Amazon Echo update brings Pandora, MLB, and MLS support
Amazon’s latest update to their Echo device brings support for a handful of new services that are a welcome addition. Pandora support is now completely native to the device, so you’ll be able to talk to Echo to create stations or play and pause music. Prior to this update, you’d have to start music on a smartphone or tablet, then stream it through Echo.
Music lovers aren’t the only ones getting new features with this update, though. Major league baseball and major league soccer are both coming to the device, so you’ll be able to quickly get scores or ask when games are.
Have any of you bought an Amazon Echo?
source: ZDNet
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Galaxy Note 4 on Verizon getting Android 5.0 Lollipop update with VoLTE support
Verizon and Samsung have finally gotten around to pushing out the Lollipop update for the Galaxy Note 4, and hopefully all of the bugs that have been plaguing other Samsung devices have been stomped out.
In addition to bringing all of the updates Google introduced in Lollipop to Samsung’s phablet, you’ll also see support for Verizon’s VoLTE, plus Material Design aesthetics to most of Samsung’s interface and apps. S Health is getting three new widgets, and a new Galaxy Gifts link has been introduced in one of Samsung’s integrated widgets.
The update should be rolling out over the air, so if you’ve got a Verizon Note 4, keep an eye out for it.
source: Verizon Wireless
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Android 5.0 Lollipop now rolling out to the Verizon Galaxy Note 4
If you’re a Galaxy Note 4 owner on Verizon, you’re in for a treat. Big Red is now pushing out Android 5.0 Lollipop, carrying build number N910VVRU1BOAF.
As is the case with most other Samsung devices, Android 5.0 Lollipop will bring a slew of awesome aesthetic enhancements and some under-the-hood changes. For starters, the UI will be updated to fit in with Google’s Material Design guidelines including some brighter colors and more fluid animations. Unfortunately the majority of the visual changes you’ll see won’t be as prominent as on a device running a vanilla build of Android, but they will definitely add a few nice touches to the UI. The Note 4 will also receive the Smart Lock security feature, priority notifications, notification interaction on the lock screen and much more.
Verizon is also bringing Advanced Calling 1.0 to the Note 4, which is essentially VoLTE, or Voice Over LTE. Advanced Calling 1.0 allows for the ability to make HD voice calls, 2-way video calls and 6-way conference calls. You can now toy with all of these changes by heading to the Advanced Calling menu in your phone’s Settings.
There are a few other nice additions that Lollipop will bring, so if you own a Note 4, take a look at the PDF that’s linked below. If you’d like to check for the update manually, head to Settings>About phone>Software updates>Check for updates. Since the update is just beginning to roll out today, it might take a few days for your device to get the OTA.
Shazam scores Xbox Music integration, recommended songs in latest update
Shazam is the latest subject in a flood of app updates that have come through today after an issue affecting the Windows Store seems to have been resolved. The update bumps Shazam up to version 4.2 and brings some welcome integration with Xbox Music and adds recommended songs based on your Shazams.
Samsung once again reported to manufacture Apple’s next-gen A9 processor
While there’s still no official confirmation, Samsung is once again reported to be producing the A9 processor for the next iteration of the iPhone.
Bloomberg reports:
Samsung Electronics Co. will manufacture the main chip in Apple Inc.’s next iPhone model, regaining a customer previously lost to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Samsung will start making Apple A9 processor chips at its Giheung plant in South Korea, the people said, asking not to be identified because the contract hasn’t been discussed publicly. Additional orders will go to Samsung’s partner Globalfoundries Inc., according to another person familiar with the arrangement.
This would mark a switch back to Samsung from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which was tapped to produce the A8 Processor that currently powers the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The choice of Samsung as the manufacturer of the A9 chip would presumably be to take advantage of the company’s 14nm manufacturing process, which would make for a cooler, less power-hungry chip.
Today’s report is just the latest in a line of several others that have pegged Samsung as the manufacturer for the A9 chip. While it’s still no confirmation, it’s looking to be extremely likely that whatever Apple unveils this fall will be sporting a Samsung-manufactured chip.
Source: Bloomberg
Microsoft brings a preview of its Office Lens document scanning tool to Android
Microsoft’s Office Lens app aims to help you stop misplacing important documents and receipts you collect throughout the day. The Windows Phone version of the app was released over a year ago, but today the company announced that a preview of Office Lens is now available on Android.
For those who have never heard of Office Lens, it basically turns your phone into a mobile scanner, allowing you to snap photos of almost any document and easily save the enhanced image to any of your favorite Microsoft applications. All you need to do is snap a photo of a whiteboard or document and Office Lens will trim and enhance the image to make it readable. You can even convert images to PDF, Word and PowerPoint files, which lets you edit the text once it’s saved. Unfortunately you’ll only be able to save documents in OneNote, OneDrive, Word and PowerPoint, so you’re options are pretty limited for now.
