Android

Google is reportedly working on a way for users of Android One devices to get free data when using some apps, as data plans are expensive and can sometimes prevent potential customers from getting online. Zero rating is most commonly done in deals between carriers and third-party apps that will let users of those apps use them without it tolling their data usage. But Google has a bigger plan, bringing zero rating to many third-party apps in developing markets like India.

The company may go as far as to make it possible for any developer to zero-rate the mobile data used by their application…

Google’s ‘Helpouts’ mobile apps are no longer available for download

Stephen Hall Feb 13 2015 - 8:31 am PT

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Google has today pulled the mobile apps for its Helpouts service from the Play Store and the App Store (via TechCrunch), less than a year after they launched. The service, which allows you to offer on-demand real help to others in live time for a price (or for free), is seemingly no longer available on mobile despite the fact that the apps only launched in April of 2014.
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Google launches Android WebView beta channel for developers

Jordan Kahn Feb 13 2015 - 7:55 am PT

Google today announced that it’s launching a beta channel or Android WebView, the API many apps use to display webpages. Google noted that with Android 5.0 Lollipop, it now “has the ability to update WebView independently.” It will begin to allow developers to use the new beta channel for testing the latest updates to WebView starting today:

WebView updates bring numerous bug fixes, new web platform APIs and updates from Chromium. If you’re making use of the WebView in your app, becoming a beta channel tester will give you an early start with new APIs as well as the chance to test your app before the WebView rolls out to your users.

Developers interested in becoming beta testers can join the community here in order to sign up for the program and install the WebView beta from Google Play.

Samsung starts teasing ‘TheNextGalaxy,’ shows mysterious camera outline

Stephen Hall Feb 13 2015 - 7:52 am PT

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Samsung has taken to Twitter to start teasing the upcoming refresh of its Galaxy S line of smartphones, and it’s starting out by calling it “#TheNextGalaxy”. While the top banner picture of the account has been updated with the same imagery shown in the invites sent out earlier this month, including the slogan ‘what’s next,’ the profile picture is where the real mystery is…

Hands-on with Mattel’s View-Master Google Cardboard VR toy (Video)

Jordan Kahn Feb 13 2015 - 7:38 am PT

[youtube=http://youtu.be/-HYfwSKlc6w]

Earlier today Google and Mattel teamed up to unveil a new product that revives Mattel’s classic View-Master toy using some new Google Cardboard virtual reality tech. We were on the floor at the press event and managed to get some hands-on time with the new toy, which will first arrive with support for Android devices before arriving for other mobile devices.
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TouchWiz on Samsung Galaxy S6 will be slimmer and faster, pack preloaded Microsoft apps

Stephen Hall Feb 13 2015 - 7:06 am PT

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News has been tossed around lately that Samsung’s TouchWiz will be losing a lot of weight with the release of the Samsung Galaxy S6, and now SamMobile is back with a few more details as to what changes the Korean company will be making. The software is being optimized to be “near stock” in terms of performance, but new information suggests that Samsung will also be preloading a slew of apps from Microsoft’s productivity suite.
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Google testing a new logo for YouTube that matches mobile apps

Stephen Hall Feb 13 2015 - 6:24 am PT

Google is testing a new logo on YouTube.com, bringing the simpler round-rect icon with a play button to the desktop interface. If you use any of the YouTube mobile apps, you may find this icon to be very familiar.

Here’s a look at the current mobile app icons—the Android version of YouTube is on the left, while the iOS version is on the right:

Notably, the new icon being tested on YouTube.com is very similar—with the exception of some minor details—to the icon for the Android version. Google has yet to actually roll out the new icon to the YouTube website, but you can find more images of the experiment at Google Operating System.

