Unlimited music streaming services are still struggling to make a profit, but Amazon is turning to its bread and butter for its next subscription service: Books.
Amazon is testing a new ebook and audiobook service that will give subscribers unlimited access to over 600,000 titles, according to spotting by Kindle Book forum users, but it won’t come with your Amazon Prime subscription.
The Rickrolling meme will never die, and if Dan Petro has his way, you may soon be able to drive down your neighborhood and rickroll every TV on the block in seconds.
After finding a vulnerability in Google’s Chromecast Wifi implementation, Dan Petro built a device for less than $100 out of a Raspberry Pi, a touchscreen, wireless cards and 3D-printed pastic case. It’s name: The Rickmote Controller. It’s superpower: Takes over any Chomecast-equipped TV within Wifi range and plays Rick Astley’s legendary “Never Gonna Give You up.”
Check out this video of the Rickmote in action:
After Apple acquired Beats, it wasn’t going to be long before Samsung was selling expensive audio accessories of its own. Rather than buying an already well-established brand, however, the South Korean company has today launched its own. It’s called Level, and it currently boasts three sets of headphones and one good-looking wireless speaker.
Magic Radio, the music streaming from DoubleTwist that boasts more than 13 million tracks, finally supports AirPlay streaming thanks to a new update that’s available now in Google Play. The release also adds Qualcomm AllPlay integration, but strangely, support for the Google Chromecast is still missing.
While Google has Nest Labs and Apple has HomeKit, Samsung is reportedly looking to enter the home automation space by acquiring Internet of Things company SmartThings for $200 million, according to TechCrunch.
SmartThings is a home automation platform that allows users to connect devices such as lights or doorlocks to a system controlled by their smartphone. It has previously raised over $15 million from investors.
CloudMagic, the best third-party email client for mobile, just got even better thanks to a major new update that’s available right now on Android and iOS. In addition to adding quick filters for things like unread and starred messages, the release brings customizable alert tones, account nicknames, access to spam folders, and lots more.
Apple sure is making us wait for the iWatch, and if recent rumors are to be believed, that wait isn’t about to end any time soon. If you’ve decided to spend your cash on an LG G Watch or Samsung Gear Live instead, then why not add a touch of iOS to it yourself with the free iWatch theme for Android Wear.
Google Maps now gives users the ability to measure the distance between two or more locations simply my placing markers down on a map. The feature, available only in Maps on the web for now, lets users choose a starting point and then creates a path to each additional “measuring point.”
Having been delayed from 2013 to 2014 in order to let its developers “fully achieve” their vision for the game, the eagerly awaited Modern Combat 5: Blackout finally has a release date — and it’s later this month. The Gameloft FPS will be arriving on Android and iOS devices on Thursday, July 24th, priced at $6.99 with (mercifully) no in-app purchases.
The game is set to take players on yet another adventure across the world, beginning in Venice, Italy, before protagonist Phoenix is set on a special operation to secure the transport of WMDs from a well-armed terrorist group. Unsurprisingly, not everything will go to plan, and from here you jump from set piece to spectacular set piece, including helicopter and speedboat-based moments.
If you’re flying into or out of the United Kingdom, you’d better make sure your Android or iOS handset is fully charged. With the U.S. government recently announcing that all airline passengers with personal electronics devices will now be required to turn them on to prove that they work, the U.K.’s Department for Transport has announced that the same rules will now apply in the United Kingdom.
The new ruling follows reports that terrorists may be able to use phones and electronic devices as a conveyor of explosives that can get around current security checks.
A gang of 20 armed robbers have raided a Samsung factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and stolen over 40,000 devices worth around $6 million. Phones, tablets, laptops, and other electronics were loaded into seven trucks before the thieves made off with the loot.
On Sunday, South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission on Sunday ordered both Google and Apple to make changes to their Android and iOS app store policies, to make after-purchase refunding more friendly to consumers.
Under the new terms, Google will need to establish a refund system based on developers’ individual policies, while Apple must send out notifications to App Store users every time the company updates its contract terms and conditions.
Everyone knows that the Apple vs. Samsung patent war has been raging for what seems like forever, but would you be any the wiser to hear that Samsung is invoking “Alice” to try and beat two Apple patents?
The patents in question are Apple’s “slide-to-unlock” patent, which describes swiping your smartphone’s home screen to unlock it — and “universal search,” which refers to a universal interface for retrieving information in a computer system.
In May, a jury found Samsung to be guilty of infringing on the first patent, but let it off the hook for the second.
But while Apple was only awarded an underwhelming $119.6 million (compared to the $1 billion it was awarded from Samsung in 2012) Samsung lawyers think they’ve come up with a way to invalidate the whole lawsuit: by taking advantage of a recent legal precedent called Alice v. CLS Bank.
