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Flying is already unpleasant enough with all the TSA body scanners and unruly children kicking the back of your seat and screaming their heads off until you just have to scream back at them and the flight attendant has to ask you both to stop, but she also gives you some pretzels to make you feel better... adding a crappy mobile app in the mix is just too much. Luckily, the United Airlines app has just gotten a big 2.0 update.
Who's got time to sit down and watch the news? No one, that's who. Watchup aims to save you from uninteresting news and endless hunting around on the web by building a newscast especially for you. Just set your preferences and the app delivers the good news right to your tablet.
No sooner did we figure out Google added support for private YouTube videos to the Chromecast, than live videos started working as well. We've been checking around and it looks like almost every live stream is working on the Chromecast, but only from a desktop web browser right now. The Android app still reports an incompatibility with live streams.
Google I/O registrations were supposed to open in just a few hours so developers and people who love free stuff could deluge Mountain View with applications. That's not happening, though. The Google Developers G+ account has posted an update stating the registration window has been pushed back to next week.
The Chromecast has been evolving rapidly over the last few months. After getting a final SDK and a whole boatload of new apps, Google has now added support for private YouTube videos. Yes, you can cast any private video you've got to the Chromecast. Embedded videos gained support back in February as well.
Dropbox is probably the king of cloud storage. Well, if not the king, at least a high-ranking duke or something. So a great many people will be happy to hear the app is getting an update today to version 2.4, bringing with it a few design tweaks, as well as an interesting feature for linking new computers.
Sony has steadfastly refused to abandon its smart watch plans for Android Wear, which is totally its call. It might not work out well down the road, but you can get your hands on Sony's latest Smartwatch SW2 right now on the cheap. How cheap? Just $119.99 with free shipping (continental US only).
Mondays can be rough, but a few deals on cool apps and games could turn things around. It's almost like Friday on a Monday. Well, maybe not. Saving money is fun and all, but I'm sorry I got your hopes up like that. It's still Monday.
It's not just the big guys following T-Mobile's lead in the way phones and plans are sold. US Cellular is announcing new no-contract plans and financed device options today. It's more or less the same deal you get at other carriers, but with some cheaper tiers.
The Galaxy S5 is only days away from its official release, and Samsung is probably going down the long checklist for a flagship phone launch. Somewhere on the agenda is updating apps to support the new device. As such, the new US-only Milk Music app has been updated just for the GS5.
Well, you knew it was going to happen sooner or later. No sooner was s-off packaged up for the masses, than a flashable ZIP was created to turn the standard Sense-laden M8 into a Google Play Edition device. This process is not for the faint of heart – you could break things and render your phone useless. For the brave or foolhardy, read on.
There's nothing like a completely open device if you really want to tweak things and flash all sorts of ill-advised software. HTC isn't going to make it easy, though. Getting s-off is necessary to do all that fun stuff, and now the recently released Firewater tool has been updated with support for the M8.
Add another couple names to the ever-growing list of Chromecast enabled apps. Rhapsody has just announced that Rhapsody and Napster subscribers can now play their tunes via the Chromecast.
Okay, so Google TV didn't work out exactly as Google probably hoped it would. While not technically dead, Google TV is at least on life support while Google pushes the $35 Chromecast dongle. If you still want to give Google TV a shot, Groupon is offering an Asus Cube for less (after rebate) than the cost of a Chromecast.
Sony's latest and greatest is getting a little bit better today as an update for the Xperia Z2 begins making its way out to devices. The Z2 was already on Android 4.4 KitKat, so there's no change on that front. The update (version 17.1.A.2.55) does include a number of notable tweaks and improvements, though.
Graphene is an amazing material. How amazing? Graphene is composed of a single layer of carbon atoms joined in a hexagonal lattice – it's incredibly strong, light, highly conductive, and nearly transparent. It has been put forward as the key to advancing everything from flexible displays to semiconductors that can save Moore's Law. For all that promise, graphene is still rare in consumer applications due to the difficulty in producing it. Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology might have finally found a way around that.
Google is enhancing the previously announced app content indexing in mobile search results. This feature was previously only available with a few apps and in limited regions, but now it's going worldwide (for English language content) and includes a bunch of new apps.
Attention residents of the UK, Canada, and Australia: Google would like to ask you some questions. In exchange you will be paid exactly one pittance. Don't complain or they'll cut it to, like, 0.75 of a pittance. But hey, free money is free money. All you have to do is grab the newly updated Google Opinion Rewards app and wait patiently for Google to call your number.
If you come across an embedded video online that isn't piped in from YouTube, odds are pretty good that it's running on JW Player. The HTML5 and Flash video player from this company is used on more than 2 million websites including Kickstarter, Electronic Arts, and ESPN. That's why it's kind of a big deal that JW Player is adding support for Chromecast.
According to a report from The Information, Google held a series of talks with Verizon Wireless in January covering a range of issues. A source familiar with the talks says one item on the agenda was Google's interest in becoming a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in markets where it offers Google Fiber. This isn't the first time a Google phone carrier has been rumored, but this might be the first time Android is strong enough to withstand the inevitable blowback from established carriers.