Verizon makes it easier to bring (some) phones to its network
As a CDMA-based carrier (until LTE takes over), Verizon isn’t nearly as friendly to the bring-your-own-phone trend as the likes of AT&T or T-Mobile. You can’t usually swap SIM cards and expect your unlocked phone to work. Thankfully, the carrier recently made the process a whole lot easier… provided you have the right device, that is. It’ll now activate compatible, unlocked versions of the iPhone 6 and Nexus 6. So long as you can find your device’s ID and pick up a Verizon SIM, you can jump over to Big Red without having to ditch your existing hardware. You’ll likely be stuck if you own another device, but that’s more due to technology (few unlocked phones have full Verizon CDMA and LTE support at present) than anything else.
Of course, Verizon isn’t opening up strictly out of kindness. Allowing outside phones helps Verizon honor the voluntary code of conduct for American carriers, which is meant to simplify jumping between providers and stay on the government’s good side. Also, this is simply wise from a business perspective. Few people relish the thought of buying a brand new phone (or waiting for a promotional credit) to switch networks — eliminating that hurdle potentially gets more customers, whether they’re unhappy with their old service or wary of owning a carrier-locked handset.
Photo by Will Lipman.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Apple, Google, Verizon
Via:
9to5Mac
Source:
Verizon
Tags: apple, byop, google, iphone6, mobilepostcross, nexus6, smartphone, unlocked, verizon, wireless
Motorola, LG, ASUS and Huawei reportedly introducing new Android Wear watches at IFA
It has been a bit quiet around the Android Wear realm. Is Apple stealing all the thunder? The Cupertino giant did sell more smart watches in a day than the Android Wear manufacturers shipped in 2014, collectively. In fact, Strategy Analytics’ studies suggest about 75% of all Q2, 2015 smart watches came from the iPhone maker. The Apple Watch is a force to be reckoned with, and the silence among Android Wear manufacturers may simply signify they’re getting ready for a battle to come.
According to sources familiar with upcoming Android Wear launches, multiple companies are planning to take the stage and introduce their new Android-based wearables at IFA 2015. next week. These sources couldn’t tell us much about the upcoming products, but they did give us a few hints on the general plans.
Motorola is said to launch a successor to the Moto 360, which managed to be among the most popular devices during the first Android Wear wave, thanks to its circular screen and enticing design. Meanwhile, LG is said to be planning a device similar to the LG Watch Urbane LTE. And don’t worry, it seems this time around LG is opting to use Android Wear instead of WebOS.
We have already seen the upcoming Huawei and ASUS Android Wear products, so all we can hope for is to see more details in Berlin. The Huawei Watch (yes, that’s the name) is meant to be a “timeless” piece of technology with a classic design. It’s actually quite gorgeous, but some of you will prefer the ASUS ZenWatch 2, which was unveiled at Computex last June.
Will these new Android Wear devices be able to compete against Apple’s mighty watch? Most of us will side with Google’s partners, but the truth is it’s very hard to go against the Apple Watch – those guys have the numbers! And with Samsung possibly getting rid of Google’s software on the Gear S2 in exchange of their own Tizen platform, things are looking pretty tough.
All we can do is wait and see what happens at IFA. You can be sure we will be there catching all the goodies, so keep it tuned to Android Authority for all your wearable coverage!
Android Wear videos
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Deal: buy the ASUS ZenWatch for only $124
The ASUS ZenWatch 2 is on its way to store shelves, so it’s only natural that we are starting to see more deals on the previous iteration. The ASUS ZenWatch has already been available for $129.99 from Google, Amazon and Best Buy, in the recent past. The newest deal comes from Newegg, which is offering the Android Wear smart watch for only $124.
Is there a catch? Well… not quite. It’s not really a catch – it’s just that you do have to take multiple steps to get the price down to this level. For starters, you need to add your device to your cart and add the coupon code “VCO2015BTS”, after inputting your email. This will bring the price down to $139 (from $149).
You will also notice that the purchase already includes a $15 mail-in rebate. The customer will need to fill out and send the included form. This will effectively bring the price down to $124! Yes, it takes some steps and the process may be a bit annoying, but this is one of the best deals we have seen on this product.
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Now, the real question is whether you want to get the ASUS ZenWatch or prefer to wait for the second iteration. This is definitely a great deal, but it’s only for those who feel like the ASUS ZenWatch can really take care of all their wearable needs. Go ahead and read our full ZenWatch review to find out if this product will suit your needs. If it doesn’t, just head to our post on the best Android watches of 2015. One of them will be to your liking!
