Google’s Digital News Initiative aims to improve digital journalism in Europe
The European Union and Google are not exactly getting along at the moment. In an unofficial effort to improve their relationship, Google has launched the Digital News Initiative with an investment of $150 million. The partnership puts the company with eight publishers in Europe to improve digital journalism. The Digital News Initiative has programs covering product development, innovation support, and training and research to make digital journalism sustainable.
Founding partners include the following newspapers and journalism/publishing organizations:
- Les Echos (France)
- FAZ (Germany)
- The Financial Times (UK)
- The Guardian (UK)
- NRC Group (Netherlands)
- El Pais (Spain)
- La Stampa (Italy)
- Die Zeit (Germany)
- The European Journalism Centre (EJC)
- The Global Editors Network (GEN)
- The International News Media Association (INMA)
Google should just remember that the European Union has nothing personal against them.
Source: Digital News Initiative
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Guest Mode debuts on the Samsung Galaxy S6 with Android 5.1
While Android 5.0 Lollipop introduced Guest Mode for phones, Samsung chose not to include the feature when implementing the software. The next software update to hit Samsung devices, Android 5.1, will mark the return of Guest Mode and users will be able to create dedicated spaces for multiple profiles. Each profile gets their own choice of apps to install, homescreen design, and stored fingerprint.
It is unknown how many devices will receive Android 5.1 from Samsung; however, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge are guaranteed to be among the first.
Source: SamMobile
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Google Now card now drops you a notification when an item you looked for goes on sale
Google Now has received several updates over the past few months, bringing along some much needed changes. The most recent addition allowed integration of a myriad of third party apps, letting you get tailored cards from them in the Google Now page.
This new addition however takes it a step further as Android’s default personal assistant/notifications hub can now tell you when an item that you previously searched for is going on sale. This is a useful feature for people who do almost all of their shopping online.
We frequently find ourselves in a situation where an item is out of stock and we forget about its existence a few days later. This new Google Now feature will ensure that you’re in the loop about the product’s availability at all times. Google Now cards will also appear when there are price drops for an item, which again is a very handy feature.
This feature should be spotted by the users over the coming days. Make sure you let us know if you’re seeing it on Google Now already.
Via: Android Police
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Evernote Plus and the new Evernote Premium announced
Evernote has just announced the addition of a new ‘Plus’ plan to its tiers of available options, in addition to the ‘Basic’ and ‘Premium’ plans. This will set you back by $2.99 per month or $24.99 if you’re looking to make yearly payments. You will have 1GB of uploads per month here, which is a good way to get started off on the cheapest paid plan on Evernote.
The ‘Premium’ option on Evernote is seeing an upgrade which now offers unlimited storage and bigger individual note sizes. You can now have all your content in one place without needing to switch apps, which makes this the best option for enterprise users. This will cost $5.99 per month or $49.99 per year.
For those looking to get Evernote for Business, the developers have some attractive plans in place, letting you choose exactly the kind of tier that you need. If you are already paying for Evernote Premium, your prices will be locked in till April 29, 2016, so you won’t have to pay the extra amount that’s mentioned here.
In conclusion, Evernote had this to say – “Evernote is not static. It flexes and molds around your changing needs. That’s why we’re introducing these new levels. There’s one that fits you today, and another that will be perfect for your future self. Explore the three levels to find the one that’s right for you.”
Source: Evernote
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Samsung posts profits of $5.63 billion for Q1 2015
Korean manufacturer Samsung has just posted its first quarterly results of the year and the figures look pretty impressive. The company raked in overall revenue of KRW 47.12 trillion or $44 billion with an operating profit of KRW 5.98 trillion or $5.63 billion.
When we compare this with the same duration last year (Q1 2014), it is a drop of 30%, which will cause some concern for the company. However, with a Strategy Analytics report suggesting that Samsung was the top OEM in terms of shipments yet again, things are certainly looking good for the company.
We must mention here that these revenues don’t take the sales of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge into account as they were only made available for purchase earlier this month. So the upcoming quarterly results could give us a better idea of how well the two flagships have done in the markets so far.
Source: Samsung
Via: Sam Mobile
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T-Mobile denies allegations of throttling data speeds of Unlimited 4G LTE data plan users
The CEO of T-Mobile, John Legere, has been quite open about almost everything that pertains to the mobile industry. And amidst allegations of the carrier throttling speeds of the users on its Unlimited 4G LTE data plans, he has now categorically stated that these allegations are false.
