Deal: The Android Bot Collectible Bundle is just $19.99 in the AA Deals Store (41% off)
Odds are if you’re reading this post, you’re already a fan of all things Android. So if you’d like to expand your love for everyone’s favorite OS and the Bugdroid mascot, we may have a good way for you to do so. Right now in the AA Deals Store, you can pick up the Android Bot Collectible Bundle for just $19.99.
The Android Bot Collectible Bundle consists of three randomly chosen Android mascots, measuring just three inches tall. Your options include standard Green, Business Man, Taxi Bot, Yeti, Pinkey, Bear Tag or Ruby Red. And to sweeten the deal, we’re throwing in a 6-inch Ganndroid plush toy along with the three plastic collectibles.
The plastic Bugdroids alone normally cost around $20, and the 6-inch plush toy usually goes for $13. Thanks to the Android Authority Deals Store, you can pick up this entire package for just $19.99. This deal ends in just two days, so be sure to take advantage of the discount before it’s too late. Head to the link below for more information.
Chrome for Android now supports push notifications
Many websites nowadays offer mobile apps to accompany their website, which allows them to be able to stay in touch better with their audiences. We do live in the information age after all, so it’s nice being able to get a notification when the latest Android news hits right on our homescreen or lockscreen. How else will we know when the latest flagships come out!?
Google though, being the game changer that it is, has announced a substantial update to the mobile version of Chrome, update 42, that is going to streamline the process of getting notifications from your favorite websites, that will, in time, make having to download a separate app a thing of the past.
Users will now be able to opt in to receive push notifications straight from Chrome, which will show up on the lockscreen (for lollipop users) or on the homescreen, just like any other kind of notification. Awesome, right?
As of right now though, not all websites are supported, as only some early adopters have updated their websites to support this feature. Some examples of early adopters are Beyond the Rack, eBay, Facebook, FanSided, Pinterest, Product Hunt, and VICE News. While this is a short list, many other websites are sure to follow within the new couple of months.
Another notable feature that comes with Chome 42 will be the ability to quickly add homescreen shortcuts directly from mobile-optimized website. Now you can quietly access your favorite sites without having to keep a tab open with it at all times.
Source: Chromium Blog
The post Chrome for Android now supports push notifications appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Qualcomm may tap Samsung for help with the Snapdragon 820 CPU
Qualcomm has decided to use Samsungs chip-making plants instead of its long time partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., for its latest chip, the Snapdragon 820.
From a business standpoint, this makes sense, since Qualcomm lost some business when Samsung decided to use its own Exynos chip instead of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 chip, which uses 20-nm transistors compared to the 14-nm ones that Samsung is able to create at its own plants.
Qualcomm is hoping that by using Samsungs plants, Samsung will keep them in mind for their next flagship, since the Qualcomm chips have more integrated part than the ones manufactured by Samsung, with Samsung only having the benefit of the smaller transistors.
Whether or not this deal will help propel Qualcomm forward during the upcoming years is yet to be seen, but for now it can only mean good things for us, the consumers. Smaller chips and more integrated parts mean faster, more efficient chips that are going to make future smartphones even better than they are now, which is getting harder and harder to do every year.
Source: re/code
The post Qualcomm may tap Samsung for help with the Snapdragon 820 CPU appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Twitter’s broader abuse powers let it filter hostile tweets
Twitter knows that it’s not enough just to make it easier to report abusive tweets. You have to catch and discourage that abuse as often as possible, too. Appropriately, the social network is rolling out a broader abuse policy alongside tools that help it stop harassment quickly. The new rules now cover all promotions of violence against someone, not just “direct, specific” threats — Twitter can crack down on more than the most serious attacks. That’s particularly important for victims of systematic abuse, who frequently chastise Twitter for being soft on people who clearly wish harm but aren’t explicit about it.
