Google Voice customers will lose features when switching to Google Fi
Engadget has reported that Google’s upcoming cellular service, Fi, lacks Voice features, including calls, texting, and voicemail within Talk, Voice, and Obihai. However, these options are available currently in Hangouts, as long as you have them turned on, in addition to call forwarding and voicemail transcripts. It’s possible that these features will come to Fi in time.
That’s not all to the new service. AndroidCentral has made it clear that, counter to previous speculation, Fi does not destroy a user’s Voice account upon activating it. Fi relies on the same infrastructure as Voice. As I mentioned previously, Hangouts can be used to forward calls and access transcripts, and you are able to call and text from within Hangouts, as well.
Fi just gives the option to use a mobile carrier service running on T-Mobile and Sprint’s networks. Plus, the service allows you to pay exactly for what resources you use. Of course, you still can use WiFi, too.
Should you have any more questions or are interested generally in Fi, head over to this Reddit AMA of user idreamincode who received an early invite. He or she explains that user projectfisimon, a commenter in the thread, is a Google representative for the project who can answer questions about the service.
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Google search ‘place an order’ to get lunch delivered
You know the delivery drill. When you’re feeling peckish, the first thing you do is search for open restaurants in your area, but then you have to close search, open a separate food delivery app, find the restaurant again there, and finally place your order. That’s a lot of work just to order a pizza (but clearly still not enough to make you pick up the phone). Google, however, has announced an easier, more integrated means of ordering your next meal. According to the official Google Blog, the search engine now recognizes when you’re looking for something to eat and will offer a “Place an order” option within the search results. Click on that and Google Search will prompt you to select one of six applicable delivery apps — Seamless, Grubhub, Eat24, Delivery.com, BeyondMenu and MyPizza.com — which immediately launches and loads the restaurant’s menu for your perusal. Sure, you’ll still have to wait 45 minutes for your food to actually get there, but at least this new system saves a couple of clicks.
Filed under: Transportation, Wireless, Internet, Google
Source: Google Blog
Google may be planning to let users have more control over app permissions
Google I/O 2015 is right around the corner, and we’ve already heard a few rumors as to what Google will announce at the conference. We might get a first look at Android M, and there’s a possibility we’ll even get a new feature that will allow us to control any application using voice actions. Perhaps one of the most sought after features Android users have been asking for over the years might make an appearance, as well.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Google is planning to give Android users more control over application permissions. Basically, if what’s said in the report is true, Android users will be able to pick and choose which app permissions are given to each app before downloading it from the Google Play Store.
Over the past year or so, Google has done a good job at making app permissions clearer, so people can more easily tell whether or not they’d like to download a certain application. But according to this report, Android users will soon be able to choose whether an application has access to things like photos, contacts or the phone’s location, for example.
Many Android users have been asking for this feature for quite some time, so we’re sure most folks will welcome this change if the report’s claims come into fruition. Google I/O 2015 takes place on the 28th and 29th of this month, so we’ll have to wait until then to hear anything official from the company.
What are your thoughts? Are you happy Google may be giving users more granular control over app permissions? Why or why not?
How to manage your Google location history – Android customization
How secure is your Google account? If you followed along last week on our Android customization series, you got to watch the process of setting up two-factor authentication for your Google account, using the Google Authenticator Android app.
Now that your account is secure, let’s look one of the many things that Google is collecting for you behind the scenes. Today we will look at managing your location history.
Before we begin
You will need to install… Just kidding. Your default Android device configuration is all that is required. Whether you know it or not, if you have not taken measures to prevent it, your device has been collecting location data from your travels. This is how Google Maps works, so to your favorite running app or some of those games you play, such as Ingress.
Managing your Google Location data
There are a few aspects to what you can see and do with your location data, but first and foremost, we need to understand what data is being collected, and how it is being used. This is not a complete list, and I will not dive into the individual uses for each app or website that you may use, I will just talk about the data that Google saves for you.
Keeping it simple, your Android device reports your GPS coordinates up to your Google Account at varying intervals throughout the day. It’s a good thing we took the time to secure that account! At full bore, like if you are using Google Maps for navigation, and you have Location settings turned to full, there will be a ping as frequently as every second.
As you can see, at highway driving speeds, my Android device was collecting a GPS location about every 45 seconds on my trip to Google last year. What you also see here is how valuable your location data can be. Not only can I analyze my travels, but Google can as well, to learn that shortcut I took that saved me about 25 minutes, or estimate the travel times from Portland to Mountain View better than a best guess based on the speed limit and real time traffic info.
When you are not travelling, your location data is collected far less frequently, you can see the one or two pings per hour my devices collected during the night. Of course, with no cell connection out at my house, I rely on the WiFi, my Android device failed to recognize that I spent most of my day walking the trails and mowing some of the grass. Apparently, I never left that one spot of the house, which, granted, is where I had all my tablets and extra phones parked for the day, so it isn’t too far off.
