Image via Android Police
Google has published an update to its Android mapping app, as noted by Android Police, that allows users to hide certain UI elements and adds support for new sharing options. The first of these new features lets users hide the majority of the interface when browsing maps in all modes except for turn-by-turn directions.
Image via <a href="https://twitter.com/manuisfunny/status/611249313172332544" target="_blank">@manuisfunny</a>
Twitter has tested new design ideas in its Android app for a while now, and today the company rolled out a new experiment that swaps out the “favorite” star icon with a new heart. Some users have started seeing the change today, while others will still see the old star while Twitter measures the impact that the change has on users’ usage habits.
There are at least two different versions of this design appearing to select users. One uses circled icons for replying, retweeting, and favoriting (as seen above), while the other uses borderless icons like the ones currently seen in the app.
Depending on how the test goes, the change may never roll out to the general public.
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[tweet https://twitter.com/Magnus_Jamieson/status/611244975196651521 align=’center’]
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Following up on the recent announcement that Microsoft would be bringing its Cortana personal assistant software to Android (a move originally scheduled to happen at the end of this month), the company said today that it will be launching a beta version of the app next month instead.
The app’s feature set has been expanded upon, revealing that the system works across platforms like Windows 10 and Xbox One as well as mobile platforms like Android. Cortana will be connected to the user’s Microsoft account in order to keep the cross-platform features in sync.
Google has officially unveiled its plans to take on Amazon-owned video game streaming site Twitch, confirming earlier rumors that the company was working on a game streaming service of its own. The site, called YouTube Gaming, was finally announced today (via TechCrunch).
The first cars with support for Android Auto are ready to roll following Hyundai’s announcement today that 2015 Sonatas with built-in navigation systems will receive a free update to enable the functionality.
Drivers will need to go to their local Hyundai dealer to get the software upgrade, and can do so starting today. Later this summer the company will make the software available for download from its website so drivers can install it themselves using a thumb drive.
Streaming televison site Sling announced today that it has launched an Android TV application, allowing users on a new set of devices to subscribe to the service and watch TV shows from a variety of networks. To help put more Sling-capable devices in users’ hands, Sling is offering a special price on the Nexus Player.
Those who pre-pay for three months of Sling TV will be able to get Google’s Nexus Player for half off the regular price, bringing the cost closer to $50. To claim the offer, users just need to sign up for a three-month subscription through the Sling website and select the Nexus Player deal.
Following up on Google’s agreement with Twitter to instantly add tweets to web search results, the duo announced today that users on mobile devices will start seeing real-time Twitter results as well. The feature is available in the Google app on Android or Google’s mobile website, and is expected to make its way to the desktop soon.
Instagram’s collage-making application Layout launched on the iPhone nearly two months ago, but without a counterpart on Android. Today that discrepancy has been fixed with the release of Layout for Android.
The app lets users easily create collages using up to nine of their pictures, or take new ones using the built-in Photo Booth feature, which can then be shared to the photo-centric social network or elsewhere. The Android version of Instagram itself also gained support for a new feature called “Structure,” which helps bring out details in photos.
Livestreaming app Meerkat is out of beta on Android and now available to anyone who wants to try it out, the software’s developers announced today. The app was first released to a limited number of users a month ago for testing before going live to the public.
If you weren’t able to get in on the app’s beta, you can download it for free from the Play Store now. Meanwhile, Twitter is still hard at work on the Android-compatible version of its Meerkat competitor, Periscope, which is only available on iOS at the moment.
Google’s self-driving test cars have been involved in a total of three fender-benders since being licensed for use on public roads last September, a new AP report revealed today. All four of the accidents have been at speeds of 10mph or lower, so there hasn’t been any serious damage done yet.
One other autonomous car created by Delphi Automotive has been involved in a low-speed collision. The big difference between the two companies’ situations is that while Delphi only has two cars on the road right now, Google is currently running fifty of them. Strictly speaking in terms of percentages, Google has had much better luck.
Flickr for Android was updated today with a new auto-upload feature that can privately upload every photo taken on your device to your account for safe keeping. Because Flickr gives users 1,000 GB of free photo storage, you won’t have to worry about running out of room any time soon. Even so, duplicate photos are automatically detected and removed to help save space.
The Snapdragon 810-equpiped HTC One M9 lights up like a Christmas tree during a benchmark
You may recall reports earlier this year about the HTC One M9 overheating during benchmark tests, with many claiming the issue was due to a flaw in Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor. Tim McDonough, the chipmaker’s VP of marketing has finally spoken out about the problem, claiming that the rumors are untrue and there is, in fact, no problem with the chip overheating…
Google-owned YouTube had a chance to beat Twitter’s Periscope and its biggest competitor, Meerkat, to market by somewhere in the ballpark of 8 years, but decided against the move due to the fact that a large portion of the company’s resources were engaged in fending off a Viacom lawsuit and creating the Content ID copyright detection system.
