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I asked you back in 2013 which streaming music service you paid for - if any - and now a little over a year later, I think it's time for an update. Last time we held this poll, a full 50% of respondents indicated they paid for Google Play Music All Access (at least, it was the paid service they used most), with a sharp drop-off for Spotify, in second place at 14%. The next most popular option was, unsurprisingly, local media, with locker services like Amazon, Play Music sans All Access, and Subsonic next in line.
In the realm of wall-tethered wireless speakers, there isn't a great shortage of high-end brands. B&O Play, Sonos, and Bose are probably getting the lion's share of revenue in this space, considering the absolutely bonkers prices of some of their products. They all offer something, too - with B&O, you buy into the striking European style of Bang & Olufsen. Sonos offers a unified, proprietary communication protocol with good platform support and a variety of speakers and price points. And Bose offers the Bose name, which as I recall did mean something circa 2003 daytime TV infomercials (I kid, I kid - sort of, their connected speakers look terrible).Once you start diving down below the $400-500 range or so, though, compromises quickly start appearing. Wall-tethered units actually dry up pretty quickly below this price point, unless you're talking glorified clock-radios that probably haven't seen much changes aside from Bluetooth and an iPhone dock delete in the last few years. Admittedly, it's probably because demand for them is plummeting - portable, battery-powered Bluetooth speakers are all the rage, and there's no fussing with cables.Some of us, though, would like something - just one speaker - for the living room or the bedroom that won't be getting moved often, but isn't just a tarted-up bedside speaker dock. And we'd prefer it A.) not be exceedingly ugly (perhaps even, dare I say, attractive!), B.) have a variety of [open and closed-protocol] connectivity options, and C.) sound genuinely good.Now, at $600, the Marshall Woburn is probably already too pricey for many of us, myself included, but hear me out: this is as low-compromise a premium Bluetooth sound system as I've ever seen. It's also the best-looking, by far.
Update: Bans are occurring on at least one other 3rd-party WhatsApp client, WhatsAppMD, so it can likely be assumed that any usage of a 3rd-party WhatsApp client at the moment may get you temporarily banned, at least until workarounds are developed. According to the developer of WhatsAppMD, the fix may be as simple as changing the app signature to match the official app's. If that solution does work, you'll likely see it implemented shortly.
This weekend's poll asks a simple question, but it's an interesting one nonetheless, I think: do you prefer your smartwatch round or square?
The internet of things may be the most overused, annoying, comically oversimplified tech term of 2014, dreamt up by some winnovator god knows when, but it was the keystone (and keynote) of an increasingly schizophrenic CES that, in the last few years, has been searching for a more cohesive theme.
The cost of smartphones on average, it's no secret, has generally been tumbling around the world in the last couple of years. With many OEMs scrambling to cram specification sheets at lower and lower prices, competition in the low end of the smartphone segment is hotter than ever.
Do you know what RF pocket forming is? Neither do I! But if I told you it was potentially the way your future gadgets would be able to charge themselves over the air sans any wires or pads or other surfaces, would you be interested? I know I was, and that's what a relatively little-known company called Energous is hoping will get your attention.Energous, despite not being particularly recognized outside its respective industry, is doing something with charging that seems legitimately revolutionary, and I had a chance to sit down and observe the technology in action. The thought of ditching your various docks, pads, cables, and wall warts in exchange for a box you stick on a wall or a table that charges your various stuff directly over the air, I admit, seems almost magical. We've all longed for the day that true over-the-air power transmission was a practical reality, and while I fully recognize we aren't there yet, Energous is likely the best bet that dream has had to date. They call their technology WattUp.
LG's just announced the G Flex 2 here at CES, and we had a chance to go hands-on with the company's next curvy smartphone. First, though, let's get the technical bits out in front.
Last week, we saw Hyundai announce that it would be the first auto manufacturer to provide Android Wear support for its cars, in the form of remote actions that can be initiated on your smartwatch. Pretty cool stuff. But Android Auto is probably even cooler - navigation, music controls, voice dictation, and other functions will soon be made possible in vehicles by your smartphone, instead of some ancient infotainment system from hell.
It's here, or, well, it will be here shortly: the day you can start your car with only a watch and your voice. Hyundai is announcing that its official Blue Link app (which, to be fair, reviews pretty badly) will be gaining Android Wear support in "early 2015." The company will be demoing the new app at CES, though, along with its Android Auto-powered 2015 Sonata concept.
For the impatient: the AOSP song is at about 6:30 into the show and amazing. That's right, our own very talented Matthew Smith and Bob Severns have produced a holiday-themed mini-episode of the Android Police Podcast, and it's downright festive.
Ever been to AndroidTV.com? I doubt it! But you probably have been to android.com/tv, which is the official site for Google's new Android TV platform unveiled at Google I/O earlier this year. The former URL, though, isn't owned by Google at all - and that's apparently been cause for friction.If you're the kind to pay attention to domain name disputes involving major companies (admittedly, boring stuff), you're probably aware that most corporations are very active in fighting what is known as "squatting" - wherein a domain registrant either holds a domain for "ransom" or attempts to use the domain's name to confuse or misdirect customers into believing their product or service is somehow related to another product, company, or service.AndroidTV.com was the subject of an ICANN UDRP hearing back in March. The complainant? Google, of course. Android TV was yet to be unveiled, but Google's legal team was clearly already starting to scout out potentially confusing or otherwise infringing domains to gather up and squash. The thing is, though, Google lost the dispute - ICANN's panel determined that because of the particular licensing-dos-and-don'ts of the Android trademark, the dispute wasn't within the panel's scope, and dismissed the complaint. ICANN did encourage Google to seek traditional legal remedies, but a quick search for dockets on Justia didn't reveal a pending suit.
A memory leak that has plagued some Android 5.0 users since the first developer preview has finally been marked closed and 'FutureRelease' in the Android issue tracker today.
If Motorola's Brazillian website is to be believed, an LTE version of the 2nd generation Moto G could be on the way soon, and it's packing more than just additional connectivity. According to the specification page, the new LTE G will get a substantially larger 2390mAh battery (versus 2070mAh normally).
We asked well over two years ago if you owned an Android tablet, and I think it's time to bring the question back. At the time in April 2012, 73% of voters claimed to own one. I imagine that's grown a bit over the years, but it's probably still going to be in that same 70-85% ballpark, so it probably wouldn't shift enough to really mark a big trend. So today's poll will ask a bit more.
Nearly two years ago, Samsung unveiled a prototype for a curved-edge display in a smartphone. They didn't give it a name, and most of us assumed it was a one-off engineering experiment that would never be explored much further. As it turns out, we were wrong - Samsung apparently set to work putting one half of the concept in production (as in, only one curved side on the screen), and now we have the Galaxy Note Edge.
According to documents found by XDA detailing the proceedings of the Micromax v. OnePlus lawsuit in India - resulting in the barring of sale of the latter's phone there - the falling out between Cyanogen and OnePlus was far uglier than previously reported, but probably as ugly as some of us imagined.
If you're a user of the popular media hub / DLNA / UPnP service BubbleUPnP, the Android app has just received a significant functionality enhancement you may be interested in.