Microsoft soon launching ‘Office Now’ personal assistant on major mobile platforms
A new report tells us that Microsoft could soon reveal its cross platform mobile personal assistant known as ‘Office Now’ very soon. Neowin reports that this service will be available on Android, iOS and Windows platforms and even has a couple of screenshots to show off.
Using this app, users will be able to get all the information that is relevant to them at that given point. Options include directions for a meeting/conference, emails that are directed to you, reminders, appointments etc. We don’t think it will be a Google Now killer as of yet, but it tells us that Microsoft is willing to take the fight to Google in the personal assistant arena.
Bill Gates hinted at the arrival of Office Now during a Reddit AmA (Ask me Anything) session a few months ago and it’s good to see this finally coming to fruition.
Here are some of the features that are said to be available with the app:
- At-a-glance summary of your day first thing in the morning directly from your lock screen or notification center.
- Commute card – Tells you what traffic looks like and how long your commute will take.
- Highlights card – Presents insights about your day, like how much time you’ll spend in events, when your first event starts and when your last event ends.
- Missed call card -Shows any missed calls and provides a quick action to return the call.
- In-depth people insights – via a deep link into the Revolve app.
- Natural language event creation -Allows you to create events like you would say it.
- Email to yourself card – Displays any email that you send to yourself.
- Emails directly to you – Shows email that is sent directly to you from others.
Source: Neowin
Come comment on this article: Microsoft soon launching ‘Office Now’ personal assistant on major mobile platforms
Chromecast app update gives a clearer look at your streaming devices
If you’re fortunate enough to have more than one Chromecast device at home, you should now have an easier time making sense of your streaming options. Updates to both the Android and iOS Chromecast apps give you a reworked hardware view that gives each device its own card, complete with its current backdrop and casting status. You won’t be as likely to hijack the kids’ TV by accident, in other words. On top of this, you can browse through your backdrop history and change how quickly those pictures cycle. Swing by the App Store or Google Play if you’ve been itching for better control over your TV streaming.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Google
Source: App Store, Google Play
Android’s stand-alone Photos app will give you more creative control
Wondering what will happen when Android’s Photos app finally makes a clean break from Google+? You should now have a pretty good idea. Android Police has peeked at a leaked copy of a reworked Photos app, and it’s clear that Google is using the service split as an incentive to shake things up. The highlight may be Assistant (below), an effective substitute for Auto Awesome that gives you more creative power — you can produce more content yourself (such as Stories) instead of waiting for it to show up. The interface should also be more intuitive across the board, with more options for viewing your photos, a better editing interface, privacy-minded sharing and pinch-to-zoom gestures for opening pictures. There’s a chance these features could change or disappear before they’re official, but it won’t be surprising if you see this Photos redesign on the Google I/O stage this week.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: Android Police (1), (2)
The next Firefox OS devices will focus on quality, not cost
Outside of one or two exceptions, most Firefox OS devices have been aimed squarely at the budget crowd — at folks who would otherwise have to entirely forego smartphoness or tablets. However, Mozilla is ready to switch things up. The organization has unveiled a new strategy, Ignite, that should lead to Firefox OS gadgets you want to buy “because of the experience” rather than the price tag, according to CEO Chris Beard. Just what that entails isn’t clear, but there’s little doubt that this means a shift toward higher-end (though not necessarily flagship-class) hardware.
Mozilla may even take a page from the likes of BlackBerry and Jolla by running apps from a more popular operating system. Beard vows that his outfit will “explore implementing” compatibility with Android apps in a way that keeps the company’s emphasis on the web. He isn’t explaining how this would work or when he’d like to see Android support, but that lack of concrete details suggests that you’ll be waiting a long while before you can use Instagram on your ZTE Open C.
The move is a gamble for Mozilla, although it might be a necessary one. While Firefox OS was practically tailor-made for low cost devices, Android is catching up — when you can get cheap phones on both platforms, why buy the ones limited to web apps? Moving to more advanced, distinctive phones might give Firefox OS a chance at standing out, and help Mozilla fight the locked down ecosystems of its rivals.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile
Source: CNET
Spotify evolves into 24-hour entertainment resource
With Apple’s yearly Developer Conference around the corner, and everyone expecting to see some type of Beats Music integration announced, Spotify has been pulling out all the stops to keep its’ customers around, as well as trying to entice some new ones. Spotify has recently launched a sweet deal for new Premium subscribers, and this week have announced a series of changes that will be taking place for their subscribers. Spotify is aiming to be your end-all-be-all source for just about everything media related.
“We are on a mission. With over 25 billion listening hours under the hood since our launch seven years ago, we’re obsessed with figuring out how to bring music into every part of your life, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, whatever your mood. More than ever, you’re telling us what you want: the best music to fit your mood and moment mixed with great entertainment throughout your day. We understand that how music fits into your life is as powerful as the music itself. So today we’re rolling out a richer mobile music experience built around your day, bringing you the music you love when you need it most. “
Once the Spotify app is updated, users will immediately see some of the new features that Spotify is bringing to its 40 million subscribers. The Now Start page is where all of the curated playlists will be housed. Spotify has also tweaked the application to learn what you like, so that it will be easier for you to find the right music for whatever type of mood you are in.
Spotify has also introduced Spotify Running with Nike+ integration. Due to the amount of users that Spotify has, they figured that more than just a few were taking advantage of the music selection and playlist creation while their users went for a run. Spotify Running is geared to match your tempo, step for step, and help you “go the extra mile.” Once you’ve started running, Spotify will recognize that your tempo has gone up and will help match songs up to help pump you up.
