Sunday, January 13, 2013

Android Central

Android Central

Apps of the Week: Wallbase HD Wallpapers, News 360, Deer Reader Lite and more!

Posted: 12 Jan 2013 01:10 PM PST

Apps of the Week

We just had a crazy, awesome and news-filled week at CES in Las Vegas, but that doesn't mean we're stopping our weekly app picks. Another week, another great (albeit slightly abbreviated) set of apps for you to go check out on your own phones and tablets this weekend.

Stick around after the break and see how we did this week.

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From the Editor's Desk: Leaving Las Vegas

Posted: 12 Jan 2013 07:54 AM PST

Phil Nickinson

That's it. Same old picture from Building 44 in Mountain View. No cool picture of yours truly on the Las Vegas strip. No shot from the CES floor, or with a stack full of chips. Just the same ol' picture we're all tired of seeing. Being sick at CES sucks, more so than the inevitable plague that follows you home.

I don't have much more to say about CES that we haven't already said. I'm real curious to see how NVIDIA's Project Shield handheld gaming console thingy turns out. I'm not what I'd consider a gamer -- I generally pick up a new CoD every couple years, but my kids are now grown enough (yet still so very young) so that I feel I need to not play in front of them -- but there's a familiar feeling when you hold those controls. For good reason -- it's basically an slightly oversized Xbox controller. I got to spend a half-hour or so with it in Las Vegas -- read my initial thoughts here -- but can't help but wonder if it'll be priced to sell in any real numbers while lacking the pocketability of other handheld gaming systems.

Otherwise? It was kind of refreshing to not be buried under waves of phones that won't see release for months. (Though we did have about the same number of phones that likely will never see the light of day in the U.S.) Enough has been said about the relevance (or lack thereof) of CES, but I'll point you to John Biggs' TechCrunch piece about how maybe, just maybe, it's for all those start-ups who bought booth space in hopes of showing off their product or service. I agree completely. CES should be about the companies presenting at the show -- not placating the press, who's there on the company dime.

I've said it before, and I'm saying it here again now: Our team in Vegas did a bad-ass job. From Alex and Andrew and Anndrew, to Simon and all the other Mobile Nations folks on the ground, there's not much I would have done different this week. And that's about all this (usually not-so-humble) editor can ask for. Let's do it all again next year. Or next month, in Barcelona.

A few other thoughts to close out the week ...

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Flipboard updated to support Android 4.2 Daydream feature

Posted: 11 Jan 2013 09:01 PM PST

Flipboard

Flipboard for Android was updated today, and along with a fix for "accidental" flipping and some minor bug fixes, there is a major feature added in -- support for Android 4.2's Daydream feature. Flipboard says this "allows you to create a screen saver made out of Flipboard covers," and that's a pretty good description.

You won't find any new settings inside the Flipboard app itself, but if you open the display settings on your Jelly Bean 4.2 device you'll see Flipboard listed under the different Daydream modes. The screen saver itself is well done, with the zooming and gently panning of images you'll find in the Photo Table Daydream provided by Google. It uses the entries in your Cover stories category, so you'll probably want to adjust those a bit.

It's more media centric than the Currents Daydream, and lacks a lot of textual information, but we're really excited to see a major player take advantage of the tools Google provides to make unique and awesome apps. Grab the update or install the app for the first time from the link above.

Thanks, Carlos!

Smart Camera 2.0 brings together remote shooting and sharing

Posted: 11 Jan 2013 08:26 PM PST

Android Central @ CES

A few days before CES 2013 started in earnest, Samsung launched a new app called Smart Camera 2.0. It brings together features from companion apps for their various Wi-Fi-enabled cameras, including remote viewfinder and photo transfer to a mobile device (either automatically or manually).

Only smart cameras made from 2013 onwards will be able to take advantage of the new app, which can be found now in Google Play. Any Samsung smart camera owners out there? How have you found the current handset and tablet companion apps? Are they reliable and useful? If you end up using apps like this a lot, is there any reason to not just get the Samsung Galaxy Camera?
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