Cult of Android - page 40

By now I’m sure you’ve heard that Facebook has acquired WhatsApp for a ridiculous $19 billion, but it wasn’t the only Silicon Valley giant that was willing to stump up silly stacks of cash for the cross-platform messaging service. Sources say Google was also interested, but it only offered $10 billion.

This afternoon Sundar Pichai revealed the dates for Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O, where developers across the globe descend on San Francisco to learn what’s next.

The 7th annual Google I/O will be held on June 25-26, but if you want to get in you’ll have to win a lottery.

It’s been a while since Samsung mocked Apple and its iOS devices to sell its latest smartphones and tablets, but if you thought the South Korean company had moved past all that, you can think again.

It has today published two new videos via its official YouTube channel that mock the iPhone and the iPad to sell the Galaxy Note 3 and the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1.

Google doesn’t want you to be a “Glasshole.”

That’s according to a new list of “do’s” and “don’ts” the company has published with advice for Google Glass wearers.

“Do’s” include exploring the world around you, taking advantage of Glass voice commands, asking for permission when you video people or take their photo, and using screen lock.

“Don’ts” include “glass-outs” — in which you appear to zone out while doing in-depth work on your headset, playing high-impact sports wearing your Google Glass, expecting people around you to ignore the fact that you’re wearing a computer on your face, and being generally creepy or rude.

Apple may call Andy Rubin — one of the original creators of the Android platform — during next month’s Apple v. Samsung trial, according to court documents.

Rubin left the Android team to work on Google’s robotics projects in March 2013. Should he be called to the stand during the forthcoming trial, he would be cross-examined on the development of Android features which Apple claims infringe on it own patents. He may also be asked to discuss “Google documents relating to such development.”

If Apple calls Rubin, this will be his first time testifying in the various legal battles between Apple and Samsung.

Huawei is planning to unveil a number of new devices at Mobile World Congress next week, and for some strange reason, the Chinese company thought it would be a good idea to tease them with a fake iPhone running an embarrassing Siri clone. 

After being bombarded with Flappy Bird clones, it appears that both Google Play and the iOS App Store have started rejecting all new apps featuring the word “flappy” in their titles.

The move was publicized by developer Ken Carpenter of Mind Juice Media who took to Twitter to reveal that his game, Flappy Dragon, was rejected during the iTunes authorization process because the “name attempts to leverage a popular app.”

Google bought a tiny Israeli startup today called SlickLogin.

The three-person, two-month-old company has an interesting technology that replaces passwords. The terms were not disclosed.

The acquisition is a tiny victory for people who believe in sound as a viable medium of digital communication. 

Four Democratic senators have proposed a federal law that would require all smartphone manufacturers to include a mandatory “kill switch” for their devices in the event that they are stolen.

The bill would give users the ability to remote wipe their personal data from a lost or stolen device.

Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has today announced its $900 million acquisition of Viber. The hugely popular messaging and VoIP service will help Rakuten expand its digital ecosystem even further, and it marks its first foray into voice communication. 

BlackBerry today announced the arrival of BBM 2.0 for Android and iOS, which brings BBM Channels, BBM Voice, and other new features to the popular cross-platform messaging app. The Canadian company first teased this update back in December, and now it is finally rolling out through the App Store and Google Play.

Rovio began teasing its latest Angry Birds spinoff on Wednesday — without actually revealing the name of the new game. But based on the promotional poster above, which was posted on the studio’s new blog this morning, we now know the title will be based around the lovable Stella and her feathered friends.

Windows Phone is over three years old now, but its app catalog still looks pretty slim when compared to rival offerings from Apple and Google. In an effort to plug the gap, Microsoft could allow Windows and Windows Phone users to run Android apps — just like BlackBerry 10 does.

Google has today confirmed in a regulatory filing that it has completed its $3.2 billion acquisition of Nest Labs, the smart home thermostat company founded by Apple’s former iPod chief, Tony Fadell.

Sprint, America’s third-largest carrier, has just announced its Q4 2013 earnings revealing marginal growth thanks to its quickly-expanding 4G LTE networks around the country. The carrier added a total of 682,000 customers during the last three months of 2013 alone.

Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen says he yanked his app from online stores because of its “addictive” qualities, putting to rest the many theories about why he would try to kill the game at the peak of its popularity.

Plex Inc. has slashed 50% off all of its mobile apps for Android and iOS for a limited time, including Plex for Google TV. “This sale will last about as long as most relationships,” the company says, so you’ll need to get in quick to take advantage of the offer.

The official Flappy Bird might well be dead, but if you thought that was the last you’d see of it, you can think again.

Since the game’s creator announced it would be pulled over the weekend, countless clones have been popping up all over the place. Even the Pebble smartwatch has one called Tiny Bird, and it’s available now for free through the Pebble appstore.

Unlike on iOS, it’s easy to change your homescreen’s theme on Android without a jailbreak using apps like Themer. Well, at least it was: Google has pulled Themer from the Google Play Store following a copyright complaint from Apple, which made Android devices look almost identical to iOS 7.

The first successful personal computer didn’t have a screen — not even a command-line screen. It communicated with the user through blinking lights. It was called the MITS Altair 8800. This blinking-light box was such a revolution, a kid named Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to write software for it.

I have the feeling that the first successful wearable computer will also show nothing more than blinking lights.

I’m going to tell you why the high-rez wearables may not go mainstream over next couple of years, but why blinking-lights devices might. But first, let’s check out two interesting blinking light wearable devices.

Google made a surprise announcement at the end of January that confirmed it was selling Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91 billion, but the search giant seemingly forgot to tell us that it made a big investment in the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer the following day.

Reuters reports that Google will pay Lenovo $750 million for a 5.94 percent stake in the company.

Love Star Trek but cringe every time William Shatner opens his mouth? Google’s new method for customizing video could allow you to mute Captain Kirk’s melodramatic monologues, skip scenes in which the character appears, or even change the channel every time Shatner’s face graces the screen.

These novel ways of slicing and dicing video on the fly are outlined in a patent application entitled “Customized Video,” published Thursday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and assigned to Google. The system would use facial recognition to identify actors, cartoon character, etc. — and give viewers a way to find (or avoid) other videos featuring the same people.

Despite Apple’s incredible success with the iPhone, company co-founder Steve Wozniak believes it should make a new Android-powered smartphone and “play in two arenas at the same time.” Woz believes such a device could compete very well in the Android market against rival manufacturers like Samsung and Motorola.

Your unbridled addition to Flappy Bird, the latest craze in smartphone gaming that has recently rocketed to the top of the App Store and Google Play charts, is earning its creator an incredible $50,000 per day in advertising revenue.

The title has been downloaded over 50 million times since its debut, and it has amassed almost 350,000 ratings across both platforms.

BlackBerry has today announced that it is updating BBM for Android and iOS to add a new “Find Friends” feature that helps you seek out other BBM users and invite them to connect. It works alongside your smartphone’s address book to detect BBM users you already know, and it’s ideal for new users looking to build up their contact list.