Leaked Samsung app aims to catalog everything you do on your smartphone
Samsung could become the latest company to jump aboard the lifelogging bandwagon with its new “Life Times” app. Judging by leaked screenshots shared with SamMobile, Samsung wants to automatically log phone and app usage on Galaxy smartphones, cataloguing photos, emails, location, music, messages and social network updates, displaying all of that data in a daily digest. Samsung’s Story Album app already offers similar features for photos, based on common details such as location and time, but Life Times appears to function more as a diary app, like Day Journal for Android or Day One on iOS.
It does, however, fly in the face of reports suggesting Samsung is working with Google to scale down its Android customizations and reduce the number of in-house apps. Given the wording used in some of the screenshots, we reserve a healthy amount of scepticism while understanding the app could also be in early development. Samsung has rolled out new apps and services with its new flagship smartphones in the past, leading us to wonder if Life Times, if it is real, could make an appearance with the unveiling of a certain new Galaxy S handset.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: SamMobile
PayPal Angling for Mobile Payment Partnership with Apple
PayPal wants to be a part of Apple’s mobile payment system and is willing to work closely with the Cupertino company to bring the initiative to fruition, claims a report from Re/code.
Three payments industry executives tell Re/code that eBay-owned PayPal has been pitching Apple on helping the consumer electronics maker bring its long-rumored payments initiative to fruition. These people, who have spoken to contacts at both Apple and PayPal, say that PayPal is essentially willing to white label parts of its payment service to be used in an Apple mobile payments system — anything from fraud detection to back-end infrastructure, even possibly down to the processing of payments.
Re/code’s sources claim Apple is capable of rolling out a mobile payment system without PayPal’s help, but they could not rule out the possibility of some type of partnership between the two companies.
Apple is allegedly focusing on the iPhone for its mobile payment system, though details on how the phone will process payments is not known. A recent patent application hints at the use of NFC and Bluetooth, the latter of which is compatible with the company’s iBeacon technology. Apple recently deployed iBeacons throughout its retail chain of stores, while retailers like American Eagle and Safeway are experimenting with the technology in limited trials.
Today’s report echoes an earlier report from the Wall Street Journal that said Eddie Cue was meeting with industry executives to “to discuss Apple’s interest in handling payments for physical goods and services on its devices.” Tim Cook also confirmed during Apple’s recent earnings conference call that the mobile payment area was “one of the thoughts behind Touch ID” in the iPhone 5s.
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Sonnet Echo 15 Docking Stations Delayed for Thunderbolt 2 Upgrade [Mac Blog]
In an email to customers, hardware upgrade company Sonnet has announced yet another shipment delay for its Echo 15 and Echo 15 Pro+ Thunderbolt docking stations. Unveiled in April 2013, the hardware is still in the pre-order stage. The latest delay is the result of a company decision to upgrade the device to support Thunderbolt 2.0. 
Following our last Echo 15 and Echo 15 Pro+ Thunderbolt Dock status update, we received very positive feedback and valuable input that confirms these products were designed with the right feature sets. However, there has been an increasingly louder chorus of requests for them to be based on Thunderbolt 2 technology. We carefully considered this input, and, combined with recent clarification of requirements for Windows Thunderbolt compatibility, we have decided to upgrade these products to use Thunderbolt 2 chipsets.
The Thunderbolt dock features a DVD or Blu-ray reader/burner, a 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA drive bay (6 Gb/s) as well as a variety of ports for USB 3.0, SATA, eSATA, FireWire 800, audio input and output, and Gigabit Ethernet connections.
The Sonnet Echo 15 dock can be pre-ordered for $400 with a DVD drive and $450 with a Blu-ray drive. Different capacity hard drives are available as an optional add-on. The Echo 15 Pro+ starts at $550 while upgrading to a Blu-ray burner and adding space for a second solid-state drive.
(Thanks, Dan!)
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HTC: “We’ll miss our self-imposed Android 4.4 target”
HTC president (U.S.) Jason Mackenzie has penned a post on the company’s website advising that the hardware maker will miss its self-imposed target for Android 4.4 KitKat. Initially expected to arrive for the HTC One this week, it appears that the process could take another week or two before it hits the U.S. versions of the handset. As you likely guessed, the delay comes from the carrier certification aspect.
The challenge we gave our teams, in cooperation with our carrier partners, has taught us a lot that will allow us to improve on our upgrade delivery in the future. We remain resolved to provide timely updates and to be transparent about the process and status of our efforts. Supporting our customers is a major priority for us and we thank you for your support of HTC!
We have to give HTC credit for both imposing its own deadline as well as the transparency. There’s nothing worse than waiting without any clue as to what we should expect.
Read the full open letter at HTC’s website.
