Apple’s trade-in policy may soon offer gift cards for rival devices
Apple’s not exactly new to courting Android fans, but a reported change to its trade-in policy could finally get owners of other smartphones pledging allegiance to Cupertino. The usual slew of unnamed sources told 9to5Mac that Apple will soon allow customers to swap non-Apple smartphones for gift cards in-store, just like people can currently do with old iPhones, iPads and Macs. If 9to5’s report holds true, retail employees are already being trained on the particulars of the process now, and you’ll be able to ditch your old gear in one of the company’s well-lit glass shrines in the coming weeks.
Don’t worry: Apple seems equipped to ensure your address book makes the leap just fine. The rest of your phone’s contents? Well, you’re mostly on your own there.
If you’ve ever done the trade-in dance at an Apple store, the process should seem plenty familiar – the gadgets you bring in will be graded on cosmetics and functionality, and you’ll get a gift card at the end to put toward a shiny new iDevice. At this point, no one’s entirely sure how Apple will determine the value of the Galaxy S3 you’ve had sitting in a drawer for a year and a half, but that’s sort of beside the point. There’s a decent chance that you’d net more cash by fencing your old phones by yourself, anyway. Thing is, Apple’s game is one of convenience and delight: if it can pay you a pittance for an aging device, sell you one of its own and leave you feeling pleased about the whole thing because of the painless process its devised, you’ll only feel more comfortable buying Apple stuff down the road. Never, ever underestimate the power of warm and fuzzy feelings. The move’ll probably see Apple shelling out millions of dollars in gift cards in aggregate, but that’s a small price to pay considering Tim Cook’s well-documented desire to get more people buying iPhones from their local Apple Store.
Filed under: Mobile
Source: 9to5Mac
The memory bug present in Android 5.1 has been fixed internally
The release of Lollipop 5.0 is a rather touchy subject for many members of the Android community. Whilst it’s the biggest visual and technical overhaul since Ice Cream Sandwich, it carries a handful of extremely irritating bugs that render some smartphones unusable.
Amongst the bugs is one that’s been dubbed the “great memory leak.” This is the result of a handset failing to clear its memory (RAM), which causes almost every application to repeatedly crash and the launcher to regularly redraw — making it almost impossible to use any app or service.
When Lollipop 5.1 was first announced, many hoped that the issue would finally be resolved. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Even though version 5.1 fixed the bug present in 5.0, this latest release brought its own memory leak to the table, which proved to be just as bad.
Thankfully, Google has today announced that the 5.1 memory leak has been “fixed internally”, but it does “not currently have a timeline for public release.”
Source: Google
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Inateck BK1002E Bluetooth Keyboard review
Today we are taking a look at the Inateck BK1002E Bluetooth keyboard. As you may recall, we reviewed the BK1003E a few weeks back and now we are moving onto the keyboards younger sibling, the BK1002E. As with all of Inatecks products, the BK1002E demonstrates that quality does not have to be directly correlated with price.
Design
Inateck BK1002E Bluetooth Keyboard
The BK1002E keeps the same overall look as the BK1003E but instead of the black design of its successor, the BK1002E instead opted for a white and silver combination. With vibrant white keys made of a rubberized material and a silver coated plastic frame, the BK1002E will look great in any work environment.
Inateck kept it simple with the BK1002E and only added the necessary buttons and functions. Other than the obvious buttons (the keys themselves ), the only other buttons are on the back where you will find the on and off switch and the connect button. They’re placed on the raised bar which also functions as a permanent stand.
Functionality
During our testing, we found the BK1002E to be a great portable keyboard. Keystrokes registered instantly and the rubberized material made typing on the BK1002E a pleasure. I did not lose my connection once and paring the BK1002E to my device took only a matter of minutes.
One of the only gripes I did have with the BK1002E was the lack of USB charging functionality. Instead you are required to use two AA batteries. With that said, the BK1002E is ideal for those that prefer to use batteries where you can carry some spares and never have to worry about running out of juice. Well, that is until you run out of batteries.
Final Thoughts
The BK1002E is a fantastic bluetooth keyboard that takes up very little space and is sure to be a welcome addition for the traveling writer. You can currently purchase one on Amazon for $16.99 and for a price like that, there is little reason not to snag one. For more information regarding the BK1002E, you can head over to Inatecks website or Amazon.
The post Inateck BK1002E Bluetooth Keyboard review appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google Now will soon show info from any app
Google Now only displays useful tidbits of knowledge from a handful of your apps right now, but the flood gates are about to fling wide open. Project director Aparna Chennapragada has revealed that Google plans to release a developer kit that lets any of your apps put their data into Now, not just those with special access. It’s not clear exactly when this will turn up, but Chennapragada suggests that there shouldn’t be collisions between competing software — your app usage habits will determine which cards appear. While that may be a tad optimistic (it’s easy to see two social networks vying for your attention), there’s a good chance that Google Now will become a one-stop shop for things you need to know.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: The Next Web
Reuters: Microsoft readying Cortana for Android
As well as bundling their virtual assistant Cortana into Windows 10, the latest report is that it will also be offered as a standalone app for iOS and Android.