Is anyone signing up for this ASUS ZenWatch deal?
You can now view your Android device in Chrome with Vysor
If you have ever wanted to view your Android device on your computer screen, you already know, it has always been a huge hassle. Vysor aims to change that by simply connecting your Android device with Google Chrome.
All you have to do is download Vysor in the Chrome web store to get started. You don’t even need an app on your phone and don’t need to be rooted either. The developer behind the Vysor Chrome app also created very popular apps such as Helium, AllCast, and ROM Manager.
To setup Vysor, download the Chrome app, turn on USB debugging in the settings of your Android device, plug in your device to a computer that runs Chrome, and follow the on-screen instructions. That’s it! A window should pop up showing you your Android screen on your computer screen.
Do remember the app is still very new and still in beta, so you may run into some bugs here and there.
You can do basically everything you can on your Android device as if you were actually using it.
Click here to view the embedded video.
If you would like to know more about the technical side, check out the video below.
Click here to view the embedded video.
Source: Koushik Dutta (Koush)
Come comment on this article: You can now view your Android device in Chrome with Vysor
Google Map Maker returns to the US, UK and over 40 other countries
Google’s Map Maker tool returned a few weeks ago after being shut down following an issue with digital vandalism. While it went live in six countries earlier this month, the US and UK weren’t among the selected locales for the initial return. Map Maker is available in those areas once again, though, as well as over 40 other countries to bring the total tally to more than 50. As part of the re-opening, Google has “regional leads” in each country to keep an eye on things, looking to keep any would-be vandals at bay. To find out if Map Maker is available where you are, head over to the site and input your location.
Filed under:
Internet, Software, Google
Via:
Android Police
Source:
Google Product Forums
Tags: app, google, googlemapmaker, internet, map, mapmaker, maps, software
YouTube Gaming aims to be the most popular streaming site in town
YouTube is already the web’s most popular video site, but with the launch of YouTube Gaming across iOS, Android and desktops on August 26th, it aims to claim another title: most popular streaming site. YouTube Gaming bets big on live-streamed and archived gaming videos, with separate pages for more than 25,000 games. Users also get a customized feed of the gaming channels they follow, complete with notifications when each channel is live. All of this means YouTube Gaming is going head-to-head with Twitch, a site that Amazon bought for nearly $1 billion last year, following murmurs that YouTube’s parent company, Google, was interested in the same purchase.Slideshow-315077
Overall, YouTube Gaming’s layout is sleek. Live streams are the meat of the new section and they dominate the homepage. YouTube Gaming pulls a live feed from a channel or game that you follow and plays it right at the top of the site (muted, thankfully). Scroll down and videos line the rest of the page, separated into trending, featured, suggested and popular sections, to name a few. Subscribed channels line the right side in a transparent strip, with live channels at the top and marked with a red dot. The left side offers game pages, with those you follow at the top, proceeded by trending and featured titles.
Individual game pages are a completely new feature for YouTube, allowing users to scroll through live, followed, popular and Let’s Play videos featuring their favorite titles. Channel pages get a revamp on YouTube Gaming as well, displaying all archived and live videos from a specific streamer, separated into customizable sections.
One YouTuber, HikePlays, helped shape the new Gaming section by offering suggestions to the team from a streamer’s point of view. He’s a veteran in the live YouTube business, streaming and archiving his videos for hordes of gaming fans since October 2013. “I was streaming on YouTube before people knew there was streaming on YouTube,” as he puts it. He now has 1.5 million subscribers.
“There’s a certain taboo that comes with being a gamer as an entertainer.”
– Hike, YouTube streamer
He notes one particularly interesting piece of information about streaming games on YouTube: Just 10 to 20 percent of his views actually come from the live show. The bulk of his views come from on-demand videos, and this is one reason Hike likes all of his content to be in a singular, easily clickable place. Twitch, by contrast, emphasizes live streaming over archived videos — and its SVP of Marketing Matthew DiPietro has something to say about YouTube Gaming:
“The opportunity in gaming video is enormous, and others have clearly taken notice. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished in the last four years, but our eyes are on the future. We are focused on building upon the foundation we’ve laid with the Twitch community, and incorporating the next-generation features the community has asked for. We are dedicated to being the best social, global, multi-screen video platform for gamers, period.”
With YouTube Gaming, Hike hopes game videos will be more discoverable, and he wants streamers to become true, recognized entertainers.
