Samsung showed off a new Gear VR model at the Oculus Connect event today with a friendly price tag, wider compatibility, and an upcoming ship target. The virtual reality headset continues to be powered by Oculus but it’s considerably more affordable at $99 compared to the prior $199 version. Just in time for the holiday quarter, Samsung says its redesigned Gear VR will ship in November. It also boasts wider compatibility as it will work with all 2015 Samsung phones. Expand Expanding Close
Sure, technically Apple’s first Android app was the now discontinued Beats Music which it picked up through acquisition last year and it’s developing Apple Music for Google’s platform, but it’s very fitting that Apple’s first in-house app is called Switch to iOS from Android. Apple first announced the new Android app this year alongside iOS 9 at its developer conference, and today with iOS 9’s official launch the Move to iOS app is officially available on the Google Play Store. Here’s how it works: Expand Expanding Close
When Twitter launched Periscope earlier this year, the live broadcasting app embraced the natural way to hold smartphones: it portrait mode. But video wants to be shot in landscape as it looks best on TVs and computer displays, and Periscope doesn’t want to be trapped in your phone.
Paving the way for expanding to smart TVs and immediately creating a better viewing experience on the web, Periscope is adding support for broadcasting in landscape for the first time in its latest update for Android. The update lets broadcasters shoot in either landscape or portrait mode and viewers can continue to view new landscape streams in portrait orientation.
There’s also a new Android-only enhancement called Mutual Follow: Expand Expanding Close
Back in 2010 Google launched the Google Apps Marketplace to feature third-party software that enhances Google Apps for Work, and today that website is seeing a major update. Expand Expanding Close
Google first introduced fact-checked health information to its Knowledge Graph earlier this year to present quality medical facts to users searching for specific conditions. Today the search giant says it will soon have over 900 health conditions included in its Knowledge Graph offering “quick at-a-glance info on symptoms, treatments, prevalence, and more.” Google says this more than doubles the amount of health conditions it included at the start. Google’s health information Knowledge Graph is getting smarter in other ways too.
It was only a month ago that Skype for Android was hit with a slight visual refresh, and today Microsoft is pushing out a much bigger redesign to the messaging app that it says was inspired by Google’s Material design. Skype 6.0 for Android replaces the custom action bar along the bottom of the app with a new floating action button that should be familiar to other modern Android apps. The action button ties in shortcuts to video messages, video calls, voice calls, and conversation chats. Expand Expanding Close
The 5.5-inch Ascend Mate S flagship smartphone isn’t the only new smartphone coming out of Huawei at IFA today. The Chinese handset maker also unveiled its new premium Huawei G8 smartphone launching in several non-US markets next month. The Huawei G8 sports a full-metal body and comes in dark silver, gold, and white tones with a 1080p 5.5-inch curved Gorilla Glass display. Expand Expanding Close
After mostly letting it sit stagnant for nearly two years, Instagram is ready to show its Direct messaging feature some love. Instagram Direct, which lets you share photos, videos, and messages privately with other Instagram users, was seen as a play at Snapchat and similar apps when it launched in 2013, but it’s so far experienced limited appeal within the photo sharing app. Now Instagram hopes to change that with new features including message threads, giant emoji, sharing from your timeline, and more. Expand Expanding Close
A week ago we reported that Google’s, err, Alphabet’s Nest had a new smart thermostat in the works per FCC filings, and today Nest is ready to unveil its 3rd-gen Learning Thermostat. Nest already automates heating and cooling, offers remote access, and aims to lower energy costs, so what’s new in the third version? The already sleek designed Learning Thermostat now has a bigger and sharper display that looks even better and it’s gained some new smarts behind it. Expand Expanding Close
Google has good news for iPhone users curious about Android Wear and the diverse design selection of smartwatches running the OS. Starting today Android Wear watches will work with the iPhone for the first time. Just like Apple Watch, Android Wear watches is compatible with iPhone 5 or higher with iOS 8.2 or higher required. The slight catch is that not all current Android Wear watches will be compatible with iOS… Expand Expanding Close
National carriers across the US have been adding features that make it easier to use their service in Mexico and Canada as a growing trend, and today AT&T has announced enhancements to its pre-paid GoPhone plans to include 4GB of high speed data use in Canada and Mexico as well as the United States. The new AT&T GoPhone feature goes into effect on August 21st and is supported on the carrier’s $60 pre-paid plan without making any changes.
In addition to 4GB of data for use across North America, the GoPhone plans include unlimited talk and text in the US, Canada, and Mexico as well. AT&T’s $60 GoPhone plan is reduced to $55/month for customers using the carrier’s Auto Refill automatic payment feature. Important to note, though, is that AT&T’s GoPhone plans specifically mean data speeds up to 3G, not faster 4G LTE speeds, when mentioning high speed data.
Starting tomorrow, AT&T will be revamping its Mobile Share Value plans by adjusting data tiers and plan prices for new and current subscribers. At the low end, AT&T is consolidating a few data tiers into just two options with different price points. Meanwhile, AT&T’s double digit data tiers are also being reduced, and some subscribers can potentially end up with more data at no extra cost per month or get a better rate on even higher data tiers. Expand Expanding Close
Samsung Pay in action (via <a href="http://www.engadget.com" target="_blank">Engadget</a>)
In addition to announcing new Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5 smartphones today at its event, the South Korean handset maker has announced the official launch date for its mobile payment service called Samsung Pay. Samsung Pay was first demoed at an event in March and works differently than Google’s OS-level Android Pay as it uses Magnetic Secure Transmission technology based on its LoopPay acquisition that makes it widely compatible with point-of-sale terminals.
