Google Photos App Updated With Burst Photo Support and New Cropping Tool

Google has updated its mobile photo and video cloud storage app Google Photos with a couple of new features, including burst photo support and a new cropping tool.

The 1.12.1 update means users can now make full use of the iPhone’s burst mode capability by holding down on the app’s on-screen shutter release button, as well as crop newly shot photos on the fly.

In addition, the company says Google Photos now loads faster, and users can expect reduced battery and cellular data usage when using the updated version on the go.

Google Photos was originally released last year to complement the company’s web-based photo service. According to Google statistics, 200 million users have stored 13.7 petabytes of photos on the cloud platform, which offers unlimited storage.

The service supports videos in 1080p resolution and photos up to 16 megapixels, but recompresses images to increase upload speed. Meanwhile, users subscribed to a paid Google storage tier can upload 4K video and higher resolution photos.

Other app features include a visual search tool that can distinguish people, places and things without the use of tags, a movie, collage and animation creator, photo and video editing tools like filters and lighting adjustments, smart albums, Live Photos and Chromecast support.

Google Photos is a free download for iPhone and iPad available on the App Store. [Direct Link]

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‘Pokémon Go’ Now Available in the UK App Store

Pokémon Go has become available in the U.K. App Store this morning as the ultra-popular game continues its much-anticipated rollout across Europe.

With the smash hit’s release last week initially limited to the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand, iOS users in other countries have been left waiting for the game to show up in regional App Stores around the world. The title received its German debut yesterday and other European countries are expected to follow suit this week.

The delay has been put down to developers Niantic desperately trying to deal with the crippling overload of its servers due to the game’s massive popularity. The craze sweeping nations has reportedly caused issues for some users already playing the game, while many of those still waiting have been duped into downloading and installing fake versions.

Shares in the Japanese company Nintendo have seen a huge jump since the release of the augmented reality game, gaining more than 50%. Shares closed 16% higher on Thursday, making an overall increase of 56% since the release and putting Nintendo’s market value at $34 billion. The global phenomenon is already the biggest mobile game in U.S. history.

The global phenomenon has been blamed for several robberies of distracted mobile phone players, but the game’s cartoon characters have also reportedly helped U.S. police improve strained community relations and even arrest wanted suspects.

We’ll update this article if Pokémon Go appears in other App Stores around the world today.

Direct link to Pokémon Go on the U.K. App Store.

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Android Pay lands in Australia

Android Pay has made its debut in Australia. Google’s contactless payments service works with American Express and Visa credit cards from over 25 banks and credit unions, including ANZ, American Express, Macquarie, MyState Bank, and Teachers Mutual Bank. Support for Bendigo Bank and ING Direct will be added soon, as well as MasterCard cards.

Here’s a full list of all the banks and credit unions that support Android Pay:

• American Express
• ANZ
• Bank Australia
• Bank of Melbourne – Coming Soon
• Bank of Sydney
• Bank SA – Coming Soon
• Bendigo Bank – Coming Soon
• Beyond Bank
• CAPE Credit Union
• Central West Credit Union
• EECU
• First Option Credit Union
• Goulburn Murray Credit Union
• Holiday Coast Credit Union
• Horizon Credit Union
• ING Direct – Coming Soon
• Intech Credit Union
• Laboratories Credit Union
• Macquarie Bank
• Mystate Bank
• Northern Inland Credit Union
• People’s Choice Credit Union
• QT Mutual Bank
• Queenslanders Credit Union
• RAMS – Coming Soon
• South West Slopes Credit Union
• St George Bank – Coming Soon
• Sydney Credit Union
• Teachers Mutual Bank
• The Mac
• The Rock
• WAW Credit Union Co-Operative
• Westpac – Coming Soon
• Woolworths Employees’ Credit Union
• Wyong Shire Credit Union

With Android Pay, you’ll be able to use contactless payments at your favorite outlets and within apps:

You will be able to use Android Pay everywhere contactless payments are accepted, including your favourite shops like Coles, Domino’s, 7-Eleven and more. Just wake your phone and tap as you would with your card. It’s that simple. And businesses across the country with contactless terminals don’t need to do anything else to be able to accept Android Pay in store.