“There’s a certain taboo that comes with being a gamer as an entertainer,” he says. “I was in the military, I was a programmer, I’ve had a lot of different careers. I’m not too young. And there’s a certain taboo that comes with gaming that people go, ‘Oh, you’re a gamer. You have the easiest job in the world.’ And that’s not really true.”
Not everyone thinks that gaming for a living is easy business — the economics of eSports alone make it clear that there’s serious talent and money in watching other people play games. With YouTube Gaming, it looks like Google is cashing in its talent and following that money.
Filed under:
Gaming, Internet, HD, Google
Tags: google, hdpostcross, live, LiveStream, stream, streaming, twitch, youtube, youtubegaming
Most of Google Now’s original development team left before I/O 2015 Now on Tap announcement
During Google I/O this year, the company showed off Now on Tap, which looks to be an extremely cool use of Google Now’s information scraping. Since then, Microsoft has already updated their Bing app to offer a similar experience, and it’s expected that Apple will do the same at some point. The competition in the digital personal assistant space is heating up very, very quickly, but unfortunately, Google may end up struggling to be competitive with other giants, according to some recent news.
Just before I/O this year, a majority of the original Google Now development team left the company for other things. Part of this is because of the shift of Now moving to a Google search project instead of a strictly Android project, and partly because of Sundar Pichai’s attitude towards Now. As of right now, only one original team member is still working with the project. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for the future of Now, but it does mean that the original creators’ vision for the project probably won’t ever be fully realized.
Now has moved from being a killer feature for Android as an OS and has moved to something Google offers across all of its platforms, whether you’re on a Chromebook, using Chrome on a laptop, or using an Android device. Pichai heads Chrome and Android, and he reportedly wasn’t willing to fight for Now to remain totally independent like it started. He also likely realizes that Google needs to keep new products flowing in and improving in order to continue making Google money. At the end of the day, making money is pretty high up on the to-do list for any company.
It’s tough to say exactly what direction Now will go in, but I wouldn’t worry about the feature going anywhere. Sometimes Google just restructures segments of their products, like we’ve seen with Google+, and like we’ve seen happen with Android, Chrome, and everything else.
Personally, I only ever use Google Now on my phone, never on my laptops or desktops. How often do you utilize Google Now cards across your devices?
source: re/code
Come comment on this article: Most of Google Now’s original development team left before I/O 2015 Now on Tap announcement
Mirror your Android device on your Mac or PC with Vysor
There are plenty of ways to mirror your smartphone onto your desktop, but none are as apparently easy (or snappy) as this one. Vysor has been cooked-up by AllCast creator Koush as a seamless way to mirror your Android device’s display onto a Windows, Linux or Mac computer. All you’ll need to do is connect one to the other over USB and install the Chrome plugin and in a few seconds, you should be able to control your phone with a keyboard and mouse. It may have been intended as a developer tool, but one keen-eyed Reddit user spotted the app while it was in private beta and shared it with the world.
As Koush himself points out in the second video below, one feature that hasn’t been noticed was Vysor Share. With it, users can remotely control a smartphone from another machine through the internet, as long as both PCs have the app installed. That way, power users can actually push (or pull) updates to far-off phones using Android’s Debug Bridge functionality. In the future, the developer is hoping to tweak this offering to enable developers to connect to multiple devices at a time. Right now, users are asked to just give it a try and offer your feedback, so have at it!
Filed under:
Cellphones, Internet, Software, Google
Via:
Reddit
Source:
Google Plus, (2), Vysor
Tags: ADB, Android, AndroidMirroring, google, Koush, KoushikDutta, Mirroring, Remote, video, Vysor
Google can upload your thumb drives to its cloud storage (for a price)
Cloud services are convenient, because you can upload data anytime, anywhere, so long as you have an internet connection. But if you’re a developer with terabytes upon terabytes of data, it could become a bit cumbersome. That’s why Google has launched a service called “Offline Media Import/Export,” which uploads data to its Cloud Storage product for developers who mail in their hard drives, USB flash drives and even tapes. The company first offered the service back in 2013, but it only used to accept hard drives for processing. To note, a third-party company will be handling the content transfers and not Google itself, and it definitely isn’t free. According to TechCrunch, Mountain View used to charge $80 per disk during the preview period, but it’s unclear how much each, say, thumb drive would cost for this expanded version. Google says it could take up to 100 days to upload one terabyte on a typical business DSL connection, though, so firms who need to their data imported ASAP might find it worth paying the extra $$$.
