Respite is in sight: Nexus 5 camera bug will likely be eliminated for good in Android L
The Nexus 5 camera bug is one of the best documented issues on Android KitKat and despite several fixes that have alleviated a lot of the outcry when the bug was first found, there are still people suffering from the debilitating issue, battery draining and all. Well, it seems there is good news for those of you still suffering as the specific issue that relates to the Nexus 5 camera bug has been marked as “Fixed” in the Google Issue Tracker and has been earmarked to be included in a future release, which we’re assuming is Android L.
While the camera part of the issue was resolved for many people in Android 4.4.3, the battery draining due to 100% CPU loads often remained, though it appears Google has now found a fix. Interestingly, this issue has only ever affected the Nexus 5, so only it will receive the fix, but for those who have been struggling with the bug, you’ll be glad to know that salvation is only a few weeks away – or at least, that’s what the rumours tell us.
Are you still living with the Nexus 5 camera bug? Let us know your thoughts on the release of a fix.
Source: Google Issue Tracker via Phandroid
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GitHub’s free student bundle gets you started on writing code
It’s harder to score student discounts on programming tools now that many of them are subscription services, but GitHub has just launched a bundle that could make it far less expensive to get cracking. Its new Student Developer Pack gives you free access to the kind of tools you’d typically need to get a serious coding project off the ground, including the Unreal game engine, cloud hosting and GitHub’s own code repository service. How much you get for free varies. Some partners simply offer credit, while others will give you a subscription — in a few cases, for as long as you’re still a student. The hope is that you’ll like the tools enough to pay for them later, of course, but it’s hard to knock an offer that leaves you with fewer school-related bills.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Via: TechCrunch
Source: GitHub Education, GitHub Blog
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Google’s News and Weather app is now available on iOS
Dig Google’s card-based interfaces, but still in love with iOS? Don’t worry — the company has just ported another one of its Android apps to Apple’s platform: Google News and Weather is now available for iOS users. Like the Android version, this app curates headlines and weather from 65,000 sources and can be set to track weather conditions in multiple locations. It has the same swipe-able card system too, though the iOS version seems to distinguish itself with a darker color scheme. The app is available for all iOS devices running 7.0 or later, and it’s already optimized for both the iPhone 5 and 6. Check it out at the source link below.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Apple, Google
Via: 9to5Mac
Source: App Store
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Google takes you to the ‘Endgame’ of its augmented reality world
Back in January, Google teamed up with author James Frey to create a project which would combine interactive novels with augmented reality games. That effort was part of Google’s interest in expanding the Ingress AR platform beyond its Niantic Labs, as it looked to share those tools with with third-party developers who could create titles of their own. Today, as part of the launch of Endgame: The Calling, the first from a series of three novels, the partnership between Frey and Google has officially kicked off this type of augmented reality/interactive game.
The idea is to build a whole world around these novels, so Niantic Labs is working on designing real-life puzzles, clues and treasure hunts, as well as web videos and other stuff that can complement each piece of writing. With Endgame, for instance, there’s a website called Ancient Societies, which ties into the story by giving you more info from the lead characters in the story you’re about to read. There’s no doubt it’s a refreshing take on interactive storytelling, so we’ll see if more authors, publishers and developers decide to come up with something similar in the future.
Filed under: Misc, Internet, Software, Google
Via: The Verge
Source: Ancient Societies
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Kindle for Android updates: Audiobooks can be started before download is done
There are plenty of ways to read, or listen, to a book. The Kindle app for Android is one of them. Today Amazon has pushed out an update to the book reading, audiobook listening, app that moves it to version 4.7. The update isn’t monumental, but it does add two very cool and useful features.
On the audiobook front you will finally be able to start listening to the book prior to it finishing its download. This is almost a no brainer feature that should have been around much sooner. If the torrent world can start watching a movie before it finishes, why did it take so long for spoken words in an Audio file?
The other feature that will be a nice addition for those users who use books for study, reference or possibly book clubs, is the ability to tap on highlights and change things. Things that are simple like the color, what is hightlighted and editing notes.
Te remainder of the update includes localized support for Dutch and the usual “several bug fixes” listing. The update is live on the Play Store for those who want to pick it up. You can also head straight to the app via the link below.
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Square Cash for iOS sends funds to nearby pals over Bluetooth
Square Cash made its debut earlier this year, allowing you to repay your pals after a night of drinks without actually exchanging bills. After adding the ability to beam funds via text message back in August, the payments outfit tossed in another option today. Using the iOS 8 version of app, you can now send money over Bluetooth LE — so long as your friends are in range. You know, for immediately reimbursing the person at the other end of the table who just picked up the entire check. The software will display when Cash users are nearby (within 250 feet), and allows you to approve or reject requests by swiping of a push notification. While Cash is also available for Android, the new Bluetooth feature is iOS-only for now.
