Google’s camera app now lets you shoot in different aspect ratios
Google isn’t done getting its Android camera app up to the standards set by third-party software — not by a long shot. The company is now rolling out an update to Google Camera that lets you choose the aspect ratio for your photos, not just the resolution. If you prefer a movie-like widescreen look to all your pictures, you can crop the image to match. Fans of family portraits, meanwhile, will be glad to hear that the timer has returned; also, creative types can shoot panoramas with fisheye and wide-angle lens effects. The refresh isn’t available on every supporting Android device just yet, but we’d give it a few days — it should hopefully arrive in time for your next big photo safari.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google
Via: Android (Google+), 9to5 Google
Source: Google Play
Google Camera Moves to v2.2 and Returns the Timer Plus More [APK Download]
Happy Google app update Wednesday everyone. While in the past we have seen a number of Google apps update mid-week, it would seem Google has slowed things down a bit. Today we have only seen the Google Camera app and the Google Chrome app update. We will get to the Chrome update a bit later. The Google Camera app has been moved to v2.2.024. With the full version number bump we find a feature being returned along with a few nice new additions.
In the updated app you find the return of the picture timer, offering up 3 and 10 second options. You can see the small stop watch in the lower part of the screen on the left. Simply tap it to change he timer settings. There is a new splash screen for cropping selections and in panorama you have a new fisheye and wide angle set of choices. Android Police also makes mention that you also have an option of full frame or cropped pictures. I don’t remember there being a vertical and horizontal choice in the previous version either, but I could be wrong.
If you are hankering for the update and haven’t seen it hit your device just yet, you can download the APK and install it as normal through Gappsearly via the link below. Don’t forget though, your device needs to be sporting Android 4.4+ in order for it to install.
Google Camera v2.2 APK download
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AllCast now sends your phone’s media to anything with a Chrome browser
For Koushik Dutta, it’s not enough that his AllCast app can stream an Android device’s content to set-top boxes and other mobile gear; he now has it streaming to PCs, too. His new AllCast Receiver for Chrome lets you send photos, videos and your device screen to anything with a Chrome web browser on the local network. If you want to use your Chromebook as a makeshift TV, you can. It’s not quite as slick as sharing content between native apps, though. You can’t use the wireless headset feature with video, and screen mirroring isn’t seamless. With that said, this is still one of the easier ways put your phone’s media collection on a bigger display.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Mobile
Source: Chrome Web Store
Apple Announces $3 Billion Beats Acquisition, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre Joining the Company
Apple is buying Beats Electronics and the Beats Music streaming service for a total of $3 billion. The acquisition is the largest in Apple’s history and is the biggest move by CEO Tim Cook since he took the reins from Steve Jobs several years ago.
Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple as full time employees, with both reporting to iTunes head Eddy Cue. In an interview with The New York Times, Cook said Iovine and Dre were “really unique” and that “it’s like finding the precise grain of sand on the beach. They’re rare and very hard to find.”
Cook said that “of course” Apple could have built a subscription music service rather than buying one, just like the company could have built all the technologies that it has acquired over the years. “You don’t build everything yourself. It’s not one thing that excites us here. It’s the people. It’s the service.”
In the Times, Cook promised new features for Beats that will “blow your mind” as well as “products you haven’t thought of yet”. He promised the team would “take music to an even higher level than it is now.”
Jimmy Iovine, Tim Cook, Dr. Dre and Eddy Cue
In an interview with Re/code, Cook said that Apple felt Beats was the first subscription music service to “get it right:
We get a subscription music service that we believe is the first subscription service that really got it right. They had the insight early on to know how important human curation is. That technology by itself wasn’t enough — that it was the marriage of the two that would really be great, and produce a feeling in people that we want to produce.
[…]
But mostly, backing up — it’s because we always are future-focused. So it’s not what Apple and Beats are doing today. It’s what we believe pairing the two together can produce for the future.
Apple has seen rumors of a interest in a subscription music service for close to a decade, with Jobs saying in 2007 that customers “don’t seem to be interested” in music subscriptions. The New York Post said in 2010 that Apple was negotiating with record labels on such a service, though nothing ever came of it.
Earlier this month, Spotify reported that it has 10 million paying subscribers to its music service, showing that many customers are now interested in such a service.
