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Google Search for Android updated with Google Maps navigation cards

9to5 Staff Aug 26 2014 - 10:07 am PT

The official Google Search app for Android has been updated with navigation cards that resemble those found in Google Maps. When you search for a destination or directions between two locations, the navigation card displays a map that outlines the trip, with the approximate travel time, distance, suggested and alternative routes, desired mode of transportation and step-by-step directions, all without needing to open Google Maps.
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Napa area 6.0 earthquake shown on Google Alerts, now with Twitter feed

9to5 Staff Aug 24 2014 - 4:13 am PT

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A magnitude 6.0 Earthquake has struck North of San Francisco Bay Area near Napa. We hope everyone is ok.

What’s interesting here is that Google’s alert center now includes tweets. It appears that Google is giving up on its own social network to provide near-real-time information and instead relying on Twitter. There’s also a new Google news widget below the tweet feed.

Posted 20 minutes ago – U.S. Geological Survey

An earthquake with magnitude 6.0 occurred near American Canyon, CA at 10:20:44.10 UTC on Aug 24, 2014. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)

Recommended actions

Excerpted from ready.gov

Expect aftershocks. These secondary shockwaves are usually less violent than the main quake but can be strong enough to do additional damage to weakened structures and can occur in the first hours, days, weeks, or even months after the quake.

Look for and extinguish small fires. Fire is the most common hazard after an earthquake.

Be aware of possible tsunamis if you live in coastal areas. These are also known as seismic sea waves (mistakenly called “tidal waves”). When local authorities issue a tsunami warning, assume that a series of dangerous waves is on the way. Stay away from the beach.

Be careful when driving after an earthquake and anticipate traffic light outages.

More:

What to do after an earthquake.

Huge leak shows off Sony Xperia Z3 specs and high-res press shots

9to5 Staff Aug 21 2014 - 10:06 am PT

The Sony Xperia Z3 passed through TENAA today, and as a result, we’ve finally got our hands on some high-resolution press photos and specs that can tell us more about the device. This isn’t the devices first leak, but with its expected reveal next month, it seems like it’s getting more difficult for Sony to keep the device under wraps.

According to the report, the device is expected to feature a 5.3″ display at full 1080P resolution, a 20.7MP rear shooter, a Snapdragon 801, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. While the press photos of the device look awfully similar to the Z2, previous reports point to the phone being thiner and lighter than its predecessor.

Sony is expected to reveal the Z3 at IFA in Berlin during their scheduled press event.

You can view the full gallery of the device in both black and white below.

Best Buy lists Moto 360 with price and feature list

9to5 Staff Aug 17 2014 - 12:15 pm PT

Spotted by DroidLife, Best Buy this morning accidentally published the product page of the Moto 360 on their mobile site. The listing shows the smartwatch priced at $249.99, the same price we heard from Motorola when the price was accidentally published on its own product page. The page also lists a near-full spec sheet of the device, which states the watch will be waterproof at 3.3ft for up to 30 minutes, feature a vibrating motor, and Bluetooth 4.0.

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T-Mobile clarifies stance on throttling unlimited data customers

9to5 Staff Aug 14 2014 - 11:13 am PT

T-Mobile on Thursday assured customers that it will not be enforcing broad unlimited data throttling across its network, but rather will be slowing down only select users that are in violation of company policies.
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YouTube unveils new TV layout for easier browsing on media boxes

9to5 Staff Aug 14 2014 - 10:27 am PT

YouTube today announced on their blog that they’re officially rolling out a new UI for YouTube on TVs, which will allow for easier navigating on the big screen. The update will roll out to all media devices connected to a television, such as Android TV, Roku, possibly Apple TV, and game consoles in the coming weeks, but YouTube is saying that Xbox One users will start to see the new UI today.

The channels you subscribe to and videos you care about will be a click away with a guide on the left side that’s just like the guide you see on YouTube on your computer, phone, and tablet. When you sign in, you can jump to all the latest videos from your subscriptions and recommendations in the What to Watch section, or pop on a playlist you’ve liked such as Blogilates’ Cardio AB Attack and turn your TV into a workout buddy.

