This is what the Android Nanodegree entails
One of the ‘lesser’ announcements Google made at last week’s I/O 2015 keynote was the new Android Nanodegree, which aimed to offer a crash course in Android development and offer an insight into the lifecycle of Android app development. Today, the Redmond-based company has revealed exactly what the Nanodegree entails and if you’re interested in becoming a marketable Android developer, you’ll definitely want to read on.
Partnered with online education specialist Udacity, the Android Nanodegree program lasts for between six and twelve months at a cost of $200 per month. The course covers everything from the fundamentals of Android and app development to advanced development skills and also focuses on Google Play Services and Material Design.
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Today’s update on the Android Developers blog reveals the finer details and one specific point; the Nanodegree contains the same courses that are individually available for free but subscribing to the Nanodegree “gives you access to coaches who will review your code, provide guidance on your project, answer questions about the class, and help keep you on track when you need it“.
The other element to the Nanodegree is that it’s based on the skills and projects in your portfolio and – unlike a traditional degree program – you can skip the courses that address the skills you already possess. As Google’s own post says:
You can focus on writing the code and building the projects that meet the requirements for the Nanodegree credential.
So what does the Android Nanodegree actually entail? Google has also outlined the individual courses that make up the degree:
- Android App Development for Beginners: How to Make an Android App, with Katherine Kuan
- Developing Android Apps: Android Fundamentals, with Reto Meier, Katherine Kuan, Dan Galpin and Alex Lucas
- Advanced Android app development: Productionize and Publish Your Apps, with Dan Galpin, Ian Lake and Johanna Smith
- Google Play services: Use Google APIs to Improve Your Apps (Maps, Location, and more!), with Jocelyn Becker, Magnus Hyttsten and Laurence Moroney
- Android Ubiquitous Computing: Extend Apps to Wearables, TV and Auto, with Timothy Jordan, Wayne Piekarski and Joshua Gordon
- Android Performance: Optimizing Apps for Speed and Usability, with Colt McAnlis
- Android Design for Developers: Make Your Apps Material, with Nick Butcher and Roman Nurik
- Gradle for Android and Java: Build Better Apps Though Automation with Gradle
Is the Nanodegree a good move by Google? It certainly is, for a couple of reasons: first, it offers developers the chance to gain a credential that can set them apart from other developers and secondly, it allows Google to train developers to create apps that meet its own standards. Given that the courses themselves are available individually for free, it remains to be seen how many people are willing to spent $200 per month to get access to help when they need it.
Google I/O 2015 in videos:
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What do you think of the Nanodegree? Would you pay $200 per month for Google’s help to build your app and gain a credential that will allow you to market yourself better? Let us know your views in the comments below!
ASUS rolling out Android Lollipop to mid-tier ZenFone 4, 5 and 6
ASUS has started the process of providing the Android Lollipop update to their mid-tier smartphones, including the ZenFone 4, ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 6. The updates will bring all of the devices up to Android 5.0 Lollipop.
The ZenFone 4 update is version 7.3.3 and is available both over-the-air or as a direct download. The ZenFone 5 update is also available OTA and mirrors the update for the ZenFone 4 as well as another version of the ZenFone 5, model A500KL, which received the update back in April.
Owners of the ZenFone 6 will have to do a little work or be patient as the update for that device is currently available only through a manual install. However, ASUS expects the OTA to commence in the next few days.
According to the changelog info for the updates, ASUS decided to drop a few apps that had previously been pre-installed. These include a battery widget, Google Text-to-Speech, and Magic Smoke wallpapers. According to ASUS, these apps had compatibility issues with Lollipop.
source: Android Authority
Come comment on this article: ASUS rolling out Android Lollipop to mid-tier ZenFone 4, 5 and 6
Amazon TV owners can now stream PC games via GameFly
Today, Amazon announced that it’s now hooked up with online streaming giant GameFly to supply Fire TV owners with the facility of streaming the latest and greatest PC games to their set-top box.
Here’s what Amazon had to say:
“Using the GameFly service, customers can play top quality PC titles, including Warner Brothers’ acclaimed Batman series, Darksiders II, and Dirt 3. Game packs start at $6.99 a month and at launch customers can choose from six gaming packs. Customers can use the GameFly service with the Amazon Fire TV Game Controller, which is available for $39.99.”
If you already possess a Fire TV you can register for the service starting today. If you’d like to find out more, hit the source link below.
