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As a Glass Explorer, I'm always excited to see new apps, especially if they improve Glass' user experience. Developer Matthew Pierce delivered one such app recently, making Glass Master Control available to the public via Dropbox.
When Flappy Bird left the Play Store and Apple's App Store, it left a vacuum. And since it was pulled, that vacuum has been pulling in all kinds of lint, in the form of knockoffs, clones, or games that simply want to use Flappy Bird's success as promotion for their own games.
In case you didn't already know, ThinkGeek (in collaboration with Google) makes an adorable Android plush doll - it's about nine inches tall and has pose-able arms and a rotating head. Plus, it's super soft.
HTC's upcoming M8 has been the topic of much speculation and many leaks (legitimate or otherwise) in recent weeks. @evleaks has shown us what is apparently HTC's latest Sense refresh for the unnamed device, confirming previous rumors that HTC would ditch capacitive keys in favor of on-screen navigation. We've also heard (and seen) rumors of dual rear-facing cameras.
Yesterday, Dong Nguyen, creator of the bewildering smash hit Flappy Bird, announced via Twitter that he would be taking Flappy Bird down a day later.
Always a reliable source of exciting info not yet intended for public consumption, @evleaks has just tweeted a screenshot labeled plainly "M8," the implication being that we're looking at a screenshot from HTC's yet-unnamed flagship phone. The screenshot looks pretty sharp, featuring white iconography on KitKat-style translucent system bars, and familiar HTC-flavored launcher icons.
Google's begun rolling out an update to Maps, bumping it from version 7.5 to version 7.6 just after flipping the switch on dynamic rerouting. Officially, what's new in the update hasn't been laid out, but as usual we've managed to get the APK and take a quick peek inside. In this post, we'll outline some of the new, interesting bits we've found in the new app, and those who don't want to wait for the update can grab the APK themselves at the bottom of the post.
It's that time again - each month, Google updates the developer dashboard to reflect Android's latest platform distribution numbers, determined according to devices that have accessed the Play Store in a seven-day period.
As Google Glass continues toward an inevitable public release, users (and developers) are still trying to puzzle out exactly what the device is best suited for. There are games, cooking apps, news alert apps, and of course a tidy bundle of Google services in the slowly expanding list of official Glassware. Of course, there's more to Glass than official Glassware. Developers are making some fairly compelling tools for Google's eyeball computer, and Brivo Labs, in an effort to "explore the future of wearable technology," recently published a demonstration of one such tool.
Today, Google finally opened the Chromecast up to developers in a meaningful way, releasing the Google Cast SDK and integrating the relevant Android API into Google Play Services, the ever-growing backbone of Google's Android-based offerings. The update has already begun its rollout. Of course, that means we're going to look inside and see what's new, and we've also got a download for those who just can't wait for Play Services 4.2 to hit their device.
Privacy and technology maintain a tenuous relationship, and the balance between convenient features and personal security is always one worth keeping in mind as users make the most of their devices' capabilities. To that end, Chainfire has released a new proof of concept app that aims to give users at least some peace of mind when it comes to the - for lack of a better term - trackability of their devices, specifically related to Wi-Fi.
Last December, Google Play Books saw an update that allowed users to upload PDF and EPUB files to their libraries from their mobile device (by way of Gmail attachments or downloads). A subsequent update to version 3.1.23, however, removed the ability to add PDFs. At the time, Google confirmed to us that the functionality was removed because it was "experimental," but we were told it would return at some point in the future.
Google may have just sold Motorola Mobility to Lenovo, but it seems the giant may have kept one of the manufacturer's juiciest pieces (besides patents) to itself.
Through its official global blog, Samsung today announced a new patent licensing deal reached with Google, whereby both companies will have access to each other's existing patents and those filed over the next ten years, covering "a broad range of technologies and business areas."
To celebrate the beginning of the pro cycling season (starting with the Tour Down Under in Australia) Recon, maker of HUD devices for athletes, is offering $100 off any of its HUD offerings.
The incomparable @evleaks has offered up another look at Samsung's alleged UI experimentation, this time showing what would appear to be predictive search or information cards, similar to those offered by Google Now. Split into two parts, the collection shows everything from home temperature automation to exercise tracking to flight info, package tracking, appointments, and plenty more.
There comes a time in every Nexus device's life when it must leave the Play Store. For the Nexus 10, that time began earlier this week, when reports began surfacing that the tablet may be permanently out of stock (from the US Play Store, anyway). Since then the device's availability has flipped from available to "out of inventory" again and again, but at the time of writing, the original 10" Nexus' 32GB variant has been out of inventory in the US for two days (since January 16th), meaning we likely won't be seeing it again. The 16GB flavor, as readers probably know, has been out of stock since October.
Earlier this week, Samsung officially started the rollout of the Galaxy Note 3's update to Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Appearing first for those in Poland through KIES, the update matched what had been leaked shortly before the rollout began.
Each month, Google updates Android's platform distribution numbers according to devices that have accessed the Play Store in a seven-day period. January's updated pie chart has just hit, and things seem to be following a fairly predictable pattern.
Update: You will find several mirrors of the APK below for manual flashing.