Google will escape fines in EU antitrust case by promoting rival services
Google has finally reached a settlement in its long-running dispute with the European Commission over the way that it displays search results. From now on, it must give equal visibility to rivals like Bing and Yahoo when it shows ads for its own products and services, like hotel reservations or customer ratings. The EU has been probing Google for over three years now about its practices, and recently said that it would need to substantially improve its offer, and fast, or face a fine of up to $5 billion. Up until now, Google’s competitors accused it of burying their ads in its search results, and a recent offer to display them in a shaded box was roundly rejected. An “objective” method will now determine how Google must display those services, and once that happens, it’ll need to comply for at least five years.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Source: Europa.eu
Path finally brings video to its Android app more than three years after iOS
In the fast and frenetic world of mobile, a three year wait for a simple feature Apple users already have might put you off using one of your favorite apps. But that’s exactly what happened with Path, the once popular semi-private social network, which has taken an extraordinarily long time to bring video to its Android app. Following the launch of Path 3.4 on Google Play, Android users finally now have the option to record 30 second movies and apply a range of pre-selected filters, which can be shared to their private timeline alongside text, photo, location and other updates. While iPhone owners may welcome an influx of video shares by their Android counterparts, the fact it took over three years to roll out one Android feature and six months to fine-tune a new Windows Phone app means Path’s recent mobile launches aren’t likely to register on blip on Vine and Instagram’s radar.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile
Via: Path Blog
Source: Path (Google Play)
[RUMOUR] Nokia X may be available in India from March as an Asha device
For what seems like the longest time now, many of us have been enthralled by a potential Android-based Nokia smartphone that has come to be known as the Nokia X, or previously known as the Nokia Normandy. Despite its decidedly budget specifications, many people are still quite interested in seeing where it goes and what the Nokia X can do, even if it’s mostly for nostalgia purposes. In the latest tidbit of news, GoAndroid has apparently spoken with an unnamed Senior Nokia Executive Officier in India who has said that the Nokia X will be branded under the Nokia Asha line of smartphones and will be seeing a release in India in March this year.
This intuitively goes against what we’ve heard, or at least suspected, which is that Nokia is going to announce the Nokia X at its press conference at MWC 2014 in only a few weeks. There is a possibility, though, that this new news actually compliments our original hypothesis as the global roll-out of devices tends to be staggered and the Nokia X’s release in India may just be one part of that worldwide distribution. Whatever the truth is, with a new Microsoft CEO at the helm which will presumably resume the Nokia acquisition proceedings, we should still be crossing our fingers to hope that the Nokia X makes it out of the gates at all.
What do you think about this latest rumour about the Nokia X? Do you think we’ll actually see the device in India come March? Let us know what your opinion is in the comments below.
[LEAK] HTC M8 spotted in the wild, looking very much like a HTC One with an extra Eye
Just a few days ago, evleaks, source of many of the leaks surrounding the HTC M8, the HTC One‘s successor, suggested in one of his tweets that the new HTC flagship would look quite a lot like the One; this is definitely not a bad thing seeing as the One’s design is one of the reasons it was, and is, so popular among smartphone enthusiasts. Today, we get our first look at the device in the flesh, courtesy of a tweet from HTCFamily.ru which gives us a nice candid photo of the M8′s back.
You might be forgiven for thinking this was in fact the HTC One except for one distinguishing feature: the second camera sensor above the main camera. The existence of this dual-sensor arrangement was first alluded to when some online retailers prematurely put up cases for the unreleased device which featured an additional hole. There’s not much else to glean from this photo besides the fact this is our first look at a real HTC M8, also adoringly known as the HTC One 2, and confirming that the dual-sensor will be present, however with the expected announcement of the device to come in March, the leaks will likely start coming in thick and fast.
What do you think about the back of the HTC M8? Also, what do you think the official name of the device will be? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Source: Twitter via Phones Review
Moto G available in India from tomorrow exclusively at Flipkart
The Moto G has been somewhat of middle-class hero within the smartphone world; while it doesn’t boast flagship level specifications, its hardware provides surprising performance much like the Moto X and all for a very low price. The Moto G has started moving its way around the world and becoming available in places other than the U.K. and America; the next place on this list is India, who’s availability of the Moto G was announced just earlier today.
The Moto G will be available in the standard 8GB and 16GB variants which will be sold for Rs. 12,999 and Rs. 14,999 respectively. The phone will be exclusively available from online retailer Flipkart from tomorrow (February 6th), but unlike the American or U.K. versions will be a dual-SIM version. The Moto G has been getting plenty of great reviews with most of the negatives centered around the camera; there are a lot of positives though including the 720p screen and build quality that belies its price tag.
Who’s planning to get a Moto G, or better yet, who already has one? Let us know what you think about it in the comments.
Source: Phones Review
Galaxy S5 at the Unpacked Event?! Red Nexus 5 Arrives in the Play Store! – The ManDroid Show
It’s Tuesday! Or…Wednesday! Yes, I am a little late getting the ManDroid Show up today, but it’s been one of those busy days. The Red Nexus 5 finally hit the Play Store for those of you that like a little variety in your life. Samsung annouced an Unpacked Event, so we may possibly see the Galaxy S5 there. The event should be live-streamed, so we will see. Enjoy the show!
