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Mar

Facebook Quietly Begins Rolling Out Free Voice Calling In Messenger App For UK Residents

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Facebook has been slowly rolling out VoIP calling to its Messenger app in an effort to make it the single, unified source for all your communication needs (before Google can). Today, it apparently took another baby step forward by granting UK users of the mobile app the ability to connect for free (minus data charges where applicable) to anyone they're friends with.

At the moment the service doesn't seem to have rolled out to all users yet, and it may even still be a bit buggy (the slow expansion is partially to conduct tests, after all). However, the important thing is it's coming.

Mar

Closer Look: Google Keep Actually Shipped With A New (Serif) Font – Introducing Roboto Slab [Download]

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

Google Keep, the app that Goog sprung as (almost) a surprise recently, is interesting. Its functionality is undoubtedly handy, and – if Google chooses to pursue the service in earnest – it could actually be a decent competitor to other note taking apps like Evernote.

Something else has had us interested though, and that's Keep's UI and UX. There are a few weird things going on, but one stuck out: what is that serif font? The font, for those who don't know, appears only in some parts of the app. Notably, it comprises the text of every note. This is only the case for the mobile app, however.

Mar

[Trailer] Gameloft's Official Iron Man 3 Endless Runner Game Lands April 25th, Melts Your Face With Snark And Explosions

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

Iron Man 3 is coming out soon. If you haven't seen the trailers, suffice to say it's going to be awesome. It's the first Marvel movie featuring the main set of heroes after the Avengers took over the world's economy. Until it comes out, though, Gameloft wants to sate your appetite with the official Iron Man 3 game, an endless runner-style title that has fewer giant monkeys and more things going KERPLOW.

The gameplay trailer shows us much of how it works and it's all pretty standard fare. Gameloft has never been the developer to stray too far from the mainstream.

Mar

Google Translate Adds 51 Offline Language Packs, Lets You Tear Down The Language Barrier Without A Network Connection

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

Google Translate has always been one of the unsung heroes of the free service space. On the one hand, it doesn't provide a perfect translation, so people are still hesitant to call it a true breakthrough. On the other hand, we use it all the time to translate web pages enough to get the gist and, when combined with speech-to-text and text-to-speech, you can use the Android app as the closest thing to a universal translator in your pocket the world has ever seen. Now, it's getting even better with offline language packs.

Starting today, you can download any of the 51 language packs available and have always-on access to translation between any combination of the ones you've chosen.

Mar

Google Adds Live Transit Info To Google Maps For Seven NYC Subway Lines, Buses And Trams In Salt Lake City

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, Google, News

Back in 2011, Google added the ability to keep up with live transit updates to Google Maps. After all, commuters in big cities that require cars to get around (like my own Atlanta), have traffic info for highways. Why not people who primarily use the subway to get around? One glaring omission from that service, though, was the New York City subway system. Today, that problem is rectified.

Starting today, seven lines of the MTA will show live arrival and departure times for stops along their routes. Additionally, public transit users in Salt Lake City can get the same information for buses and trams in their area.

Mar

Todoist Updated With Widget, Tons Of New Features; Karma Coming Soon

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Device Updates

Though you may not know it from looking at the version number, Todoist - the self-proclaimed "ultimate todo list," - got a sizeable upgrade today to 1.0.4. The update brings with it a bevy of new features, a handful of enhancements, and the promise of a new feature called Karma that's already implemented on seven out of the nine platforms Todoist supports.

Among the new features that did make the cut for Android, however, are widgets, a persistent "quick-add notification," new settings, the ability to complete a task by swiping left, a redesigned task list, and initial support for tablets. On the "improvements" side of things, Todoist's latest update brings better accessibility, overall performance, and general UI/UX tweaks, among other things.

Mar

Here's Why You Need To Download Duck Retro Hunt Right Now: Do It

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

If you're old enough to have been around for the coolest parts of the 20th century, you know Duck Hunt. I don't need to explain this, do I? No. You know all about the bright orange gun and that annoying little dog and getting frustrated and walking right up to the screen and shooting an 8-bit duck point blank in the pixel. This is your childhood. And now, it's on your phone in a fantastic clone that utilizes the gyroscope in the best possible way.

Ignoring for just a moment the silly AR mode (which actually didn't work very well when I tried it), Duck Retro Hunt has one advantage over the myriad of Duck Hunt clones on the Play Store: instead of using a touch screen, you have to aim your phone in a gyroscope-powered virtual world to shoot the little birds.

Mar

[Update: Evernote Too!] Catch Notes Follows Google Keep's Example, Commandeers 'Note To Self' Voice Action—Wait, They Can Do That?!

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

When Google announced Keep last week, one of the coolest features we learned about is the ability to accept the "note to self" command that has been part of Google's Voice Actions since the Froyo days. Previously, this would send an email to your own account with the transcribed text and the original audio file. Keep allowed users to send that data to a proper note-taking app instead. Well, as it turns out, Catch wants in on that voice action, so in a recent update, it's added the ability as well.

You know that scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Mar

PUK Is A Fast-Paced Action Puzzle Game That-Wait, Holy Crap, What's Happening?!

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Games, News

I am going to show you a game. It costs about a buck on the Play Store and is very fun. However, once you begin playing it, you will have roughly five minutes until you either scream, demand a refund, or your head explodes. There are no other options. The game is called Puk. And it is insane.

The concept is simple. At the start of each level, you are given a set number of slingshot-able pucks (I get it!). You have to hit a number of large white circles on the play field with said pucks (...ohhh.

Mar

[Update: It's Live!] New Google+ App Brings Better Posts, Community Management, Location Sharing On Your Profile And More

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, Google, News

Today, Google announced a new update to the Google+ app that will be rolling out later today that brings a host of new features. For starters, the posts have been redesigned to look a little cleaner, provide more content up front, and are easier to interact with. For example, you can now swipe between photos in an album, and tapping content should take you directly to where you want to go. The current Google+ app has a problem with requiring the user to jump through several hoops to get to the meat of a post, so hopefully this makes things easier.