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Nest Protect smart smoke detector updated w/ Steam Check, Safety History, more

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Shortly after Google acquired Nest, Tony Fadell’s company behind the smart thermostat and smart smoke/carbon monoxide detector, the company ran into a patch of unrelated issues with its Nest Protect product launched months earlier with reports of false alarms from many users and an issue with the ‘wave to dismiss’ feature touted as a key benefit of the product. A soft recall later followed remotely disabling the dismiss feature after a safety bug was discovered followed by a reduced price once it went back on sale.

While the ability to motion to dismiss an alarm is still disabled as the company works toward better implementing it reliably, current and future Nest Protect owners will benefit from new features delivered through a software update for the product. Steam Check, a feature that takes advantage of the device’s humidity sensor and an advanced algorithm, now allows the Nest Protect to distinguish smoke from steam by determining the presence of moisture. Steam from hot water shouldn’t be a reason to panic, and the Nest Protect says this feature will reduce the number of false alarms for users.
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Isis mobile wallet rebranded as Softcard to avoid association with violent militant group

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Following through with its announcement from a few months ago, Isis mobile wallet on Wednesday officially became known as Softcard as part of a rebranding move to avoid association with the violent militant group in the Middle East known as ISIS. The transition from Isis to Softcard, including an updated app, will occur over the next few weeks.

Softcard CEO Michael Abbott discussed the change in a blog post:

“Our search for a new name has been rooted in our founding vision: to use the power of the mobile phone to help consumers find a safer and better way to shop, pay and save. But we also wanted a name and visual identity that had the power, flexibility and simplicity to define our category.”

The service will continue to function as it always has.

Google Search for Android updated with Google Maps navigation cards

Google Search Navigation Cards

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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Chrome 37 goes stable, brings better font rendering to Windows, 50 bug fixes, more

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Google has pushed Chrome 37 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, with the biggest change being support for DirectWrite on Windows. From this version on, this added technology should make font rendering much better for many Chrome users on Microsoft’s operating system. But this update also packs other additions, including a variety of new app/extension APIs for developers to take advantage of. Rounding off the new features, Google says that version 37 packs the usual under the hood changes to help improve performance.

Google also says that this release fixes a total of 50 security issues, many of which have been credited by Google to external researchers in the release notes. Interestingly, many users are reporting that while the 32 bit version is out right now, the 64 bit version of this update has yet to be pushed. Both versions should be rolling out automatically to users of Chrome stable over the next few hours.

The Chrome team is delighted to announce the promotion of Chrome 37 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux. Chrome 37.0.2062.94 contains a number of fixes and improvements, including:

– DirectWrite support on Windows for improved font rendering
– A number of new apps/extension APIs
– Lots of under the hood changes for stability and performance

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Instagram introduces Hyperlapse to stabilize and speed up your video

Instagram HyperlapseFacebook-owned Instagram is introducing a new video capturing app called Hyperlapse, according to Wired. The photo (and video) sharing social network recently soft launched a new app called Bolt in Singapore, South Africa, and New Zealand that focused on quickly photo messaging friends, but Hyperlapse is more like an advanced feature that could have been found within Instagram. Hyperlapse offers up a unique way to capture and edit video using processor smarts to make panning shots smoother and add a time-lapse effect.


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Secret for Android update removes ability to access photo library or post full names, adds Flickr search, polls

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The popular anonymous social sharing network Secret may be under fire in Brazil, but in the U.S. and abroad the software lives on, and today received a big new update on the Android platform. The new version both adds and removes several capabilities to the app.

One of the most important changes in the new build is the removal of the ability to access photos saved to a device’s photo library. The camera is still fair game, but Secret is attempting to cut down on personally-damaging photos by taking away the option to upload older images.

That’s not to say that the camera is the only way to upload photos, though. The app now supports Flickr search so users can still find just the right photo for their posts without the need to go through their photo libraries.