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USB file transfer support comes in latest Chrome OS update
Chances are many of you Android lovers out there also have a Chromebook. Whether you use it as your daily laptop, or just as your casual lightweight browser, it is something that you want to keep updated when updates go out. A new updated build of the Chrome OS is rolling to Chromebooks that brings along build number 38.0.2125.101 (Platform version: 6158.49.0). This update is rolling out for all Chrome OS devices, minus Chromeboxes.
Updates to the Chrome OS aren’t always HUGE deals, but this update brings in something that many have been itching for since Chromebooks first started landing in consumers hands, MTP support. MTP stands for Media Transfer Protocol and is what you need to make life simple when transferring images, videos and files to and from the Chromebook to and from your Android devices. MTP support on the Chromebook isn’t entirely new, but it is new to the stable channel of the Chrome OS. There for making it something the average user will love to have access too finally.
The update also makes mention of a set of features to enhance touch screen accessibility, for Chromebooks like the Lenovo N20p. They don’t give details on the posting, but they do in comments in the Git about the update. Many of which are beyond my understanding.
Source: Google Chrome Releases
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Google Voice Gets MMS Support from nearly 100 Carriers
Now I don’t know about all of you, but I’m not a huge user of Google Voice. I used it before a while ago for a short time. After that it pretty much died for me. That is until they finally integrated it with Hangouts a few weeks ago. But, that’s just me. I know there are a lot of people out there that love Google Voice. And the one thing that most everyone was complaining about was that it didn’t have MMS support. Well, that’s not an issue anymore, at least for some of you.
Google has been working hard to get MMS support from carriers for a while now and it looks like they finally did it. This news comes from Alex Weisen From Google+. He announced on his profile page that MMS is now being supported by more than 100 carriers in North America.
Some of those carriers include 3 of the big 4 here in the US. T-Mobile, AT&T and Sprint along with Bell Canada, Telus and Rogers in Canada. Those on Verizon seem to be getting the cold shoulder, as there is no word about big red being compatible.
Up until today you could somewhat receive MMS, but they would just arrive to your gmail and that’s no fun. I mean who wants to check their email every time you want to receive a picture message? Certainly not me. Now you don’t have to. After today those of you who are on a carrier that supports it can send picture not just one-on-one, but to a group of people as well.
So if you use Google Voice and this is something you’ve been waiting for, then go ahead and give it a shot and let us know how it works for you. If you don’t have Google Voice installed but you wanna tried it out then go ahead and install it or the more recent Google Hangouts and Hangouts Dialer combo if you’ve integrated it with Hangouts.
As a heads up, there is no app update for this update. All you have to do is sign in and start sending. I have been able to confirm that it does work.
Source: Alex Weisen From Google+
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The secret to this interactive hologram tech is water vapor
It’s 2014 and while we don’t have flying cars just yet it looks like interactive holographic displays could be a reality rather soon. The not-so-cleverly-named Leia Display System (LDS) uses a combination of light, water-vapor and air to provide a transparent canvas for projected images while sensors track movement and touch inputs from users. The videos we’ve embedded below show all manner of poking and prodding by users, a bit of Minority Report-style pinching and zooming things in mid-air and even using gestures to rotate and flick stuff out of the way. There’s even a sample with a Mercedes sedan driving through the curtain and it “shattering” around the vehicle as it passes through.
As of now, the screens come in 95cm x 65cm (roughly 37 inches by 25 inches) and 3m x 2.5m (around 10 foot by 8 foot) versions, with the latter able to be linked with other displays for an even bigger installation. The tech’s Polish creator says that the LDS mostly has been requested for use in digital signage and advertising so far, but that it gets “non-standard” use requests pretty regularly. Here’s to hoping that we see it used for more than just shilling products in the near future — let’s save that for Michael Jackson, okay?
Filed under: Displays, Software
Source: Leia Display
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Apple’s own stats show iOS 8 upgrades have slowed to a crawl
Despite the introduction of custom keyboards, Notification Center widgets and lots more, Apple users aren’t taking to iOS 8. According to stats displayed on the company’s developer portal, the proportion of iPhone and iPad owners currently running the latest version on their devices stands at 47 percent, only an increase of 1 percentage point from two weeks ago. By this point last year, iOS 7 uptake was already hovering around 60 percent, according to analytics firm Fiksu. We can only speculate, but it seems likely a combination of very large install files, the bungled point updates, and the dropping of iPhone 4 support could be reason enough for many users to stick with what they know, for now. Or maybe they’re just paranoid.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple
Source: Apple Developer
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AIVAnet 