Source: Amazon
Come comment on this article: Amazon TV owners can now stream PC games via GameFly
We played ‘Assassin’s Creed’ with our eyes… partially
Taiwan’s big tech trade show isn’t just about CEOs shouting about its newest laptops and tablets. It’s also the place for execs to shake hands, make deals and do ole’ fashioned business. One deal is putting Tobii’s eye-tracking tech inside a high-end MSI gaming hardware. Yep, it’s a concept, but it’s underscored by a deal to work together on developing eye-tracking in gaming hardware in the future. But we’re not really about doing deals and shaking hands, we’re about stabbing enemy soldiers and hiding in haystacks, which is where the Assassins’ Creed demo came in. The trio of short-range infrared sensors monitor your eye movement, which (at least how they’re utilized in this particular game) allow you to adjust your field of vision to where you want to in the game. Instead of rotation the camera with a mouse or buttons, you simply look to where you want to, and the detection software kicks in and sweeping the camera to where you (more often than not) wanted it to.
MSI’s Dominator Pro laptop (which existed before this concept), supports Intel Core i7 processors, GeForce GTX 980M graphics, with a 17.3-inch full HD anti-glare display. The concept cranks up the specification with a Super RAID 3 with 4 M.2 SSDs, with support for up to four displays… if you want to make that eye-tracking work extra hard.
The eye-tracking functions extends beyond gaming — although Tobii was also show a high-speed rhythm game to showcase faster response times. A brief (thankfully, brief) calibration test only has to be done once, and then the PC can assign that calibration data to Windows user profile. We were then able to unlock the PC by looking at three photo thumbnails nestled in a pile: this is your password. The use of infra-red also means you’ll be able to use the eye-tracking functions whether you’re gaming in full daylight or in the dark. This gaming laptop remains a proof of concept of what both companies are looking to deliver. as Tobii’s CEO (realistically) put it: “We are still in a very early stage in the development of the market for eye tracking in gaming”, adding that it will likely take “much time and investment” before it’s ready to be a hit. But hey, until then, at least you can order a pizza with your eyes.
Source: Tobii
US Air Force and DARPA team up on hypersonic weapon
“What do we want to do with this technology? We want to weaponize it.” That’s what the US Air Force told Military.com it’s planning to do with the X-51A WaveRider — use its “scramjet,” (supersonic ramjet) tech in hypersonic weapons that compress air by sheer velocity. During tests in 2013, the WaveRider set a record by flying at Mach 5.1 (3,400mph) for over three minutes after it was dropped from a B-2H bomber and accelerated by a rocket. While those trials were just a proof-of-concept, the Air Force has teamed up with DARPA take the technology to the next level.
One reason the US is particularly anxious to do something with the tech is because they’re not the only ones working on it. China is reportedly also testing hypersonic cruise missiles that could eventually blow through US defense shields at Mach 10. The Air Force’s chief scientist confirmed that “(China) is showing a lot of capability in this area.” He added that “the advantage of hypersonics is not just that something goes very fast but that it can go great distances at those speeds.” As an example, he said such a weapon would take only 30 minutes to cover the distance between LA and New York.
DARPA is already working on other scramjet projects, like the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept and High Speed Strike Weapon (above). The goal is to create hypersonic missiles that could be attached to current bombers and launched at Mach 5 “to hit time-critical dependent targets,” according to the Air Force. They want to have it ready by 2023, but said that “from a manufacturing standpoint, it’s got to be affordable.” Given its recent record, that might be the trickiest part.
Filed under: Science
Source: DefenseTech.org
Shop from your Pinterest board with Buyable Pins
You’ve spent a lot of time collecting those dream dresses on your Pinterest board, but at the end of the day, you still have to actually go to the store to buy them. No longer. Pinterest has just introduced Buyable Pins, which lets you buy items directly from the Pinterest interface. If a pinned item is buyable, you’ll see a blue Buy It button right next to the regular red Pin It one. As for what sorts of items? Well, Pinterest already has around 2 million products from retail partners like Macy’s, Nordstroms and Neiman Marcus that range from clothing to furniture.
You can select what color you want, the number of items you want and sort by price — just like how you can on a normal web store. As for payment method, you can either enter in your credit card information or use Apple Pay. If you opt for the former, that info goes straight to the payment partner (either Stripe or Braintree) and then to the merchant — Pinterest says that it doesn’t store any of that CC info. In fact, if the item you’re buying is super expensive, you’ll be prompted to re-enter your password for additional fraud protection. Once you go through the checkout process, you’ll get a confirmation process from the retailer that you bought it from, just as if you purchased it on their site.