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Latest Google Search app update brings support for multilingual voice search

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Google today announced a new feature for its Google Search app for Android, catering to the billions of people in the world who speak more than one language. Previously, you had to manually switch between the language you wanted Google to recognize, but now you’re just a flick of a switch away from being able to speak in multiple languages at once—and Google will be able seamlessly switch with you.
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Google Play Music for iPhone updated w/ ability to remove music on-the-go, improved playback, more

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It’s been just over a month since the last big update to Google Play Music for iPhone, and today the Google Play Music team is rolling out another update with new features and improvements. The latest release brings the version number to 1.3.2.2559 for those keeping track at home, and adds a handful of new functionality like the ability to remove music from your library via the iPhone app. The update also boasts additional accessibility features which will surely be appreciated as well as fixes for issues with skipping during track playback and eliminating duplicate listings in the music library. You can see the full change log below.
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Upcoming XE 20.1 Google Glass update brings major improvements to contacts and messaging, more

Google is getting ready to push out the latest update for Google Glass—numbered XE 20.1—and with it is coming some pretty major changes to how contacts are handled, notably allowing users to access all contacts by voice via Google Contacts. Also included in this update is the ability to actually choose which method you would like to use when sending a contact a message—Hangouts, email, or SMS.

Your entire phone address book is now available on Glass thanks to Google Contacts. You can access 20 of your most recent and starred contacts by voice and the rest are just a swipe away. Starring a contact is really easy. Just find them in your phone and click the star. If the star is filled in, then the contact has been favorited.


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Pushbullet for Android updated, brings awesome new universal copy & paste feature

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Pushbullet is one of the more essential utilities when it comes to making my daily workflow a breeze, and today the team behind it has announced that app has been updated to include a small but potentially game-changing feature—not just for me, but for everyone who uses an Android phone and a Windows PC. I think it’s obvious how many benefits would come from being able to quickly and seamlessly copy & paste text across platforms, and the latest version of Pushbullet for Android takes the cross-platform notification and file sharing app to the next level by letting you do just that.


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Online backup service Backblaze launches its first Android app

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There’s some good news for Backblaze and Android users this morning: a fresh, new app called Backblaze Mobile. The unlimited online backup service for Mac and PC is out today with its first Android client for Backblaze users.

While the app doesn’t allow you to upload and save files from your Android device, Backblaze for Android does allow you to view and download saved files from your computer right on your Android device. This means Android users subscribed to Backblaze can browse files backed up from their PC or Mac for viewing, sharing, and opening in Android apps on-the-go. Backblaze for Android supports downloading files up to 30MB in size at the time of launch, so you won’t be able to access massive, gigabyte files to your device just yet.

Backblaze users running Ice Cream Sandwich or later can grab Backblaze Mobile for Android on the Google Play Store for free (the service is $5/month). You can read more about the new app from Backblaze here.

Brazilian judge orders Google to remove Secret from the Play Store, remotely delete from users’ phones

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A judge in Brazil has had it with the anonymous bullying carried out on social networking apps like Secret  and has stepped in to put a stop to it, according to a report from  Estadao [translation]. Judge Paulo Cesar de Carvalho has ruled that Google must delete the application from its Play Store, but the ruling doesn’t stop there.

According to the report, the judge has demanded that Google remotely delete the application from every device that has installed it in the country. While that might sound like a hilarious case of a judge not understanding how technology works, you may be surprised to learn that it’s actually a capability that Google has, sort of.


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Simple for Android gets redesigned from the ground up in 2.0 update

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If you haven’t heard of Simple, it’s definitely one of the most 2014-friendly banks out there. Known for its excellent mobile applications, the bank works just like any bank, but gives you a plethora features in both its mobile and web applications to make banking and tracking spending much easier. Today, the company is pushing version 2.0 of the app to Android and iOS users—and the latter will be especially happy because the app still hadn’t been updated to match the iOS 7 aesthetic until today.
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Google’s new iPhone app lets you publish 360º images to Google Maps

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Google has dropped a new app for iPhone this morning called Photo Sphere Camera. The app offers a special camera that allows you to capture 360º images – everything above, below, and around you – for viewing and sharing. The new app even allows you to publish 360º images you capture to Google Maps for others to see as well. Google notes that the app requires iPhone 4S or higher for capturing images. Photo Sphere Camera is available for free on the App Store joining a long list of other Google apps including its popular game augmented reality game Ingress.
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Google acquires Jetpac city guide software, will discontinue service in September

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Google has acquired Jetpac, a city guide application for iPhone, the app’s developers announced today (via The Next Web). The free app (and others by the Jetpac team) will be removed from the App Store in the coming days, and the service that powers it will be shut down on September 15th.