News Topics
Red Nexus 5 arrives in the Play Store
Samsung Unpacked Event Episode 1
HTC M8 on-screen buttons
HTC evleaks rumors
Unknown Sony device with thin bezels
QuadStick controller opens up PS3, PC and Android titles to quadriplegic gamers (video)
Playing PS3 games could soon get a little more inclusive. QuadStick, a suitably complex mouth-based controller that offers quadriplegics the ability to play console games, has launched its fundraising campaign on Kickstarter. The controller is composed of a single joystick, four sip-and-puff sensors, a lip position sensor and a push switch, all hooked into a 32-bit ARM processor that outputs to both USB and Bluetooth, and then to gaming hardware. And it’s not just for PCs: it’ll work with Android devices and PS3s too. (If you have the right adapter, it’ll also hook-up to both Xbox Ones and 360s.) Which input is assigned to which in-game button is configurable, although there’s several prearranged setups built into the Kickstarter controller, too. The user can use the straws to shift between different control methods, deciding whether to control the left analog stick, the d-pad or navigate using a mouse cursor.
Gamers would also be able to use third-party voice recognition suites (like Dragon Naturally Speaking), to add in voice commands too. These could calibrated to pick up word commands and convert them into game-specific actions — just because triangle is ‘jump’ in one game, it typically isn’t in another. The roots of the project came from Ken Yankelevitz’s Quad Control Joystick, with Davison then tweaking and adding to the base design while getting consistent feedback from quadriplegic gamers. Ensuring the mouthpiece fitted correctly was apparently one of the biggest challenges, but it’s already working with the likes of Call of Duty — there’s a video of exactly that after the break. At the moment, there’s five working prototypes, and if the product reaches its funding goal of $10,000, it aims to make at least 25 units, with plans to scale up depending on how much is raised: the project’s already reached over $3,000.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Eurogamer
Source: QuadStick (Kickstarter)
FDA approves swallowable ‘PillCam’ after almost a decade (video)
It’s been about nine years since we last heard from from Given Imaging, but the FDA has finally granted a version of the firm’s minuscule snapshooter its blessing. Not everyone has an easy time undergoing traditional colonoscopy procedures (due to drug allergies, for example), which is where the outfit’s PillCam Colon comes in. The camera takes a series of high-speed photos along its eight-hour tour through your digestive system, and transmits the snapshots to a device you mount on your belt. There is a caveat though, as the images aren’t up to par with those taken with standard techniques. The PillCam has been available in 80 other countries for some time, but its US-approval could give the some 750,000 people who can’t undergo normal cancer-and-polyp-scanning procedures a chance at early detection.
Filed under: Cameras, Science, Alt
Via: Motherboard
Source: The Boston Globe
Daily Roundup: Satya Nadella named Microsoft CEO, 10 years of Facebook 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.
Meet Satya Nadella
The speculation has ended. Earlier today, Microsoft named its enterprise chief Satya Nadella as the company’s third CEO. Like Ballmer, Nadella has history with Redmond, but their personalities couldn’t be more different. Click on through for more about the man tasked with reinventing Microsoft.
ASUS unveils the Chromebox
As promised, ASUS unveiled its new Chromebox, which will be available this March. At $179, this Chrome-powered machine packs Intel-integrated HD graphics and 16GB of onboard storage. Plus, owners get 100GB of free space, courtesy of Google Drive. Follow the link for details.
Iridium’s Satellite Hotspot
World travelers take note: Iridium’s latest satellite hotspot, the Iridium Go, brings worldwide internet action for around $800. Owners can pair up to five WiFi-equipped devices and access features through its official Android and iOS apps. Follow the link for more.
Facebook celebrates its 10-year birthday
Take a trip down memory lane with Facebook as it celebrates 10 years of happy times and cringe-worthy moments. Click through and enjoy a custom tailored video featuring highlights from you digital autobiography.
Filed under: Misc
[LEAK] He’s at it again: Eldar Murtazin leaks Samsung Galaxy S5 Specs
Now that we have a set date for what is likely to be the Samsung Galaxy S5‘s announcement, the focus of the media has now turned to what the S5 actually looks like and what hardware are we expecting. Well, if there was anyone who was going to leak us the details regarding this, it was going to be Eldar Murtazin, who has just today tweeted out what the Samsung Galaxy S5 specs are going to be.
If Murtazin’s tweet is to be believed, the S5 will be rocking either a Samsung-made Exynos 6 or a Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB RAM and a choice of either a 32GB or 64GB storage variant. He also says that the display will be a 5.24-inch, 2560×1440 resolution AMOLED (that’s 2K resolution for everyone interested) and the front and rear cameras will be 3.2MP and 16MP respectively. Rounding out the specs, the battery in the S5 is said to be a monstrous 3,200mAh package, a massive jump in capacity over the 2,600mAh in the S4.
For me, there’s nothing groundbreaking about the specs here except the battery capacity. We had heard that the S5′s battery would be utilizing new technology that would allow it to store more battery capacity with only a minor increase in physical size, but 3,200mAh is a lot bigger than expected and exactly the same size as the Galaxy Note 3′s battery. Given the S5′s smaller screen, this will result in a huge boost in battery power over its predecessor. That is, if this is all true…
What do you think about the Samsung Galaxy S5 specs leaked today? Do you think they are real, and are you tempted? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Source: Twitter via Phone Arena
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