Don’t remember what you rated Flappy Bird? Google Play never forgets
If you were browsing through the Google Play store to check out this month’s free music, you might’ve noticed an addition to the sidebar. Nestled between the device and wishlist tabs is a section devoted to showcasing anything you’ve starred or given a +1, called, wait for it, “My Play activity.” Don’t fret if personal media and app ratings aren’t appearing on your page though, as Android Police notes that the link isn’t showing up for everyone just yet. As of this writing, only a handful of Engadget editors can view theirs, for instance. Once the desktop feature finishes rolling out, you should be able to view anyone’s rating-history at-will — much like you can on Android. If anything, it’s another venue for (privately) ridiculing your boss’ taste in music.
Via: Android Police
Source: Google Play
Xbox One SmartGlass beta apps bring TV controls to Android, Windows and Windows Phone
Microsoft only just revealed it would test new TV remote features on the Xbox One and its associated SmartGlass apps, and Windows Phone Central points out that right now anyone can give them a try. All you need is one of the game systems and a device running Android, Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8. We tried out the apps and they install right alongside the standard Xbox One Smartglass apps, although there are some known issues and rough edges. The smiley face button serves as a way to report any issues, but overall things worked smoothly, and we were able to navigate recordings on a standard Comcast DVR or surf through the OneGuide without a problem. Download the apps now and try them via Google Play, the Windows Store or Windows Phone Store — we haven’t spotted a beta version for iOS yet.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Microsoft
Via: WPCentral, Android Central
Source: Google Play, Windows Phone Store, Windows Store
Spotify’s new design is cleaner, darker and puts the focus on content
If you’re using Spotify on the web, desktop or iOS you should notice a pretty massive change starting today. (The new look should be coming to Android “near future.”) The company is launching its most dramatic overhaul since its launch in 2008. Most noticeably, it’s flat and dark. Like Swedish death metal dark. The gray and white elements it experimented with over the last couple of years have been banished and it has returned to its roots with a UI that is primarily black and slightly lighter black. Sure, there are still green highlights and the new rounded (dare we say finger-friendly) icons are a lighter shade of gray, but the overall effect is one where the most important element — the content — jumps off the background.
Of course, if Spotify simply painted everything black that wouldn’t be big news. The redesign touches on almost every element of the experience. The edges are softer, there’s a heavy use of blurring on background images (especially in the mobile app) and there’s a new typeface, Proxima Nova, that’s clean and heavily rounded. Despite the starkness of the UI elements, these touches make the app feel warm and inviting. The new look also borrows flourishes from social networks. Artist and user pages now feature a round profile image against a large cover photo and content is now presented as image-heavy cards when browsing. Those round profile photos also give you a quick visual cue to let you know a card is for a person or artist, rather than a song or album. In general you’ll notice a lot more images throughout the interface, and big ones at that.
The overall look is not that unlike a dark cousin of Google+, at least in the browser. The desktop client uses many visual elements as the redesigned web player, but still retains some of the more traditional media manager elements. The mobile app employs a heavy does of transparency and slides around individual UI elements to keep them out of the way and maximize screen real estate. It also makes the shift to a tabbed interface that more inline with modern design trends.
The changes are not purely cosmetic either. The company has finally fully implemented search as you type across all platforms, and it’s blazingly fast. This will also be the first time that many users will get to enjoy collections — a feature that has been rolling out painfully slowly. Rather than being forced to save albums as playlists, users will simply be able to add them to their library for quick and easy access.
For more about Spotify’s effort to breathe new life into its streaming music service, read our additional coverage here.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, Software, HD, Mobile
HTC One M8 False Benchmarks! Galaxy S5 has the Best Display! – ManDroid Quickie
Welcome my Android friends. Time to give you some of that precious Android news in a hurry. At least I hope it is in a hurry. Last week, I started doing this type of video just to relieve some of the burden of my double life as a workforce, 8-5 worker, and balancing the YouTube life. Trying to keep these videos quick, and today I achieve that…somewhat. HTC decided to play the false benchmark score game, which breaks my heart a little. The Galaxy S5 apparently has the best display, which I congratulate them for. Enjoy the show!
News Topics
HTC flase benchmarks
HTC and Samsung play same April Fool’s Day joke
Galaxy S5 has the best display according to DisplayMate
Nexus 10 coming soon
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Amazon delivery lockers now also accept returns
You’re not the only one who’s ever bought silly things from Amazon while drunk. Good thing Amazon has several return methods, the newest of which lets you send back that banana slicer through the company’s strategically placed delivery lockers. According to The Wall Street Journal, the e-commerce giant will now let you return duds that way, so long as you get a drop-off code from its Online Returns Center first. You’ll need that code to open a cabinet on the locker, where you can stick in a box (up to12x12x12 inches in size) that holds and conceals your embarrassing purchase.
The WSJ says this move could save Amazon some serious cash, as up to a third of online purchases are usually returned and shipping’s one of the company’s biggest expenses. After all, carriers can retrieve items and deliver new orders at the same time whenever they visit a location. Unfortunately for customers, Amazon charges the same amount for locker returns as it does for UPS drop offs. We imagine it’s still a welcome development for folks who live or work near one of those lockers, though — whatever makes it more convenient to send back that Borat mankini, right?
