Microsoft unveils Cortana voice assistant for Android and iPhone
Yes, it’s official: Microsoft is bringing Windows’ Cortana voice assistant to Android and iPhone. Both platforms will get a dedicated app that, much like you see on Windows Phone today, will let you dictate reminders, track flights and otherwise keep your life organized. Cortana’s Notebook, which remembers what you like, will also sync across all your platforms. This won’t be a one-for-one recreation of what you get right now, though — since Microsoft can’t tap directly into the operating system like it can on Windows devices, you won’t get hands-free activation through “hey Cortana” or options to launch apps or settings. Still, it’ll be worth seeing what this Halo-inspired helper can do when it reaches Android in late June, and iPhones sometime later this year — and we’d add that it’s not the only treat Microsoft has in store for your smartphone, either.
The Redmond crew is also unveiling Phone Companion, a Windows 10 app (due in the OS preview within a few weeks) that helps you sync your Android, iOS or Windows handset with your PC. It’ll mostly entail loading apps for Microsoft’s services if you’re using non-Windows hardware, but it should take the challenge out of accessing your computer’s content when you’re on the road. And yes, this includes music on all platforms. The company is promising an updated version of Xbox Music for Android and iOS that, like on Windows, will stream your OneDrive music for free. This doesn’t arrive in beta form until July, but it’ll be worthwhile if you thrive in Microsoft’s ecosystem.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Blogging Windows
‘Mad Max’ the game lacks the charm and detail of ‘Fury Road’
Like any Mad Max fan thrilled by the film Fury Road, I approached Avalanche Studios’ new video game translation hoping to find echoes of the film’s anarchic spirit. And while the full game may deliver — we won’t know until review time — the current demo feels more like a mundane snapshot of Max’s offscreen life in that post-apocalyptic world than an adrenaline shot from Fury Road. Mad Max, due out this fall for PlayStation 4, PC and Xbox One, just doesn’t have the same level of enervating detail.
It couldn’t, though! Fury Road is a two-hour movie, while Mad Max is an open-world video game a la Grand Theft Auto that can be played for much longer. Fury Road‘s greatest strength is its specificity and that’s something Avalanche couldn’t possibly match. Every frame, every second of the blockbuster film’s full of fittingly mad detail. Take, for example, sinister despot Immortan Joe and his altars of individually designed steering wheels: each one fitted to a different car; each car fitted to a specific War Boy.
Mad Max is not lacking in the series’ ridiculous car fights.
Both new Mad Max entries sport similarities: The film and game share the same heroes and villains; they share the same physical components of action like crazy battle cars and mean fistfights. But the game requires variety on a scale the movie doesn’t. The movie’s heart is in its individual, spectacular stunts that last only a few minutes, whereas the game needs to give players a huge desert wasteland to explore at leisure, full of specific missions to complete. Otherwise, why would people play it for a dozen or more hours?
In the “Magnum Opus” demo I played at a pre-E3 event, much of the gameplay revolves around scavenging for spare parts and scrap metal to customize Max’s war car. As you drive around the game’s desert and canyons — the looks of which impressively evoke George Miller’s world even if they don’t quite match the fidelity of other WB games like Batman: Arkham Knight and Shadow of Mordor — you find fortresses and hideouts, and get in many fights with other cars and survivors. It’s these battles that reward you with new car parts.
On the road, Mad Max feels as desperate as it should.
Those fights, at the very least, feel pretty awesome. My jalopy, kitted out with some stock parts provided at the beginning of the demo, looked like a bruiser straight out of an Ed Roth Rat Fink trading card. It rumbled as I tore over the flat roads in the sandy wasteland, and when going off-road to outrun attacks from enemy cars, it chugged. On the road, Mad Max feels as desperate as it should; resources are used up quickly and you have to be smart in how you use them. When I had ammo to fight back, I could blast the baddies with explosives or flamethrowers, but my bombs were in short supply and the flames used up precious fuel. I could collect more of both, sure, but only if I could find them on felled enemies or in some rough shanty.
