Nokia’s HERE Maps public beta launches with an updated UI
Nokia has been gradually updating its impressive off-line navigation application, HERE Maps, with new features, and the latest beta version includes a newly redesigned user interface and a contextual menu. There’s also a public beta program, if you fancy signing up to test out the latest features.
Along with a redesign of the app’s interface, the new contextual menu displays information on a particular location, accompanied by options to share the location, receive directions to or begin navigation to the spot. The menu can be brought up with a long press anywhere on the map. You can see the feature in action in the video below:
If you fancy joining the public beta, you will need an Android smartphone running 4.1 Jelly Bean or higher, with 1GB of RAM and a display anywhere between 4 and 6.9 inches in size. To sign up, head on over and join the Here Beta Google Group, click this link to become a beta tester and then you will be able to download the navigation app from the Play Store.
If you happen to try out Nokia’s HERE Maps beta, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Google’s Sundar Pichai talks about the intrusiveness of smartphones and the possible solutions
Sundar Pichai is a senior vice president at Google in charge of Android, Chrome, and Google Apps. As such he has a lot of influence over some of Google’s most important consumer products. He is also considered to be the righthand man of Google’s chief executive, Larry Page. In a recent NY Times interview Sundar was grilled about the intrusiveness of smartphones, the dangers of anti-social phone use, and the possible solutions.
When asked if smartphones will eventually become socially unacceptable because of overuse, Sundar noted that people get a lot from their Android smartphones however they are probably more “interruptive” than they need to be, however ultimately it is the user who is in control, they use their phones how much they want to.
That was the first question in the interview and throughout the rest of the questioning the idea of individual choice was repeated again and again. When asked about checking emails during dinner, Sundar said that if parent allow their children to do that then it is a parent choice. If the parent themselves are doing it then that isn’t a technology question, as their are people who watch TV during dinner and nobody is blaming the TV manufacturers for that!
It’s their choice, and I want to be careful not to be prescriptive about what is OK to do and what is not OK to do.
At this point the interviewer changed tack and pointed out that people are making apps that turn your phone off for a while indicating that consumers see the need for way to reduce the temptation to constantly use a smartphone. Sundar pointed out that this isn’t a unique problem for smartphones, consumers want the same thing for email or for social media. “I also don’t know how much of these are like something that is just happening at the margin versus what’s happening at the core,” he added.
He then went on to repeat that how consumer’s user their phones is up to them. “To me, we need to design products which are genuinely centered around users. And then there is a line by which how users choose to live their lives. It’s their choice, and I want to be careful not to be prescriptive about what is OK to do and what is not OK to do.”
One area where Sundar is prepared for Google to be more prescriptive is with Android Auto. When you are driving it is important that a user only get the information that is critical, mainly because pulling out your phone while driving is dangerous.
He points out that he makes everyone on the team put all their phones in a basket so that they can all have a good dinner together.
“So if you look at how we are thinking through something like Android Auto, we are trying to thoughtfully figure out how you get what you want at the right time,” said Pichai. “Can you just speak and get your answer so that you don’t have to open up a phone? These are all experiences we think through.”
The conversation then shifts a little to personal policies with regards to smartphone use. Sundar revealed that on the evening before a Google I/O keynote speech he goes out for a meal with his team. He points out that he makes “everyone on the team put all their phones in a basket” so that they can all have a good dinner together.
Often when people compare iOS and Android, the mantra seems to be that Apple care about the end experience, it just needs to work. However to think that only Apple worrys about that is a little naive. As Pichai said, “the point is not to present the technology to the user. The point is to build a user experience.”
What do you think, are smartphones becoming too intrusive? Are they tearing away at the social fabric of life? Let me know in the comments below.
Nokia’s HERE Maps public beta launches with an updated UI
Nokia has been gradually updating its impressive off-line navigation application, HERE Maps, with new features, and the latest beta version includes a newly redesigned user interface and a contextual menu. There’s also a public beta program, if you fancy signing up to test out the latest features.