The Wall Street Journal says Iovine will quit as chairman of Interscope records to work full time at Apple. Dr. Dre will continue to produce music but do “as much as it takes” for Apple. The two men’s titles will reportedly be “Jimmy and Dre”. In a letter to employees, Tim Cook confirmed that the entire Beats team will be joining Apple under Eddy Cue and noted the company’s commitment to curated content.
Both Apple and Beats believe that a great music service requires a strong editorial and curation team, and we will continue to expand what we do in those areas. The addition of Beats will make our incredible iTunes lineup even better, extending the emotional connection our customers have with music.
Eddy Cue and Jimmy Iovine will appear tonight on stage at the Code Conference.
The acquisition will include $2.6 billion in cash and another $400 million that will vest over time. Apple expects the transaction to close sometime next quarter. The Beats Music iOS app has been updated with an extended 14-day trial period and a price drop to its yearly subscription to $100 from $120.
Beats Music is a free download for the iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]
References to New iMac Models Appear in OS X Mavericks 10.9.4 Beta [Mac Blog]
Mentions of new iMac models are buried inside the OS X Mavericks 10.9.4 beta that was seeded earlier today.
There are three new resource files for power management that mention three new iMacs with model numbers beginning with 15, according to some digging done by Pike’s Universum. The current iMac line is made up of models 14,1 and 14,2.
The most interesting part is the addition of three new resources (plist) files for power management:
Mac-81E3E92DD6088272.plist / iMac15,1 (IGPU only)
Mac-42FD25EABCABB274.plist / iMac15,n (IGPU/GFX0/Apple display with id 0xAE03)
Mac-FA842E06C61E91C5.plist / iMac15,n (IGPU/GFX0/Apple display with id 0xAE03)
Rumors have suggested that new iMac models could make an appearance at WWDC next week after shipping estimates for the machine began to slip on the Apple Online Store.
Theft Alerts Introduced by Lookout to Help Prevent Phone Thievery; Well, at Least Recover Some Devices
According to Lookout, 3.1 million Americans have their devices stolen every year. I suppose I am lucky that in all my years of having a phone, any kind of phone, I have never had one stolen. Broke a few, but never stolen or lost. The fact of the matter is that it happens a lot more than I think it does. There are plenty of apps out there to help slow the numbers and thwart thieves. Heck, Android Device Manager isn’t to terrible at keeping track of your phone and then there is Ceberus who does quite a bit more. Another one is Lookout Mobile. They have announced an update to their app that will help catch the crook more so than help prevent them from high-jacking your device in the first place.
With the update there are 5 Theft Alerts that can be triggered. These are the 5 most common things a thief would do after snatching your device.
- Entering the wrong password
- Removing the SIM card
- Turning on Airplane Mode
- Powering off the device
- Removing Lookout as a device administrator
If any of those things happen, Lookout will do a number of things. First it will take a snapshot with the camera. Which will only matter if the device is facing the culprit when they enter the wrong password, turn on Airplane mode or possibly power down the device. It will also pull the exact GPS location of the device. Then it will email them both to you.
Can’t blame them for trying, even if they are a little behind. Considering that lookout is a pretty standard install on device from carriers like T-Mobile, I am sure it will benefit the more standard end-user. That is assuming they choose to sign-up for a premium account for either $2.99 a month or $29.99 for a year. With the new update out Lookout is going to let current premium members have access to it now for the next week, that just means that free users won’t have a chance to try it out just yet. Once the week ends though, Lookout will be offering up free users a chance to give it a whirl through September 30th before being asked to sign up.
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Pocket’s new paid service gives you a permanent reading collection
Read-it-later apps like Instapaper and Pocket are handy for digesting large articles, but they’re really just pulling up optimizing internet links. What if your favorite story disappears a few years from now? Pocket now has a solution to that long-term problem. Its new Pocket Premium service saves a permanent copy of any article you flag, giving you access even if the host site goes down or changes the content.
