Facebook to support short videos as profile pictures
Fed of up boring profile pictures? Well, Facebook will soon allow all of its users to stick up a short looping video in place of a regular motion-less profile picture.
Along with the new short video clips, Facebook will also be updating its social network to support temporary profile pictures that will revert back to a default after a set period of time. Facebook envisages users temporarily changing their picture for special events, such as birthdays or a vacation, to show support for sports teams or simply to reflect your mood.
This update aims to offer users a lot more choice over how their profile looks and Facebook is also adding in a new customizable space at the top of your profile. This space can be filled with details about your location, education or place of work and can also be accompanied by a selection of up to five of your favourite photos.
Finally, mobile profiles will be receiving a layout tweak which moves the profile photo or video right into the centre of the page and also makes them slightly larger. Photos and friends are also moved closer to the top of the page, which Facebook says will help people get to know each other a little easier.
This update is only available for a small number of iPhone users living in the UK and California at the moment, but it will be rolling out to every Facebook user in the near future.
Starbucks’ app lets UK users pre-order drinks and skip the queue
Starbucks first allowed US customers to begin pre-ordering drinks and food at the end of last year, but it took until late last month for it to become available to both iOS and Android users across the country. Meanwhile Brits were left out in the cold. Luckily, the coffee giant has now decided to include the UK, as Mobile Order & Pay has today begun rolling out across 150 of its London stores.
If you’re new to Starbucks, it already has a fully-featured app that lets you pay for your order in store and earn rewards for doing so. Mobile Order & Pay comes in a new update, allowing you to select hot/cold drinks and food via its in-app menu. As soon as you’ve ordered, the app will give you an approximate pickup time, allowing you to rock up, slip past the queue and grab your bits.
While US customers can now order from their Android device in any of Starbucks’ 7,000 stores, the “first phase” of the UK trial only lets iOS device owners order ahead. The company reckons you can save between 10 and 15 minutes using this option, giving you more time to savour the real pumpkin in your Pumpkin Spice Latte (hey, we’re not judging).
Source: Starbucks
Serial’s real-crime podcast has inspired a TV show
If you asked me yesterday what Serial was, I would describe the podcast as a mystery investigation TV show specially tailored for your ears. The first season chronicled a murder over the course of 12 episodes, with an investigative dialogue driving the show forward. However, an announcement made today by Deadline will see the podcast turn into a TV series produced by Fox 21 Television Studios. Co-created and co-produced by This American Life‘s Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder, the series will be developed with Chris Miller and Phil Lord of The Lego Movie fame. The show is set to go behind the scenes of the podcast, however just like the cases it investigates, the exact details are unclear.
[Image credit: Casey Feisler]
Source: Deadline
What’s new in Android Studio 1.4
Google has just released Android Studio 1.4 and it is more than just a minor update. Although lots has changed under the hood, these improvements won’t be directly visible to developers other than perhaps in performance improvements. However Google has added new features in three key areas: Design Tools, Performance Monitoring, and Developer Services.
Design Tools
One of the new features that appeared in Android 5.0 Lollipop (that is API 21) was Vector Drawables for image assets. A major benefit of vector drawables, rather than raster type images, is that they help reduce the number of density dependent drawables you need to maintain, as vector drawables can scale nicely to different screen densities. With Android Studio 1.4, Google has made the process of importing SVG images or Material icons much easier.
But what is even more interesting is that Android Studio 1.4 now offers some backwards compatibility for vector assets. The new software will now automatically generate raster PNG images for API level 20 and below during build time. This means you can safely move over to using vector drawables (where applicable) and Android Studio will handle the image conversion process for pre-Lollipop versions of Android!
Google has also added two more design related new features. First, there is the new Theme Editor to help you manage your app’s theme and style. This first preview version of the Theme Editor allows you to edit and update the material theme colors (colors.xml) for your app. Google plans to cover more app attributes in later versions of the tool. You will find the editor under Tools → Android → Theme Editor.
The other change is to the New Project Wizard. Google has added app templates for the Android Design Support Library and the AppCompat Support library. Google has also re-introduced the empty app template for those who want minimum code generation when adding a new activity to your project. Also to coincide with the release of the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, Android Studio 1.4 allows you to validate your apps against the new Nexus screen sizes.
Performance Monitoring
App performance tuning is always an important part of the development cycle, especially for games or any app that performs intensive tasks. To that end Google has added some new performance monitoring features to Android Studio 1.4.
It is now possible to quickly inspect the GPU rendering performance of your app. To enable GPU monitoring you need to turn on monitoring for your Android hardware device or emulator under Setting → Developer Options → Profile GPU rendering. GPU profiling is a complex topic, but thankfully Google has lots of GPU profiling documentation.
For apps which rely a lot on the cloud, you can now monitor the network usage of your app. With the monitor you can track the transmit and receive rates of your app over time.
