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Google Photos is really good at recognizing people in a photo and grouping their pics together. It's one feature I've come to rely on to find all the photos I have of specific friends or family members and even photos of "person X and person Y and person Z" together. But there were still a couple of small things missing from Photos' facial recognition like the option to manually tag a person in a pic or the ability to see who Google had recognized in a photo from the photo itself, not their dedicated page.
One of the features we've been expecting WhatsApp to add is the support for mentions in group conversations. That way, not only you would be able to quote someone or some specific message, you'd also be able to directly address a contact inside a group to get their attention. This feature is now live in the latest WhatsApp beta v2.16.272.
Since the launch of Android 5.0 last month, the sheer number of app updates has been magnificent – and downright overwhelming. Believe it or not, most of the new versions haven't done much more than add Lollipop support and splash a fresh coat of Materialized paint on the UIs. Seriously, we've been checking. This isn't entirely a bad thing, as it's giving me time to work on some other projects... You'll see soon enough <wink>. But, we've finally got something to talk about with the latest release of Google Play services 6.5. Strictly speaking, a few of tidbits to follow were actually first seen in different minor releases of 6.1, but we're putting it all together here. It's time for a teardown!
Google has just announced its second new app in one day, releasing Google My Business to the Play Store. With the goal of "helping your business shine," My Business offers smart insights for your Google-connected business. From Google+ page insights to the ability to update your company's information, My Business helps you find and connect with "your people."
A new "People" section has popped up inside the Android Play Store app, and it doesn't require an update to hop into (we're still using 4.6.17). This corner of the market will point you towards other Android users, particularly those in your circles, and offer a look at what apps and content they're using. The area is accessible right from the app's sidebar, and it's significantly glossier than the similar "From familiar faces" section of the Play Store's home page.
Tip: Add A Phonetic Name To Contacts Voice Recognition Just Can't Get Right
Perhaps the most time-saving key on the Android keyboard is the microphone, but using it is more hassle than it's worth when certain words just refuse
Perhaps the most time-saving key on the Android keyboard is the microphone, but using it is more hassle than it's worth when certain words just refuse to be recognized. More often than not, these words are contact names. Luckily, there is a way to trick your phone into recognizing even the most tongue-twisting of names. If you're tired of your phone turning "Demonte Jones" into "Demon's bones," just teach it to recognize the latter as the former. Granted, this might be a problem when you're texting a friend the location of a secret item in your favorite MMORPG.
Talkray, from the makers of the incredibly popular touch-talk app TiKL, is an ambitious app – it looks to be your one-stop shop for mobile communication on the go, communicating through text, pictures, videos, and voice all for free. Until now, though, the app has had a fatal flaw – its design. While not the worst design we've seen, Talkray had, shall we say, unfortunate looks. Inconsistent styles, gradients mixed with flat elements, and Gingerbread-style tabs abound.
January, like most months, had plenty in the way of new apps and games. We've already published our list of the top five games from last month, so it only seems right that we follow up with the month's best apps.
File this one under How did Google not have a test for this? Got a birthday or anniversary in December? Sorry - Android 4.2 doesn't know what December is. Well, rather the People/Contacts app that comes stock and is part of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) doesn't. Wait... what?
We've already heard that Google was expanding their Play Movies and Play Music services today to new countries and with new content. Play Magazines isn't getting left out in the cold, though. Today, the storefront is opening up to our neighbors up north, in addition to signing extra content partners for a more robust distribution platform.
[New Game] The Sims Free Play For Android Lets You Live Vicariously Through Your Creations On The Go
The original Sims was the last Sim game I played. It had two expansions and didn't extend very far beyond a single neighborhood, but the things you could create and play around with in it were fantastic. The Sims Free Play has stuck to its roots with a similarly engaging and surprisingly powerful game for a mobile platform.
GTKA4.0 is back! (That's right. We're cool enough to abbreviate now.) Welcome to Part 5: Contacts. The Contacts app has seen the biggest change of any app from Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich. Everything is different. It's not even called "Contacts" anymore, It prefers to be called the "People" app. We've got a lot to cover.
While we use our devices for everything from watching movies to browsing the net and checking social networks, let's not overlook the fact that, at their core, they're still called smartphones. As such, the dialer and contact app -- now called People -- in Ice Cream Sandwich have both received a major overhaul.