[Image credit: IntelFreePress/Flickr]
Via:
TechCrunch
Source:
Google
Tags: google, googlecloudplatform
Android 6.0 Marshmallow – 8 features Google needs to improve
Google aims to improve Android with each major release, however it doesn’t always manage to pack in the features and improvements that users and developers are asking for. The release of Android M is upon us, and here are eight things Google still needs to improve.
Customization
While Android M offers features such as arranging quick toggles and having a possible dark theme, it is still no match compared to custom ROMs. Theming and changes to the core look of the OS are nothing new to the rooting community and it is time Google allows this deep customization in stock Android.
Tablet UI
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich had a dedicated tablet UI which made the tablet and phone experience very different. Jelly Bean unified the tablet and phone UI to look and act very similar while keeping them separate and Lollipop basically made them indistinguishable. This is a good and a bad thing. While the experience is now the same, no matter what (stock Android) device you are using, there aren’t any special software features that make having a tablet worth while. Which leads into our next section.
Multitasking and RAM management
Multi-window multitasking is nothing new for owners of smartphones that come with customized versions of Android like those from Samsung or LG. But until now it has not been included in stock Android. While still in the experimental stage, this feature is now in the Android M dev preview. It enables apps to be opened simultaneously in all four corners, or two side-by-side. The only problem is that it doesn’t necessarily look pretty, and closing apps in this view may reveal others that are behind it. This can lead to a confusing experience, which I am hoping will be addressed in coming updates.
Also the RAM management issues that should have been addressed in KitKat, still exist today. When I have a lot of apps open I see multiple launcher redraws and quite a bit of lag, which have hindered the experience on my Nexus 6. The Nexus 9 with only 2 GBs of RAM is even worse and without these issues being fixed multi-window apps and heavy multitasking do not seem possible on stock Android yet.
Gestures
There are no universal gestures in Android, the only major one is double tap to wake and stock Android only supports that on the Nexus 9, so the other Nexus devices are not able to take advantage of this. Custom launchers support some gestures but they only work on the home screen. There are apps that enable universal custom gestures if you are rooted and they enable you to do anything with just a swipe. This could be very useful and could even replace the navigation bar all together by having gestures that act as the back, home and recent apps controls.
Better Lockscreen/Widgets
Google introduced lockscreen widgets in Android 4.2 and sort of removed them in Lollipop. Swiping left or right now opens the camera or phone. There is no option to add widgets and swipe between them like you could in Jelly Bean and KitKat, however the notifications are actionable, so there is still the ability to change songs and do anything that you can do in the notification shade. This method works but it is not as pretty or as useful as it used to be. Having the ability to add widgets like Jelly Bean and KitKat, with actionable notifications would be a very nice upgrade.
Privacy and permission settings
App Ops made a slight appearance in Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. It let you control which apps can take advantage of what permissions. If you didn’t want Facebook being able to see your location, you could block the app from being able to do so. Unfortunately this feature was removed in Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Being able to control app permissions is a must have and it would be a welcome addition to Android M or any future Android release.
Full system backup and restore
This is nothing new in the root community, one of the best things about being unlocked and rooted is the ability to install a custom recovery. CWM Recovery and TWRP both offer ways to make Android backups which backup the whole system in case something goes wrong. This only takes a few clicks and the options provided are very customizable. Restoring is also a breeze with just a few steps. Google is getting closer with the ability to backup app data in Android M and the ability to add accounts and the home screen layout using Tap & Go. This is relatively convenient compared to older versions of Android but it doesn’t compare to a full system restore or a dedicated app like Titanium Backup.
The ability to remove bloatware
Carrier branded devices are known to come with a lot of bloatware. AT&T installs apps in the double digits on branded devices and even on the Nexus 6 when it came out. AT&T is not the only one at fault however, most of the carriers have some form of bloatware that you can’t get rid of no matter how hard you try, unless you are rooted. Disabling the apps in settings will get rid of them in the app drawer and prevent them from doing anything, but they still take up space on your device. Even the American Nexus 6 has Verizon bloat built in no matter what carrier you use it on.
Wrap-Up
Google has improved Android immensely since its first release in 2008, but there are always things to improve on. New Android releases bring a lot to the table while leaving a few things behind. Android M is no different, however with some options that should have been added long ago, along with better battery life, greater performance and other improvements, it is a worthwhile upgrade.
AIVAnet 