Android and Me |
- White Nexus 4 and Android 4.3 coming June 10th
- Fresh Meat: 10 new Android apps worth checking out
- Hangouts with SMS integration is on the way
- Copy boosts free storage capacity to 15GB to fight Google’s new shared storage
- The next version of Android, complete with Bluetooth Smart, is coming soon
- Google Wallet now integrated with Gmail allowing users to send money as an attachment
| White Nexus 4 and Android 4.3 coming June 10th Posted: 16 May 2013 12:48 PM PDT Rumors suggested that a white Nexus 4 might appear at Google IO, and they were right. We obtained the elusive white Nexus 4 and we can confirm it’s a carbon copy of the previous Nexus 4, just with a different color casing. That might not be the most exciting news, but we also learned the white Nexus 4 would hit the Google Play store on June 10th and it would be accompanied with Android 4.3. Most of us expected Google to announce Android 4.3 at yesterday’s big keynote, but it sounds like the next version of Android was intentionally bumped from the show. Sources at Google say they wanted to demonstrate their ability to roll out new services and APIs without upgrading the Android firmware, and it appears they made their point. Not much is known about Android 4.3, but we expect it to be a rather minor update. The developer API level should be bumped up to version 18, with support for Bluetooth Smart (and possibly OpenGL ES 3.0), and that’s about all we know. We are unable to confirm this, but we assume that Android 4.3 will be pushed out to all current Nexus devices (4, 7, 10) when it goes live next month. The Nexus 4 might not be the most exciting device on the block anymore, but it’s still a damn good value with a starting price of $299. 
| ||
| Fresh Meat: 10 new Android apps worth checking out Posted: 16 May 2013 11:28 AM PDT New apps need lovin' too, right? Every day there are thousands of new entries on the Google Play store, but many go unnoticed and never receive the attention they deserve. We have shown in the past that this community can discover great apps and launch them to new heights. So, we're bringing back our weekly column Fresh Meat that highlights new apps with less than 100k installs. Browse our new Android app picks below and let us know which ones you enjoy. Saga
Pitch: Saga is the easy way to keep track of where you go and what you do with no need to check in. Live your life, and let Saga write your digital autobiography. Saga is the automatic lifelogging app for everyone. Download Saga and start building your lifelog today, with next to no manual input from you. Contactive
Pitch: Contactive unites the functionality of your address book with the knowledge of the Internet. It collects information from your social media networks, publicly available sources, and Contactive's Global Directory to show who's calling before you even answer the call. Always have something to talk about. Get a cheat sheet of your contacts' latest updates in the moment that matters. Trek Episode Guide
Pitch: The Trek Episode Guide immerses Star Trek™ fans in an authentic LCARS style interface introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation™ television series, and provides a compendium of all Star Trek episodes and movies, with detailed plot descriptions and HD images (where available). AppGratis
Pitch: Bringing you daily free apps plus discounts up to 90% off. AppGratis is free and finally on Android! Top rated worldwide, already loved by over 10+ million iOS users. We Heart It
Pitch: Discover inspiration and images you love every day! We Heart It is the place to find the most beautiful images of everything you love, inspired by millions of people from around the world! Save a collection of quotes, view pictures that match your mood, find images for an art or fashion collage, and get updated on news through images of the latest styles, for free! WeatherSignal
Pitch: WeatherSignal lets you use your cell phone as a mobile weather station. The app makes use of native phone sensors to display local atmospheric readings, which are then displayed on our live-updating weather map. By using WeatherSignal you are becoming a part of the most ambitious weather crowdsourcing project in the world – helping to record weather patterns on a more localised level than ever before. Schemes
Pitch: Schemes is a simple tool that allows you to send scheduled messages via SMS, Facebook, Twitter or Email (Gmail only!). Whether you want to send that happy birthday text at midnight (or a minute before midnight if that’s your thing), Tweet about your favourite time of the day, make a Facebook status without your friends on the other side of the world missing it, or send that important business email right on the hour, Schemes will do it for you! AudioBox
Pitch: Your media collection is now truly portable! Stream from anywhere, it doesn’t matter where your files are stored. Upload and stream from the cloud, directly from your desktop or from the most popular cloud services. Mix your favorite tracks in custom or smart playlists, even if they are stored on different cloud sources. Paul
Pitch: PAUL learns your preferences and creates your personalized profile. PAUL will preload the videos and songs you want BEFORE you want them, so there are no delays when you want to view them. Plus, PAUL can do all the work over WiFi only, incurring no data charges. Clutch
Pitch: Clutch combines everything you need to shop with your phone – wallet, daily deals, trending and hot products, shopping searches, personalized collections, price comparisons and gifting – with the ability to make purchases and deliver them anywhere, with a few taps. Clutch is the only mobile app where you can get the best deals, give the best gifts, and discover and share these finds with your friends and family in a single place. 
