Google Hangouts Chrome app could be in line for a redesign
Google’s Hangouts app for Chrome, aka Ultraviolet, has been out for a little while now, but its little floating user interface hasn’t been a hit with everyone. According to an image spotted in Google’s issue tracker and reported by Caschy’s Blog, Google may be testing out a new interface for the app, see the image above.
The issue report has since been deleted, but the screenshot gives us a look at what we might expect in a future update. Although the color scheme remains traditional, there’s now two distinct panes. One for the current conversion and one for previous messages, as well as the now customary material design FAB for starting a new conversation. The “chat heads” style looks to be completely replaced by a more standard windowed interface. The redesign looks much more like its Android counterpart, although the call and message options have been moved to the bottom left of the screen.
Of course, we have no way of knowing if or when Google is planning to release an update for its Chrome Hangouts app. We might learn more at Google I/O, which is taking place at the end of the month.
Thoughts?
CBS Sports and USA NOW Channels Now Available on Apple TV
The Apple TV has gained two new channels today in CBS Sports and USA NOW, bringing on-demand sports, drama, comedy, sitcoms and more programming to the set-top box in the United States. The new channels should be appearing on the Apple TV for all users today as an over-the-air update, with CBS Sports offering free sports clips for all users and USA NOW requiring a cable subscription to access most content.
CBS Sports channel for Apple TV
The new channels arrive less than six weeks before Apple is expected to announce its next-generation Apple TV alongside a full-fledged streaming TV service at WWDC in June. The new A8-based set-top box will reportedly feature both an App Store and Siri, in addition to a redesigned remote control with a touch pad and significantly higher internal storage than the current 8GB model.
Apple’s much-rumored streaming TV service will consist of a lightweight package of about 25 channels for between $30 to $40 per month, anchored by networks such as ABC, CBS and Fox. The service will be available on several devices, including the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, with other potential channels in the lineup including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, MTV, Comedy Central, FX and Nickelodeon.
USA NOW channel for Apple TV
Apple has been steadily adding new channels to the Apple TV this year, including NBC Sports in late April, CNNGo and TED, Tastemade and Young Hollywood in March and Sports Illustrated’s 120 SPORTS in January. HBO NOW, a subscription-based service that provides on-demand HBO content, also went live on Apple TV in early April for $14.99 per month with a free trial available.
Update 11:05 AM PT: Crave TV and Shomi are now available on Apple TV in Canada per Rene Ritchie, with the former requiring a Bell TV subscription and the latter needing a Rogers or Shaw subscription. French-German TV network Arte is also now available on Apple TV in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Luxembourg per iFun.de.
OtterBox Symmetry Series Folio Cases Now Available for iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 [iOS Blog]
OtterBox today announced the availability of its new Symmetry Series folio cases for iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 in black with faux leather or white with a tan fabric cover. The cases feature a one-piece protective shell and slim folio that wraps around to cover the screen, alongside a micro suede interior cover to keep the tablet’s display free of scratches.
The Symmetry Series cases for iPad double as both protective cases and multi-position stands with 360-degrees rotation for landscape and portrait viewing. The cases also automatically wake and sleep the iPad screen when the folio is opened and closed, and have certified drop protection in case your iPad takes a tumble.
OtterBox Symmetry Series folio cases for iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3 can be purchased through the accessory maker’s website for $69.95 and $59.95 respectively. OtterBox makes the number-one selling cases in North America and was one of the earlier providers of cases and accessories for iPhone, iPad and other products by both Apple and competitors.
Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge reportedly getting camera improvements with Android 5.1.1
The Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are receiving plenty of positive praise due to the phone’s design, its slim-downed software, and its performance in general, but one of its biggest headlining features is actually the camera.
There’s no denying that the GS6 has one of the best cameras available for smartphones, though the LG G4 aims to provide an experience that rivals what you’ll find with Samsung. It seems that Samsung isn’t holding still when it comes to camera performance, however, as a new report from SamMobile claims that the upcoming Android 5.1.1 update will include several new camera features alongside the general bug fixes that you’d expect from Android 5.1.x.
Before you ask, yes, some T-Mobile users already have received the update to 5.1.1 on their Galaxy S6 Edge, and no, there weren’t any camera changes present. It is important to note that since then the update has seemingly been halted and so it seems likely that it was an unfinished (test) build that accidentally was pushed out early.
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So what kind of new camera features are we talking about? SamMobile’s “source” doesn’t get into any specifics, though the publication speculates that Samsung may be adding support for the full Google camera API on Lollipop, which would bring RAW shooting, shutter speed control, and more.
What do you think, what are some of the areas you’d like to see improved when it comes to the camera experience on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge? Conversely, do you feel the camera is near perfect as it is?
Volkswagen Debuts Connected Car App on Apple Watch [iOS Blog]
Following in the line of automobile companies offering connected Apple Watch apps to control aspects of their vehicle, like Porsche Car Connect, German car manufacturer Volkswagen today announced a similar Apple Watch app that will bring most of the features of the company’s Car-Net mobile app to a user’s wrist.
The app will allow customers to lock and unlock a car’s doors (on 2016-and-later models), open and close windows and the sunroof, provide a map of the vehicle’s current parked location, and even set off a minor alarm when locating the vehicle is proving tiresome. Interestingly, the app will also bring over Car-Net’s feature of tracking speed and set boundary notifications, allowing parents to monitor a child’s top driving speed and send notifications if they break from a pre-set geofencing boundary area right to the Apple Watch.
“These high-tech features, available through the Car-Net® app for Apple Watch, are paving the way to Volkswagen’s future of connected vehicles,” said Abdallah Shanti, Executive Vice President and Group Chief Information Officer for Region Americas. “As a part of Volkswagen’s Digital Vehicle Management Platform, this was a truly collaborative effort between our Technical Development and Group IT teams.”