This is what the current version of the YouTube.com logo looks like in comparison:

Google Maps lane guidance expands to 15 new European countries

Chance Miller Feb 12 2015 - 1:48 pm PT

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Google today has announced that it is expanding support of lane guidance in Maps for Android to 15 additional European countries. The feature was launched in the United States and Canada last year, with Google promising expansion at a future date. Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom gained support for lane guidance in December.

Today’s update adds lane guidance to the following 15 European countries:
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Visa hopes to track smartphone locations to prevent credit card fraud for travellers

Jordan Kahn Feb 12 2015 - 11:44 am PT

Currently most of us have to inform our bank by phone when we’re travelling to avoid purchases in other countries appearing as red flags for fraud and being declined. That could soon change as Visa looks to track smartphones with a service called Mobile Location Confirmation in order to help their security systems become smarter and reduce declined purchases by as much as 30%.
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Xiaomi’s San Francisco event is happening now, here’s the latest

Stephen Hall Feb 12 2015 - 10:38 am PT

As we told you earlier this month, Xiaomi is holding an event in San Francisco today. While we aren’t expecting any new products to be announced, the company definitely has some interesting information to share with us as those of us stateside get an opportunity “to get to know the company and leadership a bit more.”
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OnePlus says OxygenOS release ‘next month,’ announces new Paranoid Android talent on board

Stephen Hall Feb 12 2015 - 8:31 am PT

OnePlus teased its OxygenOS custom Android ROM late last month, and now the company has come out with a few more interesting details about how it’s being made and what the company’s goals are for it. Specifically, OnePlus today revealed that it’s bringing on several people from the Paranoid Android team, including co-founders of the project Aaron Gascoigne and Jesús David Gulfo Agudelo.

Oh, and the ROM is scheduled for release “next month.”

Dell introduces new affordable Chromebook 11 w/ 180-degree hinge, better durability

Stephen Hall Feb 12 2015 - 6:30 am PT

Today Dell is launching the next generation of its education-aimed Chromebook 11, and the laptop comes with many improvements—durability and affordability were the focus with this device according to the company—that make it a worthy upgrade. The device packs an 11-inch, 1366 x 768 resolution screen (which is definitely nothing special), but there are a few things about this laptop that set it apart from the rest (and from its predecessor).
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Stainless steel version of Sony’s SmartWatch 3 goes on sale this week, no word yet on price

Ben Lovejoy Feb 12 2015 - 6:11 am PT

The stainless steel version of Sony’s SmartWatch 3 will go on sale around the world “from this week,”says Sony in a blog post.

The new model has the same innards as the original silicon-cased version launched last September, with the same 1.6-inch 320×320 display, 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm processor and 512MB of RAM. The steel model will also retain the same IP68-standard waterproofing, making it safe even against complete immersion in water for up to 30 minutes …
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Google Japan choir of 300 Android smartphones and tablets sings a hymn (Video)

Ben Lovejoy Feb 12 2015 - 5:44 am PT

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7lKihNI-K4]

File this one under ‘only in Japan.’ Google has posted a video to its Asia Pacific Blog of its Tokyo team connecting 300 Android smartphones and tablets in order to have them sing a hymn. The obvious thing to do, really.

300 different Androidify characters singing the same song using only the device speakers. We call it “Android Chorus”

The result is, says Google, just another illustration of how Android is about being together not the same. Ookay …

Android Lollipop begins rolling out to Moto E and Maxx in Brazil and Mexico

Mike Beasley Feb 11 2015 - 5:33 pm PT

Motorola announced today that it has started rolling out the latest version of Android to Moto E and Moto Maxx devices Brazil and Mexico. Only a few users will see the update at first as Google tests the software on these handsets, with additional users gaining access in the coming weeks.

The phone maker says users should make sure they’re running the latest version of Motorola Update Services from the Play Store in order to get the update when it becomes available.

Earlier today Android 5 started rolling out on the Galaxy Note 4 in Poland along with several other devices in other markets.

