Google’s enterprise apps chief moves to run its VR business

Google for Work president Amit Singh announced today he will be leaving that gig to lead the business and operations for Google’s recently formed VR unit.

Singh use his Twitter feed (via Recode), to make the announcement:

Thrilled to be joining Google VR team to lead biz and ops. Incredibly proud of @googleforwork and where they are headed

— Amit Singh (@aksingh77) May 13, 2016

Singh has been president of Google for Work for the past six years. His move over to Google’s recently-launched VR unit may show that the company is becoming more serious about entering the virtual reality space. We should learn a lot more about Google’s VR plans at its 2016 I/O developer conference next week. There’s no word yet on who will replace Singh at Google for Work.

Amazon Echo adds Kayak integration to help you plan your next trip

In its latest round of weekly improvements, the Amazon Echo can now help you plan your next trip with Kayak integration. With support for Kayak’s trip-planning service, you can quickly search for flight, hotel and car rental information using just your voice.

To start things off, you’ll have to enable the new Kayak skill in the Alexa app in your phone. Once that’s done, however, you can simply ask the Echo’s digital assistant, Alexa, for any trip planning info you may need. You can also get real-time flight status updates using a flight number.

It’s also worth mentioning that, earlier this week, the Amazon Echo also finally added support for tracking your Amazon packages as well.

Will you be giving the new Kayak integration a shot? Let us know how it works out for you in the comments!

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Where to buy LG G5 modules

You’ve heard about modules for the G5, now where can you get them?

The LG G5 has been designed so you can swap in and out component modules to add extra function or utility to your phone. This is a cool option for people who hope to customize their phones for enhanced photo-taking abilities, improved audio playback, or functions yet to be imagined. But when talking about the G5, what exactly is a module?

• What are modules?
• What modules are available?
• Where do you buy modules for the LG G5?
• Should you buy a module?

What are modules?

Modules are attachments which add new or expanded capabilities to your LG G5. LG has created an accessories category for the G5 called “Friends.” This means every module is a Friend; however, not every Friend is a module. Make sense? Sorry.

The generic term LG is using to classify its tech accessories for the LG G5 is “friends.” These Friends include modular devices that can be swapped on and off of the phone, but among the Friends there are non-modular accessories like the LG Rolling Bot, LG 360 Cam and LG 360 VR headset.

If you’re looking for current, first-party modules available for your LG G5, your options are limited at this point.

What modules are available?

At this point there are only a few available modules, but LG and third party manufacturers will presumably be creating new ones to add to your phone in the future:

• LG Cam Plus — Makes your LG G5 feel and function like a professional camera. It includes physical buttons for shooting and focusing, as well as a zoom wheel, for added convenience when taking photos or video.
• LG Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play — Designed in collaboration with Bang and Olufsen (B&O), this module is for true audiophiles who want the best audio quality from their smartphone. Currently unavailable in North America. Learn more about the LG Hi-Fi Plus here..
• LG Tone Platinum Wireless Stereo Headset — These futuristic, wireless headphones feature a stylish design with retractable earbuds, and provide you with quick access to all sorts of features and controls via Bluetooth.
• LG 360 VR — Experience the world in glorious 360 VR with these visor goggles build specifically for the LG G5. Learn more about how the VR headset and the 360 cam work together.
• LG 360 Cam — The perfect pair for your 360 VR headset, this LG Friend lets you take epic 360 degree pictures and video — including directional sound — so you can share exactly what you’re seeing and hearing are with friends, family and the rest of the world.

Right now you can purchase the LG Cam Plus which is a camera grip accessory for your phone to make it feel and function more like a traditional digital camera.

Where do you buy modules for the LG G5?

The LG Cam Plus is the only module that is available right now in the U.S. for the LG G5. It’s available through certain carriers and online retailers. LG allows you to search for a retailer near you on their website.

If you don’t want to go that route, you can also put in an order through Amazon for this handy camera accessory.

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The Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play module is only available in Europe for the time being, and until the U.S. models of the phones receive software updates the module won’t work with devices stateside anyway. So unless you have a European LG G5, you’re going to have to wait for the B&O Play module.

See at Amazon

Folks in the U.S. can also buy the LG 360 Cam, LG 360 VR and LG Cam Plus directly from ShopAndroid.

Should you buy a module?

The LG G5 is already an excellent phone right out of the box with its 5.3 inch Quad HD display, lightweight body, and versatile camera. If you have specific areas you want to improve your G5 in, then adding a module might be advantageous. Overall, modules for the G5 are a nice-to-have but not a need-to-have.

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You can get the Moto X 2014 for just $149 until May 17

Motorola is currently offering a deal on the 2014 version of the Moto X. While the phone is currently on sale for $199.99, until Tuesday, May 17, you can get an extra $50 off with the use of the coupon code SPRINGISHERE. This brings the starting price of the phone down to $149.99.

Motorola is also offering free shipping on orders over $75 during the weekend as well. You can choose the 32GB model, or pay $50 more for the 64GB Moto X. You’ll also be able to customize the phones in Moto Maker.

Again, note that you’ll have to use the code SPRINGISHERE to get the full discount.

