Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Android Central

Android Central


Tapatalk HD updated in Play Store today

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 04:13 PM PDT

Tapatalk HD main screen

Tablet owners that use Tapatalk have an update waiting for them in the Play Store today, bringing Tapatalk HD up to v1.2.0. The change log mentions a new camera and photo editor in the latest version, however I'm unable to verify that thanks to consistent force closes. Trying to attach a photo using the gallery or by taking a new one on my Nexus 7 always leads to Tapatalk HD cashing, forcing me to exit the app.

Thankfully the new sub-forum search seems to be working without a hitch. It's now possible to search for keywords in sub-forum threads, search by thread title only, and search by author. The search results can be displayed as either threads or posts, depending on what you're looking for.

"New Jelly Bean Notifications style" is also listed as a new feature, however this must be purely aesthetic since notifications are not expandable in Jelly Bean.

Hit the Play Store link at the top to get the update. I hope my force close problems are isolated. Anyone else having better luck? Sound off in the comments.



Google's director of privacy steps down, will remain at Google for transition

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 04:04 PM PDT

Android Central

Alma Whitten, Google's director of privacy, product and engineering, decides to step aside

As Forbes first reported earlier in the day, and Google has now confirmed, Alma Whitten is retiring after a decade of work with Google, and as the director of privacy for product and engineering since 2010. She will be replaced by Lawrence You, who has eight years at Google under his belt and is a current infrastructure engineer who has been involved in current privacy efforts. You will report to Eric Grosse, the vice president of security and privacy engineering.

Whitten will stay on board to help during the transition, and Google is confident that user data will be kept as safe and secure as in the past. We wish her the best of luck, and can imagine a three-year tenure as privacy chief at Google earns one a long and relaxing retirement.

Source: Forbes

 



TuneIn Radio adds new 'live' interface for music discovery

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 03:44 PM PDT

TuneIn Radio Live

"TuneIn Live", added in the latest update, aims to improve music discovery with a visually appealing interface.

Popular music and radio streaming service TuneIn Radio is adding a new way to browse for interesting content via the "live" tab at the top of the interface. The so-called TuneIn Live area presents large tiles of album artwork for stations that are currently playing interesting things. By default the live feed will show a wide selection of stations from country, hip hop, jazz, news, rock and sports, but you can also choose to customize which genres you see if you have a TuneIn account.

This is a great improvement for users looking to just browse through stations to find something new. One of the downfalls of TuneIn's extensive radio listings is that it becomes hard to choose just one. The update is now live (pardon the pun) for both free and Pro versions of the app, and you can find both via the Play Store link at the top of this post. If you haven't given TuneIn Radio a try before, it's certainly worth a look.



Order your HTC One online with T-Mobile and get a free HTC car kit

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 02:29 PM PDT

HTC One

T-Mobile adds an official HTC One car kit to the $100 trade in for online HTC One orders

While you can't officially pre-order the HTC One on T-Mobile just yet, T-Mobile has updated their sign-up page and is now offering a free HTC car kit to folks who order online. This is in addition to the $100 Visa card you get from the trade in offer from HTC. 

What we don't know yet is when to expect the HTC One at T-Mobile. Registering for more information is fine and dandy, and shifting the Visa card program around to make sure everyone can qualify is a good thing, but people want to know when they can get their hands on the HTC One on T-Mobile's new LTE network. The new $99 down payment plan won't attract anyone if you don't have what they want on the shelf.

In any case, if you're even slightly interested be sure to sign up for more information to cement your spot in the trade-in program, and consider ordering online for the free car kit. Hit the link below!

Source: T-Mobile. Thanks, Jasmine!



AT&T HTC One pre-orders reportedly will begin April 5 for $250

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 12:55 PM PDT

HTC One

'Exclusive' 64GB model to come later at $299.99, internal screens show

According to some training information obtained by Engadget (above), the HTC One could be up for pre-order at AT&T as early as this week. While we could've pretty easily guessed between a couple of possible prices for the device, we're looking at a cool $249.99 on-contract for the 32GB version in either black or silver casing. While there is no specific launch date for the 'exclusive' 64GB model, it is said to be up for sale eventually at $299.99 with no indication of potential pre-orders.

Be on the lookout for an official announcement from AT&T in the coming days, as rumor has it that you'll be able to get a head start a day earlier online if you're anxious to get your hands on the HTC One. T-Mobile has also revealed some pricing information on its HTC One, but there's no official launch date there either.