Galaxy Note 4 starts to receive Android 5.0 Lollipop in Poland

Chance Miller Feb 11 2015 - 4:24 pm PT

With Galaxy S5 Lollipop updates in full swing, many have begun to wonder the status of updates for the Galaxy Note 4. Samsung, according to users in Poland, has today started rolling out Android 5.0 Lollipop to the Galaxy Note 4. The recipients of the update claim that it dramatically overhauls the TouchWiz interface, as expected. It also, of course, adds many of the features we’ve come to know and love in Lollipop (via SamMobile).

Canalys: Android Wear is off to a walking start w/ 720,000 devices shipped in 2014

Stephen Hall Feb 11 2015 - 11:26 am PT

The latest numbers from Canalys suggest that Android Wear is definitely not taking off as fast as many would have hoped, and that devices running Google’s smartwatch operating system haven’t exactly sold like hotcakes. Over the entirety of 2014, somewhere in the realm of just over 720,000 Android Wear device were grabbed up by consumers, making up almost 1/6 of the total 4.6 million smart wearable bands shipped.

Fresh off landmark deal w/ Apple, IBM reports Android dating app vulnerabilities risk corporate data

Jordan Kahn Feb 11 2015 - 9:08 am PT

Fresh off their landmark deal with Apple, IBM reports that around 60% of the leading Android dating apps include vulnerabilities that risk both personal and corporate data.

The report, which didn’t examine the iOS counterparts of any dating apps, found that 60% of the apps it examined included vulnerabilities that allow for either malware, the ability to track a user via GPS or the device’s microphone or camera, or steal credit card information.
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Google reportedly testing a service called ‘Plaso,’ lets Android users pay for things with their initials

Stephen Hall Feb 11 2015 - 8:27 am PT

As Apple took the mobile payments market by storm last year with the introduction and hard push of Apple Pay into retailers, Google has started looking beyond its Google Wallet offering to provide new ways for people to pay for things with their Android phones.

Bloomberg supports suggestion of Note Edge style wraparound display on Samsung Galaxy S6

Ben Lovejoy Feb 11 2015 - 6:10 am PT

Bloomberg is reporting that the Samsung Galaxy S6 will be released in two versions, one of them with a wraparound screen similar to the Note Edge but curving around both left and right sides of the display.

Samsung Electronics Co. plans to release two new versions of its top-tier Galaxy smartphone next month, including a model with a display covering three sides, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter […] The second model to be unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Spain will only have a front-facing display.

Earlier claimed renders had also suggested a curved screen, though with some confusion about whether the wraparound would be on only one side, like the Edge, or both sides as now claimed by Bloomberg …
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Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5s more reliable than current wearable fitness devices at measuring activity, finds study

Ben Lovejoy Feb 11 2015 - 5:01 am PT

If you were thinking about buying a fitness band, a university study suggests you probably shouldn’t bother: it found that the Samsung Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5s measure activity more reliably than most current fitness bands.

The study by the University of Pennsylvania (via EurekAlert!) tested the ability of the phones to measure steps on a treadmill and compared the results to six dedicated fitness bands. The two smartphones had a margin of error of 12.9%, while the error rates of the fitness bands ranged up to 22.7%.

The study tested the Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5s against the Nike Fuelband, Jawbone UP24, Digi-Walker SW-200, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit One and Fitbit Zip. Only the FitBit One and Zip performed significantly better than the two smartphones.

Purported HTC smartwatch details suggest it won’t run Android Wear

Mike Beasley Feb 10 2015 - 8:20 pm PT

A new leak from Upleaks indicates that HTC’s upcoming smartwatch, which was previously rumored to be coming in early 2015, is codenamed “PETRA” and will sport a 3-day battery along with support for both Android and iOS devices.

The device will reportedly feature a custom operating system built by HTC, not Google’s wearable-focused version its own mobile OS, Android Wear. The software will allow the watch to operate with both Android and iOS devices, targeting a broader market than most Android-only smartwatches.