Developer Services
Talking of the cloud, with Android Studio 1.4, Google has made it even easier to add a Firebase mobile backend to your Android app. Firebase is a platform for building cloud dependent apps, it includes data storage, user authentication, static hosting, and more. Firebase is a platform for building cloud dependent apps. A Firebase database is stored as JSON and synchronized in realtime to every connected client, via the cloud. It is cross-platform and all of your clients share one Firebase database and automatically receive updates with the newest data. To access this feature, go to File → Project Structure → Cloud. If you want to know more Google has a tutorial on how to use Firebase and Google App Engine in an Android App.
Wrap-up
One final thing to note, if you want to use some of these new features (like vector assets) you need to use Gradle Plugin 1.4 for your app project. The beta version of the Gradle plugin (1.4.0-beta3 ) is available today on jcenter and Google says that the final version will be released in the next few weeks.
To update you version of Android Studio you can check for updates from the navigation menu (Help → Check for Update [Windows/Linux] , Android Studio → Check for Updates [OS X]).
If you want to know more about Android Studio then you should check out our Android Studio tutorial for beginners and then maybe try writing your first Android app.
Android head Hiroshi Lockheimer explains why there’s no wireless charging in the new Nexus devices
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();
While the announcement of the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P yesterday was the source of much happiness for many an Android fan, others have been concerned that there’s no wireless charging in the new Nexus devices. The dispel this and other fan concerns, Android head Hiroshi Lockheimer held a Reddit AMA earlier today, and had a unsurprisingly diplomatic answer:
HL> Thanks for being a Nexus fan! We added Qi wireless charging starting with N4 because plugging in USB micro B was such a hassle! (Which way is up!?) With this year’s Nexii, we support USB Type-C which has a reversible connector so there’s no more guessing. AND it charges incredibly swiftly: 1% to 100% in 97 mins on the 6P for example (the first ~45 mins of charging is especially fast). Meanwhile, wireless charging adds z (thickness). So, ease of plugging in + fast charging + optimizing for thinness made us double down on Type-C instead of wireless!
Apart from using “Nexii” as the plural of “Nexus”, Lockheimer says that the reason there is no wireless charging in the new Nexus devices is because of thickness. Not that I don’t believe them, I think there’s a slightly different answer if we read between the lines – USB Type-C is going to be the new industry standard one day, and by forcing people to use it, it’s essentially forcing people to realize why Type-C is better. That and all your wireless charging docks use microUSB input anyway.
What do you think about Lockheimer’s explanation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Reddit via Android Police
The post Android head Hiroshi Lockheimer explains why there’s no wireless charging in the new Nexus devices appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
This slow motion video of a hummingbird filmed by a Nexus 6P will make you cry tears of joy. Slowly.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock the last few days, you might like to know that Google has a few new smartphones out, one of them being the Nexus 6P. One of the features it’s touting thanks to its camera is slow motion video, a feature that it’s demonstrated in this slow motion video of a hummingbird filmed by Googler Eddy Talvala:
In case you were wondering, a hummingbird flaps its wings about 10-15 times a second, something that becomes perfectly captured by the Nexus 6P’s new high speed video capture. If I hadn’t bought a Nexus 6 a short time ago, I know what device I’d be getting. And subsequently filming everything in slow motion.
What do you think about the Nexus 6P’s slow motion capture? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Twitter via Android Police
The post This slow motion video of a hummingbird filmed by a Nexus 6P will make you cry tears of joy. Slowly. appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
The Army wants to protect its bases with gun turrets, not guard towers
Maintaining perimeter security in a forward operating base (like Bagram “Rocket City” AFB in Afghanistan) is a full time job. In fact, it normally takes teams of four to six soldiers to man each weapons system on the perimeter over a 12 hour shift. But with a new prototype perimeter protection system currently being tested at Fort Bliss, Texas, a single soldier sitting safely within the command bunker — instead being of up on the wire — can potentially do the work of 10.
The system, dubbed Tower Hawk, utilizes extendable towers packed into TEU shipping containers, known as “containerized weapons systems”. Each station can be assembled in less than an hour by six soldiers. At the top of each tower sits a Browning M-2 50-caliber machine gun and a .338 Lapua sniper rifle (what, no lasers?). These weapons stations are wired together using the standard Joint All Hazard Command Control System and controlled remotely by a single operator. The Army unveiled the new system as part of the Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) 16.1, a NATO-organized event that aims to share new technologies among the coalition’s members.
Image Credit: lede – Getty Images, inline – US Department of Defense
Via: Military.com
Source: US Army
Scientists are developing an invisibility cloak for solar panels
Current solar panel technology has enough trouble as it is converting sunlight into useable current, what with their paltry 20 percent average efficiencies. And it certainly doesn’t help matters that up to a tenth of every solar panel’s active collection areas are obscured from the sun by electrical leads called “contact fingers.” But researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed a novel workaround: they’re wrapping the finger contacts in little invisibility cloaks.
Like other invisibility cloaks, this system works to wrap light around the object. The fingers are still visible to the human eye — I mean, they’re not really invisible — but the light that hits the top of the contacts is redirected to the solar panel underneath through some tricky physics. The team is currently looking at two alternative methods for accomplishing this feat. The first method involves wrapping the fingers in a polymer coating with a precisely tuned refractive index. The other involves etching grooves into the fingers themselves that refract light around the components. Current computer models of both methods suggest that panel efficiencies would increase by about 10 percent should the contact fingers be made to disappear.