Google hasn’t said exactly what it plans to do with the company’s technology, which automatically scans users’ photos to detect local points of interest like coffee shops or “hipster hangouts.” The service featuerd data for over 6,000 cities, according to the App Store description.  It seems logical, however, that Google would attempt to integrate these features with Google Maps or a location-based Google Now feature.

You can grab the Jetpac app for free on the iTunes Store, though it won’t be very useful beyond its mid-September shutdown.

Latest Google+ app update lets you cast your news feed to a Chromecast

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The Chromecast’s capabilities just keep expanding, and today—as a special treat for those of us who actually use Google’s social network—you’ll find that you can now cast your Google+ feed directly to a Chromecast-connected device. The app has long been able to cast your photos, but apparently you can now send your entire feed full of posts and images to your TV to be viewed in their full glory (via iTechTriad).

After selecting your destination device, the app can automatically pan through all of your posts and you can just sit back and watch. But of course, if you’d rather have control, you can also flip through posts at your own pace. The updated app is supposedly being pushed through Google Play, but it appears that the feature is being flipped server-side. But once it’s on for you, you’ll be able to view photos, videos, and text via Chromecast at the tap of a button.

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Dropbox for Android updated w/ in-app previews of Microsoft Office files, search enhancements, more

Dropbox this evening began rolling out an update to its app on Android, bumping it to version number 2.4.3. The biggest change with this update is the addition of in-app previews for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents, as well as standard PDFs. The search process has also been revamped and now tracks recent queries and offers typeahead suggestions.


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Android Device Manager updated with new callback button for lost phones

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Google today rolled out an update to its Android Device Manager app that bumps it to version 1.3.8. For those unfamiliar, Android Device Manager is Google’s solution for those who have lost or misplaced their phone or tablet and need to locate it. Today’s update is relatively minor, but there is one feature that will be incredibly e helpful, should you misplace your device.


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Yelp for Android update with Bing-powered review translation feature coming soon

Yelp announced today that it would be updating its Android application “soon” with a new feature that automatically translates reviews in 15 different languages. According to a Yelp blog post:

The translation feature works for all 15 officially supported Yelp languages: English, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Spanish, Italian, Norwegian, French, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, and Japanese.

An exact date for the feature on Android has not been announced yet. The Yelp app is free on the Google Play Store.

Facebook Messenger adds Android Wear voice replies, conversation mute, more

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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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WhatsApp beta gets Android Wear features including voice reply, stacked notifications, more

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A beta update for the ridiculously popular WhatsApp messenger for Android has been released with official support for Android Wear, extending its wrist capabilities beyond just viewing and clearing notifications. Among the additions that are included in the update are stacked notifications, complete preview of received messages and, most importantly, the ability to reply to messages with voice.


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Attopedia for Android Wear brings Wikipedia to your wrist

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Having a calculator on your watch used to be an impressive feat, but how about an encyclopedia? A new app called Attopedia makes this possible by bringing Wikipedia to Android Wear. Making the most of a watch’s limited screen real estate, this informative software uses a grid-based interface for fast access to historical and trivial content.


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New apps on Fire TV: Disney Channel, NFL Now, MLB.TV, Animal Planet L!ve, more

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Amazon has announced this morning that a slew of new media apps are now available for your enjoyment on the Fire TV. On top of the platform’s already large number of apps, you can now access WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney Jr., MLB.TV, Animal Planet L!ve, and the WWE Network. The company says that even more are coming though, including WATCH ABC, NFL Now, A&E, Lifetime, and more.

The press release also touts the company’s TV gaming endeavors including its exclusive deal with Rovio to bring Angry Birds Family to the Fire TV. The company says that many more apps and games are on their way to the platform, and that this is just the beginning.

New services include WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney Jr., MLB.TV, Animal Planet L!ve, and WWE Network, and more are already on the way—by the end of the year TV services such as WATCH ABC, WATCH ABC Family, NFL Now, A&E, Lifetime, Outside TV, Young Hollywood, North Face TV, Fashion TV, Green TV andDailymotion will all be available to Fire TV customers.