Along with a redesign of the app’s interface, the new contextual menu displays information on a particular location, accompanied by options to share the location, receive directions to or begin navigation to the spot. The menu can be brought up with a long press anywhere on the map. You can see the feature in action in the video below:
If you fancy joining the public beta, you will need an Android smartphone running 4.1 Jelly Bean or higher, with 1GB of RAM and a display anywhere between 4 and 6.9 inches in size. To sign up, head on over and join the Here Beta Google Group, click this link to become a beta tester and then you will be able to download the navigation app from the Play Store.
If you happen to try out Nokia’s HERE Maps beta, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Acer feels the pain of the PC’s decline
Analysts believe that the PC has had its day in the sun, and now, we’ve got another shred of proof to toss into the dossier. Acer, the world’s fifth-largest PC maker, has revealed that its revenues fell by the better part of 30 percent in the second quarter of the year. The terse announcement wasn’t supported by a full earnings release, but the figures mean that this period has been the company’s smallest quarter since 2006. The spreadsheet may be missing, but Digitimes is reporting that Acer is betting on Chromebooks, 2-in-1 and gaming laptops will restore the firm to profitability.
@danielwcooper here’s the graph to show Acer’s 2Q revenues are smallest since 2006 (source: Acer financials) pic.twitter.com/OeJGqhjgdn
– Charles Arthur (@charlesarthur) July 13, 2015
Gartner’s cabal of sooth-sayers reported that PC shipments in the second three months of the year dropped by nearly 10 percent. Then again, that may not be as much of a cause for despair as you may think, since Windows 10 is launching on July 29th. It’s likely that plenty of buyers have held-off on picking up a new machine until the new OS arrives, but probably not enough to return the industry to its heyday. In addition, that same report believes that Acer’s chunk of the market shrunk by more than 20 percent since 2014 — a year when the firm barely squeaked a profit. It remains to be seen if co-founder Stan Shih’s much-trumpeted rescue attempt was a success or not, but Charles Arthur over at The Overspill doesn’t think it was.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Acer
Source: Digitimes, Apple News (Translated), Telecompaper
The next Android Wear update brings interactive watch faces, watch to watch messaging and more
The Android Wear platform has been around for over a year now, and although it has come a long way since launching with the LG G Watch and Moto 360, we are looking forward to seeing it evolve even more. The next Android Wear update was originally scheduled to be released on July 28th, but this has now been postponed to an unspecified date in August. This doesn’t mean that we have to wait to find out about some of the alleged new features though.
Thanks to the information provided to Phandroid, we are able to see that the next Android Wear update will include the ability to tap the watch display once to change aesthetics, launch activities, inline expansion and more. While there’s already third-party watch faces that offer the tap once gesture, it’s a feature that has to be hacked in by the developer, which often leads to system issues. Below are some examples of what a single tap can do, with the first example showing how the user could cycle through a list of options, i.e. different watch faces.
A single tap could also bring up more information from a watch face, the weather, for example, as seen below.
Or, the single tap could bring up your fitness information, which could prove handy if you are at the gym.
Finally, the single tap could be used to open a new app, which would then slide in from the right of the display. It’s said that Google has informed Android Wear developers of the new features so that they can update their apps accordingly when the update is released. If Google hasn’t been in touch, you shouldn’t have to wait too long to get access to the new API.
Together is a new feature that gives the ability for Android Wear users to send messages, emoji’s, stickers and doodles to other Android Wear users, as seen mentioned in the strings of code below:
“Stay together by sending messages directly to your friend’s watch face”
<string name=”wc_doodle_message_received”>%1$s sent you a doodle with %2$s</string>
<string name=”wc_photo_message_received”>%1$s sent you a photo with %2$s</string>
<string name=”wc_sticker_message_received”>%1$s sent you a sticker with %2$s</string>
<string name=”wc_message_received”>%1$s sent you a message with %2$s</string>
At present, it isn’t known whether the Together function will be launched as a system app or limited to just the one watch face. If it was indeed limited in use to the one watch face, it wouldn’t be very useful at all. It should be said that the information given to Phandroid wasn’t up to date, which means it may well have just been the starting point.
Finally, if you’re rocking an LG G Watch R, you’ve probably been waiting patiently for its WiFi capability to be activated, as promised by LG. This next Android Wear update appears to be the one you’ve been waiting for, now its just a matter of time until the update is released.
Are you excited about this upcoming Android Wear update? Let us know what features you would like to see included in the comments below.