Eric Horvitz, managing director of Microsoft Research, said:
“This kind of technology, which can read and understand email, will play a central role in the next roll out of Cortana, which we are working on now for the fall time frame”.
He did however decline to comment on any plans to take Cortana outside of the Window environment, but Reuters claim that this is exactly Microsoft’s roadmap.
What Microsoft seem to be doing, and this can be seen with their Office products, is capitalise on their software and make it universal across platforms – much how Windows started; it didn’t matter what hardware you were running, Windows worked on top of it. With Windows Phone taking a solid third in the smartphone market and no sign of them competing for second place, Microsoft can change their strategy to make these numbers work in their favour.
So it makes perfect sense for Cortana to come to Android, but the question remains – will anyone use it?
The post Reuters: Microsoft readying Cortana for Android appeared first on AndroidGuys.
BlackBerry’s first tablet in years is a secure Galaxy Tab S
BlackBerry’s first experience with tablets was more than a little traumatic, but it hasn’t completely given up on the idea. The company’s SecuSmart wing has teamed up with IBM to launch the SecuTablet, an extra-secure version of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S 10.5. Reportedly, the slate’s included security bundle prevents sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands while allowing personal apps. Yes, you can watch YouTube on the same device that carries your classified documents. You aren’t likely to find this in stores (certainly not at its $2,380 price) as a result, but ongoing German government tests hint that you may well see it in the field — and there’s a real chance that it will outlive its ill-fated predecessor.
Filed under: Tablets, Samsung, Blackberry
Via: Wall Street Journal
Source: BlackBerry
BlackBerry’s first tablet in years is a secure Galaxy Tab S
BlackBerry’s first experience with tablets was more than a little traumatic, but it hasn’t completely given up on the idea. The company’s SecuSmart wing has teamed up with IBM to launch the SecuTablet, an extra-secure version of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S 10.5. Reportedly, the slate’s included security bundle prevents sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands while allowing personal apps. Yes, you can watch YouTube on the same device that carries your classified documents. You aren’t likely to find this in stores (certainly not at its $2,380 price) as a result, but ongoing German government tests hint that you may well see it in the field — and there’s a real chance that it will outlive its ill-fated predecessor.
Filed under: Tablets, Samsung, Blackberry
Via: Wall Street Journal
Source: BlackBerry
“Add to home screen” banner will soon be coming to websites in Chrome for Android
Google’s Chrome Android app currently has a feature that lets you create pseudo-app shortcuts to your favorite web sites right on your home screen, but it’s tucked away in the overflow menu of the app. While it’s a useful feature, it’s not used as often as it could be because of that. Google plans on fixing that by adding an “add to home screen” banner to websites in the near future, promoting the feature to users and potentially increasing traffic to those sites.
Now, you’re probably thinking that another banner on your web pages is the last thing you want to see in Chrome. Fortunately, Google seems like they’ve planned this one out pretty well, and they’ve got a good system in place to prevent it from being too annoying. The banner will only appear if you visit a web site twice over the course of two days, and once you dismiss the banner, it won’t appear again unless you clear your browsing history. The sites will also only be able to display that banner if they offer app-like experiences, and HTTPS is a requirement.
The feature is going live in Chrome 42 Beta, so expect it to make its way to the stable version in the next few weeks.
source: Ars Technica
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Android 5.1 update brings full quad-core optimisation for Nexus 6
Renowned Kernel developer Francisco Franco has shared on his Google+ page that after the Android 5.1 update the Nexus 6 is now running on all four cores engaged constantly.
The result? No more stutter or lagging on the Nexus 6 thanks to what Franco describes below:
1 – thread moves from cpu0 to cpu2
2 – driver is notified
3 – reads the current cpu0 frequency
4 – if cpu2 current frequency is less than cpu0’s read frequency it boosts cpu2 to that freq, or, if the origin freq is lower than the threshold (which is 1.7GHz by default AFAIK) it boosts to that threshold value.
5 – the boosted frequency on cpu2 stays there for at least 20ms
Have you noticed an improvement in the speed of your Nexus 6 after Android 5.1? Drop us a comment below.
The post Android 5.1 update brings full quad-core optimisation for Nexus 6 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google releases reference sample to show how apps can work on multiple devices
Since last summer, we have seen Android makes its way to new form factors. The operating system now works with phones, tablets, wearables, and vehicles. With so many form factors now supported, it makes sense that Google wants apps to have seamless experiences. The company has introduced a sample multi-device application called Universal Music Player that offers a continuous experience across Android, Android Wear, Android Auto, and Google Cast devices.
Hit the break for looks at the mult-device approach in action.
The sample uses features such as MediaStyle notifications, MediaSession, and MediaBrowserService. These features are what allows content to be spread from device to device.
Source: Android Developers Blog
Come comment on this article: Google releases reference sample to show how apps can work on multiple devices
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