The new technology should prevent those troublemakers from being as effective as they have been in the past. Twitter is testing a feature that would look for the hallmarks of abusive tweets (hostile language coming from a recently created account, for example) and “limit their reach” — effectively, filter them out. You’d still have the option of looking at this material, but it wouldn’t automatically bombard the feeds of everyone involved. As of today, Twitter can also lock accounts for set periods and make users clean up their act, such as by requiring phone verification (which discourages dedicated trolling accounts) or asking them to delete certain tweets. Think of it as a middle ground that makes it clear a user did something wrong, but stops short of an outright ban.
These measures still aren’t perfect. There’s a concern that the filtering will prevent the targets of hate campaigns from knowing exactly what’s going on, and the overall approach won’t necessarily stop the most determined harassers. Still, these measures might just prevent the most vitriolic Twitter users from getting away scot-free.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Twitter Blog
Google’s mobile search prioritizes sites optimized for phones
Google announced in February that it would start highlighting mobile-friendly sites on phone searches — today, that update is finally here. Now, when you search Google on your phone, you’re more likely to see results that are optimized for smaller screens, rather than desktop sites that require a lot of tapping and zooming. Basically, it’s a kick in the pants to lazy web developers who haven’t yet catered to the growing number of mobile internet users. The update only applies to phones — not tablets — and Google notes that it affects individual pages, not entire sites. It also won’t stop desktop sites from showing up in mobile searches if they rank highly enough. You can test the mobile friendliness of your site with this test, or by running the Google’s Mobile Usability Report on your site. Naturally, if you don’t spruce up your site, you can expect a drop in mobile traffic from Google.
Source: Google
Samsung S Health app posted to the Play Store
Samsung has not been a manufacturer that makes many apps available to the Google Play Store, but the recent addition of the Samsung S Health app may be a sign that things are changing. Over the past couple years manufacturers have increasingly used the Play Store as a distribution channel for their proprietary apps, a move that saves consumers time in waiting for updates to be released as part of a device update. Samsung seems to have resisted that move, possibly due to their own app store being available to owners of their devices as well as their desire to maintain some control over their ecosystem.
The new S Health app comes on the new Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge. The version released to the Play Store appears to be the same one that was delivered on those devices. Owners of other Samsung devices can now update or add the app, although it does require Android 5.0, so only newer devices that have received the Lollipop update will be able to make use of it.
Like so many health and activity apps on the market today, the S Health app is designed to collect data from wearables like Samsung Gear devices and then display this through the app in a way that will help consumers live more healthy lifestyles. Besides basic tracking of data, users can set goals and then measure their progress.
If you have a Samsung smartphone with Android Lollipop, you can use the links below to grab the S Health app or update the version you have.
Come comment on this article: Samsung S Health app posted to the Play Store
Samsung foundries may start churning out Qualcomm Snapdragon chips
Sources are indicating the Qualcomm and Samsung have reached a deal for the next generation of Snapdragon processors, the Snapdragon 820, to be produced at Samsung’s foundries. In the past, Qualcomm has primarily used Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and other smaller chip plants to produce their processors. However, Samsung’s move to develop and deploy a 14-nanometer production process, compared to everyone else’s 20-nanometer production, appears to have been enough to convince Qualcomm to make the move. With a smaller process in place, Samsung’s plant can produce chips that are cheaper, smaller and use less energy.
Some have noted that this move may be a reaction to Samsung’s decision to use their own Exynos processors in the Samsung Galaxy S6. Despite having their current generation flagship processor, the Snapdragon 810, being used in the top-tier devices from other manufacturers, Qualcomm likely wants to win back business from Samsung in next year’s flagship phones. Samsung is such a dominant player in the market right now, that the loss of the Galaxy S6 caused Qualcomm to have to revise their financial projections for the current year.
At the same time that Qualcomm plans to move to Samsung’s foundries, Apple is planning to be present also, selecting Samsung for production of their high-end chip, the A9. Industry analyst Patrick Moorhead describes the situation as “a great example of ‘co-opetition.’”