| ||
| Hangouts with SMS integration is on the way Posted: 16 May 2013 10:39 AM PDT Google may have just launched their new messaging app Hangouts yesterday, but we’re already hearing what’s next for the service. According to Google Plus’ community manager of Hangouts and Chat, Dori Storbeck, SMS integration will be making its way to Hangouts soon. While Hangouts did solve some of the problems surrounding Google’s various messaging services, it wasn’t quite as unified as we originally believed it would be. Google Voice integration is nowhere to be found, and SMS still resides in its own app. Apparently, SMS integration with Hangouts is coming soon, and we imagine Google Voice will follow shortly. In a post on Google Plus, Googler Dori Storbeck has said that, “SMS integration is coming soon — It’s one of our most requested features!” So there you have it. Hangouts will be the one and only app needed for messaging sooner than later. Now that you’ve had a day to play with Hangouts, what do you think? 
| ||
| Copy boosts free storage capacity to 15GB to fight Google’s new shared storage Posted: 16 May 2013 10:27 AM PDT There are no shortage of cloud storage companies vying for your attention, but few manage to really stick out. Google made headlines just the other day when it announced that storage for Gmail, Drive and Google+ would be combined, giving Google users 15GB of free online storage space. Copy, a multi-platform storage company backed by Barracuda, has announced that in response they are bumping free accounts up to 15GB of storage as well, with some added benefits Google does not offer. Previously, Copy cloud storage accounts offered free users 5GB of storage, along with a referral program that trumps anything competitors offer. For anyone that signs up under your Copy referral link, not only you, but whoever signs up using a referral link gets an extra 5GB of storage. With the new higher base level of free storage, new users who sign up under someone else will get 20GB to start. Other advantages of Copy over competitors like Dropbox include unlimited file size uploads (from wherever you’re uploading from), unlimited free storage earning capabilities, and something called the, “Fair Storage for All” initiative. If you have a paid account, and are sharing a folder between users, the cost to host that folder will be evenly split among the users sharing the folder. I’ve been using Copy for some time now, and I have to say I love it. On Android, Copy offers an auto-sync function that automatically saves all of your newly taken photographs to a folder in your Copy account. Sync speed was originally as issue with Copy, but that has since improved. If you already have Copy, feel free to drop your referral link below. 
| ||
| The next version of Android, complete with Bluetooth Smart, is coming soon Posted: 15 May 2013 08:31 PM PDT For those of you who aren’t happy with Google merely updating their core apps, and want to see a completely new version of Android, fear not. According to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, a new version of Android, which will feature support for low-energy Bluetooth Smart, should be released in the coming months. In a press email sent out to bloggers shortly after Google I/O’s keynote ended, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group announced that in an upcoming update to Android, support for native Bluetooth Smart functionality would be available for developers to take advantage of. Normally, we might guess that it the update could be to 4.2.3, or some other small, incremental number, but Twitter and Google+ have been buzzing with info that more big Android news is on the horizon. Other than support for Bluetooth Smart, which is already supported by Apple, Microsoft and BlackBerry, no one knows what will be included in the next version of Android, expected to launch as Android 4.3. We’ll be keeping our ears to the ground for any news on the next big version that might slip out before I/O comes to and end. 
| ||
| Google Wallet now integrated with Gmail allowing users to send money as an attachment Posted: 15 May 2013 08:28 PM PDT Google has released some really killer services over the last several years, and some real flops too. Unfortunately, Google Wallet falls into the latter of those categories. Wallet hasn’t grown in quite the way Google would have liked, for a number of reasons, but Google isn’t giving up yet. Announced today on the Google Commerce blog, Google Wallet will now be integrated with Gmail. By linking the two services, Google users will be able to send money as an email attachment. It’s as simple as hovering over the attachment paperclip icon, clicking the money icon, entering the amount of money you want to pay out and pressing send. You can also send money to non-Gmail users. Right now, Google Wallet integration is only available on Gmail for desktop, but that will be changing in the future. Will Gmail integration push you into using Google Wallet more? Let us know what you think in the comments. 
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Android and Me To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment