Google allegedly working on its own WhatsApp competitor
Google introduced its Android One program earlier this year, which focuses on building budget-friendly, solid quality smartphones for the developing world. Back then, the search giant made it pretty clear that, with help from manufacturers, it wanted to create a big splash in emerging markets — such as India, where the first Android One devices were revealed last month. But a rumor suggests Google’s next step is to build what it couldn’t buy when it lost out on messaging king WhatsApp to Facebook. The Economic Times, a trusted Indian news outlet, is now claiming the company from Mountain View has started working on a messaging app of its own that will head to emerging markets first, before potentially launching elsewhere.
Citing sources familiar with Google’s plans, The Economic Times says the purported service will “likely” launch in 2015, noting that it’s still in the early stages of development. One key way it might differ from the existing Hangouts service is that it wouldn’t require a Google account to login, and unlike WhatsApp, it would be entirely free to use. Hooking the service up to Gmail may have helped Google get messaging users in the US, but competing with Whatsapp and its ilk (WeChat, Line, Viber) may require more flexibility and support for different devices.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile, Google
Via: Reuters
Source: The Economic Times
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Google+ updates to v4.6, adds some more material design and color changes [APK Download]
Google went on a massive roll for a number of weeks that had all of us looking forward to Wednesday for Google app updates. The last few weeks have been a bit more scattered sadly, but Google keeps updating apps. That is the most important thing, right? Today’s staged roll out moves Google+ to version 4.6 and it brings in a number of visual changes.
The first thing you might notice is that “write a post” button is no longer white with a red pencil, it has been inverted to be red with a white pencil. The red banner bar at the top is a more vibrant red as compared to the deeper red that it once was. Check out some screens. Old Google+ images are on the top with the new update images below them for comparison.
You can see the clear all notifications icon has shifted to three small lines versus the old much larger three rectangular blocks. The people button and notification bell are also a little smaller with bolder lines. They made the overflow menu float more on top too. Not to mention the devoid of most of the color from the drop down tab too. There is also a super cool animation where the three line menu icon is. When you drag out the side panel the icon rotates into an arrow. Gotta check it out.
The Photo side of the app also offers up some changes as well. It gets the new grey icon changes on the slide out menu of course. The + icon has been altered to the auto awesome icon. That is where you can create your own auto-awesome movie.
The homescreen icon also got a make over. It is now flat with a drop shadow on the G versus the previous 3D looking block that the Google Search app still offers. I assume all the Google app related icons will be getting the more flat look in their next updates.
The update is working its way across devices everywhere, but we know you don’t like to wait. Head over to Gappsearly and pick up the updated apk and get it installed now.
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VLC media player welcomes a new, cleaner look on Windows 8.1
No doubt, people love utilizing VLC’s applications to play their unconventional media files, but pairing nice looks with that great functionality can go a long way. Thankfully for Windows 8.1 users, VideoLAN, the maker of VLC, has just released a completely redesigned version of the app for Microsoft’s OS. The application now features a much brighter, cleaner and polished look than on previous iterations, making it look flatter and more in line with Windows 8’s Modern UI. As WinBeta points out, the revamped VLC player is designed only for the tile-based side of the platform, meaning it won’t work with that traditional Windows desktop you love so much.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft
Via: WinBeta
Source: Windows Store
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Lotus 1-2-3 moves into that great recycle bin in the sky
The name Lotus 1-2-3 may not mean much to you now, but mention it in front of geeks of a certain age and they’ll be transported back to an era when IBM ruled supreme and people could aspire to own hard drives without selling their firstborn. IBM acquired the creator of that venerable spreadsheet software back in ’95, and pulled the plug on sales last year when it became painfully clear that 1-2-3 was never going to come out on top again. Now, with the support window officially closed, let’s just take a moment to remember an old stalwart that just passed into that digital ether that awaits all abandoned software. Lotus 1-2-3 first came to be some thirty years ago where it filled a niche left open by unambitious competitors like Visicalc (from whence Lotus founder Mitch Kapor came) and soon became one of the reasons to own an IBM PC. Alas, when you’re on top, there’s only one place to go. After defending its crown from a slew of eager competitors for years, Lotus 1-2-3 eventually became a footnote in the annals of computer history after Microsoft’s Office came along and dominated the late ’80s and beyond.
Source: ZDNet
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Hulu Plus on iOS looks a lot flatter and cleaner now
The word “reimagining” can be a bit scary at times. At its worst you get stuff like Johnny Depp playing Willy Wonka, but on the other side of the coin is SyFy’s Battlestar Galactica. Hulu’s redesigned iOS app seems to fall on the latter portion of that spectrum. The application’s gotten an overhaul, with a keen eye toward making it cleaner and, above all, easier to use. First things first: the landing screen is now divided into three sections; Home, Shows You Watch and Navigation. Home is where content curated by Hulu resides, while Shows You Watch and Navigation are pretty self-explanatory. The kicker is that now when you swipe either left or right from anywhere within the app, you’ll pull up either of the latter, respectively.
The streaming outfit didn’t neglect the video player itself, either, tidying up its appearance and adding controls for captions and Chromecasting within the viewing window. It all resembles HBO Go and YouTube’s Android apps a bit, but compared to what Hulu on iOS looked like recently it’s hard to complain. When those on Google’s mobile OS will see a similar patch is up in the air for now.
