Play Newsstand updated, brings auto download for magazine subscribers and more
Google has updated Play Newsstand to v3.4.3, adding a couple of user-requested features to the app. As per the norm, the update is being pushed out in stages and should get to everyone soon.
Play Newsstand now has a new feature where magazine subscribes can auto-download new issues. You can turn this new feature on in the Settings option under “Downloading.” If you have a lot of subscriptions, it might be wise to select the option to download over Wi-Fi only, otherwise, Play Newsstand will no doubt eat through your data plan.
Additionally, Google has added brought the unsubscribe button back to the Read Now overflow menu. The search giant removed the button entirely in the past for reasons unknown, but now it’s made a return, allowing you to be more choosy about what topics and websites you see content from.
If you haven’t received the update yet, you can get the APK here or hit the download link below.
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Google offers Project Fi users a one-off replacement Nexus 6 for just $100
Replacing a broken smartphone is never a pleasant experience, and it’s often an expensive one at that. If you purchased a Nexus 6 when you first set up your Project Fi account, though, you can get a one-time replacement if you break the Nexus 6 within the first 12 months for just $100.
That’s right, so long as you bought the Nexus 6 during the Project Fi set-up process, it will be replaced for just $100 with no questions asked. The Nexus 6 needn’t actually be broken, it could just be looking a little used, with scratches and dents and you could fork over the $100 for a brand new replacement. It’s an idea that will probably make more sense the closer you get to the end of the 12 month period unless you happen to (accidentally) break the handset in the meantime, in which case Bob’s-your-Uncle. It isn’t a free service, unlike HTC’s UH OH program, but a $100 charge is definitely better than having to pay the full amount for a replacement or repair.
Source: AndroidCentral
Come comment on this article: Google offers Project Fi users a one-off replacement Nexus 6 for just $100
Leak: New details emerge on upcoming Nexus devices from LG and Huawei
It’s never too early for Nexus leaks, am I right? While we’ve seen the odd leak in recent times showing off possible specifications and rear panels, today we have not one, but two leaks about both the Nexus handsets that are allegedly being developed by LG and Huawei.
According to serial leaker @OnLeaks, the Nexus handset being developed by LG will likely sport a metal body as well as the following specifications:
- 5.2-Inch display
- Front-facing speakers
- Fingerprint sensor on the rear
- USB Type-C
- Dimensions: 146.9 x 72.9 x 8/9.8mm
The Huawei developed Nexus will apparently also have a metal body, along with the following specifications:
- 5.7-Inch display
- Front-facing speakers
- Fingerprint sensor on the rear
- USB Type-C
- Dimensions: 159.4 x 78.3 x 6.6/8.5mm
As you can see, both handsets feature a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel, front-facing speakers and USB Type-C. It’s likely that this interpretation of the USB Type-C standard will include both USB 3.1 data transfer and quick charging, unlike the stripped down version that is present in the OnePlus 2.
Besides today’s leaks, it’s rumoured that the Huawei Nexus could be the first smartphone to offer global LTE support. It’s also rumoured to use the Snapdragon 810 processor (not the 820) while the LG Nexus could use the Snapdragon 808.
While it’s interesting to see what LG and Huawei are planning with their respective Nexus handsets, it should be noted that anything can change in the coming months, thus the proverbial pinch of salt should be taken with today’s leaks. What would you like to see in the next Nexus device(s)? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: @OnLeaks (Twitter) LG, Huawei
Come comment on this article: Leak: New details emerge on upcoming Nexus devices from LG and Huawei
Huawei’s Nexus smartphone may offer global LTE support
While Google’s Nexus smartphones usually come equipped with top-of-the-line hardware, their popularity can be largely attributed to the pure Android experience that they offer. But this time around, Huawei is going to give you one more reason to get excited about the upcoming Google flagship – it could be compatible with LTE bands worldwide.
According to BGR India, the Huawei-made Nexus will feature a single PCB for all bands, making it the world’s first Global LTE capable smartphone. Usually a country either has FD-LTE or TD-LTE frequency bands, therefore, smartphone companies manufacture country-specific handsets. Those travelling from one country to another often face network issues if their handset is not compatible with the frequency bands of the new country.
“In order to save costs, manufacturers instead have different variants for different regions. However this is something only Google would do,” a Huawei source was quoted as saying.
It is not clear whether Huawei is using Qualcomm’s RF360 technology that promises to deliver one global LTE solution for bands of multiple frequencies.
Earlier, we had reported a leaked video that showed the design and specifications of Huawei’s upcoming Nexus smartphone. According to rumours, the Huawei Nexus will come with a 5.7-inch QHD display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor, 13.1-megapixel rear camera with laser focus, 4GB of RAM and NFC support. Needless to say, it will run Android M out-of-the-box.