Next up on the docket for the latest changes to Spotify, is the addition of video clips and audio shows (or podcasts) to your subscription. You will be able to switch up from just listening to music all day, and either catch up on today’s news, or listen to your favorite podcast. All of this is available from directly within the Spotify app, so you will be able to get rid of any other apps that you have on your device that serve a specific purpose.
If you were worried about just catching some random news clips from somewhere that you’ve barely heard of, don’t worry. Spotify will have content from the following sources available right within the application:
- ABC
- BBC
- Comedy Central
- ESPN
- NBC
- TED
- Vice News
In order to accommodate for these changes, Spotify has announced that they will be rolling out the updated application to other platforms in the near future. iOS users have already begun to see their applications updated with the latest features provided through Spotify, so Android users really shouldn’t be far behind. I will say, being able to have a hub for my music, podcasts, sports news, and regular news, will be extremely useful, so I can’t wait for this to roll out for Android users. It’s only a matter of time before the rollout begins to those who are not tied to iOS whatsoever, but as a premium subscriber, I’m excited to have all of these things readily available in just one application.
The post Spotify evolves into 24-hour entertainment resource appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Researchers find Android factory reset faulty and reversible
Android’s factory reset function isn’t as effective as we’d all like it to be, according to a team of Cambridge University researchers. The group estimates that as many as 500 to 630 million Android devices might not be capable of completely wiping the data saved in their internal disks and SD cards. They came to that conclusion after testing 21 devices running Android 2.3 to 4.3 from five different manufacturers that already went through factory reset. During their tests, they were able to recover at least part of the data stored in each sample device — even if it was protected with full-disk encryption.
The data they recovered includes contacts, images and videos, texts, emails and log-ins for third-party apps like Facebook and WhatsApp. They were also able to retrieve the master token needed to access all Google user data in 80 percent of the phones. There are many possible reasons for reset failure: according to the researchers, manufacturers sometimes don’t load a phone’s software with the drivers needed to completely wipe its internal disk or SD card add-on. Also, flash drives are notoriously difficult to erase.
It’s unclear at the moment if Google or any of the manufacturers whose phones were tested are doing anything about this issue. But if you really want to protect your info before tossing, selling or giving away an old phone, use the most complicated password you can whip up… or, you know, go to town on it with a hammer.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Google
Via: Ars Technica
Source: Cambridge University
Android M might have its own fingerprint login system
Android is getting a TouchID-style system of its own with Android M, according to Buzzfeed‘s sources. Apparently it’ll act a lot like the iOS tool too, bypassing passwords for associated apps in favor of reading your fingerprint. Given that I/O is practically right around the corner (next week!) it shouldn’t be long before this all gets confirmed — Google hasn’t responded to our request for comment just yet.
[Image credit: Getty Images]
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
Source: Buzzfeed
SFW ‘Playboy Now’ app is only here for the articles
19 million people visit Playboy.com every month, 80 percent of which reportedly coming via mobile devices. In response to that demand, Playboy magazine has released a new mobile-centric app that gives its rabid fanbase exactly what they want: Buzzfeed-style listicles and light reading. Wait, what?
The app makes its way into the Android and iOS stores by dropping its famed nude pics — which never would have passed iTunes muster anyway — and focusing on written content instead. “We have a very engaged audience on mobile and about three-fourths comes after 4 p.m. So we are building this optimized experience for these guys who are coming back every day and there are millions of them,” Phillip Morelock, Playboy senior vice president and chief product officer told USA Today. The unfathomably Safe For Work app features a smattering of easy-to-digest content including clever lists, video clips and offbeat news. But no nudity. Seriously, you’ll see more skin on Game of Thrones than you will on this app.
[Image Credit: Cindy Ord via Getty Images]
Filed under: Internet, Apple, Google
Source: Playboy Mobile
Google could bring fingerprint authentication with the next iteration of Android
Right after the Nexus 6 was launched last year, reports suggested that the dimple containing the Motorola logo on the back of the smartphone was originally supposed to house a fingerprint scanner. But unfortunately, Google was believed to have changed its mind at the very last minute.
And now, new reports suggest that Google might go ahead and bake in support for fingerprint authentication with the upcoming Android M release, making it easier for OEMs to implement the feature with their devices.
This feature will apparently allow access to all of Google’s services without requiring a password. We’re guessing that Google will also encourage third party apps to bake in support for fingerprint authentication with their apps.
This also indicates that the next Nexus device will probably showcase the new feature as the Nexus smartphone of the year usually debuts with the latest version of Android. Google will host the annual I/O developer conference next week where the feature will supposedly be discussed in detail.
Do you welcome this news?
Via: Buzzfeed
Come comment on this article: Google could bring fingerprint authentication with the next iteration of Android
Google reportedly building an OS for the Internet of Things
The Information reports that Google is working on a new Android-based operating system to run specifically on the emerging class of low-power devices, aka the Internet of Things. This new OS, dubbed “Brillo”, is supposedly quite petite and may require as little as 32 or 64 megabytes of RAM to run. This marks a significant departure for Google considering its latest Android build demanded at least 512MB of RAM. However there’s a lot to be gained by being the OS that drives out smart bulbs, thermostats and locks. Not only does it free OEMs from having to design their own IoT communications schemes, it should also strongly position the Mountain View-based company as the invisible backbone of tomorrow’s smart home. If this rumor is indeed true, Google will likely announce it at next week’s I/O developers conference. Stay tuned.
Source: The Information
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