Google DHU is a full-functioning Android Auto emulator for developers
Android Auto is still very much in its infancy and one of the hurdles to making it a hit is ensuring that app developers openly embrace the platform. Thankfully, Google understands this and has just taken a big step forward by introducing a new tool that will make Android Auto development more accessible. Dubbed the Android Auto Desktop Head Unit (DHU), this new tool is essentially an emulator that runs the full Android Auto experience on a desktop or laptop.
Google previously allowed some basic testing through simulators in the Auto SDK, but the DHU takes things a whole lot further. Not only can you hook up your phone to your PC and interact with the DHU just like you would a real Android Auto entertainment center, there’s also support for voice commands, touch interaction (if you have a touchscreen computer), and all the special functions a real Android Auto head unit would provide. In other words, the user experience is completely indistinguishable and makes testing and polishing of apps a breeze.
Of course, the DHU also supports a few interactions that wouldn’t be possible with a real head unit such as mouse integration (for those without touchscreens), the ability to run command line instructions, take screenshots, issue pre-recorded voice commands, and more.
The DHU is compatible with Windows, Mac, or Linux devices. For instructions on getting started, you’ll want to check out the Android Developer’s site. While this news benefits app developers first and foremost, making Android Auto easier to develop for should mean that non-developers types will benefit indirectly by hopefully seeing the number of Android Auto-supported apps increase.
The Big Picture: It’s always sunny in Brooklyn
Google isn’t the only company looking to map out urban skylines ahead of the solar revolution. The folks at MapDwell create surveys similar to Sunroof using technologies developed at MIT, and for more cities to boot. The company has already mapped out New York City, as you can see above, as well as Boulder, Colorado(for growing solar-powered hydroponic kush, obvs), all of the confusingly-named Washington County, Oregon and now San Francisco. “We range irradiation (energy that falls onto the surface) for each city,” MapDwell wrote to Engadget. “From zero (dark brown) to maximum or ideal (bright yellow), we call this Solar Access Index or SAI.” As such, the southern tip of Manhattan probably isn’t the best place for a solar installation. And unfortunately, the service does not also extend to solar-powered food carts.
Tags: Brooklyn, energy, Engadget, google, GreenEnergy, Manhattan, mapdwell, maps, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NewYork, NewYorkCity, renewable, solar, sunroof, TheBigPicture
Facebook is trying to make it easier to stop video piracy
From user-made clips to content from big media properties, video is all over Facebook (and more people than ever are using the social network). Along with that trend comes the problem of piracy: plenty of video publishers are seeing their work distributed on Facebook without their permission, and now Facebook says its going to do something about it. In a blog post today, the company says it is building a new video matching system for a “subset” of video publishers. Facebook says that its tool will “evaluate millions of video uploads quickly and accurately, and when matches are surfaced, publishers will be able to report them to us for removal.” For starters, this tool will launch in beta with selected partners, but Facebook intends to roll it out more broadly as it gets more effective.
Currently, Facebook uses the Audible Magic content tracking system; it uses audio fingerprinting technology to identify uploaded videos that shouldn’t be allowed on the platform. That system will stay in place, and Facebook says its working with Audible Magic to improve it. Specifically, it sounds like the system will start identifying infringing videos as they’re added to Facebook rather than after the fact, but the company didn’t offer much in the way of specifics. Facebook also says it is looking at ways to make it easier and faster to report pirated content and also at ways to ban repeat offenders.
None of this is all that dissimilar to what YouTube had to put in place years ago; its Content ID system scans uploaded videos against a vast database of videos submitted by copyright holders. Similarly, Twitch recently went through some challenges trying to sort out a Contend ID-like system to prevent unauthorized music from being distributed.
On Facebook’s end, this sounds like a much-needed solution, but the company admits that it’ll be a while before it’s all in place. “This is just the beginning,” the Facebook blog says. “This will take time, but we’re working on it, and we’re committed.”
[Image credit: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under:
Facebook
Via:
Re/code
Source:
Facebook
Tags: facebook, facebookvideo, onlinevideo, piracy, streamingvideo, video, videopiracy
Scopely’s new Walking Dead: Road to Survival RPG limps its way to Android
If you’re a fan of the immensely popular The Walking Dead franchise on AMC, you’ll be happy to hear that a new RPG called Walking Dead: Road to Survival has just been released to the Google Play Store. Featuring popular characters such as Rick, Michonne and the Governor, it’s your job to survive any way you possibly can.
Just like other TWD games, you’ll need to navigate around the unforgiving zombie-infested world and keep your group safe, all while trying to end The Governor’s rule. Even though the game’s storyline is completely new, you’ll need to make difficult decisions that can drastically change the way the game progresses.
