20
Mar
currentstiny

Google Currents Update Adds Support For Audio Playlists, Media Bars, And Audio Controls

Posted by in Applications, News

Google released an update to the news reader it hasn't abandoned today, adding a bunch of support for audio-centric features. Playlists are now available for editions that contain audio content, and users will be able to play, pause, and jump forward or backward in the playlist. There are even status bar controls added for when audio is playing, so you don't have to sit staring at a blank playback page while listening.

Here's the full change log:

What's in this version:

* Audio playlist for editions with audio
* Audio media bar in app for stop, start, next, previous
* Story scanner audio icons for launching Audio directly
* Status bar audio controls when Currents audio is playing
* Syncing post read state between devices
* Bug fixes

It sounds a lot like Google is gearing up to make Currents more than just a guided content scraper.

11
Mar
remoteplayicon

[New App Hands-On] RemotePlay Is A Fantastic Idea For Cross-Device Media Streaming, But Right Now It's Basically Unusable

Posted by in App Reviews, Applications, News

A few days ago, a pair of apps called RemotePlay and RemotePlayM by new Android developer Piddas21, a subsidiary of Taiwanese Quanta Computer, hit the Play Store ahead of SXSW. The idea is great - media and document sharing in real-time, across multiple platforms, such as Android, iOS, and Windows 8. Want to easily stream a video from your Nexus 4 to your iPad? No problem - it should be as simple as dragging it to a bucket with your iPad's name on it, and voila - you're watching a video on the big screen.

Note: At the time of this writing, both the iOS and Windows 8 versions were still in development, though they should be coming soon.

17
Dec
rockplayernewtiny

RockPlayer v2 Comes Out Sporting A Brand New UI, Sharing Between Devices, Gesture Control And More

Posted by in Applications, News

Forget all those people streaming their movies from the likes of Netflix and Hulu. You like to have a proper collection of video files. You want to own them and watch them wherever you want. RockPlayer, the all-purpose media player app for Android, has been a crowd favorite for just this purpose for a while, even if it's been lacking a bit of luster. Well, today that changes with a huge update to the interface that makes it both prettier and far more functional.

Have a look at the before and after:

rockplayerold1 rockplayerold2 rockplayerold3

Before

As you can see, the old version is all Gingerbread-y and has a god awful, ugly interface for exploring videos with no indication of what you're about to play besides the name.

03
Dec
2012-12-03_12h04_38

MediaMonkey, The Desktop Media Player, Now Has An Android Counterpart, Syncs Over WiFi And Other Cool Stuff

Posted by in Applications, News

In the desktop world, there is virtually no end to the number of music and video managers out there. MediaMonkey was one of the not-quite-legendary-but-still-popular options that excelled for its ability to change tags and run custom scripts. Now, users of this program can sync to their phones without going through an extra program with the MediaMonkey for Android beta.

mm1 mm2 mm3

The beta APK is currently available over on Reddit, and obviously comes with some disclaimers, and you'll have to install the newest version of the Windows app to use it. Once you've done that, though, there a host of features already available:

Content Navigation for Music, Audiobooks, Podcasts, Video, ...

03
Dec
xbmctiny

XBMC For Android Finally Gets Its Own Official Release (Codenamed 'Frodo'), No Messy Compiling Required

Posted by in Applications, News

When last we left our heroes XBMC for Android, the group behind the open source multimedia manager had announced that it would be bringing support to the platform soon. Of course "soon" isn't a word that tweakers like to hear, so some enterprising fellows compiled the source code into an APK for your testing pleasure, with all the disclaimers that entails. Today, however, a more official app is being distributed by the team with a hefty 'beta' tag attached.

2012-12-03 11.00.38

The team also took this opportunity to point out that if your device doesn't support the NEON extension, this app simply won't work for you.

