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Google has revealed their intention to roll out a new YouTube app just for kids, starting next week. It will be aptly named YouTube Kids and is geared towards those 10 years old or younger. Perhaps most interesting for non-children is that the app, at least initially, will be released exclusively on Android.
Need a new RSS reader? Do you just want one that conforms to Material Design guidelines? Palabre might be for you. This simple, new app is fairly straightforward. You have a pretty interface with a little customizability and Feedly integration so that you don't have to rebuild your RSS lists.
Microsoft OneDrive, in its first beta release, is showing off a totally revamped Material interface. It seems there are no feature additions from the latest stable version, so we're talking strictly cosmetic changes. But when comparing old to new, is that really such a bad thing?
Reports about the plans for the next major release of VLC Media Player indicate that support for Chromecast output is on the roadmap. This is scheduled for the v3.0 release of the popular desktop client, but it is unclear in which version to expect it to appear on Android - the beta in the Play Store is at 1.0.0.
Microsoft's recently released Outlook Preview for Android has generally been well-received by end users, but it had this little problem. One of the main reasons to like it was its native support of Microsoft Exchange accounts. Unfortunately, it did not support the device administrator features we are accustomed to seeing when using Exchange or Office 365 accounts. An update rolling out today helps to bring its security back in line, though.
As some may wait for the impending release of the metal version, Sony's SmartWatch 3 can be had for a pretty nice deal at Verizon. At a discounted $199, you'll save $50 or 20%, whichever sounds like a bigger deal to you. Even better is that this offer comes with free shipping, which is great no matter how you slice it.
Bricked your HTC One? Don't fret. HTC has uploaded full 1.4 GB RUUs for both the M7 and M8 developer and unlocked editions. These are for the latest Lollipop versions of Sense 6, though most owners should already have had this update pushed to their phones.
Sony's Live on YouTube app, which allows you to offer live streams from your Xperia handset, has updated to bring more devices into the fray. First off, sorry, but this is still Xperia-only and is likely to stay that way. The other key feature addition is the ability to broadcast in full HD when the camera and local upload speed allows it.
Just yesterday, HERE Beta sent out an update with a few minor improvements. Today, they came out like gangbusters by dropping the beta label and adding some serious polish to the app. This navigation app, perhaps the most serious challenger to Google Maps, is developed by once-ubiquitous OEM Nokia. Now, they think they are ready for showtime.
Just days after its 10th birthday, Google Maps is not resting on its laurels. Maps is rolling out its lane guidance feature to 15 new countries, all of which are in Europe:
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As part of a series of education-oriented product announcements, Dell is introducing the Venue 10, a Lollipop-enabled Android tablet. The device, which will have a "Pro" sibling that runs Windows 8.1, is set to debut in the spring and will be Google Apps for Education certified. While it will fall short of being a high-end tablet and may not have wide availability, it does have a few cool features.
And, since ZipDash was already on mobile devices, their technology may have led to Google's unparalleled smartphone offerings.
Coming with the latest Google Maps update is Local Guides, a new program meant to increase the number of reviews original to Google and highlight the best of them. It is both a feature addition to Maps and something that exists independently of it. Guides are people who will be rewarded for their reviews, while you benefit by having them as a more credible source of information.
A new flag added to Chrome v41, currently in beta, reduces the information about referring websites shared with others as you browse the web. The default behavior, without the flag enabled, is to pass along the website you clicked from when you browse to a new page. This feature will make the referring information sent along to websites less specific when you go from one domain to another.
Tom Wheeler, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, announced today that he will reclassify broadband internet providers as Title II utilities under the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The proclamation, written for Wired, dances back and forth between his specific plans and lots of bluster for a public that is hungry for more ISP regulation. One rather surprising note is that mobile broadband will also be included in this move, which was not nearly as expected or precedented.
This deal isn't for everyone, but if it is for you, it's a really good one. The device in question is a carrier locked AT&T LG G3 in either of its color schemes and 32 GB of storage. No matter how you choose to buy it - without a contract, on-contract, or via the Next program - you'll get a $100 Amazon gift card after your purchase.
For weeks now, the vast majority of recent issues in Google's public Android issue tracker have been spam. This is no sophisticated attack, just a barrage of the most transparently useless bug submissions you can imagine. It is completely crowding out legitimate issues and it appears Google is not too concerned about that fact. We would file a bug report about it, but...
Talon for Twitter (Plus) has received its biggest update since its (re-)release in October, bringing with it a host of improvements. Today's update includes a new activity page, which aggregates mentions, retweets, follows, and favorites into a single timeline view. Also new is the "muffle user" feature, which is a midpoint between muting somebody and fully following them.
Despite all the acrimony between Cyanogen and OnePlus, most of the phones that shipped with CyanogenMod 11S are still going to receive updates for the foreseeable future. The firmware update to 12S, which is Lollipop-based, is now in its final quality assurance testing with Cyanogen and third parties to meet standards set by Google to retain Play Services. Remember, this is an OEM ROM, not just a run-of-the-mill build going from nightly to stable.
Not long after some test builds were found in the wild, Titanium Backup has started pushing version 7.0.0 via the Play Store. The big jump in version number from 6.2.0.3 is not all that indicative of the changes, as most users won't notice much in the way of updates. Still, there are some improvements, which are always welcome.