Unlike the lonely wasteland of the movies, Max is always meeting new people in the game.
That driving desperation is profoundly affecting, and it’s something that’s helped Max’s world endure these past few decades. He’s a lone, honorable toughie driven to survive on his own in a dying world! In the game, though, that stoical badassery doesn’t last. One thing that dilutes the Mad Max-ness of your trip is Chumbucket, Max’s scavenger partner who goes everywhere with him in the demo. Chum functions as both comic relief and Mr. Fix It, repairing your car if you need it and endlessly commenting on what’s happening. But by my third random fight against roadsters, I just wanted to abandon him out in the desert so he’d stop with the incessant quips. [I’m trying to have a lone adventure here. Mad Max needs to keep it down to maintain the flow.]
The thrill of the open, and lonely road also fades a bit when Max gets out of his car. When you’re driving around, running away from marauding convoys, it feels like you can do anything as long as your car doesn’t explode. When you get out of it and start throwing punches against Scrotus’ armies (Yes, as in all Max stories, the big, bad evil guy has an absurd name), Max feels slow and trapped in the landscape. Fighting Scrotus involves taking out other smaller warlords in their ramshackle fortresses and weakening his overall power, then stealing their resources to power up yourself and your car. Drive up to a base, wrench off its doors with a harpoon attached to your car and then wander in and just beat up all the War Boys inside.
The thrill of the open, and lonely road also fades a bit when Max gets out of his car.
Speaking of which, the War Boys are about as varied as those in a ’90s arcade game like Final Fight. Some I fought were bald and pasty just like the War Boys in Fury Road, but the ones employed by old Stank Gum (the warlords are at least awesomely named) were purple. Why? Just to differentiate themselves from the other, nearly identical thugs from before. Max beats them up with a combination of heavy punches and “fury” finishing moves. The brawling’s repetitive, but ultimately satisfying, which isn’t surprising as it mimics the flow of the fights in WB’s Batman: Arkham City and Shadow of Mordor identically.
Is it a bad thing that WB seems to have a house style for these games? Not necessarily. Mad Max is especially well-suited to the Arkham City-style open world structure that sends you around collecting stuff and beating people up. Amusing as it can be at times, though, that rote gameplay eventually became numbing during my half-hour demo. When I drove past a wanderer who informed me of the warlord Gut Noose and his weaknesses, I found myself wondering which primary-colored dudes I’d have to beat up next.
There is something satisfying about souping up your own war machine.
In its translation to an open-world video game, Mad Max: Fury Road’s unique charm’s been traded in for monotony. This is, indeed, what it must be like when Max wakes up and just goes about his everyday business. For fans addicted to the steampunk world of Mad Max, this game may be exactly what they want: more time with Max, and an opportunity to tinker with his war car. Who knows? Maybe with some extended playtime, I’ll discover that I’m that guy; that I just want to fill Max’s dusty shoes.
After this demo session, though, I still wanted to live in Max’s world, albeit the one with the stark, propulsive detail of Fury Road and not the game’s cycle of purple people to punch.
[Images credit: WBIE]
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Twitter finally launches Periscope for Android
Periscope for Android is here. Twitter’s new streaming app contains many of the same features found in the iOS version, but with a few Android exclusives. In addition to more granular notification controls than found in the iPhone version, there’s a new “return to broadcast” feature that helps get viewers back to a stream after being interrupted by a phone call, text or other pesky distraction.
The notification setting includes the ability to opt in or out of alerts when a followed user goes live, shares a broadcast or when a user gets a new follower. The alert settings are global instead of on an individual user basis. So if you turn off alert for when followed users go live, you won’t be alerted if any of the folks you follow start broadcasting.
The Return to Broadcasts feature places a notification on the Android home screen when viewing a feed is interrupted by a call or other item. When the viewer is done doing what ever it is that stopped them from watching a feed, they tap the alert and the app loads the feed they were previously watching.
