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Back in mid-September, we reviewed the G-Project G-Boom, a killer Bluetooth boombox that easily slaughters everything else in its price range. It's a beast.
I reviewed the UE BOOM back in July and called it my favorite Bluetooth speaker. Four months and several speaker reviews later, it still holds that title. Today, UE is pushing out a firmware update to the speaker and adding new features to the Android app that makes it even more useful.
Everyone loves live events, be it concerts, sporting events, plays, or some other thing that I can't think of. As people, we love to watch other people do things. Sometimes we even like to watch other people while they watch other people. We're weird.
Home automation is a pretty cool thing, and it's becoming more popular and encompassing every day. The ability to turn off a light from the other side of the house (or world) is a pretty cool feeling, but it also provides peace of mind – the days of wondering if you shut everything off before leaving are quickly coming to an end.
Back at Google I/O 2013, Google Play for Education was announced. This is more or less a curated app market inside of Google Play that offers apps designed specifically for the classroom setting, which works well for both developers and teachers. As of today, Google Play for Education is officially open.
SuperSU Security Advisory: Update To Version 1.69 (Available Now) To Avoid Potential Exploits
SuperSU Security Advisory: Update To Version 1.69 (Available Now) To Avoid Potential Exploits
If you're a root user, listen up. Chainfire updated SuperSU to v1.69 as of last night, which fixes two exploits that could allow an attacker to leverage root privileges without first prompting the user. Probably nothing to get overly anxious about, but it's definitely a good idea to make sure you're running the latest. Details of these exploits will be released next Monday, so you'll want to grab the update before then.
Back in mid-September, NVIDIA announced a new platform called Tegra Note that aimed to not only bring $200 Tegra 4 slates to the market, but excellent stylus support using NVIDIA's DirectStylus technology, a "groundbreaking" camera experience, and superb audio as well. That's a tall order in a $200 device, but NVIDIA has proven that when it sets out to achieve a goal, it's generally successful at delivering on the promises made.
Guys, this is pretty nuts. GameStop is apparently trying to get rid of its remaining 2012 Nexus 7 stock, so it's slashing the price down to a Benjamin till they're all gone. That's a hell of a deal, especially considering KitKat is just around the corner for this device. And it'll probably run better than ever on KK thanks to Project Svelte.
About a month ago, Dropcam released Dropcam Pro ($199), an upgraded version of its previous camera, the Dropcam HD ($150). This new version boasts quite a few improvements over the HD version (which is now simply known as "Dropcam" and nothing more), like a wider field of view, increased zoom, improved low light vision (night vision), and better audio quality. So, basically everything. Well, everything that matters anyway. The real question is "how useful is it?" – it's not only useful, but versatile. It's small and light enough to put basically anywhere, and it's easy to move it around the house if need be. Let's take a closer look at what Dropcam Pro offers, not just compared to the original Dropcam, but also generally speaking.
When LG announced the G Pad 8.3, I was really excited. Finally, another entry into the eight-inch tablet market! Couldn't wait to get my hands on it and really dig in. Sadly, throughout my use of the tablet, my excitement slowly dwindled – when I opened the box and saw the device itself, I was more eager than ever to turn it on, but as time went on, the user interface just killed the experience for me. If ever a device existed that just had too much "stuff," this might be the one.
I've tried a lot of different password managers over the years (and even covered using KeePass and Dropbox to stay in sync on Android as one of my first posts on Android Police – nostalgic!) but switched to LastPass many months ago. I find it to be one of the easiest cross-compatible methods of keeping my passwords in sync across all of my devices. The one downside, however, is that the Android app (and web UI for that matter), is pretty hideous.
In my opinion, Photospheres are one of the coolest camera features of Android. I don't use them that often (not often enough, anyway), but I always take some new ones when I go visit my grandparents in Virginia, because the country up there is just too beautiful to ignore. These Photospheres give me something to look at when I'm feeling "homesick" for the place where I grew up.
It looks like Google learned a lot from the botched Nexus 4 launch. Not only did most orders seemingly go off without a hitch, but the company has already start shipping some orders. I got the notification about 20 minutes ago that my 16GB Nexus 5 has already shipped, and I'm not the only one – we've already received several tips from users saying the same thing.
If you do any sort of document editing from your phone, there's a good chance you've needed to print something at some point. Or maybe you need a quick copy of an image and don't want to go through all the trouble of transferring it to your computer and then printing. Or maybe there's some other scenario that I can't think of right now when you've needed to print something from mobile. No matter the situation, printing in Android has always been sort of a pain in the ass.
Well ladies and gents, the day is finally here. It's been a long road full of leaks and teasers, but the Nexus 5 is now available for sale and Google has released full details about KitKat. It looks like this is going to be the best version of Android to date (as if you expected anything less), and there's a lot to talk about. Let's dig in.
Vic Gundotra just announced what we've all hoped for (and kind of already anticipated): SMS is coming to Hangouts. Yes.
Since the dawn of mobile gaming, there have been numerous requests from traditional PC gamers for gaming keyboard support in Android. After all, an FPS is just more fun when you use WASD, right? Alas, this just isn't a thing – we live in a land of touch controls and Bluetooth gaming controllers. And SHIELD.
Sometimes you just need to get a new phone, and you want it right now. But you don't want to leave the comfort of your house. There really aren't many good options to fix this age-old quandary, but Verizon is looking to provide a solution in a handful of cities.
A few weeks ago, we took a look a the BLU Life Play, which was our first foray with a BLU device. It's an impressive device that keeps the costs down by cutting corners in all the right places, which of course made me interested in other BLU devices, so the company sent me its newest handset, the massive 5.7-inch Life View. Internally, it's basically the same as the Life Play, but externally it couldn't be more different. It features a more refined aesthetic – whereas the Life Play seems more whimsical and "fun," the Life View is more "professional." The massive screen is beautiful to look at, and the overall build quality is absolutely fantastic. In short, I am once again impressed with what BLU has to offer for less than $300 (the Life View is $290).Let's jump in.
The first time I went hands-on with the NVIDIA SHIELD, I knew I was playing with something awesome. At the same time, I knew there was so much hidden potential under its hood – like the ability to play all those games not optimized for controllers. You know, like NBA JAM or Paper Monster. I desperately craved one thing: button mapping software. Hell, I made that desire pretty clear when talking about the new Archos Gamepad 2. It's like NVIDIA heard my plea from afar and delivered with haste, because the newest OTA includes what NVIDIA is calling Gamepad Mapper, a stupid-simple button mapping solution that makes virtually any game compatible with SHIELD's controller. It's amazing.