Android

Samsung unveiled a handful of new wearable devices earlier this year, but according to some recently discovered patent filings, the company still has some more ideas in the pipeline. First discovered by SammyToday, Samsung has recently filed for a plethora of patents relating to a new wearable device that strongly resembles the Moto 360 and its circular design. The patents detail a plethora of features about the device, as well as some basic mockups of its design.

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At the beginning of this year, Google and Nvidia teamed up with car manufacturers to form the Open Automotive Alliance. The two companies partnered with GM, Honda, Audi, and Hyundai and agreed to work together to form an interface in-car entertainment systems. Ever since that announcement in January, we have heard absolutely nothing about the progression of the alliance, aside from a couple of vague rumors.

Android Police, however, has now obtained quite a bit of information about the system, including tentative interface designs and functionality. The report claims that Android in the Car’s basic interface will center around four “distinct spaces.” Those spaces are navigation, music, telephony, and search.

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You may have not noticed that it didn’t exist, but Google has just now launched a new fully functional mobile web version of the Play Store. Previously, navigating the Play Store website on a mobile device was a pretty big pain as you were forced to use the desktop version of the site.

The mobile version of the Play Store is fully functional and works just as you’d expect it to. Navigation is relatively smooth thanks to a slideout navigation panel. Everything you can do with the Play Store app and desktop Play Store, you can do with the mobile version. One notable advantage, however, is that you can purchase devices with the mobile web version, something that the Play Store app still lacks for some odd reason. You could also install apps to your device with it if for some reason you don’t want to use the app interface.

The mobile web Play Store is live now. You can view it by simply going to play.google.com on any mobile device.

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Over the past couple of months, rumors of major changes to Gmail on Android have been circulating. Geek.com leaked screenshots of a redesigned interface that was very colorful compared to the current app. We reported on some new features coming to the app, as well, including a snooze functionality. Now, Google+ user Yoel Kaseb has posted some images of what he claims is a redesigned Gmail app for Android. Kaseb also leaked images of a Google+ update that ended up being almost entirely true.

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Motorola announced a contest earlier this week asking the community to submit watch face concepts for a chance to win a Moto 360 smartwatch. Well, now the contest is udnerway, and the Moto 360 Design Face-Off community on Google+ is blowing up with submissions. Head past the break for some of the best we’ve seen so far …
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Samsung has no shortage of smartwatch and wearable products for the wrist with its Galaxy Gear, Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, and Gear Fit products, but The Wall Street Journal reports the company is about to introduce yet another this summer. However, the big differentiator this time around will apparently be that the watch will act as a standalone device and come with its own SIM card. It will allow users to make calls, take photos and more without having to be connected to a companion smartphone like Samsung’s other smartwatch products. 
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGR34U76QiU]

We’ve seen its unofficially official specs. We’ve seen its updated UI. We’ve even known about its announcement date (May 27th) for some time now. And now, LG is teasing its upcoming G3 flagship device with three new videos posted this morning to YouTube. The “Design” video below also gives us the best look yet of the device’s metallic-looking back, as the camera slowly pans around it.
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Samsung is reportedly developing its own VR headset, a device that will be similar in many ways to the Oculus Rift, for use with its flagship Galaxy smartphones and tablets (via Engadget). This headset is apparently separate from the “Galaxy Glass” project that is slated to be unveiled later this year.

The VR headset is being described as a peripheral, as opposed to a stand-alone product, and will require a connection to a Samsung device in order to function.
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Sure, you could plug a Chromecast into your regular smart TV, but where’s the fun in that? Today, Hisense announced the availability of its new 55-inch LED TV that might just make you try something crazy. In addition to a sub-$700 price tag and 120Hz refresh rate, this slim boob tube just so happens to run Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. So you’ll be able to run several media-friendly apps like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Instant Video and Chrome.

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If you’re in the market for a new tablet but you’re balling on a budget, the $100 HP 7 Plus might be a contender. This low-priced slab features a 1GHz Allwinner A31 ARM Cortex-A7 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage space, a humble 2-megapixel rear-facing shooter with a lackluster 0.3Mp front-facing camera. These aforementioned goodies are powered by Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and are wrapped up in a 7-inch 1,024 x 600 IPS display.

