110 Super high resolution abstract wallpapers for your mobile devices
Your phone probably has a fantastic display and there is no better way to see the beauty of it than through a wallpaper. We’ve collected a huge library of over 100 HD (1080p) and QHD (1440p) wallpapers of abstract art for your backgrounds. These are perfect to show off the pixels and color gamut on your Android, iOS or Windows smartphones. They’ll also look great on your tablets as well.
We’ve changed things up lately and will be sharing the entire collection through Google Photos rather than hosting them on our servers. There are thousands of you who love these wallpapers and rather than drain the speed on our server, we’re offloading that responsibility to Google. All you have to do is join the collection through this link and you’re free to download all of the wallpapers to your device.
We would also love it if you tweeted screenshots of your home screens to us at Twitter.com. We might feature your background in an upcoming wallpapers collection!
See the entire collection by clicking on this LINK to Google Photos.
Here some of our favorites from the collection.
The post 110 Super high resolution abstract wallpapers for your mobile devices appeared first on AndroidGuys.
YouTube reportedly plans to support live 360-degree videos
360-degree videos are all the rage nowadays, and YouTube is at the forefront of that trend. The internet service began supporting this type of content last March, which it later expanded to be compatible with virtual reality headsets. But it’s not stopping there. According to BuzzFeed News, YouTube’s now working to bring live 360-degree videos to its platform, although there isn’t a timeline of when it plans to launch said feature.
The report does mention that YouTube has held meetings with undisclosed 360-degree camera manufacturers, as the company looks to find partners willing to bake spherical livestreaming into their products. Eventually, what YouTube hopes to build is a platform that can handle high-quality, live 360-degree videos, regardless of who’s shooting them and what 360 camera they’re using to do so.
It sounds easier said than done, but if anyone can do it, it’s Alphabet & Co.
Source: BuzzFeed News
HBO’s Bill Simmons outs Google podcast plans
Google tipped podcasts for Play Music back in the fall, but it looks like the company is finally prepping for their debut. Thanks to HBO’s Bill Simmons, the Twitterverse now knows that Google Play’s “podcast platform” is due to launch this month. Of course, there’s a chance Simmons is just blowing hot air (he’s been known to do that from time to time), but if a group outside of Google’s ranks knows about an arrival date, it’s likely big-name content producers. The tweet has since been deleted, so you can draw your own conclusions there.
Simmons, who started Grantland (RIP) at ESPN, has loads of listeners for his current self-titled podcast which launched ahead of his HBO show that’s set to debut this year. If his facts are correct, we should be hearing from Mountain View soon enough. Despite laying the groundwork to bring podcasts into Play Music last year, only a handful of the more popular podcasts were said to become available there. Here’s to hoping that changes, so we’ll be able to stream all of our favorites
Via: Talk Android
Source: Bill Simmons (Twitter)
Google OnHub routers are finally getting guest WiFi
As clever as Google’s OnHub routers are, they’ve had a few glaring omissions… like, say, a guest mode to accommodate your friends. However, the company is making amends for at least one of its rookie mistakes. It’s readying an update that enables guest WiFi, which lets visitors hop online without giving them access to absolutely everything on your local network. You also have fine-grained control over the devices you do want them to see. You can open up your Chromecast, for example, while keeping your networked storage off-limits.
The update doesn’t appear to be available yet, so don’t be worried if you’re still stuck with an all-or-nothing setup for a little while. When it does hit, however, it’ll help make a more convincing case for the OnHub if you’re sitting on the fence — you don’t have to take a step backwards in software features just to embrace Google’s simpler, prettier vision of home networking.
Via: Android Central
Source: Google
Alphabet is now the world’s most valuable company, toppling Apple
Alphabet Inc.’s first quarterly earnings call yesterday was pretty impressive. Not only did the newly formed holding company manage to outperform early expectations, the subsequent spike in stock market activity pushed its market cap above Apple’s, making it the freshly-minted world’s most valuable company.
Alphabet’s debut earnings call revealed a positive start to the conglomerate, with a profit of $4.9 billion on $21.33 billion in revenue for the quarter. This result outperformed early forecasts of $20.77 billion, producing a share price of $8.67 (compared to earlier estimates of $8.10 per share, based on the lower prediction).
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Not surprisingly, the stock market responded favorably, resulting in a 9% increase in Alphabet’s stock, pushing its market cap to $568 billion in after-hours trading. Meanwhile, Apple’s market cap was listed at $535 billion, meaning the world’s most valuable company is now officially Alphabet, just six months after its existence was first announced.
Some analysts are already calling this a passing of the torch from Apple to Google.
Of course, if you look at the NASDAQ right now you’ll see things have stabilized a bit, but as of the writing of this article, Alphabet’s market cap was listed at $527 billion, once again behind Apple’s $535 billion. It may take a few days for the market to stabilize and the full picture to be clear, but some analysts are already calling this a passing of the torch from Apple to Google, in much the same way as Apple dethroned Microsoft back in 2010.
Do you think Alphabet will retain the title?
Google On gets updated, brings guest Wi-Fi support to the OnHub router
The Google On application in the Play Store has a new update available that will bring new functionality to Google’s OnHub router.
Google’s OnHub router launched this past summer and is still receiving lots of buzz. An update was just pushed to the Google On application bringing some new nifty features. First off, you’ll be able to assign custom names to each of the devices in your home. This will make it easier to tell which devices are which and when each is connected to the router. In other words, it’ll clarify each person better so that you won’t have a hard time remembering who is who when you’re monitoring one’s usage.
