Android still the dominant mobile OS with 1 billion active users
Free-falling product demos and Rube Goldberg multimedia installations aside, there’s always a level of predictability to an opening day keynote. And Google I/O 2014 is no exception. Like clockwork, SVP Sundar Pichai took to the stage in San Francisco this morning to tick off the company’s latest accomplishments. He started off by touting one of the company’s biggest strengths: Android. According to Pichai, Google now has over 1 billion active users (that’s as of the last 30 days) on the OS.
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Google’s apparently opted to track 30-day usage as opposed to year-over-year numbers as in the past. That said, last year, the company boasted 900 million Android activations, up from 400 million the year before. We likely won’t get a direct comparison due to the change in tracking, but even with the numbers we have, it’s clear Android is still the dominant mobile platform. During its WWDC 2014 keynote earlier this month, Apple’s Tim Cook announced the company had reached 800 million iOS devices to date, fewer than Google’s Android activation numbers from the year prior.
Continuing the theme of unconventional stat tracking, Pichai championed the strength of the platform saying Android users send 20 billion text messages each day and 93 million selfies. What’s more, those self-absorbed phone holders apparently take 1.5 trillion steps each day, and check their handsets a total of 100 billion times every 24 hours.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Wearables, Internet, Software, Mobile, Google
Google’s next version of Android ‘L-release’ has a new look, deeper ties to the web
KitKat may have only found its way on to roughly 15 percent of phones at this point, but that won’t stop Google from looking to the future. The new version, teased by Sundar Pichai is simply being referred to as the “L-release” right now. As previous leaks have indicated, this will be the most dramatic UI overhaul the OS has enjoyed since Ice Cream Sandwich debuted back in 2011. The heart of this overhaul is called Material Design — a flatter look, with rounder elements and softer edges that will extend beyond tablets and phones to Chrome OS and Google’s various web services. You can see some of the new design philosophy at work already in the latest version of the Google+ app on Android. But it goes beyond that. Shapes are simplified and there are smooth transition animations across the UI. Developers can also add the illusion of depth by adding “elevation” which automatically stacks visual elements appropriately and adds drop shadows.
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Of course, if all that was new with Android was a facelift, it wouldn’t be all that exciting. But there are also plenty of new features. Not that there was anything wrong with notifications in KitKat, but there’s always room for improvement. In L you’ll be able to interact with notifications right from your lock screen. That can include quickly swiping them away or you can double tap on the notification to head straight into the relevant app. The notifications aren’t ordered simply chronologically anymore either, they’re sorted by relevance and importance, which is determined by a number of details, like the source app, etc… For truly important events, Google has introduced heads-up notifications, which pop interactive notifications over your current task. In a demo an incoming call showed up at the top of the screen while Dave Burke, director of engineering for Android, was playing a game. He could simply ignore the pop up completely, or he could tap the options to accept or dismiss the call.
One of the more intriguing changes is the deeper ties to the web and Chrome. The new recents interface will pull in not just apps you’ve launched but tabs you’ve opened on your desktop. And, developers can make links go to apps instead a webpage. So, if you search for a restaurant on your laptop, the recent menu won’t just open up a web page, but could launch directly into the Yelp reviews.
Then there’s the ART runtime, the software library that actually makes all your pretty little apps work. ART brings a whole bunch of advantages. For one, apps should run significantly quicker, and in particular they should launch much faster. But, it should also increase battery life because Android will be wasting less processing power decompressing apps.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
Google’s Android One program will set minimum standards for bargain-basement smartphones
For every HTC and Samsung, there’s tens of Android hardware makers who have to redesign their smartphones to hit a certain low price. This is especially true in the developing world, where keeping the cost down means a lot of effort is spent tweaking devices — something that Google feels is a waste of time. That’s why it’s launching Android One, a program where Mountain View’s engineers will design cost-conscious hardware, and other companies will simply manufacture it. There’s plenty of fringe benefits, but the biggest one is that Google will be able to dictate a minimum set of standards for forthcoming Android handsets.