It’s also making Pinterest itself into more of a browsable shopping experience. You can discover products through home feed, guided search and boards just as before, but it’s also adding search filters so you can look for stuff based on price and color.
And it’s not just big-name retailers that will start selling stuff — smaller boutiques and individual brands like Ethan Allen and Kate Spade have also joined the party. According to Pinterest, the Buyable Pins are easy to integrate and it’s partnered with eCommerce platforms like Shopify and Demandware so that even small businesses can get on board. And that’s not all — it’s also not charging any fees for pinners or merchants. That means the product price you see on Pinterest will be the same price you see on that merchant’s website.
Pinterest is also really pushing mobile, stating that a lot of its users browse and shop for items on their phones and tablets. Therefore, it’s also going to make that a priority, with Buyable Pins rolling out on iPhone and iPad later this month — we’re hearing Android support will come a little later.
Filed under: Internet
Google hopes to count the calories in your food photos
Be careful about snapping pictures of your obscenely tasty meals — one day, your phone might judge you for them. Google recently took the wraps off Im2Calories, a research project that uses deep learning algorithms to count the calories in food photos. The software spots the individual items on your plate and creates a final tally based on the calorie info available for those dishes. If it doesn’t properly guess what you’re eating, you can correct it yourself and improve the system over time. Ideally, Google will also draw from the collective wisdom of foodies to create a truly smart dietary tool — enough experience and it could give you a solid estimate of how much energy you’ll have to burn off at the gym.
This isn’t going to lead to a practical product in the short term. Google only just filed for a patent on Im2Calories’ underlying technology and has no immediate release plans, so you can post dessert photos to Instagram with relatively little guilt. Eventually, though, it could be a staple feature of health apps that help you balance your food habits with your activity levels. And the potential doesn’t stop there, either. While food is the “killer app,” the image recognition code could also apply to traffic prediction and anything else where a series of photos can provide a wealth of data.
[Image credit: Ana Arevalo/AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Internet, Software, Google
Via: CNET, The Guardian
Source: Popular Science
GameFly introduces game streaming, Amazon Fire TV exclusive launch device
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Today the video game buying and renting service, GameFly, has announced that they be launching a game streaming service to deliver AAA titles to your living room. The company also announced that they have recently acquired Playcast Media Systems Ltd., which is a cloud based gaming company that that provided game streaming services to other devices, like Samsung Smart TV’s. With the acquisition of Playcast, GameFly will be able to utilize their game streaming compression engine to deliver titles quickly and efficiently. What makes the news a bit more interesting is that GameFly’s launch partner will be exclusive to the Amazon Fire TV.
“We’re excited to offer the GameFly streaming service worldwide with Playcast’s market ready and scalable technology,” said David Hodess, CEO of GameFly. “This represents the perfect evolution of GameFly by extending its mission of providing the highest quality video games available to gamers however they want to play. We are also very pleased to launch on Amazon Fire TV to make the service available to US consumers.”
“We are thrilled to offer Amazon Fire TV customers exclusive access to GameFly’s streaming service,” said Steve Rabuchin, Vice President, Amazon Appstore. “Amazon Fire TV’s quad core processor can enable powerful streaming of GameFly’s top quality gaming content, which was previously only available on high powered PC’s or consoles.”
The initial launch will bring gamers a number of monthly gaming options that are segmented into various packs; Action, Adventure, Gamer, Speed, Fun and Lego. Each gaming pack includes titles that fit that genre of gaming and will run you $6.99 a month per pack. The launch titles are pretty solid games too, not your unheard of indie developer titles. Not that there aren’t some amazing indie games out there though. Here is the current list at launch, but more will be added over time.