It was claimed by some users on Reddit that the carrier has throttled their speeds after surpassing about 20GB of usage. On the same Reddit post, some T-Mobile employees came in defence of the carrier suggesting that throttling only happens if there is increased traffic on its towers.
To summarize, these employees suggested that in a scenario where there was a lot of data traffic, the carrier automatically prioritizes speeds to users who have spent lesser amount of data that month. While this makes sense, it doesn’t seem fair to the customers, especially when they were promised that data speeds will not be throttled.
Are you facing similiar issues with the carrier’s Unlimited 4G LTE plans? Let us know. In the meanwhile, you can catch Legere’s statement on the entire issue made during the earning’s call from the video below.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Source: Reddit
Via: Phone Arena
Come comment on this article: T-Mobile denies allegations of throttling data speeds of Unlimited 4G LTE data plan users
The former head of Intel’s internet TV project winds up at Vevo
Back in the day, there was a hope that OnCue, Intel’s long-mooted internet TV service, would be the ultimate cord-cutter product, but a lack of support from both inside and outside the company killed it. It didn’t take long after the project’s assets were sold to Verizon for its charismatic leader, Erik Huggers, to skip out in search of pastures new. Now, Bloomberg is reporting that the executive is about to become the new head of music video network Vevo. According to sources, the music video outfit is banking on Huggers to turn the business into more than just a subset of YouTube where teens can find Taylor Swift videos.
Filed under: Internet, Google, Intel
Source: Bloomberg
Windows 10 design lead explains what’s changed (and what hasn’t)
Albert Shum, the design team lead for Microsoft’s OS team, has outlined through some of the decisions made in its new OS. He reiterates that – especially now Windows 10 is out in the open – the work here isn’t yet done, with the blog post focusing on where the team’s received the most.. “feedback”, including the new menu options found on mobile iterations.
According to Shum, Windows 10’s new “hamburger” menu (dropping down from the top left), works well as a “home” menu for an app, but is apparently less useful where there’s no point in it being there. The design team’s intent was to ensure universal apps, as well as an adaptive user experience which will allow a certain degree of free: swipe controls on mobile, but a better focus on keyboard shortcuts and mouse control on PC iterations.
Long-established design decisions (at least in Windows), like the location of Internet Explorer Edge’s address bar, remain the subject of experimentation. The team is apparently exploring design options here too, but for now, the address bar still resides at the top of the browser. And if you thought that the mobile iterations of Win10 were looking a little, well, rough around the edges, the team lead added that “what you’re seeing today are apps only partially-adapted for the phone UI that we intend to ship when [it’s] finished.”
It gets a little bit more complicated when the operating system’s mobile and PC iterations go in different direction. While switching between tasks on PC-based Windows has typically left to right, with mobile it’s the opposite. Is Microsoft going to over-rule one standard design practice for another? Maybe. “We want to have a good understanding of how tough it is for phone users to relearn before we make a final call.” Given that Windows PCs outnumber Windows Phones, it may be an easier call than you’d think.
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
Best resources for Android Game Developers
Android game development can be fun albeit stressful. There are so many resources for game developers. Some resources cater to PC or console games, while others try to cover all game devices.
Some resources are therefore more useful to mobile game developers than others, while some resources are more useful to Android game developers than other mobile device types. Most game resources are gravitating towards a cross platform model, so most of these resources will be useful to game developers for other platforms, or those looking to develop portable cross platform games.
Development
Before you begin development, you should have a basic understanding of the Android platform, and should know where to go for help if you get stuck. Here are a few useful sites:
Android Developer Blog
This is the official news and announcements for android developers, coming directly from the android team at Google. Every android application developer should, at the very least, visit regularly.
StackOverflow
Stackoverflow is a question and answer site for developers. Most issues you run into while developing has been encountered by someone else before, and asked, and answered on stackoverflow.
UX Magazine
The User Interface and User Experience of your game is a very important part of your game, which you ignore at your own peril. This website contains a ton of articles, tips, tricks and resources to guide your Interface design
Game Engines
It is pointless re-inventing the wheel and writing your game engine. There are many game engines out there that do all the grunt work for you including moving sprites, handling collisions, physics, etc. Take the time to learn and use one of them for your game:
Cocos2d
A widely used game engine, for mobile game development. As it’s name suggests, its used primarily for 2D games.