Google’s AdWords livestream today served as the launching point for several new advertising products, including larger rollouts of some previously announced products. Below you’ll find a recap of the event’s announcements.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7JJ2-Fz-3w&ab_channel=GoogleAds]
Google has published a video (above) on its AdWords blog today teasing its next-generation products which will be announced during tomorrow’s annual livestream.
In a previous blog entry, Google said that the event will reveal new products that will help customers:
- Create better mobile experiences for your customers at the moments when they’re looking for your products and services
- Measure all the moments that matter to your business – online and offline, across multiple devices and touchpoints
- Customize and scale everything you do in AdWords, to unlock the full potential of increasingly complex consumer journeys
The stream will kick off at 12:30 PM eastern time, but until then viewers can still register for the live webcast.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnIWl33YMwA&ab_channel=GoogleDevelopers]
Google is working on a project that could allow Android developers to write their software using the company’s in-house Dart web language, as highlighted today by Ars Technica. The Dart language was created by Google engineers who were disappointed with existing options like JavaScript.
The project, currently called “Sky,” would allow devs to build their apps without writing a single line of Java—the language typically used for Android apps—and enable new capabilities like over-the-air updates without requiring the user to install anything.
Microsoft’s Build conference revealed a new passion for cross-platform development today, and the theme has continued with the announcement of the company’s new Edge browser. Edge will replace Internet Explorer as the default browser on Windows 10, and will introduce support for a new type of extension.
Up until now, Internet Explorer extensions have been separate from other browsers. Starting with Windows 10, however, the app will support extensions that are almost identical to Chrome’s. With only a few tweaks, developers will be able to bring their extensions to the new browser.
Microsoft announced today during its Build conference that it will release a tool for developers to port their Android apps directly to Windows 10 as “universal apps” that run on both phones and desktop computers. Developers will be able to feed their existing Java and C++ code into a new software package and have it converted to work on the upcoming PC operating system.
At least, that’s how Microsoft is pitching it, though the whole process is a bit more complex. Essentially Windows 10 will ship with APIs that mirror the expected behavior of many Android APIs, and this new conversion tool will help developers swap out Android code for matching Windows code.
Google has updated its running app My Tracks to version 2.0.10 with support for a cool new view that overlays run, walk, or cycling data on 3D map images. Other than that, there’s not much else in this update.
The new version of My Tracks will roll out to the Play Store over the next few days, but if you want to get your hands on it right now, you can download the APK and install it yourself.
Images via Android Police.
Google has released version 9.8 of its Maps application for Android devices and is rolling it out across the Play Store. The updated application includes the ability to select multiple photos to upload to a location. Another addition to the software allows you to hide upcoming reservations, flights, or other appointments from a location to keep the info away from prying eyes.
A few other small tweaks have been made to the app’s iconography and design, but nothing too big.
If you don’t want to wait for Google Maps 9.8 to show up in the Play Store (which could take some time), you can grab the APK and manually install it from this link.
Facebook continues to add new capabilities to its Messenger app today with the launch of a new video calling feature. A new video icon at the top of conversation threads will initiate a call, allowing participants to communicate across platforms over Wi-Fi or LTE connections.
The addition puts Facebook in competition with Google’s Hangouts, Microsoft’s Skype, and other similar services. Interestingly, web-based video chat has been available on the desktop for some time, and was previously powered by Skype.
Facebook has finally released the Android dialer that it was recently rumored to be working on. The “Hello” dialer displays Facebook-based information about who’s on the other end of an incoming call, such as their employer, birthday, and even the number of mutual friends you have on the social network.
The dialer only pulls data that you would normally have access to—info made public or set to be visible to friends of friends, for example—to protect the privacy of its users. A search bar lets users look up contact information for other Facebook users. Info about businesses is also available through the search function. You’ll be able to lookup hours of operation and location directly from the dialer.
Republican presidential contender Marco Rubio answered a selection of questions posed in the top Google searches related to his name in a new video posted by his campaign.
Like the autocomplete-based “Google Feud” game that hit the web a few weeks ago, Rubio used Google’s crowd-sourced search term suggestions to determine some of the most popular questions about himself, such as his nationality, religion, reasons for running for president, and whether he’s a twin, and answered them in a one-minute video.
You can check out the full video below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Hx_jqw4Zk&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=MarcoRubio]
Samsung has announced the newest addition to its Galaxy Tab lineup, which will ship with two different display size choices at the beginning of next month. The Galaxy Tab A includes a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor; 5 MP and 2 MP cameras on the rear and front, respectively; 16 or 32 GB of storage; and 1.5 GB of RAM.
