly, this service can work its magic from Hangouts, for example. Say you are discussing “the new George Clooney movie” with a friend. Bringing up Now On Tap will give you more information about Tomorrowland, because Google knows that’s what you are talking about. Some of the information you can expect to see are movie times, reviews and maybe more information about the actors in the film. Because of Google’s App Indexing project, it can also recommend related applications (maybe IMDB or Flixster) and deep links into them (if you have them installed). If your friend had asked you to remember to buy tickets for the movie, Google Now would also have popped up a box to set a reminder for you.

And best of all (for Google) developers do not need to add in any more hooks, as the platform’s APIs provide enough data to work with (although extra meta-data can be supplied by an application if a developer wishes).
With search on mobile not generating the same level of revenue as search on desktop, this extra interaction should benefit Google’s bottom line… if there is enough buy-in from end users. Searching on what you are doing on your phone feels a touch creepy to me.

CyanogenMod 10.1 Final

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 01:54:00 -0700

CyanogenMod 10.1 Final Will Begin Rolling Out Tonight. [Update: It's Happening]

The CyanogenMod team has announced the release candidate phase of CM 10.1 is over – the final version is going to drop later today. If your device has been getting the RC builds, you can expect a final version of this popular ROM to be waiting for you in the morning.

Devices that haven't been updated to release candidate builds up to now won't be part of this first push. That includes Tegra 2 phones and tablets, as well as some Samsung Exynos devices. The CM team will provide a status report on these devices later in the week.

With CyanogenMod 10.1 reaching general availability, the developers will turn their attention to continuing the M-release cycle and adding new features. The Privacy Guard feature was just merged into Nightlies, and there's that new Quick Settings camera waiting for approval. This isn't the end for CM 10.1 – there's still plenty to do. We'll let you know when builds start hitting the servers.

Update: Builds are starting to appear now. Check for your device!

Tags:cm 10.1,Cyanogen,Mod,cyanogenmod 10.1,final,release candidate,romsrsdsgsroms

Pebble Android App Updated To 1.8.2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 01:41:00 -0700

Pebble Android App Updated To 1.8.2 With Support For Google Hangouts Notifications:

Pebble smart watch owners have been without a reliable way to receive notifications for Google instant messages since Hangouts was launched at Google I/O, at least if they rely on first-party solutions. Today's update to the official Pebble app changes that, with native support for the Hangouts app for both messages and video Hangout requests. If you've remained faithful to the older Google Talk app, it's still supported as well.

Other changes are sparse: the official changelog mentions only the standard stability tweaks and some developer-side improvements. Feedback from reviews in the Play Store are positive, and on my own Pebble unit, things are working just fine. Remember that there are plenty of third-party alternatives for system-wide notifications, like Pebble Notifier, if you get tired of waiting for the official app to update.

What's in this version:

New in 1.8.2:
* Support for Google Hangouts
* Various stability improvements
* Enhancements for third-party app developers

Tags:app,update,hangouts,pebble,smartwatch

Sony Xperia Z Jelly Bean 4.2.2 Update

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 01:02:00 -0700

Sony Xperia Z Jelly Bean 4.2.2 Update Rolling Out In Austria, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Spain, And Taiwan

When the flagship Xperia Z launched with Android 4.1, Sony promised that an update to the latest version was coming. Now they're making good: XperiaGuide reports that the Jelly Bean 4.2.2 rollout started yesterday, for at least some users of generic phones (C6603) in Spain and Hong Kong. The updated software needs to be flashed via Sony's PC Companion software. The new build is labeled 10.3.A.0.423, exactly the same as the update that started for the Xperia ZL four days earlier.XperiaBlog says that carrier-customized versions have also landed in Austria, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands,along with an update for the generic Taiwanese model (C6603).

A changelog for the 4.2.2 release states that in addition to the updated software, Sony has pushed newer versions of its media apps, thrown in a remote phone location app, a new Functionalities widget, and support for MicroSD cards up to 64GB. Most interesting is this tidbit: "New Customizable navigation bar with quick settings." I don't have an Xperia Z handy, so I'm wondering if that's referring to the standard Jelly Bean 4.2 pull-down settings menu, or user-accessible settings for the soft navigation bar itself. Anyone who's rocking the new update, feel free to leave some info in the comments.