The development of the Android app was led by former Secret and Twitter Android lead, Sara Haider. Haider returned to the flock in March and immediately started building the Periscope for Android app. The team had to deal with the usual fragmentation issues that comes with dealing with the multitude of screen sizes out there. “It’s been a jam packed last couple of months,” said Haider. “I dealt with a lot of those challenges on Vine, so I’m not a stranger to them.”
The app supports KitKat 4.4 and later which made development “significantly easier” since it surfaces more of the hardware encoding and video APIs. It also has Material Design elements of Lollipop 5.0 including a dedicated broadcast button instead of a the broadcast tab found in iOS. In fact, on the Android version of the app you can swipe back and forth between tabs.
While the two apps are similar and will continue to work towards parity, Haider said, “we also have the opportunity to do some experiments on both platforms.”
Filed under: Software
Source: Periscope
Sony’s Xperia Z3+ to launch globally from June 15th
When Sony announced the Xperia Z4 in Japan last month, many of us were sceptical as to whether the minimal upgrade in specifications merited using the Z4 moniker. More recently it was rumoured that this ‘Z4‘ handset would be marketed to the rest of the world as the Z3+. And so this has come to pass, with Sony releasing a press release announcing that the Xperia Z3+ will be globally available from June 15th.
So, if it isn’t the Z4, what does the Xperia Z3+ have to offer over its Z3 predecessor? Apart from changing from the Snapdragon 801 CPU to the much-maligned Snapdragon 810 Octa-core processor with 64-bit capability, the rest of the changes aren’t going to rock your world.
Externally, the Z3+ looks the same as the outgoing model, carrying the same 146mm height and 72mm width although its 6.9mm thinness means the Z3+ is 0.4mm slimmer. Weighing just 144 grams, the Z3+ is also 8g lighter.
One difference you will notice is that the MicroUSB port has been moved to the bottom of the device, where it should be. Sony has also managed to do away with the annoying flap that used to protect the Z3 from water and dust ingress. Unlike Samsung with the Galaxy S6 handsets, the Xperia Z3+ carries on the tradition of boasting XPX5/8, IP6X protection.
The Xperia Z3+ is available with 32GB of internal storage with MicroSD card support, there is no 16GB version this time round.
Another small change you may or may not notice is that while the Z3’s battery had a 3,100mAh capacity, the Z3+’s battery has been trimmed down to 2.900mAh. Sony claims that the Z3+ has an ‘up to 2-day battery life’, so perhaps the phone has been optimised for frugal power consumption, something that the Xperia Z2 was renowned for.
The Z3+ has the same 20.7MP rear camera that was on the Z3, but the front camera has been upgraded from a 2.2MP sensor to a 5MP sensor with a wide-angle lens for taking better quality selfies.
The Xperia Z3+ will be available in 4 colours – black, white, aqua green and copper. No doubt the Xperia Z3+ will be a little more expensive than the outgoing Z3 handset, is the minimal upgrade worth the cost? Or are you better off sticking with the original Xperia Z3 and waiting for the Z4 to arrive with (hopefully) all-round better specifications?
Specifications:
- 5.2-Inch TRILUMINOS™ Display with 1920 x 1080 resolution (Full HD)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 Octa-Core processor 4 x cores @2.0GHz + 4 x cores @ 1.5GHz (64-bit)
- 3GB RAM
- 32GB Internal storage
- 20.7MP Rear-camera, Exmor RS for mobile, Flash
- 5.1MP Front-facing camera with wide angle lens
- MicroSD card support (up to 128GB)
- Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, WiFi
- Dimensions: 146 x 72 x 6.9mm
- Weight: 144 grams
- Battery: 2,900mAh
- Waterproof/Dustproof: XPX5/8, IP6X
- Cap-less MicroUSB port
Click here to view the embedded video.
