The Google Gulp

Google Latitude Adds Leaderboards, Game-like Check-ins

2012-02-20T21:57:00.000+01:00

The latest update to the Google Maps app for Android introduces Latitude Leaderboards, a feature that gives you points for every check-in, just like Foursquare. The update was pushed over the weekend in the Android Market and builds on Latitude, Google’s less popular location service.

Google didn’t make much noise about the feature, which is briefly documented in the Google Maps app support page, and available only to Android users so far -- the iOS version of the app does not have Latitude Leaderboards yet. If you already downloaded the updated app, you need to check-in to a location first to see the Leaderboard.

Until now, you could use Latitude to check in at various places to share your location with a list of friends. However, the new version brings a whole new element to the service: for every check-in at different locations you earn points, which are then tallied in a leaderboard against those of your friends.

If this gamification of Latitude sounds familiar, it’s because this sort of functionality was made popular by a rival location service: for each check-in, Foursquare allocates a certain number of points and creates a leaderboard with your friends.

Jamie Condliffe writes in Gizmodo that the Latitude Leaderboards is “a blatant Foursquare rip-off,” yet the mayorship element (you become the mayor of a place after a certain number of check-ins, and some venues even offer discounts and special offers for mayors) is from Latitude so far.

Google’s social network, Google+, already offers a check-in feature, much like every major social network, including Facebook and Twitter. But the Latitude Leaderboards don’t appear to be hooked into Google+ yet. A pop-up message within the app hints that Latitude and Google+ check-ins will be linked at some point.

The message reads: “Your points may be visible to other Google+ users, making it easier to find friends and play together. As always, your location and check-ins are visible only to those whom you've shared.” This suggests that you will be able to check in from Latitude and share with your Google+ circles, which are also used to display the leaderboard.

DigiTimes: Android 5.0 Jellybean to launch in Q2

2012-02-16T20:23:00.001+01:00

A new report out of DigiTimes advises that we're going to see Android 5.0 Jellybean launch in but a few short months. According to their sources, OEMs are not happy with the adoption of Android 4.0 and will debut a tablet-oriented 5.0 operating system. Yeah, why don't we wait a few months before we start talking like that, huh?

Given that 4.0 is barely even out, we cannot help but consider this a bunch of "lost in translation" stuff. What's more, it would be very silly to go back to forking Android after just one unified release. Even more strange here is that 5.0 is said to allow for dual-booting of operating systems, pairing with, say,Windows 8 on a tablet. Android has already been used in similar capacity as other OEMs have adopted a dual-boot system for select devices.

Android 5.0 will be further optimized for tablet PCs, while Google will also integrate itsChrome system functions to push dual-operating system designs. Brand vendors can either choose to adopt only Android 5.0 or add Android 5.0 to Windows 8 devices with the ability to switch between the two OSes without the need to shut down the computer.

If we were to venture a guess we would say that we may "see" Jelly Bean at Google IO but not roll it out for a few more months. It would not surprise us to learn that whatever "J" build they go with also keeps a 4.x release. Think in terms of Donut, Eclair, Froyo, and Gingerbread and all the 2.X and you'll see what we mean.

Keep in mind that while DigiTimes has been known to get a rumor or two correct, they've been way off the mark, too.

EU clears Google and Motorola deal

2012-02-13T20:30:00.000+01:00

Google just took to their official blog to announce that the European Commission has approved the Motorola acquisition. This doesn't exactly clear the entire deal across the board as there are but a few hurdles remaining. Nevertheless, Google is excited and looks forward to the final approval and getting a "supercharged" Android experience.

This is an important milestone in the approval process and it moves us closer to closing the deal. We are now just waiting for decisions from a few other jurisdictions before we can close this transaction. As we outlined in August, the combination of Google and Motorola Mobility will help supercharge Android. It will also enhance competition and offer consumers faster innovation, greater choice and wonderful user experiences.

Series 3 of collectible Android figures leaked

2012-02-11T21:49:00.000+01:00

Hey Android collectible lovers, check it out... We've got your first look at the third series of the super-fun-to-collect vinyl Android figures. Take a look at the photo below and feast your eyes on what will be some of this year's hottest Android mini collectibles. As much as we dig the known designs we can't wait to see what's hiding behind the remaining flavors. There's no telling when these will be released but we're already setting aside some extra cash.