This new game also introduces some pretty interesting social levels of play. You’ll be able to progress through the game as you would in any other RPG, but here you can chat with other players, go head to head in PvP battles and even participate in tournaments and player alliances.
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If you’re interested, Walking Dead: Road to Survival is available now in the Google Play Store for free. There are a few in-app purchases available as well, but they’re easily avoidable. Head to the Play Store link below for the download!
Motorola Moto G 2015 now available from U.S. Cellular for just $130
If you’re a U.S. Cellular customer and have been looking to get your hands on the new hotness from Motorola, your wait is finally over. You can now buy the Motorola Moto G 2015 from U.S. Cellular for just $129.99 up front or $8.99 per month for 20 months. If you’re alright with signing a two-year agreement with the carrier, the phone will only cost you $0.01.
As a refresher, the new Moto G features a 5.0-inch 720p LCD display, a 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, a 13MP rear-facing camera, a 5MP front facer and a non-removable 2470mAh battery. U.S. Cellular is selling the lower end option, so this model comes with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. If that doesn’t seem to be enough memory for you, though, the Moto G features a microSD card slot for expandable memory up to 32GB.
The latest from Motorola
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One of the best parts about purchasing a new Moto device is the ability to customize it with Moto Maker, but unfortunately you don’t have that ability with this model. The carrier is only offering this device in Black. However, you still have the option of purchasing a replacement shell directly from Motorola, which will run you an additional $14.99.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Moto G 2015 on U.S. Cellular, head to the link attached below.
How to use your Google Maps offline
Last week on our Android customization series we took a look at using YouTube TV, that is, using your Android device to remotely control YouTube. We are sticking with Google apps again this week, bringing you another tutorial for the beginning Android users in the crowd. Specifically, we are diving into the world of using your Google Maps offline.
Note: I say again, this piece is designed for new Android users or those looking for a little refresher. The following info and functionality has been around for a long time now, we will not be introducing anything new here, I don’t think.
Before we begin
Maps on Google PlayThere are few requirements to follow along today, obviously you’ll need a newer Android phone with a fairly recent copy of Google Maps installed. Google Maps likely came pre-installed on your Android device, but if you need, you can grab a fresh copy for free from the Google Play Store.
The ups and downs of Google Maps
Google Maps is a solid navigation tool, on top of being a popular mapping application. Thing is, Maps works best when there is a solid internet connection, leaving you almost completely lost if that connection goes away. Many years ago Google built in a tool to overcome this, allowing you to download all of the info needed to navigate an area. This next image is the exact same location before and after saving the area offline.
The map download feature lets you cache an area about the size of a typical North American city, or the area of a pretty hard-core day hike.
Before I show you how to save a map area for offline use, let’s discuss some of the difficulties you may experience with the process.
First and foremost, Google offers the offline maps for an unpredictably limited amount of time. As the actual world changes, so do the maps – perhaps a street has been added or removed from your area, or maybe just a few new business have come online in Maps, either way, when Google updates their Maps, you will need to re-download your saved map areas. Plain and simply, if you are headed for a month long adventure offline, Google Maps offline will likely not work for you.
Case in point, I saved Portland as an offline map for this article, you see screenshots below saying I have 30 days remaining until the map expires, but look now, with 29 days remaining, Maps tells me an update is required. (If I were already on the road, I’d be without maps until I can reconnect, making this tool somewhat useless, thanks a lot Google.)
From there, offline maps have limited functionality for searches and navigation, as you might have expected. You can certainly load directions to your offline destination and the cached navigation directions will get you there. However, even with the map area downloaded ahead of time, you won’t be able to reverse your trip, I hope you know your own way home, or at lease can follow the map without navigation.
Finally, you can only download six offline areas at this time. With the idea of downloading exactly what you need in the hours before setting off on your adventure, this is about all you’d need for most situations. However, it does mean, if on a road trip, you may have to stop half way through to remove your first set of maps and load the remaining maps to get to your destination. I’ve been there, not fun.
That’s really the extent of the difficulties, and unfortunately, this means that if you are like me, you’ve given up trying to use Google Maps for any significant offline use. I just hope you don’t learn the hard way like I did, that is, in the middle a major hike with no internet in sight and misplaced paper maps to find my way out of the mountains. Good times.
How to use your Google Maps offline
Now to the point of our topic today, here is how you use the offline functionality in Google Maps.
To get started, make sure you have a solid internet connection, preferably WiFi, as you may be downloading 80MB or more per saved map area.
Open maps and navigate to roughly the area you wish to save for offline use.
Tap the search box at the top.
Scroll all the way to the bottom of the list that just popped up to find Save for offline use. (Or, you can enter the text “ok maps” and hit enter.)
You will now need to zoom and scroll to the exact area you would like to save, making sure it is a small enough area to allow the save, then hit the Download button.
Provide a name to your saved area and hit Save.