Full Press Release
London, 26th May 2015 – Sony Mobile Communications (“Sony Mobile”) today introduces a premium addition to the Xperia™ Z3 series flagship smartphones with Xperia Z3+, a slim, sleek and stylish high-performing premium smartphone.
Xperia Z3+ helps you get the best pictures with Sony’s superior camera technology that is now packed into both the main and front cameras. Impressive smartphone battery stamina and performance keeps you connected faster and longer, whether for work or play. And Sony’s unique signature waterproof1 design ensures you can do it, whatever the weather.
Beautiful design, better than ever
Slimmer (6.9mm), lighter (144g) and expertly crafted, Xperia Z3+ continues the Sony design story with discreet, but impressive improvements. Not only is it waterproof and dust-tight (IP65/68) ideal for use in all situations, as a further design refinement Z3+ features a capless USB port making it easier and more convenient to charge your phone. In addition the magnetic charging pin has been removed, resulting in an overall more seamless and minimalist design. With a shiny finish on the metal frames, tempered glass and rounded edges, Xperia Z3+ is beautiful to look at from any angle and comfortable to hold.
Z3+ comes available in a choice of four sophisticated colour options to meet your individual taste and style – classic Black and White are joined by a new interpretation of Copper and Aqua Green.
Great pictures anywhere
Z3+ continues to offer the best of Sony’s Cyber-shot & Handycam technologies, to ensure a superior camera performance, and extends the camera evolution not just to the main camera, but the front camera too. Now you can enjoy superior photos, even in low light, with both the front and rear camera. From sceneries to selfies, capture the best shots in any light.
The main camera features the 20.7MP camera with Exmor RS™ for mobile image sensor, BIONZ™ for mobile processing engine, and a 25mm wide-angle G lens. Create the best shots first time, every time with improved Superior Auto – it automatically optimises settings to give you the best possible picture and can recognize up to 52 different scenes. And with new Gourmet mode, even your food pictures will be looking their very best. Add some fun and creativity to your photos with the latest Xperia camera apps including Style portrait and AR mask. Capture impressive detail even in low light conditions, thanks to the ISO12800 sensitivity and large 1/ 2.3 image sensor. Get great shots even when there is strong backlight, with HDR for photos and videos. Preserve and enjoy your precious moments in high quality with 4K video recording and output.
The new 5MP front camera with Exmor R™ for mobile image sensor means you can now get better selfies in any light. And the 25mm wide-angle lens is perfect for group selfies. Superior Auto analyses the photographic environment and automatically adjusts settings to make you look great every time. Full HD 1080p is ideal for video chat and when you are shooting selfie videos, SteadyShot™ with Intelligent Active Mode estimates movements to produce smoother videos.
Powerful performance and up to two-day battery life
Xperia Z3+ comes packed with the ultra fast Snapdragon 810 octa-core 64 bit processor2 that lets you browse faster than ever and get the optimal graphics experience. Whether you’re multi-tasking over Wi-Fi or the latest 4G network, Xperia Z3+ delivers the speed you need. LTE Cat 6 and Wi-Fi MIMO support enable faster connection speeds for a rich, connected experience with up to 300 Mbps LTE data download speeds on the move (actual speed may differ according to operator networks) 3. Download email with attachments in seconds and enjoy video streaming with no delays or unwanted buffering.
Powerful smartphone features demand smart power management. Xperia Z3+ is equipped to let you enjoy whatever you like doing for as long as you want. Sony’s incredible up to two-day battery stamina and innovative power-saving technology combine to give you superior long-lasting battery performance. And now you can get one day usage with just 45 minutes of charging when using a Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 2.0 certified charger, such as the UCH10(Single SIM variant only).
Keeping you entertained
Xperia Z3+ features an ultra-bright 5.2” Full HD smart adaptive display that provides increased brightness and contrast, without losing stamina. Sony’s TRILUMINOS™ Display for mobile with Live Colour LED and X-Reality for mobile ensure sharper and more vivid colours. Intuitive contrast enhancement delivers the most optimized viewing experience, even in bright sunlight.
