Talk Android Weekly Recap: June 20 – June 27, 2015
This week flew by with all of the excitement! We posted our reviews of some awesome battery charger’s, OnePlus announced the OnePlus 2, T-Mobile began its Un-carrier Amped campaign, starting with some sweet changes to its JUMP! program. If you missed any of that, be sure to check out some of the top headlines for the week after the break.
- T-Mobile expands it’s upgrade program with JUMP! On Demand
- Cheero Power Plus 3 Review
- Cheero Ingress Power Cube Review
- Motorola has begun soak tests for all sorts of devices
- Galaxy S6 gets the Material Design makeover
- Amazon Echo now available to everyone
- Galaxy S7 could come later this year
That wraps up all the major headlines for the week. It’s looking like rain here on the east coast, but it’ll be good to get out of that way for the BBQ’ing for July 4 next week. Have a great weekend everybody!
Come comment on this article: Talk Android Weekly Recap: June 20 – June 27, 2015
ICYMI: Amazon’s Treasure Truck, mood-altering wearables and more
Today on In Case You Missed It: Strap a neurosignaling device onto your forehead and control your mood from an app ; Amazon delivers deals on wheels via a new ‘Treasure Truck;’ and a new Super Mario World record has been set by a speedrunner who did it all blindfolded.
But we need your help! Let the team at Engadget know about any interesting stories or videos you stumble across by using the #ICYMI hashtag @engadget or @mskerryd. We will be ever so thankful!
Filed under: Displays, Misc, Gaming, Transportation, Wearables, Science, Internet, Amazon, Nintendo
Amazon ‘Instant Previews’ let friends peek at what you’re reading
It’s been a busy day for Amazon, with announcements about its voice tech efforts and, wait for it, a Treasure Truck that offers on-the-go deals to people. But there’s more where that came from. If you use Kindle for Android, you’ll now notice the addition of some handy sharing features to the application. In this new version, released today, you can start sharing book quotes with friends across social and messaging platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Hangouts and over text or email. Most importantly, thanks to what Amazon’s calling Instant Previews, people who don’t have the app installed are able to read a free preview of the book you’re reading — directly from a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. Amazon says that feature works seamlessly, since it doesn’t require anyone to sign up, sign in or to have the Kindle application on their device.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile, Amazon
Source: Amazon (1), (2)
Amazon making its voice technology available for all, announces $100M in funding for devs
Amazon just recently made the Amazon Echo available for all to purchase a few days ago, and now the company has yet another big announcement that will help bring the connected speaker into more consumers’ homes. The company has just announced that it’s now allowing third party developers to add Alexa, the software that powers the device, to be integrated into additional hardware. With only a few lines of code, devs will now be able to integrate the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) into their own hardware without needing extra experience with natural language understanding or speech recognition. The only requirement is that the hardware must contain a microphone, a speaker and an Internet connection. The AVS is free, and interested developers can download it from this website.
Here are a few nifty examples of what developers might be able to do with Alexa:
- A Wi-Fi alarm clock that lets a customer talk to Alexa—“What’s the weather today?” or “What’s on my calendar today?”
- A car that enables a driver to press the Alexa button on the steering wheel and request anything from Alexa, such as “Read my book” or “Remind me to pick up flowers after work.”
- A movie ticket machine that lets a moviegoer say “Buy six tickets for the next showing of Jurassic World.”
- A countertop weather station that enables customers to get more information by asking “What will the weather be next weekend?” or “What was the rainfall in June last year?”
Additionally, the company today announced the Alexa Fund, which will provide up to $100 million in investments to support developers and startups of all sizes to integrate the human voice in their products. The Alexa Fund has officially launched today with seven different hardware companies already onboard. The company says it’s looking to these particular areas of interest in which to place its investments:
- New hardware products for inside or outside the home that would benefit from Alexa’s voice interface.
- New features and functionality for Alexa.
- New contributions to the science behind voice technology, including text-to-speech, natural language understanding, and automatic speech recognition.