The map area will download, this is usually about 80MB for a fully zoomed out map of a big city, less for the sparse information of the open country.
There you have it, your chosen map area is now available for offline use, go ahead, go into airplane mode and give it a try.
What’s next
Once your maps are downloaded, Google now gives you 30 days until they expire. It is a simple task to re-download the map area when you need it again, head into Your Places and click on the expired map area listings at the bottom.
Taking a quick trip offline, but don’t need the entire area saved? Navigation works offline just by simply setting up your route when you have a connection. Maps will automatically download the info you need to get to your destination. This is completely independent of your manually downloaded map areas, as discussed today. Once your route is configured, Maps will hold the data at least until you arrive at your goal, or until Maps is turned off on your device.
Please remember that you still cannot initiate navigation with Google Maps offline, the downloaded map areas are simply there to look at. As long as your device is equipped with GPS, you still have a powerful tool on your hands for finding your way, you’ll just have to do it without traffic data or any of the many other tools tucked into this powerful Google service.
Next week
I know this week’s Android customization post was an old topic, that most of you already know how to use your Google Maps offline, but for those that did not, I hope this helped you out. Next week we will shift gears for you, let’s look at a true customization project, not just a ‘how-to’ article, let’s go absolutely crazy with the customization apps, we will use IF, Pushbullet, Tasker and Zooper Widget to bring our podcast, or any notification, to your Homescreen. The project is a little crazy, but stick with it, it’s a good refresher on integrating the services.
What do you say, is Google Maps your travel partner, or do you entrust your whereabouts to another mapping service?
Amazon to lay off engineers involved in Fire Phone development
Apparently, Amazon has finally come to the conclusion that although the website remains very popular, and their products are in demand, the Fire Phone wasn’t really that great an idea. The once AT&T exclusive, with the high price tag at launch, has been discounted many times since, and is now practically free, once you take into account the price of the years worth of Amazon Prime that comes with it. As a consequence, Amazon has decided to take measures to improve future development of some of it’s products, and also cutting its losses.
The shopping conglomerate has laid off some engineers that were apart of the smartphones’ development. According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, the continued development of smartphones are not out of the question, however, the timeline for future smartphones have been “stretched out”. Amazon has also moved most development of future smartphone projects to Seattle, Washington. This brings development closer to home as Seattle is home of the company’s headquarters. In turn, I’m sure the shopping conglomerates’ top leadership will be assured that problematic issues would be addressed before additional resources would be utilized in another Fire Phone project. In this case, it’s probably a very good idea.
While succeeding at the ultimate goal of Amazon, which has been to bring customers to the electronics side of the website, expect some major cost-cutting measures to come to Amazon in the near future. They have even brought the Amazon Dash buttons that you can put wherever, which automatically order things like paper towels or laundry detergent for you. Obviously these little things are synced with your Amazon Prime account, and can be set up to shipped at different times.
Regardless, it will be interesting to see what Amazon will work on next, after the flop of the Fire Phone. Let us know what you think about these changes coming out Amazon and if there’s a chance that there will be any type of follow up device to the Fire Phone.
Source: TalkAndroid via Wall Street Journal
The post Amazon to lay off engineers involved in Fire Phone development appeared first on AndroidGuys.
The Wirecutter’s best deals: A Roomba, studio monitors and more
This post was created in partnership with The Wirecutter, a list of the best technology to buy. Read their continuously updated list of deals at TheWirecutter.com.
You may have already seen Engadget posting reviews from our friends at The Wirecutter. Now, from time to time, we’ll also be publishing their recommended deals on some of their top picks. Read on, and strike while the iron is hot — some of these sales could expire mighty soon.
VIZIO M43-C1 43-Inch 4K Ultra HD TV
Street Price: $600 MSRP: $600 Deal Price: $550 + $20 Prime discount
This is the first time we’ve seen this model go on sale, and if you have Amazon Prime you’ll save an extra $20 at checkout. Even without the added discount, it’s still a great deal. If you don’t have Prime, but do have a membership with Costco, you can get the same price there.
The Vizio M43-C1 is our 4K pick in our guide on the best $500 TV. Chris Heinonen said, “We don’t think 4K is worth the investment on a TV in this price range, but if you must have it, this set is the best choice.”
Bose Soundtrue On-Ear Headphones Black
Street Price: $100 MSRP: $150 Deal Price: $80 with code EMCAWNV67
This is a great deal on an awesome pair of on-ear headphones from Bose. With promo code EMCAWNV67 this deal matches the price these fell to for Amazon Prime Day back in July. The deal is only available on the black model of the headphones.
The Bose SoundTrues are our pick for the best on-ear headphones at any price. Lauren Dragan writes, “The Bose SoundTrues are our top pick because they strike the perfect balance of being extremely comfortable, lightweight, and compact—plus they sound really good. This isn’t something many other headphones could claim.”
