Google Play Music updated, gets offline SD storage
Google has been busy lately updating it’s Android App lineup; Google Play Music is next up on the list with features which will add to the functionality of Google Now.
Google has added the ability to shuffle all songs from an artist in All Access which mimics the Shuffle Play or Radio feature found in other music streaming services such as Spotify or Rdio.
In addition, Google now allows up to ten authorized devices on your account to access your music collection, meaning no more having to de-authorize your allocated devices if you have multiple Android handsets you want to access Google Play Music.
Further functionality, and something I’ve personally been waiting for, is the ability to store offline music on a device’s SD storage card. This is currently only on KitKat and Google mentions it has included ‘experimental’ support for older devices.
The update also brings a few UI updates which makes it easier to share what you’re listening to, together with new controls for adding tracks to playlists. Of course, there’s the usual bug fixes too, but overall a minor update but some important features nonetheless.
The post Google Play Music updated, gets offline SD storage appeared first on AndroidGuys.
On Candy and Kings
Hey guys, just wanted to publish a note to clear the air on a particular topic that’s getting traction this evening. We ran a post earlier today as part of our Developers We Love series which is aimed at giving new Android users a place to start. The idea is simple: we highlight a developer who has a number of games in the Google Play Store or Amazon Appstore that are fun, high quality, and worth checking out. Seasoned users may already know about many of these developers, but those transitioning away from feature phones will not be so familiar.
What happened today that was so bad? The developer we showcased was King.com
Yes, I am well aware of the ongoing stuff about trademarks. In fact, I find that particular aspect really crappy. I did not know about the CandySwipe open letter today until after our post had gone live. The whole thing sucks to be honest and it flies in the face of what we set out to do with Developers We Love. Why? Because we say in our preface paragraph that we will show love to indie developers as well as big name studios. Heck, we’ve intentionally stayed away from adding EA to the pool if only because of the perceived nickle-and-dime agenda. Sadly, one big company looks to be taking advantage of a very indie developer. And that sucks.
In hindsight, no, we should not have listed King.com as a Developer We Love. There’s too much drama around them right now and our timing for the article was simply unfortunate. While we do ready some of these evergreen articles to go on a day’s notice, it falls at my feet in the end. Some are drafted weeks in advance and set aside. Rather than greenlight the article and send it through, I should have pulled it back – which is what has happened now.
To be clear we did not take any payment from King.com nor did we receive anything from them. We have a pool of developers we’re going to cover here and today was their turn, so to speak. We do not take payment from any developers whatsoever. We don’t do text links. At best we will sometimes do a guest blog post where we will still check the links and verbiage so as not to appear overtly favorable.
Our intentions with AndroidGuys as a whole is to speak to the average reader and Android/smartphone user. We don’t care about chasing down every single rumor nor do we cover every single software update. Suffice it to say, our main focus is on helping Android users get more out of their devices.
I’m deeply sorry if we’ve turned you away over this; we hate to lose any readers or give them the wrong impression. I failed you guys and that’s the unfortunate truth.
Scott
The post On Candy and Kings appeared first on AndroidGuys.
HTC Introduces Double Dip Cases for the HTC One
Still think Moto X wasn’t a game changer? After the Moto Maker was introduced to pick out what color you wanted for your Moto X, other OEMs started thinking about doing the same thing. They started adding multiple color options for their phones, and now HTC wants a piece of that action for their beloved HTC One.
HTC has introduced Double Dip cases that you can color coordinate yourself. If you head over to HTC, you can go pick yourself a case with 3 different colors on it for the price of $30. Not a bad idea honestly, so if you have an HTC One, and you want a colorful new case, hit the link provided below to go grab yourself one Let us know if you did.
Check them out here: HTC.com
Supposed iPhone 6 parts surface on Twitter, hint at a larger screen on the way
Lately it’s seemed like Apple can’t build anything without a few prototype shells and cases leaking into public view, and now we’re seeing pictures of what could be the next iPhone. Posted by a Twitter user earlier today and addressed to several Apple-focused websites, the empty iPhone 6 shells look very close to current models, but appear to have space for a larger edge to edge-style display, which has been rumored before. Sonny Dickson, who has previously obtained iPhone and iPad parts prior to the launch of new devices, has also apparently received the same pictures and tells MacRumors they came from a source in China. Are these pics the real thing, and if they are, do they represent what we’ll likely see from Apple later this year? Without any details to back them up we can’t be sure, but you can check out a few more pictures for yourself after the break.
iphone 6 #apple pic.twitter.com/T7URVS8O6f
– mornray886 (@mornray886) February 12, 2014
iphone 6 #apple pic.twitter.com/GW6jKLG9FP
– mornray886 (@mornray886) February 12, 2014
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple
Alleged iPhone 6 Prototype Depicted in New Images
A set of images depicting what is said to be the shell of the next-generation were shared with MacRumors by an anonymous Twitter user earlier today. Australian writer Sonny Dickson, who shared several of the same images, claims that they were initially shared by someone in China.
It is entirely unclear whether the device in the images is a legitimate iPhone 6 part or a fake. Early prototypes of the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c exhibited a blank rear shell while the iPhone 6 shell in the picture clearly shows FCC text that is generally added to the phone at a later date.
The device depicted in the images has a width of 2.6 inches, while the existing 4-inch iPhone 5s has a width of 2.31 inches.
Even if these images are fake, they give a good idea of what a larger screened iPhone 6 could look like.
