| Panono Panoramic Ball Camera offers new twist on photospheres Nov 12th 2013, 19:24, by Nate Swanner Photospheres are cool, but we're left with a personal view of our surroundings in regard to orientation. What if you wanted a birds-eye view of things? Better yet, what if you wanted to be in your own photosphere? A new IndieGoGo campaign could make that a reality for you. 
The Panono, a Panoramic Ball Camera, was first imagined back in 2011. That was just before the crowd funding craze, and just ahead of really good smartphone cameras. The idea is simple: toss the sphere in the air, and it snaps photos with all 36 cameras that peek out from the hard plastic shell. It takes photos in a full 360-degrees, too, so you won't miss a thing.
The device is also paired with an app, and Panono is in the early stages of development for it. They've tested it on a limited number of flagship Android handsets, and promise the ability to upload to sites like Google+. They also plan to make a waterproof version in the future, which adds a whole new dimension to the project. All told, we liken this to the photosphere in the Google Maps cars and backpacks — just smaller. Of course, the concept is great, but doesn't come cheap. Currently, the pricing is set at $549. While we like the concept of taking some interesting photospheres, and the ability to photobomb our own pictures, we're not $549 in love with the idea. Hopefully, the team behind the project can find a way to lower that price point. A lot.
|  | Steve Jobs was no fan of former Android chief Andy Rubin, according to new book Nov 12th 2013, 18:58, by Nate Swanner Steve Jobs was not fond of Android. He considered it a copycat of Apple’s iOS platform, and infamously declared war on all things Android. That sentiment evidently carried all the way to the top of Android, as a recent book reveals that Jobs was no fan of Android founder, and former chief, Andy Rubin. 
In Fred Vogelstein's new book Dogfight: How Apple and google went to war and started a revolution, Jobs reportedly told friends he felt Andy Rubin was a "big, arrogant f**k." The book went on to detail how shocked the Android team was when the iPhone came out, and how advanced it ended up being. While they knew it was coming, they had no idea it would be as robust as it was. According to one Android engineer, the consensus shared amongst the team was "what we had looked so … nineties". Rubin was in a cab in Las Vegas, watching a livestream of the iPhone launch event. He made the driver pull over so he could watch, and reportedly said "Holy crap, I guess we’re not going to launch that phone."
The Android team eventually built what we saw on the HTC G1, which Jobs was unhappy with, saying he felt it was a "ripoff" of iOS. In a meeting with Larry Page, Alan Eustace, Andy Rubin, and iOS guru Scott Forstall, Jobs reportedly lobbed personal jabs at Rubin. Between saying Rubin was trying to emulate him in every way (down to the haircut and glasses), Jobs also demanded Android make changes to avoid problems with Apple moving forward. Page and Eustace agreed with Jobs, leaving Rubin on the brink of leaving Google altogether. He didn't, of course, and Android went on to steamroll the mobile OS space. Rubin is now gone from Android, and working on other things with Google. Jobs, who also once said “good artists copy, great artists steal”, passed away in 2011.
| | Android 4.4 Kit Kat has a hidden battery percentage readout Nov 12th 2013, 18:41, by Robert Nelson There are some third party apps available that will let you display the battery percentage in the status bar, however it seems this may be something that arrives with a future update to Kit Kat. As it turns out, the battery percentage readout has been discovered hidden in Android 4.4, though, there are some quirks with the current implementation. 
XDA forums member kroegerama has released an app that will allow Kit Kat users to enable this hidden feature. According to details on the XDA posting, this should work on any device running Kit Kat and users are not required to have root. Essentially, this app removes the underlying process of modifying code to change the setting. Once the app is installed you need to open it, click the “Enable Battery Percent” option and then reboot your phone. Once the phone reboots you will have the battery percentage in the status bar, though, depending on the current level of your battery you may or may not see it. The battery percentage is white, and so is the battery icon. 