The Volkswagen Apple Watch app also brings the ability to check fuel on gasoline and TDI Clean Diesel engines and even the charge on the all-electric e-Golf. The full suite of Car-Net features is available on “select trims” of the 2014 and later Beetle, CC, Eos, Jetta, Passat and Tiguan models and on all trims of 2015 and later Golf, Golf GTI, Golf R, Golf SportWagen and e-Golf models.
Not surprising: HTC revenue plummeted in April due to lack of demand for the One M9
At the end of February, I wrote a little piece on how HTC was pretty much screwed with the One M9 since they failed to capitalize when Samsung was more vulnerable. Now the numbers are in proving my prediction.
The One M9 debuted at the beginning of April so you would think that HTC might have gotten a little boost, but they didn’t even get that. Their revenue for the entire month plummeted by almost 40% to NT$13.54 billion ($439.95 million US) from NT$22.07 last year. If you compare it to the previous month, the drop is 32.36 percent since March posted NT$20.02 billion.
The reason for this dismal performance is obviously the One M9. It’s in the third generation, and HTC decided to keep things the same even though the first two generations never set the world on fire. Some analysts are saying that the Snapdragon 810 could be the culprit, but that has nothing to do with it. People aren’t excited about the phone, and the mainstream consumer doesn’t even know about the 810 controversy.
What’s even worse is that the current estimates show that the One M9 won’t even sell as well as the previous generation M7 and M8 models. HTC sold 7 million and 8 million units respectively, but the target for the M9 is only 4.5 million units.
I feel bad for HTC. I do like them as a company, but they lack focus in the marketing department and pretty much everywhere within the company. They recently launched and even better phone, the M9+, before the M9 got off the ground. How crazy is that? The recent promotion of Cher Wang to CEO could be positive, but is it too late? Unfortunately I think HTC is in serious trouble.
source: Taipei Times
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Deal: Last chance to get VPN Unlimited: $19 for 3 years
Having access to a VPN service is extremely important in today’s age. If you’ve ever used public Wifi, gotten your bandwidth throttled, needed to work remotely, or simply just don’t trust your ISP, then a VPN service might be for you. And thanks to the Android Authority Deals Store, you’ll be able to score a 3-year subscription to a service for cheap, but not for too much longer!
VPN Unlimited allows you to keep your data hidden and encrypted while you’re connected to a public Wifi network. You also don’t need to worry about traffic bandwidth, because your data usage will never slow down due to high traffic volumes. And with VPN Unlimited 3.0, you’ll get a list of fully downloadable global servers, the ability to switch servers quickly, and receive hands-on statistics for both mobile and desktop devices. Also in VPN Unlimited 3.0, servers have been added to Romania, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Ukraine, Japan and Texas.
VPN Unlimited is compatible with Android devices running 4.0 and up, Windows devices running XP, Vista, 7, 8 or 8.1, Mac devices running OS X 10.7 and up and the iPhone 4 and newer. It’s even compatible with Linux devices running Debian GNU/Linux 7.0 and Ubuntu 12.04+.
Thanks to the AA Deals Store, you can grab a three-year subscription to VPN Unlimited for only $19, 70% off the suggested retail value. This deal ends soon, so be sure to head to the link below before time runs out!
Sony pushes Lollipop 5.0 update with bugfixes to Xperia Z2 and Z3 ranges
Sony has just announced that it is pushing out an update to its Xperia Z2 and Z3 ranges of smartphones and tablets, bringing a variety of bugfixes and tweaks with it whilst keeping the devices on Android 5.0. We have the changelog after the break.
As stated, the update brings a collection of bugfixes and tweaks, as detailed in the changelog below. I’ve just fired up my Xperia Z3 Compact Tablet and sure enough, the update has appeared. The update was a 19mb download, although it may vary depending on which device you own. The most useful bugfix for me is to do with the LED, which is now able to act independently of the sound settings. Which makes sense when the screen is off and the device is on silent.
If you haven’t received the notification that an update is available just go into Settings, About Tablet and tap on Software update to check manually. The roll-out has already begun, although as with all updates, your region and carrier may dictate when your device is eligible.
Changelog:
- Ensured the lock-screen/notification bar doesn’t show ‘no-service’ when the device has coverage
- Added a Sony feature, brought back the ‘close-all’ button in the activity menu, so you can close all the apps at once instead of swiping away one app at a time.
- Unblocked devices with server policies (Microsoft Exchange Active Sync for e-mail), to enable the new Lollipop lock-screen notifications
- Improved messaging functionality in Ultra Stamina mode – some conversations couldn’t be opened when in Ultra-Stamina mode.
Source: Sony
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5-pack MicroUSB cables, $6.49
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LG G4 trial program launches for the United States
Last month, it was rumored that LG would offer some sort of consumer test program for their upcoming device, the successor to the G3. After the LG G4 was announced on April 28th, it was confirmed that they would allow consumers to test-drive the device before launch. It is unknown how many devices they will send out, but some lucky consumers to go through a battery of tests with the device.
Today, LG officially launched the sign-up page for the United States, which you can access here. If you are one of the lucky ones chosen, you’ll be given ‘VIP’ access and receive a free, brand-new G4. You’ll need to follow along with their social media challenge, which will most likely inlcudde posting about your experiences.
It is good to see a phone manufacturer stepping outside of the box, because it is definitely great for some lucky consumers, but even better for LG. Although they have to giveaway a few thousand units, the press and publicity will totally be worth it. When the LG G4 hits shelves this June, will you be picking it up?
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