Via: Wall Street Journal
Source: Amazon
KitKat Sees a Nice Jump in New Platform Version Pie Chart
Another month has past, so another platform chart has been released to see who is running what on their devices. We always hope to see the newest versions of Android take most of the pie, and it looks like Android 4.4 KitKat has seen a nice percentage raise to 5.3%. Last month the percentage was roughly 2.5%, so they are doing their best to get that KitKat out there to us. Jelly Bean is still the victor in this pie, by taking 61.4% of devices out there, which is about a 0.6% decrease from last month. A very lovely number indeed, which is what Android is striving to achieve, by making their newest versions easier to get on all the many devices out there. Cut down that fragmentation.
Still makes me laugh that there are still people rocking Froyo out there, but at least that Gingerbread and ICS number has gone down. Let us know what you think about these new numbers.
Source: Phandroid
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Google Maps users, rejoice: ‘search nearby’ is back
The incredibly useful “search nearby” tool was one of the casualties of the Google Maps redesign, but today Mountain View re-introduced the feature. For those who didn’t constantly use it to find new Indian restaurants a few blocks from their apartment (ahem), “search nearby” lets you pull up businesses and other points of interest based on an address, neighborhood or other location. It’s already re-added on the desktop; simply type in a place and the “search nearby” bar will turn up.
To be fair, it’s not like you couldn’t search for tacos near the Empire State Building with the new Google Maps that began rolling out last month — you could get the same functionality by doing a follow-up search after typing in an address — but “search nearby” is much more user-friendly. Unlike the latter method, it also lets you control the zoom level to get results within a particular distance of your location. And, no, we’re pretty sure this isn’t an April Fools’ joke.
Via: SlashGear
Source: @GoogleMaps
T-Mobile will no longer carry BlackBerry devices
By the looks of it, BlackBerry chief John Chen wasn’t appeased by T-Mobile’s attempt to make peace — in fact, things have only escalated: T-Mobile will no longer carry any BlackBerry device. In a press release today, the company formerly known as RIM announced that it has chosen not to renew T-Mobile’s license to sell its products when it expires on April 25th, 2014. If you’re wondering what exactly happened between the two companies, it all started when T-Mobile offered customers discounts on other phones if they trade in a BlackBerry. Obviously, that didn’t sit well with Chen, so the magenta network launched a similar promo for existing BB owners, giving them $200 to $250 if they’re upgrading to another BlackBerry device. Those who decided to do so need not worry, though: the two promise not to let this nasty divorce get in the way of supporting their current customers.
Filed under: Mobile, Blackberry, T-Mobile
Source: BlackBerry
Join the Engadget HD Podcast live on Ustream at 8:45PM ET
It’s Tuesday, which is time for the Engadget HD Podcast and we hope you’ll join us for the live recording at 8:45PM. We start this week’s show with news from Verizon about its new Quantum TV DVR. The Xbox One finally has some new TV features coming its way too, and Vudu comes to Chromecast. Content news from Amazon rounds out the coverage, along with some other streaming news, of course. If you’ll be joining us, take a peek at the topics after the break and then get ready to participate in the live chat.
Verizon FiOS Media Server arrives as Quantum TV DVR that records up to 12 channels at once
TV-focused Xbox One update tests a DVR button and OneGuide on SmartGlass
Vudu’s 1080p movies and TV shows are now streaming on Chromecast
Amazon likely to announce media streamer at April 2nd event
Amazon Prime signs ’24′ away from Netflix just before the new season airs on Fox
Amazon’s Alpha House wins re-election, six new series set to debut
Dish teams up with Disney and ABC to offer app access to content
Watch Sony explain Project Morpheus and its VR plans for PlayStation
Gadget Rewind 2005: Slingbox
Must See HDTV for the week of March 31st: HIMYM finale, Game of Thrones, Final Four
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Daily Roundup: April Fools’ roundup, a tour of ThinkGeek’s headquarters, 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.
This is not a prank: ThinkGeek and the business of April Fools’
April Fools’ Day beckons celebration from techies and corporations alike, but no one does it better than ThinkGeek. Our own Joseph Volpe was lucky enough to spend the day with ThinkGeek’s team of expert nerds as they prepared this year’s round of product spoofs. And don’t worry, we took lots of pictures.
Google to focus on portrait shots and effects with improved camera app
Sources familiar with Google confirmed to us that the search giant’s revamping its camera app. The new version will include a panorama mode, several new effects and provide a bug fix for the default camera’s photo framing issue.
2014 April Fools’ roundup
Every year, all sorts of companies try to take their April Fools’ gags to the next level — and 2014 is no exception. By now you’ve probably familiar with Google’s emoji translator and the selfie-taking drone, but click on through for our entire roundup!
TV-focused Xbox One update tests a DVR button and OneGuide on SmartGlass
The Xbox One TV experience is finally getting a little TLC. A new update preview is in testing that outfits the SmartGlass app with a new “recent channels” layout and DVR button, removing the need for your old cable remote.
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Filed under: Misc
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