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NVIDIA details Tegra K1 ‘Denver,’ the first 64-bit ARM chip for Android devices

9to5 Staff Aug 12 2014 - 7:17 am PT

TEGRA K1

Eight months after announcing the 192-core Tegra K1 “super chip,” graphics chip maker NVIDIA has provided details about a new “Denver” edition that will be the first 64-bit ARM processor for Android devices.
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This cool infographic shows you Google’s plans for the car of the future

9to5 Staff Aug 11 2014 - 9:03 am PT

TheAmazingWaysTheGoogleCarWillChangetheWorld_53e8ea0cdd2c1_w1500

This neat infographic from visual.ly explains Google’s plans for self driving cars. The diagram details that cars will be have a soft foam front to cushion impact if it hits a pedestrian, a laser sensor with 360 degree view, front windshield made of plastic rather than glass, and much, much, more.

Check out the full graphic from the source right here.

Analyst: Play Store and iOS App Store rapidly growing, Windows Phone fails to impress

9to5 Staff Aug 8 2014 - 1:27 pm PT

Analyst Alex Barredo today tweeted a photo today depicting the size of the app stores on all major mobile platforms. According to the chart, Android’s Play Store has the most apps, with iOS’ App Store not too far behind it. Both are growing rapidly, and both are approaching the 1.4 billion mark.

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AutoCAD renderings of Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact revealed

9to5 Staff Aug 8 2014 - 9:42 am PT

Z3 Renderings

AutoCAD renderings of the Sony Xperia Z3 and its little sister, the Z3 Compact, have leaked online this morning, revealing the dimensions and some specs of the two upcoming devices expected to be revealed at IFA in Berlin next month.

The first rendering is of the main flagship, the Z3. The dimensions show the device coming in at 146.46 x 72.09 x 7.3 mm, which is smaller than the Z2 in every way. The Z2 measures in at 146.8 x 73.3 x 8.2 mm and weighs 163g, so it seems likely that the Z3 will be lighter than the Z2.

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Mysterious Motorola phone appears on Geekbench with flagship specs

9to5 Staff Aug 8 2014 - 8:56 am PT

It seems as if speculation surrounding the Moto X+1 has been floating around the rumor mill for months now. Every week, it’s as if an announcement is imminent, then, more rumors build up and the phone remains a mere myth. This week is no exception, with a mysterious Motorola device appearing in Geekbench’s database.

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Fleksy Android keyboard expands language support with Arabic and Chinese

9to5 Staff Aug 7 2014 - 9:31 am PT

Fleksy today updated their Android keyboard with support for new themes and more languages, Arabic and Chinese. The Arabic keyboard is launching in beta today, with the Chinese version coming sometime in the near future.
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Facebook Messenger adds Android Wear voice replies, conversation mute, more

9to5 Staff Aug 6 2014 - 12:18 pm PT

In an announced by Facebook’s Ian Lake, an updated version of Messenger, version 9, will include lots of new Android Wear focused improvements. First on the list is voice replies. The update includes the ability to tap the reply button when a message comes in, and speak what you want to say. Also included is the ability to mute a conversation directly from a Wear device.

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Google increases Play Store refund time for games to 2 hours

9to5 Staff Aug 4 2014 - 11:40 am PT

For years, the standard refund time on apps from the Play Store has been 15 minutes. Today, Android Police is reporting that Google is quietly rolling out a small but welcome change to that system, increasing the refund time on certain apps to two hours. The catch though is that the extended period only applies to games, so don’t expect to try out Nova Launcher Prime before making on your mind on which launcher you want to use.

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Rumored OnePlus OneWatch website and sketches leaked

9to5 Staff Jul 31 2014 - 12:32 pm PT

BGR.in today received some interesting information about the rumored smartwatch by OnePlus. In case you haven’t heard of them, OnePlus is a company that sells the OnePlus One smartphone (our review here), which boasts a 5.5″ 1080P display, 2.5GHz SnapDragon 801, 3GB of RAM, 64GB of on-board storage, and other top-tier features for the low-range price of $349 off contract. Their “invite only” system spawned a polarizing response from their most dedicated fans, as OnePlus required anyone who wanted the phone to be “invited” to purchase it.

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Who cares if it’s plastic, this man’s Samsung Galaxy Mega saved his life

9to5 Staff Jul 31 2014 - 11:34 am PT

A man in Taiwan was shot in the chest during an apparent bar fight over a missing wallet on Monday, but not before the bullet passed straight through his Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 saving his life. As AppleDaily reports, a man named Han found a wallet on the street, who jokingly stated something along the lines of “free beer.” The man who the wallet belonged to, Xu, got angry, and pulled out a gun. Han (phablet owner) pulled out a sickle and went to attack the man with the gun. As Xu shot Han, the bullet penetrated his arm, and as it headed straight towards his chest, his giant Galaxy Mega 6.3 lodged in his shirt pocket was there to save the day and stop the bullet. While Han is expected to make a full recovery, his heroic phone wasn’t so lucky.

Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2 teardown reveals Samsung Galaxy Note 3 front panel

9to5 Staff Jul 31 2014 - 10:24 am PT

The new Oculus Rift Dev Kit 2, or DK2 for short, started shipping this week; and as the first units begin arriving to eager gamers and developers alike, iFixIt has posted the first teardown of the device. If you don’t know much about the new DK2, its most prominent upgrade over the first edition Rift is its new, 1080P display. Speculation grew as to exactly what panel Oculus would use for the new DK2, but the teardown from iFixIt reveals in fact that the display has been provided by Samsung.

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2014 Google I/O app source code released as benchmark for development

9to5 Staff Jul 30 2014 - 4:21 pm PT

Google I:O 2014 App

As it does on an annual basis, Google has released the source code for the 2014 version of its official Google I/O app. Google releases the source code on a yearly basis to serve as a benchmark for Android app design and development. Android developers can learn how to implement a wide variety of features that are useful for most apps, in addition to how to integrate apps with various Google products and services.
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Google Analytics gains bot and spider filtering to better identify real traffic

9to5 Staff Jul 30 2014 - 1:38 pm PT

Google Analytics

Google Analytics has been updated with bot and spider filtering, a useful feature that excludes all hits from known bots and spiders so that webmasters can gain a better understanding of where real traffic is coming from. The checkbox for enabling this feature can be found by clicking View Settings under All Website Data on the Admin page in Google Analytics.
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Samsung expected to launch Galaxy Alpha, its first all-metal smartphone, on August 4th

9to5 Staff Jul 30 2014 - 6:38 am PT

galaxy-alpha-6

In line with what we heard earlier this month and following leaked photos of the device that surfaced last week, a new report from SamMobile claims that Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Alpha on August 4th. Despite being an all-metal smartphone, the Galaxy Alpha will not positioned as a premium device alongside the flagship Galaxy S5, but rather as a mid-tier variant that uses a mix of high-end and mid-range hardware.
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Google Play Developer API now available to all developers

9to5 Staff Jul 29 2014 - 11:51 am PT

Google Play Developers

Google announced on Tuesday that it has made the Google Play Developer Publishing API available to all developers, allowing for various publishing and management tasks for apps. The API can be used for managing in-app products and subscriptions, products purchase status, subscriptions purchase management, uploading new versions of an app, releasing apps by assigning APKs to various tracks, and creating and modifying Play Store listings.
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Samsung applies for trademark on Gear S, hinting at upcoming smartwatch

9to5 Staff Jul 29 2014 - 6:49 am PT

Samsung Gear S

Samsung has filed for a trademark on “Gear S” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, suggesting that the South Korean handset maker could be poised to expand its wearables lineup with a new device in the near future. According to SamMobile, the “Gear S” moniker could correlate to the oft-rumored Gear Solo, which is expected to be a slightly different version of the Gear 2 smartwatch with a SIM card and cellular connectivity.
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Windows Phone to get sloppy seconds on HTC One M8

9to5 Staff Jul 28 2014 - 2:06 pm PT

The HTC One M8 has been proclaimed as the year’s best Android hardware. After its initial release from HTC, Google developed a Play Edition of the device that ran stock Android. Now, just a few months later, the hardware looks to be recycled again, as The Verge reporter Tom Warren reported on Sunday that a Windows Phone version of the device will be launching later this year.

[tweet https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/493430170326691840]

This proves interesting, as just a few days ago, a feature list of Windows Phone 8.1 lists “support for smart cases” on the change log. What does this mean you ask? Remember the smart (dot) case HTC launched alongside the M8?

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Verizon Moto X updated to Android 4.4.4

9to5 Staff Jul 28 2014 - 11:47 am PT

Last Friday, Verizon began soak testing the Android 4.4.4 update on the Moto X. Today, Verizon officially began rolling out the update to all users. The update, which focuses primarily on camera enchantments lists “improved camera picture quality” and “improved photos in fluorescent lighting” as the two main changes. Other changes include a “new graphical layout” to the phone dialer and overall “consistency and usability” improvements.

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