The CyanogenMod team has a whole lot to celebrate in the last two weeks with a new round of funding, CTS certification of the Oppo N1 and now a total of 10 million CM installs. According to the company/team’s CM website, the Android modification hit more than 10,000,000 downloads in the last few days.

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Christmas is just two days away and with plenty of unsuspecting kids (and parents) awaiting new smartphones and tablets Disney is taking the opportunity to knock down app prices. For a limited time, numerous Disney apps within the Play Store are on sale for $0.49 and below.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8nJKWJTsUg&w=600&h=400]

For a moment there I didn’t think I would find a creepier marketing spot than Nokia’s Lumia 2520 “mullet.” Well, Samsung has gone and taken “creepy marketing spot” to a whole new level with “Are You Geared Up?” The 2.5 minute features two guys, one with the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear smartwatch, the other with just a run-of-the-mill smartphone and of course the bombshell blonde.

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To say that 2013 has been an interesting year in the world of Android would be putting it mildly, but has it really been a banner year? The release of Android-oriented products like Google Glass, Google Hangouts/revamp of Google+ and the beginnings of Google Retail led the way for a whole new approach for Google to take on the competition.

As we look back at the Android-based smartphones that launched in 2013, there isn’t any one handset that truly stands out as a market revolution. Instead, 2013 saw improvements and innovation on existing brands and lines that were already incredibly popular. For example, the Galaxy S 4 which kicks off our list below didn’t really raise the bar over the Galaxy S III in a truly big way, but it did improve on an already market-leading experience from the Galaxy S III.

So without further adieu, here are the 9to5Google’s top Android smartphone picks for 2013:
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The Google+ AutoAwesome feature is one of the best features the search engine giant added to its “don’t call it a social” social network this year. Now, to make for a fitting end to 2013 Google is creating your very own “Year In Review.”

Google’s Vic Gundotra highlights that the creation of the video is dependent “on a lot of factors (the quality of your pictures, if our algorithms believe we can auto create a high quality movie for you, etc).” The videos will be rolling out to everyone over the next week but don’t be too upset if Google+ doesn’t believe it can’t create a video for you.

Google’s Lead Product Manager at Google Photos, Anil Sabharwal shared his very own video of 2013 and it’s quite cheerful:

#AutoAwesome storytelling

This time of year we reconnect with loved ones, and we reflect on the moments that really matter. Photos and videos help preserve these moments, and when you save them to Google+,#AutoAwesome can bring your story to life in meaningful, magical ways. #AutoAwesome can, for example:

– Transform a game of dress-up into a delightful animation (http://goo.gl/aJzYUj), or
– Create a highlight reel for a recent family wedding (http://goo.gl/Th3wE0), or
– Display an entire cliff diving sequence in a single image (http://goo.gl/b6weQ6), or
– Add falling snow to your favorite winter photograph (http://goo.gl/9gdPrC)

In all cases these gifted items appear in your account automatically, so as long as you’re backing things up to Google+, you’ll get notified whenever an awesome (and private) version is ready to share.

Of course: many people have been saving and sharing their photos and videos on Google+ all year long. And for those select users we’ve got one more holiday gift: an #AutoAwesome year in review(I’ve attached mine as an example). You’ll get notified in the next week or so if you have one of these movies waiting for you.

Most importantly we want to say thank you. It’s your support and enthusiasm that make Google+ so special. And we’ll keep working to help you tell your story. #googleplusupdate #year2013

Did you miss out on Motorola’s $350 off-contract Cyber Monday deal for the Moto X? If you did, here’s another opportunity to score the device sans contract for that very same price. The offer is “exclusive to Today Show viewers” but like any good deal made its way over to Slick Deals where readers are grabbing their shiny new Moto X units.

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If you’re looking for a feel-good movie to help ring in Christmas day, the Play Store is offering a free SD copy of Will Ferrell’s Elf. There’s no telling how long the offer will last so grab your copy right now and enjoy it on your Android smartphone or tablet over and over and over and over.

