Jordan Kahn

Today Google is celebrating its 15 birthday and to help celebrate it’s making the search experience on mobile devices even better with a redesign and new features. Google ran down a few of the new features that it showed off today at a small event on its Inside Search blog today. New improvements to search on mobile devices include cross platform notifications for search and Google Now, new search tools for filtering and comparisons, and a refreshed design that puts search results on Google Now-like cards.

On top of a refreshed look for Google Search and ads on smartphones and tablets pictured above, the first new improvement you’ll notice in Google search on mobile devices is new filter and comparison tools that can also be initiated with voice:

You can pull up your phone and say to Google: “Tell me about Impressionist artists.” You’ll see who the artists are, and you can dive in to learn more about each of them and explore their most famous works. If you want to switch to Abstract artists, you can do that really easily with our new filter tool… Or let’s say you want to compare two things: How much saturated fat is in butter versus olive oil? Now you can simply tell Google: “Compare butter with olive oil.” Our new comparison tool gives you new insights by letting you compose your own answer.

Google also announced that it will be rolling out a new Google Search app for iPhone and iPad in the coming weeks that will enable notifications for reminders & more across platforms:
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According to a new report from Geek.com, Google is preparing an “XE 10” update for Google Glass next month that will officially enable apps from third-party developers. Details in the report are vague, but the site says Google has been working with devs and providing access to sensors, voice commands, and other features that unofficial third-party apps floating around can’t:

Multiple sources have now confirmed to Geek.com that the update offers developers access to the sensors in Glass for use in motion tracking and development. Developers will also be able to create their own voice commands through Glassware, giving the user the ability to launch the app from the “OK Glass” menu if they so choose.

The site says that Google has been working with developers to ensure Glassware apps will be available at launch, and also says Google will have a launch announcement alongside the XE10 update:
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Samsung today announced U.S. availability for the new Galaxy Note 10.1 – 2014 Edition that it first unveiled earlier this month at IFA. Preorders for the device will kick off tomorrow at midnight ET, and become available through the company’s major retail partners on October 10.

Samsung will be selling the new Note 10.1 in Jet Black and Classic White for a retail price of $549.99 (16GB) and $599.99 (32GB). Preorders will be available through select retailers, and the following stores will have stock of the device on October 10: Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile specialty stores, BestBuy.com, Amazon, PC Richard & Son, Fry’s, Tiger Direct, Walmart, Samsung.com.

As a reminder, the new Galaxy Note 10.1 features a Exynos® 5420 quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and a 2,560 x 1,600 pixel WQXGA display with over 4 million pixels, and that new leather-like textured backside like the new Galaxy Note III. You’ll also get those new S Pen features that we first saw on the Galaxy Note III, $600 worth of free bundled content, and other goodies. Head below for Samsung’s full press release. 
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As a blogger, taking great, print-quality photos when covering events or doing reviews is a necessity. So carrying around a big DSLR or comparable digital camera system has become a necessary evil. I say evil because the camera world and I just don’t understand each other. The camera market has become stale and full of devices that cater to professional photographers, while seemingly ignoring the incredible innovations that have happened with mobile devices in recent years. Just because pro photogs want their tried and trusted physical controls and pricey glass, doesn’t mean there isn’t room for beautiful touch screens with easy to use UIs, WiFi, LTE connectivity, USB charging, and everything we love about the app and developer ecosystem that we get with Android.

Samsung is the only company that gets it: It’s the first to integrate what is essentially a full Android smartphone on the back of a full fledged, professional mirrorless camera system. It’s the big brother, high-end version of the Galaxy Camera (review) point and shoot it introduced last year.  It’s an intriguing concept and certainly where I hoped camera manufacturers would look to when attempting to take their professional product lines out of the stone age, so I’ve been more than excited to have the opportunity to put the device to the test over the last few weeks.

DESIGN/ SPECS:
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YouTube announced today on its YouTube Partners & Creators Blog that is launching a new Audio Library that will provide YouTubers with access royalty-free instrumental audio tracks to use in their  YouTube videos and elsewhere. The new Audio Library tool is available via a link in the YouTube video manager and currently provides access to over 150 tracks grouped by genre, instrument, and mood that can be downloaded as 320 Kbps MP3s.

Google also noted that it teamed up with a number of musicians to record the original tracks:

As you can see, this project was a whole lot of fun. We searched far and wide for musicians to create tracks for us and ended up finding co-conspirators in multiple places: an acquaintance down in LA, music houses across the country and a well-known music producer in Brooklyn. And it turns out the latter produced albums for Phish and Sean Lennon. So, we’re basically rock stars now (or we felt like them for awhile).

You can check out the new Audio Library for yourself here. Musicians that are interested in submitting music to be considered for the audio library can do so here. Unfortunately, in exchange for offering up your tunes royalty-free forever, Google does not seem to be crediting artists for their contributions in the Audio Library. 
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With Apple’s new gold iPhone 5s getting a lot of attention since its launch earlier this month, it’s not that surprising that Samsung is moving to introduce gold models of its flagship smartphone. It previously announced its Galaxy Golden, $700 dual-screen flip-phone for the Korean market, and today it is teasing two gold variants of its flagship Galaxy S4 on SamsungMobileArabia Twitter account and Samsung Gulf Facebook page. The two new colors (pictured above), include Gold Brown and Gold Pink, although Samsung isn’t actually showing off much of the device’s gold plated backside. No word on pricing or availability, but we’re assuming these won’t be making it to the US market. 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0BsJuN0OAs

Google today announced that its Ideas think tank is teaming up with the Comparative Constitutions Project to build a new online tool called “Constitute” that aims to digitize all the world’s constitutions and make them searchable to everyone online.

