Hasta La Gadget!

Earlier today, HTC posted the Android 4.4 KitKat kernel source and framework files for the HTC One Google Play Edition, which usually means an official OTA update is imminent. Sure enough, a user on XDA Developers has now reported that he’s received the update the safe way, over-the-air. That means you’ll soon see the more streamlined interface if you’re rocking the Sense-less device, though some waiting may be required if the rollout is staggered. Other benefits you’ll notice will be a better camera app with its own shortcut, improved battery life and more speed overall. Meanwhile, owners of the regular HTC One should get KitKat skinned with Sense in January, at least in the US and UK. If you went for the Google Play Edition, you can check your settings for the update or, if you’re feeling brave, download it at the “More Coverage” link after the break.

Update: Voice activated search using “OK, Google” from the homescreen is only available on the Nexus 5 with the Google Experience launcher. The post has been updated to reflect that.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC, Google

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Source: XDA Developers

You might not have heard of Motrr before, but they are the designers of the highly acclaimed Gorillapod camera tripods that have become popular, as these accessories would enable one to shoot photos from really extreme angles without having you to worry about the safety of your camera equipment. Well, this time around, we are pleased to announce that Motrr has started to ship the Bluetooth model of its popular Galileo robotic dock. This is one $149.95 robotic dock which will play nice with the latest iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, not to mention its predecessors of up to the iPhone 4S, and the fifth generation of the iPod touch. What one should take note of is this – the original 30-pin model actually picked up $702,427 in pledges when it was launched on Kickstarter last year, which happened to be over seven times the fundraising goal.

One of the first apps that have been created in order to integrate itself with the new Bluetooth model would be a remote-monitoring app that they call Airbeam, while the Presence app would also be able to play nice with the original 30-pin model. With the Bluetooth-enabled Galileo robotic dock, parents are now able to keep an eye on their kids even if they are in a different room, as well as having this function as some sort of security device to make sure that your home remains as it is, even when you are away from it for work or a holiday.

Since the mantra of “there’s an app for that” has become more or less something which is “normal”, it is also not surprising to find the $3.99 AirBeam app turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a real-time HD video and audio monitoring system when it is used in tandem with the Galileo system, of course. Heck, this is one time you would wish that the iPhone arrives with a larger screen size, especially when you consider how you can set up multiple Galileos to view multiple screens simultaneously.

Press Release
[ Motrr ships Bluetooth-enabled Galileo robotic dock copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

When it comes to super materials, graphene seems to get all the attention. But a team of researchers has developed Stanene: a single layer of tin atoms that could just be the world’s first material to conduct electricity with 100 percent efficiency at the temperatures that computers work at.

Read more…

There are several issues with using a bicycle helmet that make people really not want to use them — they can be hot, itchy, uncomfortable, and make you look silly. Worst of all, it can ruin your hairdo and give you a terrible case of helmet head. There has to be a better out there — and there is. It is an "invisible" bicycle helmet created by designers in Sweden.

The Nexus 5 can take a burst of photographs and combine them into a single shot with better tonal range with its HDR+ feature. It also can take several shots and pick the sharpest. Both features use the new burst mode at the heart of Android's rebuilt camera-handling software.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Want a better camera on your Android device? Google does, too.

For that reason, the company has overhauled the mobile OS’s plumbing. Google has built deep into Android support for two higher-end photography features — raw image formats and burst mode — and could expose those features so that programmers could tap into them, the company said.

Evidence of raw and burst-mode photos in the Android source code surfaced earlier in November, but Google has now commented on the technology. Specifically, spokeswoman Gina Scigliano said the support is now present in Android’s hardware abstraction layer (HAL), the part of the operating system that handles communications with a mobile device’s actual hardware.

“Android’s latest camera HAL (hardware abstraction layer) and framework supports raw and burst-mode photography,” Scigliano said. “We will expose a developer API [application programming interface] in a future release to expose more of the HAL functionality.”

… [Read more]

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