Software downloads and a guide for manually installing the 10.3.A.0.423 update for the Xperia Z are posted on XperiaGuide - you'll need a Windows computer to finish the process. Those who have unlocked their bootloaders can flash right along with everyone else. If Sony follows its usual pattern, the Xperia Z 4.2 update should start rolling out to all unlocked phones within the next week or so. Here's hoping that T-Mobile's upcoming version includes the 4.2 update at launch.

Tags:android 4.2,PC companion software update,Xperia Z

Silently Installing Itself On A Device Near You: The Green 'Google Settings' Icon - It's Just Google Play Services 3.0

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 22:05:00 -0800

Do not freak out. Yes, a big green icon has magically popped up in your app drawer; no, it isn't bad; and yes, it is pretty much useless.

If you caught the announcement of Google Play Services 3.0, aka "Google+ Sign-In," you're already halfway up to speed on this. Google Play Services is an APK that many of Google's apps rely on to hook into Google+ and, just like the Play Store, Google has the ability to silently update it. Recently, they started rolling out an update for it, and along with a bunch of new app integration stuff, it came packing this superfluous "Google Settings" app.

If you don't have the update yet and want to join in on the fun, you can manually update by clicking right here.

Adobe Releases Photoshop Touch For Phones, Pisses Off Tablet Users By Making It A Separate $5 App

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 21:58:00 -0800

Adobe has kind of a scattershot mobile strategy. On the one hand, it released six apps back in 2011 for tablets that ranged from okay to awesome. On the other hand, it killed off five of them last year. The tablet versions cost $10 each. Pricey for an app, but Adobe knows how to bring it's A-game. Today, it's bringing it again with a phone version of Photoshop Touch. A distinct piece of software for $5.

Nearly all of the features of the tablet version are available here, including layer support, selective editing, and an array of touch-friendly gestures and menus that made the original app so dang nice. Also, as before, you get a small amount of Creative Cloud storage (2GB) with your purchase. Not a bad deal.

The real bummer is for tablet users who have purchased Photoshop Touch already and will have to re-buy the nearly identical software if they want to use it on their phones as well. Using myself as an example, I purchased three of the initial six applications. While it's not impossible to find the discontinued titles on the Play Store and install them on new devices, it is fairly difficult. I already feel like $20 went down the drain on apps that won't be supported anymore. Shelling out yet another $5 for the same title on a different device is a drag when very few other developers on Android follow this model.

Still, if you want to give it a go, grab it from the widget below.

Photoshop Touch

Google's biggest supporter, Samsung, could be its worst enemy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 07:17:00 -0800

With the popularity of the iPhone, carriers found themselves in a tight spot. Don’t carry the iPhone, and miss out on thousands, possibly millions, of activation's every year. Carry the iPhone, and bend to the will of Apple. Google may soon find themselves in a similar situation, in the spot of the carrier, with Samsung playing Apple’s role.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google is becoming concerned with Samsung’s popularity, and the control it may give them. Last year, Samsung alone consumed nearly 40 percent of the global market. With a large percent of those smartphones being Android, it’s safe to assume there are more Samsung branded Android phones being sold than any other manufacturer by a large margin. This gives Google plenty reason to be nervous.

Not only is the threat of Samsung commanding control over Android from Google a very real concern, so is the fear that Samsung may fork Android, taking complete control of the platform cutting Google out completely. There is also the fact that Samsung could very easily leverage the Galaxy brand and ditch Android for something entirely different.

Google has a plan though. Besides throwing their weight behind different manufacturers for Nexus devices, Google is also making their own hardware now, like the Chromebook Pixel, and the first real Google -Motorola phone has yet to see the light of day. Andy Rubin has said that Motorola will, hopefully, be used as a tool to keep Android balanced. We’ll have to wait to see how that works out as soon as this summer.

Via: The Verge

Source: Wall Street Journal