Google will teach you to write Android apps
Learning to make your own Android apps isn’t easy, especially if it’s your first time programming anything. Do you find a tutorial and hope for the best? Sign up for classes at the local college? Google might have a better way. It’s introducing a free Android Basics nanodegree at Udacity that has Google experts teaching you how to write simple Android apps, even if you don’t know a lick of code. The online course guides you far enough through Android Studio that you’ll have an “entire portfolio” of programs by the time you’re done — you may not write the next Instagram, but you should be comfortable.
You can pay for coaching, career counseling and other help if you like, and Google is encouraging you to to move on to the Career-track Android nanodegree if you see development as your calling in life. It’ll even give you a scholarship for that mini-degree if you’re one of the first 50 people to complete the Basics course. No, Google isn’t giving things away out of sheer generosity (it wants to foster the next big Android hit). However, this is still an important gesture. While many operating system creators will gladly give you the tools to get started, it’s rare that they show you how to use those tools when you’re an absolute rookie.
Source: Udacity
Microsoft updates Windows Maps as Here set to expire
Microsoft’s mobile ecosystem is in rough shape, so it didn’t help when Nokia sold its Here mapping software to a German auto consortium. That group promptly pulled Windows support, leaving users with few navigation options. However, the software giant is working to improve Windows Maps, the native app for Windows 10 users, and has just issued a big update. It says the improvements go “far beyond directions,” but perhaps the biggest one is for guided navigation.
The company made turn-by-turn instructions easier to see at a glance, whether you’re in landscape or portrait mode. To make it easier to use the app with one hand, navigation has also been positioned at the bottom of the screen. Transit users get some love too, as the app will notify you to get off the bus or train, even if you don’t have the app active.
For planning, you now get multiple searches on a single map view. That means you can find one restaurant, view it on the map, and then search another without losing the first results. It also shows a label for each location, rather than making you cross-index a number to a list of results. Once you’ve settled on a spot, you’ll get improved detail cards that show walking, driving and transit directions.
Like Here, Windows Apps has offered offline map support for a while now. However, the new release lets you save favorite spots offline, making it easier to plan a vacation. When you travel, Cortana will even remind you to download maps before you leave.
Finally, to help users migrate from Here to Windows maps, Microsoft is letting users import up to 300 favorite Here locations to Windows Maps automatically. As a reminder, Here apps (including Here Drive, Drive+, Maps, Transit and City Lens) will completely stop working on Windows 10 devices on June 30th, and while they’ll still work on Windows Phone 8 or Windows Phone 8.1, they won’t be updated. The apps will continue to work on Android and iOS.
Source: Microsoft
The new entry-level Kindle is thinner, lighter and still $80
The luxurious Kindle Oasis is no longer the new kid on the block. Amazon just unveiled its new entry-level Kindle device, which is more portable and packs in twice as much storage as the last model. And yes, it’s still $80 (with Amazon’s “Special Offers” ads). Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the resolution for its 6-inch E Ink screen has been improved at all — you’ll have to bump up to the $120 Paperwhite for sharper text (that model is now available in white, as well).
At least the new Kindle has a few features to make up for that: it’s the first model to ship with Bluetooth audio support for blind readers (for connecting to wireless headsets and speakers). And you’ll also be able to easily email yourself notes and highlights in PDF and spreadsheet form. That note exporting feature will eventually roll out to other Kindle models, but Amazon isn’t saying if it can bring the Bluetooth feature to any others (like the pricey Oasis, for example).
Amazon says it also sports a “more rounded design,” which should make it easier to hold. Otherwise, it looks unmistakably like a Kindle. Tough luck if you were hoping for the return of physical page flipping buttons, though.
Ultimately, the revamped Kindle is an iterative update for Amazon, one that aims to make it tempting as tablets get ever cheaper. It would have been nice to see the company aim for an even lower price, as it’s often had previous models on sale for $60. At this point though, the $120 Paperwhite, which has both a backlit screen and a much better display, remains the best overall Kindle value.
Barclays launches its answer to Android Pay
Ever since Barclays publicly shunned Android Pay in favour of its own NFC payment platform, the bank has kept pretty quiet over when you can use its Contactless Mobile service. But today, and without much fanfare, Barclays announced that Android users with a supported phone can now make NFC payments with the Barclays Mobile Banking app. It supports payments up to £100 and works everywhere a standard contactless card can be used.
Setting it up is pretty straightforward: select the Contactless Mobile option in the app, choose the relevant card and then follow the steps to make the Barclays app your default payment source. Once this has been done, the device only needs to be woken up (so the lock screen shows) and then tapped against a contactless terminal. If a payment is under £30 (the current contactless limit), the payment will be taken instantly, but if it’s between £30 – £100, you must enter a PIN before tapping again.
One drawback is that once payments are set up, Barclays’ Contactless Mobile service will display a permanent notification on the lock screen that reads: “You can make contactless mobile payments.” Barclays says this is to remind you that the payment service is enabled but the only way to remove it is to hide lock screen notifications, which means hiding every notification on your Android device.
If you can put up with that, it should mean you can go out without a wallet or travel without your Oyster card — something that iOS device owners can already do thanks to Apple Pay.
Source: Barclays Contactless Mobile
Android Pay will tell you where it works nearby
One of the ways that Google is making Android more useful is by harnessing your location data for context-aware services. For instance, Nearby uses GPS and Bluetooth to monitor where you are, launching a relevant app should one be particularly useful. Now, XDA-Developers has uncovered code inside Android Pay that suggests that it’ll bring a similar level of location-aware smarts. If true, then it’s possible that a future update will show you retail outlets in your nearby area that take Google’s mobile payments platform. Keen-eyed investigators have even found the location-pin style icon that you’ll use to activate the feature. Of course, this is all a rumor until it isn’t anymore, but it’s perfectly in keeping with Google’s location-savvy future.