Basically, the battery percentage number will remain hidden in the white on white until it drops down pretty low. You can get an idea of what it will look like in the image sitting above. Otherwise, given this app is modifying a hidden setting, you can actually uninstall the app after and not lose the percentage readout. Those changing their mind after this has been done can also revert the process by launching the app and unchecking the setting. That all having been said, the developer did also offer a bit of explanation as to why he choose not to change the color from white. “Sorry, this is impossible with a simple app like this one, because the color is hard-coded in SystemUI.apk. You need to decompile that apk, edit one line of source code and then recompile it. Actually, I don’t plan to do this, because I don’t like to change system-apps. Also, the OTA-Updates from google would fail after that and it would require root.”
SOURCE: xda-developers | | Moto G specs leaked ahead of official launch Nov 12th 2013, 18:11, by Nate Swanner The Moto G, which was widely believed to be Motorola's low-end offering to bolster the Moto X, has seen its share of leaks. This time, a German retailer and UK carrier have jumped the gun on releasing details. Less than 24 hours ahead of the official launch in Brazil, we find that the Moto G will probably be everything we'd hoped for. 
That's also to say we kept our expectations in check. We wanted a mid-range device with enough muscle to keep up with moderate tasking, and it looks like we're going to get it. According to German retailer Phone House, which briefly had a product page on their site, the Moto G will have that 4.5-inch 1280 x 720 LCD screen we've heard about. It will also sport the 1.2GHz Qualcomm quad-core processor, and a 5MP/1.3MP camera ensemble. Rounding it out will be 1 GB RAM and 8 GB memory.
These are the same specs — an omissions — we found with an Amazon UK listing earlier this week. That listing had the device shipping with a Micro SD card slot, too, so the 8 GB of memory isn't so troubling. What both listings leaves out is the size of the battery. We've heard it to be sub-2000mAh, but like any spec leak, we'll believe it when we see it. 
Pricing is, again, very attractive. Phone House listed the Moto G at £149, which would put it up around $250 (we're not going to nail down a price, as currency values fluctuate). For the everyman, a $250 device which can handle some moderate tasks like Google Now or Maps is very attractive. The tech (and spec) obsessed minor it will overlook this device almost immediately, but like the Moto X, this isn't really meant for them. The Moto G arrives tomorrow, officially. We'll be curious to see if the Moto G can bring the same functionality and excitement the Moto X has. If the LCD screen is coming, that leaves us wondering how touchless notifications will work (the Moto X is AMOLED). At least we don't have long to wait.
| | Moto X sales tipped to have been weak Nov 12th 2013, 18:01, by Robert Nelson Motorola will be announcing the Moto G shortly. The handset is expected to be a lower-cost alternative to the Moto X. And coincidentally, we recently saw price cuts for the Moto X both on and off-contract. Motorola also opened up the Moto Maker to all four major US carriers this week. But with all this Moto X news, a new report coming from the Wall Street Journal brings talk of poor sales. 
The important point to mention here, the sales information hasn’t come direct from Motorola. Instead, this report is based on “people familiar with the matter.” That being said, there was talk of “weak sales” for the Moto X. Research firm Strategy Analytics is estimating that Motorola has sold roughly half-a-million during the third quarter. In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 managed to climb above the 10 million mark in the first month of availability. While the Moto X may not have lived up to all the expectations of Google and Motorola, we will soon see how well the Moto G will do. The Moto G is going to be announced on November 13th. We have been seeing some specs leak for the Moto G recently, but much of the focus seems to have been on the pricing. Another Strategy Analytics analyst, Neil Mawston has said he expects the Moto G to arrive priced somewhere between the Galaxy S III and Galaxy S2, assuming someone were to buy either device new and off-contract. Perhaps the key here will be for Motorola to find the right markets for such a device. We are expecting to learn where the handset will be available during the event tomorrow, however given the location for the event — it seems likely the Moto G will at least be available for those in Brazil. Otherwise, the Moto G event will be streamed live on Google+, should you feel the need to watch the announcement live and as it happens. | |
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