Cameron Summerson
Contributing since March, 2011
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3396articles
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About Cameron Summerson
Cameron is a self-made geek, Android enthusiast, horror movie fanatic, musician, and cyclist. When he's not pounding keys here at AP, you can find him spending time with his wife and kids, plucking away on the 6-string, spinning on the streets, or watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on repeat.
Latest Articles
[I/O 2014] Samsung Gear Live Android Wear Smartwatch Announced, Available On Google Play Later Today
Welp, Samsung is getting in on the Android Wear game, as just announced at Google I/O. Its first AW watch is called the Gear Live, and it'll be available for purchase directly from Google Play later today (along with the LG G Watch). Unfortunately, there's no pricing info available yet. Samsung just released its PR for Gear Live, and it's going to cost $199. Not bad at all.
Android's L release is going to bring about a ton of new changes and improvements, and they took time to talk about a few of the most important today. That includes a new default runtime, improved graphics, and improved battery life.
During the presentation for the L release, Google talked a little bit about the new search experience in Google Now. Firstly, there's a huge focus on animations and fluidity, with animations running at a super fluid 60 FPS (this is LEGO). It looks so good.
We knew this was coming, but Google just showed off the Android L release at I/O 2014. The entire thing appears to be based off off what we've come to know as Quantum Paper, but they're actually calling it Material Design in the release. It's so sexy.
There's no denying that Samsung's current tablet lineup is a convoluted, confusing mess for anyone outside of the tech circle – just in the current run we have the Galaxy Tab 4 7, 8, 10.1; Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition, Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1/12.2, and now the newest member of the family, the Galaxy Tab S. Deep down, I still wish they would've named it the Galaxy S Tab, just so we could call it the Galaxy Stab.
Hey, Spotify users – how's it going? It's about to be going even better, because with the latest update to the music streaming app, you can finally add full albums to playlists (I kind of can't believe this wasn't possible before), and it will also confirm if you try to add the same song to a playlist twice. Both are welcome features, and should improve the playlist experience pretty drastically – it'll definitely make it a lot easier to make playlists from the collected works of a single artist.
We've been hearing rumors about Android TV, Google's push to get Android into the set-top box market, for a while now, with the most recent leaks pointing towards a Google I/O announcement. Looks like we're definitely going to see Google take the wraps off of it tomorrow, as the Riptide GP2 dev prematurely posted a changelog that all but confirms it:
[Deal Alert] 16GB Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition For $300 With Free Shipping On eBay
[Deal Alert] 16GB Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition For $300 With Free Shipping On eBay
If you're ready to hop aboard the Samsung tablet train, the Note 10.1 2014 isn't a bad way to get started. It's a good size for productivity, has a beautiful display, and sports the S Pen for all sorts of fun stuff. Also, for right now, you can score a refurbished 16GB model from eBay for $300 with free shipping. That's a solid deal, especially considering Amazon is letting new models go for 0. That's a $180 savings right out of the box.
When it comes to pocketable speakers, there's generally one in particular that most people think of: the Jawbone Mini Jambox. Jawbone really made a name for itself with the original Jambox (which is really portable enough in its own right), so the only logical thing to do was make a larger version (the Big Jambox), as well as a smaller, more pocketable version.
Update 6/24: In a statement to Tmonews, T-Mobile has confirmed that it has a system in place that allows users (and UpgradeSwap) to check the IMEI to verify whether or not the device is being financed. You can find that tool here.
Maybe you want a huge tablet. 10.1-inches of screen just isn't enough for some people, which is fine. Samsung knows how those people feel, which is why it released the Tab Pro 12.2. And right now, refurbished models are going for $385 on eBay, which is a pretty substantial savings over Amazon's 5 asking price for new units. For those who may have forgotten, this is what the Tab Pro is working with:
Nest really is completely into this whole "home automation" thing, isn't it? The guys who put out the first smart thermostat and smoke detector have just entered into an agreement to buy Dropcam for $555 million monies. Oh, and in case you've forgotten, Google owns Nest. So, technically, Google is buying Dropcam. That's pretty sweet.
Look, let's keep this one short and sweet, shall we? OnePlus One purchase invites are hard to come by, and lots of people want them. It's unsurprising, really, as even our own Michael Crider objectively loved the phone. Hell, even Artem said it's all he's ever wanted in a phone. And he also loves its packaging.
We've been hearing rumors about Tegra-powered Chromeboooks for quite a while now (anyone remember the supposed Tegra 4-powered Chromebook Pixel?), but it looks like the first one could actually be set to release in early August. According to a product listing on Swedish retailer Komplett.se's site, the Acer-built Chromebook CB5 is packing a Tegra K1, 4GB RAM, a 32GB SSD, and a 13.3" HD display. Looking at images on the site, it appears that the device is sporting two USB 3.0 ports, an ethernet HDMI port, 3.5mm headphone jack, and an exterior that's ready to give the Samsung Chromebook 2 a run for its money.
Samsung has been on a KitKat spree lately, and it has just about covered most of its popular devices from the last two(ish) years with the update. Today, Verizon updated its support docs for the Galaxy SIII, which indicates that the update is on its way in the coming days, as well.
Several weeks ago I took a look at the Creative SoundBlaster AXX 200 portable Bluetooth speaker and came away less than impressed. It's chockfull of neat features, but really falls on its face in the sound department. Creative has a new speaker out now, however: the SoundBlaster ROAR ($200). There's a lot to live up to right out of the box with a name like ROAR, so I had pretty high expectations from this one.
We've been talking about Handy Apps' Expense IQ app for the past couple of weeks in a series of giveaways sponsored by the company. Today, we want to discuss how EIQ can help you manage money both short and long-term with the app's handy reports feature. In a nutshell, this option allows you to track expenses, income, cash flow, and balances on daily, monthly, or yearly timelines. It gets pretty granular, so you'll know exactly where your money is going.
The all-you-can-eat subscription service is available for basically everything these days: movies, music, games...and thanks to Oyster, books. For those unfamiliar with Oyster, the gist is very simple – pay $10 a month, read as much as you like. While Oyster has been around since late last year, today marks the launch of the company's Android app.