PayPal app officially released for Pebble smartwatches
PayPal makes an effort to keep its service available on just about every device out there, and Pebble’s smartwatch is the latest in a long list of phones, tablets, and other connected things. The app lets Pebble users check-in and punch in payment codes to pay for things at several retailers that accept PayPal. You’ll also get notifications for payments without having to check your phone.
This app means PayPal is available on nearly any smartwatch you can buy, including Samsung’s Gear offerings, Android Wear watches, and now the Pebble.
source: PayPal
Come comment on this article: PayPal app officially released for Pebble smartwatches
Beats Music to Be Bundled Into iOS Early Next Year, Will Remain Paid Subscription Service
As part of Apple’s revamp of its recently acquired Beats Music streaming service, the company plans to bundle Beats directly into iOS, reports Financial Times.
Apple will bundle the subscription music service it acquired from Beats into its iOS operating system early next year, instantly making it available on hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads – and ramping up pressure on Spotify, the market leader in music streaming.
The inclusion of the paid-for Beats service in an iOS software update could happen as early as March, according to people familiar with the situation.
The report notes that Beats will continue to be a paid service and will likely be rebranded under the iTunes umbrella. The move could come alongside the launch of the Apple Watch, with users able to push Beats music from their iPhones to the wearable device.
While Apple has praised the Beats Music model, highlighting the curation aspect of the service as a major reason for acquiring the company, Beats has struggled to gain subscribers. Estimates put Beats’ subscriber base at just 110,000, dwarfed by several other services such as Spotify that offer both free and paid options. Apple’s acquisition of Beats has been seen as major avenue to boost interest in the service, but so far cross-promotion has been fairly limited. A revamp of Beats under the iTunes banner and including access directly in iOS may, however, substantially improve customer interest.
Still, Apple has struggled with streaming music in its first foray with the ad-supported iTunes Radio. The service is still available only in the United States and Australia despite rumors of a significant international expansion for early 2014, and the service has reportedly underperformed Apple’s goals of driving listeners to purchase tracks from the iTunes Store. But with a three-pronged strategy of traditional iTunes Store purchases, ad-supported iTunes Radio streaming and a subscription Beats service all integrated on iOS, Apple may finally be in a position to satisfy many music listeners.
Lose your keys and phone often? Motorola Keylink is your solution!
Do you lose your phone and or keys often? We’ve all done it and it is very frustrating sometimes. One minute, you have your phone, the next minute it is mysteriously gone… Today, Motorola announced their solution to all of our troubles: Motorola Keylink.
Motorola Keylink is a device you attach to your key chain that can help you locate your phone, from upwards of 100 feet away. It can also go the other way. Say you misplace your keys, using the Motorola Connect app on your phone, you can make the Keylink ring.
What makes this device unique is that it is compatible with both Android and iOS devices, costs $24.99, and the battery will last upwards of a year. The device operates on a button battery, similar to ones found in car key fobs.
The device can be purchased from Motorola or T-Mobile starting today.
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The Best Android apps for yoga, running, and weightlifting [November 2014]
We all know we need to exercise more often, more strenuously, and smarter, but how? The answer is in your pocket, hip, or purse. That’s right: it’s time for best Android apps for exercising. To make this list convenient, I will be dividing the apps up into categories based on the type of exercise (yoga, running, and weightlifting).
Yoga:
Yoga is a fantastic way to work your flexibility, balance, and control over your body, and the Google Play store has plenty of apps to satisfy even the most advanced of Yogis.
1. Yoga.com Studio:
Yoga.com Studio is a perfect application for those just starting out with Yoga, while still offering a challenge for those who have years of experience under their belts. The app is free to download and is supported by in-app purchases to gain access to the app’s extended features. All poses are free to view and learn about, but if you want to follow a pre-installed program, you’re going to have to pay $1.99. All the poses have HD video demonstrations and 3D muscle images to help you learn what exactly you need to be working on during your workout. If you want to get a premium app, but aren’t sure that Yoga is for you, check out Yoga.com Studio.
2. Daily Yoga:
Daily Yoga is by far the most popular yoga app on the market, with downloads in the 1-5 million range. As far as options go, Daily Yoga is one of the most feature-filled yoga applications available. You can choose from between 50 classes and 400 yoga poses to practice for your workout and 3 workout intensities for beginners, intermediates, and advanced yogis. There’s also a forum to communicate with other practitioners of yoga and a way to follow and chat with other yogis. The app is updated monthly with new content.
3. Pocket Yoga:
If you’re certain that you’re into yoga and willing to make an investment, Pocket Yoga is available for $3 on the market. It’s worth the premium as well. With Pocket Yoga, you get 200 poses with posture and alignment, detailed voice instructions with guides for every pose with inhalation and exhalation timing, and a dictionary with the benefits of each pose. The app also tracks your progress with a log to see how far you’ve gone into your yoga journey. Lastly, you can play your own music from your music library during your yoga sessions so you can control your relaxation with a special playlist.
