Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Google Android News Android Forums

Google Android News Android Forums

Google’s Eric Schmidt sends message to Apple, explains the ‘adult way to run a business’

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 05:06 PM PST

While Google’s Eric Schmidt may have once served on the board of directors at Apple, that apparently hasn’t affected his impartiality. The search giant’s executive chairman took a direct shot at Apple today in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, sending the Cupertino company a personal message, letting them know that the current way they are conducting business is laughingly based on a “teenage model of competition,” as the press would like to put it.

Schmidt also expressed his dismay with Apple’s choice to drop Google Maps in iOS 6, a choice that inevitably proved embarrassing for Tim Cook and co.

“Obviously, we would have preferred them to use our maps. They threw YouTube off the home screen [of iPhones and iPads]. I’m not quite sure why they did that. The press would like to write the sort of teenage model of competition, which is, ‘I have a gun, you have a gun, who shoots first?’

The adult way to run a business is to run it more like a country. They have disputes, yet they’ve actually been able to have huge trade with each other. They’re not sending bombs at each other. I think both Tim [Cook, Apple's CEO] and Larry [Page, Google's CEO], the sort of successors to Steve [Jobs] and me if you will, have an understanding of this state model. When they and their teams meet, they have just a long list of things to talk about.”

When asked about the countless legal issues that are currently taking place across the globe, Schmidt told reporters:

“Apple and Google are well aware of the legal strategies of each other. Part of the conversations that are going on all the time is to talk about them. It’s extremely curious that Apple has chosen to sue Google’s partners and not Google itself.”

Eric Schmidt is quite the character, and it’s not all that surprising that the long-tenured chairman was so thoroughly outspoken during the interview. He has been known to “tell it how it is” in the past which, in all honesty, is something that can be admired from a high-ranking executive.

Now, let’s just hope for the sake of our frenemy iPhone users Google is working on bringing its Maps application to iOS sometime in the near future, so those who chose the wrong OS don’t have deal with Apple’s pathetic excuse for a mapping service.

Source: WSJ

Motorola unleashes official Notification Light Toggle Widget, works with most Android devices

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 04:42 PM PST

There are several apps available to help manage your device’s notification light, but we’ve never seen an official application released by a prominent manufacturer to accomplish the task, until now. Today Motorola has rolled out its official Notification Light Widget for Droid RAZR HD and Droid RAZR MAXX HD handsets. The toggle widget allows users to simply turn their notification light on and off via a nifty homescreen widget. Yeah, it’s that simple.

The best part, though, is that the application appears to work with most Android devices that have notification lights. What’s more is the widget seems to blend nicely with stock Android, and it is completely free. Interested parties can head to the Play Store download link or scan the QR code below to try it out.

QRCode

Play Store Download Link

Verizon Offers To Buy Its Customers’ Privacy

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 04:31 PM PST

Verizon Wireless is encouraging its customers to opt-in to a new program in its Precision Marketing portfolio, Verizon Selects. In exchange for all your mobile secrets (e.g., browsing history, location and app data) Verizon may offer a Verizon Selects coupon or some other yet-to-be-named goody which it says will  likely be from a popular retailer. If you own a tin foil hat: big brother is watching and this is the beginning! If you’re already posting everything online and don’t mind the occasional SPAM: this is your chance to cash in.

Here’s how Verizon says you can expect the program to work: Verizon Selects will use location, web browsing and mobile application usage data, as well as other information including customer demographic and interest data, to create specific insights. Verizon Selects analyzes this information about customers to see whether they fit into certain audiences Verizon or third party marketers are trying to reach. Depending on the results, participating customers will receive marketing messages or offers that may be of more interest to them than what they see or receive today. These messages could be delivered in various ways such as email, text, postal mail or online or mobile advertising. 