The upgrade also brings in a deep search option that scours entire texts, and it suggests tags to help you find what you’re looking for in the future. If archiving is your thing, you can sign up for Premium at either $45 per year or $5 per month. That’s a lot if you rarely look at something more than once, but it could be a bargain if you can’t bear to be without memorable reading material.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Mobile
Via: The Verge
Source: Pocket (1), (2)
Uber partners with AT&T to bring preloaded apps to your new phone
Uber’s growing like a weed, and it’s about to get a lot more exposure for people who may not have tried or heard about the ridesharing service. CEO Travis Kalanick announced a strategic partnership with AT&T on stage at Code Conference. Uber drivers will use phones running on AT&T’s network, but more importantly, the company’s app — which consumers use to call for a ride and track the cars — will be preloaded on an unspecified number of devices on the carrier. There’s no word on the financial obligations, nor did we hear when this transition will take place. If you haven’t used Uber before, be prepared to get to know the service a little better, whether you like it or not.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, AT&T
The $250 MOD-t delivers simplicity and beauty in a 3D printer
Affordable desktop 3D printing is imminent, and today another option began its crowdfunding campaign. The folks at New Matter are looking to simplify the process so that anyone can output the items they desire, and to do so they’ve built the MOD-t. Aside from the clear enclosure for easy viewing and dapper industrial design, the software component is where the ease of use really shines. The outfit worked alongside Frog to develop a user interface that allows for quick design downloads, applying tweaks like you would a photo filter, easily sharing with friends and beaming projects to the minimally-designed printer. “At the end of the day, we wanted to be a 3D printing experience that is meaningful to the way that you currently approach communicating with the people in your life. Create relationships, not just objects,” says Frog designer Christine Todorovich.
If you’re in need of a quick introduction, Frog has worked with GE, Microsoft, Nike and other Fortune 500 companies on the strategy and design for both products and software — including Sharp’s Feel UX for Android. The firm not only collaborated on the ecosystem and software for the MOD-t, it also helped tweak the overall design of the unit right down to the mechanics. Those came from New Matter’s Steve Schell, who engineered the 2-axis motion tech to use a third less parts than other 3D printers with moving platforms. And fewer parts keeps the cost down. If you recall, the Mirco is a $300 option that also takes up less space at a workstation, but offers a bit smaller print size. New Matter and Frog are banking on the experience here, which allows for artists and designers to sell their 3D-printable wares through the same online repository — similar to Makerbot’s Thingverse, but with the added e-commerce. The MOD-t also features WiFi connectivity, which is a feature that has yet to become standard on these output gadgets. What’s more, Frog is getting into the venture capital game, and this is the first effort from its Venture Design arm.
Filed under: Peripherals
Source: Indiegogo
Apple acquires Beats Electronics for $3 billion
Apple is making things official: Dr. Dre’s Beats Electronics belongs to Cupertino, and it cost them $3 billion. Rumors had circulated that CEO Tim Cook was interested in nabbing up the audio accessory and music-streaming outfit, corroborated by a beer-drenched video in which Dre himself declared that he had become “the first billionaire in hip-hop.” And now, after Financial Times had already let the cat out of the bag, we have Apple’s side of the story. As expected, co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre (Andre Young) will join Cook and VP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue, but their exact job titles haven’t been revealed just yet.
Despite rumors that Apple was only interested in Beats Music in an effort to boost a decline in iTunes numbers, the deal includes both the hardware and the streaming software sectors of Dr. Dre’s business. And it’s Apple’s largest purchase ever. “Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple,” notes Cook. “That’s why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world.” That doesn’t rule out selling the headphone and speaker portion of the acquisition down the road, but it seems that for now, the folks at Apple are interested in the whole lot.
“I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple,” said Iovine, who’s also Beats’ CEO. “The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple’s unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple’s deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special.” Of course, the purchase — which includes $2.6 billion in cash and $400 million in stock — is subject to the requisite regulatory approvals, but it’s expected to close by late September.
“I’ve always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple.”
As you might expect, the Beats duo will be tasked with the next wave of Apple’s music products, but in an interview with The New York Times, Cook didn’t offer up any details. “They’re going to be coming up with ways of features that blow your mind,” he said in the interview, “and products you haven’t thought of yet, and seeing around the next corner to articulate the way to take music to an even higher level than it is now.” While Apple was once at the help of the digital music age, it has lost considerable momentum to services like Spotify, Rdio and Pandora despite. For now, it seems that Beats and Apple will keep their products separate until those new projects are complete, as the Cupertino-based outfit isn’t sharing any preliminary plans for any hardware that it will release or exactly how a subscription service may factor into its existing audio efforts.
To celebrate, Beats Music has already updated its iOS app, dropping the cost of an annual subscription to $100 (a $20 discount) and extending the free trial window to two weeks. What’s more, Tim Cook has confirmed to Financial Times that the streaming service will still be available to folks on Android and Windows Phone after the deal goes through.
[Photo credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images]
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Software, Apple
Source: Apple, Beats Electronics
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