Hasta La Gadget!

During the I/O event, Google detailed it’s new Events feature for Google+, but the company is also adding in a Party Mode. During events, lots of photos and pictures of various people are often taken, although they can fall by the wayside or even lost. Google’s Party Mode sends out photos the Events page as they’re taken, but it also automatically scans pictures for faces and tags them with your friend’s appropriately.

If that sounds familiar, it should. Samsung recently implemented a similar feature on the Galaxy S III called Buddy Photo Share, which detects your friends based on facial features. Facebook also recently purchased Face.com, a service with very similar facial scanning functionality. It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, as the feature is quite helpful for those wary of manually tagging photos, but it’s interesting to see Google jumping on the bandwagon.

After the Event is over, photos are collected and displayed in chronological order, with highlights being displayed at the top. While the primary use is to invite other friends on Google+, you can also send out email invites to those without an account. Events should be hitting Google+ today.

Google+ Events features mimic Galaxy S III is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google during its I/O keynote hit a symbolic milestone: it now has 600,000 apps in the Google Play Store. As well, the store is clearly hitting a brisk pace in adoption, with 1.5 billion downloads every month and 20 billion since Android began. Free apps are available in 190 countries, with paid apps in 132. The app and download counts stack up fairly well to Apple’s own claims, although not universally: it’s just short of the App Store’s 650,000 apps, but Apple can still point to 30 billion total downloads. Google also hasn’t said how many apps are explicitly tablet-friendly versus 225,000 iPad-oriented apps. Either way, Google can say that it has largely erased the app quantity deficit, and that’s no mean feat.

Google Play hits 600,000 apps, 20 billion total installs originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Ready for some crazy numbers straight out of Google I/O? Good, because they’re throwing them out thick and fast. Google has taken to the stage to announce that there have been a total of 400 million Android device activations across the world to date. That’s up from 100 million this time last year. In addition, one million Android devices are activated every day. That’s 12 devices every second.

That’s up from the 400,000 daily activations announced at last year’s Google I/O. In addition, the company showed a heat map of the world indicating the demand for Android devices. While Europe and North America showed green, yellow and red started to show in developing nations across Eastern Europe, South America, and Asia.

That should give you an idea of where Google and its Android partners intend to target next. Cheap devices should help with that, along with the lack of a license fee for the operating system. There’s more coming out of the I/O event every second, so stay tuned.

Google: 400m Android devices activated is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

RIM gave the impression when it unveiled the BlackBerry Curve 9320 and 9220 that its lowest-cost Curves were doubtful prospects for the US. Thankfully, that’s been proven wrong by Boost Mobile, which just launched the 9320’s CDMA cousin, the Curve 9310. The message-manic BlackBerry comes to Sprint’s prepaid network with its BBM key intact as well as BlackBerry 7.1, a 3.2-megapixel camera and that all-important low price: at $100 contract-free, it’s one of the cheapest ways to leap into smartphones in the US. To top it off, Boost is throwing in a very tantalizing BBM Unlimited plan. The deal offers unlimited calling, text messaging and (naturally) BBM; although it starts at $45 per month, it gradually dips down to a very reasonable $30 per month if owners pay their bills properly for six months. Both the Curve 9310 and its companion plan will be available July 10th, giving us time to find the needed spare change under our couch cushions.

Boost Mobile takes BlackBerry Curve 9310 to the US, spices it up with $30 unlimited BBM, voice and text plan originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Boost Mobile  | Email this | Comments

The barrage of commercials for the Samsung Galaxy S III has begun, with Verizon posting up a new one for all to enjoy. In a nice change of pace, there aren’t angry robots screaming at you through the television, with the commercial instead following a father trying to get in shape and using his Galaxy S III to do so. Still, there’s always something to nitpick, with Droid-Life pointing out that both the Ice Cream Sandwich on-screen buttons and physical button make an appearance.

While the Samsung logo remains at the top of the phone below the earpiece, Verizon has somehow managed to awkwardly cram in its own logo just above the physical home button and below the display. Gotta make sure people know it’s a Verizon device, right? All the usual features are touched upon, such as 4G LTE connectivity, video calling, and a reminder that there’s a wealth of apps and information right at your fingertips.

Big Red may be advertising the device now, but you won’t be able to get your hands on one until July 11th. The 16GB version of the phone will cost $199.99 on a two-year contract, while the 32GB version will set you back $249.99. The North American version of the Galaxy S III includes a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB of RAM, a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD 720p display, an eight megapixel camera, and LTE connectivity with a 2,100mAh battery.

Verizon shows off Galaxy S III in new commercial is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.