Source: Verizon Wireless

 

Private Google Play Store Opens, Brings Internal App Distribution to Businesses

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 02:17 PM PST

We’re all aware that that the Google Play Store is the place we go to peruse the thousands of apps to do everything from entertaining us to making our lives easier. If you happen to use Google Apps for your business however, today the Play Store was updated to distribute internal apps to your employees via the Google Play Private Channel. Google is suggesting these apps can be used for things like filling out an expense report or finding an available conference room.

The apps will need to be loaded on the backend using the Developer Console. Once they’re loaded, users simply log on using their company email. From there they can find, peruse, and download the internal apps. The internal ‘Store’ looks and acts just like the normal store, including security and ratings. This should make published reviews interesting in the workplace. You can find more information in the link below.

source:  Google Enterprise Log

Set your calendars folks, Google I/O 2013 is set for May15-17

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:42 PM PST

Google has formally announced that next years Google IO will be held from May 15th through the 17th at Moscone West in San Francisco California. Registration details will be provided by Google come February of 2013 so be prepared for that as well. Keep in mind that this years Google IO sold out in a mere half hour, so if you plan on attending this event I would definitely be as prompt as possible.

Any of our readers planning on attending event? Let us know!

source: Google+ Page

Backup and manage your Android phone or tablet with a desktop PC using SnapPea

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 12:06 PM PST

We recently reviewed Moborobo, which allows you to manage and sync your Android phone with your desktop, but I wanted to tell you about another one that I found called SnapPea. SnapPea has a clean and easy to use interface that is perfect for the Android beginner, but advanced users might want to check it out as well. It has some pretty cool features and you will most likely want to recommend it to your newbie friends and family since it’s a great application to backup and manage any Android phone or tablet.

SnapPea is easy to get up and running. For starters, you have to download the software for your Windows PC and install it. After that, grab the app from the Play Store (you can actually skip this step) and install it on your phone or tablet. Then it’s a matter of connecting your device to your PC and opening the software on your PC and starting the app on your device if you installed it. If the device was never connected to the PC before, SnapPea will download the appropriate drivers and connect to it. Not only that, it will also install the app on your device if you didn’t already install it. I know what you’re thinking, who wants to connect your phone or tablet to your PC? SnapPea has you covered because you can connect via WiFi, which is the method I recommend. All you have to do is start the software on your PC, start the app on your phone, click “connect to phone”, and click on “or connect via WiFi passcode” on the top right corner of the pop up. Just enter the code that is displayed on your phone and you will be connected. Best of all, you can set it to connect automatically so you don’t have to enter a code each time. Just start the software up and it will connect to your phone automatically assuming both your PC and phone are connected to the same WiFi. Don’t fret if there are multiple phones in the household that you want to link because you can add more phones.

The main screen will appear with all the options in a simple and easy to understand interface.

The display on the image of my DROID RAZR M is blank because I’m connect via WiFi. The one advantage for connecting via USB is the ability to mirror the screen and take screenshots, but that is becoming a non issue as more and more people receive Ice Cream Sandwich. On the top left of the screen you can quickly see your cell signal and battery life. You can also see your internal storage capacity and space used under the phone at the bottom. To the right of that you have options for backing up or restoring data as well as getting information about your SD card if you have one. You will find the main settings at the top right. There are two sections, System and Phone. I found that I didn’t have to tweak the settings at all, but they are helpful to look at, especially the Phone settings. You want to ensure that your backing up your data automatically and to find out or change the location for those backups. SnapPea will back up your contacts, text messages, and photos to your PC, which is one of the best features of the software.

The left pane is where you will spend the most time with the software. The contacts area is where you can look up your contacts and manage them. Now assuming all your contacts are in GMail, this is probably not a big deal, but I know there are a lot of users who like to save their contacts to only the phone. This is where SnapPea comes in handy.You can also use SnapPea to import contacts to your phone and you always have the ability to save any new contacts to only the phone or any of your Gmail accounts that are associated with your phone. You can also browse your contacts by GMail account, phone only, All contacts, or only contacts with phone numbers.