In a few days time, you will also be able to speed through checkout using Android Pay in your favourite apps — including Catch of the Day, Deliveroo, Domino’s, EatNow, Hotel Tonight, Kogan.com and many more.

For a list of all the merchants that accept Android Pay in Australia, head here. To get started with the service, you’re going to need to download the app from the Play Store, and add a card from a qualifying bank.

Lenovo dresses up the Vibe K4 Note in wood

Lenovo is launching a variant of the Vibe K4 Note with a wood back in India. The phone is now available on Amazon for ₹11,499, ₹500 more than the standard model.

Other than the wood back, there’s nothing new on offer with the K4 Note, which sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display, MediaTek’s octa-core MT6753 SoC, 3GB of RAM, 16GB storage, microSD slot, dual-SIM, 13MP camera, 5MP front shooter, front stereo speakers, LTE, and a 3300mAh battery. The phone picked up the Marshmallow update at the end of May.

The K4 Note has certainly turned out to be a popular handset in the budget segment, with Lenovo seeing over 750,000 sales since it debuted the phone earlier this year.

See at Amazon

Google Keyboard gets custom theme options in latest update

After adding one-handed mode and the ability to adjust keyboard height in version 5.0, Google Keyboard is picking up an update to version 5.1 that brings custom themes.

The update adds 15 themes in different colors, including black, red, green, blue, and more. You also have the option of adding your own background image as the theme, as well as setting the transparency of the background. Ability to remove key borders is also new in this update.

The update is gradually making its way to users, so if you don’t see it right away, hold tight. It’s coming. And it’ll be great. If you don’t have Google Keyboard installed, grab it from the Play Store.

Nest’s new Cam Outdoor is now up for pre-order to keep your home safe

Nest has launched an outdoor version of its popular Cam. It’s essentially the same product but with added weather proofing to ensure it’ll last the days when attached to the side of your property. This is achieved by a combination of magnets and screw mounts, which will in turn enable you to direct the unit to face in an orientation of your choice.

As highlighted by Engadget, it’s worth noting that this particular unit requires an outlet and does not run on batteries. It’s said the use of mains power means the Nest Cam can continue recording and uploading footage for viewing without needing to turn itself off and activate once movement is detected (running the risk of missing out on the object that triggered the sensor). On the flip side, should you happen to lose power to your home, the camera becomes decoration.

There’s no built-in storage either, so you’ll need to make sure your Wi-Fi remains up and running. That said, the Nest Cam does boast 1080p recording with a 130-degree wide angle of view. A total of eight infrared LEDs light up the night and all video streamed is encrypted. Sound like the perfect solution to add to your security setup? You can pre-order it now for $199 with shipping expected to hit in the fall.

See at Nest

Nest Cam Outdoor: Full HD, Nest Aware connected, with talk and listen functions

Nest has announced a new connected camera, the Nest Cam Outdoor. As the name suggests, this is an outdoor camera, offering weatherproofing, but linking in to the rest of your Nest home.

The new camera is designed for DIY installation, opting for a cabled power connection, rather than using batteries. The reason for this is simple, say Nest, in that it means that the Nest Cam Outdoor can record all the time, offer full HD quality and excellent night vision, without compromise. 

The Nest Cam Outdoor is IP65 rated, with the cable offering an IP67 rating too. In total there’s 7.5 metres of cable, so whether you’re running it to an external plug socket, or via a circuitous route to an indoor socket, you should have plenty of flexibility for installation.

Connecting to the wall is easy enough too, with a magnetic base. This can be screwed onto the wall and then thanks to the magnets, you can freely position the camera to get the best angle of view for you. You get everything you need in the box, including screws and cable grips.

The camera features a 130-degree field of view, captures 1920 x 1080 resolution video and features eight IR LEDs for night vision.