Running:
It’s common knowledge that running is one of the simplest, most reliable ways to get in shape. But how far? How intense? Just let these next few apps clear up the confusion for you. Plus, they are all Android Wear and Google Fit compatible
1. Runkeeper:
This is my personal favorite and the app I use for my jogging journeys. Using your device’s GPS, the app can track running, cycling, or hiking and keeps your pace, distance, time, and burned Calories. You can follow a popular running route for your area, or you can run wherever your heart desires. The app tracks your progress and workouts, and also lets you snap pics of your route for when you pass the most beautiful landmark.
2. Nike+ Running:
Nike+ Running is the popular running app that specializes in pushing you to the brink of your athletic endurance, whatever it takes. If competition is your thing (I know it sure is for me), you can compete with your friends to try to get to the top of the leaderboard, or you can have a head-to-head challenge against your archrival. If you’re new to running, you can get a training program to follow. Lastly, when you hit the wall, and you just can get your runners’ high, you can get a Power Song at the press of a button to keep you going!
3. Runtastic:
Runtastic is more of the same: It monitors time, speed, distance, and your route. However, one thing that separates Runtastic from the others is it’s simpler Google Earth style view of your route. Social networking is tied in easily so you can share your results from your workout. If your device has at least Kitkat, you can listen to your music through your running app. Android Wear is of course able to control the app so you can conveniently check your goals without stopping.
Weightlifting
No one wants to be scrawny, but there’s more to weightlifting than just developing a physique. In order to increase your metabolism and lower your body fat percentage, you’ll have to hit the weights. But where do you start? Keep reading for some apps with answers.
1. StrongLifts:
If you’re trying to make the most progress in the least amount of time while learning how to make gains in the gym, StrongLifts is by far the best place to start. Ask any classic bodybuilder for the best way for a beginner to see progress, and you’ll hear about Reg Park’s 5×5 program. StrongLifts is the perfect app to teach you about the 5×5 program and 5/3/1 program and give you the tools to accomplish it. The app is free, but if you pay extra, you can get weight and plate calculators in addition to the logs and calendars already included.
2. Fitness Buddy:
Fitness Buddy’s ideology is more is better. More endorsements, more exercises, more routines, and more videos. Over 1700 exercises, 1000 HD videos 4000 videos, and 75 routines are included in the application. Also included are graphs for tracking body progress and measurements. ESPN, Gizmodo, and Lifehacker all recommend Fitness Buddy to anyone looking to learn how to make progress in the gym. If you really want to learn the most you can about exercise, this app is a must-have!
3. BodySpace
The key to making lasting change in your body and health is usually a string support group. People that want to see you succeed can help you motivate yourself to push harder and accomplish more physically. BodySpace knows this and gives you the perfect way to connect with like-minded people and break goals together. The app itself is simple: you get a calendar and a training program depending on what you want to see change, and you track your progress with the Fitness Tracker. Along the way, meet new people to trade tricks with and watch your gains skyrocket!
These are my favorite Android apps for exercising. Did I miss any of your favorites? Please let me know in the comments.
Come comment on this article: The Best Android apps for yoga, running, and weightlifting [November 2014]
Amazon Fire TV Stick starts shipping, Fire TV Remote app hits the Play Store
Back at the end of October Amazon announced a new dongle for your TV called the Amazon Fire TV Stick. The small HDMI device compares itself to Google’s Chromecast but bolsters some more powerful hardware as well as its own UI with physical remote. At the time of the announcement Amazon placed the Fire TV Stick up for pre-order. If you happened to be a Prime member you were able to grab the $39 unit for $19 during a short 48 hour window. Amazon planned to start shipping the pre-ordered units today.
In an announcement from Amazon, they have indeed confirmed that shipments for the pre-orders have started to go out. However, the demand was quite a bit higher than they anticipated.
“Fire TV Stick has been our most successful device launch ever,” said Dave Limp, Senior Vice President, Amazon Devices. “We built a ton of these, but customer demand still outpaced our supply. We’re excited by the overwhelming customer response and the team is working hard to build more as quickly as possible.”
Needless to say, many pre-order buyers are going to be waiting quite a while for their Fire TV Sticks to arrive. I myself ordered one on October 28th, the last possible minute for the Prime promotion, and my estimated deliver date is set for January 9th. Currently Amazon has the Fire TV Stick
For those of you that are getting yours a bit sooner, then you will most likely want to go get your hands on the new Android app that was released today, Amazon Fire TV Remote. The Fire TV Remote app is the companion app for your phone and/or tablet. While the Fire TV Stick does come with a physical remote, the app gives you voice search functionality along with the ability to type on your device’s screen keyboard. Those that have experienced trying to type out something with a pointer on a TV screen knows just how painstaking that task can be.
