Engadget Podcast 379 – CES Day Four – 1.10.14
Join Brian Heater and the Engadget gang for the CES 2014 wrap-up podcast, with personal “best of” choices, audience giveaways and significantly less background noise. It’s been a long week of interviews, hands-ons and an avalanche of new gadgets, leaving the team worn out, yet melancholy about another CES coming to a close. This is Brian’s final Engadget podcast and after some parting words he leaves the stage in a decidely Murph-approved style. So please join us for the final CES 2014 edition of the Engadget Podcast at the streaming links below. Enjoy!
Host: Brian Heater, Terrence O’Brien
Producer: Jon Turi
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Filed under: Podcasts
With Motorola Assist’s latest update, you can now reply to texts with your voice while driving
Motorola Assist, the contextually aware app that lets you set triggers and actions for a wide variety of tasks, is smart enough to determine when you’re driving, sleeping, in a meeting or in other situations. In that first scenario, however, the app was only able to read texts out loud to you as you drove, leaving you without a way to respond aside from pulling over and doing it manually. The latest update to the app fixes that, as it promises to let you reply to incoming messages using your vocal cords. Additionally, Assist can also launch your music app of choice as soon as you begin driving. Assist is available on the Moto X and the trio of Verizon’s latest Droid devices, so text-happy drivers should check it out post-haste.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Google
Via: Android Central
Source: Play Store
Neil deGrasse Tyson’s ‘Cosmos’ reboot hits FOX on March 9th
It’s been years in the making, but the reboot of Carl Sagan’s landmark series Cosmos is finally on its way. The spiritual sequel, entitled Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, is produced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane and stars the charismatic director of the Hayden Planetarium Neil deGrasse Tyson. Rather than PBS, however, this series about the cutting edge of science and physics will air on FOX during primetime. The big premier of the 13-parter will be on Sunday, March 9th at 9 PM, eventually reaching 170 countries and 45 languages. While the original Cosmos may be sacred to some, and the involvement of Seth MacFarlane is certain to worry a few viewers, it’s worth noting that two of Sagan’s original collaborators, Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, are involved. Besides, its pretty hard to be upset when FOX is investing heavily in a primetime documentary series about space, time and the nature of the universe.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Via: The Verge
Source: Deadline
Daily Roundup: Google aquires Nest, SimCity goes offline, Mark IV hands-on and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Sprint abandons its ‘One Up’ program
In the shadow of T-Mobile’s UnCarrier endeavor, Sprint’s “One Up” early upgrade plan is being replaced with a new program that rewards users for adding lines to their account. Click the link for more details.
SimCity soon to gain offline mode
SimCity’s troublesome online reboot in early 2013 left users seriously disappointed. In an effort to remedy the situation, EA Maxis announced this morning that an offline mode will be available soon. Follow the link for more information.
GameFace Mark IV hands-on
The Mark IV is a prototype VR headset that, unlike the Oculus Rift, runs wire-free. Click the link for the hands-on and watch as Engadget’s Ben Gilbert takes it for a spin.
Google acquires Nest
Today, Google acquired Nest’s line of home automation products for a whopping $3.2 billion. iPhone users have no need to fear, however, as Google has pledged to continue support for both iOS and Android. Click on through for the rest of the story.
Imation 2-in-1 Micro USB Flash Drive Solves on Device Storage Limits
It is no secret that storage still drives our connected devices. Whether you have a device with no SD card support, store everything in the cloud but find yourself without network connection or if you are just looking for a quicker and more portable way to carry/transfer data. The use case scenarios are pretty endless with Imations new 2-in-1 Micro USB Flash Drive.
“The new Imation 2-in-1 Micro USB Flash Drive provides consumers with something extremely valuable: additional storage space, no batteries or internet required,” said Toshi Hokari, executive director, product management and marketing, Imation. “Whether it’s used to transfer photos or videos to a computer or another Android device, or to easily view content on the go, the 2-in-1 Micro USB Flash Drive solves a major headache mobile device users often experience—running out of storage space at critical times.”
The design and functionality of the 2-in-1 device are pretty remarkable. Give it a little pull to reveal the USB plug that is neatly tucked away inside. Plug it into your PC or Laptop and transfer whatever you want to it. Store it conveniently on your keychain for travel. Push the top down to access the Micro USB portion and connect it directly to your Android device and have instant access to your additional media content or files.
Being able to easily transfer files and media between two devices without a PC or waiting for the cloud is certainly another win for many of us. How many times have you been out with friends and wanted a movie they had on their phone, or maybe just a large ROM file? Plug in, copy it over and move on. Or maybe you have hit that dreaded “Storage full, move or delete files” message while you on a trip. Pop in the drive, copy them over and you are set.
This little guy already made itself useful to us while at CES. A company ran out of press kits but had them all on his laptop. I handed over the Imation Flash Drive and he copied them over and I was on my way. I plugged it into my Xperia Z later that night to read through the files and send them off to some of the team.
The 2-in-1 USB flash drive is scheduled for launch this quarter with some very reasonable price tags included. It will be available in three sizes: 16GB for a suggested MSRP of $29.99, 32GB for a suggested MSRP of $39.99 and 64GB for a suggested MSRP of $64.99. Of course it won’t be compatible with EVERY device on the market. Your Android device does need to support OTG (On-The-Go) connections. If you have no clue if your device will support it, then head over to Imation’s compatibility list and find out. If you are good-to-go, then hit the links to Amazon below to pick up the size you want at a slight discount. They are in order from 16Gb to 64GB
Images of Nokia’s first Android phone leak
An upcoming phone being made by Nokia code-named “Normandy” has pretty much only been seen as renders until today, when @seamissu leaked a photo of the device on Twitter.
