Pocket Casts is arguably the finest podcast client on Android, and it’s pretty terrific on iOS, too. But it’s about to get even better. With the upcoming Pocket Casts 4 update, we’ll see a brand new user interface based on iOS 7’s new design, iPad support, cross-platform syncing for subscriptions, playlists, and play states, and lots more.
Brooklyn-based Pyle Audio has been making speakers and other audio paraphernalia for the last 50 years (if you haven’t heard of Pyle, it’s probably because they seem to spend comparatively little time or effort on marketing; just look at their website).
Pyle has a lot going on—home, car and even motorcycyle/bicycle audio are some of the pies the company has its fingers in. The company has also makes a bewildering array of waterproof audio toys, like headphones and Bluetooth speakers. While that’s nothing new, their latest gadget is a little more unusual: The SurfSound-Play is a waterproof phone case equipped with its own mini speaker.
Although it was a great idea, this notion of a cheap Android game console, the Ouya left a lot to be desired at launch. The hardware had some obvious deficiencies, like controller dead spots, but more importantly, the game library at launch was practically non-existent.
Right now, it looks like the Ouya is a dud: a great idea that just didn’t have a chance because it couldn’t get a push. But you know who might be able to take that same idea and get developers to treat it more seriously? Amazon. And they’re working to do just that.
Android’s share of the worldwide smartphone market increased yet again during the second quarter of 2013, while the iPhone suffered a slight dip, according to the latest figures from IDC. But Research Manager Ramon Llamas is confident that Apple’s smartphone will recapture more users later this year when the Cupertino company launches the iPhone 5S.
YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen have today unveiled MixBit, the new video sharing service that they’ve been teasing us with for several months. It hopes to rival Instagram and Vine with a focus on mixing and editing video. Users can record 16-second clips at a time, and then stitch up to 256 of them together to create an hourlong video.
Instagram just pushed out a big update for its iOS and Android apps which gives users the ability to import video from their smartphone libraries into Instagram.
Now you can film video at any time and then splice it together later into a 15-second video to import into Instagram. The update also brings video support to Android 4.0 devices and has a new trim and crop feature so your vids can be molded into perfect squares.
iOS users also pick up a new Automatic Straightening feature that set your photos level with the tap of a button. The new Instagram 4.1 update is available now in the App Store and Google Play.
Source: Instagram
Apple rejects a lot of iOS apps and games, but Send Me To Heaven has to be the first that was turned away due to the way in which it is played. The aim of the game is to throw your $700 smartphone up into the air as high as you can, but rather unsurprisingly, Apple thinks that this behavior “could result in damage to the user’s device.”
Fortunately, those who enjoy smashing up expensive items can get it on Android instead.
Google has released an official AdSense app for Android and iOS, allowing AdSense users to keep track of their earnings on the go. You can keep an eye on your latest earnings for the day, see what you earned yesterday, and view your earnings for the month so far — plus lots more.
For a long time after its launch, the iPad was by far the best-selling tablet on the market, and no matter how hard they tried, rival devices didn’t stand a chance of stealing its market share. But that’s all changed, according to the latest figures from IDC.
Android-powered slates saw a staggering 163% increase in the last year, and they’ve now overtaken the iPad and opened up a rather large gap in market share.
I love Google Chrome—it’s my browser of choice on Android, Mac, and iOS. But navigating your bookmarks within the mobile apps is nowhere near as easy as it should be. Fortunately, there’s an awesome little tweak for jailbroken iOS devices that solves that.
It’s called BMarks Bar, and it introduces a handy bookmarks bar that offers one-tap access to your favorite sites.
It has the technological sophistication of a sonic screwdriver. Its design elements look as if pulled straight out of another dimension. And there may not be another set of headphones on this planet — or any other — baked with as many ingredients as the Parrot Zik.
But we were curious — would all this tech work? And how would the Ziks sound? So we poked them with a stick, and here’s what we discovered. Allons-y!
Samsung has admitted that a Korean PR agency did offer money to app developers to promote a competition on the popular developer question and answer website Stack Overflow. The electronics giant insists that this is “clearly against” its cooperate policy, and says that it cancelled the plan as soon as it was made aware of the situation.
UPDATE: There are some screenshots of BBM for Android at the bottom of this post.