In the meantime, TSMC is hoping Samsung may reach out to them to act as a secondary source for some of their chip production to make up for the loss of the Qualcomm business.
source: Re/code
Come comment on this article: Samsung foundries may start churning out Qualcomm Snapdragon chips
14 best Android apps for artists
Being an artist is a lot of fun. You can choose your medium and most platforms have support for most mediums. It’s also one of the few hobbies and jobs out there where you can express yourself how you want. Believe it or not, you can produce art from your Android devices with these great Android apps for artists.
Adobe Lightroom Mobile
[Price: Free (requires Creative Cloud subscription)]
There are many photographers who use Adobe Lightroom and now you can also use it on mobile. Adobe’s Lightroom app acts as an extension of the desktop version which means you’ll also need the Creative Cloud version of Lightroom to fully enjoy the mobile experience. That’s sure to chase some people away, but if you happen to use that software already, the app will let you edit raw files along with files from your Android device’s gallery. You can also use a limited number of Lightroom tools to enhance images. You can also sync everything to your desktop so you can use the Lightroom desktop application too.
Adobe Photoshop Touch
[Price: $4.99]
Adobe does have a Photoshop option for Android as well. Much like their Lightroom mobile app, the Photoshop app can’t hold a candle to the desktop version. However, it does contain some tools and effects that can enhance images to your liking. The app comes with painting effects, filter brushes, text effects (such as drop shadows), and syncing to the desktop version for heavier editing if need be. It also comes with a bit of Creative Cloud storage (2GB).
ArtFlow
[Price: Free / $4.99]
ArtFlow is a paint application that lets you, well, paint. It features a GPU-accelerated paint engine with over 70 brushes and tools, multiple layers, PSD/PNG/JPEG support, NVIDIA DirectStylus support, and many, many more features. It’s a very powerful paint app with a lot of features that you can use for free but you’ll have to pay to use everything. There is also Samsung S-Pen support for those rocking Samsung devices. It’s a lot of fun and worth a shot for painters.
Autodesk Sketchbook
[Price: Free / $3.99]
Autodesk is a well-known supplier of creative software and their Sketchbook Pro app is a long time mainstay in the artistic community. It boasts professional grade features including full-screen work spaces, up to 2500% zoom, more than 10 brushes, Dropbox support, and more features are unlockable by creating a (free) SketchBook account. If you pay for premium, you’ll have over 100 brushes, pencils, pens, markers, etc, layers, more advanced settings, and far more extra stuff. It’s about as close to a pro art tool as you can find on Android and it’s worth a shot.
Clover Paint
[Price: $7.56]
Clover Paint is another app that self-identifies as a professional grade drawing app. It features a rather complex layering system, plenty of drawing implements, selection tools, transform tools, and even custom hot keys. The only (potentially) negative thing about Clover Paint is the admittedly difficult learning curve. However, once you learn how to make your way around the app, it’s a fantastic and deep art app that has the potential to help you draw some excellent stuff.
Handy Art Reference Tool
[Price: $2.99 with in app purchases]
Okay, admittedly this one is a little bit niche. Handy Art Reference Tool is a tool that artists, colorists, and other artistic ventures can use to draw hands. The app shows you a hand (in various positions). You can then rotate the hand and change the lighting to get the proper lighting and shadows. This is useful because hands are admittedly difficult to draw and this helps you plan and reference a hand for you to draw. It’s been recommended by Tony Moore, co-creator of The Walking Dead, ImagineFX, and more professionals and $2.99 isn’t expensive for a good hand reference tool.
LayerPaint and LayerPaint HD
[Price: $2.00 / $8.00]
LayerPaint and LayerPaint HD are a couple of semi-pro animation applications. LayerPaint is for phones while LayerPaint HD is specifically made for tablets with 7-inch screens or larger. Both versions have various tools and brushes to create amazing pieces of art although this seems to be more of an animation app than something for painters. The tablet version comes with some additional features including support for NVIDIA and Samsung styluses. Some people have said that the phone version still isn’t great on the phone, but it’s almost universally enjoyed on tablets.