Since the company is targeting the developing world, Google is initially teaming up with Indian smartphone makers like Karbonn, Cromax and Spice. In an example presented on stage, Sundar Pichai talked about a Micromax Android One device with dual-SIM and SD card slots, a 4.5-inch display and FM radio priced at just $100. As well as that, these phones will get the same preferential treatment as the Nexus and Google Play ranges when it comes to automatic software updates. Is this, then, the much-rumored Android Silver program? Possibly, but given that it’s going to be aimed toward the bottom end of the Android world, it seems like the notion that Silver would kill-off the Nexus line won’t come true today.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Google
Researchers crack iPad PINs by tracking the fingers that enter them
What’s the easiest way to find out someone’s password? Watch them enter it, of course, using the simple hacking technique known as shoulder surfing. Cameras and software have successfully been used by researchers to automate and improve the accuracy of snooping on smartphone users with such observational methods, but they require a direct line-of-sight to work. Now, as Wired reports, a group at the University of Massachusetts Lowell has developed a way to capture iPad passcodes without needing any kind of on-screen cue. A camera is still required, but because the position of the lockscreen keypad is static, their software references finger movement against tablet orientation to estimate the PIN by the way it’s entered.
Using Google Glass to emphasize how this could done quite inconspicuously, researchers found video from the wearable could capture a four-digit PIN from three meters away (nearly ten feet) 83 percent of the time (or over 90 percent with a little human help). Figures were similar using one of Samsung’s camera-equipped smartwatches, and at the same distance, video from an iPhone 5 increased the success rate to 100 percent. Better cameras unsurprisingly produced better results, and at 44 meters (around 144 feet), a $700 camcorder and a little elevation also scored 100 percent on the test. Understanding that some might be genuinely worried about this kind of carry on, the same researchers are currently developing an Android app that randomizes the layout of the PIN-entry keypad, which they plan to release at the same time they present their work at the Black Hat USA conference in August.
Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Tablets, Wearables, Software, Mobile
Source: Wired
Next version of Android apparently confirmed as Android 5.0 Lollipop by Insider
One of the things that is expected to be shown at Google I/O 2014 in just a few hours is a preview of the next version of Android. While we suspect that Google has been subtly hinting that the version number will be a nice round 5.0, we don’t quite know what the name of […]
Facebook’s Snapchat rival Slingshot now available worldwide
Facebook launched its not-so-subtle Snapchat competitor Slingshot last week, but only for a US audience. That period of exclusivity has turned out to be quite short-lived, however, as today the new way to socially network is available worldwide. So, to give it a go, all you need is an iOS or Android device, and some friends to “sling” stuff at.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Facebook
Via: Engadget Spanish
Source: Slingshot
Netflix app updates, reverses white on red logo and changes action bar Color
The Netflix app on Android received an update this evening. It brings the app to version 3.6. There are a whole lot of changes to be had in the update, but there were some visual tweaks that I thought you might to know about. The first thing you will notice is that the app icon […]
Twitter’s latest experiment rethinks the retweet
Twitter already made the move to allow tweets inside tweets, but it appears the 140-character social stream is looking to revamp the way we all retweet, too. According to TechCrunch, a new feature being labeled as “retweet with comment” that enables users to better participate in the on-going convo by adding proper context could be on the way. Currently, in the company’s own app there are options for a straight retweet and quoting the musing to be recast. Rumor has it that the new method could replace that latter choice, and in the process allow for a proper comment where the ol’ RT text count doesn’t eat into your precious character allotment. That original tweet will likely appear in card form — much like the embeded option — but hopefully via a single button press rather than the current copy/paste method.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: TechCrunch
Google will show off the new ‘L’ version of Android tomorrow
You can move one more item into the confirmed list for tomorrow’s Google I/O keynote: a new version of Android. Your guess is as good as ours as to which L-word treat Google plans to name its next iteration of the mobile OS, but as part of a lengthy profile for Bloomberg, senior VP Sundar Pichai reveals he will offer a “preview” at the developer event. It’s a new approach for Google, in publicly revealing the new version (which may have momentarily surfaced on its issue tracker yesterday) well ahead of its planned release later this year, but similar to the way Apple, for example, is rolling out iOS 8. Also confirmed is Android Wear, complete with manufacturing partners and new devices, while the plans for Android TV are still shrouded in rumor.
[Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Software, HD, Mobile, Google
Source: Bloomberg
PBS Kids Video, Daily Burn and Deezer gain Chromecast Support
The Google Chrome Twitter account pushed out a tweet this morning alerting us all that the Chromecast dongle has three new castable apps available. As of today you can find a the cast icon located inside PBS Kids Video, allowing you keep your little ones entertained with Curious George, SUPER WHY!, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and […]
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