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iPad Air Battery Life Bests Other Tablets [iOS Blog]
Apple’s iPad Air outperforms competing tablets by a significant margin when it comes to battery life, according to a new test conducted by Which? Test Lab, a consumer test organization in the United Kingdom.
In a battery usage test that covered both Internet and video use, the iPad Air bested both the iPad 2 and the Retina iPad Mini, as well as tablets from competing companies like Amazon, Google, and Samsung.
With the Internet (web browsing) test, the iPad Air saw 658 minutes of battery life, or nearly 11 hours. The Retina iPad mini came in second place with 614 minutes of battery life, while the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 lasted just 483 minutes and 481 minutes (eight hours), respectively. Apple’s iPad 2 also performed well, lasting 590 minutes.
In the video test, the iPad Air lasted quite a bit longer than its competitors at 777 minutes (almost 13 hours). The Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and the Nexus 7 from Google came in second and third, at 714 minutes and 669 minutes, respectively. The Retina iPad mini and the iPad 2 fared decently at 660 and 604 minutes, respectively, while the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 came in dead last with 465 minutes of battery life (7.75 hours).
For the tests, Which? set all of the tablets at a brightness of 200 nits (what it calls a reasonable daytime brightness level) and checked battery life while web browsing over wi-fi (with 3G enabled) and during video playback. The tests may not be entirely reflective of real world usage given variations in browsing and video watching habits, but the experiment does give a clear overall view of the battery life of the iPad Air compared to its competitors.
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Google Music Updates with UI Tweaks, Device Management, Offline Radio and More
A fairly substantial update is rolling out for Google Play Music today. The update will move it from version 5.3.1317M to version 5.4.1409N. That is a good sized jump in terms version numbers and it certainly does deliver a number of new enhancements.
The first thing you will probably notice is some tweaks to the UI. The left sidebar that pops out now offers Settings, Help and Send Feedback. It used to be up in the top right with a tap of the three vertical dots. As seen below, the update is on the right and the last 5.3 version is on the left.
Buried throughout the app are a number of of other great additions that I know many of you have been asking for. For instance, you can now manage and deauthorize devices through the app instead of having to login to your PC. That was a pretty big pain point for many who are switching phones often and have multiple Google Music supporting products all signed in. You can also see in the settings that you can also “Refresh” your music manually now too.
Offline Radio has also found its way into the mix too. Simply tap on the three little dots to open the small popup menu. From there you can tap on “Keep on device” and cache a station to your device for playback at a later time.
The duplicate Chromecast issue is also apparently resolved. Along with that, the Cast button has been moved from the top while listening, to the center between the thumbs.
A few other little additions, like a ‘Play Next’ button has been added to songs and albums, a ‘Playing From’ bar in the playlist now floats along with your scrolling and some crash fixing too.
As always you can wait around for the update to hit your device through the Play Store, or you can go to our Gappsearly page where we keep all the apks easily available and updated.
Via Androidpolice
More HTC M8 Photos Surface Showing Off the Thin Bezels
The HTC M8 images keep coming. Today we get this gem that actually a lot of people might enjoy. When we posted the image that showed up online yesterday, everyone hated the fact that there was that black bar at the bottom of the screen that housed the HTC logo. Well as you can see here, there is no black bar with the HTC logo. We also see that the phone is sporting some barely there bezels, which a lot of people were hoping for as well. Let us know your thoughts about this new image.
Source: Talk Android
Alleged HTC Desire 8 Render Circulates the Web
The HTC Desire 8 first made its presence known in the community not too long ago, and with HTC stating they were going to put forth some efforts in mid-ranged devices, the HTC Desire 8 sounded like it would be their first mid-ranged phone of this year. Well a new render of the supposed HTC Desire 8 has surfaced, but there are some flaws within it.
First off: no navigation buttons. Yeah those are missing from this render, even though they will most likely be on-screen buttons. Then we have the screenshot on the phone. You would assume that given this is a new phone, it would be running Sense 6. We got our first taste of Sense 6 showing off BlinkFeed when evleaks posted a screenshot. This screenshot is an older screenshot, so highly unlikely this is legit.
Specs came along with screenshot that include a 5.5-inch display, 13 MP rear camera, and a 5 MP front-facing camera. No word on processor, but those other specs sound more high-end than mid-range. The HTC Desire 8 might be one of those phones that doesn’t make it over here the states. This phone could very well stay over in Asia, but maybe HTC has a US variant in mind. Let us know your thoughts about this render.
Source: Mydrivers.com
Via: Android Police
Flickr co-founder’s Slack collaboration tool leaves beta, goes freemium for all
Back in August, Flickr creator Stewart Butterfield’s Tiny Speck started the digital signup sheet for Slack, its collaborative productivity software. Today, the project exits beta and goes freemium for businesses anxious to opt in. In case you’re in need of a refresher, the goal of Slack is to free the daily workflow from what Butterfield calls “email bankruptcy.” With this software, internal messages are all in one spot with access to files stored elsewhere and items like bug trackers baked in. In addition to the free Lite tier, there are also Standard and Plus options with increased functionality for $8 and $15 for each user per month, respectively. A more robust and customizable Enterprise subscription will range from $49 on up to $99 a month, but it isn’t set to arrive until 2015.
Let’s go back to that no-cost option for a minute, shall we? Here, users get access to a searchable archive of 10,000 messages, 5GB of storage, five of those external integrations and native apps for iOS, Android and Mac. New features have already been teased for later this year, with items like email integration, guest accounts and detailed analytics mentioned for the paid tiers.
Filed under: Software
Source: Slack
AIVAnet 