Eric Ravenscraft
Eric is a snarky technophile with a taste for the unusual. When he's not obsessing about Android, you can usually find him obsessing about movies, psychology, or the perfect energy drink. Eric weaves his own special blend of snark, satire, and comedy into all his articles.

06
Dec
google logo

Google+ Is The 'Fastest Growing Network Thingy Ever': 500m Users Upgraded, 235m Active Across Web, 135m In The Stream

Posted by in Google, News

As if the news out of Google couldn't get any hotter today, the company decided to just casually announce that it has over 500 million users with Google+ accounts, 235 million of whom are active "across Google" which means anything from +1ing things in various Google products to "connecting with friends in Search"...whatever that means. The most important stat, though, is 135 million users are active in the stream. That means, if we can assume past definitions are still true, those users either visit plus.google.com or use the mobile app to view content.

In other words, it's time to stop pretending that Google+ is a ghost town.

06
Dec
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Snapseed, The Image Editor That Google Bought After It Won iPad App Of The Year, Is Now On Android

Posted by in Applications, Google, News

There are no shortage of image editors on Android. Even Adobe, which makes the class-leading Photoshop, has a version of its editor on the platform. Today, though, Google gets one of its very own: Snapseed. You may recall this particular piece of software when it was demoed by NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang at CES this year. At the time, it was only available on the iPad where it had won App of the Year in 2011. Shortly thereafter, Google bought the company. Now, the Android version is finally being released.

This video is a bit older and shows off the iOS version, but you get the idea.

06
Dec
2012-12-06_10h31_22

Google+ Starts Rolling Out 'Communities', Finally Adds The Group Functionality It So Desperately Needed

Posted by in Google, News

One of the biggest problems with Google+ has been its inability to create a group wherein all peers are equal. You can create a hashtag that everyone can post to but you can't control the membership of, or a Page that a few moderators can share to, but it's difficult to add users to (for non-public posts, Pages can only add users to circles once they add the Page first). Communities finally fixes this problem by creating public or private groups that anyone within can share to.

The Communities feature includes everything you would expect from a separate group:  you can submit public posts that everyone can see, or just private posts that only members can access.

05
Dec
2012-12-05_15h19_05

These 28 Android-Powered Spheros Dance The Dance Of Their Robotic People To The Sounds Of The Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Posted by in Android OS, News

Alright, yes. We've spent over a month getting upset because Christmas starts just way too dang early these days. It's December now, though. Is it finally okay to get in the holiday spirit a bit? Cool. Because these Spheros—robotic balls that can be remotely controlled by Android and carry an array of sensors and lights—are beautiful. The company behind the bots choreographed these 28 units to the tune of Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24, as performed by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

For the unaware, the song is a mashup of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen and Carol of the Bells, originally recorded by Savatage on the album Dead Winter Dead.

05
Dec
2012-12-05_12h33_38

Sony Announces Xperia E And E Dual, Low-End Jelly Bean Handsets, Optional Dual-SIM

Posted by in News, Sony

Sometimes, it can be a bit arguable what counts as a "low end" phone these days. Even cheap phones are so powerful that calling them anything lower than mid-range can seem insulting. This one, however, makes us pretty comfortable with the moniker. With a 1GHz Snapdragon S1 processor, a 320x480 TFT display, and a 3.2MP rear camera, the Xperia E fills out Sony's budget line just fine.

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Optionally, the Xperia E Dual has the option for dual SIM card slots, which is great for business users, and those who need to work with multiple networks. And, in what must be a treat for anyone looking to buy on this end of the handset market, the regular E ships with Jelly Bean, while the E Dual will receive the upgrade soon.

05
Dec
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[Update] Nexus 4 Returns To T-Mobile Yet Again, Only Now The Subsidized Price Is $400? What?

Posted by in News, Nexus 4, T-Mobile

Getting your hands on Google's latest iconic Android handset seems to just get harder and harder as the holidays approach. Today, T-Mobile has the device back in stock yet again, however, the subsidized price is now bizarrely raised to $400 with a 2-year contract for existing customers. Um, T-Mobile...what?

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This is still $100 off the "Suggested retail" price, which hasn't changed, but it's still $50 more expensive than buying it from Google outright. It's unclear if this is a mistake on T-Mobile's part, or if the company has been forced to raise the price for economic reasons. It's also possible that existing T-Mobile customers can get a lower price depending on the state of their contract, but this requires a log in to see.

04
Dec
netflixlogo

Netflix Signs Deal With Disney To Get First-Run Movies In 2016, Huge Library Right Now, US Streaming Exclusivity

Posted by in News

In times past, there have been concerns about Netflix' ability to continue acquiring rights for streaming video content. The more users the company gets, the more pressure there is to get high-profile content. After the loss of the Starz deal, there was some doubt, but today there is a renewed hope for fans of Netflix and Disney at least: the two just inked a deal that will bring first-run movies from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, Marvel, and Disneynature to the streaming service in 2016. This deal will also make Netflix Disney's exclusive streaming subscription partner. Not bad!

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The new movies will be coming to Netflix in what sounds like an extremely early window.

04
Dec
googledevlogo

Google I/O Dates Announced: May 15th-17th 2013, Registration Details Will Be Announced February 2013

Posted by in Google, News

Is it that time of year already? Time to start planning for Google's annual developer conference! The software giant just announced that I/O 2013 will be taking place May 15th-17th at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco. No word yet on prices for tickets or when you can get your hands on them, but those details should be coming in February of next year.

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Those who have been paying attention over the last couple of years will know that I/O typically sees the launch of a new version of Android as well as some free gifts given out to developers.

04
Dec
2012-12-04_12h26_38

Andru, The Loveable Bugdroid Charging Adapter, Now Available In White 'Chill' Version For $25

Posted by in Accessories, News

You remember this little guy? Of course you do. He's freaking cute, how could you not remember? Don't act like you don't want one. Everyone does. However, if you've loved the idea but were holding out for one in white, today's your lucky day. Right now, the useful bugdroid buddy has gone on sale in a new 'Chill' flavor. Perfectly white with a nice silver accent along the neckline. Fantastic.

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If you want in on this, best to order sooner rather than later, as Android paraphernalia tends to go rather quickly. As with the previous versions, this adapter supports 120~240V AC current, comes with a 1.2m micro-USB cable, posable arms and glowing blue eyes to make you feel safe at night.

04
Dec
2012-12-04_11h41_24

Google's Knowledge Graph Expands To Several New Languages Including Spanish, French, Russian And Japanese

Posted by in Google, News

Under the hood of Google Now, powering all those beautiful cards that pop up when you search for certain things, is Google's Knowledge Graph. In what might be the company's most ambitious project ever, Google aims to categorize and classify all information so that when you search for, say, Jeff Goldbum, the search engine knows you might also be interested in information about Chaos Theory or survival tips for raptor attacks. Today, the company announced an extension to this already-huge product: availability in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, and Italian. Pretty huge.

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As Google briefly explains, this endeavor is about more than just translating words ("'football' means something quite different in the U.S.

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