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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.

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Dec

[New App] NeroKwik Wants To Be Your Cross-Platform Photo Manager/Sharing App

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Start with a base of Google+'s Instant Upload, mix with about three cups of Instagram (sans filters, of course), add a dash of personal Pinterest and what you'll get is a photo sharing app from Nero that serves 3-5 platforms. The company that you best know for including a free trial of something DVD-related on any computer you bought in the last decade has released a free Android app that automatically uploads any picture you take on your phone to its central servers and makes it available on any device you have the app installed on. It actually sounds pretty nifty.

Nov

Facebook Is Rolling Out Its Instant Upload Competitor 'Photo Sync' To Users Starting Today

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

One of the coolest features about Google+ is its ability to automatically upload all the photos you take and then allow you to selectively share them at your convenience. While Facebook has been testing this same type of feature with a few users since August, the service is now rolling out publicly to everyone. As long as you have the most recent version of the Android app, you should be able to enable it soon.

It's a little unclear how long the rollout will take, but the feature should be seeing much wider availability. It won't be automatically enabled, though, don't worry.

Nov

Mozilla Wants To Bring Flash Back To Your Phone With An Open SWF Runtime - About Ten Years Too Late

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

I know. You thought Flash was long gone. You mourned the relationship and moved on. Having made peace with the past and exploring a bright future, you were ready to start a new life with HTML5. Now, thanks to Mozilla, your ex has come calling, bringing back all those old memories. But enough with the metaphors. The organization behind Firefox announced Shumway, an open SWF runtime project, today. With this, the company hopes to bring compatibility for Flash content back to the web, particularly on mobile. A lofty goal, given that Adobe, creator of the Flash format, isn't keen on that last part.

Nov

Samsung Announces Protective Flip Cover Multicolor Bundles For Galaxy S III And Galaxy Note II

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S III, News

Remember that odd plastic piece on the back of the Nexus 10? You could remove the part and replace it with a smart cover that remains physically attached to your device. Well, if you've wanted that same action on your Galaxy S III or Note II, now's your chance. Samsung's protective flip covers are going on sale.

Much like on the Nexus 10, these accessories will require that a part be entirely replaced in favor of an always-attached case. Only this time, it's the battery cover. As you can see in the pictures above, this flip cover is embedded in the rear of the phone and folds over to cover the screen.

Nov

Google Maps Navigation Goes Live In Mexico

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Update: Many of you in the comments along with @GoogleMexico have confirmed that navigation went live earlier today. Congratulations!

Google Maps Navigation(Beta) ahora disponible para Android en México. Descarga la versión más reciente en Google Play: goo.gl/DgNq8

— Google México (@googlemexico) November 28, 2012

Original story below:

It doesn't mean anything yet, and we'd be hard-pressed to tell you when it will mean something, but if you were to take a look at this help file listing countries where Google Maps Navigation is available, you'll see a relative newcomer to the crowd: Mexico. Countries have appeared here prior to their initial release before, so we can expect that support will be added before too long.

Nov

Google Drive Update Brings Native Spreadsheet Editing And Do You Really Even Care What Else? Because There's More

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Finally! Google Drive is receiving an update today that allows mobile users to view and edit spreadsheets in a native editor. That only took forever! There are a few other features, too, but give us a moment to bask in the glory of native spreadsheet editing. Ahhh. Ready? Let's continue.

^{I have seen the glory of the coming of the spreadsheet.}

In addition to this lovely new native editor, you can now also edit tables within Docs. You know, in the event you can peel yourself away from wonderful spreadsheets for even a moment! There are also a couple of new tweaks that have been added to help make things a little nicer for you.

Nov

Wal-Mart Is Currently Selling A Red Galaxy S III 920 To People Who Don't Read Too Closely

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Galaxy S III, News

So far, the red Galaxy S III has been limited strictly to AT&T. If you wanted to get your hands on that device in the color that denotes danger and sexiness (you know, in keeping with the whole calming 'nature' theme), then two-thirds of U.S. mobile users would have to switch carriers. Now, however, you can get a red Galaxy S III 920 from Wal-Mart as long as you don't mind it being a Lumia 920, running Windows Phone, and not being a Galaxy S III at all.

Wait, that's not right.

Someone at Wal-Mart is either very confused, very stupid, or brilliant and out to make Artem's day.

Nov

Photoshop Touch Updated To Support 7" Displays, Adds A Couple New Effects, Sharing Features

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Photoshop Touch may not be completely comparable to Adobe's desktop counterpart, but when you compare it to other photo editors on the Android platform, it's still the most powerful piece of software out there. At $10, it better be, too. Today, the best just got a bit better, especially if you own a Nexus 7. The app has improved support for 7" tablets. Though, there's a catch: the resolution on said tabs have to be 1024x768 or higher. Sorry, Galaxy Tab 2 7.0.

In addition, there are a few other performance tweaks added to this version. For starters, brush strokes have been made smoother (great news for anyone using this with a stylus), and a couple new effects have been added, including Lens Flare (pictured above) and Stamp Pattern.

Nov

今日は! The Amazon Appstore Is Officially Available In Japan

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Amazon, News

As part of the company's continued international expansion efforts, Amazon is now announcing that its Appstore is available in Japanese markets. Not a moment too soon, either, as in a couple of weeks, the Kindle Fire HD family will start selling in Japan (December 16th). Without an app market, it would be an even harder sell than a not-quite-Android tablet is now.

^{Image via Mitchey}

The Appstore will be bringing paid apps (good news, developers!) as well as Amazon's typical Free App of the Day promotion. One-click payments and access to Amazon Web Services also round out the list of features available to developers.

Nov

[Update: It's Live] Rdio Beta Review: Bugs Aside, Spotify Could Learn A Thing Or Two From This App

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News, Reviews

To call Rdio's latest beta a complete overhaul might be a bit of a misnomer. The feature set is largely the same, even if the design has gotten a facelift. However, seeing as the music streaming wars are heating up, it seems like a perfect time to take a second look at the service that always seems to play second fiddle to the behemoth that is Spotify.

Update: This version of the app is now live.

For the uninitiated, Rdio (ar-dee-oh) is a music streaming service with both web and Android-based applications. New users can get a limited amount of free music via the site.