Google just finished rolling out its Google Play Services 3.2 update, affecting anyone who uses a device running Android 2.2 Froyo or later. The app listing is easy enough to find but updates are typically ignored. Not this time around. In fact, the 3.2 boost comes with power saving and performance enhancements that make this […]
Get a good lawyer and sometimes they’ll tell you that your best hope is to settle a case, rather than participate in a courtroom brawl. That’s exactly the route that Motorola Mobility is taking to resolve its trademark infringement spat with Xoom Corporation, an online payment provider that took issue with the Xoom tablet’s name. Now, it’s come to light that both parties have entered into a confidential agreement that’ll require Google’s subsidiary to phase out its use of the Xoom branding. A Motorola spokesperson confirmed the settlement, saying “The matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of the parties involved,” but due to the nature of the agreement, it’s likely that other details may never see the light of day. Just don’t act too surprised when future Motorola tablets take on a new naming scheme — something under the Moto X umbrella, perhaps?
Source: The American Lawyer
The Google+ Photos app has been the exclusive domain of the Pixel for a while now, with that changing today as Google expands the app to all Chromebooks. With the Google+ Photos app, Chromebook users can take advantage of the convenience of the Google+ photo features, as well as the Google+ Photos app’s specific functionality, […]
It’s not often you get as much information on a top-tier release like Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note III well before its official reveal, but what we’ve got in abundance for this device is just that: essentially everything. The Galaxy Note III has been tipped this week by sources speaking with SamMobile for a launch and […]
Want to see what your home would look like if it were demolished by a tropical storm? Or if your city turned into a ruined post-apocalyptic outpost? You can do this and more virtual destruction using a few Google Maps tricks. Here are five good ones, courtesy of Keir Clarke from Google Maps Mania.
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Google is hunting volunteers to test early Project Loon balloon-broadcast internet services, proposing mounting bulbous Loon antennas on participants’ roofs. Limited to those in California’s Central Valley, the research scheme would see the antennas stress-testing Project Loon’s potential bandwidth as the high-altitude balloons pass overhead. Although Google has billed Project Loon as potentially bringing internet […]
Android developers keen on integrating more core OS functionality into their apps will be glad to know that the latest update to Google Play Services has arrived. Version 3.2 of the software offers a number of location-based services that devs can incorporate into their apps, such as a low-power option when requesting updates, support for hardware-based GPS geofencing and a “Snapshot” feature that removes the need for a constantly interactive map. The update also makes it easier to incorporate content sharing with G+, adds a compass mode in the Photo Sphere viewer, promises a more efficient InstantBuy implementation and better performance in general. Those interested in tinkering with the new and improved Play Services can download an updated Google APIs emulator image through the Android SDK Manager right now.
Filed under: Google
Source: Android Developers Blog
The Chromebook world is a weird one where apps trickle out slowly and in a manageable stream, with the most interesting ones costly coming from Google itself. The latest is software that was originally demoed at the Chromebook Pixel launch, then released for that computer exclusively, and now has arrived for all Chromebooks as of today.
The Google+ Photos app, for those who haven’t been following its long and winding saga, is a standalone app that takes the best of Google+’s photos features and adds things like automatic backup from SD cards, offline viewing of recent uploads, and auto-sorting of the best shots as well as simple sharing.
Maybe the best part of Google+’s Photos app is that it uses the company’s new Auto Enhance magic to subtly improve the quality of any uploaded photos without any action required on their part, so long as it’s enabled, and the Auto Awesome feature that generates GIFs and collages.
At Google’s I/O keynote, the features around images were probably the best part of, at least from a truly useful consumer development standpoint. Photos in the age of digital photography are just sort of a bulk nuisance item that we plan to, but never actually get around to organizing, sifting and editing. Google+ now does a really good job of handling a lot of that heavy lifting.
Chromebooks are still niche devices, but software like this makes them ideal travel companions or even better tools for users with light demands and little know-how of programs like Lightroom or Photoshop. Keeping the Photos app exclusive to the pricey, even-more-niche-than-niche Pixel wasn’t doing anyone any favors, so it’s nice to see it become more widely available.
Aside from the super high-res display, the Pixel has also had something else other Chromebooks didn’t: the Google+ Photos app. Starting today, however, Google’s changing that and bringing the application to the rest of the Chromebook family, making it accessible outside of its sleek, pixel-packed laptop for the first time. The Google+ Photos app, which is available in 52 languages, remains unchanged otherwise, and users can download it now via the Chrome Web Store.
Filed under: Laptops, Internet, Google
Source: Google+
Remember that YouTube app revamp which launched hours ago for Android users? It just reached iOS. The YouTube 2.0 update gives Apple device owners the same picture-in-picture video multitasking and playlist search tools that Google offers on its own platform. There aren’t any iOS-specific features in the new release, but there’s certainly enough to justify a visit to the App Store for an upgrade.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Google
Source: App Store
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