The Nest Cam Outdoor also offers talk and listen functions, thanks to a speaker and mic. This will mean that you can, for example, talk to that delivery driver at your front door, and suggest he leaves the parcel with a neighbour.

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If you’re feeling particularly haughty, you could tell a lurking miscreant to politely shove off too.

Nest Cam Outdoor is controlled through a redesigned Nest app, which will now give larger previews to Indoor and Outdoor cameras, to save you clicks when you open the app. The Nest Aware service remains a subscription service, priced at £8 a month for one camera, and £4 a month for subsequent cameras. 

Nest Aware offers 24/7 recording with cloud storage, intelligent alerts and new person alerts. Nest is able to determine when there’s a person in the picture and alert you to that, which will be useful for anyone monitoring their back garden for example. 

Nest Cam Outdoor is available for pre-order in the US, priced at $199 and available in September. 

Nest Cam Outdoor will be available in the UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland later in 2016, price to be determined.

Google Nexus Watch: What’s the story so far?

For the past few months, rumours have been building suggesting that Google is doubling down on its own hardware design. That means we’re likely to see Google-branded smartphones, tablets, Chromebooks and – perhaps – smartwatches.

With the holiday season closing in, here’s everything we know so far about Google’s rumoured Nexus watches.

Nexus Watch: Names

Like the upcoming HTC Nexus/Google phones, there are two watches in development and they are currently being called by their codenames which both feature a fish of some kind. The larger watch is currently named Angelfish, while the smaller model is Swordfish.

Google isn’t expected to stick with these names. Until recently, the watches were just branded “Nexus Watch” by the media. Of course, there’s a chance that Google won’t even continue with the Nexus naming. Whether they’re given the Nexus moniker or not, they will undoubtedly be launched with the Nexus spirit of being completely optimised for all that Android Wear has to offer.

Nexus Watch: Design

The larger and more spec-tastic of the two, Angelfish, is claimed to measure 43.5mm in diameter, while the smaller watch, Swordfish, is 42mm, similar to the Huawei Watch and 2nd gen Moto 360.

What’s interesting is that, according to Android Police’s sources, Angelfish will be equipped with a different array of physical buttons. This watch is claimed to feature the usual “crown” button halfway up the right edge, but also feature two shoulder buttons which don’t protrude as far. The larger model also appears to have a much thicker, darker metal casing with fitting for a wider watch strap.

Moving on Swordfish, and it appears that this model only has the one, single oddly designed button on the right edge. Despite its case diameter only being 1.5mm narrower than the larger model, the watch strap is quite noticeably much narrower, by at least 4-5mm.

As well as being smaller, the 42mm Swordfish model is claimed to feature a much rounder design. Although both have a circular face, the smaller model is rumoured to have glass that curves towards the edges, and a bezel which itself curves a little. Angelfish is much flatter, and more angular.

If one was to generalise it, we could assume that perhaps the more rounded, less angular model with a thinner strap was designed with a female target market in mind, while the bigger version is supposedly more “masculine”.

Android Police

Nexus Watch: Display

Nothing has yet been specifically mentioned about the Nexus Watch displays in terms of exact dimensions. However, Android Police noted that the screen would be slightly smaller than the Moto 360, and will have a small black gap between where the watch body ends and visible display begins to avoid a section being cut-off. In other words, the screen will have a slim black ring around the edges, but thankfully won’t have a hideous “flat tyre”.

As for size and resolution, any mention of those would be completely speculative. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a display similar in size and resolution to the Huawei Watch which features a 400 x 400 resolution 1.4-inch circular display boasting a pixel density of 286ppi (pixels per inch).

Nexus Watch: Specs

Google has long been a partner with Qualcomm for its Nexus smartphone chips. Likewise, most notable Android Wear watches are powered by a Snapdragon chip of some kind, so it’s likely that Google’s Nexus Watch will make use of the newest Snapdragon 2100 chip designed specifically for wearables. That is, of course, unless Qualcomm announces a new processor in between now and when the watches hit the market, which wouldn’t be surprising.

