Uber picked up some of Bing’s mapping tech and employees
It turns out that Uber’s desire for mapping tech didn’t really stop with Nokia’s Here maps. The ride-sharing platform just picked up a portion of Microsoft’s Bing maps technologies and about 100 of Redmond’s employees as TechCrunch tells it. The way that TC describes the deal, the employees that Uber is absorbing were responsible for putting image data into the search engine (aerial, 3D and street footage, apparently) and the folks’ll likely be doing the same task at their new employer. What’s that mean for you? Well, that the map display in Uber’s app is probably going to get a bit more detailed now, hopefully making it easier for your driver to figure out exactly where you are. Nah, they’ll still likely drive around in circles while you watch in frustration.
Filed under: Transportation, Wireless, Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: TechCrunch
Comcast’s TV sports app delivers baseball stats when they matter
If you’re a baseball stats hound, you probably don’t enjoy tearing your eyes away from the game just to dig up facts about the latest at-bat matchup. You might not have to distract yourself for much longer if you’re a Comcast subscriber, though — the cable TV giant has introduced a Baseball Extras feature to its Xfinity Sports app that turns your X1 set-top box into a real-time stats machine. Fire it up and you’ll get carousel of info that pops up as it becomes relevant, such as the batter’s chances of defeating the pitcher or post-game recaps. You can also use it to track a game even when you’re watching something else, so you don’t have to interrupt your kids’ show to get a better sense of how your favorite team is doing. This isn’t as unintrusive as keeping your phone out while you watch, but it’s definitely more convenient.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Comcast
Sprint’s latest family plan offers two unlimited lines for $100
Sprint is trying to do everything it can to compete with T-Mobile’s audacious, budget-friendly plans. As such, the carrier’s introducing a new plan called Best Buy One Family, featuring two lines with unlimited data, talk and text for $100 per month — each additional number (up to eight total) will cost $40. Back in March, Sprint also announced a Best Buy-only plan that gives people a smartphone and all-you-can-have service for a flat monthly rate, so this isn’t the first time the network and retailer have teamed up. Naturally, if you’re interested in taking advantage of this offer, you’ll have to visit a Best Buy or Best Buy Mobile store.
[Image credit: Getty Images]
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Sprint
Source: Sprint
Facebook figures if you listened to a video, you must like it
Facebook continues to refine what you see in your news feed. Today, the social network that your mom uses announced that it will track more information about your video watching habits to include whether or not you perform any actions like turn up the volume or make a video full screen. Facebook will use that information to place what it believes are more relevant auto-playing videos into your feed. Facebook recently announced that it would track how long users look at posts in addition to when someone clicks the Like or Share button to aggregate posts. Today’s news is just an extension of that. The company says it will roll out this new way to weight posts in user feeds over the coming weeks and that Pages shouldn’t expect “significant changes in distribution as a result of this update.”
Filed under: Internet, Facebook
Source: Facebook
Xposed Framework for Android Lollipop just got real
The waiting is now over for users of the Xposed Framework who wished to run it on Android Lollipop, since the developer has just pushed out a huge updated to bring one of the biggest modification frameworks to Android 5.x.
Xposed Framework is a package that can be installed on rooted Android devices to open up no end of possibilities. These possibilities come in the form of modules that you can enable on-the-fly without having to flash ROMs or Kernels to add functionality to your device.
There is currently one caveat to Xposed Framework on Android Lollipop and that is that it may cause some bootloops on Samsung stock ROMs due to the way Samsung has implemented ART. However, you can flash a different ROM to your Samsung devices to overcome this. In addition, it’s not working with LG encrypted apps.
Otherwise, it seems to work pretty well and is certainly worth checking out if you’re interested in modifying your Android device but don’t want to flash numerous ROMs for new features.
To grab Xposed Framework for Android 5.0 Lollipop, head on over to XDA Forums right now.
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Upcoming OnePlus 2 will have a fingerprint sensor that is “done right”
The upcoming OnePlus 2 will be launched on July 27 during a special virtual reality event, but its manufacturer has already started revealing what we can expect from the device. The company shared that it would pack the Snapdragon 810 processor (without overheating concerns) and be the first flagship with a USB Type-C port. This afternoon, OnePlus informed the world that the OnePlus 2 would also have an enhanced security component with the inclusion of a fingerprint scanner that is faster than Apple’s TouchID.
OnePlus’ Pete Lau explained how valuable the OnePlus 2’s fingerprint scanner will be:
“With the OnePlus 2, the fingerprint sensor is done right. It’s refined and lightning quick, unlocking your device faster than TouchID. The average person checks their phone over 200 times per day. If you spend just three seconds inputting a PIN number or pattern, that’s over an hour of your time gone each week.
On the OnePlus 2, one quick tap takes you right to your homescreen. With the ability to store up to five fingerprint profiles, it’s fast, it’s safe, and it’s secure. Your smartphone is your most personal device, and its security should be personal, too.”