The entire country is busy watching America’s rebels take on the Belgium Red Devils at World Cup, but while everyone else is focused on the football pitch, Google is busy readying its plans to take on Beats Music with a music service acquisition of its own.
Songza, a music streaming service that specializes in finding the right music to fit your mood – kind of like Beats’ Sentence feature – announced that is has been scooped up by the folks at Google.
Samsung wants to be one of the world’s top 10 places to work by 2020, but according to the latest third-party labor conditions report, working for the South Korean smartphone maker is still a horrible experience, especially if you’re one of its Chinese suppliers.
An audit of 100 of Samsung’s suppliers in China found issues like overtime, proper saftey gear and training are still prominent issues. You can read the full 69-page report on Samsung’s site, but here’s a quick rundown of the egregious conditions:
Many Community fans were upset at the news back in May that the popular sitcom was being taken off the air.
Well, Yahoo has come to the rescue, announcing that it is picking up the show for a sixth season to be screened on little-known video streaming site Yahoo Screen.
The entire future of the Android universe was just laid open for all to see as Google I/O kicked off this morning with a keynote at Moscone West.
Yes, there were juicy bits about the newest version of Android coming soon to a smartphone near you, but this year’s keynote was about so much more than mobile phones, as Google took aim at every “smart” category imaginable, from smartwatches to automobiles, cheap handsets to the biggest screen in your living room.
We just sat through the marathon keynote, and while we didn’t get a free Moto 360, we’ve digested, regurgitated, and spit out the hot mess of new Android features, APIs, cloud tools and wearable goodness, so you don’t have to.
Here’s everything you need to know about what Google revealed at I/O:
Samsung isn’t expected to announce its earnings for Q4 2014 until early July, but the company is already trying to manage expectations with investors weeks before the bad news comes that it bombed.
Samsung’s CFO Lee Sang-hoon made a rare public statement to a group of reporters at the company’s Seocho headquarters, saying “it doesn’t look too good” when pressed for info on Q2 performance.
Forget Android L, Android Wear, AndroidOne and every other new “android” variant Sundar Pichai stumbled through during Google’s 3-hour keynote. The coolest thing coming out of Google I/O wasn’t new software and thousands of APIs, it’s a small DYI VR headset that anyone can make.
After today’s keynote Google I/O attendees were given a taste of Google’s next wearable product that’s made from nothing more than cardboard. The experimental VR toolkit sounds like another one of Google’s April Fool’s jokes, except it’s totally real, and even if you didn’t happen to pick up a free one from Moscone West, you can build your own at home.
After giving the world a glimpse at Android Wear back in March, Google has finally revealed its new OS meant for wearables. Android Wear, detailed Wednesday at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, is a true OS for smartwatches that will offer many advanced features like synced notifications, the ability to control other devices around you and constant display of relevant information based on the wearer’s location.
Unless Apple surprises the world with the speedy release of its long-rumored iWatch, it looks like Android Wear smartwatches will win the race for wrist supremacy. In other words, they’ll be your first “iWatch.” Here’s what the Google-powered devices will offer.
Google will make several big announcements during its Google I/O keynote today — and one of them will almost certainly be about Android TV.
Sources familiar with the plans claim we’ll see “at least one” set-top box powered by the search giant’s latest entertainment platform during the event. In addition to playing movies and music, they’ll also allow users to play Android games through their TVs.
Slingshot, Facebook’s new Snapchat competitor, has today been made available internationally on Android and iOS. The free service, which first made its debut in the U.S. last week, allows users to send “shots” containing pictures or videos to each other — but only after they’ve sent a shot back.
When Microsoft announced its Surface Pro 3 back in May, everyone expected a new Surface Mini tablet to accompany it. Although we didn’t get one, it seems the device was (still is?) definitely a part of Microsoft’s plans. The Surface Mini is mentioned numerous times in an official Surface Pro 3 user manual that was published online.
Amazon’s new Fire Phone boasts plenty of unique features; flashy stuff like 3-D effects, the intriguing scan-to-buy app Firefly, and 24/7 tech support via Mayday. But should the Fire Phone be your next smartphone?
Here are five possibly fatal flaws you need to be aware of before you place an order for Amazon’s first smartphone.
Amazon introduced its first smartphone to the world this morning and while the jury is still out on whether its incredible Dynamic Perspective feature is a UI revolution or just another 3-D gimmick, Jeff Bezos and the Amazon team have pumped Fire Phone full of features that could make it more than just the world’s best buying machine.
From Firefly’s compulsive-purchasing features to Mayday’s instant tech-support tether, Fire Phone has a few tricks up its sleeve that we weren’t expecting. But will that be enough to convince consumers to buy one of the AT&T-exclusive phones?
Check out these six things your iPhone and Android can’t do, but Fire Phone can: