TalkAndroid Daily Dose for October 22, 2014
With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!!
Guides
How to lock any app on your phone or tablet for guests and kids in Android Lollipop
Accessories
Moto 360 Wireless Charging Dock now in stock and ready to ship from Google Play
Android Wear
Apps
Google introduces ‘Inbox’, an alternative to Gmail that works for you
Microsoft Garage launches two Android apps for your lock screen and travels
Google Earth for Android gets updated 3D rendering engine
Nova Launcher update brings more Lollipop flavor to your homescreen
Carriers
T-Mobile launches annual Postseason sale
HTC One (M8) for Verizon now receiving software update with Eye Experience, Android 4.4.4
Gaming
Rovio takes flight with new RETRY game
Humble Bundle’s spooky Halloween deal is now live
Google introduces ‘Inbox’, an alternative to Gmail that works for you
Phones
HTC One (M8) for Verizon now receiving software update with Eye Experience, Android 4.4.4
Huawei hosting contest to launch the Honor 6 in Europe
LG G3 now receiving major stability update
Samsung launches budget-friendly Galaxy Core Max in China
Samsung using Sony’s IMX240 camera sensor for the Galaxy Note 4
Smartwatches
Microsoft wants you to use Bing Torque instead of saying “OK Google” on your Android Wear smartwatch
Moto 360 Wireless Charging Dock now in stock and ready to ship from Google Play
Tablets
Samsung and Barnes & Noble announce 10.1-inch version of the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook
Updates
HTC One (M8) for Verizon now receiving software update with Eye Experience, Android 4.4.4
LG G3 now receiving major stability update
Come comment on this article: TalkAndroid Daily Dose for October 22, 2014
Google may sell Project Ara modules in a Play Store type marketplace
Google’s Project Ara is one of the most highly anticipated developments in the modern smartphone world, assuming it gains traction with developers, manufacturers, and consumers. We know the basic idea behind it, but one thing that Google has never truly clarified was how potential customers could purchase smartphone “modules” for their devices. Thanks to a new interview at a Purdue Presidential Lecture, the head of Project Ara, Paul Eremenko, talked a bit about how the modules would be sold, and it’s shaping up to be pretty interesting.
Google wants to invest in a marketplace not unlike the Play Store where customers can buy different modules. This marketplace would sell directly to customers, so there wouldn’t be any middle-man retail stores to go to. Buyers would also be able to comment and review all of the different hardware available, which would help other customers make informed decisions. That function is pretty similar to every other major online retailer today.
A big point of interest, though, is how Google will test and certify modules to be sold. They want to allow developers to create and sell their own modules on the marketplace, but Google is also responsible for making sure that the modules don’t blow up anyone’s device, which is a tricky thing to tackle. Looking at how loosely Google polices the Play Store, that may or may not end well.
If you’re interested, you can find the full video below. It’s a pretty long clip, but it’s entertaining and interesting, especially if you’re eager for Project Ara smartphones.
source: Android Headlines
Click here to view the embedded video.
Come comment on this article: Google may sell Project Ara modules in a Play Store type marketplace
Solar eclipse and police activity cards now showing up in Google Now
Good news for heavy Google Now users; you’re getting two new types of cards in your automatic information feed. Google has added in support for police activity as well as solar eclipses. The police activity is pretty useful, as it shows nearby criminal activity which can give you a heads up on areas or roads to avoid.
The solar eclipse card is pretty weird, but it gives you information on ways you can safely view the eclipse, so that’s pretty cool. Not life changing, but a cool feature regardless.
Fortunately, these cards won’t require an update to the Google Now app (as long as you’re already on the latest version) since the info comes from Google. Keep an eye out and let us know if you see either of them on your device.
source: Reddit
via: 9 to 5 Google
Come comment on this article: Solar eclipse and police activity cards now showing up in Google Now
Firebase, a cloud database company, joins Google’s Cloud Platform team
Google has announced that they’ve acquired a new cloud database company, Firebase. The Firebase team will join Google’s Cloud Platform developers in an effort to make development for mobile devices even easier.
Firebase exists to allow developers easy ways to keep data synced between mobile applications and web sites and apps, which can be a pretty tricky and difficult task otherwise. By bringing this technology under Google’s cloud platform fold, it should help speed up development for mobile apps as it gives developers one less thing to worry about.
For current Firebase developers, improvements should come to the service soon. For Google Cloud Platform customers, the improvements should kick in immediately.
source: Google Cloud Platform
Come comment on this article: Firebase, a cloud database company, joins Google’s Cloud Platform team
Hear the space age unfold on NASA’s historic SoundCloud account
If you’ve ever wanted to cobble together a really wicked EDM track comprised mostly of sound bites from NASA’s Mercury missions, well, now’s your chance. Everyone’s favorite beleaguered space agency has been posting a treasure trove of audio clips that span the space age to its SoundCloud account (just in time to post them in form of Twitter’s new Audio Cards), and they’re really worth a listen.
All of the old standbys — Neil Armstrong’s “One Small Step,” JFK’s “We choose the moon,” Sputnik’s lonesome beeping, Apollo 8’s earnest Christmas greeting — are present and accounted for. What’s really neat are the bits from lesser-known chapters of the country’s voyages into the cosmos, like the eerie radio emissions radiating from Saturn, and the sound of lightning crashing on Jupiter. And your author’s personal favorite? A clip of Apollo 12 commander Pete Conrad remarking that spacecraft could use “a little more all weather testing”… after it was struck by lightning on its way into orbit. Houston’s only response? A rather bemused “Amen.” Those were the days, no?