Source: Engadget
 More: Read our complete HTC One review; HTC One Forums

read more



Feedly welcomes 3 million Google Reader refugees with app updates

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 11:55 AM PDT

Feedly on Nexus 7

New search, layout and sharing features for the popular news reader app

Feedly, the heir apparent to the throne of RSS, has announced that it's brought onboard some 3 million Google Reader users since Google announced the mothballing of that service a couple of weeks ago. What's more, today sees the launch of a new version of the Feedly app for Android -- and iOS -- with new search and layout features. Most notably, a new search engine has been rolled out with access to over 50 million news feeds.

Google+ sharing support is baked in, and directly accessible from Feedly's own sharing menu. In addition, you can now choose whether you want to hide read articles from the menu dropdown in list view, just like the web-based view. Existing Feedly users should appreciate an improvement in performance, too. Finally, there's a new layout for the Nexus 7, Nexus 10 and certain Samsung Galaxy handsets.

So there's a lot to get stuck into. If you're already using Feedly, hit the Google Play Store to grab the latest update. Alternatively you can use the Google Play button above.



'Facebook Home' APK teardown still doesn't answer the important question: Why hardware?

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 11:04 AM PDT

HTC ChaCha

Does HTC Sense and a new Facebook-centric launcher warrant its own hardware? We'll find out Thursday

With the unveiling of Facebook’s “new home on Android” just a couple of days away, the folks at Android Police have gotten hold of a system dump for the fabled HTC-built Facephone, to which they’ve given the APK teardown treatment. Details included in the ROM seem to confirm earlier rumors of a relatively pedestrian Android smartphone, powered by a dual-core Snapdragon S4 chip (MSM8960), 1GB of RAM and Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, running on a 4.3-inch 720p screen. (In addition, the “HTC Myst” codename is seemingly confirmed, along with AT&T radio support.)

Also confirmed is the presence of Facebook Home, apparently a home screen launcher replacement based around the user’s own Facebook news feed. That's not a huge surprise -- Phil predicted as much in his Editor's column on Sunday and on Twitter a few days before that.

The new Facebook Home launcher apparently includes the permissions needed to access and import settings from the stock Android, TouchWiz and HTC Sense launchers, indicating it might see a separate release at some point. (Incidentally, although the phone appears to run HTC Sense 4+, the Sense launcher is nowhere to be found in this system dump.)

All of which leaves us with a few nagging questions. First, if Facebook Home won’t be exclusive to the “Myst,” then how is this different from the approach taken a couple of years ago in the ill-fated HTC ChaCha (Status) and Salsa. What’s the incentive to pick up a phone running last year’s hardware and last year’s software, for the sake of a custom launcher that’ll be available elsewhere anyway?

Wrote Phil:

All signs are pointing to some sort of new phone from HTC in conjunction with all this.

Why?

Why does a launcher or software layer or whatever the hell we're going to call it need new hardware? Is Facebook going to sell this hardware? Will it end up in Best Buy alongside the 5,000 other phones? On Amazon? Even if it ends up in carrier stores, that's no guarantee it'll sell enough to make it worth it.

There’s every chance Facebook will have something to pull out of its sleeve this Thursday. But until then we’re left wondering just what Facebook and HTC will be doing to differentiate this new handset.

Source: Android Police



Andmade Share: For a more robust sharing menu

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 09:58 AM PDT

Andmade Share

The native Android sharing intents are extremely powerful, but that doesn't mean you can't shoehorn more functionality in there

Andmade Share takes the already functional sharing intents found on every Android phone, and makes them even more capable with a new set of features. Instead of choosing to share to a single app or service, with Andmade Share you can select multiple services together. We wish the apps could just talk together and make this easy on users, but since that's unlikely to happen tools like this will save the day.

Read along past the break to see a bit more of what Andmade Share adds in terms of sharing functionality on your device.

read more



HTC One tip: Pinch to customize your home screens

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 09:37 AM PDT

HTC One

The HTC One does things a little different than many other Android smartphones. For one, it's only got two buttons -- back and home. It also changes the way it home screens work -- making it a little more difficult to add apps and widgets. Not grossly so; just an extra step or so.

Here's a little tip that'll speed things up a bit. One way to get to the home screen customization section is to long-press on an empty 1x1 spot on a home screen. But what if that home screen is full? You could swipe over to another home screen that has a blank spot, but that's annoying. Or you could pull down the notification bar and go to Settings>Personalize>Customize home screen. Also a pain.