Sony’s rich expertise in audio technologies lets you enjoy sound in incredible detail and clarity. High-Res Audio reproduces high frequency sound for a studio quality experience. DSEE HXTMupscales the audio fidelity of your existing MP3 or AAC tracks to near High-Res Audio quality. And for high quality wireless music listening, Sony’s new LDACTM codec transmits data three times more efficiently than legacy codec over Bluetooth.
For those times when you need to block out background noise, Xperia Z3+ supports digital noise cancelling and pairs with the MDR-NC31EM headset, reducing ambient noise by up to 98%. And now you can enjoy optimal audio settings when connecting any headphones, as Z3+ senses both the type and style of headset and automatically adjusts the audio settings accordingly for best sound experience.
Keep playing your favourite PlayStation®4 (PS4™) games wherever you are in the home with PS4 Remote Play2. Simply connect your Xperia Z3+ to your PS4 via home Wi-Fi and use the DUALSHOCK®4 Wireless Controller to ensure you never miss a minute of the action – whatever room you are in.
And to ensure you continue to enjoy the best experiences that Sony has to offer, all Xperia Z3+ users will benefit from access to Xperia Lounge Gold – delivering the world of Sony entertainment at your fingertips. Get access to exclusive competitions and offers; be among the first to try out new apps; and enjoy the latest movies, TV episodes and music included with your device.
Availability and specifications
Xperia Z3+ will launch globally from June 2015 in both Single SIM and Dual SIM3 variants.
Come comment on this article: Sony’s Xperia Z3+ to launch globally from June 15th
Sony launches the Xperia M4 Aqua with Dual SIM’s in India for Rs. 24,990
It was just the other day that Valerie wrote about the possibility of Sony’s Xperia M4 Aqua smartphone being launched in India this week, and now it’s confirmed. The Xperia M4 Aqua will support Dual-SIMs and is priced at Rs. 24,990 ($390).
Specifications:
- 5-inch HD IPS display with 1280 x 720 resolution
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 Octa-core 64-bit processor (Quad-core 1.5GHz + Quad-core 1GHz)
- Adreno 405 GPU
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB internal storage
- MicroSD card support (up to 32GB)
- 13MP Rear camera with flash with image stabiliser
- 5MP Front camera with wide angle lens
- 4G/
- A-GPS/ Bluetooth/ NFC/ WiFi/ USB 2.0
- Dimensions: 145.5 x 72.6 x 7.3mm
- IP65/68 rating (Water and dust tight)
- Weight: 140grams
- 2,400mAh battery
- Android 5.0 Lollipop
Let us know your thoughts on Sony’s Xperia M4 Aqua smartphone in the comments below.
Source: Sony India
Come comment on this article: Sony launches the Xperia M4 Aqua with Dual SIM’s in India for Rs. 24,990
Samsung patented a laptop-smartphone dock with dual OSes
Combination laptop-tablet not enough? Want even more gadget overlap? Then try ASUS’ still incoming Windows laptop/Android phone hybrid. We (half) joke, because Samsung’s patented something along those very lines. In the Korean manufacturer’s case, a docking area between the keyboard and the display would be where your phablet would call home. The laptop dock itself would be pretty much only that: all the processing and thinking would be done on the phone, which would run Android until it docks, where Windows would burst onto the bigger screen. Your phone, while charging, could also double up as the touchpad while in laptop mode.
Would such a multitalented (possibly confusing) device ever appear? The ASUS hybrid we mentioned at the start still hasn’t gone on sale — both the phone and laptop can function independently, it’s worth noting — and Samsung’s own Windows-Android hybrid, the ATIV Q, didn’t quite set the world on fire. However, as Windows 10 continues to bring Microsoft’s mobile and PC vision into a single whole, there might not be a better time for this flavor of Swiss Army knife-styled gadget.
Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops
Via: SlashGear
Source: Patently Mobile
Charter and Time Warner Cable agree on $55 billion merger
Time Warner Cable (TWC) has leaped into the arms Charter Communications in a merger valued at $55 billion, confirming previous rumors. That’s considerably more than the $45 billion Comcast proposed to pay for TWC in a controversial deal that was eventually called off. Charter said that the merger will “create a leading broadband services and technology company serving 23.9 million customers in 41 states.” Time Warner Cable rejected a similar offer back in 2014, but Charter sweetened it considerably this time around. The deal values Time Warner Cable at $75.7 billion.
TWC is the nation’s second largest cable operator after Comcast, while Charter Communications sits in fourth place. The terms of the deal mean that Charter would also absorb Bright House Networks, a smaller US operator. Charter said that the deal would result in “faster broadband speeds” and “more competition for consumers and business,” even though there would be fewer players in the market. If the whole thing comes off, Charter would be the nation’s second largest operator with 24 million customers, compared to 27 million for Comcast.
However, the deal still needs to be approved by regulators, and the FCC was reportedly dead set against Comcast’s acquisition of TWC. That said, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler had already told TWC that he wasn’t necessarily against any future deals with other players, according to the WSJ. There’s a big difference betwen the Charter and Comcast mergers, because the latter would’ve created a single dominant company and left many consumers with only one option for cable and internet. The sheer size of it could still be a concern, however, and if the deal doesn’t come off, Charter could end up owing its larger rival nearly $2 billion in cancellation fees.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Charter Communications
Ofcom plans to auction more 4G spectrum later this year
Ofcom is planning a fresh spectrum auction that will improve 4G coverage later this year. The regulator has 190 MHz to allocate to the major mobile networks, and today it’s launched a consultation with possible auction formats. The concern is that some of the biggest carriers are undergoing mergers — BT is buying EE, while the owner of Three UK is trying to acquire O2. if Ofcom awards all of the spectrum now, the balance of power could change unexpectedly if the deals don’t proceed as planned. However, it could be six months before they’re approved, and even longer before the transactions are completed, and the regulator doesn’t want to waste any time putting the spectrum to good use. So, it’s now proposing an auction format that would allocate some, but not all of the 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz bands. The bulk could be awarded as early as this year, but a portion would be held back until the buyouts are complete. That way, Ofcom would retain the ability to rebalance the market should anything drastic happen. In theory, it would promote competition in the UK while improving your 4G connection as quickly as possible.
Filed under: Networking
Source: Ofcom
Taking a spin in the first car with Android Auto
Get ready for Android Auto to hit the masses. Until now, the only way to get the Google-powered car interface was to install an aftermarket unit from Pioneer, and even those have only been around since March (Parrot is also citing support for Android Auto in its head units, but its availability has not been announced). But that changes today, as Android Auto is now finally available in actual cars that you can buy. That is, if you want to buy a Hyundai. The Korean automaker is the first car company to have Android Auto integrated in its production vehicles, starting with the 2015 Sonata with Navigation models. I recently spent a week with a 2015 Hyundai Sonata Sport 2.0T, and while I think Android Auto still has some growing up to do, I was overall very pleased.
First, a brief primer on Android Auto. It’s essentially a driver-friendly Android interface for your car. “We lock out the phone to make you look at the car screen. It’s a lot safer,” says Andrew Brenner, the lead product manager for Android Auto. Brenner is also the first person Google hired to lead the project two years ago. “The first thing we did [when we started the project] was to put cameras in the cars of Googlers and observe them,” says Brenner. “What we saw shocked us and made us a little scared!” The team found that research participants frequently used their phones while driving, which Brenner says is unfortunately not uncommon. According to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 660,000 drivers are “using cellphones or manipulating electronic devices while driving,” and apparently that number hasn’t changed much since 2010.