The Amazon Echo is already a pretty nifty product, and now we should begin hearing Alexa’s voice in more products over the coming years.
Amazon offering 23 apps for free through end of month, running Dream Package contest
Amazon offers a free app everyday through their own Appstore, but from time to time they offer a whole bunch of apps for free for a limited time. As people start to countdown the days until the long Independence Day weekend starts, Amazon has launched a special promotion through July 1st that makes 23 titles available for free.
The apps that are available cover a spectrum of genres. There are several games, including Monument Valley from developer ustwo. There are also some utility applications available like AVG AntiVirus Pro or Alarm Clock Pro and a couple apps to help get content onto big screens, like Mirroring360 – AirPlay Receiver. You can hit the source to check out all of the titles that Amazon is making available as part of this special promotion.
With the help of ustwo, which is celebrating the release of a new chapter for Monument Valley called “Ida’s Dream”, Amazon is running a “Dream” Sweepstakes with the winner receiving a $500 Amazon gift card plus several pieces of Amazon hardware like a Fire HD 6 Tablet, an Amazon Fire TV, Fire Phone and Fire Stick. ustwo is also throwing in some goodies to the price package. To enter the sweepstakes, hit the source link below and hurry as entries are only being accepted through June 25, 2015.
source: Amazon “Dream” Sweepstakes, Amazon Appstore
Come comment on this article: Amazon offering 23 apps for free through end of month, running Dream Package contest
Ikea to trial smaller UK stores for picking up online orders
Most Ikea stores are massive, bustling places located far from the high street and built-up urban areas. Visiting one isn’t a problem if you have a large car and a few hours to spare — but for many people, at least one of those can be difficult to come by. To help out, the king of flat pack furniture is opening a new, smaller store in Norwich. Here customers will be able to speak with home furnishing experts, see a selection of furniture and, most importantly, pick up orders they’ve made online or in-store. The new “Order and Collection Point” concept is similar to Amazon’s pickup lockers and Argos’ click-and-collect stores. The hope is that these smaller, local establishments will be more convenient than trekking to an out-of-town warehouse or waiting for home delivery. Of course, if you’re buying a bed or anything else that’s a substantial size, you’ll still need to find a way to take it home…
[Image Credit: AP Photo/Alan Diaz]
Filed under: Internet
Via: Huffington Post
Source: Ikea
Apple yanks games with Confederate flags from the App Store
Following the lead of other major retailers like Walmart, Amazon, Etsy and eBay in removing products featuring the Confederate flag, Apple has reportedly begun removing apps that feature the Stars and Bars from its online store. The apps most affected are, unsurprisingly, Civil War games like Ultimate General: Gettysburg and Civil War.
Ultimate General’s developer confirmed via tweet that it’s app had been pulled from the App Store for that reason:
Apple has pulled the tablet version of the game from Appstore because of the Confederate Flag. details coming…
– Ultimate_General (@GeneralUltimate) June 25, 2015
As Polygon points out, basically any depiction of the Confederate flag (even in its proper historical context) appears to be enough for Apple to nix an offending app. What’s more, Google looks to have taken the same action and removed all apps featuring the flag from Play. We’ve reached out to Apple for confirmation that the flag is the reason behind the removal of these apps and will update once they reply with comment.
Filed under: Internet, Apple, Google
Via: Polygon
Source: Touch Arcade
Amazon opens up Alexa platform as part of big voice technology move
Earlier this week Amazon finally opened up the closed beta for their Amazon Echo voice-activated device to general consumers. However, Amazon was not anywhere close to being finished with a move into the voice-activated technology realm. Today they announced that they are opening up their software platform that powers Echo, Amazon Alexa, to developers via APIs, they are making APIs available for hardware makers to incorporate Alexa technology into new devices, and they are backing all of this with a $100 million fund to support developers.