[Image Credit: KIT]
Source: KIT
Sony starts pushing out the Android 5.1 update for the M2 Dual
Sony’s pretty busy on the update front today. Having just started rolling out the much-anticipated Lollipop update to the Xperia Z1 and Z Ultra, it’s now pushing out an identical update to the M2 Dual in the United States. This update transports the latest build of the operating system to the handset, in addition to a patch for the Stagefright vulnerability.
Hit the break for the full changelog.
- Android Lollipop 5.1
- Call Drop Improvements
- Data Performance Improvements
- Battery Life Enhancements
- Temperature Management
- Camera Enhancements
If you live in the United States and have not yet received the OTA update, you can head into “Settings,” then “About Device,” and select “Check for Updates” to manually scan for the upgrade. Alternatively, you can wait until you receive a push notification informing you that an update is ready for your handset.
Come comment on this article: Sony starts pushing out the Android 5.1 update for the M2 Dual
Google Nexus team takes it to Reddit to answer all your questions on the Nexus 5X and 6P
We pretty much covered everything revolving the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, but there are always specific questions people need answering. This is why the Google Nexus team took it to Reddit to resolve all your doubts. Participating Googlers include Hiroshi Lockheimer, Dave Burke, Krishna Kumar and Sandeep Waraich.
Sadly, the session took place from 11 AM to 12 PM Pacific. The good news is that the Google team answered plenty of very interesting questions. We thought we should grab the most interesting ones and list them for you. Let’s jump right in, shall we?
Hi. What kind of security goes into keeping our finger prints safe when using imprint? Are the prints encrypted and stored on the device?
DB> Fingerprint features are securely encrypted on the device, and processed in the secure Trustzone protected area of memory. The Android 6.0 fingerprint APIs do not provide any access to the fingerprint material to apps. Fingerprint features never leave the device and are not shared with Google (so for example if you setup a new phone, you need to re-enroll your fingers). If your phone is ever lost or stolen you can easily find, lock, and erase your phone using Android Device Manager.
Any word on what panel is used for the screen in the Nexus 6P?
SW: It has a Samsung WQHD AMOLED panel. We have spent a lot of time tuning the white-point and color gamut for these panels – hope you will enjoy the accuracy of the display.
Nexus 6P has the latest generation panels from Samsung. One of things we deeply care for is the quality and accuracy of the display through which all of us connect with the stuff we care about. We created a very tight spec (white-point temperature, delta-E variance, color-space accuracy, etc) for the 6P WQHD AMOLED panel, so it was important that we use the most cutting edge panel technology available.
Is the rear facing camera on the 6P and 5X identical?
KK: Yes. Both devices have the same camera – a 12.3MP camera, with a large 1.55um pixels, which works great in all conditions – especially low light. And both have LDAF for fast auto-focus.
What does the “X” and the “P” stand for?
HL> X for the core of the Nexus brand (plus it sounds cool!), P for premium.
What made the team decide to partner with Huawei and LG this year for the Nexus devices?
HL> 5X: We wanted to bring the LG-Google band back together. So many N5 fans, we couldn’t possibly disappoint! 6P: Always nice to work with new players — we have a history of working with a bunch of folks: HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Asus and now Huawei!
Do you have a timeline for enabling of VoLTE and band 12 support for T-Mobile USA?
We’re hard at work with T-Mo to get Band 12 on Nexus devices by ship date.
Where is the NFC antenna located in the 5X and 6P? I’m asking for ease of use for Android Pay and Nexus Imprint. Hopefully the NFC antenna is at the top. Thanks!
SW/KK: On 6P the NFC coil sits just above the Nexus Imprint fps is exposed behind the camera coverglass (which is GG4 BTW). On Nexus 5X, the coil is wrapped around the back camera. And we have tested it rigorously for payments experience and it works great! And for peer-to-peer and reader mode too BTW.
What is your favorite new feature about the phone that once I start using I won’t understand how I lived my life without it before?
SW: Nexus Imprint. It is fast (it really is!) and highly accurate. You won’t even see the lockscreen anymore. And the location of the sensor is such that you will get right in your homescreen by the time phone is in front of you. Check out some hands-on videos around this.
KK: The camera on these devices is great – the picture quality is awesome – especially for low light pictures. Sloooo-mo on these devices is a lot of fun.
HL: USB Type-C!
DB: I think the “premiumness” of both phones is my fav feature. Particularly loving the all-metal aluminium – I mean alum-in-um – and the diamond cut edges of the 6P
Who wins the best shirt award on the Android team? Matias Duarte with his colorful dress shirts or Dave Burke with his graphic Ts?
DB> With a shirt like this, is there any competition? https://twitter.com/lockheimer/status/648935061459353600. Come on!
How is the food were you work and what is your favorite part of working there? Thanks!
We take our Android release names from our favorite snacks, so you can tell we may not be eating the most balanced diets.
AIVAnet 