Enough about what is collected and how it works, let’s discuss actually managing it.
View, export and delete your location history
On your PC, simply head over to location history in your Google account. Follow this link for direct access to your location history.
Once the novelty of viewing your own maps is out of your system, you’ll notice in the bottom left corner two very important options for those that wish to keep their location a secret – Delete history from this day and Delete all history.
I need not describe what each of the delete options will do for you, and there is no backup, so be sure that is what you want to do before you hit the button. If you only want to delete a few points from your day, expand the timestamps in the left menu, then click on a single timestamp and each point can be deleted from within the map.
Finally, whether you plan to delete your history or just want to bring your latest travels over to another mapping tool, Google provides an export tool, allowing you to pull your travels in KML format.
Control location history on your Android device
The benefits of your saved Google location history is hidden within the apps on your Android device. If you are a user of Google Now, you know exactly what I am talking about when you receive the suggested travel time locations and other location based cards.
When it comes to controlling your location history from your Android device, there is not a whole lot you can do from your machine. We’ve already walked through one major aspect of location history on your Android device, controlling your battery consumption by turning off location settings.
Repeating the previous tutorial in short form without the automation, head into device Settings -> Location and turn off the service from there.
The other major aspect of managing your location history on device is simply to delete your history. Hit the Location History link at the bottom of that same Location settings page on device, you can do more than just delete all of your location history for your account, you can also turn off tracking for your other connected Android devices.
What’s next
It is important that you spend some time evaluating the pros and cons of the location history in your Google account. You may decide that it is not worth the personalized Google Now cards and location aware services in trade for a company knowing where you are at all times, no matter how private and secure the data is kept.
Do keep in mind that the only truly untraceable modern smartphone is one that is turned off. I just don’t want you thinking that by turning off Google location history you have disappeared from the big digital map. Google’s services are just one of many location aware services running on your device, which includes your SIM card itself; you’ve seen the cop shows, they are pretty extreme, but there is some truth to their tracking abilities – and we understand the government may be relaxing rules on law enforcement requiring a warrant to look for you.
Tin foil hats down now, there are a ton of fun and useful things you can do with your saved Google location history, I hope I proved that above showing you my drive from Portland to Google. Personally, I do a lot of highway travel, and there are a lot of alternative routes that I can take on my drives – I have saved a ton of time, fuel and headache by finding the fastest route to a destination, which isn’t always Google Maps’ suggested route, and I’ve found the best time of the day to make those drives.
Next week
I was so excited to get into managing your Google location history on this week’s Android customization post, but it turned a little conspiracy theorist. Next week, let’s lighten up by looking at 101 ways (give or take 100) to tweak your web experience on your Android device.
What is the best use you have for your saved Google Location history? Has it ever gotten you into, or out of trouble?
Android, Samsung slip in latest U.S. market share report
comScore has released their latest 3-month market share numbers for the U.S. smartphone market and the results are a bit disappointing for Google Android and Samsung. Although Android continued to retain its position as the #1 smartphone platform in the U.S., the share of Android subscribers dipped 0.7% compared to December 2014, largely due to a slide by Samsung.
According to comScore, Apple picked up a full percentage point in market share, from 41.6% to 42.6% during the period December 2014 to March 2015. That kept them in the top spot as the largest manufacturer. Meanwhile, Samsung saw their share fall from 29.7% to 28.3%. LG continued to gain ground during the three-month period, increasing their share from 8.0% to 8.4% continuing an upward trend for the company. Rounding out the top five were Motorola with a small drop to claim 5.0% of the market and HTC with the thinnest of increases at 0.1% to claim 3.8% of the market.
As far as platforms, Apple’s iOS was the only operating system to gain market share, picking up a full 1.0%. Android, Microsoft, and Blackberry all lost ground by 0.7%, 0.1% and 0.2% respectively. Symbian was unchanged in clinging to 0.1% of the market.
comScore also reported on the top 15 smartphone apps as of March 2015. These were largely unchanged compared to the February 2015 numbers, although a few apps swapped positions. Apple Maps did experience a strong upward move from 13th to 10th. The only change in apps involved Snapchat, which fell off the list of the top 15 apps to be replaced by Pinterest.
source: comScore
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Keurig revives refillable K-Cups following disappointing sales
Following its first disappointing holiday sales numbers since its coffee machines hit shelves, Keurig will bring back refillable K-Cups. So far, the Keurig 2.0 machines haven’t taken off like the company thought they would, partially because new brewers don’t allow users to add their own beans with a so-called My K-Cup filter. The machine — capable of brewing more than one cup at a time — also costs $200 while other Keurig options have price tags around $100. In an attempt to revive interest, a version of the My K-Cup for the pricier new brewers is in the works. CEO Brian Kelley said on an investor call this week that Keurig “underestimated the passion” customers had for the DIY option. What about the unpopular DRM requirement that nixed some third-party pre-filled pods? It’s staying. The company wants to convert all unlicensed cup to official products, adding to the 500 varieties of coffee, tea and hot chocolate from 70 brands.