There's a better way. All you have to do is pinch your fingers together on a home screen -- full or not -- and it goes straight to the customization section. From there you can add widgets or apps all you want. 

We've got more HTC One tips after the break. Be sure to collect them all!

read more



Set your calendars: Google's Q1 2013 earnings call is April 18

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 09:16 AM PDT

Google

A quick heads up for those of you who like to kibitz on Google's earnings calls. The first-quarter 2013 earnings results will be posted on April 18, with the usual conference call taking place at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

We typically get some sort of Android news out of the earnings calls. So we'll be there with bells on.

Source: Google



HTC One signs sighted in RadioShack, hint at $50 Google Play gift card deal

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 08:34 AM PDT

Radio Shack HTC One

$199.99 on-contract, with $50 Google Play credit and a $10 coupon

The exact U.S. launch for the new HTC One might not be know just yet, but it looks like we're starting to see signs of stateside pricing deals for the handset. The photo above, grabbed at Radio Shack and sent to Phandroid, suggests the HTC One on Sprint will sell for $199.99 with a two-year plan (no surprises there) and come with a $50 Google Play gift card and $10 coupon.

A $10 discount is nothing to sniff at, but that $50 Google Play allowance should count towards a lot of apps, movies and other content for new HTC One owners.

We'd like to think that the appearance of signage like this indicates the nearing of a U.S. street date, but the closest thing to an official date we have is "before the end of April" for North America. In the meantime, you can always check out our full review of the HTC One.

Source: Phandroid



Kindle Fire HD 8.9 gets AT&T's 4G LTE starting April 5

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 08:01 AM PDT

Kindle Fire HD 8.9

Amazon's tablet runs $349 outright, or $249 if you sign a new contract

If you've been holding out for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9-incher to get some built in LTE love, this is your week. AT&T has announced it'll carry the Android-based tablet -- remember that it's using Amazon services instead of Google -- starting April 5 for $399. If you sign up for a new LTE line for two years, AT&T will knock off $150, making ithe tablet just $249. Or you can add it to an existing Mobile Share plan for $10 a month.

Source: AT&T



Deal of the Day: Incipio Feather Hard Case for HTC Droid DNA

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 06:36 AM PDT

Deal of the Day The April 1 ShopAndroid.com Deal of the Day is the Incipio Feather Hard Case for HTC Droid DNA. Measuring less than 1mm thin, the Feather Case is ideal for the Droid DNA user seeking inconspicuous, first-class protection. It's made of an ultra light, ultra strong polymer for light as a feather, form-fitting durable protection without the added bulk. Color options include black, pink, blue and gray.

The Incipio Feather Hard Case is available for just $16.00, 36% off today only. Backed by our 60-day return policy and fast shipping!

Never miss a deal. Sign up for Daily Deal alerts



Google Wallet ATM - because ... nah ...

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 06:34 AM PDT

Google Wallet ATM

OK. Google Treasure Maps was funny. Gmail Blue? We'll play along. Google Nose was nothing to sniff at.

But now we have Google Wallet ATM, and we're starting to count the hours until April 2.



SwiftKey gets in on the April Fools' action with SwiftKey Tilt

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 06:02 AM PDT

SwiftKey Tilt

"Whole-body typing experience"

Not to be left out of the April 1 fun, popular keyboard app SwiftKey has today announced "SwiftKey Tilt," a new keyboard designed to offer a "whole-body typing experience." How's it work? Well, instead of typing with your thumb, simply guide a little pinball across the screen to spell out words. (And in doing so, look just as cool as the people above.)

Video's after the break. SwiftKey says the new tilt keyboard will be available today for those "inquisitive enough to find it." (Try typing "tilt," then long-pressing that word in the suggestion bar.)

read more



Start your week with the Greatest Android Podcast in the World!

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 05:52 AM PDT

Android Central Podcast

It's no joke -- the Android Central Podcast did, in fact, invade many a listener's ears over the weekend. If you haven't caught it yet (we'll excuse you this time, holiday weekend and all), you missed some not-so-serious talk about the Nexus 4's updated design, T-Mobile's new "UnCarrier" plans, and even more Galaxy S4 and HTC One.

The Android Central Podcast is your weekly peek into the world of Android, where we break down the news that really matters, and explain what's just a bunch of hype. Plus, we answer your e-mails and voicemails. You don't want to miss it. Check out the Android Central Podcast.