The next Android Wear update brings interactive watch faces, watch to watch messaging and more
Source: Phandroid
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Best keyboard replacement apps [2015]
The keyboard on your device is probably one of the most used apps on your phone whether or not you realize it. Unless you’re the kind of person to use a ton of voice dictation, you probably tap out tons and tons of words each day through messaging, web browsing, looking up YouTube videos, and anything and everything in between. Having a good keyboard can make your smartphone experience significantly better, but using a bad keyboard can ruin the whole thing.
From minor glitches to lack of features to bad autocorrection and word prediction, we’ve all seen some poor keyboards that take the fun out of using your device. Now we’ll go over the best keyboard replacement apps that you can find in the Play Store.
SwiftKey
SwiftKey made our list early on last time because of how terrific of a keyboard it is, and that still holds up today. Although, to be completely honest, it’s fair to say that SwiftKey has actually gotten quite a bit better than the last time we’ve talked about it thanks to some major updates and new features.
On a very basic level, SwiftKey is just a fantastic keyboard. It’s easy to type on, and the autocorrect and prediction functionality is probably the best you’ll see in a mobile keyboard thanks to how deep SwiftKey integrates with your other accounts. The keyboard actually learns from your messages, emails, and social media accounts to figure out how you type, so if there are any certain phrases or things you typically say, the keyboard’s prediction engine will pick up on that. If you give it enough information, sometimes the keyboard can even accurately predict sentences you’re trying to type from just a word or two. It’s impressive and insanely accurate.
Like most other keyboards, SwiftKey has also integrated a flow style of typing, too. Instead of actually tapping out letters and words, you can simply drag your finger across letters to type things out. Swype has been doing this for a very long time, and most other keyboards have picked up on the feature, but SwiftKey constantly improves the functionality and includes small little tweaks like being able to swipe to the spacebar in the middle of your sentences to type out words without ever having to lift your finger from the screen.
As far as bells and whistles go, SwiftKey offers a top notch experience, too. You have plenty of options to customize and tweak your keyboard to your liking, including changing the keyboard layout from traditional to split to floating layouts, adjusting how long you’ll have to long press a key to get its alternate character, and tons of other small options to change to cater to how you like to type. There’s also a theme store full of themes to use, ranging from basic colors to Material Design to designs based on popular movies.
Probably the best new recent feature that SwiftKey offers is that it’s become a free app. It cost around $4 before, but the developer has decided to try and make its money on paid themes in its, so if you aren’t picky about how your keyboard looks (and honestly, the default theme looks just fine) you should definitely give SwiftKey a try.
Fleksy
Fleksy is another fantastic keyboard that’s been around for awhile and it was recently been made free for everyone to download. It offers an excellent autocorrect engine, tons of themes and tweaks, and a unique feature that allows you to install extensions for extra functionality.
If you’re just looking for a no-frills keyboard replacement, Fleksy can handle that extremely well. Fleksy is accurate and fast to type on, and actually helped set the world record for fastest typing on a mobile keyboard. That alone is a pretty solid seal of approval, especially if you run into issues with other keyboards just not being responsive enough to keep up with how fast you type.
Where Fleksy really shines, though, is in its extensions. There are many extensions that do several different things, some of which of are a little more silly than others. One of the more popular extensions allows you to quickly find and send GIFs to your contacts, which is really something only Fleksy offers. Some of the other extensions are a little more focused on productivity, allowing you to do things like jump right into apps directly from your keyboard or add keyboard shortcuts and number rows. There’s an extension for a copy/paste shortcut, and even one that makes your keyboard invisible so you can maximize screen space while still typing. That completely customizable experience is a big plus for Fleksy.
As far as aesthetics go, Fleksy has also introduced their own theme store with over 40 different themes and 3 different size options for your keyboard. That’s pretty competitive with what other keyboards offer, so between the massive amount of available themes and extensions, it’s pretty tough to get a keyboard that can be completely fine-tuned to your liking as well as Fleksy can. Plus, now that’s it free, you don’t have anything to lose by trying it out.
Google Keyboard
A few years ago, Google moved Android’s default keyboard to the Play Store. They’ve since done that with other apps, too, like the camera app and a few others. The point was to give users an easy way to get an often-updated, stock Android experience that they normally wouldn’t get with their device produced by another hardware manufacturer, and that’s exactly where Google Keyboard shines.