The biggest addition to the OnHub router is the ability to add a guest Wi-Fi network. This will allow for better sharing between devices. Basically this acts as a second network so that you can have a home network and a separate one for guests. Each is independent of each other’s credentials, so you can have a different name and passcode for each. Whoever is the owner of the household will be in charge of promoting guests. Promoted guests will be able to use some of the household’s connected devices. This can all be controlled in the Google On application. 
The update is live in the Play Store, but remember, both the application and router need to be updated for some features to work properly. Click the download link to get started.
Source: Google
Come comment on this article: Google On gets updated, brings guest Wi-Fi support to the OnHub router
Magic Leap gets investment infusion of almost $800 million
Google-backed augmented reality firm Magic Leap Inc. has received a big infusion of funding to help continue their efforts to get a product to market. Alibaba Holding Group Ltd. is providing $793.5 million in funding as they valued Magic Leap at $4.5 billion. As part of the funding deal, Alibaba’s co-vice chair Joe Tsai will join Magic Leap’s board.
Magic Leap is working on a headset that will create simulated 3D images that are superimposed on the real world. Most efforts at augmented reality, like Microsoft’s Hololens, include a screen to display the virtual pieces. Magic Leap is working on proprietary technology that they say will transmit light to the eye directly so that users’ perceptions of virtual objects will be closer to how they perceive the real world.
Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz says the company is working at a “frantic pace” to get the hardware and software working. To support the effort, in addition to funding, Magic Leap has been making moves like bringing HTC’s Jeff Gattis on board to help with development. Magic Leap already has 500 employees working for it. Abovitz says the company plans to release their first product as an actual product, not a developer preview or beta version.
Alibaba’s new round of funding will be added to previous funding received from Google and Qualcomm Ventures. Abovitz indicated other new investors in Magic Leap, joining Alibaba, include Warner Bros., Fidelity Management and Research Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Morgan Stanley Investment Management. With this latest round, Magic Leap has now raised close to $1.4 billion to fund their startup activities.
source: Bloomberg
Come comment on this article: Magic Leap gets investment infusion of almost $800 million
Google’s self-driving simulator helps it refine its cars
Google’s self-driving simulator apparently plays a big role in the development of the company’s autonomous vehicle technology despite its cadre of cars being tested on actual roads. In its latest project report, the tech leviathan has revealed that it travels 3 million virtual miles every single day — enough to circle the equator five times every hour — to refine the features of its self-driving software. That simulator requires loads of computing power, but if there’s any company with the data centers capable of keeping it running, it’s Google.
The Big G uses it to extensively test any changes to its software before rolling updated versions out. For instance, the simulator runs Google’s latest software to drive the routes the company’s actual cars had previously driven to see if there’s a change in their behavior.
Here’s one example:
…to make left turns at an intersection more comfortable for our passengers, we modified our software to adjust the angle at which our cars would travel. To test this change, we then rerun our entire driving history of 2+ million miles with the new turning pattern to ensure that it doesn’t just make our car better at left turns, but that the changes creates a better driving experience overall.
Besides recalling old routes, Google also regularly creates scenarios with the simulator to fine-tune certain features. In the past, the company tapped into that ability to conjure up thousands of situations wherein its vehicle has to do a three-car merge to make sure its technology has truly mastered the skill. If the simulator proves that the self-driving software still needs more tweaking, though, then Google’s engineers can make changes before it makes its way to the current crop of vehicles under testing.
Source: Google
One billion Gmail accounts are now active every month
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Gmail achieved the milestone of one billion Android app downloads some time ago, but getting to one billion Gmail accounts being active every month? That’s an entirely different matter.
Google announced this exact feat this morning during its earnings call, confirming that its monthly active user count had breached the billion user mark after reporting 900 million at last year’s Google I/O event. Gmail now joins the elite company of Google Search, Chrome, Android, Maps, YouTube and Google Play with a billion monthly users, but crucially requires that the user choose to use Gmail over other email clients, whereas the other apps in the “one billion club” are undisputed leaders in their space.
In its call, Google didn’t mention Inbox at all and whether it is helping Gmail as a whole, but it definitely seems to be in an early experimental state for now. One thing’s for sure: Gmail is here to stay.
What do you think about one billion Gmail accounts being used every month? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: TechCrunch
The post One billion Gmail accounts are now active every month appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Nexus factory images with February security fixes are available today
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Right on cue, Google has today released new Nexus factory images which contain the security patch fixes for February. The images will have build numbers of either MMB29Q, MMB29U or MMB29R, and are available to download for the usual suspects: the Nexus 6P, 5X, 6, 9, 5, 7 and Player. Naturally, the software version number stays at Android 6.0.1, but as for what is actually fixed in this release, Google says it’s resolved some Critical security flaws:
“The most severe of these issues is a Critical security vulnerability that could enable remote code execution on an affected device through multiple methods such as email, web browsing, and MMS when processing media files. The Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in Broadcom’s Wi-Fi driver is also Critical severity as it could allow remote code execution on an affected device while connected to the same network as the attacker.”
To get the full, technical low-down, you can check out the rest of Google’s security bulletin here. And for those of you who want to flash the factory images to your device, you can get them from the Google Developers site. As always, make sure to back up your data before attempting this, otherwise sit tight and wait for the OTAs to start flowing.
What do you think about this month’s security patch? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: Google Developers, Android via Android Police
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