Constitute enables people to browse and search constitutions via curated and tagged topics, as well as by country and year. The Comparative Constitutions Project cataloged and tagged nearly 350 themes, so people can easily find and compare specific constitutional material. This ranges from the fairly general, such as “Citizenship” and “Foreign Policy,” to the very specific, such as “Suffrage and turnouts” and “Judicial Autonomy and Power.”

Google Ideas Product Manager Sara Sinclair Brody says the company hopes the new tool will help citizens learn more about their own constitutions, but also “arm drafters with a better tool for constitution design and writing.” 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dLuwkrbhmYU

We’ve enjoyed seeing the new iPhones get smashed to pieces in the inevitable drop tests that followed the launch of Apple’s two new smartphones this month, but what we really want to know is how it holds up against some of its Android competition. SquareTrade has just completed a durability test (via AllThingsD), and found that not only are the new iPhones not performing as well as last year’s models, the new 5s and plastic-backed 5c were both beat by Motorola’s new flagship Moto X:

“We were expecting that at least one of the new iPhone models would up its game but surprisingly, it was the Moto X that proved most forgiving of accidents,” SquareTrade marketing chief Ty Shay said in a statement. “This is the first time we’ve tested the breakability on a Motorola phone, the only phone we’ve ever tested that’s made in the USA. We were pleased to find that it withstood our drop, slide and dunk test with only the slightest dent. It looks like Google is giving Apple and Samsung a run for their money.”

The new iPhones did, however, beat out Samsung’s Galaxy S4, which was also included in the durability test.
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The New York Times reports that New York regulators will today announce a new initiative that aims to crackdown on fake reviews online. They’ve already reached settlement agreements with a number of companies and issued fines of around $350,000 to companies purchasing and providing fake reviews, many of which are submitted to services such as Google, Yahoo, and Yelp. Fake reviews have always been an issue for Google Play and just about every mobile app marketplace, so perhaps regulators will soon extend their investigation to mobile app stores as well.

“What we’ve found is even worse than old-fashioned false advertising,” said Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general. “When you look at a billboard, you can tell it’s a paid advertisement — but on Yelp or Citysearch, you assume you’re reading authentic consumer opinions, making this practice even more deceiving.”

Regulators found that US Coachways, one of the companies included in the investigation, had hired freelance writers to write fake reviews on Yelp and other services:
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Update: Two more shots after the break.

The images above might be our first look at redesigned stock apps in Google’s upcoming Android 4.4 “KitKat” update. We’ve been reporting on a lot of Nexus 5 and Android 4.4 leaks since we first discovered an unannounced Nexus device in Google’s promotional video for the upcoming OS update. While images of the Nexus 5 have leaked several times– we posted exclusive photos and video of the device earlier this week— we have yet to get a good look at Android 4.4 KitKat. Today another reader reached out with the photos above claiming to show redesigns of the phone dialer and messaging apps on KitKat.

The images show new lighter color, grey icons on the status bar, which lines up with our leaked video of the Nexus 5 and a screenshot for a Google Keyboard update spotted by AndroidPolice yesterday.

The images also appear to show a colored status bar that changes depending on the color scheme of the app.

We can’t see any new functionality, but the shots do show extremely streamlined redesigns for the phone app and messaging app on Android 4.4. Controls in the messaging app get bumped up to the top right hand corner, and the phone dialer gets a much cleaner, and flatter look with a new light blue color scheme.
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HP is officially announcing four new Android tablets today that will join its low-cost Slate 7 and fill out the company’s Android lineup with tablets in several categories. Most of the new tablets will launch this November, although HP isn’t releasing specific availability and pricing for most models.

The new tablets include the 8-inch Slate 8 Pro, the Slate 7 HD and Slate 10 HD, and finally the Slate 7 Extreme. Although the new lineup includes two 7-inch models, HP is hinting that the new tablets won’t be outright replacing its current Slate 7. 
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Normally available for around $600 unsubsidized, Republic Wireless announced today that it will soon begin offering the Moto for just $299. That’s the carrier’s no contract price and just $100 more than most carriers are charging for the device on the usual two-year contract:

The Moto X will retail at $299 (plus taxes and surcharges) from the Republic Wireless store. That’s right – we took the hot, new Moto X, added Republic’s great Hybrid service and priced it at $299 with no contract required. That’s a price that’s, like, impossible to match anywhere in the industry. How did we do it? The phone is $299 because we are footing the bill.  Period.  This is NOT a $299 phone.   Take a quick look around the web and look at “no contract” pricing for the Moto X.

The device will be available on two of the carrier unlimited plans that start at just $5 a month, but customers will have the following plans to choose from:
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