HDHomeRun Kickstarter wants to build the perfect DVR for you
Now that Microsoft has announced it’s through with Windows Media Center, what options do you have left to build your own machine for recording, organizing and watching TV? A new one ready to enter the scene is SiliconDust’s HDHomeRun DVR, which recently launched on Kickstarter and is scheduled to arrive this fall. SiliconDust made a name for itself among home theater PC builders by bringing the devices they need to plug in cable or antenna TV, and with the DVR it’s making the software too. Diving into the crowdfunding effort now will get you early access to software that promises TV how and where you want, all without needing to build a computer to run it.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Stretch Goals have been published. Extended Subscription offering for pledges announced. Check out Updates and FAQs.https://t.co/Y1kmLePw3j
– Silicondust USA, Inc (@HDHomeRun_US) April 27, 2015
Simply put, the HDHomeRun DVR will have you plug a cable or antenna feed in one of SiliconDust’s tuners — the boxes or cards that decode TV and turn it into video for playback elsewhere — then watch TV on Windows, Mac or Android. If you want a DVR, then recording to a Windows, Mac or Linux-based computer is possible. No more taking a slow, limited box from your cable company or just living with what’s available via on-demand or streaming.
Another option is going “headless” by connecting it to a NAS (network attached storage) unit from companies like Western Digital or QNAP, which is supposed to make things a little more simple. If you want more recording space, then just plug in another hard drive. If you want to record more channels at once, just buy another tuner — the appeal of the DIY DVR is being able to choose what features you need. The HDHomeRun family is already able to handle protected channels, so you won’t have to give up premium channels like HBO.
According to CEO Ted Head, one of the first things many cord cutters have to give up is the DVR feature. While other options like TiVo’s Roamio OTA, Tablo or Kodi (formerly XBMC) exist, they tend to come with some drawbacks. Tablo is only for TV broadcast over the air, Kodi by itself doesn’t have access to protected cable channels, and TiVo isn’t as flexible. Sling TV’s internet service doesn’t have DVR features on every channel, while PlayStation Vue is both more expensive and only available in certain areas. There’s a rumor that the Xbox One will be able to work as a DVR / Windows Media Center replacement, but we don’t know exactly how that might work or if it will happen any time soon.
The way this Kickstarter is setup, if you already have the HDHomeRun box you can jump in with $30 for a one-year subscription, and get software a month before it’s available to the public. If you need to pick up some hardware to get started, there are higher pledge amounts that include one or more HDHomeRuns, and even bring network storage setups if you need them.
The Kickstarter is already a success and has crossed its $100,000 goal with a couple of weeks left to go. New stretch goals include plans to create an add-on for Kodi that will bring its TV recording to the platform (it already launched a live TV add-on) at $150k, while at $250k it can staff up to launch clients for viewing on other platforms. The list includes Roku, Chromecast, iOS, Xbox One and Samsung’s Smart TVs as options.
Whether it means running a dedicated HTPC or plugging a hard drive into your router to serve as DVR storage, this may not be the easiest option for cord cutters, at least at launch. Right away, the limited support for players will probably mean either plugging a PC into your TV unless you have an Android TV / Fire TV box. You may be able to view TV with other devices, but without access to premium channels. At first, this is coming a promising replacement for those Media Center setups that have been waiting for an update, ready for people who prioritize control and customization for their experience. While we’re still waiting for a CableCARD replacement that will make DIY home theater setups an even easier choice — we’ve been waiting for a very long time — hopefully this is just the start of a trend (ahem, Ceton?).
The plan is to have the HDHomeRun DVR software ready for backers to try in August, and the general public in September. There is that $30 per year subscription fee for guide data and the like, but it’s a relatively small fee and is tied to your account, not any particular hardware. SiliconDust isn’t offering any TiVo-style “lifetime” subscriptions, but Kickstarter backers can tack on extra years upfront for $25 each. Need more information? Check out a couple of videos explaining the project further.
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hbkMqcWkFQ0?rel=0
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Kickstarter
HTC Reports lowest April revenue since 2010
HTC Corporation has released their April revenue numbers Tuesday, and to the surprise of many, they were not what the company had hoped for. The consolidated revenue totaled $440 million, down 39 percent over the same period last year. The biggest issue is that we can now take into account, sales of the HTC One M9 as part of the total number of sales and revenue for the company.
