Latest Articles
If there's a new product out there whose full potential has yet been realized, developer joaomgcd is ready to step in, showing how just about anything can be done with a Tasker plugin. AutoPebble turns the Pebble smartwatch into a wrist-bound remote control to just about anything you want (as long as it interacts with Android), and this video shows just what cool things AutoVoice and AutoRemote can do when working together. Now we have AutoCast, which expands this degree of control over to the Chromecast.
Most apps, excluding the free ones, cost you money. Few work to save you money. As it turns out, Automatic is that type of app. This little piece of software serves as a driving assistant that's less concerned about where you're going and more focused on how you get there. It keeps track of how you drive, alerting if you're accelerating (or braking) too hard, speeding, or engaging in other shenanigans that come back to bite you at the pump. It tracks these things, then provides a score, with higher scoring drivers ultimately saving the most money.
Verizon's Galaxy S5 pre-order is now available, and the Big Red really wants you to buy one. It's willing to sell you Samsung's latest flagship for $249.99 with a two-year activation and throw in a $50 mail-in rebate debit card. What makes this offer worthwhile is a complementary buy-one-get-one free deal that will not only include a free Galaxy S5 on the house, but an HTC One M8, HTC One M7, or Galaxy S4 instead if you would rather mix and match (or a Samsung ATIV SE if, for whatever reason, you'd rather walk out with a free Windows phone instead).
[New App] Inkling eBook Beta App Brings A Catalog Of Interactive Instructional Literature To Android
Physical books just aren't what they used to be. They're big, clunky, and far too heavy. Okay, they're precisely what they always were, but times have changed. Publishers have upped their game, shrinking complex books down into portable digital formats and adding in interactive elements to make them more engaging. One such publisher, Inkling, has now ported its catalog of books to Android. These are usable exclusively through its dedicated app, which is now available through the Play Store in beta form.
A new "People" section has popped up inside the Android Play Store app, and it doesn't require an update to hop into (we're still using 4.6.17). This corner of the market will point you towards other Android users, particularly those in your circles, and offer a look at what apps and content they're using. The area is accessible right from the app's sidebar, and it's significantly glossier than the similar "From familiar faces" section of the Play Store's home page.
Google won a lot of minds when it unveiled Android Wear, and Motorola made off with a ton of hearts when it followed up with the Moto 360. The thing is, not everyone wants a device that's so integrated with their Google accounts, and this leaves room for earlier smartwatch manufacturers to wiggle. The Sony SmartWatch brand has been around long enough to draw quite a few apps into its ecosystem, making it worth a look for some. We last saw the watch drop down to $140 from Rakuten. Now it's available for $130 one day only as an [ebay id="360880355531" text="eBay Daily Deal"]. This is $70 less than the watch's usual price, and $20 less than what it's going for on Amazon.
SwiftKey's New Evernote And Google+ Personalization Options Move From Beta To Stable In Version 4.4.5
SwiftKey's New Evernote and Google+ personalization options are stable.
Sometime last month, the beta version of SwiftKey gained the ability to pull from Evernote and Google+ to learn which words a user's trying to say. These joined the already long list of supported sources ranging from SMS and Gmail to Facebook and Twitter. The core functionality remains the same - just permit SwiftKey to access your social accounts and let those fingers fly.
CCleaner has knocked the filth and grime out of many a Windows machine, along with a few Mac ones, over the years. Now the program's coming to Android. A stable release isn't yet out, but developer Piriform has introduced a beta and is calling on eager testers to help it work out the kinks. How? By joining the company's new Google+ beta testing community. Afterwards, you should be able to download the app from the Play Store.
There's a cold, desolate world out there filled with the dying and the dead. Zombies limp around with aimless intent and organs still filled with the blood of their past lives. There's no point in trying to shoot them, for the world is already lost. Yet we still have places to be, and if one of us isn't going to survive this trip, it's going to be them. Racers, it's time to ride and run over anything that gets in the way.