The device was first seen in November thanks to @evleaks, and it has been said that Nokia has the device nearly ready for consumer release.
Reports have suggested that Nokia has forked Android, similar to how Amazon uses it, to create a customized operating system, a move that gives more control over the experience, differentiating it from other Android devices, while still allowing most Android apps to work on it.
Previous leaks have also suggested that the device has one capacitive back button, is running Android 4.4 KitKat with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and that its OS has styling similar to that of Nokia Windows Phone devices.
One other photo was leaked today by Chinese blogger Zhang Zhicheng.
This photo supposedly shows the Android app launcher on the device, but it could be an order version since the UI doesn’t exactly match up with the polish of some previous leaks.
Who knows if this device will ever see the light of day as Nokia is awaiting final notification of the acquisition of its Devices and Services division to Microsoft, expected at the end of this quarter.
via @seamissu Twitter, Neowin
The post Images of Nokia’s first Android phone leak appeared first on AndroidGuys.
HP rumored to launch its first Android smartphone any day
HP could possibly branch out to the smartphone world very soon
2013 began a trend of low-budget off-contract smartphones. With the Nexus 5, Moto X, and Moto G debut, contracts have begun to become a thing of the past. Rumor has it, HP will soon be included on this list, as well.
The folks at 9to5Google have gotten word that HP could possibly launch their first Android-powered smartphone as soon as next week. Supposedly, the phone will launch for around $200 (off contract), and will somewhat resemble Samsung’s 5.5-inch Galaxy Note. To produce a phone for only $200, they are taking some obvious cost-cutting procedures.
HP has been talking about smartphones for quite some time, and now it’s becoming a reality.
It’s always nice to see a big company like this take a different path. And if the phone turns out anything like the Galaxy Note or HP Slatebook line, we’ll be pretty happy about this.
The post HP rumored to launch its first Android smartphone any day appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Court Denies Apple’s Request to Remove Compliance Monitor in E-Book Antitrust Case [iOS Blog]
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote today denied Apple’s attempts to thwart its antitrust monitorship, reports Reuters. Apple had asked the court for both a stay on the original order requiring an external compliance monitor (due to a pending appeal) and the removal of Michael Bromwich, the attorney appointed to serve as the company’s monitor. Both requests were denied.
Apple Inc lost a bid on Monday to block an antitrust monitor appointed after a judge’s finding that the company conspired to fix e-book prices. At a hearing, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan denied Apple’s request to stay an order requiring an external compliance monitor pending the company’s appeal.
Apple also sought to have the judge disqualify the lawyer chosen to serve as monitor, Michael Bromwich.
Apple and appointed antitrust compliance monitor Bromwich have ongoing disagreements since November, when Apple filed a formal complaint over Bromwich’s fees in the case, which amounted to $138,432 over a two week period. The company also complained that Bromwich was overstepping his bounds by demanding lawyer-less meetings with key Apple executives and board members.
Bromwich, for his part, claimed that he experienced “a surprising and disappointing lack of cooperation from Apple and its executives”, filing a complaint against the company in late December. Apple responded by requesting his removal last week, stating that Bromwich had a personal bias against the company.
Earlier today, the Department of Justice condemned Apple’s actions, stating Apple had “chosen a campaign of character assassination over a culture of compliance” and suggested that Bromwich was open to negotiating with Apple on the original fee dispute.
Judge Cote plans to issue a decision explaining her reasoning on the denial in the near future, at which point Apple will have 48 hours to request an emergency stay from the federal appeals court in New York.
Apple was originally found guilty of conspiring with publishers to raise the retail price of e-books in July. As part of its punishment, the company was forced to hire an external compliance monitor to ensure that it complies with antitrust requirements in the future.
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New ZAGG invisibleSHIELD On Demand Program aims to Protect Everything
ZAGG is a name many across the globe know and love. They make a line of high quality screen protectors for various device models. Some people swear by them as their number one screen protector. It should come as no surprise that ZAGG made a slew of announcements at CES this year. Such as the new Sparq Powerbank, combination Auto/Wall charger, GO Fuel and invisibleSHIELD GLASS. While all of those are great announcements, it is the custom invisibleSHIELD On Demand program that is really going to revolutionize how ZAGG makes its way to your device.
Smaller retail stores have limited shelf space and can only house so much inventory for products. Places like Radio Shack will easily carry InvisibleSHIELD screen protectors for the most popular and higher end devices, but that only blankets a small portion of the consumers. With the ZAGG invisibleSHIELD On Demand store owners will be able to save front end space and valuable inventory space with the machine you see above. It allows people to walk into a supporting store and buy an invisibleSHIELD made for their device on the spot. Giving store owners, ZAGG and consumers more flexibility and coverage for more devices than ever before.
When we spoke with ZAGG about it we found out a few details. Like a few select Radio Shacks are already using the product. Everything is preset and automated via a tablet and a custom UI. Click the device they need protection for and hit go. When materials are low, the app sends out a re-order request so that the store has another roll delivered before they run out. We did fail to get the details on if multiple materials will be available for the various lines of protection. Judging from the size of the machine though, we think there should be a few different spools inside to give retailers and consumers the choice between standard, HD or other variants.
Twitter’s web look refreshed to match your phone
Where one of Twitter’s app designs goes, the rest will follow — hot on the heels of its latest Android and iOS releases, the social network is rolling out a new web interface with a matching look. The change is primarily cosmetic at first glance, although you can now personalize the accent color in addition to usual elements like backgrounds and profile photos. Not everyone is seeing the new look at this stage, but we’d expect it to reach many of Twitter’s web users in the near future.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Twitter (1), (2)
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