According to Greg Hart with Amazon,
“When we launched Amazon Echo we immediately heard from developers about the innovative voice experiences they would create if they had access to an SDK. Today, we’re making the Alexa Skills Kit available to any developer, maker, or general hobbyist that wants to invent on behalf of customers, creating new skills and capabilities. We can’t wait to see what developers are going to invent with this technology.”
The ASK is free and can be used to enable voice-driven capabilities in existing applications with just a few lines of code or, if someone wants to put in additional effort, they could build a whole new application focused on voice interactions powered by Alexa. The Alexa technology itself is a cloud-based voice service made available via the Amazon AWS Cloud, meaning developers do not need to invest in servers and other hardware. The developer preview version of the ASK is available starting today.
If a developer is interested in bringing Alexa to some specific hardware, Amazon is helping with that as well. They are opening “the Alexa Voice Service to any device maker that wants to add Alexa into their products—for free.” According to Hart any device that includes a microphone, a speaker, and is capable of connecting to the Internet can integrate Alexa. The developer preview of the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) will be available starting next month.
Finally, Amazon has announced a $100 million Alexa Fund to provide support for “developers, manufacturers, and start-ups of all sizes who are passionate about creating new experiences designed around the human voice.” Amazon says they will be looking for solutions that have the potential for unique or novel applications of voice technology using Alexa platforms and services. Already seven initial investments have been made in:
- Orange Chef – developers of a mobile app called Countertop that connects to “smart” kitchen appliances;
- Scout Alarm – a DIY home security system;
- Garageio – a platform for controlling a garage door via a smartphone app;
- Toymail – a form of voicemail that can be delivered to children via Alexa capable toys or devices;
- Dragon Innovation – a service to support developers who want to incorporate Alexa in their products;
- MARA – a voice-based running assistant; and
- Mojio – a connected car system that uses an auto’s OBD-II port.
Amazon is now accepting applications for funding through the Alexa Fund.
With all of these moves, do you think Alexa can move to the front of the class ahead of Google Now, Siri, or Cortana for voice-enabled technology?
sources: Amazon (Alexa Skills Kit), Amazon (Alexa Voice Service), Amazon (Alexa Fund)
Come comment on this article: Amazon opens up Alexa platform as part of big voice technology move
Amazon’s Treasure Truck is like an ice cream truck for deals
You can’t really accuse Amazon of being afraid to try something new. While we await drone-powered deliveries, Amazon is launching a new service called “Treasure Truck” that’s basically the equivalent of a neighborhood ice cream truck for killer deals. Starting this weekend in Seattle, you’ll be able to see the Treasure Truck’s daily deal on Amazon’s mobile shopping app. Once purchased, you can meet up with the treasure truck at a predetermined time slot and location to collect your bounty. It’s like an evolved form of the daily deal phenomenon combined with Amazon’s push towards fast deliveries (except this time you’re doing more legwork). The Treasure Truck’s first offering is a $99 Solstice Bali paddleboard set, which typically retails for $480. We can’t imagine this is a very scalable service for Amazon — in Seattle it’s focusing on “popular neighborhoods” — but it’s yet another sign of the insane logistical advantages the company has over the competition.
Filed under: Amazon
Source: Amazon
Amazon is offering Echo voice tech to other manufacturers
Now that Amazon’s voice-controlled Echo speaker is available to everyone, the company is hinting at third-party devices that will make use of the same voice tech that powers the Echo’s built-in assistant, “Alexa.” Additionally, Amazon is giving developers access to the Alexa Skills Kit, a free SDK that will make it easy for them to create new features for the Echo platform. Lastly, the company launched the Alexa Fund, a $100 million endowment designed to support developers, manufacturers and startups who are interested in making voice-powered products for its ecosystem. To be a part of it, Amazon says it’s going to base those decisions on the technology’s ability to influence the Alexa Skills Kit or the Alexa Voice Service. What this tells us, though, is that Amazon is getting serious about what appeared to be a simple side-project from the beginning.
Filed under: Misc, Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Amazon
Source: Amazon (1), (2), (3)
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