Jordan Kahn

Google originally launched App Indexing for Android users back in December before rolling it out globally in English for a number of apps back in April. As pictured above, the feature allows content from Android apps to show up in search results with a button for users to quickly launch the app. Today the company announced it’s expanding the feature once again and launching it for apps in several languages other than English. It’s also added some other English results in the U.S. including the Walmart, Tapatalk, and Fancy apps. 
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Motorola Mobility, still owned by Google until the sale to Lenovo completes, announced today that it’s closing the Texas-based manufacturing plant that it opened in May of last year to build its Moto X smartphone. The plant, which employees approximately 700 employees, is said to be closing its doors by the end of the year, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal:
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Yet another lowered forecast for tablet shipments this year comes today from IDC following a similar move from Morgan Stanley earlier this month. IDC announced today that it’s lowering its tablet shipment 245.4 million units down from a total 260.9 million units, which is around 12.1% year-over-year growth for the category vs the 51.8% growth last year. We’ve seen how much growth potential there is for tablets vs PCs and smartphones, but IDC’s report notes that tablets might see increased competition from the phablet category this year. The report classifies tablets as smartphones with 5.5-inch to 7-inches and IDC thinks lots of consumers will second-guess tablet purchases and instead go with a phablet:

“Two major issues are causing the tablet market to slow down. First, consumers are keeping their tablets, especially higher-cost models from major vendors, far longer than originally anticipated. And when they do buy a new one they are often passing their existing tablet off to another member of the family,” said Tom Mainelli, Program Vice President, Devices & Displays at IDC. “Second, the rise of phablets – smartphones with 5.5-inch and larger screens – are causing many people to second-guess tablet purchases as the larger screens on these phones are often adequate for tasks once reserved for tablets.”

IDC notes that the share of smartphone shipments captured by so called phablets doubled from 4.3% in Q1 of 2013 to 10.5% in Q1 of this year. representing 30.1 million units shipped. “As large phones clearly impact near-term tablet growth, IDC expects the market to rebound by shifting its focus back toward larger-screened devices.”

A previous report claimed to reveal details and specs for Samsung’s upcoming “Galaxy Tab S” tablet, but today we get confirmation from leaked firmware for the device that it will indeed include a fingerprint sensor. SamMobile dug through the official firmware that leaked online earlier today and in it discovered proof of the fingerprint scanner through a number of screenshots showing how the feature works on the larger tablet.

It’s not surprisingly a similar process and UI to the Galaxy S5, but the firmware also revealed the Ultra Power Saving Mode that first made an appearance on the S5, as well as an improved camera UI and more. Head below for more screenshots. 
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Along with an announcement and interview with Sergey Brin at the Code Conference tonight, Google is officially taking the wraps off a new self driving car that it’s building from the ground up for the first time. That’s instead of retrofitting vehicles built by other manufacturers like it has in the past, but the new vehicle will also bring possibilities that weren’t possible with the company’s previous self-driving vehicles. Details of the project were previously revealed in a report from The Information, but Google gave an early official look and details about the new car to Recode:
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR8XBZRkkao&feature=youtu.be]

YouTube announced today that it will be releasing regular “Creator Preview” videos letting creators know about upcoming features so they can provide feedback ahead of time. In the first Creator Preview, the company announced that it’s working on a separate mobile app just for creators in addition to a few other interesting new features:
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Samsung has no shortage of smartwatch and wearable products for the wrist with its Galaxy Gear, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit products, but The Wall Street Journal reports the company is about to introduce yet another this summer. However, the big differentiator this time around will apparently be that the watch will act as a standalone device and come with its own SIM card. It will allow users to make calls, take photos and more without having to be connected to a companion smartphone like Samsung’s other smartwatch products. 
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After announcing the 1Password 4 for Android beta back in November of last year, the long awaited update is arriving for all users on June 10. The company will also be experimenting with a new model upon release that will see users unlock features via in-app purchases after an initial free trial period:
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Following announcements earlier this month from both AT&T and Verizon, T-Mobile announced today it’s introducing Voice over LTE support starting with Seattle. The first three devices to support the new tech include the LG G Flex, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Light.

So I’m thrilled to congratulate my team on the launch of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) in the Seattle area for our existing LG G Flex and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Light customers. Our friends at MetroPCS were the first to launch VoLTE in the U.S. back in 2012, and we’ve been working hard on a LTE Advanced version of VoLTE, which we plan to roll out to more T-Mobile customers throughout the coming year.

T-Mobile’s CTO Neville Ray noted that the new technology, which brings voice calls onto the same LTE radio layer previously reserved for data, will allow “faster call setup times (almost twice as fast as a non-VoLTE call setup) and the ability to enjoy lightening fast LTE data speeds while on a call.” It will also support the HD Voice or wide-band audio feature supported lots of newer hardware. Ray explained how the technology works:
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In a blog post on the Google Enterprise blog, CEO of Foreducation, a company that works with schools to deploy Google products in classrooms, today announced the launch of the world’s first “Google Learning Space.”  The space is described as a collaborative learning center that will offer students from the Colégio Mater Dei private school in São Paulo, Brazil the chance to interact with Google technology in a Chromecast, tablet, and Smart TV-equipped environment: 
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Following earlier reports that Google was working on projects to bring WiFi hotspots to locations across North America, The Information is out with a report today claiming Google is planning “heavily subsidized Wi-Fi network hardware and software to small and medium-sized retail businesses.” 

The report claims Google will offer the service to businesses like restaurants, doctors’ offices and gyms and could unveil it for customers in the U.S. and elsewhere as early as this summer:
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Motorola has spent a lot of time since first introducing the Moto 360 talking about how its Android Wear smartwatch will be better than the other guys. That super streamlined watch face it’s been showing off in its promo videos might not be the only watch face users will have access to, however, as today the company asked the community to begin submitting watch face designs ahead of the device’s official launch. Motorola isn’t saying if these designs will ever be used or available to Moto 360 users, but it will be giving away the smartwatch to one submission selected as a winner:
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T-Mobile just let us know that it’s about to launch two new Samsung devices including the Galaxy Note 10.1 – 2014 Edition and limited edition metallic gold version of the Galaxy S5. Details below:
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrqZl2QIz0c]

Ahead of Google’s upcoming I/O Developer Conference where the company is expected to show off more of its new Android Wear platform, Google is today asking developers to submit apps for design feedback. It is also offering some participants an opportunity to gain exposure on Google Play and during the I/O conference.
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The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is purchasing Divide, a company that builds mobile device management software for enterprise customers. Divide confirmed the deal in an announcement on its website saying it will be joining the Android team and that existing customers will continue to be able to access the service (above).

Divide provides a cloud-based service that lets companies and large organizations oversee and manage mobile devices used by employees on their networks. The software can create separate work environments on personal devices used by employees, offers a number of security features, and also supports both Android and iOS:
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Samsung is looking to bring biometric sensors including fingerprint sensors and beyond to not just future flagship models but also its low-end and entry-level smartphones as well. The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung’s senior vice president Rhee In-jong confirmed that biometric sensors for security features— such as the fingerprint scanner already included in Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S5— will also soon come to the company’s less expensive devices. In addition, he hinted that iris detection features could be the next sensor technology it taps into for high-end devices:
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After releasing similar features for its iOS app, Yahoo today updated its Yahoo Mail for Android app with number of its other services like news and weather integrated into the experience. That includes new one tap access to news, weather, sports, stocks and the ability to search the web and Flickr directly from within the Yahoo Mail app.

Rather than the new tab UI it introduced on iOS, Android users will be able to swipe between the various new features:
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