Finally, a Meerkat app for Android you’ll actually want to use
The temptation to write off Meerkat — the live-streaming app that sort of blew up at SXSW — is tough to resist. After all, Twitter wasted no time releasing a competitor (with a cleaner interface, no less) that slowly seems to be eating Meerkat’s lunch. For now though, Meerkat’s got one leg up on its bitter new rival: The team released an Android version of the app that actually works the way it’s supposed to. You see, Meerkat technically beat Periscope to Android by launching a closed beta app in mid-March, but you could only watch live streams, not start your own. In other words, it was almost completely pointless. Not so anymore!
The app still carries that pesky “beta” badge, but the sailing has been surprisingly smooth so far, even (or should I say especially) over T-Mobile’s LTE connection in midtown Manhattan. Thing is, it’s the very same streaming experience you’ll get from the iOS version of the app, and that means plenty of visual cruft to clutter up the stuff you actually meant to tune in to. With any luck we’ll see the Meerkat team get more comfortable with the ins and outs of Android — a Material Design-y look could work very nicely here — but their priority’s got to be to dial down the amount of junk vying for your attention on-screen. A blogger can dream, right? In any case, Meerkat should try to enjoy this lead while it lasts. Twitter’s already said that Periscope is Android-bound too, at which point this whole crazy race should just heat up all over again.
Filed under: Mobile
Source: Product Hunt
‘OK Google, Shazam this song’
Siri started handling song queries when iOS 8 arrived, and now Google’s voice commands recognize Shazam as a prompt to do the same on Android. That’s right, Android devices now recognize the “Shazam” command, in addition to “recognize” or “name” for “track,” “song” or “tune” identification. It’s not the only one either, as a few other apps like NPR One, TuneIn, Zillow, Flixster and TripAdvisor (a complete list is here) are also enjoying early access to the Custom Voice Actions feature. Previously you could search apps that way, but with this access developers can get more specific. It seems like the perfect kind of feature to use along with something like Android Auto, just when your phone is slightly out of reach.
With Shazam, after you’ve spoken the phrase the app will launch, do the heavy lifting and save the results for listening later. We tried it out, and the app only launched for commands that included “Shazam,” as in “OK Google, Shazam this song.” Phrases like “OK Google, name this song” kept the process inside the confines of the voice search interface. As you might expect, the music-searching software is one of the many third-party apps that display info cards in Google Now, and there’s easy access to listen, stream and purchase from Google Play Music. Other devs that want in are encouraged to apply here, and explain what kind of commands their apps will need.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile, Google
Source: Shazam, Android Developers (G+)
Adidas and Spotify offer another way to soundtrack your run
Adidas and Spotify are already quite friendly, especially when it comes to supplying workouts with the proper tunes. The duo teamed up for offline playback on the Adidas SmartRun watch and soundtracking a jog with the help of RunKeeper. Now, there’s an Adidas Go app that varies music based on movement tracked by your iPhone’s accelerometer. Using that piece of smartphone tech, the app measures stride rate and matches songs from Spotify’s library — based on your listening habits — to help you keep pace. When the run is over, stats like time, distance and pace can all be reviewed, saved and used to calculate your Adidas MiCoach RunScore. And if you’d like, you can save the collection of tracks the music service piped in along the way, too. Ready to lace up those sneakers? Well, you’ll need an iPhone 4S or later to take advantage of the free app that’s available at iTunes now.
Source: iTunes
Instagram dives into curated content with a dedicated music account
Instagram uses its official account to promote notable snapshots on the social network, and has been doing so for quite some time. But now, the filter-driven app will serve up a daily look at music “around the globe.” Through the @music stream, the folks behind the software will highlight music photographers, designers working on album art, instrument makers and fans in addition to current stars and emerging talent. It’ll even offer 15-second lessons from time to time. Musicians are a big part of Instagram’s user base, where artists can share updates and connect with fans, so it makes sense that the subject would get its own channel. In fact, BuzzFeed reports that around 25 percent of the app’s 300 million accounts belong to those folks.
The move also follows other social networks, like Snapchat, getting into the curated content game. Of course, music is also a popular topic elsewhere. You may recall Twitter’s short-lived #Music app back in 2013, and it’s current chart collaboration with Billboard. As I’m sure you’re well aware, people love taking pictures of food with the app, so it’ll be interesting to see if a culinary-focused channel pops up in the future.
Filed under: Software
Source: Instagram
Microsoft shows off Windows Holographic running Windows 10 apps
When Microsoft debuted its Windows Holographic software and HoloLens headset a few months back, Windows 10 apps were mentioned as a possibility. Well, at Build 2015 today, the folks in Redmond offered a look at Windows 10 Universal apps in holographic action. During the onstage demo, apps could be placed on walls or set to float in space, and resized based on the user’s needs — something we’d only seen in videos up to this point. Of course, this means that users in different locations can collaborate on 3D models without having to be in the same room. Any Windows 10 app can be used as a hologram with the headset, so getting work done at a place other than your desk will soon be a possibility.
With those apps in play, you can overlay a hologram on top of a physical object and make tweaks without heading back to the keyboard. Just like the real and virtual robots we saw onstage, you wrangle simple changes, like the color of an LED, with gestures and the projected UI. Microsoft partnered with Case Western Reserve University to develop medical solutions for the platform, and those were shown off, too. Up-close examinations of the nervous and skeletal systems are now possible without the use of cadavers, and each of the body’s systems can be displayed as a separate model in seconds. For architects, Windows Holographic brings the ability to walk through buildings without leaving the office, or through those projects that are still just blueprints. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what the final version looks like, but Microsoft’s vision for how we’ll work in the near-future is pretty enticing.