The post HTC: “We’ll miss our self-imposed Android 4.4 target” appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Waze seeks beta testers
Waze is in need of beta testers! Go to the link here to become an official beta tester for Waze. The following requirements below are needed in order to become a beta tester.
Requirements:
– Android OS 2.2 and up
– Device resolution 320X480 and up
– Ongoing participation and responsiveness
– Technical sense
– Ability to provide feedback in English
If you don’t know what Waze is, the recently acquired company by Google, here is a simple breakdown from their play store app description:
Waze is a fun, community based mapping, traffic & navigation app, 70 million strong. Join forces with other drivers nearby to outsmart traffic, save time & gas money, and improve everyone’s daily commute.
Grab the official release below and tell us what you think!
The post Waze seeks beta testers appeared first on AndroidGuys.
SwiftKey’s new iOS note-taking app syncs with Evernote
Will Apple ever open up its mobile platform to allow the use of third-party keyboards? Y’know, customizable boards that have features like clever word prediction algorithms and finger-swiping gestures? Despite CEO Tim Cook’s suggestion last May that we might see iOS open up more in the future, we’ve seen no strong indication that alternative keyboards are even on the drawing board at present time. Fortunately, some developers are finding small workarounds to this dilemma: even though they aren’t allowed to change the keyboard on the platform level, it’s possible to do so within third-party applications. Fleksy is a prime example of a company that’s thinking outside the box, opening up a developer kit allowing third parties to incorporate the Fleksy keyboard into their own app.
SwiftKey is also making the jump to iOS, but it’s taking a different approach: the keyboard maker just announced SwiftKey Note, a note-taking app that’s integrated with your Evernote account. This is great news for current Evernote users, and it may even be enough of an incentive for newbies to try it out. Using the new Note app, you’ll be able to create notes that sync up with the account on your desktop or other mobile app. But what’s more important is that you’ll have the help of SwiftKey’s trusty and faithful word prediction engine combined with the look of the default iOS 7 keyboard. We’ve got a gallery, video and additional impressions after the break.
However, this version of SwiftKey is much more minimal than what you can currently get on Android — essentially, you’re looking at an iOS 7 keyboard with an extra bar on top for word predictions and a few formatting options (if you swipe to the left on that bar, you’ll find a set of buttons for bold, underline, italics, indent and bullet points). We found that we could type faster on this keyboard than the standard iOS version, so it’s off to a decent start, but long-time fans of the Android version may be frustrated by the limited number of features. No swipe gestures, customizable themes, adjustable sizes or anything of the sort, at least not yet; this is the first version, after all, so we’re hopeful that SwiftKey will continue pouring more features into the project.
Still, for all that it’s missing, some of the key ingredients of a good note-taking keyboard are there. Not only do you get to enjoy the same word prediction engine found on the Android platform, the keyboard also gets smarter as you type; the more you do it, the more it’ll be able to figure out your patterns. (Again, this has been done on Android for a long time, but it’s refreshing to see on a platform like iOS.) To take it a step further, it also looks at your Evernote archive to get an idea of your personal writing style, and even keeps track of stats like how many keystrokes you’ve saved and how efficient SwiftKey makes you. Five languages are also currently supported: English, French, Spanish, German and Italian. The app is free and available on the App Store starting today on iPhones and iPads. It’ll work on devices running iOS 6 or higher, but the formatting options are only available for iOS 7. And who knows — perhaps the app will be enough to grab Sir Jony Ive’s attention.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Apple
Facebook Unveils News Creation and Curation App ‘Paper’ [iOS Blog]
Facebook today announced Paper, a news creation and curation tool that ties into a user’s Facebook account. The app is the first product to come out of Facebook Creative Labs, a division within Facebook made of small teams who are dedicated to startup-style projects.
Paper is split into a news reader that pulls its content from both a user’s Facebook News Feed and from well-known online publications, featuring a magazine-style layout with sections that range from technology news to animals. Facebook will also reportedly assign a team of editors to curate the best and most popular online content for users, and a composition tool that allows users to create their own status updates rich with media will be available as well.
Speaking to Re/code, Michael Matas, product design lead for Paper, explained why the company moved beyond a visual newsreader like Flipboard [Direct Link] and created both a news reading and creating tool.
“As you start changing the way you’re displaying this content, we hope that it will change the way people think about posting content,” Michael Matas, Paper’s product design lead, said in an interview. “Because the two are obviously really connected.”
But just as important, as Matas explains it, “It’s no fun to make a bunch of great stuff if no one ever sees it.”
Paper by Facebook will be available from the iOS App Store in the US starting February 3rd, with international availability to be determined. A visual walkthrough of the app is available on Facebook’s website.