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Amazon’s latest Dash Button can be programmed for any task you want

While Amazon’s Dash Buttons are certainly a cool way to re-order commonly used products, the online retailer apparently also sees a use for the clever little buttons in the larger “Internet of Things” space. That’s why Amazon’s latest Dash Button has nothing to do with ordering everyday items at all (that is, unless you want it to). Instead, this new Dash Button can be programmed to do practically anything you can think of.

For a cool $20, the Dash Button offers an easy platform for developers to get started in toying around in the IoT space, Amazon says (via GeekWire). Example use cases the retailer offers up include things like counting items, tracking usage, sending alerts and more. However, the real potential for this programmable Dash Button lies in its integration with third-party services. From Amazon:

The button can be used as a remote control for Netflix, a switch for your Philips Hue light bulb, a check-in/check-out device for Airbnb guests, or a way to order your favorite pizza for delivery. You can integrate it with third-party APIs like Twitter, Facebook, Twilio, Slack or even your own company’s applications. Connect it to things we haven’t even thought of yet.

It’s certainly a really cool concept for enterprising developers to toy around with, and it’ll be interesting to see what uses people come up with for the button. Unfortunately, however, the button is currently listed as out of stock, and it isn’t clear when it will be available to order.

What types of tasks would you program the Dash Button to do? Let us know in the comments!

Hungry Shark World goes viral [Hot Game!]

Become the apex predator in Ubisoft’s latest trending game for Android — Hungry Shark World.

Hungry Shark World dropped into Android and iOS app stores on May 7, amassing over 10 million downloads in less than a week. Developed by Ubisoft Entertainment, it has quickly risen to the top of the free app charts — and for good reason!

The game is incredibly fun to dive into. You play a free-roaming shark with an insatiable appetite in an colorful, cartoony ocean full of delectable fish, swimmers, deep-sea divers, and other goodies. The goal is to eat as much as you can while surviving for as long as you can, which means avoiding bigger, meaner sharks when you’re just starting out and learning which things are good to eat and which will hurt you. Here’s a quick tip for rookies: avoid jellyfish, floating garbage, and especially naval mines.

The controls are pretty simple: swipe with one thumb to use the floating digital d-pad and tap with your other thumb to use boost. You’re able to switch the controls between thumbs on the fly as needed.

There’s a plethora of challenges available to you, including daily chests, golden fish, and letters. Spell out H-U-N-G-R-Y and go on an absolute feeding frenzy. Explore shipwrecks and underground volcanos and sneak into swimming pools and much more as you eat your way to the top of the food chain.

You start out as a Black-Tipped Reef Shark, the smallest shark in the game. As you progress, you’ll be able to upgrade your shark’s speed, bite, and boost, as well as buy and equip all sorts of funky accessories to personalize your shark. There are 15 sharks to unlock — with the Great White being the granddaddy of them all — and a total of three ocean worlds to unlock and explore.

As mentioned above, this game is free to download and play, with a bunch of in-app purchases available for gold and gems (if you’re the type who likes to pay their way to the top). You also have the option to sync the game with your Facebook account, which gives you free gems for every friend who starts playing and allows you to save your game data to the cloud.

We’re set to dive right in! If you’ve been one of the millions of early adopters, tell us how far you’ve progressed in the comments below and share some tips! They might appear in a future Hungry Shark World game guide.

• Free – Download for Android here
• Free – Download for iOS here

Android Pay could be headed to the UK soon

Android Pay could be on its way to the UK quite soon, at least according to one fast food chain. Pret A Manger is now advertising that it accepts the contactless payment service on its payment terminals at its London locations, suggesting that Android Pay will arrive in the country shortly.

From The Telegraph:

According to employees at this particular Pret store, the “We now accept Android Pay” tags arrived overnight and have been displayed in stores from this morning, suggesting Android Pay will be imminently available to UK customers.

Google had previously announced its intention to launch Android Pay in the UK back in March.

Android Pay launched in the United States last fall, and is Google’s latest attempt at building a mobile payment solution. It allows you to connect your credit and debit cards to your Android phone and pay for items securely with just a tap at an NFC-equipped payment terminal.

Microsoft will soon add fingerprint scanner support to Windows 10 Mobile

Microsoft only sold 2.3 million Lumias last quarter, so it’s cooking up ways to make Windows 10 Mobile better, such as including support for biometrics.

While it sounds like Microsoft has moved plenty of Lumia devices lately, keep it mind that sales figure from last quarter was a whopping 73 per cent drop from the same period last year. Also, for comparison, Apple sold 13 million iPhone 6S handsets its opening weekend. Microsoft should therefore rethink its smartphone strategy, and according to a presentation it gave during the WinHEC conference this week, it’s doing just that.

The Redmond-based company is planning to support fingerprint scanners for the first time in Windows 10 Mobile starting this summer. We’ve already seen Microsoft usher in support for facial recognition via Windows Hello. However, fingerprint scanning really is the go-to standard among flagship smartphones these days, so in order to compete with Apple, Samsung, HTC, and others, it’ll finally add support fingerprint scanners soon.Support for the biometric check will arrive through the Anniversary Update for Windows 10 Mobile. Phone makers will still need to launch Windows phones with fingerprint readers, of course, and apparently, HP’s Elite x3 will be among the first Windows 10 phones to offer one.

As for when you can expect the Anniversary Update to hit, Microsoft is expected to release it for both desktop and mobile in late July.