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Google tests dynamic backgrounds and scrubbing for Chrome's new media controls
A little Android-like trickle-down
Last year, Google introduced new media playback controls for Chrome and Chrome OS, helping you control music or videos playing in the background without opening the respective window or tab. While the feature is already incredibly useful in its current form, Google is looking to make it even better by adding a scrubbing bar and a background matching the album cover or thumbnail.
It looks like Google is performing some surgery on the Google bar, the familiar toolbar that appears across the top of many of Google's web properties (including Chrome's new tab page). Until recently, the bar held a G+ sharing shortcut, a profile switcher, an "app drawer" to switch between Google products, and a link shortcut to your Google+ profile.
Google updated its design spec recently. The material spec, which Google says is a living document (as evidenced by its ongoing updates), gained further guidance on floating action buttons, dialogs, updates on typography, and a lot more.
A while ago, we posted about explorations Google was undertaking in revamping Android's home screen. Part of this was a new notification shade that looked similar to Google Now.
We've all been in this situation before: it's the weekend, you're ready to hit the town with your peoples, and...no one knows where to go. So you sit around for like an hour or more trying to figure it out, only to end up at the same crappy place you've been to 100 times before and finish the night up with some IHOP. C'mon guys, you know there's more to life than just dive bars and IHOP. The problem is finding them.
Chris Lacy, developer of the gorgeous, widely lauded Tweet Lanes, has finally brought his latest creation to the Play Store – Action Launcher.
Jelly Bean Feature Closer Look: Expandable, Interactive, All-Around Enhanced Notifications
"Android has always put you in control when it comes to staying notified and connected. Now you can take action directly from the notifications
"Android has always put you in control when it comes to staying notified and connected. Now you can take action directly from the notifications shade," says Android's updated "What's New" page. Indeed, today's Jelly Bean announcement saw a number of improvements to the already handy notification system we've come to know and love in previous iterations of Android. Not only can the new notifications system display larger, richer notifications, developers can create actionable notification with interactive controls for telephony, music, and more.
Appbrain, which we here at AP use to this day thanks to a few handful features that the Play Store still hasn't implemented, analyzed 140,000 Android apps and came up with a list of the top 10 ad networks.
Google unleashed a small round of updates today, bringing new features to both the Play Books and Street View apps. Play Books has been updated with a brand new UI for devices running Android 2.2/2.3, including the nifty 3D page-turning animation users of Books' tablet interface have come to know and love.
Last week, a "report" by InFlexWeTrust showed a screencap of a popup that invited users to download a "featured" app - Instagram for Android.
Lookout Releases Push Ad Detector To Help Fight Off Airpush, Startapp, LeadBolt, And Other Annoying Ad Networks
Lookout Releases Push Ad Detector To Help Fight Off Airpush, Startapp, LeadBolt, And Other Annoying Ad Networks
Today, Lookout, a mobile security company, released a new Android application that can help figure out just where those pesky notification ads are suddenly coming from and offer you ways to opt out of them or get rid of the culprits altogether.
RIM, in the official BlackBerry developer's blog, announced today that Blackberry Playbook's OS update to version 2.0 will bring compatibility with Android applications. RIM's post has several helpful tips for developers looking to bring their creations to the Playbook, offering some recommendations for ensuring your approval into BlackBerry App World:
Google has released the latest of its monthly Android version distribution charts, and for the first time Android 2.3 Gingerbread is present on over half of all Android devices. A milestone, to be sure.
It's been a while since the last ADW Launcher EX update, but it may just have been worth the wait. The author of ADW EX has implemented some major changes and fixes for version 1.3.0. Check out the change log below:
NielsenWire has released yet another one of their bar and pie chart-filled smartphone surveys for the US this morning, and it's just more good news for Android. Here's a quick breakdown of some of the key stats Nielsen compiled:
TweetDeck for Android, which got immensely popular ever since its first public release a month ago, just got an update which finally brought the missing and very much anticipated widget support. After updating, you will find not 1, not 2, but 3 different widgets.