Source: BGR India
Come comment on this article: Huawei’s Nexus smartphone may offer global LTE support
Add Google Cast to your Fire TV with an $8 app
Buyers remorse can be a terrible thing as you always wonder if you’d have been better off picking the other device when stood in the aisle at Best Buy. Thankfully if you’ve got $7.99 lying around and kinda regret grabbing Amazon’s Fire TV, then help is at hand thanks to YouMap. The app enables you to trick the hardware into thinking that it’s a Chromecast, letting you mirror your Chrome browsing or push YouTube clips straight from your smartphone. The app works for both the Fire TV and the stick, and while it won’t give you all the functionality of Google’s video dongle, you’ll at least be able to see how the other half live.
Filed under:
Home Entertainment, HD, Mobile, Google, Amazon
Via:
Liliputing, AFTVNews
Source:
Amazon
Tags: Amazon, App, Chrome, Chromecast, FireTV, FireTVStick, google, hdpostcross, mobilepostcross, YouMap
Skype for Business is coming to your mobile device
Two months after Microsoft launched Skype’s Business edition, which integrates into MS Office Calendar and allows for group messaging/video chats/calls for up to 250 people, the video conferencing company announced on Tuesday that a mobile version for both iOS and Android devices is in the works. The mobile app will feature a central dashboard from which the user can search for contacts, check for and RSVP to upcoming meetings and dig through past archived conversations. Additionally, actually contacting people will be easier thanks to larger onscreen buttons and a full-screen video chat option.
The apps aren’t ready quite yet though. Skype is currently recruiting businesses to participate in its preview program. Corporate IT managers can sign to eight employees (four for iOS, four for Android) up for the preview at www.skypepreview.com before August 17th. Once the apps actually go live “later this year,” users will need to have Lync 2013, on which this system is built, installed on their device in order to use them.
[Image Credit: shutterstock]
Filed under:
Internet, Mobile, Apple, Microsoft, Google
Source:
Microsoft Office Blog
Tags: android, apple, calendar, google, ios, messaging, microsoft, mobiledevice, mobilepostcross, office, skype, video, VideoConferencing
Focus: a complete gallery app that prioritizes ease of use, organization and security
Finding the right gallery app can be a hassle. There’s just so many options out there! I happen to be pretty happy with Google Photos, but if that service is not to your liking we will have to continue looking around. Today we would like to introduce you to a new gallery app that managed to catch our eye. It’s called Focus, and it was made by developer Francisco Franco (you will know him if you have been following the Nexus developer community).
We don’t tend to put many gallery apps on the spotlight, as most of them are just another in the bunch. This one happens to be especially outstanding, though. It is simple, yet very advanced and full of features. It will all be ready for you as soon as you install the app. Open Focus and you will be met by all your images – every single one in your device. No need to search around weird folders or move images around, and it’s especially awesome to see it’s also not a scrambled mess.
#gallery-1
margin: auto;
#gallery-1 .gallery-item
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 25%;
#gallery-1 img
border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
#gallery-1 .gallery-caption
margin-left: 0;
/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
A big factor in this application is its organization features. Spend enough time labeling your photos and you will be able to find any image in a heart beat. Users can make their own tags, too (Art, Parties, Nature, etc.). In addition, all your homepage photos will be neatly organized by categories. Camera, Download, Facebook, Messenger and all other sources will have its labels. It’s super simple!
It’s possible to look into the photos’ exact details to find out the exact resolution, which phone the image was taken from and more. If those features weren’t enough, Focus also offers a swiping lock (so strangers can’t go looking at your images), dark mode and more.
Want in on the action? We have both good and bad news. The good news is this gallery app is free to download; the bad news is not all features are available without paying into the premium package. Getting the Premium features will cost $3.79 (or you could pay $10.89 if you really love the work the developer is doing and you would like to donate a little more).
This fee payment will grant you access to custom tags, collection control, dark theme, swipe lock, Muzei live wallpaper and any future premium features that may be included. I say the app is totally worth it, and with Google Photos support down the line, I am definitely signing up for the Premium version. Are you?
With Alphabet, Google wants to avoid becoming Microsoft
You’re probably tired of hearing just how “unconventional” Google is after yesterday’s surprise restructuring announcement. Sure, making Google a subsidiary of a company called Alphabet is certainly strange, especially after it’s become a household brand practically synonymous with technology culture. But, really, CEO Larry Page’s decision to reorient the company makes plenty of sense given just how far Google has come from simply being a search company. On top of wildly popular offerings like Android and YouTube, Google is also exploring things like self-driving cars, delivery drones and even life extension. Now with everything under Alphabet, Page no longer has to justify why a search company is delving into such far-out territory. And that sets up a future where Google can avoid the stagnation so common to big tech companies, and its subsidiaries can be even bolder in their ambitions.