People don’t just use their phones for navigation either. Google found that drivers frequently used their devices for calls, messages, music and even things they really shouldn’t be doing, like reading tweets. “Our digital life is so important these days. … People don’t want to leave their connectivity and link to the outside world when they get in the car,” explains Brenner. It became immediately obvious that distracted driving was the main thing that Brenner and his team needed to solve. They started working with auto manufacturers — Hyundai being one of them — to develop an ecosystem that would allow an Android phone to integrate with the car’s existing controls. With some cars, you might navigate the interface with knobs and buttons, while on others, you just use the touchscreen.
The Sonata I tested falls into the latter category, with a touchscreen dominating the center console. It comes with Hyundai’s own navigation and entertainment interface, with SiriusXM, its own GPS navigation system and an SD card preloaded with maps. But if you wanted to use Android Auto instead, now you can. Do note, however, that Android Auto only works with a Lollipop-powered Android phone (that’s Android 5.0 and up). Fortunately, I happened to have a HTC One M9 on hand that meets that requirement.
http://www.engadget.com/embed-5min/?sid=577&playList=518846951&responsive=false
I plugged the phone into the car’s center console via a USB cable, which then prompted it to download and install the Android Auto app. After I did that, I noticed a new “Android Auto” button appear on the screen. I tapped it and voila — that Hyundai interface was gone. In its place was the Android Auto interface, which is so much cleaner and tidier than Hyundai’s own cluttered UI that I couldn’t help but smile when I first saw it. Interestingly, however, it wasn’t a complete takeover. For example, I could still hear SiriusXM while I was fiddling with the Android Auto interface and similarly, I could keep streaming Google Play Music while over on the Hyundai side.
Now, the Android Auto interface isn’t an exact replica of your phone — you won’t see all your apps on here. That’s because it’s meant to surface apps and features that are relevant when you’re on the road. The first thing that you see when you launch Android Auto, for starters, is an overview screen that’s essentially a car-friendly version of Google Now. “It filters through only the cards that are relevant when driving,” says Brenner. In my case, I often saw the currently playing track, recently missed calls, the local weather and directions to either go home or to the office. It also showed me directions to locations of upcoming appointments. I had booked a ticket to a local production of Book of Mormon, for example, and Android Auto instinctively knew to offer me directions to the theater. Creepy, but useful.
Along the bottom of the screen is a universal nav bar that leads to maps and navigation, the phone dialer, music apps and an app tray. In Hyundai’s case, the latter simply leads back to the default car menu. Aside from these features, Android Auto also supports basic Google voice actions. So, for example, you can say things like, “What’s my next appointment?” or, “What’s the weather today?” and Android Auto will respond with the appropriate answers just like your phone would.
Indeed, Android Auto is very voice-driven. In the case of the Sonata, I pressed and held down the voice-command button on the steering wheel to activate the microphone (though simply tapping the microphone on the screen would work too). From there you can say all kinds of commands, like “How did the Warriors do last night?” and, “Find me some coffee.” In the first case, you’ll hear a voice telling you the scores, while the latter command will bring up a list of nearby coffee shops. Tap a spot you want to go to, and Android Auto will navigate you there.
In my experience, voice controls worked great. Unlike a lot of car systems where you have to go through a tree of commands to do anything, I could just speak naturally. In my own 2012 Ford Focus, for example, I have to say, “Destination, Street Address,” before detailing exactly where I want to go. With Android Auto, I could just say, “Take me to In-N-Out,” and it’ll just show me the way to the closest In-N-Out. I could also say commands like, “Call Roberto,” or, “Text Michael,” for calls and text messages and “Play [insert name of artist or song]” for music. In fact, I can even specify the exact app. With music, for example, the default is Google Play Music, but Android Auto works with other music services like Spotify, TuneIn and iHeartRadio. So I could say, “Play Vampire Weekend on Spotify,” and it’ll know to switch over to the different app to play the song.
