Cult of Android - page 53

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!

Suddenly, Google is a major hardware company. And a surprisingly great one. But why?

I asked a Motorola executive involved in the Moto X project recently whether Google’s ownership of the company had any effect on their decision to get radical.

By radical, of course, I mean doing things no handset maker had ever done, such as make phones operate hands-free and build them to order in the United States for delivery in four days.

You’ll note that these and other radical attributes of the Moto X are options that would have been available to Motorola with or without Google. After all, the X8 Mobile Computing System that enables hands-free usage is Motorola’s, not Google’s, and was originally developed for Motorola smartwatches.

So why is Motorola suddenly radical now that Google owns the company?

Motorola has finally revealed all most of the details of the Moto X after months of leaks, and while the handset looks great and is customizable to a fault, what we really want to know is how its specs stack up against the best smartphones out there.

Specs aren’t everything, but it is important to keep in mind whether the Moto X will still be able to run the best apps after 12-24 months. Here’s a chart that GigaOm cooked up that compares the Moto X’s specs to the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S 4.

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.

With compelling new features and a surprising array of customization options, the long-awaited Moto X is putting an interesting new face on Android. All the details on Motorola’s first flagship phone since the company was purchased by Google have finally been revealed.

The Moto X, which goes on sale later this month, runs Jelly Bean out of the box and features a 4.7-inch, hi-res display. The 16GB model will be priced at $199 with a two-year carrier contract, and the 32GB model will cost $299. We knew customization would be a big part of the phone before it was announced at today’s big launch event in New York City, but Motorola plans to offer a whopping 504 different color combinations.

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.

EE has been the United Kingdom’s only 4G provider for around nine months now, but at the end of this month, it’ll finally see some competition. O2 has today announced that its own 4G network will launch on August 29, with prices starting at £26 per month. The service will reach three cities initially, with ten more scheduled to be added by the end of the year.

Google Play has finally surpassed the App Store in the number of downloads in a quarter for the first time ever according to a report from App Annie.

Thanks to strong performances in India and Brazil, Google Play topped the App Store with 10% more app downloads in Q2 2013. Despite Google Play netting more downloads, when it comes down to what matters most – cash, money, revenue – Apple is still generating 2.3x more dead presidents than Google Play.

Arguably one of the best things about Google Glass is the ability to view maps and get directions while you’re driving without ever having to take your eyes off the road ahead. But that’s not the case for those in the U.K., where using Google Glass behind the wheel is banned by the government.

Starbucks has always been a last-ditch sanctuary for the connected in a largely-still-wireless world, but the free WiFi you can get there is often bloated with dozens of slackers, choking up the pipe with inappropriate Netflix streaming and large downloads.

But WiFi at Starbucks is about to get orders of magnitude better. Google has just announced that they are taking over WiFi at Starbucks, and will be the new exclusive provider of sweet, sweet Internet at over 7,000 Starbucks locations in the United States.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wHwKGw0Yno

With features like Easy Mode, Smart Switch and that hand-waving feature thing, you’ll totally ditch your “simple” iPhone after spending a three hour flight crammed next to a hipster with a Samsung Galaxy S4.

At least, that’s what Samsung wants you to think with their new ad that shows a bunch of nerdy middle-aged iPhone users instantly converting to the Galaxy S4 after some hip dudes start showing off Samsung’s gimmicky features.

Source: YouTube

Via: MacGasm

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.

Using a smartphone in China has become a dangerous task the last few weeks. First, we started hearing reports that iPhone users were getting electrocuted by their chargers, and now a Samsung S4 has allegedly devoured an entire apartment with a fireball explosion from its battery.

Apple’s “pinch to zoom” patent, which features prominently in a patent dispute against Samsung, has been dismissed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. According to documents filed by Samsung in a U.S. federal court, all 21 claims of the patent have been rejected in a “final office action.”

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.

The best argument for funding the space program is: “Because space, that’s why!!”

But for many this argument is pointless. They would prefer the money be spent to help people on Earth. And for those folks, the best argument is: “Space missions always invent numerous technologies that make life better for everybody.” NASA even maintains an online database/magazine called Spinoff to keep track of these technologies, which average about 50 per year.

A similar phenomenon is likely to happen with Google Glass, which is not only a wearable computing hardware device, but also a development platform.

I’m predicting that Google’s massively well funded moonshot, the beta product formerly known as the Google Glass Project, will bring to Android phone and tablet users incredible technologies, ideas, apps and content originally developed for Glass.

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.

T-Mobile’s new summer smartphone promotion is a scorcher: The carrier has eliminated down payments entirely and dropped the price of all devices to $0. Even the latest handsets like the iPhone 5, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Sony Xperia Z are included in the hot new deal, which the company announced today.

But there is a catch.

Google’s secret weapon in the TV wars could hardly be more simple: It’s an inexpensive little dongle called Chromecast that’s designed to change the way you watch TV.

Chromecast does that by turning almost any smartphone, tablet or PC into a remote control on steroids. Rather than limiting its audience to those with Android devices, Google hopes to lure customers to Chromecast by working across multiple platforms. The 2-inch dongle plugs into your HDTV and allows users to send videos from iPhones, Androids or laptops via WiFi to almost any TV with an HDMI port, giving users powers similar to Apple’s AirPlay — except it plays nice with strangers.

It’s ridiculously simple. And at only $35, it’s cheap as hell, which is precisely why Google thinks it’s the perfect device to take over your living room.

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:

Thanks to Best Buy and Sam’s Club, we’ve known what the new Nexus 7 looks like, what’s inside it, and how much it costs since early this morning — but at an Android event in San Francisco just now, Google’s Sundar Pichai has finally made it all official.

As expected, the new Nexus 7 will be the first device with Android 4.3, and you can pre-order yours today.

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.

EE has today announced that its super speedy 4G network has reached ten new towns across the United Kingdom. The move comes just as the carrier, which is the first and only one to offer 4G in the U.K., prepares to celebrate 700,000 4G subscribers.