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Following announcements earlier this month from both AT&T and Verizon, T-Mobile announced today it’s introducing Voice over LTE support starting with Seattle. The first three devices to support the new tech include the LG G Flex, Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Light.

So I’m thrilled to congratulate my team on the launch of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) in the Seattle area for our existing LG G Flex and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Light customers. Our friends at MetroPCS were the first to launch VoLTE in the U.S. back in 2012, and we’ve been working hard on a LTE Advanced version of VoLTE, which we plan to roll out to more T-Mobile customers throughout the coming year.

T-Mobile’s CTO Neville Ray noted that the new technology, which brings voice calls onto the same LTE radio layer previously reserved for data, will allow “faster call setup times (almost twice as fast as a non-VoLTE call setup) and the ability to enjoy lightening fast LTE data speeds while on a call.” It will also support the HD Voice or wide-band audio feature supported lots of newer hardware. Ray explained how the technology works:
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In a blog post on the Google Enterprise blog, CEO of Foreducation, a company that works with schools to deploy Google products in classrooms, today announced the launch of the world’s first “Google Learning Space.”  The space is described as a collaborative learning center that will offer students from the Colégio Mater Dei private school in São Paulo, Brazil the chance to interact with Google technology in a Chromecast, tablet, and Smart TV-equipped environment: 
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Apple says it’s resolved an iMessage server issue that was affecting former iPhone users who switched to Android and other mobile operating systems. This is all good and well, but Apple’s text message woes don’t end there. The company is currently working on another SMS intercepting issue, according to Re/code. Apple is struggling to keep track of phone numbers that used to be linked to its iMessage platform. This is causing some ex-iPhone owners’ text messages to be absorbed by the company’s servers before reaching their intended contact.

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Currently, Motorola seems to be the king of budget smartphones. With the launch of the Moto G ($179.99) and more recently the Moto E ($129.99), it seems like Motorola has a smartphone tier for just about anyone. Motorola’s Moto X has also dropped in price to $349.99 off contract and just barely graces the budget phone border.

The good news is, there are plenty of budget Motorola devices to choose from, but now you’ll have to make a decision. Which one is the best for you? Let’s find out in our Moto showdown.

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From 9to5Toys.com:

Amazon is celebrating Memorial Day by giving away 200 Amazon Coins with each free download of select Android apps. It appears that these apps are free outside of this promotion as well, but do not typically include bonus Coins. Downloading each of these apps will net you a total of 1,000 Coins, which carries a value of $10.

Browse the top Android apps to find great titles to use your free Coins on and don’t forget that you can still get 2,000 Coins ($20 value) for downloading Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Get the Amazon Appstore for Android here.

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TechRadar reports that Samsung is closing its Samsung Music Hub service on 1st July, with the company advising users to download all purchased content and use any vouchers before that date. Music Hub was based on a cloud-based system the company acquired when it purchased the Californian company mSpot.

The service was part of Samsung’s attempt to get into content sales, with the company having similar hubs for books, videos and apps. It’s not known whether those will also close. Samsung issued a somewhat confusing statement reading … 
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Last year when Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S4 Active, some of its primary features included a rugged design and water resistance. With the impending announcement of the Galaxy S5 Active, what will Samsung bring to the table that’s beyond the standard Galaxy S5 which already carries an IP67 dust and water resistance certification? Sure, you’re not getting a redesigned body, but that’s nothing a tough case can’t fix.

In a new video published by TK Tech News, we get a first look at exactly what makes the Galaxy S5 Active so special. Nothing has been confirmed by Samsung, but the videos below showcase what is claimed to be the upcoming smartphone and also happen to be very convincing.

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Bring your own device (BYOD) is more common than ever in the working world and of course Google is looking to capitalize on this opportunity. Today, the company announced four new features for its Google Apps Mobile Management for Android service. First up to bat is inactive account wipe, which clears an inactive user account from a device after a predetermined number of days. An ideal scenario for this feature is a misplaced or stolen smartphone or tablet loaded with sensitive information. Google’s second new feature for people taking their devices into the corporate world is the addition of Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). This will let your company’s admins distribute CA-based certificates for EAP networks.

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