NVIDIA Dabbler
[Price: Free]
NVIDIA Dabbler is the stock painting app that comes on the NVIDIA Shield Tablet. It has direct support for its stylus and includes a decent selection of brushes, canvas types, and more. It has some fun effects like realistic watercolor and oil painting. It also has some unique features like the ability to record sessions and share/save for future reference. It doesn’t have the sheer feature set that you’ll find in something like LayerPaint, Clover Paint, or SketchBook Pro, but it’s good for hobbyists and those who own an NVIDIA Shield Tablet.
Pose Tool 3D (3 total apps)
[Price: $6.99 each]
The Pose Tool 3D collection is a reference tool that artists can use to draw various things. The regular Pose Tool 3D focuses on the human body. You can contort, change, and move things around to get the pose you want so you can draw it in your comic, drawing, etc. The other two are for Manga (anime and manga style character poses) and Horse (for horses). The apps for a little expensive but they are considered the best 3D reference tools on Android and we agree with that assessment. If you draw, these are worth a second look.
RoughAnimator
[Price: $2.99]
RoughAnimator is a long time favorite here at Android Authority and it even made our list of the best indie apps of 2014. This is an animation application where you can draw each frame and then combine the frames to create a cartoon. Drawings can be as complex or as a simple as you want. You have unlimited layers, onion skinning, and even the ability to import audio so you can incorporate voice overs. It also comes with S-Pen support (and other pressure sensitive styluses and devices) and you can export to QuickTime video, GIF, or image sequence. It’s not 100% pro grade, but it’s definitely more than good enough for most people.
Silk paints drawing
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Silk paints drawing isn’t a professional grade art app like others, but it’s still a lot of fun for those who want to do something a little bit different. It has direct support with Samsung’s S-Pen and PEN.UP apps so this is best suited for those running a Touchwiz device. Some other fun features include the ability to create, animate, and set your own live wallpaper, multiple brushes, and more. As stated, this isn’t professional grade, but it’s still fun to get a project started if you want something a little less intense.
SketchBook Express
[Price: Free]
SketchBook Express is the totally free version of Autodesk’s SketchBook Pro. As such, it has some of the features of the full version including up to 2500% zoom, layer support (3 layers), 15 preset brushes, and more. Obviously, the pro version is better but this one is totally free to use. That makes it not just a good app for artists on a budget who don’t need all the features, but also a good way to preview the software in case you’re thinking of buying it.
Sketcher PRO
[Price: $0.99 (on sale)]
Sketcher Pro is another sketch app for those artists with a light wallet. It doesn’t have the gargantuan number of features that others have, but there is still a decent selection. There are 12 brushes, basic tools, multiple modes, and you can even order physical prints of your artwork sent to your door for an extra cost. It’s a tad more simple than most but completes well with something like SketchBook Express. It’s on sale at the time of this writing so the $0.99 cost will go up after a while.
Sketch Master
[Price: Free]
Last on our list is also one of the few free options and it’s called Sketch Master. Much like the other free selections, Sketch Master is a bit limited but still has seven brushes, unlimited layers, various editing tools, import from various places, and various color options. Pros will likely need something more complex and deep but semi pros and hobbyists should see enough here to keep them engaged.
Wrap up
If we missed any great Android apps for artists, let us know in the comments! Recommendations are always welcome. If you use a Samsung or NVIDIA device (or any other device with an integrated stylus), don’t forget to check out the stock sketch and drawing apps for those devices because they may have some features that support that specific stylus that these others may not!
To see our complete list of Android apps and games lists, click here!