By now you’re probably already aware that BlackBerry Messenger is coming to Android and iOS this summer, but BlackBerry has been pretty quiet about its release since it was announced. We don’t know exactly when the app will arrive — though we do know it’ll be by the end of September.
But the Canadian company has now begun making the BBM beta for other platforms available via the BlackBerry Beta Zone.
Apple has reduced the price of the refurbished Apple TV to $75. That’s $10 cheaper than its original price tag, and $24 cheaper than a brand new model. It’s believed the drop may have been made in response to the Google Chromecast, which has been selling fast since it went on sale last week for just $35.
Remember that cool iOS 7 Control Center port for Android that hit Google Play earlier this month? Well, Apple obviously didn’t like it, and it has contacted Google to have it pulled. Fortunately for us, developer Hi Tools Studio has already released an updated version to Google Play, so go grab it before it disappears again.
Is Google ready to give up on Android and make the Chrome platform its new priority? That’s the question posed by AppleInsider’s Daniel Eran Dilger in a new report that suggests the search giant is looking to distance itself from the world’s biggest mobile operating system and all of the intellectual property issues that come with it.
But I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you. Android’s not going anywhere.
Windows Phone has been struggling to catch up to Android and iOS ever since its release, and most would blame the platform’s lack of apps and Microsoft’s leisurely approach to adopting the latest technologies. And it’s not just consumers that are becoming frustrated with the situation.
Even Nokia, Microsoft’s biggest Windows Phone partner, wants the software giant to get a move on and make the mobile platform more of a priority.
You can’t get Altec Lansing’s new The Jacket iMW455 Bluetooth speaker/speakerphone from anyone other than Verizon, which explains the red and black skins the Jacket comes with.
Don’t like red or black? No problem — because, like a moulting lobster, The Jacket’s special trick is its ability to swap skins. The speaker comes with the two free skins, with more colors available for a price — though we’re not yet sure which colors or how much.
Google’s Sundar Pichai just got done hosting breakfast at a press event in San Francisco and even though our expectations weren’t high, the event was packed with awesome goodies. Not only did Google show off Android 4.3 and all the new features, but some seriously great hardware was announced too.
Here’s a rundown of all the new stuff Google presented:
Google’s Sundar Pichai is hosting a press event in San Francisco in less than two hours, where we expect to see the company’s latest Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update, and the second-generation Nexus 7. If you want to stay on top of the event as it happens, you’ll be pleased to know you can watch it live — right here.
Rockstar may not have a massive catalog of games on Android and iOS, but with the likes of Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne, there’s no denying that it has some of the best. And they’re currently on sale in the App Store and on Google Play for a limited time.
UPDATE: Lucky Frame has provided us with some updated stats: Gentlemen! now has over 6,000 players on Android, with just 50 paid downloads.
Gentlemen!, a brand new title from Scottish development studio Lucky Frame, made its debut on Android and iOS last week. It’s been a pretty big success so far, with plenty of acclaim from reviewers, a mention in a British newspaper, and thousands of players worldwide.
But it’s not all good news for Lucky Frame. You see, only 20 of the players on Android actually paid Gentlemen!’s $4.99 price tag, the company revealed to Cult of Android.
The other 3,000 stole it.
Having quality audio anywhere you go can enhance just about any situation – and Bluetooth® speakers can make that happen. Unfortunately a majority of these speakers aren’t inexpensive, so using them in any condition whatseover – especially where water is involved – can be very risky.
Not so with the product in the latest Cult of Mac Deals offer: The iShower.
The iShower is a Bluetooth®-enabled, water-resistant speaker that is compatible with the most popular Bluetooth®-enabled smartphones and tablets including iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android and just about everything else. And you can pick up the iShower during this limited time offer for only $84.99 – a savings off 22%!
Some space geeks are calling today “The Day the Earth Smiled,” because the Cassini probe is set to take a picture of our planet as seen from Saturn later this afternoon. To honor this momentous occasion, the maker of astronomy software SkySafari is giving away basic versions for iOS and OS X (and discounting the Android version) through Sunday.
Rovio Account has been a work in progress for a couple of months now but it looks like it’s finally ready for prime time. This morning Rovio announced that its game syncing feature – Rovio Account – is finally available worldwide for both iOS and Android devices.