The look of Android Auto is also designed to be very car-friendly. The fonts are nice and big and the UI is meant to be easy to navigate. Google Maps on Android Auto, for example, has fewer location labels than its mobile counterpart. When I get an incoming text message, I see a notification pop up on the screen showing who sent it, but not the actual message itself. Instead, I have to press the voice button to prompt Android Auto to read it to me. The menu system of each app is also simplified and standardized, while maintaining a few individual characteristics. So, for instance, both Google Play Music and Spotify have the same play/pause and track controls, but the former is orange while the latter is green. The apps also have different menu options depending on their features.
That’s not to say I didn’t encounter a few bugs. Whenever I requested Android Auto to play a song, it struggled to show me the relevant track information on the screen — it would show “Getting your selection” instead of the name of the song. Additionally, the current Android Auto app library is still relatively small. While I appreciate that it supports WhatsApp and Skype as alternate messaging services, I wish that it could also support Twitter DM and Google’s own Hangouts, the two apps that I use the most. The same goes for music — I wish it supported Rdio and SoundCloud as well. Still, these are mostly teething problems, and I suspect Android Auto’s performance and app library will improve over time.
So if you’re Hyundai, why would you agree to offer Android Auto if you’ve already invested time and money in your own in-car solution? Cason Grover, Hyundai’s senior group manager for Cross-Carline Planning, says it’s all about freedom of choice. “Right now if you want onboard maps, you have to use this SD card. … That’s good technology right now, but over time, mapping will become more and more offboard,” he says, pointing to Google’s ability to have real-time traffic info. But when it comes to driving in areas where you might not get great data reception, automotive GPS will still be useful. Brenner says that Android Auto also isn’t meant to take over your car’s internal system like heating and seat suspension.
But it’s clear that carmakers like Hyundai see the benefit of partnering up with the likes of Google and Apple — Hyundai’s 2015 Sonatas with Navigation will also be compatible with Apple CarPlay down the road — if only to make their vehicles more appealing to smartphone-savvy consumers. “We’ve learned quickly that to offer everything that everybody wants is not feasible, more so with apps on the phone,” says Grover. “Google works with those developers, and those apps work with every Android Auto phone. All we have to do is work with Google to integrate it with the car.”
To drive home the point, Hyundai is also planning on rolling out cars with a new head unit called Display Audio. It has a center console touchscreen like the Navigation models except that it won’t come with embedded maps — you’ll have to supply your own. Not only does this make the cars a lot more affordable to the average consumer, but also it’s when third-party solutions like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay really come into their own.
“Right now only less than half of all Sonatas have support for Android Auto,” says Grover, explaining that’s because the Navigation models are mid- to high-level options. But once Hyundai rolls out those cars with Display Audio units, nearly all of Hyundai’s fleet will be Android Auto-ready. “Android Auto is focused on trying to have you use your phone in a much safer way,” says Brenner. “We want to give people the connected experience that they crave.”
If you’re ready to take the Android Auto plunge now, however, well you can always head on over to your closest Hyundai dealership to check out the new Sonatas with Navigation. If you’re already a current owner of a 2015 Sonata with Navigation, you’ll be able to take your car down to a dealer where you can update your car’s software with Android Auto. You could also add an aftermarket unit from the likes of Pioneer or Parrot if you’d rather not give up your existing car. And, of course, you could also just wait for more automakers like Honda, Ford and Audi to roll out their own Android Auto-compatible vehicles later this year.
Filed under: Transportation, Google
Opera Max for Android starts saving data when you’re on WiFi
Opera’s data compression was originally meant to get the most out of thimble-sized cellular plans, but you’d probably agree that WiFi matters, too. After all, you’ve likely had that moment when you were struggling to visit websites on a lousy public hotspot. Mercifully, relief is in sight: an updated version of Opera Max for Android now squeezes app data even when you’re on WiFi, helping you save bandwidth no matter what connection you’re using. You can manage cellular and WiFi data separately, and there’s an equally new blocking option if you need to put a particularly greedy app on ice for a while. Snag the upgrade today if you find that fast, unfettered internet access is sometimes hard to come by.
Filed under: Cellphones, Networking, Internet, Mobile
Source: Google Play, Opera
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