Via: CreateDigitalMusic
Source: SoundCloud
Sonos sues Denon for allegedly copying its wireless speaker tech
If you thought Denon’s Heos wireless speakers were a little too similar in purpose to Sonos’ range, you’re not alone. Sonos has sued D&M Holdings (the company that owns Denon) for allegedly violating “at least” four patents. The audio gear maker accuses the Denon team of making “little to no effort” to distinguish its speakers — while they look different and have more inputs, the core concept is supposedly the same. Sonos says it’s only asking for Denon to come up with “new ideas,” and won’t chase after royalties if the two sides can reach an agreement. It’s not clear whether or not Denon plans to fight back, but it tells VentureBeat that it takes the lawsuit “very seriously” and will have a full response soon.
There is an argument to be made for similarity. Besides functionality, the Heos line even uses a similar naming scheme. However, the complaint also shows that Sonos is feeling the heat now that competitors like Samsung’s Shape line and Pure’s Jongo are plentiful; as the company says, there’s seemingly a “new entrant every month.” While there’s no word on whether or not Sonos will take legal action against other rivals, its argument that there are multiple firms with “strikingly similar” audio products suggests that the Denon suit is just the tip of the iceberg.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, HD
Via: VentureBeat
Source: Sonos Blog
Tickets for Sony’s PlayStation gaming show go on sale Friday
So, you put in for the time off from work to hit December’s PlayStation Experience event in Las Vegas. The next logical step, of course, is buying tickets and come Friday you can do just that. As previously reported, a single day pass will set you back $50, and it’s $90 for a two-day ticket to get in Sin City’s Venetian Hotel. In a video on the PlayStation Blog, the outfit touts some “400,000 square feet of PlayStation” will be open to the public in addition to showing brief snippets of footage from The Order: 1866 and what looks like the follow-up to Dark Souls, Bloodborne. So those are likely two of the games you’ll get some hands-on time with if you attend. What else is going on there? Panels with developers and Sony employees and such, including Capcom’s Yoshinori Ono, who’s perhaps best known for his work on the Street Fighter series. Feel like playing gumshoe for more clues? The teaser clip below should provide ample opportunities.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Source: PlayStation Blog
See what makes the iPad Air 2 so skinny
It’s safe to say that you don’t buy most Apple devices these days with the expectation that you can open them up, and it looks like the iPad Air 2 is no exception. Do-it-yourself repair shop iFixit has torn down the new tablet and found that it’s even tougher (or at least, more expensive) to fix than its predecessor in a few respects. That bonded display may be great for cutting back on reflections, but it increases the risk of breaking the panel when you’re prying things open — and it’ll cost more to replace if you do break it, since you can’t separate the glass from the LCD. Problems from last year persist, too, such as the use of glue to hold seemingly everything together instead of clips or screws. Is this a deal breaker if you’re set on getting an extra-slim iPad? Probably not, but it’s something to consider if you normally prefer to fix gadgets at home instead of taking them back to the store.
Source: iFixit
It costs $50 to plug an Xbox One Kinect into your PC
What’s stopping you from creating the first killer Kinect 2.0 hack? Well, now that Microsoft’s released the do-all sensor’s SDK to the public for free you don’t have many more excuses. The software development kit is available without any fees and what’s more, you can now put any finished apps up for sale on the Windows Store as well. Just like that! To help developers along even further, Redmond is releasing an adapter that makes the Xbox One Kinect play nicely with a Windows 8 PC. Meaning, they won’t have to use a hack to create a hack (or buy a redundant Windows Kinect). The $50 USB 3.0 dongle not only brings price parity between the two previously separate cameras, but it’s another instance of Microsoft reversing a previous hardline policy to better suit its customers too. Now, get out there and get cracking — the hardware giant already has a head start on you.
Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Microsoft
Source: Official Microsoft Blog
Xiaomi is moving some of its users’ data out of China
Xiaomi’s a force to be reckoned with in China — its new phones routinely sell out online in seconds — but its influence is steadily growing outside its native home. That’s why the company’s infrastructure has been quietly shifting these past few months, and VP/former Googler Hugo Barra pulled back the curtain on what Xiaomi’s been up to. Long story short: it’s moving user data around the world, not only to make sure its services work better, but also to better protect its users’ information.
Some of the changes Xiaomi enacted are purely prosaic: it’s moving its e-commerce platform to Amazon data centers in California and Singapore so the site runs faster. Great! Of course, there’s something more crucial to Xiaomi’s future than making sure its website loads quickly. We’re talking about privacy here, and Xiaomi doesn’t exactly have a spotless track record when it comes safeguarding user info.
Finnish security firm F-Secure learned earlier this year that some Xiaomi phones relayed sensitive information like phone numbers and device identifiers back to company servers in China (in plain text, no less). Xiaomi quickly addressed the issue, but it was still enough to spook some curious players around the world. Take India, for instance – Xiaomi pulled off a very successful (if quiet) launch there, selling 40,000 phones in a hair over four seconds in early September. Earlier this week, though, The New Indian Express reported that the Indian Air Force has been cracking down on the use of Xiaomi phones because of their habit of relaying information back to China. Similar concerns caused the Taiwanese government to conduct its own investigation on Xiaomi phones, though officials haven’t yet published their results.
Xiaomi’s great data shift might be the right answer at the right time. Barra noted that international users’ data would no longer live in Beijing — instead, it’ll be stored on Amazon servers in Oregon and Singapore, far away from the Chinese government’s curious eyes. If Xiaomi’s really going to grow into the global giant it clearly wants to be, it has to do pull of the greatest feat of them all: it has to make the world’s potential customers trust it. The move won’t be done until later this year, but still — it’s a very clear step in the right direction.
Filed under: Mobile
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Hugo Barra (Google+)
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