Google has updated Drive for Android with a Material Design facelift and three new features in improved search, better sharing and an enhanced PDF viewer that make it easier for users to find, view and share through the app. The update will be rolling out on the Play Store for Android devices over the next several days.

The new search bar in Drive is easier and more predictive at finding content by updating results as each letter is typed into the field. Meanwhile, the app has improved sharing functionality that allows for users to write a custom comment on shared files so that all collaborators know why they sent it.
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The SmartBand Talk—which we leaked and was announced alongside the SmartWatch 3 earlier this year—is about to launch worldwide in the coming weeks, but today, its app has officially launched on the Play Store. Alongside the launch of this main companion app, the company has also launched four extension apps, which bring even more features to the SmartBand Talk.

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Fleksy keyboard for Android has received an update with a couple of new features and gone on sale for 99 cents through Friday after announcing it has secured $2 million in venture funding from Digital Garage, Eniac Ventures, Middleland Capital, Highland Capital Partners, Militello Capital and other investment partners.
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Pushbullet, the service that easily lets you send files and links around to all of your devices, just today got a huge update for Android that brings—yes, you guessed it—Material design. And with such a redesign, the way the app works has been overhauled from the ground up, bringing faster and easier navigation and sorting of pushes.

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Algoriddim, the team behind the popular music mixing app djay, first shipped the commercial version of its flagship app in 2007 on the Mac followed by the iPad version in 2010 and the iPhone version in 2011. Adding to the history of djay, today Algoriddim is launching djay for Android through the Google Play Store and Amazon App Store making the app its first on Google’s platform.

While djay is rooted in digital music mixing on the Mac then iOS, the new Android version is just as desktop class with high quality music playback and real time analyzing and mixing. Better yet, djay for Android packs in deep Spotify integration from day one–the iOS version first added up Spotify integration earlier this year–which means you have access to over 20 million songs for mixing together and playback.

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Facebook has announced that it will be releasing an updated version of its mobile application later today that will improve the process of sharing multiple photos in a single post. The new composer will allow users to choose multiple images from their device’s photo library or camera, then show a preview of the post with each image in the order they were selected.

From here users will be able to add captions to each photo, write an introduction for the post, or rearrange the order of the photos. The post will show up in friends’ news feeds as a photo collage rather than a horizontal group of photos.

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A new version of the Android Wear firmware is rolling out to the LG G Watch today, and with it comes what appears to be the first parts of some intriguing new features. These new features, including support for on-board GPS and offline music playback via Bluetooth, have long been promised to Android Wear users. And today, it appears that the LG G Watch is the first device to start showing signs that these features are coming in full.

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Google announced as part of its acquisition of Songza in July that it would bring some of the music streaming service’s features that users love to Google Play Music. Three months later, the company has followed through with those plans by integrating Songza’s “Concierge” feature with Play Music, enabling users to create contextual expert-curated playlists for an improved listening experience across all platforms.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIEnN1KmxKk&feature=youtu.be

Microsoft has just joined the ranks of companies looking to capitalize on the success of ephemeral messaging apps like Snapchat. Through its Skype division, the company has launched a new cross-platform app for iOS, Android, and (of course) Windows Phone called Skype Qik. The premise of the application, as can be seen in the video above and screenshots below, is simple: you can record a quick video, and then share it to either one person in your address book or multiple groups of people.

By default, videos will expire after two weeks, and you can also un-send messages at any time. A cool feature of Skype Qik is the ability to pre-record various 5 second GIFs that you can send as instant replies. So, if you don’t have the ability to send a live video reply, you can just choose one of your pre-record defaults. The app is free today on the aforementioned platforms, and Microsoft says that updates, such as one for blocking iPhone contacts (that feature is available today on Android and Windows Phone), will come often to enhance the feature-set.

You can view some screenshots of the Android app in action below:

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnsR-kZUx6o]

The app-powered Anki Drive cars first demoed during WWDC 2013 are finally gaining very limited Android support, TechCrunch reports. Nearly one year to the day after the official launch on iOS, the artifically-intelligent racers are finally available to users on select Android devices.

The only devices that will support Anki Drive out of the box today are the Nexus 5, Galaxy Note 3/4/10.1, or the Galaxy S4/S5. Unfortunately, the app will not support cross-platform play, which means everyone playing has to have the same operating system: Android users can only play with other Android users and iOS users can only play with other iOS users.

Anki Drive was updated in January with new customization options and a new car. The starter kit can you yours for $150, with additional cars available available for $50.
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(<a href="http://chrome.blogspot.ca/2014/10/turn-your-tv-screen-into-beautiful.html" target="_blank">via Chrome blog</a>)

Google today updated the Chromecast app for Android users adding a feature announced earlier this year at Google I/O called Backdrop. When the Chromecast HDMI streaming stick isn’t playing content like Netflix or Pandora Radio through your TV, it already displays the current time and featured photos as a screen saver, but now Chromecast users can display additional content like weather conditions and news headlines on Chromecast-connected TVs. Chromecast also now supports using your own photos from Google+ albums as the backdrop.
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Google today brought its ‘Google News & Weather‘ app that presents local news and weather as well as headlines from a variety of categories and sources in one app to iPhone and iPad users. Categories for headlines can be added or removed from within the app for customizing the news you want to follow.

The app joins a huge list of existing Google apps including Gmail, which was just updated for the new iPhone 6 display sizes yesterday, and Google News & Weather is already optimized for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Full description below:
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Roku, makers of the popular streaming set-top box for watching online content on your TV, announced today support for enabling screen mirroring from select Android devices to your HDTV with a new beta rolling out to customers today. Support for screen mirroring to Roku devices will also extend to select Windows 8.1 devices, the company says. Screen mirroring allows users to view content like apps, photos, games, and the web from mobile devices to the big screen screen in the living room.
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While Apple promised when it acquired the company that it would continue offering the Beats Music streaming service on Android and Windows in addition to iOS, the fait of the service is now uncertain. According to a report from TechCrunch, Apple plans to shut down the Beats Music streaming service it recently acquired through its acquisition of Beats. The report cites several sources close to the situation including “several prominent employees at Apple and Beats.”

Update: Apple tells Re/code that the streaming service is not shutting down. However, Re/code says that the branding could be altered at some point in the future.

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Google announced today a new batch of popular apps being updated with Chromecast support. Perhaps most notable are the WATCH Disney apps including WATCH Disney, WATCH Disney Junior and WATCH Disney X D. All three apps on both iOS and Android now support streaming to Chromecast.

Also available starting today support for sending content from the popular iHeartRadio app: Music aficionados can now cast and blast music from the best speakers in the house with iHeartRadio. The app lets you listen to more than 1,500 live radio stations from all over the U.S. or customize your own.

Additionally, users of the Twitch gameplay video platform can now stream to Chromecast from both the iOS and Android apps.
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