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A big round of applause to the folks at Oppo and Cyanogen Inc as the Oppo N1 becomes the first Google-approved CyanogenMod phone. The announcement came yesterday via Google Groups as the device was certified to have passed through Google’s CTS and CDD certification programs which is a major milestone for everyone working on this project.

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Holy wowzers Batman as BlackBerry announces over 40 million “newly registered iOS/Android users in the last 60 days.” The BBM tidbit dropped during this morning’s BlackBerry Earnings Report and while we’ll ignore the economic crisis that is BlackBerry, the messaging numbers are pretty interesting.

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Google’s Chromium Blog just announced intentions of the search engine giant to knock out toolbars and “multipurpose extensions” out of the Chrome Web Store. The update to the policy is basically summed up as: “extensions in the Chrome Web Store must have a single purpose that is narrow and easy-to-understand.” That sounds simple enough, no?

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARjczjvVDz8&w=640&h=420]

There’s little question the White House is one of the most familiar buildings the world over and they always go the extra mile decorating for the holiday season. That’s why it’s so notable that the White House just held a streaming Google+ Hangout to show off some of the decor that has the White House looking all festive for the first family and tourists alike.

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From 9to5Mac:

Chalk up another Google app for iOS update as the app goes all iOS 7-fied as the official app finally receives the treatment. It takes a few seconds to notice the changes as I almost missed the full screen front page that now omits the signal, battery and carrier label. Overall, the update introduces:

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMrZmSPpIRw&w=600&h=400]

Grabbing the attention of customers in the wireless industry these days requires some slick moves and a creative mind. Well, Motorola has done exactly that with a brand new interactive ad in January’s Wired magazine.

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Cyanogen Inc, the parent company of the Android-famous CyanogenMod has raised an additional $22 million dollars in Series B funding. The money comes on top of the $7 million the company raised earlier this year as it announced three months ago it had incorporated.

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You get KitKat, you get KitKat, you get KitKat! Well, Verizon isn’t the Oprah sure but with Verizon’s announcement via Twitter this morning that Android 4.4 is on its way to the DROID Ultra, Maxx and Mini it sure feels like a Oprah giveaway episode.

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[protected-iframe id=”51a2cae011875bc424f221d83668d301-22427743-3648805″ info=”http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/k1Hw3BmLT9UDeW53Rup” width=”600″ height=”400″ frameborder=”0″]

Update: TechCrunch reports that this video is fake.

Update #2: TechCrunch now reports the video is real and commissioned by Yahoo!, but not a real product yet.

With Yahoo’s acquisition of SkyPhrase, a natural language processing startup this month questions immediately arose as to how Yahoo would incorporate the technology. Now, thanks to a video on Daily Motion discovered by Android Police, we may have our answer as Yahoo prepares a Google Now/Siri voice-controlled personal assistant.

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Google just dropped a few more updates for Glass via Google+ to help end 2013 in the best way possible. Included in this shiny new update are the Wall Street Journal, Weather Alerts, Winkfeed (different from yesterday), Upload to YouTube and Hangouts. All in all, it’s a pretty hefty update for Glass fans and offers a few more reasons to consider shelling out $1500 courtesy of the money you got from returning all those ugly sweaters your grandparents are preparing to give you on Christmas day.

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There was little question at some point, somewhere in their roadmap Pebble’s smartwatch was going to get a dedicated appstore. That day has arrived as a new company blog post indicates the new developer portal is now open. The app store will launch to the public in 2014 and be the “first-of-its-kind wearable application directory.”

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If you’re looking to Google-yourself into a holiday spirit, open yourself to the Android world with “let’s go caroling.” Just grab your phone, open Google Now/search and just say “let’s go caroling.”

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BlackBerry isn’t letting BBM go down without a fight as it strikes a deal to preinstall the application on select LG smartphones. BlackBerry’s once wildly popular Messenger application will come pre-installed on the LG G Pro Lite in “markets around the world.” The deal will allow a bundling agreement with LG involving “both the standard and virtual preloading” as well maintaining that BBM is available as a free download in Google’s Play Store.

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