Next up is the text messaging screen. With SnapPea you can send and receive your text messages right from your desktop. This is not only more convenient, but it saves on your battery life. You can see all your text messages on the main screen, and whenever a new text message comes in, you will get a small pop up on your desktop. This means that you will always know when a text message comes in even if you’re working on an important spreadsheet. If you receive a text from someone new, you can add them to your contacts quickly and easily.

Next up is the Apps section, which will show you all the apps you have installed on your phone. You can easily uninstall any apps that you no longer want, and you can search for new apps to download directly to your device. When you search for and browse apps, the software is utilizing the web based version of the Play Store, so it will work the same way as if you went to the Play Store via your browser of choice.

The Music section shows you what music you have on your phone and makes it easy to move songs from your desktop PC to your phone. I personally don’t keep any music on my devices since I am all in with Google Music, so my list only includes some podcasts. I know a lot people aren’t in the cloud yet so SnapPea makes it easy to import their favorite music, especially from iTunes.

Pictures and Video works the same way as the Music section. You can see what you have on your device as well as easily select what you would like to import from your desktop. Since I keep most of my photos in Dropbox, only screen shots showed up for me.

The last area is the Download section, which includes Google Play, 1Mobile Apps, iTunesMovie, and Ted Talks. I already talked about Google Play in the apps section and I didn’t spend much time with 1Mobile Apps. What I found interesting was the iTunesMovie and Ted Talks sections. You can browse movie trailers and Ted Talks within the software, and more importantly, import any of the videos to your phone for later viewing. They will probably add more services soon.

As you can see, SnapPea is really simple and easy to use and gives you a lot of functionality. My favorite part about it is the ability to auto connect and back up data. Once it’s set up, you can forget about it and you will always have all your important stuff backed up if you ever lose your phone or it becomes inoperable. The added abilities to manage contacts, send/receive text messages, and everything else is what makes SnapPea one of the best all around management tools for Android phones and tablets. To close things out, here’s a quick 60 second video from the folks at SnapPea highlighting most of the great features I discussed. After you watch that, hit the links below to get started, and let me know what you think. For more information visit SnapPea.

Click here to view the embedded video.

QR Code generator

Play Store Download Link

Windows Download Link

New Toshiba Excite 10 SE Tablet Only $350 With Jelly Bean

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 11:50 AM PST

The Excite 10 SE is the newest addition to the Toshiba Excite tablet lineup. The 10.1-inch tablet is a little late for black Friday but  will be offered at the hard-to-pass-up price of $349.99 and will be released, on December 6th, in plenty of time to make it under a few trees. The sales pitch is simple: low price + quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). It comes with 16GB of internal storage, two cameras (3MP rear and HD front-facing camera), Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi N, a microSD slot and uses a micro USB port for charging.

Design wise the 10 SE doesn’t look too shabby either. It weighs 22.6 ounces and is only 10.16mm thick. While the Excite 10 SE doesn’t have the same sleek design as the Excite 10 LE we reviewed back in May, it isn’t without its charm. Did I mention it’s only $350? That’s $100 less than the Excite 10 which came with Ice Cream Sandwich. Deal hunters will have their chance in a couple days. The Excite will be available from ToshibaDirect.com and “select retailers.”

Full Press Release after the break

TOSHIBA EXPANDS EXCITE FAMILY OF TABLETS WITH NEW 10-INCH MODEL

New Excite 10 SE Tablet Powered by Android 4.1 Starting at $349.99 MSRP

IRVINE, Calif. – Dec. 4, 2012 – Toshiba’s Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the availability of the Excite™ 10 SE tablet, a multimedia-rich tablet with a 10.1-inch touchscreen, powered by Android™ 4.1, Jelly Bean. The Excite 10 SE offers an affordable option for people looking for a powerful and versatile tablet for the home, starting at only $349.99 MSRP[i].

“Our Excite family of tablets continues to grow with options to suit a wide range of consumer needs, from portability and gaming to versatility and power,” said Carl Pinto, vice president of marketing of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. “We designed the Excite 10 SE to be a full featured tablet that offers a pure Android, Jelly Bean experience, while maintaining an attractive price point.”

