Chance Miller

Earlier this week, evleaks reported that a mysterious LG V510 tablet was indeed the next Nexus tablet. At the time, this seemed rather believable, as the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 had already been refreshed for the year, leaving the Nexus 10 as the odd-man out. According to some source code shared by LG, however, the V510 is not in fact a Nexus tablet, but rather a Google Play Edition of its 8.3-inch G Pad (via Droid Life).

To see for yourself, simply download the source code file from LG’s website and unzip it. Within the .zip will be three files, two of which mention the V510 as an LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition.

LG-V510(G-Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition)_Android_KK_V510_10d.Android.tar.gz
LG-V510(G-Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition)_Android_KK_V510_10d_Kernel.tar.gz
V510_README.txt

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For the past few months, rumors have been swirling that another living room device will soon be released by Google. In July, the Wall Street Journal reported on a device with a motion sensor and video camera, while GigaOM reported in October that Google was planning to drop the Google TV branding in favor of “Android TV.” This time around, The Information’s Amir Efrati reports that Google is planning to release a “Nexus TV” set-top box that will run Android.

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Google this afternoon announced an update to its Search apps on both Android and iOS that includes voice search support for three addition languages. In a blog post, the company announced that the app can now understand French, German, and Japanese. In addition to being able understand the new languages and give text results, the Search app can also now give spoken answers back in those languages.

To try it out, simply tap the microphone in the search box and ask for anything you’re looking for. If you need some coffee in Munich, just say “Wo bekomme ich Kaffee in München?” to get a list of local options. Wondering what the height of the Eiffel tower is? Get a quick answer by asking, “Quelle est la hauteur de la Tour Eiffel?”. Maybe you need to know who invented the transistor ? Try asking in Japanese for “トランジスタを発明したのはだれ？”

Google says it will continue to work on adding even more languages to its Search app and that this is just the beginning of its efforts.

The Google Search app update is available for free in both the iOS App Store and on Google Play. 
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Google Music for Android received an update this morning, bumping it to build 5.3.1316. Most notably, the update adds the ability to store cached music on an external SD card for KitKat users . For devices that still have an SD card, which aren’t many at this point, this is a very nice addition. Also coming with this update is the ability to share links to songs with social networks, as well as the ability to shuffle all songs by a specific artist. Design-wise, the update also makes some slight tweaks to the pull-out notification panel.

Full changelog:

Back in October, Google announced the first hardware revision of its Glass product and that it would be available to current Explorers this year. Tonight, our own Seth Weintraub received his invitation to reserve the new revision of Glass for himself. Users who receive the invitation have until February 5th to make their decision on whether to upgrade or not. Should you choose to upgrade, you must fill out the form from Google and choose what color you would like the unit to be. The process is on a first-come, first-serve basis, so don’t wait too long to make your decision.

Once the updated unit is available, Google will send you a return box and return label for your original pair of Glass. After you send it back, your new and improved unit should arrive within a 3-5 days. It’s unclear when exactly Google will begin sending out the return boxes to Explorers.

As far as what’s new with this hardware revision of Glass, Google says that these units are made to support upcoming prescription lenses, and also include a new mono earbud.

Glass users who purchased Glass before October 28, 2013 are eligible to upgrade their units, so be on the lookout for an email to hit your inbox soon. Read the full invitation after the break..
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Slowly but surely, Google has been expanding the services that its $35 Chromecast supports, most recently with HBO Go. We heard a while back that Plex support was also coming, but there hadn’t been any concrete announcement from the company itself. A Reddit user, however, has now spotted a file within the Plex Media Server software that further hints at Chromecast support (via GigaOm). The file apparently is one of a handful of device profiles that the software uses when it determines if it has to transcode a video being streaming it.

Google has been doing a lot recently to beef up the streaming service that the Chromecast supports. The company is holding a hackathon next week to preview the Chromecast SDK to a select number of developers. Plex will certainly be a welcome addition the supported services, and we have a feeling that it won’t be the only new service to come. 
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Google announced today that it has added yet another new category to its ever-expanding Knowledge Graph service. Starting today, users can search the make, model, and year of a car to find out a variety of information, directly from the Google search page.

For instance, if you search “Tesla Model S”, the Knowledge Graph will now show up and present you with the MSRP, horsepower, miles-per-gallon, make, and available trims. Different cars show a different set information, as well. Should you search “Ford Focus”, you will be presented with the MSRP, MPG, and horsepower, as well as the engine size, body styles, and other years. Google doesn’t appear to have a whole lot of information in its database at this point. For example, it only has data for the 2012, 2013, and 2014 Ford Focus models.

To try it out for yourself, simply use voice search and say the make and model of a car, or type it into a Google search, just like you would any other search.

We’ve been hearing rumors of a subscription music service from YouTube for awhile now, but according to a new report from AllThingsD, we are still a little ways off from seeing it launch. The blog reports, citing “people familiar with the company’s plans”, that the music service will not launch this year, but rather sometime in Q1 2014. Reportedly, YouTube has already secured the licenses with music labels, which is not an easy task nowadays, but is not satisfied with the actual service. Reports of the subscription service began appearing back in October, with the project supposedly nearing its final stages then.