Wonder why Google would create an all red Android figure? Maybe a hint that the (J)elly Bean logo will be red?

Which are your favorites thus far?

Us, well, we're pretty fond of the owl and Nexus Androids.

Chrome for Android

2012-02-07T21:27:00.000+01:00

Many people wondered why Android's built-in browser is not called Chrome. One of the reasons is that Android's browser doesn't have many of the features of the desktop browser: data sync (bookmark sync is available in Android 4.0), extensions, themes, apps. Another reason is that Android's browser is updated less frequently than the Chrome browser because it's included in the operating system. Most OEMs ship their own browsers, so not many people use the stock Android browsers.

Now Chrome is available for Android 4.0 and it won't replace the standard browser on your device. "Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta is focused on speed and simplicity, but it also features seamless sign-in and sync so you can take your personalized web browsing experience with you wherever you go, across devices," explains Google.

Chrome for Android brings a new gesture for navigating to the next tab (flick instead of Ctrl+Tab), support for page prerendering (used by Google Search to fetch the top result), incognito mode, link preview and data sync for bookmarks, typed URLs and browser sessions. That means you can open a few tabs in the desktop Chrome, close your computer and continue reading the same pages on your Android phone or tablet. In addition to these features, Chrome for Android "brings support for many of the latest HTML5 features to the Android platform: hardware-accelerated canvas, overflow scroll support, strong HTML5 video support, and new capabilities such as Indexed DB, WebWorkers and Web Sockets". There's also support for remote debugging.

"Chrome for Android is designed from the ground up for mobile devices. We reimagined tabs so they fit just as naturally on a small-screen phone as they do on a larger screen tablet. You can flip or swipe between an unlimited number of tabs using intuitive gestures, as if you're holding a deck of cards in the palm of your hands, each one a new window to the web," mentions Google.

At the moment, Chrome for Android doesn't sandbox tabs and there's no support for Safe Browsing, but these features could be added in the feature.

You can only try Chrome for Android if your phone runs Android 4.0 (you're using Galaxy Nexus or a different phone with a custom ROM). Another limitation is that Chrome for Android is only available if you're in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, but I'm sure you can use Market Enabler or the .apk linked here to bypass this restriction.

How one small change just made Google Music the best digital music locker

2012-01-27T20:56:00.000+01:00

In the wake of the Megaupload takedown, it might seem like a good time to back away from increasingly locked-down cloud storage. After all, you don’t want to lose all your media if the worst happens. At least one digital locker is bucking the trend: Google Music. The search giant’s cloud music service added a new feature this week; US users can now download their entire MP3 library, both purchased and uploaded tunes. The result might be the ultimate free music locker.

When Google Music launched, it offered users a handy desktop app that monitored the entire music library on a PC, helpfully uploading new tunes to the cloud. Many users spent days getting all their songs into Google only to realize that, in some misguided effort to appease overly-cautious music labels, those songs were stuck in the cloud. Only purchased songs could be downloaded to a local PC, which made Google Music a pretty awful backup option.

Under the new policy, you can use the Google Music Manager software to download the entire library, or songs can be downloaded individually from the web interface (although you are limited to two downloads per track there). Should you ever lose any music, anything you uploaded to, or bought from Google can be restored.

This simple change means that Google Music makes enormous sense as a music backup service. Google has confirmed that accounts will remain free, and you can put 20,000 tracks in your account. That’s more than enough for most users, and you never have to worry about manually backing up. Google’s Music Manager keeps your cloud up to date while sitting quietly in the background.

The other cross-platform music locker of note is Amazon, which turned some heads last year when they began offering free upgrades to 20GB accounts with any album purchase. These accounts also have unlimited music storage space. The only problem is that it’s been almost a year since Amazon started offering the deal, and unless you pay the $20 membership fee, it’s back to the free 5GB plan very soon. Only music bought from Amazon gets unlimited storage then.