Monday Brief: BlackBerry Q4 earnings, a Google Watch, and the last Monday Brief ever!

Posted: 01 Apr 2013 05:13 AM PDT

Mobile Nations

 

 



More April Fools' with Google+ photos and +Emotion

Posted: 31 Mar 2013 11:29 PM PDT

:(

Google pranks with a feature many users would love to have -- automatically adding emoticons to Google+ photos

Google just won't stop with the April Fools' stunts, and this one got more than a few people to fall for it -- an algorithm that automatically adds the right emoticon to a Google+ photo based on the facial expressions of the people in it. Dubbed +Emotion, it's said to "plumb the emotional depths of everyone in the photo, then summarize their feelings with a beautifully crafted, emotion icon" with the click of a button.

Of course, there is no such button, but folks commenting on the Google+ posting sure seem to want it, and were sufficiently fooled. We cant blame them, it certainly sounds like something Google could -- and would -- implement. 

We're used to Google pulling a bit of April Fools' silliness, but this year they seem to have kicked things into high gear. With 24 more hours to go, we expect to see more before it's all over.

See also: 

Source: +Erik Murphy-Chutorian



Introducing The YouTube Collection - the entire YouTube catalog, offline

Posted: 31 Mar 2013 10:33 PM PDT

YouTube Collection

Google rolls out a 2012 gag for another April Fools' Day go

Tired of missing out on that latest viral video because you're stuck offline, shackled deep in a dungeon, with nary a bit to bite? Jonesing for that latest Taylor Swift video but you've got not signal to sync up the singer? Well worry no more. Because with The YouTube Collection, you can take the entire freaking YouTube catalog with you in your choice of resolutions -- offline!

That's right. Get your Gangnam Style at 240p. Catch cats at 480p. For the more discerning crowd, hit up high-definition videos at 720p and full 1080p.

Youtube April FoolsSo, yeah. YouTube might be shutting down until 2023 (not really), but now you can take it with you, for the low, low price of putting up with yet another April Fools' Day post! (And what's more -- this one is from 2012, but Google's got it on the YouTube homepage again this year.)

Want every cooking lesson ever uploaded? They can be yours for just 34,410 discs and $131,656, plus $59,302 in shipping and handling. Shit people say? That'll be a mere 90,000 discs! Need gift-wrapping? No problem! That'll cost just 5 percent extra.

(Also available in video cassette, Laser Disc or Betamax. Additional delivery service charges apply. Shipping by freigh vessel also available.)

Here's how to order! (Thanks, Marcch!)

See also:

read more



Google still isn't done with the April Fools' shenanigans - introducing Gmail Blue

Posted: 31 Mar 2013 07:44 PM PDT

Gmail Blue

It's Gmail, only bluer!

Determined to make bloggers miss the season three premiere of Game of Thrones, Google has released yet another April Fools' spoof -- Gmail Blue. It's everything you expect from Gmail -- rich text, attachments, threaded conversations, with a bunch more blue!

Hit the break for the video, and the source link for all there is to know. Can it be Tuesday already?

Source: Gmail blog

read more



Google Nose is Mountain View's third April Fools' joke

Posted: 31 Mar 2013 05:17 PM PDT

Google Nose

Google says 'smelling is believing' but this one certainly smells a bit fishy

Google still isn't finished with the April Fools' shenanigans, and the announcement of Google Nose may be the silliest one yet. Billing it as "the new scentsation in search", the website lists a full set of features:

  • Your internet sommelier: expertly curated Knowledge Panels pair images, descriptions, and aromas.
  • Take a wiff: the Google Aromabase - 15M+ scentibytes.
  • Don't ask, don't smell: For when you're wary of your query - SafeSearch included.
  • Street Sense vehicles have inhaled and indexed millions of atmospheric miles.
  • Android Ambient Odor Detection collects smells via the world's most sensible mobile operating system.
  • SMELLCD™ 1.8+ high-resolution compatible for precise and controlled odors.

We've seen the "end" of Youtube, a pirate's map, and now smell-o-vision for your smartphone. Something tells me that Google isn't done yet. Hit the break to see the product video with the technical description of how it all works (yes, Google goes all-in for April Fools' pranks!) and visit the source link to try it out for yourself. Hopefully, you'll have better luck than I did -- everything smells like that turkey sandwich I was holding.

Source: Google. Via: ‏@Dr_Mcq

read more



No comments:

Post a Comment