If you’ve ever used a Nexus device, you probably know what to expect from Google Keyboard. It’s a very basic keyboard without many extra bells and whistles that offers a surprisingly great typing experience. The stock keyboards on some older Android devices were honestly pretty bad, but Google’s latest iterations have been excellent. Autocorrect works well, you’ll still have access to Android’s emoji system, and there are even a few things you can tweak like the volume and strength of every keypress. Also, it has a long-press delay to get to alternate characters.
Another excellent selling point of Google’s own keyboard is that it actually scales perfectly with tablets. There’s never a guarantee that your new favorite app will work well on a bigger screen, but Google has done a fantastic job of making sure that everything works smoothly on both small and large tablets, in addition to the normal phone keyboard. Plus, it’s a Google app, so you’ll get a full, no compromise Material Design interface.
If you need something with tons of customization options and extra features, Google Keyboard probably won’t work for you. Being that it is a solid keyboard that gets the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible, it’s hard to recommend anything other than Google Keyboard.
CM Keyboard
CM Keyboard is made by Cheetah Mobile, the developer responsible for a handful of other popular apps including Clean Master and CM Flashlight. The keyboard offers a pretty solid typing experience, but really excels when it comes to emojis. That’s probably not a very big selling point for everyone, but if you’re the kind of person that loads up their text messages with emojis instead of actual words, CM Keyboard can make that so much easier for you.
The actual keyboard itself isn’t bad, even if it won’t stand up next to some of the other options. There is a very useful number row at the top of the keyboard, which is something some other keyboards lack, and there are quick access buttons to change languages and other inputs. The autocorrect engine works fairly well, and it’s quick and easy to type on.
One of the fun parts of using CM Keyboard is how it seamlessly integrates emojis into your typing. If you type certain words or phrases, the keyboard will suggest an emoji based on what it thinks will fit what you’re trying to say in the suggestion bar. So if you’d rather autocorrect a spelling mistake into an emoji, you can, but it also gives you the option to type what you want instead of searching through pages and pages of emojis.
The keyboard also supports emoticons, which are kind of like vintage emojis. If you frequently visit sites like Reddit or other message boards, you’ve probably seen some emoticons that replicate faces or phrases with different keyboard characters, similar to Android’s original implementation. They were obviously a bit more popular before emojis came about, but they’re still around on certain sites and boards. Unfortunately, they can be tough to type, especially on a mobile keyboard, which is where CM Keyboard steps in. There’s an entire gallery of emoticons in the keyboard that’s a single click away, which makes it incredibly easy to insert those into your Reddit posts or text messages.
If emojis and emoticons aren’t really a selling point to you, CM Keyboard probably won’t be worth trying out. But if it is something that sounds fun to you, the keyboard is definitely worth checking out, and if nothing else, it’s useful to keep as a backup keyboard for when you do need to impress your internet friends with an emoticon flipping a table. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻)
Closing
These keyboards offer some of the best typing experiences available on the Play Store, covering perfect touch accuracy to complete customization options to little gimmicks like GIFs and emojis. They’re all (probably) better than what shipped on your phone and likely offer some extra features and options that your OEM keyboard doesn’t have. So, if nothing else, they’ll make excellent backup keyboards for different situations.
Are there any keyboards we missed that you regularly use? Sound off in the comments and let us know.
Come comment on this article: Best keyboard replacement apps [2015]
Unannounced Desire 728 passes through TENAA
Over the weekend, an unannounced HTC-branded smartphone passed through China’s official certification database — TENAA. The mid-range handset, dubbed the Desire 728, carries the model number D728w and is believed to be targeted at the Asian market.
The device is rumored to pack a 5.5-inch 720p display, a 1.3GHz MediaTek octa-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 5-megapixel front-facing shooter and a 2,600mAh non-removable battery.
Anonymous tipsters claim that the Desire 728 will be available in a multitude of different colours, including black, white, gold, grey, orange and red.
To view the full certification document over on TENAA’s website, hit the source link below.