Instagram dives into curated content with a dedicated music account
Instagram uses its official account to promote notable snapshots on the social network, and has been doing so for quite some time. But now, the filter-driven app will serve up a daily look at music “around the globe.” Through the @music stream, the folks behind the software will highlight music photographers, designers working on album art, instrument makers and fans in addition to current stars and emerging talent. It’ll even offer 15-second lessons from time to time. Musicians are a big part of Instagram’s user base, where artists can share updates and connect with fans, so it makes sense that the subject would get its own channel. In fact, BuzzFeed reports that around 25 percent of the app’s 300 million accounts belong to those folks.
The move also follows other social networks, like Snapchat, getting into the curated content game. Of course, music is also a popular topic elsewhere. You may recall Twitter’s short-lived #Music app back in 2013, and it’s current chart collaboration with Billboard. As I’m sure you’re well aware, people love taking pictures of food with the app, so it’ll be interesting to see if a culinary-focused channel pops up in the future.
Filed under: Software
Source: Instagram
Microsoft invites Android and iOS apps to join Windows 10
Microsoft’s Terry Myerson confirmed on-stage at Build what many of us suspected in the hours leading up to the event — the company’s going to make it easier for developers to bring Android apps into the Windows Store. To make this possible, Myers said, Windows phones “will include an Android subsystem” meant to play nice with the Java and C++ code developers have already crafted run on a rival’s operating system. Turns out, that’s not the only dev-friendly coup we’re seeing today: iOS developers can compile their Objective C code right from Microsoft’s Visual Studio, and turn it into a full-fledged Windows 10 app. This, frankly, is huge. With one announcement, drawn out of the course of a few minutes, Microsoft may have just changed its mobile trajectory completely.
Haven’t been keeping tabs on the matter? Well, today’s news (particularly the iOS bit) came like a bolt from the blue this afternoon, but the situation that probably predicated it has been brewing for a while now. Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform — while distinctly charming in ways its rivals aren’t — has never been the place to go if you’re looking for the newest, buzziest apps. Even Windows software maintained by social giants like Twitter don’t get the same attention as their iOS and Android counterparts; Vine’s video sharing app for Windows Phone got its first update in over a year just a few weeks back. By throwing its arms open to iOS and Android developers, it’s possible that Microsoft just solved that problem. And of course, since Windows 10 is built around the concept of Universal Apps, we’ll start to see all that converted software running on a slew of differently sized devices down the road.
One of the weightier questions surrounding this shift in thinking is, well, what are these apps going to look like? Sure, King may have ported a version of Candy Crush Saga to Windows 10 without breaking much of a sweat, but plenty of iOS and Android apps rely on a set of specific UI flourishes, interactions and design elements that don’t always jibe with Windows 10’s aesthetic. We’ll soon see how this whole thing shakes out, but one thing seems clear for now: Microsoft’s still doing whatever it takes to court developers and this time it could really pay off.
Filed under: Mobile
Your Apple Watch can help you tune a guitar
The Apple Watch is handy for a lot of things, and now you can use the wearable when you tune your axe. Thanks to the folks at IK Multimedia, when you employ the company’s chromatic UltraTuner app for iOS, note info is beamed to your wrist while tuning that stringed instrument. The software’s Stage mode offers a UI that takes up the entire screen of a phone for maximum visibility, and when this setting is selected, a smaller version of the interface is displayed on that wrist-worn accessory. IK Multimedia claims that UltraTuner is ten times more accurate than mechanical strobe options — down to +/- 1/100th of a cent. As you might expect, those figures make it the most accurate tuner available for iOS. If you’ve already splurged for the $5 app, you’ll need to update to the most recent version to pair it with the Apple Watch.
Source: IK Multimedia
Google Now pulls info from 70 more Android apps
Google Now started pulling details from third-party Android apps back in January, but today the folks in Mountain View added support for a truckload more. As expected, in addition to the collection of nearly 40 integrations announced a few months back, Google displays info from 70 more inside the card-based repository. This means that you’ll be able to easily keep track of items like your Zipcar reservation return time and quickly snag directions back to the drop-off spot. We won’t run down the full list of new additions, but you can peruse the currently supported lineup right here — just know that Spotify, ABC News, RunKeeper, Jawbone and OpenTable all made the cut. To leverage the new functionality, make sure you’re device is properly equipped with the latest version of the Google app.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: Google (Inside Search Blog)
Apple doesn’t want you making Watch apps that only tell the time
The Apple Watch may come with gobs of customizable watch faces out of the box, but that doesn’t mean that you can install any face you like. Apple has updated its App Store developer guidelines to expressly forbid Watch apps that are primarily designed to tell the time — it can be a feature, but shouldn’t be the focus. You’ll have to make do with the existing choices for now.
However, there are signs that more watch faces are coming. Apple’s help guide suggests that firmware updates could include additional built-in faces. Also, it’s important to note that Apple hasn’t launched its promised native app kit yet. It’s too soon to say whether or not Apple will open the doors to third-party faces at some point down the road. It took a few months after launch for Android Wear to officially support additional faces, so it’s not surprising that this kind of functionality is missing from Cupertino’s wearable on day one.
Filed under: Wearables, Mobile, Apple
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: Apple Developer
AIVAnet 