Because Amazon’s music uploader app doesn’t run as a service, you have to manually update your Cloud Player library, which is less than ideal for backup. Amazon also lacks an option to download all your music at once like the Google Music Manager does. If you need to restore your tunes after a catastrophe, you don’t want to go one album at a time.

Google Music now has all the hallmarks of a truly great backup system for your music. It updates itself, offers ample free storage, and lets you blast your collection down onto any hard drive with the Music Manager software. Android users also get the added extras of mobile streaming and caching. Even if you don’t plan to stream tracks from Google Music, it can’t hurt to have a free backup of your tunes in Google’s cloud

New Android Mini Collectibles from Dead Zebra!

2012-01-24T20:50:00.000+01:00

Dead Zebra, Inc is known for making these awesome little Android collectibles. They have been featured on AndroidSwag for quite some time and due to their popularity are often hard to find. Last year, in celebration of the Chinese New Year they kicked off a special edition with Cai Shen, the god of wealth!

This year they've expanded the offering with 3 new collectibles, a so-called "Full Family of Fortune" if you will. There is a very limited supply, so you might want to make a new calendar entry with a bunch of reminders or you'll miss out on this opportunity.

The first batch will be available in the Dead Zebra Shop starting Wednesday, January 25th at 11AMEastern Standard Time. The second batch will go online Wednesday, January 25th at 11PM Eastern Standard Time. They will start shipping the week after that.

One per household is the typical rule of thumb, unless there are leftovers.

Source:Dyzplastic

Obama to host Google ‘hang out’

2012-01-23T21:19:00.000+01:00

President Obama isn’t just taking his State of the Union message on the road – he’s also taking it online.

In the latest iteration of the Obama administration’s efforts to connect to supporters via social media, the White House announced the president will participate next Monday in a Google+ ‘Hangout," a chat room-like feature of Google+ that allows users to connect with each other via video connections.

The White House pledges the president will answer “several of the most popular questions” submitted through YouTube while some questioners will be invited to participate in a live conversation on Google+.

The latest social media push follows a Twitter town hall the president held over the summer. To the disappointment of some, in that forum the president merely answered pre-selected questions from twitter users but did not respond on the social media website himself.

This time, the president’s answers will show up on a video stream hosted by Google+ while participants can comment on his answers in real time.

The White House says the upcoming forum is an example of the president’s commitment to “creating a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration.” But it remains unclear exactly how the White House will select the questions the president answers.

Obama also held a similar Facebook town hall at the web giant’s headquarters in Palo Alto, California in the Spring and a YouTube town hall at the White House in February. At both events, the White House was criticized for ignoring the subject that drew by far the most queries: whether he supports legalizing marijuana.

The ‘hangout’ follows a three day, five city tour later this week during which the president will echo the themes of his State of the Union Address.

If Google Results Aren't Helpful, Ask on Google+

2012-01-20T22:14:00.000+01:00

Sometimes Google's results aren't that useful and they don't answer your question. Maybe the query is imprecise or obscure, the results are outdated or you don't have the patience to check the first 100 results to find something helpful. Asking your Twitter followers or your Facebook friends could be a great idea. Google doesn't integrate with Twitter or Facebook, but it experiments with a new feature that shows a message below the list of results: "Want to ask your friends about [your query]? Ask on Google+".

Clicking the link opens a Google+ box that already includes a message: "Hi there! I have a question about [my query]..." Edit your message, click "Ask" and the first results could show up in a few seconds in Google's notification widget.

Maybe Google+ also will include a revamped version of Aardvark and you'll be able to send your question to the right people.

Official Wikipedia Android App Now Available

2012-01-19T20:52:00.000+01:00

Wikipedia is the free encyclopedia containing more than 20 million articles in 280 languages, and is the most comprehensive and widely used reference work humans have ever compiled. The WikiMedia Foundation finally gives us Android users a new, simple method of searching one of the most popular sites on the internet.

v1.0 of the application requires Android v2.2 (Froyo) and won't take up much space with a size of 558k. Get it now at the link below

porting applicazioni iphone android

Wikipedia
Wikimedia Foundation
FREE
10,000-50,000
Link Android Market