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Mobile, Apple
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‘Siren’ dating app wants to keep women safe from creeps
While Tinder solves a few of the problems women face with online dating — like being smothered with lascivious messages from anyone and everyone — there’s still an issue of privacy that it fails to address. That risk of not being nearly as anonymous while looking for a mate as one would hope is what inspired Seattle’s Susie Lee to create Siren. What sets it apart from every other dating app is that it keeps a woman’s picture private until she deems it appropriate to share with a possible suitor. As Seattle Times notes, a lady can peruse the profiles of men at their leisure and if, say, she’s into a guy’s answer to questions like what their three magic-lamp wishes are, she can then show him her picture. The idea is to give ladies the control here and base matches on real-world personality, not a dry series of surveys akin to eHarmony.
Access is fairly locked down at the moment. There are around 1,200 current users and you can only get in if you’re living in grunge-music’s birthplace and have an iOS device. Perhaps more restrictive is that it lacks options for anyone other than heterosexual men and women. Lee says that despite the app’s abilities, though, if you use it like any other dating service and focus on shallower interests like how handsome a mate is, you’re likely to remain sleepless in Seattle. And really, who wants to go through another break-up again anyway?
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: iTunes, Seattle Times
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EU officially approves Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp
US regulators may have given Facebook’s $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp the thumbs-up some time ago, but the social network was still waiting for the EU to do the same. Now, thankfully, approval has been handed down from European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, who says that, thanks to the presence of healthy rivals like Line, Viber and iMessage, the deal won’t hamper competition in the messaging market. Zuckberg and Co. had to agree to protect user privacy in the States before getting the official go-ahead, and in Europe antitrust watchdogs sent questionnaires to the competition in order to gauge the impact on the messaging game before deciding. In May, Facebook looked into getting the European Commission involved to bypass the holdup of waiting on each country to okay the deal. Of course, there’s a lot of sexting to take into account across the pond, so officials had to be careful with the due diligence.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile, Facebook
Via: Reuters
Source: Europa
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Facebook promises better vetting for its social experiments
Facebook came under a ton of fire this summer when it revealed that it’d manipulated some peoples’ news feeds in an experiment to track mood changes. Well, The Social Network took note and has recently announced it’s changing how experiments will be performed and from here on out, Zuck and Co. will give researchers clearer guidelines to follow. Meaning, in part, that if a study drills down on a particular demographic or relates to something its users would consider “deeply personal” (i.e. feelings or moods), before the research begins it has to go through what Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer calls an advanced review process. That review process will be handled by senior-level employees from the social behemoth’s engineering, research, legal and privacy-and-policy teams.
Every employee regardless of position will undergo a bit of learning on the research process during the outfit’s six-week training seminar, too. But wait, there’s more! Facebook has also setup a portal that hosts its research projects for all to see. From here, at least, it looks like the company is keeping its promise to not repeat the same mistake twice.
[Image credit: Alamy]
Filed under: Internet, Software, Facebook
Source: Facebook, Research at Facebook
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Roku starts beta testing wireless screen mirroring for Android
Many of you are probably pretty familiar with screen mirroring. Especially a little more recently since it has become available on the Chromecast. While the screen mirroring status on Chromecast is still in beta, and still limited to select devices, it is a nice thing to have available and play around with. I am sure there are a number of Android users out there that never pulled the trigger on the Chromecast because they found more value in a Roku media stick. Not surprising since Roku is a bit older than the Chromecast and has quite a few great things going for it. Roku announced today that it is in beta testing to allow you to also mirror your screen to your TV via Roku.
The potential ability is currently limited to the Roku 3 model 4200 and the Roku Streaming Stick HDMI version model 3500. As for compatible Android devices, they claims Android 4.4.2 device should all work, but they do offer up a short list of devices that they have tested that pass. Interestingly, they are sure to point out that custom ROM’s are not supported.
I am sure other devices, and models form other carriers, should work as well. Unfortunately I do not have a Roku device to try this out on. Not that it would really matter I suppose. Roku states that the screen mirroring feature beta is slowly rolling out to Roku customers world-wide with full coverage expected in the next few weeks. In addition to Android support, Roku screen mirroring is also beta testing for select Windows 8.1 devices as well.
Anyone out there with any of the mentioned devices see the option yet? If so, how is it working? Any better or worse than the Chromecast?
Source: Roku | Roku 2 Via 9to5Google
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Google Play Newsstands gets an update with some material design changes [APK Download]
Google Play Newsstands is starting to update across devices today in a typical staged roll out. It has already been one year since Google has re-branded Play Magazines to Newsstand, and I am for one liking it much better. The updates for the app since it has change over have been slow. The last update I have recorded was back in May. Today’s update moves the app to version 3.3 and brings along a number of visual changes to bring the app inline with Google latest material design guidelines.
The new design incorporates larger images more contextual headers and smoother transitions. You are also gaining the ability to swipe horizontally between topics and vertically to dive deeper into the specific topic you have landed on.
The icon for the app also got changed up a little bit. The whole app feels a lot nicer and certainly has a great visual appeal to it.
As usual, the APK is available for your side-loading pleasure so you don’t have to stare at the images and wonder what it looks like on your device. Head over to Gappsearly and pick it up.
Download – Google Play Newsstand v3.3 APK
More details via the Android Blog
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AIVAnet 