Action Pack (7 titles) – $6.99/month includes F.E.A.R. 3, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Red Faction: Armageddon, Red Faction: Guerilla, Mafia II, Sleeping Dogs, and Hitman
Adventure Pack (7 titles) – $6.99/month includes Dark Void, Overlord II, Darksiders, Darksiders II, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, and Batman: Arkham Origins
Gamer Pack (16 titles) – $9.99/month includes F.E.A.R.3, Red Faction:Armageddon, Red Faction: Guerilla, Sleeping Dogs, Hitman, Darksiders, Darksiders II, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins, Shank, Shank 2, Dark Void, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Mafia II, and Overlord II
Speed Pack (7 titles) – $6.99/month includes Ace Combat, Dirt 3, GRID, GRID 2, MotoGP13, Ridge Racer Unbounded, and WRC 4
Fun Pack (7 titles) – $6.99/month includes Flock!, PAC-MAN Championship Edition, PAC-MAN and the Ghostly Adventures, LEGO Harry Potter Years 5-7, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams – Rise of the Owlverlord, and BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
Lego Pack (7 titles) – $6.99/month includes LEGO Batman, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, LEGO Lord of the Rings, LEGO Harry Potter 5-7, LEGO Marvel: Super Heroes, and LEGO The Hobbit
Digging into their site I discovered that the service is set to launch officially on June 2nd in the US. They list out various controller options that will be supported, like the XBox 360 controller, Logitech F-310 or Logitech F-710 game controllers. For an optimal experience they are recommending a wired internet connection with at least 10Mbps of bandwidth, but they also say a 5 GHz Wi-Fi service connection will do the trick too.
If you opted for a Fire TV Stick rather than a Fire TV box, you are out of luck initially. However, GameFly does say they are working on a version of the service for the smaller, less expensive device. Like all things, they don’t offer up a timeline of any sorts.
As an avid gamer, this shows some promise for those that picked up an Amazon Fire TV device. You might want to look at grabbing an extra controller or two if you are planning to give the GameFly streaming service a run. You can find those links down below. To get yourself started with GameFly streaming you will want to head over to the website and submit your name and email address for more information.
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Via GameFly
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AEC BQ 615 Bluetooth speaker review
I
just spent a week with the AEC BQ 615 and, while there’s room for improvement, they’ve created a device that provides a solid value for the price point. It’s a lightweight, portable, wireless tube speaker – the specs have it at 20” across and about 20 ounces in weight.
One of its coolest features is the color-changing display that actually moves to the beat. The brightness dimmer was a clutch option towards the end of the battery life when I was trying to get a few more minutes of playback out of it. For best results you’ll want to have your input volume turned up high. I got the best, most in-sync, mini light-shows with dance music but it certainly looked neat no matter what came on the playlist.
For personal use, this beats your laptop or cellphone speaker by miles. The BQ 615 made a nice companion while synced to my laptop via Bluetooth. Setup was a breeze and wireless is definitely the way to go with this little guy.
An aux cable is included but I found the aux sound to be completely lacking, from power to sound quality. In fact, I was ready to give this a bad review until I switched to Bluetooth. Either the aux cord or the actual input jack (or both) was extremely sensitive and would crackle any time I slightly moved it.
On about two hours of charging (included cable; USB output from my laptop, micro USB input) I got about 10 hours of playback. While I was pleasantly surprised, a remaining power indicator would have been nice. The only notice of impending battery death was an annoying voice-over that would nag me towards the end of its charge.
Bluetooth range was impressive when fully charged. Standard expectations for these type of units are around 30 feet. With this speaker, I got nearly 50 feet before the skips and distortion started occurring.
Unfortunately, when the speaker was low on battery life, the playback would skip around no matter how close I kept my phone to the unit. There was also a weird glitch where the music would play at faster-than-normal speed when the battery was low.
With that said, when charged up and sitting around with a few people on a balcony, this unit is a great value. Keep it powered and it will serve you well. At the Amazon prices I found ($30 range), the BQ 615 is a steal.
– Chris S.
The post AEC BQ 615 Bluetooth speaker review appeared first on AndroidGuys.
MMOVE Stereo Bluetooth Earbuds
Just because you need freedom of mobility doesn’t mean you should sacrifice audio quality or convenience. There’s nothing worse than having your earbuds yanked from your ears mid-song by getting the cord caught on some door handle. Perhaps you lead an active lifestyle and always find yourself bringing along your cheap headphone for fear of sweat or water damage. With the MMOVE Stereo Bluetooth Earbuds, these problems are a thing of the past.
These Bluetooth Earbuds offer crisp sound with built-in noise reduction and isolation. Have no fear of a little hard work in the gym as the MMOVE Earbuds have a durable sweat-proof design that allows you to keep moving without having to sacrifice being connected. A variety of included sizes and ear-hooks ensure you’ll find the perfect fit and a 6 hour playback battery life means the workout won’t stop on account of your headphones. You’d usually pay around 50 bucks for these but we’re offering this deal to AndroidGuys readers, today, for just $31.99. Should I put you down for a pair?
See more at deals.androidguys.com
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AIVAnet 