Now, there are many sources that say that HTC has had it’s worst performance in six years. Let’s look at that for a minute. These numbers are in New Taiwan Dollars.
April 2010 NT$18,012 Million
April 2011 NT$38,729 Million
April 2012 NT$31,032 Million
April 2013 NT$19,591 Million
April 2014 NT$22,079 Million
April 2015 NT$13,542 Million
After tracking the April numbers from 2010 to this year, with information straight from the investor section of HTC’s website, this would be the worst April for the smartphone company since 2010. However to call the situation dire would be a dramatic statement. They are still making a profit.
Normally, April is a very good month for HTC as its new flagship smartphone will boost overall sales figures. However, this April’s revenue results can qualify as a potential disaster for HTC. Despite what other outlets may point to as a cause for the drop in figures, we feel that to blame the revenue drop on the HTC One M9 would be entirely speculative at this point. Several models are in circulation around the world at this time, so to lay the cause on just one model of smartphone or strategy would also be getting a little ahead of ourselves.
At the end of April, HTC published their Q1 2015 earnings, posting revenues that were up 25 percent compared to last year. This had suggested that the company’s expanding product portfolio was the catalyst to the success. However, these reported figures do not seem to reflect that the earlier success will continue into the future. According to other reports, BNP Paribas has forecasted that HTC’s total smartphone shipments will reach 18 million units this year, a decline of 13 percent compared with 2014. If this proves to be accurate, it could be another tough year for HTC, but nowhere near it’s worst.
Source: HTC
Via: Android Authority
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Spotify will reportedly soon enter the web video business
Popular music streaming service Spotify may be making its way into the extremely competitive web video business, and could announce its plans to enter this market as early as this month.
According to unnamed sources out of The Wall Street Journal, Spotify has been in talks with several digital media players about possible partnerships to enter the web video market. The streaming service sent out invitations to a media event that is set to take place on Wednesday, May 20th, though no details were revealed on what will be unveiled during the event.
The report goes on to explain:
The closely-held streaming service, which has shaken up the recording industry over the past few years, has been reaching out to companies that specialize in making content for YouTube to discuss both acquiring their material and co-creating original video series, said people familiar with the matter. Spotify has also reached out to some well-known traditional media companies.
The Wall Street Journal also notes that the web video content will be available to both subscribers and non-subscribers, similar to how Spotify currently handles music streaming. Of course, this is an area already dominated by a number of huge players, most notably, YouTube. Other services like Facebook, Twitter and Vessel have also been on the rise in terms of popularity, though these players have been in the web video service for years.
We’ll be sure to let you know if we hear anything regarding the event on the 20th.
Satechi Spectrum iQ Bulb quick review
Consumers are flocking to home automation products because of how fun and simple it is to operate electronics from a mobile device. Plus, it saves money. So consumers can only benefit from everything in the home earning a ‘smart’ counterpart. Light bulbs are one of the easiest areas to get started with, but also one of the costliest. Every room needs light and installing an appropriate amount of smart bulbs can quickly reach thousands of dollars. Satechi, however, has positioned its Spectrum iQ Bulb to be very competitive in terms of both price and performance.
Setting up the Spectrum iQ Bulb is almost identical to doing so with a regular light bulb. There is just one extra step after screwing it into place. Over in the Play Store, the Spectrum app awaits to give life to the smart bulb. Launch the Spectrum app for the first time and automatically connect to the Spectrum iQ Bulb. This app allows users to control ten smart bulbs simultaneously. The Spectrum app handles the activities of the Spectrum iQ Bulb with dimming, color changes, scheduling, and settings. Spectrum chose a dimming transition over a harsh flicker for when its smart bulb changes color or turns on/off. This is brilliant because its very welcoming to be greeted by a glow of light upon entering a room.
There are 16,000,000 colors to choose from with this smart bulb and that means you will find the perfect lighting for any mood. Satechi was generous enough to supply me with two units of their Spectrum IQ Bulb; therefore, I was able to measure performance when tasked with the illumination of my living room. It did a decent job with making colors vibrant, but they did not exactly fill the room. The reason for that, though, could be due to the thickness of the lampshades. So I decided to switch to a lamp that covered its bulbs with glass. There, I found the Spectrum iQ Bulb to be quite good. Colors, light and dark, shined through with the aforementioned vibrancy.
The Satechi Spectrum iQ Bulb costs $34 while offerings from Philips, LIFX, and Ilumi reach $59-89. Think about purchasing ten units, that is how many Satechi supports for simultaneous control. Going with the Spectrum iQ Bulb over other options would save anywhere between $250 and $550; however, competitors do have discounts for buying in bulk and their apps are bit fancier. The overall lifespan of these smart bulbs all remain above twenty years based on three hours per day usage. What is Satechi’s advantage with the Spectrum iQ bulb then? Remaining affordable while not being feature-empty.
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