Circular Animations added to Google Play Store with Update

Google’s recent design overhaul has been replete with new, exciting animations, and the Google Play Store App has been treated no different. After an upcoming update the store will show a circular animation when opening and closing apps, movies, and music. The animation is quick, looks sharp, and meshes well with the new Material Design. Check it out below and let us know what you think.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can expect the new animations with GPS 5.5, which is currently rolling out.

Source: Google+

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New military goggles combine nightvision and thermal imaging

Nightvision and thermal imaging play similar — but very distinct — roles on the modern battlefield. Soldiers utilize night vision to illuminate their darkened surroundings while thermal imaging is employed to illuminate darkened targets. But until now, soldiers have had to carry separate imaging systems for each, which negatively impacts how quickly they can switch optics and acquire their targets. BAE Systems, however, announced Monday a new kind of optic that packs the functionality of both into a single unit.

“On today’s battlefield, this slower [two optic] approach, which is often further hampered by heavy smoke or bad weather, compromises soldiers’ safety and can reduce mission effectiveness,” a BAE release reads. “By integrating night vision and thermal targeting capabilities into one sight displayed on the soldiers’ goggles, BAE Systems’ new solution allows troops to more easily acquire targets and engage faster.”

While the optic itself is mounted on the soldier’s rifle, what it sees is actually beamed via a Bluetooth connection to a head-mounted display. This allows the warfighter to quickly toggle between the two modes at the push of a button. The US Army’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate has awarded BAE a five-year $434 million contract to continue the optic’s development. There is no word yet on how much the finished products would cost or how soon they’ll actually actually make it to combat zones.

[Image credit: Getty (lead), BAE Systems (inline)]

Filed under: Handhelds, Wireless

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Via: DefenseTech

Source: BAE Systems

AT&T kicks off Plenti rewards program for customers

AT&T has launched a new rewards program for customers called Plenti. The program works within an app available on smartphones and allows customers to make purchases for rewards points. The carrier has partnered with many big brands for earning and spending points, including Exxon, Enterprise, and Hulu, among others.

It’s a rewards program, so it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. Spend enough money or complete offers through partners and you’ll get “points,” which you can then use to purchase things from those same retailers. Some of the offers include getting 200 points for buying 10 gallons of gas at an Exxon gas station, or 5,000 points for starting a new line of service through AT&T. For reference, 1,000 points is equivalent to 10 bucks in rewards.

AT&T isn’t the first carrier to jump into rewards programs, as T-Mobile and Verizon have both notably tried similar ideas. Personally, I’m not a big fan of this kind of stuff, as tons of credit cards offer similar (or better) offers, but if you’ve ever had a positive experience with something like this, let us know in the comments.

source: Fierce Wireless

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MyFitnessPal Premium offers better diet and nutrition tracking

MyFitnessPal has kicked off a Premium subscription that gives users easier control and viewing of their diet and food intake. Among other things, the Premium service offers an ad-free experience, plus access to verified foods that have accurate calorie and nutrition content and detailed graphs and info about how many calories you’re consuming over specific time periods.

The new graphing view allows you to check how many calories you’re taking in over specific days, weeks, months, or meals, which is useful if you’re trying to narrow things down. With the enhanced nutrient views, you can set individual goals for different nutrients like calories, carbs, and protein, so you can track things much more specifically than you’d be able to before. This service probably won’t do much for casual users, but someone that’s interested in micro-managing their fitness regiment could really stand to benefit from features like this.

The premium service runs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. This definitely puts it at the higher end of fitness apps, but hey, it’s doing something those other apps aren’t, so that’s worth something.

source: MyFitnessPal

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Daily Roundup: Building Windows 10, killing net neutrality and more.

Get caught up on all the stories you might’ve missed this weekend in today’s edition of the Daily Roundup. Today, we look at how Microsoft is making Windows 10 an exciting upgrade. Meanwhile, US telecoms are still trying to kill net neutrality through some dirty tricks and Microsoft will start making high end Windows phones again. Get the scoop on these stories and more past the break.

Build 2015: With Windows 10, Microsoft is no longer a follower

Referencing former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s infamous “developers!” chant is practically a cliché nowadays, but it felt like the silent refrain throughout the company’s entire Build conference this week. In the run-up to Windows 10, Microsoft wants developers. It needs developers. And it will do whatever it takes to get them – even going so far as to allow devs to recompile their Android and iOS apps without much fuss. None of this seemed possible from Microsoft years ago, when simply owning the dominant desktop platform was enough. But now with mobile devices and the cloud in play, Microsoft needs to evolve.

US telecoms try to kill net neutrality by blocking key rules

The big US telecoms are trying every trick in the book to kill net neutrality, and that includes some very specific tactics. AT&T, CenturyLink and multiple industry groups have sent filings to the FCC asking it to block specific procedures, not the neutrality rules themselves. They want to stop the Commission from both reclassifying the internet as a utility and implementing a standard that prevents providers from “unreasonably interfering” with your internet access.

Microsoft is reportedly making high-end Windows phones again

One of the biggest gripes among Windows phone devotees is a lack of high-powered devices as of late. How are you supposed to be a hardcore fan when most of the lineup is downright basic? At last, though, Microsoft appears to be catering to that need for speed.

Microsoft Office 2016 Public Preview is now available

Office 2016 may still be getting the finish touches in Redmond, but Microsoft is opening up its productivity suite for public preview. If you’ll recall, some apps were included in previous releases of the Windows 10 Technical Preview and made available for both IT folks and devs. As of today, though, regular folks can get an early look and offer feedback on all the new stuff – including those redesigned universal apps. This means that you’ll gain access to OneDrive attachments in Outlook, real-time co-authoring and retooled applications that learn how you work to lend a hand.

‘League of Legends’ doc chronicles America’s eSports underdogs

Patrick Creadon wants to tell you about what he thinks is competitive gaming’s Miracle on Ice moment. And to do so, he’s employing the tool he knows best: a movie camera. Whereas before, the film director has focused on the national debt with I.O.U.S.A. or the (sometimes famous) people who love crossword puzzles in Wordplay, his latest project, All Work All Play, tackles the world of eSports.

HTC’s plastic M9+ variant will be a compelling flagship

HTC’s all about its One M9 in the West, but we know many of our readers would rather have the slightly bigger and more powerful M9+. While chances of the latter device escaping Asia are slim, a mysterious plastic variant dubbed “M9e” brings us new hope, courtesy of China’s TENAA certification database. With the exception of the missing Duo Camera, this model shares the same face plus specs with the M9+: 5.2-inch Quad HD display, 2.2GHz octa-core processor (likely MediaTek’s), 3GB of RAM, 20-megapixel main camera (with dual-tone flash), UltraPixel front imager, microSD card expansion and fingerprint reader.

Tesla starts selling used electric cars on the web

Tesla is a big fan of selling electric cars directly to the public (much to dealers’ chagrin), and it’s now doing the same for used vehicles. The automaker has opened an online pre-owned store where you can buy someone’s former Model S at a relative discount. You’re limited to shopping in a handful of cities in the US and Canada, but the cars come with a 4-year, 50,000-mile warranty to assuage fears that you’ve bought a lemon.

Filed under: Misc

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