Hasta La Gadget!

Google’s spreading the love around to both I/O 2013 attendees and non-attendees alike with an update to its official conference app and a schedule of live-streaming videos, events and interviews. After signing in with your Google+ account, the app will figure out whether you’ll be there in person or not, with attendees getting automatic WiFi settings for the show, device-synced schedules, a lock screen agenda widget, NFC badge scanning and vector-based maps with session info. If you’ll be there in spirit only, you can use an off-site attendee mode to coordinate livestream viewing, which can be done to a big screen via the app’s dedicated HDMI video output. Meanwhile, Mountain view said live video would be available on your computer, tablet or phone for all the sessions, as well as the keynote, product announcements and interviews — you can find the details at the source.

Filed under: Misc, Software, Google

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Source: Google Developer’s Blog, Google Play

Microsoft is continuing to try and entice developers to develop apps for its Windows Phone 8 platform, and this time around, they are bringing new features and statistics to better support their persuasion. It touts an increasing market share (albeit by only 2%) as one of its major selling points, as well as an increased number of first time smartphone buyers opting for the Windows Phone 8 platform (debatable).

According to Microsoft, since the launch of Windows Phone 8, there has been twice as many app downloads from the Windows Phone store, and a 140% increase in paid app revenue for developers. It says that with around half of the world still using feature phones, Windows Phone is anticipating a huge growth in its market later on this year. However, Microsoft may have forgotten that many of those feature phone users may opt to purchase an iPhone or an Android phone instead.

There are also 6 new developer payout markets available, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Montenegro, Serbia, Timor-Leste, and Ukraine, allowing developers in those markets to submit apps to the Windows Phone Store. These new markets increase the number of Windows Phone markets to 191. Microsoft has also added 15 new mobile operator billing partners, bringing 25 supported partners to 19 markets. According to Microsoft, mobile operator billing allows developers to earn 3 times more per app compared to the standard credit card system.

Microsoft has also made submitting apps much easier. Developers can cancel their apps submissions, enable rotating screenshots, and automatically resize their screenshots. They are also allowed to review their app before submitting them. Microsoft also points out that there are several Windows Phone 8 devices on the market right now, and many more on their way, and because of their budget-friendly pricing, consumers may opt to purchase them over competing brands.

While Microsoft may have oversold its Windows Phone market share and attractability a bit, the new payout features may be enough to persuade developers to create apps for the Windows Store. Be sure to check out our review of some of the best Windows Phone 8 devices on the market right now, the Nokia Lumia 920 and the HTC 8X, to see what the Windows Phone platform has to offer.

[via Windows Phone Blog]

Microsoft entices Windows Phone developers with more payout options is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google’s big shake-up of Android version metrics has already given us a better understanding of where the platform’s active users truly stand. Now that we’re a month into the new methodology, we have a good sense of where those users are going — and they’re moving to Jelly Bean in droves. Android 4.1 and 4.2 combined grew to represent 28.4 percent of regular usage, or enough to finally overtake Ice Cream Sandwich at 27.5 percent. Not surprisingly, the transition to the newer OS involved a balanced mix of users either upgrading from ICS (down by 1.8 percent) or transitioning from devices running Gingerbread or earlier (down 1.7 percent). It will be a long while before Jelly Bean becomes the dominant platform, if it ever does, but we’re not expecting a slowdown in adoption when flagships like the Galaxy S 4 and One are luring many of us into an upgrade.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Google

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Source: Android Dashboard

This week the folks at Facebook and Parse have announced that they’re joining teams, effectively, as the social networking giant acquires the company known for backend infrastructure for mobile apps. As a selection of notes from developers has appeared in comments and forums surrounding the acquisition suggesting they’d leave Parse in fear of Facebook, Parse CEO suggests the opposite has been happening. Noting the service’s growth rate has increased by more than 9.4 times its normal rate, Parse CEO Ilya Suhkar has made a case for Facebook’s influence as wholly positive.

Parse developer user base sits at around 60,000 at the moment, and heads at both Facebook and Parse has been adamant thus far about making sure they know the full extent of Facebook’s influence in the near future. A statement has been released making it relatively clear that Facebook has no intent on changing the way that Parse-developed app data is used. Parse competitors are using this situation as an opportunity to drain the company of disloyal developers.

One example of a competing service looking to capitalize on the Facebook acquisition of Parse is StackMob. This company has created a set of import tools made to make the move between Parse and themselves as simple as possible, and Parse developers have suggested they’ve been contacted by other services since the announcement as well.

“Q: Will my Parse app be affected in any way? No.
Q: Will Parse apps have to use Facebook functionality? No.
Q: Will Parse honor my contract? Yes, of course.” – Ilya Sukhar, Parse CEO

In the acquisition of Parse, Facebook has claimed it will bring several next-generation tools to the fold, making Parse’s draw more powerful under the rule of the social network. Advertisement-selling features will be added for developers to make use of, and new Facebook login tools will be made much easier to work with, of course. Parse developers will also be able to work with Facebook’s Open Graph for mobile as well.

[via TechCrunch]

Parse Facebook deal sees developer boost in face of naysayers is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google just released a new Play Store version (4.0.27) that, at first glance, contains only very minor tweaks — except for one little thing. A new policy change will no longer permit any apps to update without going through the Play Store’s internal system. That won’t affect most software, but there’s a notable exception in Facebook, which recently added auto-downloading to the latest version of its Android app, allowing it to bypass Play. The new policy seems designed to put a stop to that kind of thing, but you never know — it could be just be a coincidence.

Update: Google has reached out to clarify that it also posted the policy changes to its Developer Console with the following statement:

Google Play Program Policies have been updated. See “Content Policies” section, which clarifies that “An app downloaded from Google Play may not modify, replace or update its own APK binary code using any method other than Google Play’s update mechanism.” Google Play is a trusted source for Android application downloads, and we are committed to providing a secure and consistent experience. Learn More.

[Thanks, Thomas]

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Google, Facebook

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Source: Google Play