Source: XDA-Developers
BBM Video for Android and iPhone is now out in Asia-Pacific
Most BBM users finally have access to the app’s video calling capability. BlackBerry has released the feature for Android and iOS in Asia-Pacific, which is apparently home to its biggest userbase. The company said it made cross-platform video calls available in the US and Canada first, because it wanted to be able to fix bugs before it reaches more people. Since video calling is now stable, the phonemaker can roll it out to the rest of world.
While BBM isn’t as popular as its newer, shinier rivals like Messenger or WhatsApp anymore, BlackBerry is still developing new features for it. In fact, this release is but a small part of a bigger rollout. Later this summer, the company will launch the capability to register for an account using a phone number, among other things. Android users will be able to share larger videos, as well, while those on iOS will be able to mute group notifications.
Source: BlackBerry
Stave off creepy texting partners with Burner’s Ghostbot
If you’ve ever unwittingly received harassing texts or annoying messages from someone who got hold of your number somehow, you’ve probably made friends with your phone’s block feature. If not, because you don’t want to be rude, you’ve put together a series of noncommittal replies to stop those conversations dead in their tracks. Thanks to Burner, the app that lets you create and destroy phone numbers at your leisure, you won’t have to pay them any mind ever again. Meet Ghostbot, the bot that’ll blow those pesky texters off for you.
Ghostbot is a special bot that you can assign to any active Burner. It’s as simple as creating a number using the app, then activating Ghostbot to interact with that skeevy match from Tinder or that coworker who just can’t take a hint. For instance, a message asking if you want to “hang out” might receive a response like “I’m pretty busy but I’ll get back to you.” Nothing rude, but direct enough to communicate the fact that you just aren’t interested. These canned responses are sent after Ghostbot analyzes the texts sent to you via your Burner number, with appropriate ones sent as replies.
Burner is serving up Ghostbot as proof of what developers can accomplish with its Developer Connection platform, which allows anyone to create their own extensions on top of the Burner service. Ghostbot is an interesting creation as-is, however, and surely a useful tool for anyone who’s ever had trouble figuring out how to exit gracefully from a conversation they just weren’t digging.
Sonos puts speaker controls on your iPhone’s lock screen
Ask iPhone-toting Sonos speaker owners about their biggest gripe and they’ll probably point to the lack of at-a-glance controls. You have to launch the app every time, which is a pain when you just want to pause a song from across the room. Life is about to get much easier, though: Sonos has updated its iOS controller app to introduce lock screen controls. They behave almost exactly like what you’d see for on-device music playback. The only big difference is that it’ll identify both the source of the tunes and where they’re playing. You can’t switch rooms or audio sources, alas, but it’s still far more convenient than unlocking your phone.
There’s more. If you have an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, you finally have 3D Touch support for shortcuts to common tasks from the home screen (such as accessing favorites) and peek-and-pop access to content. You’ll get Split View and Slide Over on the iPad, too, so you don’t have to constantly juggle apps to see what’s playing. There’s simpler Trueplay speaker tuning and higher-quality Napster/Rhapsody streaming as well. About the only thing missing is an Apple Watch app to control tunes from your wrist (seriously, Sonos, get on that). If that’s not an obstacle, though, you can check out the new features today.
Source: App Store
Yahoo’s latest mobile app is a conversational travel planner
Yahoo’s latest mobile app wants to help you browse more than just the internet. Radar, which launched today for iOS, acts as your “virtual travel guide” by using machine learning and artificial intelligence (not to mention the travel confirmations in your email) to offer additional recommendations, reviews and activities around your next destination.
In its first version, Radar scans your Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail or AOL account to find your travel plans. From there, the app is a little less like a search engine and a little more like a chat bot. Once it finds your next trip to a major US city, it will make some basic suggestions, which you can refine based on some conversational, pre-populated answers like “Adventurous” or “Family friendly.” Even without travel plans, you can peruse options in any city in the country. Radar currently draws from sources like TripAdvisor and Yelp to recommend destinations, restaurants and even must-order dishes, but as Yahoo VP of product management Conrad Wai explained to VentureBeat Radar will also surface additional sources from its search engine. Radar will also learn your preferences over time, so it will recommend more of what you like on next year’s big vacation as well.
While Radar doesn’t yet offer in-app booking for flights or hotels, Wai believes the simple interface will still cut out a lot of the headache of travel planning. “If I can combine some of the 50 tabs I have [when researching trip planning] on-the-go, it would be great,” Wai told VentureBeat. “We’re trying to aggregate, distill, and combine information for the user across the web.”
Radar’s iOS version is currently available in the App Store, but no word yet on if or when an Android version will come along.
VLC for Android now plays videos from your local network
VLC for Android just became much, much more useful if you like full control over how and where you play your videos. The newly released VLC 2.0 rolls in a few big features that you may well have missed, most notably network browsing. Yes, you can find that elusive movie on your home media server. The upgrade also brings a pop-up video window that’s helpful for tablet owners eager to multitask.
Other big improvements? The Android TV version has a fresh interface (and has merged with the regular mobile app). You can create video playlists, and it doesn’t need as many permissions to play nicely with your device. All told, VLC has matured enough that it’s worth considering if your existing Android media app just isn’t cutting it.
Via: VideoLAN (Twitter)
Source: Google Play, JB Kempf
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