Google Currents finally becomes Newsstand on iOS
Just as it happened on Android last year, now the iOS version of Google Currents has also been turned into Google Play Newsstand. But the name change isn’t the only thing different with the app on Apple’s platform. The newly dubbed Google Play Newsstand brings refreshed looks and functionality as well, which make it possible for you to browse through articles in smoother fashion and easily subscribe to topics and publications you’re most interested in. While it definitely took the search giant a long time to tweak the Google Currents moniker, at least the application is finally more in line with sibling services like Google Play Movies & TV, Google Play Books and Google Play Music.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile, Apple, Google
Via: TechCrunch
Source: App Store
.CPlase_panel display:none;
FXNow delivers its on-demand streaming to Apple TV
Just before Simpsons World arrives offering access to that entire series, FXNow has arrived on Apple TV set-top boxes. While Bart and Lisa make their way to the on-demand repository, the channel serves up FX series like Sons of Anarchy, The Americans, Justified, Archer and more. If you’re not into those selections, movies and more from FX, FXX and FXM networks are available — so long as you have a required cable subscription. As you may recall, FXNow is already streaming its content on Xbox One, iOS, Android, Windows 8, smart TVs and on the web.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Apple
Via: 9to5Mac
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Plex Pass Android app updates with Play Queues, Post-Play screen and UI Enhancements
Just yesterday we alerted everyone that Plex would be raising their monthly, yearly and lifetime rates on Plex Pass. I am sure at least some of you went out and grabbed the lifetime subscription immediately. If not, you only have a week left before prices go up. Today the Plex team has pushed out an update for the Plex Pass app for Android that offers a ton of stuff for us subscribing members to try out long before it goes to the standard paid for Plex app.
The big feature addition is currently called Play Queues. Similar to playlists, but distinctively different as playlists aren’t supported as of yet. A Play List would allow you to save it for future watching or listening. Play Queues will let you queue up, say the first season of your favorite show, and play them one after the other without needing to select the next episode manually after the current one ends. What tickles my fancy on this update is that Play Queues are supported on Chromecast.
Along with Play Queues there is also a new Post-Play screen that will grace your Chromecast screen or Plex Web App to let you know what is next on your list. It will only appear in certain situations, like if the video was less than 5 minutes the post-play screen won’t appear, it will just move on. If the video was less than 20 minutes long the Post=Play screen will appear and then automatically advance to the next video.
These considerations are designed to try and make things work smoothly for users in as many scenarios as possible. For instance, these considerations should help:
- avoid post-plays between very short clips, such as short home movies
- allow easy playback of a Play Queue of music videos
- allow continuous playback of a children’s television show to keep the kids occupied
- prevent having a whole television season get played through if you fall asleep
Along with Play Queues and the Post-Play screen there have been a number of fairly large UI enhancements. Plex redesigned the item grids and added larger art work, included a new toolbar for item actions, re-accented the entire app with orange vs the blue that was currently used, a new style for tabs and short-lived activities now appear as dialog on tablets.
As with all updates to the Plex Pass app, it only pertains to those that are Plex Pass subscribers. Generally a few weeks or months after things have been ironed out features and changes make it to the more standard paid app version of Plex. If you are a Plex Pass member, you might want to pick up the new update and see what you think. It does look pretty stellar, although I am not to sure how I feel about the larger media posters just yet.
//<![CDATA[
ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random()*1E16);
document.write('‘);
//]]>
The post Plex Pass Android app updates with Play Queues, Post-Play screen and UI Enhancements appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Google Chrome plugs into iOS 8 app extensions
Enjoy how Chrome and other apps share data back and forth on Android? Now you can get that feeling on iOS, since Google has updated Chrome to take advantage of the app extensions supported by iOS 8. That doesn’t mean you’ll be able to install any of Chrome’s desktop extensions — it just means links can be shared directly to any other apps on your iDevice, as long as they also support the feature. The update is rocking “iOS 8 compatibility” but no tweaks for the extra size of the iPhone 6 family have appeared yet.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Apple, Google
Source: Chrome (iTunes)
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Ray Ozzie’s ‘Talko’ app is not the right productivity tool for the Atlanta Hawks
New team collaboration / messaging apps are seemingly everywhere, from Trello to Slack to (now Microsoft-owned) Yammer. A new entrant Talko is interesting not only for its pedigree — the team is led by Lotus Notes co-creator and former Microsoft Chief Technical Officer / Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie — but because it marks a return to the days when our phone was a tool for voice communication, instead of primarily text or pictures. In an introductory blog post, the Talko team describes an app that lets users talk, share and do. The idea is that communicating by voice while everyone is online is easier and others can catch up with the conversation at any time, since the data is cached on Talko’s servers. Right now the app is iPhone only, while Talko says Android and web apps are on the way.
http://www.engadget.com/embed-5min/?sid=577&playList=518428078&responsive=false
Dropping in photos and sorting ideas with various forms of tags is nothing new, but Talko is focusing on the first element, voice communication, whether it’s through real-time live chatting or shared messages left for the team. The “social productivity” tool is free to try and the team tells TechCrunch that it plans a business model where users pay a fee to have access to older archives of their calls or data. A price isn’t set yet either, but it’s “likely” to cost less than $10 per month to look back further than a week or so. As-is, it’s probably worth downloading and poking around a bit before that guy at the office (you know which one) brings it up on a conference call tomorrow before you go back to using Google Docs.