The app is available now and is, of course, free. Feel free to pick it up below so you don’t forget, but don’t expect it to be functional at all until your Fire TV Stick arrives and is connected to your Wi-Fi network.
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Nielsen will finally start tracking Netflix and Amazon video
Nielsen, the holy vanguard of television ratings, has finally figured out how to track viewership from Netflix and Amazon’s streaming video services. And when it launches next month, it could fundamentally change the sorts of shows you see from them. Since neither Netflix or Amazon offer detailed viewership data, Nielsen has developed a way for its rating meters to track shows by identifying their audio, the Wall Street Journal reports. While it won’t track mobile viewers, it will help level the playing field for content owners when negotiating streaming deals, who have so far been clueless about how their shows are performing on Netflix and Amazon. That might lead to some of your favorite shows disappearing, but it could mean streaming data will help decide wether that show you’ve been binge watching gets cancelled.
This isn’t the first time Nielsen has tried to make sense of newfangled viewing habits, though. Last year, the company updated its tracking platform to measure video streams from the web, mobile devices, and other modern viewing sources like DVRs. And it also tapped into Facebook and Twitter for broader viewing trends. The difference this time? Nielsen will be able to track how shows perform on specific streaming services. That could lead to some surprises, like a show that explodes on Netflix after floundering inexplicably on TV. And maybe, just maybe, it will prove once and for all that nobody is using Amazon’s instant video.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Amazon
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Android One phones to get Lollipop by the end of January
Android One smartphones might be off to a slow start in terms of sales, but it also appears they are also off to a slow start in terms of updates. According to one of the manufacturers, Spice Mobility, the Dream Uno will receive the Lollipop update by the end of January 2015. More than likely, the Micromax A1 and the Karbonn Sparkle V will also get the update around the same time.
Since all Android One phones sport hardware specified by Google and updates come directly from them, you would think the update would be a little quicker. According to sources within Google, the update is ready, so it’s possible that it could start rolling in December. I guess only time will tell.
source: India Today
Come comment on this article: Android One phones to get Lollipop by the end of January
SteelSeries Stratus XL iOS Gaming Controller Launches on Apple Store [iOS Blog]
The previously announced SteelSeries Stratus XL has officially launched today on the Apple Store. Following in the footsteps of the original Stratus controller, the beefed-up Stratus XL provides a larger frame that gives it some parity to console controllers in terms of relative size and button layout.
The Stratus XL connects to an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch using a wireless Bluetooth connection, and the large design fits all of the expected control inputs: two joysticks, a pressure-sensitive directional pad, four action buttons, and four shoulder buttons that include two analog trigger buttons.
Our sister site TouchArcade got a hands-on with the controller at E3 this past summer, and found the new device favorable over the diminutive size of the original Stratus. They noted, “Instead of curling your hands around the tiny SteelSeries Stratus, holding the SteelSeries Stratus XL is more similar to having an Xbox 360 or Xbox One controller in your hands.”
The Stratus XL uses AA batteries instead of a rechargeable battery pack. SteelSeries says the batteries should last for 40+ hours of playtime, and a switch on the back of the device should help users prevent heavy drainage of the batteries when not in use.
The SteelSeries Stratus XL can be purchased now from the Apple Store for $69.95, which is about $10 over the price tag of the PS4 DualShock 4 and the Xbox One Wireless Controller. The Stratus XL will be available for direct purchase from the SteelSeries official website, and for hands-on demos at select Apple Stores, on December 6.
Amazon’s Fire TV Stick is shipping (but only if you’ve already ordered)
Did you plunk down $39 for Amazon’s Fire TV Stick as soon as you heard about its promise of low-cost, full-featured streaming? If so, we have good news: as promised, Amazon has started shipping its Chromecast rival to people who ordered early. Unfortunately, those are the only people who can expect to get a Fire TV Stick in the near future… or any time this year, for that matter. Amazon is telling new customers that their orders won’t ship until at least January 15th, 2015, or well after everyone has unwrapped their holiday presents. Unless your gift recipients are cool with IOUs, you’ll have to snag a Chromecast, a Roku Streaming Stick or another “close enough” alternative.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals, HD, Amazon
Source: Amazon (1), (2)
T-Mobile adds second holiday offer; Makes it easier to connect with family overseas
T-Mobile is making all sorts of headlines as of late. Yesterday, T-Mobile announced their first holiday offer of a free ONETOUCH Pop 7 tablet with qualifying data plans. Today, they announced they will be making it easier to connect with family and friends overseas, just in time for the holidays.
Starting today, T-Mobile has announced two new offers. Everyone on your Simple Choice plan can call landlines in more than 70+ countries for just $5 extra a month.They also announced a $10 a month plan, where customers can get unlimited calling to mobile phones in 30 countries and 1,000 minutes to mobile phones in Mexico. This plan also includes all the features of the aforementioned $5 plan.
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