So what does all this mean for you, the tech-savvy consumer? At first, probably not much. Page was clear that Alphabet isn’t intended to be a consumer brand; instead the whole point is to give each subsidiary the ability to build up their own brands. And you can bet that things like the company’s self-driving car initiative will forever be thought of as a “Google” project. The company will separate Google’s financials from the rest of Alphabet in the next earnings report, which should give peace of mind to investors. Google’s stock jumped around 6 percent in overnight trading, so it’s clear the market is responding positively to the news.
In the long term, forming Alphabet basically seems like a way for Google to avoid following in the footsteps of Microsoft and IBM, companies that faced stagnation at points in the face of younger, nimbler competitors (like Google). When you’ve got successful legacy businesses, like Google’s search and Android OS, sometimes it’s better to keep them separate so they don’t get in the way of new ideas. Each of Alphabet’s subsidiaries will have their own CEOs and will be managed somewhat independently, which should technically make it easier for them to innovate without worrying about what every move means for the entire conglomerate. At the same time, they’ll also be able to share their successes with other Alphabet companies.
“We’ve long believed that over time companies tend to get comfortable doing the same thing, just making incremental changes,” Page said in his announcement yesterday. “But in the technology industry, where revolutionary ideas drive the next big growth areas, you need to be a bit uncomfortable to stay relevant.”
Indeed, there’s something to be said for avoiding comfort. IBM’s dominance and massive success in the mainframe era was one of the big reasons it ended up losing the PC market to Microsoft and Apple. And while Microsoft was in the smartphone arena before Apple, it missed out on the modern mobile revolution by being slow to catch up to the iPhone’s capacitive touchscreen and large app library. You can probably blame the steady cash cows of Windows and Office for that (among many other issues at Microsoft).
But while Alphabet is an intriguing move by Google, it’s unclear if Page’s ideal vision of the company will pan out. All of the company’s CEOs will still have to answer to Page and Google co-founder (and Alphabet president) Sergey Brin. So while Sundar Pichai is technically now CEO of Google, he doesn’t have anywhere near the amount of influence Page and Eric Schmidt had as former CEOs. In the end, he’s still a product guy focused on Google’s online services, Android and Chrome. We also don’t know what it’ll look like when Alphabet subsidiaries end up conflicting with each other.
In trying to avoid the mistakes of many big tech companies, Google has crafted itself an unconventional future. But it will be years before we see if Google’s Alphabet pays off.
[Photo credits: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Larry Page); smoothgroover22/Flickr (Self-driving car)]
Filed under:
Google
Tags: Alphabet, google, LarryPage
Google’s new Alphabet restructuring may run into legal issues with BMW
Google is now a subsidiary of a bigger company called Alphabet, but they may run into some issues using that name. Apparently, the name Alphabet (and alphabet.com) is already registered to German automobile manufacturer BMW. That Alphabet handles support to corporations for vehicle fleets, and BMW isn’t interested in selling the name or website domain. Google never approached BMW with an offer to purchase the domain, anyway, but that’s a moot point.
However, just because Google is using the name doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve broken any laws or infringed on BMW’s copyright. Technically, two companies can use the same name so long as it doesn’t cause any confusion for customers. Google might run into a problem with this considering they’re pretty heavily invested in Android Auto and self-driving cars, but that’ll be up to BMW to investigate if they plan on suing for Google’s use of the name.
This entire rebranding scheme is a little confusing, and throwing trademark litigations on top of everything definitely won’t help. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out with both companies, though.
source: New York Times
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Rite Aid to start accepting Apple Pay and other mobile payments
Nearly a year after shutting off support for Apple Pay and other NFC-based payments, Rite Aid has announced that will be changing soon. On August 15th, the drug store is set to begin accepting mobile checkouts at around 4,600 locations across the US. This includes Apple Pay, Google Wallet and, in the future, Android Pay. Last year, Rite Aid along with CVS pulled support for these type of payment solutions due to contractual ties with the Merchant Customer Exchange, a retailer group that has its own wallet system called CurrentC — though it relies on QR codes, which is arguably an outdated method in 2015. Now there’s an excuse to pull out your Apple Watch the next time you’re at Rite Aid, buying shampoo or whatever it is you get there.
[Image credits: Associated Press]
Filed under:
Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple, Google
Source:
Rite Aid
Tags: Android Pay, AndroidPay, Apple Pay, ApplePay, Google Wallet, GoogleWallet, mobilepostcross, Rite Aid, RiteAid
AIVAnet 