Corona
A free to use cross platform gaming SDK which can create apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Based on the LUA language the SDK is easy to learn and includes a phone emulator which makes development easy on a Windows PC or a Mac.
LibGDX
A fantastic game engine, that also integrates with a physics engine. It is primarily a 2D game engine, although it can also be used for 3D game development.
Unity
Unity has become one of the most successful game engines for mobile games. Games developed with unity are portable across mobile devices, consoles, PC operating systems and the web. It has been used in a number of very popular games.
Unreal Engine
Another excellent game engine, developed and backed by Epic Software. Based on the engine used to develop the hugely popular and successful Unreal Tournament. Games developed with this engine are portable across mobile devices, consoles and PC operating systems.
Game Content (Graphics, Art and Music)
While the actual game play is very important, the game content is also very crucial to a game’s success. Here is a list of some of the places where you can get excellent game content for free, or purchase, as well as some places where you can get artists to work on your art:
Graphic Buffet
Contains a selection of 2D game graphics, assets, UI elements and more.
Lets Make Games
This is an excellent resource, containing links to assets for game developers. There are links to free and paid resources, including art, graphics, sound, music, models, animations and more. For both 2D and 3D games.
Super Game Asset
Has a selection of game art, including environment, characters, icons and more, mainly for RPG games
Unity Store
Artists and content creators can register and freely sell their creations through the Unity store. Game developers can then purchase the content and use within their games.
Unreal Engine Marketplace
Another excellent marketplace. If you use the Unreal Engine then this should be your first port of call for art.
Analytics
Once you game has been released it is important to collection information about how it is being used. Where are the players getting stumped and giving up, and how do they react to purchase buttons and so on. To do this you need to use an analytics service. Find one that has an API and terms of use that you are comfortable with, and use it. While most are free, others come with fees.
Some of the most popular services used for game only analytics include:
Other widely used analytics tools, for Android apps in general include:
Monetization
Like the analytics space, there are quite a number of mobile advertising networks. There are different types of ads that can be served, including banners, interstitials, videos, walls, and even ones integrated with in-app purchases. Some networks, for example, deliver excellent interstitials, but do poorly on videos. It is possible to register on multiple ad networks, and serve ads based on which network has the higher rate for a given user location. Some of the major ad networks include
News And Publicity
Of course after writing your game you would want to publicize and share it with the world. These are a collection of websites and blogs that are dedicated to gaming news, trends and information. Most of them are cross platform, not Android only.
- Gamasutra
- GamesBeat
- GamesBrief
- GamesIndustry
- GameSauce
- GamingInsiders (Weekly news and analysis newsletter)
- Indie Games
- PocketGamer
- Polygon
Wrap up and Android Developer Newsletter
These are some of the most best and most useful resources available for Android game developers. Now you can get coding, and create the next viral mobile game. Is there any other resource you think should be here? Leave a comment below and share with us.
Do you want to know more? Subscribe to our Android Developer Newsletter. Just type in your email address below to get all the top developer news, tips & links once a week in your inbox:
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Get your Windows 10 preview for Raspberry Pi 2 while it’s hot
Day one of Microsoft’s Build 2015 conference is in the books, but that doesn’t mean the news has stopped. The Windows 10 IoT Core Insider developer preview (phew!) has launched for small devices including the Raspberry Pi 2. Redmond admits that it’s still pretty rough around the edges, but it’s hoping that the maker community can provide feedback for how the platform’s turning out along the road to a full release. What’s more, the software giant is partnering with Arduino for a series of “Arduino Certified” products to bring the ubiquitous DIY boards into the Windows family and take advantage of all that the software has to offer. For example, cloud computing, a familiar user interface, image processing and a ton more. It follows the theme of bringing everything under one roof that Nadella and Co. have been so vocal about lately, and should hopefully help tinkerers develop some pretty powerful stuff in their garage.
The Windows IoT shell is a Universal app like any other on Win10. That’s all your RPi will do 😀 pic.twitter.com/GwVkUxUCPA
– Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) April 30, 2015
This is what your Raspberry Pi 2 running Windows 10 will boot up to (you can run the x86 version on your desktop): pic.twitter.com/td1qonbdhX
– Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) April 30, 2015
Filed under: Desktops, Microsoft
Source: Windows Blog, Steve Troughton-Smith (Twitter) (1), (2)
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