Source: TENAA
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12.9-Inch ‘iPad Pro’ Rumored to Launch After Mid-November as Foxconn Prepares Components
The oft-rumored 12.9-inch “iPad Pro” is expected to launch after mid-November as overseas manufacturer Foxconn prepares to start supplying components for the large-sized tablet in late September, according to the sometimes-reliable Taiwanese blog DigiTimes. Apple reportedly remains cautious about placing orders for the “iPad Pro” from suppliers due to declining iPad sales and weakening demand in the overall tablet market.
12.9-inch “iPad Pro” dummy model originally shared in February 2015
DigiTimes has a hit-and-miss track record reporting on Apple’s upcoming product plans, so this latest rumor should be treated with a proverbial grain of salt. Nevertheless, the rumor is consistent with previous reports that widely expect the “iPad Pro” to launch in the second half of this year. Apple has also historically announced new iPad models in October, which lines up with a launch around mid-November.
A related DigiTimes report claims that China-based white-box tablet makers are preparing to capitalize on the “iPad Pro” launch and seasonal shopping trends by releasing tablets in the 10-inch to 15-inch throughout the second half of 2015. The tablet makers are said to be sourcing components from Taiwan-based touch controller IC makers including ITE Tech, Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) and ILi Technology (Ilitek).
Apple’s Share of Smartphone Industry Profit Rises to 92%, Despite iPhone Representing Less Than 20% of Sales
A new report out over the weekend by Canaccord Genuity estimates that Apple has recorded a 92 percent share of the world’s entire smartphone market in the first quarter of 2015, which is up from 65 percent a year earlier. The company managed to do so on less than 20 percent of actual smartphone sales, which the Wall Street Journal accounts to the company’s “ability to command much higher prices for its phones.”
Behind Apple was Samsung with a total of 15 percent of the smartphone market, with the two combining to tally up for more than 100 percent of the industry’s profits, “because other makers broke even or lost money, in Canaccord’s calculations.” In the early days of the iPhone, Canaccord estimates that Nokia was holding two-thirds of the smartphone industry’s profits, but by 2012, Apple and Samsung shared the industry’s profits at a nearly exact 50/50 split.
“The dominance of Apple is something that is very hard to overcome,” said Denny Strigl, former chief operating officer of Verizon Communications Inc. “Apple has to stumble somehow or another, and I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Canaccord contributes Apple’s bigger-than-ever market dominance to a combination of increased iPhone sales and higher prices for the bigger-screened iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus released last year. A year before, an iPhone sold at an average of $624 — compared to $185 for Android-running smartphones — according to data collected by Strategy Analytics. By the end of 2015’s first quarter, Apple had sold 43 percent more iPhones than the year before and at a higher price of about $659 thanks to the bigger screened models.
Apple’s dominance doesn’t seem to be slowing down as we move closer to the launch of the next generation of iPhone, with the company reportedly ordering a record-breaking amount of units for the so-called “iPhone 6s” launch later this year. Its rivals won’t be threatening to take any of its market share at the moment, either, with companies like HTC and Samsung reporting quarterly losses and “disappointing profits” and Microsoft just last week laying off 7,800 employees, primarily in its smartphone business.
Samsung patents edge sensor pads to control smartphones
Samsung’s latest Edge smartphones have introduced a novel new way to interact with your handset and the company’s R&D division is looking at ways to bring edge controls to regular smartphones with a flat display.
The company’s latest patent contains details for transparent sensor pads that can be embedded along the edge of a smartphone’s casing, rather than relying on a curved touchscreen for interaction. Although the technology appears to be based on similar materials to touchscreens.
Samsung’s patent application suggests that the sensor pads could be used to control various smartphone functions. Photography options seems like an avenue that the researchers were particularly keen to explore, moving the buttons off-screen and allowing users to take a picture, start a timer or switch to video by pressing on a part around the edge of their display. Options could also be moved around to best suit the user’s preference.
Gaming is also another use case that seems quite promising. This technology could allow a smartphone to more closely mimic common game controller shoulder buttons and move controls off the screen.
A separate patent from Samsung also suggests that the company is taking another look into its own 2-in-1 tablet notebook hybrids, which the company previously had a go at with its Series Slate 7.
Of course, patents don’t necessarily mean that any of these products will be coming to market, at least not any time soon. Still, it’s interesting to see what Samsung is working on.
AIVAnet 