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Here is the full list of features Office Lens brings to the table:
- Identifies printed text with optical character recognition (OCR) so that you can search by key word for the image in OneNote or OneDrive.
- Converts images of paper documents and whiteboard notes into Word documents, PowerPoint presentations and PDF files for easy editing and reformatting.
- Captures business cards and generates contacts you can add to your phone.
- Inserts images to OneNote or OneDrive (as DOCX, PPTX, JPG or PDF format) and gives you options to save, export and share the image.
Since the app is still in beta, you’ll need to go through a few extra steps before you can download it. For those interested in trying it out, you’ll first need to join the Office Lens Android Preview Community on Google+. Once you’re a member, follow this link to become a tester. After that, head to the Google Play Store to download the app.
Android malware installs decreased by nearly 50% in 2014, says Google
Security isn’t to be taken lightly, especially when it comes to dealing with sensitive consumer information. To shed some light on its recent efforts, Google released a whitepaper earlier today that explains what exactly the Android security team has been working on in the past year. The report, titled Android Security State of the Union, analyzes billions of data points gathered throughout 2014 that detail the current state of Android security.
The full report is quite lengthy, but there are a few main points Google would like to highlight. For starters, the company says the worldwide rate of Android malware installs decreased by nearly 50% throughout 2014. And over the entire year, fewer than 1% of all Android devices contained any type of harmful application at all. Of the devices that only installed applications from the Google Play Store, fewer than .15% contained a harmful app.
In addition, the company explains that over 1 billion devices are protected by its Verify Apps service, which now scans over 200 million devices per day. Lastly, the Android team and all affiliates responded to 79 externally reported security issues overall, and over 25,000 applications in the Play Store were updated following security notifications from Google.
Now, all of these numbers Google has laid to us out are quite broad, especially given the company’s meaning of the word malware (or Potentially Harmful Apps). But if you are interested in getting some more information on specifics, Google has detailed everything in a very lengthy report, which you can find here.
Google has already made clear its intentions to focus more on reviewing policy violations in Google Play in hopes to reduce malware even further over the next year. Even though many users are still concerned with Android security, the company hopes this new report will bring those worries to an end.
Samsung Confirmed to Produce A9 Chips for Apple’s Next-Generation Devices
Samsung will provide Apple with A9 chips for its next-generation iPhone and other devices, reports Bloomberg, confirming a previous report in early February. Over the past couple of months there had been confusion and conflicting reports as to whether Samsung, Apple’s longtime supplier and rival, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) would produce the chips.
Samsung will start making Apple A9 processor chips at its Giheung plant in South Korea, the people said, asking not to be identified because the contract hasn’t been discussed publicly. Additional orders will go to Samsung’s partner Globalfoundries Inc., according to another person familiar with the arrangement.
In 2013, Apple signed a chip production deal with TSMC in hopes of diversifying its supply chain resources and reducing its reliance on Samsung amid the two companies ongoing legal disputes. Apple had been unable to fully break away from Samsung however, with the Korean company producing 20-nanometer A8 and A8X chips for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in 2014, although TSMC had handled the bulk of the chip orders.
It appears that Samsung’s investment in manufacturing technologies won Apple over, with TSMC Chairman Morris Chang recently telling investors that the company would lose ground to Samsung in producing the most advanced chip technology possible in 2015, though he also noted the company would regain that advantage in 2016.
Samsung is reportedly producing the chips with its advanced 14-nanometer process, which has outpaced TSMC’s capabilities and results in smaller chips that consume less energy and provide more processing power. The Korean company is also said to be providing memory chips for Apple’s next-generation devices.
Thus far, little is known about what the next-generation iPhones or iPads could include other than new A9 chips, but new reports indicate Apple could be bringing its new Force Touch technology to the devices. Other rumors also suggest the A9 may make its way into the “iPad Pro”, which may debut in late 2015. It’s likely the 2015 versions of the iPad Air and iPad mini will be outfitted with versions of the A9 as well.
Google+ photos in Drive coming to Google Apps users April 6
Earlier in the week, Google gave notice that photos uploaded to Google+ would be forever available in Google Drive. The feature has long been requested since Photos’ debut much the same way Dropbox backs up photos. Well in typical fashion when something arrives from Google, personal users get the new goodies long before Google Apps users. However this doesn’t seem to be the case with this feature.
Google announced today that Google Photos in Drive will be coming to Google Apps users on Monday, April 6; only a week after personal users received the feature. Like personal users, all users will see the new menu item in drive labeled “Google Photos.” Upon launching, an notification will appear in the Drive web UI. The kicker is that photos and videos DO count toward storage quotas for items uploaded via auto backup.
So if you use your Apps email address for your Google+ profile, you’ll be able to auto backup to Drive in just a few day’s time.
source: Google
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6tag updated to 4.1 with increased image quality, phablet UI
6tag, the popular third-party Instagram app for Windows Phone scored a pretty nice update today that brings along improved image resolution and UI tweaks for larger devices.
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