There are still a lot of questions surrounding the service, as well. Such as, how it will differentiate itself from Google’s All Access service and how it handle user content, like lip syncs and mashups. Last week, an update to the YouTube for Android app revealed code that hinted at a “Music Pass” service that supported offline playback and was entirely ad free for “millions of songs”.

Since there’s no pinpoint launch date within Q1, it could be that we see the service launch relatively early in the quarter, which would mean we are not too far away from seeing it.

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Google Glass is expected to be available to consumers sometime in 2014, but if you’re really dying to get your hands on a pair of smart glasses before then, Vuzix has got you covered. The company today announced that its M100 Smart Glasses are now available to preorder for $1,000. The glasses are quoted as shipping within 2-4 weeks, so arrival by Christmas is not guaranteed.

The M110 Smart Glasses feature a 16:9 WQVGA display, which is equivalent to a 4-inch smartphone screen hovering 14 inches away. As far as cameras go, the device has a 5MP sensor for still images and can record video in 1080p. The glasses are powered by a 1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM, as well as Android. They can also pair with your Android phone, and run many Android apps out of the box, as well as connect to WiFi networks.

At $1,000, the M100 Smart Glasses are definitely cheaper than Google Glass, but it remains unclear which will be more functional and what Google will add to its offering before making it readily available. 
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Via its official Twitter account, HTC USA has just announced that the unlocked and developer editions of its HTC One are now receiving the Android 4.4 KitKat update with Sense 5.5 on top (via Android Central). HTC says the rollout starts today, so it may take a few days for it to hit your respective phone, so be sure to remain patient.

HTC One Unlocked and Developer Edition owners – your Kit Kat roll out starts today! Let us know your favorite new additions. #KitKat #HTCOne

— HTC USA (@HTCUSA) November 29, 2013

As far as what’s new in Sense 5.5, we saw some new features in the update when screenshots leaked last month. Changes included some new camera modes, as well as the ability to easily turn off BlinkFeed.

It’s a good sign to see these two models getting updated relatively quickly, as it means that the US carrier variants shouldn’t be too far behind. 
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Acer has just announced its new C720P Chromebook, a touchscreen variant of the C720 model that it introduced earlier this month. The C720P will be available in early December from Amazon, Best Buy, and the Acer Store for $299.99.

This is Acer’s first touchscreen Chromebook and is capable of all the normal multi-touch features, such as pinch-to-zoom. As far as specs go, the device is packing an 11.6-inch LED “ComfyView” display with a 1366 x 768 resolution. Acer touts that the device will give up to 7 and a half hours of battery life and boot upon just 7 seconds, thanks in large part to the 32GB SSD. Powering the laptop is an Intel Celeron 2955U, which is based off of the Haswell architecture, as well as 2GB of DDR3 RAM. As you would expect, it supports 802.11a/b/g/n wifi as well.

Along the sides of the laptop, you’ll find USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI connection. The laptop weighs in at 2.98 pounds and is just .78 inches thick.

Finally, Google is offering 100GB of free cloud storage with Google Drive for 2 years and 12 free Gogo wifi passes to anyone who purchases the C720P.

At $299.99, the C720P is a very compelling option for users who want a touchscreen Chromebook and don’t want to shell out the money for a Pixel. I could very well see this being one of the most popular gifts this holiday season.

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Google has released three new commercials for its Nexus 5 today, all of which highlight a specific camera feature (via Android Central). The first one shows off the HDR+ feature of the device’s camera, while the other two show Photo Sphere and Auto Awesome. The ads are all short, coming in at roughly 15 seconds a piece.

Google is heavily touting the Nexus 5’s camera, though many reviewers said that it was somewhat disappointing. In our own poll, however, people voted the device’s camera just a tad worse than the iPhone 5S shooter, which is arguably one of the best out there.

You can see the ad highlighting Photo Sphere above, while the other two are just after the break. 
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Just yesterday, Motorola began rolling out Android 4.4 KitKat to the T-Mobile variant of the Moto X, which was preceded by the Verizon model earlier this week. Today, the company has announced that the AT&T variant of its flagship will be the next device to receive the update.

Motorola says that the update will begin rolling out to Moto X users on AT&T today. The update will take the device to version number 140.44.5.ghost and includes all the features expected from KitKat, including the new design and much more.

• An improved phone dialer. Now you can search for contacts directly from the dial-pad and easily see and tap on those you contact frequently.
• More gallery goodies. KitKat packs in some cool, new gallery effects—such as Posterize, Highlights, and Edges. You can even use the Draw feature to annotate your photos freehand with your finger.
• New Hangouts app. All of your conversations now in one place—texts, video calls, and other chats all together in one app. Plus, you can now send animated gifs and share your location.
• Color emojis. For when words aren’t enough, the Google Keyboard now includes colorful characters to send in text messages and other communications.
• Drag to focus and expose. An updated camera app lets you control both the focus and exposure of your photos. Simply drag your finger to set just the right exposure and focus point.
• And more… Restyled status and navigation bars, new full-screen mode, and enhancements to Motorola features like Touchless Control.

We’re still waiting for a plethora of other devices to receive the update, including the Google Edition HTC One and Nexus 10. Motorola, however, finally appears to be on top of its game, and that’s certainly a good thing.