Rather than having unwanted components like a heart rate sensor and two rear cameras, OnePlus seems to be focusing on features that have a purpose in day-to-day use.
Are you sold on fingerprint scanners? Or do you forgo security measures on your mobile device altogether? Let us know in the comments.
Source: OnePlus
Come comment on this article: Upcoming OnePlus 2 will have a fingerprint sensor that is “done right”
Supreme Court rejects to hear Google’s appeal in Oracle fight over Android
Back in 2010, Oracle took Google to court, arguing that the search giant violated its copyright by using Oracle’s Java technology in Android. Then in May 2012, it seemed as though Google would win the battle after the judge overlooking the case ruled that the Java APIs couldn’t be copyrighted. That may have seemed like a big win for Google, but as it turns out, Oracle was well on its way to winning the war. Two years after this news came to be, the ruling in Google’s favor was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals, allowing Oracle to get another shot at making Google pay for its alleged transgressions. In turn, Google made its way to the Supreme Court in hopes to appeal from the case and stop it once and for all.
Today we’re finally getting word from the Supreme Court on the matter, and unfortunately the results aren’t positive for Google. The Supreme Court has just rejected Google’s appeal from the case, which means that the Google-Oracle dispute will be moved back to a smaller appellate court to get the final say. The Supreme Court didn’t give comment on its decision to reject, but this news does come just one month after the Justice Department rushed to Oracle’s side claiming that APIs can, in fact, be copyrighted.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean Google lost the case, but it does mean that the company won’t get off the hook as easy as it expected to.
In a statement made regarding the high court’s decision, Google says that it will “continue to defend the interoperability that has fostered innovation and competition in the software industry.” Oracle shot back saying that the decision is a “win for innovation and for the technology industry that relies on copyright protection to fuel innovation.”
Google Play Music and All Access arrives in Argentina
Google Play Music and its All Access subscription service is now available in Argentina. There’s been no official announcement just yet, however, the country is listed as supported on Google’s support page.
Now that the service is available in Argentina, users can now back up their music collection to Google’s servers and take advantage of Google’s All Access music pass. Keep in mind that due to licensing privileges that you won’t necessarily be able to stream all of the same content that those in the US or Canada can.
It’s exciting that Google has made Argentina a list of supported countries. Hopefully they’ll be able to add more soon to compete with Apple Music, as Apple’s streaming service has the cultural edge that Google might not be able to keep up with.
source: Google Play Support
via: Android Police
Come comment on this article: Google Play Music and All Access arrives in Argentina
The new Nexus 5 (2015) and Android M will debut together, report says
According to recent rumours, we could be looking at a dual launch of the next version of Android operating system, Android M, and a 2015 version of the Nexus 5.
Codenamed the “LG Angler”, the device is expected to be the successor to the widely popular Nexus 5, and more importantly the flagship device for Android M.
The Nexus 5 (2015) is expected to have a 5.2-inch QHD display, 3GB of RAM, and a Snapdragon 810 processor, the aim of which will be to appeal to those users who thought the Nexus 6 was just too big. It’ll most certainly have the new USB Type-C connector, and come with 32GB or 64GB variants, and potentially even an 128GB model.
A release date pegs the Nexus 5 (2015) towards the end of the year, possibly around October time, with pricing unknown at this point.
Google will use the next device in its Nexus lineup to change its design language for a device – much like Samsung did with their Galaxy S6 – that will see a more premium, durable, build quality.
One thing’s for certain – the tech world want an updated Nexus 5!
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Snapdragon 820 fares almost as good as Samsung’s Exynos 7420 on Geekbench
After denying for months that Snapdragon 810’s overheating issues was the reason why Samsung didn’t use it in the Galaxy S6, Qualcomm resorted to build its next flagship chipset based on Samsung’s 14nm process. And quite unsurprisingly, the Snapdragon 820’s performed almost as good as Samsung’s Exynos 7420 on the benchmark app, Geekbench.
It was revealed yesterday that the new chipset would include four custom designed 64-bit cores clocked up to 3 GHz, instead of stock cores such as ARM-based Snapdragon 810 and Samsung’s Exynos.
Benchmark results found on Geekbench 3 revealed that the Snapdragon 820 MSM8996 reached a single core score of 1732 in comparison to Samsung’s Exynos 7420’s 1486 and the Snapdragon 810’s 1227. In the multi core test, Snapdragon 820 fared slightly worse with its score of 4970 against Exynos 7420’s 5284, but outperformed its predecessor Snapdragon 810 that could only reach 4424.
The Geekbench test pitted the performance of Snapdragon’s Kyro cores against that of the Galaxy S6 and Xiaomi Mi Note Pro, which are powered by Exynos 7420 and Snapdragon 810 respectively.
Before the Snapdragon 810, Qualcomm had been using custom cores, which come with frequency ramping advantages resulting in power and performance efficient processors.
Via: phone Arena
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