More interestingly, as well as being different in design and size, the Angelfish and Swordfish are predicted to offer different features to each other. As you can imagine, that means you’ll see more packed in to Angelfish.

For the most part, it seems the Angelfish is being designed to work as a standalone device. In other words, you won’t need to have your phone on you all the time to make use of it. It will have LTE connectivity for data connection, and GPS for location tracking, while the smaller Swordfish watch will not, according to Android Police.

With Android Wear 2.0 featuring the ability to have apps natively installed on the watches, you’d expect that also means a slight jump in available storage space: 4GB could be enough, but 8GB would ensure users don’t get storage anxiety.

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Nexus Watch: Software

Of all the rumours surrounding the Nexus watches (or whatever they end up being called), the software is the one element we have some certainty over.

Google announced a brand new wearable operating system called Android Wear 2.0 at Google I/O 2016 this summer. If the company does launch these watches, they will run Android Wear 2.0 and will be a glittering showcase for the new software.

Android Wear 2.0 features – among other things – standalone native apps so that your watch is less reliant on your smartphone. It also has a more advanced messaging system, which allows you to scribble or type replies on the touchscreen, as well as a refreshed app launcher screen.

The fitness app and notifications have also seen something of a design revamp, plus, advanced complications means you can have all kinds of information showing on your watch face, regardless of which watch face it is.

Nexus Watch: Release date and price

Until Google officially confirms their existence, we won’t know precisely when the Angelfish and Swordfish watches will be released, or how much they will cost. However, it would make complete sense to launch them alongside the next Nexus smartphones later this year. That could put the date as September or October 2016.

Prices will likely be similar to current Android Wear watches. We’d expect the smaller 42mm model to cost between £230-£300, while the larger model will likely cost more than £300. Unless of course Google decides to return to its Nexus roots and offer them at close to cost price, making them ultra-affordable.

Fresh Galaxy Note 7 leak shows device from every angle, almost

A new set of images has emerged claiming to show the Galaxy Note 7 from virtually every angle. Although we can’t confirm the authenticity of the device in the photos, it certainly seems very convincing. The device being handled looks exactly like we expect it to; essentially a larger, less curved version of the Galaxy S7 Edge. 

The images were posted on Chinese social media site, Weibo, and show a device which – although similar – isn’t exactly like the S7 Edge in appearance.

While it clearly has curved edges to the screen on both sides, they don’t seem as pronounced as the Edge-branded phone. Likewise, the curves towards the edges on the back panel seem a little more shallow. What’s more, the corners of the device – while round – are a little more squared off. 

Noticeably, there are a couple of angles missing here. There’s no view of the bottom edge to confirm the existence of an S-Pen silo, neither is there a picture of the back to show off the camera makeup. 

If this is is the genuine article, we expect the Note 7 to retain its slightly square-ish appearance compared to the S-series phones, even if it is a little more rounded and curved than previous Galaxy Notes. 

• Samsung Galaxy Note 7: Release date, rumours and everything you need to know
• Samsung Galaxy Note 7 edge, aka Note 6, to feature dual cameras

With less than a month to wait until the device is announced, we can expect the number of leaks and rumours to increase. Over the coming weeks we should get a full enough picture of the smartphone that we’ll be surprised by very little during the unveiling on 2 August. 

So far, rumours have claimed the Note 7 will have a 5.7 to 5.8-inch Quad HD display with curved edges, 6GB RAM, expandable storage, a brand new Snapdragon 800-series processor (either 821 or 823) and will come with an enhanced S-Pen for scribbling notes on the ultra-sensitive screen. It’s likely to have the same fantastic camera from the S7/S7 Edge, as well an updated Touchwiz user interface. 

The phone is going to be announced on 2 August at an event in New York, and we’ll be at the satellite event in London to bring you coverage of Sammy’s next big flagship. If speculation is to be believed, it could hit store shelves just two weeks after being shown off by Samsung, which means you could get your hands on it as soon as the middle of August.