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When you search for certain artists, movies, or figures, Google sticks a card within the results that displays background information all in once place. This way you can potentially get what you need without having to click on a single link. Recently the company started giving video games this same treatment.
People are still waiting to get their hands on invites to use Inbox by Gmail, but as those trickle in, Google's pushing out more ways to access to service. We've already provided a hands-on look at the Android app. Users can also interact with their spiffy new inbox in a web browser by heading to inbox.google.com.
Android-powered desktops are a niche purchase, but there are use cases where one can come in handy. HP's aimed its Slate21 Pro PC at the business and education market, where having a virus-free machine that can browse the web and type up the occasional document is enough to fit the bill. The all-in-one generally retails for $379.99, but today Groupon is offering one up in new condition for just $249.99. That's a pretty substantial 34% discount off the MSRP and $50 less than what the PC goes for on Amazon.
Looking for a parking spot can get frustrating regardless of where you live, but it's particularly annoying in the heart of urban areas where not just parking spots, but parking lots, are difficult to come by. The new CitySpot app for Google Glass can help with this. Without taking their eyes off the road, drivers can turn to it to find nearby parking.
Update 9/26/14: The price has dropped another to $379.99.
When Android runs on a TV, it's still Android, there are just a few checks in place to make sure users aren't installing unprepared phone apps to their big screens all willy-nilly, creating the kind of awful UI experience that could make a techie cry and any one else scrunch their face in confusion. In a way, Google's only trying to protect us from ourselves. Most TV viewers will want nothing to do with such shenanigans, so only apps that have been updated and declared compatible with Android TV work with the platform out of the box.
Android has come a long way over the years, and there's less incentive to install a custom ROM than there used to be. Nevertheless, the desire is still there. CyanogenMod remains the most established and well-known option around, so it's no small thing when a new device gets supported. Two devices that have recently made the list include the Verizon Galaxy S5 (kltevzw) and the GSM version of the HTC One Mini 2 (memul).
I don't watch hockey, and the closest I've come to the sport consisted of living in Pittsburgh for a year and a half, a place where people adamantly stand by their NHL team. (I got caught in traffic when visiting just this weekend due to a Penguins game at the Consol Energy Center, only to see the same match on TV at the restaurant where we wound up that night.) Away from that city, I'm hard pressed to think of someone who can name more than a couple teams. So when I tell you that NHL 2K has come to the Play Store, that's pretty much all I know about the game.
The HTC One E8 is a plastic remake of the all metal M8 that sports identical specs with the exception of the camera (13MP vs the latter's 4 "UltraPixel"). With this being the case, it's only fitting that the pair get an OTA update at the same time. Sprint is now pushing one out to the two devices that introduces basically the same features across both.
Quite a while has past since there's been any Android-related news for Galaxy on Fire fans. The developers of the series that showed many gamers just how beautiful space could be and let them explore it on their mobile devices surprised a few folks when they said that the next entry would deviate from their action-oriented roots and transition into a strategy-focused MMO. Excuse me, make that a free-to-play strategy-focused MMO.
T-Mobile is pushing out an over-the-air update that will bump its Galaxy Tab 4 up to Android 4.4.4. This means that people who own this 8.0-inch LTE-enabled tablet will get to run the latest version of their mobile operating system for at least a week before 5.0 starts running out to various devices. Since this is a bugfix release, that's the biggest reason most users will have to look forward to this OTA. Too bad it will be a short-lived one.
Limbic has released Zombie Gunship Reality onto Google Play, a game that pretty much no one is able to play at the moment. It's available exclusively for Project Tango, an augmented reality project that has yet to ship on a device intended for general consumers. Unless there's an announcement in the works, one isn't intended for quite some time.
Update: While the message sent out to developers may be new, as it turns out, the information is not. It repeats what Google said back when it announced the availability of the Android 5.0 SDK. Here's the relevant passage.
Barnes & Noble and Samsung appear to be getting along pretty well, for the two companies have now unveiled their second joint tablet: the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 10.1. Just like the previous Nook tablet, this is a Galaxy Tab 4 10.1 with some added software tweaks that place emphasis on reading and consuming content from Barnes & Noble. The tablet is available for a launch price of $299 (following a $50 instant rebate), which puts it right in line with the price of the non-Nook version of the slate. Come November 1st, it may jump up to $349.
Every smartphone out there might not be able to use a microSD card, but it can take advantage of a full-sized flash drive. Hey, hear me out here. I'm well aware that Android phones don't come with big USB ports, but SanDisk has produced a flash drive that your phone or tablet can access wirelessly. While they're not a perfect solution to the problem of limited storage, they're one of the best options out there.When SanDisk introduced a 64GB flash drive back in January, it wanted $99.99 for the thing. Now, on Amazon, the price has dipped down to .95.
When it comes to pushing pixels and providing deeply immersive experiences, consoles have a leg up over Android devices. But this doesn't mean that phones or tablets don't have a role to play in couch-based gaming. Xbox One SmartGlass users can turn to the Android app as a way to manage their Xbox account and interact with others without having to back out of their game.
I know there are more than a few American readers who took a chance on this post, clicking on the headline even though they know the presence of Huawei's name likely means that everything they're about to read won't apply to them. The Ascend Mate 2 is one device that runs counter to this expectation. Huawei sells the phone directly to consumers online, including folks who live in the US. People who have already purchased the flagship device, or those who opt to purchase one in the future, now have the option to flash a version of the Team Win Recovery Project's custom recovery to their devices.
T-Mobile is currently pushing out an over-the-air update to its version of HTC's flagship phone that bumps the software up to Android 4.4.4. Interestingly enough, getting the latest version of KitKat isn't the highlight of this release. This OTA also comes with the suite of features bundled together as the HTC Eye Experience, which the manufacturer detailed in a selfie-themed event where it unveiled the Desire EYE.
JuiceSSH has hit the big 2.0, and to celebrate this occasion, developer Sonelli packed in a few extra changes and perks to get this party pumpin' (okay, that's probably not exactly the way the developmental process progressed, but this version of events just sounds juicier). This release brings in a vibrant UI redesign, one that gives terminal users transparent system bars. Folks can switch the color of this new layout by changing the theme, which they no longer need to be a pro user to do.
Yesterday we reported on the appearance of several redesigned emoji in the keyboard Google's rolling out with Android 5.0. In the piece, I concentrated on the improved consistency brought in by the tweaks. As it turns out, there was one more change hidden in plain sight among the others, and its importance shadows all others. Google has quietly addressed a bug report that has lingered for years.