The Excite 10 SE features Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, which improves on the simplicity and usability of Android 4.0. Moving between customizable home screens and switching between apps is effortless, while the Chrome™ browser and new Google Now intelligent personal assistant and Voice Search apps makes surfing the web fast and fluid.

Slim and light at only 0.4 inches thick and weighing 22.6 ounces[ii], the Excite 10 SE is encased with a textured Fusion Lattice finish, making it comfortable to hold and easy to carry. The tablet offers a vibrant 10.1-inch diagonal AutoBrite™ HD touchscreen display[iii] plus the NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 Super 4-PLUS-1™ quad-core processor[iv] that delivers smooth web browsing and outstanding performance for games, HD movies and more.

Stereo speakers with SRS® Premium Voice Pro create an optimized audio experience for music, video and games, while providing greater clarity for video chatting via the tablet’s HD front-facing camera. The Excite 10 SE also includes a 3 megapixel rear-facing camera with auto-focus and digital zoom for capturing HD video and photos. Featuring a wide range of connectivity, the tablet includes 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth® 3.0, as well as Micro SD and Micro USB ports for expandability. The tablet also charges conveniently via the Micro USB port.

Availability

The Excite 10 SE will be available starting at $349.99 MSRP for the 16GB model at select retailers and direct from Toshiba at ToshibaDirect.com on December 6, 2012.

Samsung’s S Pebble coming to the US as the ‘Muse’

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 11:11 AM PST

Samsung’s portable MP3 player/accessory for their Galaxy line will make its American debut dubbed as the “Muse.” The music player will work on devices such as the Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II Skyrocket, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note II. The Muse syncs to your music with the Muse Sync app and allows you to transfer some of your favorite tunes and store it on the go with the device.

It’s definitely ideal for times when you don’t want to carry around your 4+ inch device such as working out or going for a run. The Muse music player comes with a metal clip, a 3.5mm headphone jack, 4GB internal storage and SoundAlive audio tech.

Samsung will have the Muse available for $49.99. Any Galaxy owners out there thinking of grabbing this?

source: Samsung

LevelUp Studios releases Beautiful Widgets 5, boasts new features and Jelly Bean support

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 09:04 AM PST

LevelUp Studios teased some of the new features in Beautiful Widgets 5 not too long ago, and claimed the application was being reworked from the ground up. We’ve already raved about Beautiful Widgets being one of the better weather widget apps available, so new features and more support on top of that can only be a good thing.

This version of BW offers full Jelly Bean support, including better notifications, lock screen widgets, and “daydreams” from Android 4.2. The visual aspects of many of the widgets have also been reworked. There’s also a new forecast app and a theme store. If you like extreme widget customization, you’re going to be very happy with this update. Hit the break for the download links.

QR Code generator

Play Store Download Link

Facebook Messenger To Only Require Name And Number To Use Service, Pushes SMS One Step Closer To Extinction

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 07:45 AM PST

 

Facebook’s Messenger app has loosened its chains a little and is on its way to being a viable replacement to standard SMS. Hot off the heels of integrating itself with standard texting, Facebook recently announced that users will no longer need to sign into to their Facebook accounts in order to use Messenger— instead, users will only need to provide a name and a number in order to communicate with their friends— similar to what GroupMe or WhatsApp does already. There seems to be some sound reasoning to this decision as Facebook is looking to compete directly against iChat and BBM users. More importantly– the new Facebook Messenger app will be set up as a more efficient and more compelling alternative to the slow and outdated SMS standard.

While the new advancement of Facebook Messenger is exciting and all— most users probably shouldn’t expect to see the new update at least right away. It’s worth noting that India, Australia, Indonesia, Venezuela, and South Africa are the only countries able to take advantage of the new update for now. Knowing Mark Zuckerberg though– it probably won’t be too long of a wait to see other countries take advantage of this sooner than later.

source: The Verge
Posted by at 6:51 AM

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