Sony's typically quick about releasing the open source underpinnings of its devices. After having announced the Xperia T2 Ultra earlier this year, the company has now made the kernel files for the device available for download. The company's offering these files up for three variants of the device, the D5303, D5322, and XM50h. The software version for the first model is 19.0.1.A.0.207, while the latter two fall under 19.0.D.0.253.
The Galaxy S5 is set to launch on April 11th, but eBay's ready to throw a bone out to the more impatient among us. As a part of today's Daily Deals, the site is offering an unlocked Galaxy S5 for $699.99. That's nothing to sneeze at by any means, but it's more affordable than the same phone at Negri Electronics, where it's going for $720.50, or Newegg, where it's listed at a whopping $799.99.
Today Amazon announced FireTV, its new preferred set-top box for pumping media out to your TV. The $99 box primarily emphasizes shows, movies, and music, but it can also run apps and games. Now Amazon Game Studios has provided a sneak peek at what it's working on. These are games that, as the company describes underneath the first YouTube video, are "built from the ground up for Kindle Fire tablets and Fire TV." Whether any of this content will eventually arrive on other Android devices remains to be seen.
Samsung makes absolutely anything and everything that can fit inside a home. Whether it's the TV showing the big game, the refrigerator chilling the beer, the computer keeping track of everyone's fantasy rosters, the phone you silenced so no one can nag, or the washing machine needed to get that nacho cheese stain out, Sammy's got you covered. Now the Korean conglomerate has dropped an app in the Play Store for controlling many of its appliances from a single location, along with the requisite plugins to make it happen.
There are a ton of Samsung tablets out there, and while each model isn't always a winner, customers typically can't go too wrong with picking one up. Woot's currently got a deal that should save anyone looking to buy one quite a few bucks. Customers can get a 2014 Galaxy Note 10.1 with 32GB of storage for $384.99 (compared to $549 on Amazon and cheaper than the last deal we came across). On the lower, smaller end, we have the 16GB Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.0 going for $159.99. These are factory reconditioned devices, not new ones, but chances are buyers may walk away without being able to tell the difference.
Sprint started rolling out Wi-Fi calling earlier this year, but so far the carrier has only introduced the feature to a couple of eclectic devices. Now another device is making the list. Starting today, Sprint Galaxy Note 3 owners should receive an update enabling the feature. According to the change log, it doesn't look like this OTA will bring about anything else. The version number is N900PVPUCNC5.
BlackBerry's looking for ways to make money these days since producing phones just doesn't pay the bills like it used to, and it looks like BBM's latest app update - which has just gone live in the Play Store - introduces one such new approach. Starting with version 2.1 of the instant messaging app, users can head over to the freshly opened BBM Shop and walk out with any of a variety of sticker packs. The idea isn't at all new, but that doesn't make it any less amusing. Each of BBM's packs contain around 20 to 25 stickers. Some go for free, but others cost $1.99.
When it comes time to learn a new language on a mobile device (what, you haven't?), Duolingo is the first that comes to mind. But let's say you've completed everything that app has to offer - what then? Lingua.ly has arrived for Android, and it's ready to help newcomers learn any of over twenty languages.
[April Fools] Toshiba Reveals DiGiT - Another Fake Wearable Glove, But One That Gets It Right
This one might be great if it was real.
For April 1st, Samsung and HTC have both unveiled teched-out gloves that poke fun at the current wearables trend everyone is pursuing, but no one has quite yet figured out. As it turns out, another manufacturer has had the same idea. Meet DiGiT, the high-tech glove from Toshiba.
Google releases new Auto Awesomes all the time. Sometimes it makes pictures snow. Sometimes they sparkle. On certain days, pictures even fall in love. These are amusing, but today's new addition is something more. Nothing can turn an average picture into something memorable like a celebrity photobomb. So Google and David Hasselhoff are here to deliver.