| Nexus 10 refresh expected to arrive from ASUS Aug 9th 2013, 15:02, by Robert Nelson Google announced the new Nexus 7 a few weeks earlier. That model has since come available in the US, however there hasn’t been much said in terms of a new Nexus 10 tablet. In the past the Nexus 7 has been an ASUS-made device and the Nexus 10 has been a Samsung-made device. Despite recent rumors pointing towards another Samsung-made Nexus 10, new details are pointing towards that tablet coming by way of ASUS. 
What we have seen is coming by way of Geek.com, who are reporting how a new Nexus 10 is expected before the end of the year. More specifically, it was said the tablet will arrive by way of the Play Store and Best Buy in time for the holiday shopping season. Aside from these details, the specs for the device remain mostly a mystery. The tablet will arrive with the latest version of Android and otherwise we would also expect to see a high-resolution display. The display resolution on the current model Nexus 10 is already an impressive 2560 x 1600 with a 300ppi. Another likely improvement could be the processor, which at present is a dual-core 1.7GHz Cortex A15 (Exynos 5 Dual). Speculation suggests the new model Nexus 10 could arrive with a Snapdragon. Otherwise, the new Nexus 7 did see a slight price increase this time around. Price for the a new Nexus 10 has yet to come up in the rumors, but we can say the current model is selling for $399 (16GB) or $499 (32GB) from the Google Play Store. Looking back to the earlier rumor about a Samsung-made Nexus 10 and those details came from WSJ reporter Amir Efrati. At the time he shared a little about how Google's Sundar Pichai said the “near future” would bring a new Nexus 10 from Samsung. That said, the rumors may be telling different stories at the moment but regardless of the manufacturer — it seems clear that a new Nexus 10 is in the works. |  | Amazon Android gaming console expected in late 2013 Aug 9th 2013, 14:25, by Robert Nelson We have seen quite a few Android game consoles introduced in recent months, however it looks like we may have at least one more arriving before the end of the year. This latest is said to be coming from Amazon and according to the details that have arrived thus far — it should arrive in time for the 2013 holiday shopping season. If nothing else, given Amazon already has the Appstore in place, that could put them at a slight advantage over some of the competition. 
The details are coming by way of the folks at Game Informer who are reporting based on an anonymous source. So far they have shared how this source has “knowledge of the in-development hardware.” Bit and pieces coming from that source talk about how the system will have a dedicated controller and take advantage of the titles that Amazon already has available in the store. The other tie-in here would be the app of the day setup. Simply put, it seems like that could easily be extended into a gaming system. As one would expect, Amazon has yet to offer a comment. This of course would come in addition to the Kindle Fire lineup, which is also taking advantage of Android. We aren’t trying to discredit the source, but we do need to remember that this is still in the rumor category and as we already know — rumors do not always come true. After all, Amazon has long been rumored to be working on an Android smartphone. On the flip side though, it does seem that an Amazon Android gaming system is slightly more realistic as compared to an Amazon Android smartphone. With the Appstore already in place it seems a big part of the success here will come down to the hardware and pricing. Looking at some of the competition and we have seen a variety of options. There is the OUYA which has a fairly standard setup where you buy the console and then buy the games. Then there is the still unreleased GamePop and GamePop Mini from BlueStacks. That system is expected later this year and will arrive with an all-you-can-play monthly subscription (in addition to the hardware purchase). | | Google Wallet dropping support for gift and loyalty cards later this month Aug 9th 2013, 13:53, by Robert Nelson It looks like Google will soon be removing some functionality from Wallet. The details come by way of an email that has recently been sent to Wallet users. Or specifically, to Wallet users that happen to have added a gift and/or loyalty card to their account. Basically, support for these cards will be going away as of August 21st. 
With that in mind, those cards will not necessarily become junk. Google has said the support for these cards will end in Wallet on the 21st. If you happen to still have the physical card available, the balance will remain and you can continue to use the card until the balance runs out — even after the 21st. On the flip side, if you no longer have the actual card — you will want to get to spending because it is becoming a use or lose situation. On August 21, 2013, we are ending the current NFC redemption of gift and loyalty cards added to Google Wallet. If you’ve already redeemed your gift cards, you don’t have to do anything. If you have a balance remaining and you’d like to spend it using the tap and pay functionality, you must do so by August 21st. If you still have the physical gift cards, they will continue to work even after August 21st.
Another point worth clarifying is this change deals only with gift and loyalty cards and will not affect credit and debit cards. While this may sound like a not so good move for Google Wallet, it does appear as if it may only be a temporary measure. In that same email Google went on to talk about how they are already “working with retailers on other options for gift and loyalty card redemption within Google Wallet.” More to that point, they have said they are excited to share those details “soon.” With that in mind, those with a gift or loyalty card (who no longer have the physical card) may want to start planning some purchases. | | CyanogenMod Chromecast streaming support teased Aug 9th 2013, 13:33, by Robert Nelson Koush has returned with another Chromecast demo and this latest is one that CyanogenMod users will likely be happy to see come available. The promise here is that it is possible to Chromecast everything from your handset. Well, with a handset that is running CyanogenMod. We have yet to see when this would be rolled into ROMs, however Koush has offered a rather compelling demo video. 
According to details coming from Koush, he has said he “added some framework extensions to CyanogenMod to let any app which plays audio/video using the MediaPlayer to be sent to the Chromecast.” Simply put, users will be able to stream anything to their Chromecast — regardless if the app officially supports that feature. And in a bit of slightly better news, this will work for streaming content from the cloud as well as content stored on the device or on the memory card. The demo video offers a look at Koush streaming a video podcast using the official Twit.tv app and streaming an audio podcast using the BeyondPod app. The key here — neither officially have support for Chromecast streaming. The process to send the content to the Chromecast seems easy enough. Begin playing as you would normally and then you will get a notification (by way of the shade) with a “Play on Chromecast” option. A click of that will send the content to your Chromecast. There does appear to be a few second delay, but we suppose those few seconds of waiting will be much better than the months of waiting it will likely take some of your favorite apps to build this in officially. And just to clarify, Koush has said this is built into CyanogenMod and will work with any app. The catch is he has yet to say when it will be available. Or for that matter, which CyanogenMod builds it will appear. It seem likely this will arrive with CM10.2, however we can also hope for an update to CM10.1. SOURCE: Google+ Thanks for the tip, armina | |
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