Original Moto X Android 5.1 update begins rolling out, starting with Brazil
At the beginning of this month we learned from Motorola’s David Schuster that the Moto X (1st gen), Moto E (1st gen), and the Moto G with LTE (1st gen) would all be making the jump from KitKat directly to Android 5.1 Lollipop. With Android 5.1 already available on the Moto X (2014), you may be wondering how much longer before the original Moto X will see it. If a new OTA release in Brazil is any indication, the wait might not be so long.
Several reports are coming in with news that Brazil is seeing Android 5.1 on the Moto X (2013) starting today. It’s unclear if this is a soak test or a full OTA rollout for the region. As for what’s new, unless you managed to get on an Android 5.0 soaktest for the Moto X, the update will be your first taste of all the changes that Lollipop brings to the table such as improved notifications, changes to the mult-tasking menu, and more. As for what 5.1 brings over 5.0, we’re looking at mostly a bug-busting update, though you can get a solid rundown of the biggest changes here.
If all goes as planned, the worldwide rollout of Android 5.1 to the Moto could begin as early as next month. Of course individual carrier versions will likely be among the last to see the update.
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Adobe Lightroom Updated With HDR and Panorama Merge, Facial Recognition and Filter Brushes
Adobe today announced a major update to Lightroom CC (and the launch of the standalone Lightroom 6), its professional photo editing software for Mac users. The new update brings significant performance improvements and several new features like HDR merge, Panorama merge, facial recognition, improved slideshows, a filter brush, and more.
One of the most impressive new organizational features in the updated version of Lightroom is facial recognition, which lets Lightroom users organize their photos by subject for the first time, in addition to organizing with tags, flags, and star ratings. Once a face in a single photo is named, the software is able to find more images that feature that person for quick tagging by face. A new “People” view lets users sort photos by person.
Panorama Merge, another new feature, lets photographers stitch together multiple images, including RAW and JPG files to create ultra high-quality panoramic shots. It has built in tools for automatically cropping non-matching edges and changing perspectives. With Lightroom’s graphical performance improvements, even huge panorama files can be edited in real time with little lag.
With HDR Merge, it’s possible to combine several different photos with different exposure settings into a single HDR image. Unlike other photo editing apps, Adobe’s HDR Merge works directly with both JPG and RAW images. Because it works with RAW files, a high-quality HDR image can be created from as few as two photos. Other HDR options typically require more photos at different exposure levels to create a suitable image.
Lightroom’s new filter brush, a popular request from Adobe customers, works with graduated and radial filter affects, letting a filter mask be reshaped with a brush tool so filter effects can be added and subtracted from specific parts of images for better precision. The last major feature update, which adds advanced slideshow tools, lets users put pan and zoom effects into their slideshows to add a motion effect. There’s also a tool for syncing slideshows to multiple audio clips, and it’s possible to add up to 10 songs to a slideshow.
Today’s update to Lightroom CC may be of particular interest to Mac users who previously used the now-defunct Aperture photo editing software, as Apple no longer offers a professional-level photo editing app since discontinuing Aperture in favor of Photos for OS X. Lightroom has many professional-level features that are missing from the Photos for OS X app, and it also offers the same cross-platform syncing of all images with a Creative Cloud subscription. Adobe has promised to continue adding new features and more advanced tools to Lightroom in the future.
Adobe is also updating its Lightroom apps for the iPad and the iPhone, which connect to Lightroom CC and allow for photos and edits to be synced between all devices using Adobe’s cloud service. The apps are gaining features like improved cropping tools, with the updated versions available for download today.
Lightroom CC is available through Adobe’s Creative Cloud Photography plan, which bundles Photoshop and Lightroom together for $9.99 per month, or through Adobe’s complete Creative Cloud plan, featuring all Adobe software for $49.99 per month.
Adobe is also selling the new Lightroom update on a standalone basis, branded as Lightroom 6 and priced at $149 (or $79 upgrade pricing). The standalone version of Lightroom does not include cloud integration with Adobe’s mobile Lightroom apps and Lightroom on the web.
Lightroom for iPhone can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
Lightroom for iPad can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
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