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‘SwiftKey Note’ Brings Contextual Word Suggestions and Autocorrect to iOS with Evernote Integration
Last week, an image was posted on Twitter by noted leaker @evleaks appearing to show a “SwiftKey Note” app for iOS from the company behind the popular alternative Android keyboard that ranked as the top-selling paid app on Google Play last year.
SwiftKey Note is indeed real and it launches today as a note-taking app that optionally integrates with Evernote’s popular suite of apps. The app offers several features to allow for faster and easier note-taking, including automatic word suggestions based on context and personalized auto-correction. SwiftKey’s suggestion and autocorrect features learn over time based on context from previous text entries, and can tap directly into a user’s Evernote archive to assist with predictions.
SwiftKey’s Chief Marketing Officer Joe Braidwood told MacRumors that his firm was approached by Evernote early last year about the possibility of developing a SwiftKey app to integrate with Evernote, and the two companies have worked closely together and with Apple to bring that vision to reality.
The new SwiftKey Note app supports seamless backup and two-way syncing, both with other instances of SwiftKey Note and with Evernote, allowing for easy note entry and editing in the app while notes propagate to other instances of Evernote. While SwiftKey Note does support some text formatting through easy swipe access to a toolbar, it does not support syncing of more sophisticated Evernote features such as advanced text formatting and embedded images.
With Apple so far refusing to allow developers to create systemwide alternative keyboards for iOS, SwiftKey is limited to bringing its keyboard functionality to its own apps and releasing tools to allow other developers to offer it in their own apps on a case-by-case basis. As such, SwiftKey Note also serves as an example and marketing tool as the company looks to partner with select third-party developers going forward before opening up broader access through an open SDK.
Apple’s prohibition of alternative systemwide keyboards has also contributed to SwiftKey’s decision to not include support for the gesture-based typing found in its Android keyboard. For the time being, SwiftKey Note includes only the standard iOS keyboard to ensure familiarity for users, augmented with word suggestions appearing by default in a narrow bar above the keyboard, although the “tap to dismiss” interface familiar to iOS autocorrect users is also an option. Gesture input may, however, also be added in the future depending on user feedback.
One final key feature of SwiftKey Note is multilingual support, with the app able to offer contextual word suggestions in up to three languages simultaneously. Initial language support includes English (US and UK), German, Spanish (Spain and US), French (France and Canada), and Italian.
Unlike the SwiftKey Keyboard app for Android, SwiftKey Note for iOS arrives as a free app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, giving the company the opportunity to test the waters of iOS with a useful but still lightweight app accessible to all users. The app requires a minimum of iOS 6, although text formatting is currently only supported on iOS 7. [Direct Link]
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Facebook announces Paper: a ‘distraction-free’ news reading app for iOS
Facebook is making its own play in the news app category, going up against incumbents like Flipboard and Google’s own Currents service. It’s called Paper and it promises a “full-screen” distraction-free layout, with the app separating out your own Facebook News feed to begin with. You can then add to that, picking from Facebook’s curated themes that’ll include photography, sports, food, science and design. If you feared this would be populated exclusively by giant media corps, Facebook is promising that articles will come from from well-known sites as well as “emerging voices,” although it says it’ll also ensure that trusted publications will be easy to spot within the mix.
Navigation from article to article is done through swipes. and you’ll be able to tilt the phone and arch across bigger panoramic pictures. From the early screens that Facebook’s been sharing, the social network is going heavy on the visual appeal: pictures dominate the navigation, with soft white icons laid on top of pictures for navigation — there’s certainly flashes of iOS 7 in places. Videos, full-screen, will also auto-play (we’re hoping there will be a toggle for that). The app launches February 3rd and marks the premier release for the social network’s Creative Labs department: more apps are promised from the team going forward.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Software, Mobile, Facebook
Samsung escapes penalty after its lawyers leaked secret Apple documents
Late last year, Samsung found itself in trouble over claims it had secretly spied on Apple and Nokia documents to gain a better position in patent deals. It denied any wrongdoing, saying it hadn’t done so wilfully, and now US judge Paul S. Grewal has finally drawn the same conclusion. PCWorld reports that the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled Wednesday that the Korean company could not have used confidential information for its patent licensing talks with Nokia, a deal that was extended in November, because it already knew all of the terms ahead of the leak.
The court considered sanctions against Samsung after the company’s legal negotiator, Dr. Seungho Ahn, had reportedly told Nokia that its terms with Apple “were known to him,” even though they were marked “highly confidential — attorneys’ eyes only.” Up to 50 Samsung employees were said to have been given non-redacted copies of Apple documents by its external counsel Quinn Emanuel, which included patent deals with Nokia, but also Ericsson, Sharp and Philips. While Samsung has escaped further action, the court will force its legal representatives to cover both Apple and Nokia’s legal fees, effectively making the “junior associate working late one night” pay for underusing that big black marker.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Samsung, Nokia
Source: PCWorld
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