M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 Active Studio Monitor Speakers
Street Price: $125 MSRP: $200 Deal Price: $99
The best price we’ve seen on these was $80, but that was a brief B&H sale that expired a few hours after we posted it. This is the best regular non-lightning deal we’ve seen on these at Amazon in a couple of years.
These speakers are our pick for the best computer speakers. Brent Butterworth wrote, “In our tests, no other computer speaker came close to offering the combination of sound quality and value we found in the M-Audio Studiophile AV 40. With one possible exception, it equaled or bested the sound quality of any other speaker we tried. Yet at $119, it was one of the least expensive models.”
iRobot Roomba 650 Cleaning Robot (Refurbished)
Street Price: $400 MSRP: $400 Deal Price: $280
If you don’t have anything against refurbished products, this is a great opportunity to save $120 off the street price of this robot vacuum. Unlike most refurbs, this one comes with the same 1-year warranty that new models get. We’ve seen the 650 drop down to $320 new a few times, but $40 off of that for a unit with a full warranty is a good deal.
The iRobot Roomba 650 is our pick for the best robot vacuum. Liam McCabe said, “It gets floors cleaner more quietly than the competition, and it’s generally more pleasant to live with. Also, its modular design makes maintenance and repairs easy.”
Deals change all the time, and some of these may have expired. To see an updated list of current deals, please go to The Wirecutter.com.
Filed under:
Misc
Tags: bose, deals, irobot, m-audio, maudio, roomba, thewirecutter, vzio, wirecutter
Playdate: We’re screaming through the teen-horror of ‘Until Dawn’
By now you’ve (hopefully!) read our review of Sony’s latest PlayStation 4 exclusive, Until Dawn. I’d also like to think that you’ve gazed upon its faces and gorgeous cinematography too. If you’re still on the fence about buying it though, well, maybe our Twitch stream starting at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT will change that. We’ll be broadcasting two hours of the teen fright-fest today and I’d like to you join Sean Buckley and myself because the decisions we make in the game will be entirely up to you. That’s right: You’ll choose who lives and who dies, the paths we take through a Canadian mountainside and a whole lot more this afternoon. Are you ready for that kind of responsibility? Perhaps the better question is if you’re ready to hear my shrill screams. Let’s find out. Together.
So, join us here on this post, twitch.tv/joystiq or the Engadget Gaming homepage and follow along as we try to not lead a group of randy high schoolers to their untimely demises.
http://www.twitch.tv/joystiq/embedWatch live video from Joystiq on www.twitch.tv
http://www.twitch.tv/joystiq/chat?popout=
[We’re streaming Until Dawn at 720p through OBS, so rest assured this game will look dramatically better on your TV, through your PlayStation 4 at home.]
Filed under:
Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Tags: gaming, HaydenPanettiere, hd, hdpostcross, horror, peterstormare, playstation, playstation4, ps4, sony, supermassivegames, twitch, untildawn
Apple becomes the second-biggest wearables maker, behind Fitbit
The big question surrounding the Apple Watch is how well it’s selling, but Apple isn’t saying just yet. Without concrete numbers, we’re forced to turn to various projections — and one of the more reliable sources says that Apple’s first wearable is doing well. According to IDC, Apple shipped 3.6 million Apple Watches during the second quarter of 2015; that’s good for second place in the global wearables market, behind market leader Fitbit.
Fitbit shipped about 4.4 million wearables in the quarter, a huge increase over the 1.7 million it moved a year ago. But due to the emergence of Apple and Xiaomi (which shipped 3.1 million wearables in Q2), Fitbit’s market share slipped from over 30 percent down to 24.3 percent. Overall, Fitbit, Apple and Xiaomi were the top three manufacturers, with Garmin and Samsung rounding out the top five. The emergence of Apple and Xiaomi combined with Fitbit’s gains contributed to overall market growth of 232 percent year-over-year. Outside the top five, IDC’s “other” manufacturers category grew from 2.6 million to 5.7 million, a clear sign that companies big and small are taking advantage of this new market category.
Apple’s position looks even stronger when you look at devices it more directly competes with — IDC has a “smart wearables” category that tracks devices capable of installing third-party apps. In that segment of the market, the Apple Watch dominates: IDC estimates that two out of three smart wearables shipped in the quarter came from Apple. That’s despite the fact that the Watch sits at the high end of the price spectrum. There’s likely some post-launch excitement that drove those numbers, so we’ll have to wait and see if Watch sales keep growing throughout the year. Cook said on Apple’s recent earnings call that sales of the Watch were accelerating post-launch. How long that trend can continue remains to be seen.
Source:
IDC
Tags: apple, applewatch, fitbit, idc, sales, shipments, SmartWatch, watch, wearables, xiaomi
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