Starting a week from today, Samsung Pay will go live for the first time in South Korea enabling mobile payments from compatible Samsung devices. Following the initial rollout, Samsung Pay will go live in the United States starting September 28th.
In addition to launching in South Korea and the United States, Samsung says it’s targeting the UK, Spain, and China as the next markets to launch its mobile payment service. The mobile payment service was initially expected to go live earlier this summer.
As for availability, Samsung Pay is “preloaded on select Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5 devices” while a software update coming this month will add support on Galaxy S6 and S6 edge phones. Additionally, Samsung says it will launch a limited beta for Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+ and Note5 phones starting August 25th. Full press release below:
The rollout of Android Auto, Google’s smartphone-based infotainment system for the road, is in full swing as several automakers and developers are announcing specific cars and apps to support the feature. Audibooks.com is the latest to release an Android Auto-compatible app with the most recent update to their Audio Books app for Android. Expand Expanding Close
While Apple’s iPad continues to lead the tablet market, according to new data from IDC, its marketshare has dropped a few points year-over-year, and the overall market for tablets saw negative growth, based on units shipped globally. That’s according to second quarter 2015 unit shipments and marketshare over the same quarter a year ago, as Apple shipped 10.9 million units versus 13.3 million units during the second quarter of 2014. While the iPad continues to lead in the tablet space, IDC’s data shows Apple’s market share dropping nearly 3 points from 27.7% to 24.5%.
Samsung, the number two player in the tablet space, similarly saw declines in both units shipped and market share from Q2 2014 to Q2 2015. The Korean company slipped by a million tablets during the quarter year-over-year, falling from 8.6 million units to 7.6 million units, while its market share dropped a point from 18% to 17% … Expand Expanding Close
Google announced today that it is updating its AdSense user consent policy to comply with requests from European Union data protection authorities. The updated user consent policy strengthens the requirement that publishes with audiences in the EU obtain permission from readers before collecting usage data and accessing cookies. Google says the updated user consent policy follows its own approach to comply with privacy laws. The company outlines the updated user consent policy for website and app publishers with EU readers and users: Expand Expanding Close
Microsoft has released an updated version of Skype for Android today that delivers both a visual refresh to several parts of the app as well as performance improvements throughout. Expand Expanding Close
We shared last month that a number of changes were coming to Google’s Classroom service for educators and students, and now Google says that one of those changes is rolling out now: mobile alerts. Google says that the Classroom app for both Android and iOS will gain support for mobile notifications this week.
For instance, students will be alerted immediately when they receive new assignments or grades, notes from teachers, comments from fellow classmates, and more—allowing them to stay on top of their schoolwork even more easily.
To support the new notifications feature, Google released an updated version of its Classroom app for Android on the Play Store and iOS on the App Store this week. Google first announced the new alerts feature for Classroom, which it launched last year to help teachers and students manage classwork, alongside other upcoming changes coming to Classroom including a new developer API, a share button for sending work to other services, and the ability to re-use assignments.
Image via <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/buy-button-coming-to-google-search-2015-7" target="_blank">Business Insider</a>
Google confirmed at a conference in May that a “buy” button was planned for products in its search results, and today the company elaborated on those plans at a press event in NYC. The new feature called “Purchases on Google” will allow consumers to purchase products directly from ads in Google Search results. Featuring a buy button in ads when searching for products should make purchasing those products more seamless for consumers and boost the value of ads for merchants. Expand Expanding Close
Google is steadily improving its Classroom feature introduced last year that lets teachers set up lesson plans and students use apps in education. Today Google unveiled a number of improvements coming to Classroom including a developer API, a new share button, mobile notifications, and more. Expand Expanding Close
Google’s AdWords team has highlighted three important changes to how users can interact with mobile ads and in-app interstitial ads. The changes are part of an effort to reduce the chance that a user may accidentally click an ad when browsing the web or trying to dismiss the ad. Expand Expanding Close
Halfbrick Studios announced today that it is teaming up with YouTube to produce a new series of animated shorts centered around the characters from their hit game Fruit Ninja. The studio already has a number of clips on the video channel including trailers and gameplay clips, but says the Fruit Ninja animated series will be aimed at children age 6-10 with the YouTube Kids app in mind… Expand Expanding Close
T-Mobile is upgrading its Jump plan introduced two years ago to allow subscribers to move to new smartphones more frequently than before. The new Jump On Demand option lets you lease a smartphone for a small monthly fee, then trade it in for a new smartphone up to three times per year at no additional cost. Expand Expanding Close
Google Calendar is out with an improved version for the iPhone today with version 1.1. The list of changes is short but the improvements should be welcome.
The update includes integration with Google Drive so users can connect files with events on your calendar. Interactive notifications now include the ability to open directions from alerts or respond to guests via email. Finally, users can now see week numbers next to the calendar and more entries using the week view.