Today’s our grand opening. Welcome to Talko! http://t.co/4LGzy7rc7a https://t.co/iG9imhzrL6
– Ray Ozzie (@rozzie) September 23, 2014
The journey begins… @rozzie: Today’s our grand opening. Welcome to Talko! http://t.co/EV69blhmaS
– Matt Pope (@spacklr) September 23, 2014
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile
Source: Talko Blog (Medium), Talko (iTunes)
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Already?!: Googlers are already dropping the Android M name even before Android L is released
Image courtesy of Wikipedia
I’m sure many of us in the Android community are waiting with bated breath for the day that Android L – whether it be called Lemon Meringue Pie, Lion, or Lollipop – is finally released into the wild after it was announced at Google I/O earlier this year. That still hasn’t stopped some people talking about the next version of Android, though, provisionally called Android M. This all seems a bit ridiculous given that Android L isn’t even out, but Google developers have been spotted referring to a future build of Android called “M”.
Now, we don’t really need Google developers to tell us that the next version is going to go by a name starting with the letter M – since the very beginning, Android builds have sequentially progressed through the alphabet and M would be a logical successor to L. However it is interesting to get a bit more of an idea how Google operates, developing things effectively in parallel – this way, releases get more than just one year of development. Android M isn’t expected for at least another year, or longer, though rumours are already suggesting that it’s going to be called “Milkshake”.
What do you think about Android M already having its named dropped? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Source: myce.com
//<![CDATA[
ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random()*1E16);
document.write('‘);
//]]>
The post Already?!: Googlers are already dropping the Android M name even before Android L is released appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Adobe buys Aviary to bring photo editing to more mobile apps
The world of image editing has changed a lot in the past few years — you’re now about as likely to tweak a photo on your phone or tablet as you are on your PC. Adobe is clearly aware of this shift, as it just bought Aviary and its cloud-savvy image editing platform for an unspecified amount. The two firms will work together on bringing Adobe’s editing tools and Creative Cloud services to more mobile apps. That photography app you just downloaded on your phone could create Photoshop-friendly pictures, for example. There’s no set timetable for integrating Aviary into Adobe’s software platforms, but the quick turnaround from the Behance acquisition suggests that you’ll see more powerful mobile editing suites within a matter of months.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Software, Mobile
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Plex to increase Plex Pass subscription fees on September 29th
The sum of Plex can’t really be put into just a few words. In its simplest form Plex is a media server service with companion applications for all your various devices, Android included. If you just want default access to things you can simply install the server on your computer and then buy the app from the Play Store for $4.99, it sometimes goes on sale in the Play Store and Amazon. There is another side to Plex that I know many people have enjoyed, and that is the subscription side, better known as Plex Pass.
Plex Pass gives users a wide variety of additional features and functions that you just don’t get with the one time charge paid app. With a Plex Pass subscription you gain things like being able to wireless sync your phone’s camera photos to your server, Plex sync, cloud sync, movie trailers and features and multi-user controls. I can’t forget to mention the Plex Pass app that is free versus the regular $4.99 paid app. This becomes a particular benefit since Plex Pass subscribers also get early access to new features and function in the app prior to it ever making its way to the normal paid app.
All of this is semi trivial if you have looked into Plex and Plex Pass in the past. What is really important is the news that the Plex Pass subscription prices are about to go up. Starting September 29th all NEW subscribers will pay a bit more. It is important to see the NEW aspect. All current Plex Pass subscribers will stay on the current price points on their monthly or yearly subscriptions. You won’t have to worry about anything if you bought a lifetime subscription of course. So, how much of an increase are we talking about?
- Monthly goes from $3.99 to $4.99
- Yearly goes from $29.99 to $39.99
- Lifetime goes from $74.99 to $149.99
If you have been considering a lifetime account, now would be your best opportunity to pick it up before the price increase. Feel free to poke around the Plex website to get a deeper understanding of how things work.
Via Plex Blog
//<![CDATA[
ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random()*1E16);
document.write('‘);
//]]>
The post Plex to increase Plex Pass subscription fees on September 29th appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
.CPlase_panel display:none;
TechCrunch: Apple plans to shutter Beats Music (update: service to continue, brand may change)
Whatever Apple has in the works for its future audio offerings, it may not include keeping Beats Music in app stores. TechCrunch reports that Apple plans to shut down the music streaming service, noting that CEO Ian Rogers has already been tasked with running iTunes Radio. The move wouldn’t be a huge shock as it makes sense for Tim Cook and Co. to bring new listening options under the iTunes umbrella rather than keeping Dr. Dre’s young moniker. It also goes to show that in addition to nabbing the hoards of faithful headphone wearers, Apple’s purchase was just as much about getting the talent behind the brand’s full line of products — including Dre and Jimmy Iovine — under its wing. I reached out to Beats for comment, and I’ll be sure to update if it offers any additional information. Of course, we’re interested to see how “the first subscription service that finally got it right,” according to Cook, will get molded into a new audio option.
Update: Well, Apple’s Tom Neumayr told Re/code that the TechCrunch report is simply not true. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be changes to Beats Music. The service may stay, but the Beats Music brand may disappear. And that makes perfect sense when the iTunes brand is already so strong.
Source: TechCrunch
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Microsoft makes it easier for students to get Office 365 at no cost
Back when it launched the Student Advantage program, Microsoft made it possible for 35,000 educational institutions across the globe to receive free access to Office 365. As part of that, students and teachers alike could get a subscription to the productivity software at no cost to them, so long as their school had enrolled in the initiative. Problem is, since then, each student depended on the school to be the one to create an Office 365 account they could use — until today. Microsoft’s now simplified the process, opening up a self-serve service for students to get the license without the need to check with the school’s IT department first. Those who qualify will need a valid .edu email address to receive the free subscription, from a school that’s currently participating in the Student Advantage program, and that’s about it. The only caveat is that this is limited to US students at the moment, but Microsoft says it plans to bring the sign-up feature worldwide later this year.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft
Source: Office Blogs
.CPlase_panel display:none;
AIVAnet 