Android - page 4

Google Photos update brings better search, customizable movies

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If you're still not using Photos, you're missing out.
Photo: Google
Google Photos
If you’re still not using Photos, you’re missing out. Photo: Google

Google is rolling out a major Photos update that adds a greater search experience, and the ability to customize movies that were created automatically. The release also makes it possible to rename, create, and delete folders on microSD cards.

HP’s latest MacBook rival will only cost you half as much

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It's even made of aluminum.
Photo: HP
HP-Chromebook-13
It’s even made of aluminum. Photo: HP

HP has another answer to the super sleek Apple MacBook, and despite similar specifications, it costs less than half the price.

The new all-aluminum Chromebook 13 boasts an Intel Core M processor, up to 16GB of RAM, and a battery that lasts up to 11.5 hours in between charges — and it starts at just $599!

Google Calendar now helps you find time for more meetings

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Google Calendar just keeps getting better.
Photo: Google
Google Calendar just keeps getting better. Photo: Google
Google Calendar just keeps getting better. Photo: Google

If your schedule looks busier than Best Buy on Black Friday, then the last thing you want to do is dig through it to find time for another meeting. But now you don’t have to.

Google Calendar’s new “Find a time” feature seeks out gaps in your schedule to ensure that you never have to find other things to do when you could be in ANOTHER MEETING! It will even check that your colleagues are available, too.

Instagram could boot app colors to make your photos look better

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Instagram turns black and white.
Logo: Instagram
Instagram turns black and white. Logo: Instagram
Instagram turns black and white. Logo: Instagram

Instagram could be planning to overhaul its mobile apps with a new black and white interface that will make your photos pop.

The redesign has already rolled out to a small number of users as part of an early test, but Instagram won’t tell us if it will be keeping it.

Nintendo bringing Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem to mobile

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Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem are coming to our smartphones.
Photo: Nintendo
Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem are coming to our smartphones. Photo: Nintendo
Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem are coming to our smartphones. Photo: Nintendo

After the successful debut of Miitomo, Nintendo has announced that its second and third mobile games will be based on the Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem franchises — and are set to debut on iOS and Android devices this fall.

Brace yourself for ‘bumper ads’ before every YouTube video

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YouTube wants to takeover your TV.
YouTube wants to takeover your TV.
Photo: YouTube
Look out for bumper ads! Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Android.
Look out for bumper ads! Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Android.

When you’re excited to watch the latest videos from your favorite YouTube channels, the last thing you want to see before them is ads you can’t skip. Normally, they don’t appear on every video you watch, but Google is planning to change that.

The company today announced that is introducing 6-second “bumper ads” that will play before all videos watched on mobile devices, and you have no choice but to sit through them.

Why you can’t trust ‘lifetime guarantees’ on the Internet of Things

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The looming shutdown of Revolv has some home-automation fans questioning the Internet of Things.
Photo: Andrew Stawarz/Flickr CC

Revolv smart hubs will no longer be supported as of May 15. Even though subscribers have known this was coming since February, there wasn’t a lot of attention until an author’s highly critical piece was published on Medium.

That story has spurred conversations questioning investment in the Internet of Things, or IoT, and prompted Nest to consider compensating users who were early investors in the Revolv hub.

Samsung to fight Apple Watch Edition with luxury Gear S3

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Samsung is teaming up with de Grisogono again.
Photo: Samsung
Samsung is teaming up with de Grisogono again. Photo: Samsung
Samsung is teaming up with de Grisogono again. Photo: Samsung

Samsung will launch its next-generation Gear S3 smartwatch later this year, according to a new report, and the company has teamed up with a Swiss jeweler to create a luxury version that could take the fight to the all-gold Apple Watch Edition.

This app’s sole purpose is to snag you free stuff

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Finagle just exists to get you free stuff.
Finagle just exists to get you free stuff.
Photo: David Repas

Developer David Repas just wants to give you some free stuff with no obligation on your part.

“I’m just one guy trying to create a company around giving stuff away,” he tells Cult of Android. “I’m not into people tracking, annoying users or any of that funny business.”

The app, Finagle, is the simplest we’ve seen. Download it for iOS or Android, add in your email and mobile number and boom, you’re set. Simply look at the latest giveaway (Repas is offering a Pebble Time smartwatch currently) and you’re entered a random drawing to win.

Getting free stuff is never this easy. What’s the catch?

7 things you need to know about the new Kindle Oasis

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kindle oasis
The Kindle Oasis takes e-reading to a new level.
Photo: Amazon
The Kindle Oasis takes e-reading to a new level. Photo: Amazon
The Kindle Oasis takes e-reading to a new level. Photo: Amazon

Even though speculation about what to expect ran wild, the formal introduction of the Kindle Oasis last week still left a lot of people surprised.