19
Sep
image

Wi-Fi Alliance Launches Miracast Certification Program – Samsung Galaxy SIII And LG Optimus G Among Devices Already Certified

Posted by in Android OS, Galaxy S III, News, Optimus G

Wi-Fi Alliance, the go-to association for certification of wireless LAN technologies, today announced the launch of its Miracast certification program.

For those unaware, Miracast is a new wireless display technology that allows users to "transmit" or stream video or other media content from one device to another quickly, easily, and wirelessly using Wi-Fi Direct. The technology essentially offers a mirrored display experience with low latency and responsiveness that's just what you'd hope for.

A major benefit of Miracast is that it is expected to become a standard used across a wide range of products from an even wider range of manufacturers.

26
Aug
image

Samsung Announces Galaxy Player 5.8 – Ample 5.8" Display, 2500mAh Battery Included

Posted by in Galaxy Player 5.8, News

True to a rumor we saw earlier this month about a possible addition to Samsung's Galaxy Player line, the Korean manufacturer has just unveiled – via Samsung Tomorrow – the ginormous Galaxy Player 5.8.

image image

As the name would imply, the Galaxy Player 5.8 features a huge, large, ample, plentiful 5.8" LCD display that buyers can only hope will fit in their pocket. The downside here is that the display carries a resolution of just 960x540. To make up for that, however, the player houses an awesome 2500mAh battery pack for hours upon hours of media enjoyment. We aren't privy to the upcoming device's full spec sheet just yet, but here's what we do know: the Galaxy Player 5.8 will also come with either 16 or 32GB internal storage, a microSD slot, a front facing VGA camera, and Android 4.0 running with Touch Wiz on top.

14
Aug
unnamed

RealPlayer For Android Comes Out Of Beta – RealNetworks SVP Uomoto: 'This Is The Media Player That People Want'

Posted by in Applications, News

RealPlayer, one of the most well-known media playing solutions available for desktops, has received its own Android app, which came out of beta and hit version 1.0 (officially 0.0.1.0) today. In a press release, Scott Uomoto (SVP Consumer and Helix Divisions, RealNetworks) boldly stated that "this is the media player that people want."

Despite any preconceived notions you may have about RealPlayer, the official Android app already has overwhelmingly high ratings and a somewhat decent feature list – first off, RealPlayer can be used to centralize not just your music, but videos and photos as well. The app also features optimized graphics "for high-res devices" (though the app's interface isn't great), lastFM scrobbling, voice commands for search, lockscreen functionality, video bookmarking, and more.

24
Jul
viziocostar

Vizio Co-Star Now Available For Pre-Order For $99, Ships By August 14th

Posted by in News, Vizio

Google I/O has come and gone with nary a mention of Google TV. Disheartening to say the least, but that doesn't mean that the platform is dead. Not while manufacturers keep making products for it. Products like the Vizio Co-Star. For $99, the Co-Star sits in the right sweet spot for Google TV device pricing. Combine the price with a remote that's smaller than a plank of wood, and OnLive gaming built right in, the little box actually looks like a pretty sweet deal. If Google TV is your thing, that is.

costarpreorder

Estimated shipping for this device starts on August 14th.

12
Jul
boeing

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Jets To Be Outfitted With Android-Powered Entertainment Systems

Posted by in Android OS, News

Though we've seen Android run on a number of devices beyond just phones and tablets, it's always nice to see another company turn to Android for specialized purposes. It seems that Boeing is doing just that, having recently unveiled Android-powered entertainment systems for their 787 Dreamliner jet.

Boeing announced that it will offer two different entertainment systems for the 787, both of them running Android - the Panasonic eX3, and the Thales TopSeries Avant. However, more specific details have only been announced for the Thales model, which was shown off during a demonstration at the Farnborough International Airshow.

The TopSeries Avant was shown in both 10" and 17" sizes, and for such specialized devices they feature fairly modern specs: a dual core ARM processor and 1GB RAM, and a whopping 256GB of storage, due to the fact that they are primarily media devices.

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