Sunday, June 23, 2013

Android Central

Android Central

A look into Google's visual design guidelines

Posted: 22 Jun 2013 03:32 PM PDT

Icon design

A treasure trove of cohesive design principles for developers and designers everywhere

As Google's Android matures, we all can see the shift in focus to great design. Google has long been at the forefront of the technology, offering services and features that most of us use every day, but it's clear that Mountain View now cares as much how their products look as they do how they work.

Getting a glimpse into Google's design language for Android usually means looking at the apps while you're using them, or opening up the files and studying the assets themselves. While Google offers some rudimentary suggestions at the Android developer site, that's only part of the picture. Developers and designers need to know how it all fits together. Apps, the web, and all the services under Google's umbrella.

Source: Behance (part 1), (part 2)

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Apps of the Week: Ghostbusters Fans, Tasker, GetGlue and more!

Posted: 22 Jun 2013 01:02 PM PDT

Apps of the Week

News, tools and fun - we cover all the bases this week

Welcome back to yet another edition of our Apps of the Week, where we show off the apps that the Android Central writers have been using over the past week. We have another full and diverse list for your enjoyment, and that means we're likely to show off at least one app that grabs your attention. What matters to us is being able to show off apps that we've personally enjoyed, because app discovery can be tough sometimes.

Hang with us after the break and see how this week's picks stack up with the rest. If you find one that you like, be sure to let us know how it works for you.

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Eyes on with the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini cases

Posted: 22 Jun 2013 12:21 PM PDT

Android Central

Samsung's Galaxy S4 Mini shares a similar range of cases to its bigger brother

Not particularly glamorous, but essential to some. Alongside our first hands on with the new Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini at the Premiere 2013 event in London, the range of official cases was also on display. Like the Galaxy S4, the Mini has plenty of choice in color and style, and even has its own version of the 'S View' flip case. Click on past the break for a few more snaps. 

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AOL launching their own Google Reader replacement, request an invite on June 24

Posted: 22 Jun 2013 05:46 AM PDT

Android Central

Another suitor enters the arena for the post-Google Reader world, Android app and third-party API included

AOL -- remember them? -- has quietly emerged as yet another potential Google Reader replacement, with the launching of AOL Reader. Launch is a pretty soft word to use at the moment as it's pretty much impossible to get in, though the folks at Engadget -- another AOL company -- say that invite requests will be accepted from June 24. Of particular interest is the news that AOL Reader will come at some point with an Android application, and that the API will be made available for third-party apps to hook into. 

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Instagram sees 5 million video uploads in first day of feature availability

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 09:42 PM PDT

Instagram Video

Users submitted 40 hours of video per minute at its peak

Everyone was quick to say that Instagram was playing catch-up with Vine when it released its new video option yesterday, but apparently it was doing something right. According to a statement given to CNET, Instagram users submitted 5 million unique videos in the first 24 hours of the app update hitting. That's a monumental number, likely made even bigger by the update hitting both Android and iOS at the exact same time -- Instagram on Android shows over 100 million downloads on the Play Store currently.

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Vine for Android updated, brings performance updates, Facebook sharing and ability to clear cache

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 06:22 PM PDT

Vine

The six second video app Vine gets a major update

Vine has been updated to version 1.1 in Google Play today, bringing along some much needed boosts in the performance category, Facebook sharing and the ability to clear out your local cache in the app settings. A quick look through the reviews of the original version in the Play store shows that plenty of folks weren't having a great experience with the app, and hopefully today's update alleviates most of their issues.

The change log has been posted, here's the sweet sweet bullet point version:

  • Search for users and hashtags
  • Share to Facebook
  • Improvements to capture speed, quality, and audio/video synchronization
  • Clear cache option available in Settings
  • Other bug fixes and UI improvements

Interesting that Facebook sharing came so quickly after the release of Instagram with video, but on Android that should have been an easy enough fix. What we're happiest seeing is a setting to wipe the local cache. What it does is erase any unposted Vines from your devices storage, freeing valuable space for other things. It's a step in the right direction, but it still doesn't address the real issue -- dumping possibly unwanted Vines there in the first place. We'd much rather see something asking you if you'd like to save your unposted Vine before just leaving it there. Every little bit counts -- especially with video files.

To update or try Vine for the first time, click the Google Play link above.

    

Android Central 139: Android cameras and Insta-Vines

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 05:12 PM PDT

Podcast MP3 URL: 
http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/acpc139.mp3

Thing 1: Samsung's summer gala

Thing 2: Facebook announces InstaVine

Thing 3: Other odds and ends

    

Spring cleaning giveaway round 2 winners

Posted: 21 Jun 2013 02:48 PM PDT

Winners

My office is finally a bit more manageable, and I can see my desk. Thanks everyone for participating in the giveaways, it really does make us feel better to know that this stuff is going to people who will use and appreciate it instead of it just laying around. 

We promised a list of the winners, and now that everyone has been contacted and responded, here it is!

Congrats guys, I'll be sending your stuff out shortly. Hope you enjoy it all as much as I have. 

    
Posted by at 5:37 AM

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