We’ve got the lowdown on the most important things you need to know about Amazon’s newest eBook reader model, which is due to begin shipping April 27.

Facebook Messenger now offers group voice chat for up to 50 people

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HEADING
Facebook just made chat more sociable.
Photo: Facebook
Facebook just made chat more sociable. Photo: Facebook
Facebook just made chat more sociable. Photo: Facebook

Facebook is continuing its mission to try and replace your standard telephone number with its latest update for Facebook Messenger — allowing up to 50 users to jump on a VoIP audio call for a group chat.

The feature, which started rolling out globally yesterday, allows anyone to start a group call by hitting the app’s Phone icon and selecting the group chat members they want included. The members will then receive a Messenger call simultaneously, which they can join at any point the conversation is taking place.

Low-cost Android makers are hurting thanks to iPhone SE

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The iPhone SE is causing a headache for low-cost Chinese OEMs.
Photo: Apple
The iPhone SE is causing a headache for low-cost Chinese OEMs. Photo: Apple
The iPhone SE is causing a headache for low-cost Chinese OEMs. Photo: Apple

Apple’s affordable 4-inch iPhone SE is causing a major headache for Chinese makers of low-cost Android phones.

Supply chain manufacturers in Taiwan and China are reportedly becoming more conservative about building up inventories of smartphone components from companies including Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo as the iPhone SE squeezes the competition.

Samsung crushes Apple in smartphone shipments as iPhone plummets

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Samsung Galaxy
Look out, Apple!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Look out, Apple! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Android
Look out, Apple! Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Android

Samsung couldn’t have wished for a better start for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge.

Not only are sales shaping up to beat expectations, with an estimated 10 million sales during March alone, but according to the latest data, the new handsets helped Samsung crush Apple in smartphones shipments last quarter.

‘Racist’ Snapchat filter turns anyone into Bob Marley

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HEADING
Snapchat desperately hopes every little thing will turn out to be alright.
Photo: Ste Smith/Luke Dormehl
Snapchat desperately hopes every little thing will turn out to be alright. Photo: Cult of Mac
Snapchat desperately hopes every little thing will turn out to be alright. Photo: Cult of Mac

A Bob Marley-themed Snapchat filter designed to celebrate 4/20 has backfired, with hordes of users accusing the company of promoting “blackface.”

It’s the latest instant outrage to flare up on the internet, and a total bummer for anyone just trying to enjoy the high holy day for pot smokers. After all, isn’t April 20 the one day of the year we should all be kicking back and chilling out?

Android maker beats Apple to banishing the headphone jack

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LeEco will tackle the U.S. market this year.
Photo: LeEco
LeEco will tackle the U.S. market this year. Photo: LeEco
LeEco will tackle the U.S. market this year. Photo: LeEco

Apple is expected to banish the 3.5mm headphone jack to make its next-generation iPhone 7 even thinner. But it won’t be the first smartphone maker to take this controversial step.

LeEco today unveiled a trio of new Android-powered handsets that have all snubbed the headphone jack in favor of digital USB-C headphones and wireless alternatives.

Apple and Alphabet employees are definitely feeling the Bern

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Silicon Valley is behind Bernie Sanders all the way.
Photo: Ste Smith/Jonathunder/Cult of Mac
Silicon Valley is behind Bernie Sanders all the way. Photo: Ste Smith/Jonathunder/Cult of Mac
Silicon Valley is behind Bernie Sanders all the way. Photo: Ste Smith/Jonathunder/Cult of Mac

Tech employees at Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon are some of the most ardent supporters of Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, according to findings by the Federal Elections Commission.

In all, Google employees have donated $250,000 to Sanders’ campaign, while Apple workers have handed over a not-unimpressive $85,576.

That’s in stark contrast to Hillary Clinton and Republican front-runner Donald Trump, both of whom have mainly attracted financial groups as their leading supporters.

Apple and Google take aim at controversial anti-encryption bill

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Proposed bill could hold tech giants more accountable for child exploitation
Tech companies want to protect encryption.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Tech companies want to protect encryption. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac
Tech companies want to protect encryption. Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple and Google have leant their names to an open letter taking aim at a controversial new anti-encryption bill, which demands that tech companies make their devices breakable at will.

“We write to express our deep concerns about well-intentioned but ultimately unworkable policies around encryption that would weaken the very defenses we need to protect us from people who want to cause economic and physical harm,” the letter opens.

In addition to Apple and Google, other tech giants which signed the missive include Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Netflix, and more.