Android

Kickfolio, a service that allows developers to offer demos of their iOS apps directly in the browser using an HTML5-based platform, today announced it is now allowing devs to embed their iOS apps directly in the Facebook news feed. The news comes as the company raises over $1 million in seed funding and changes its ‘Kickfolio’ branding to a more suitable “App.io”.

We’ve told you about the service before, which allows devs to embed playable HTML5 demos of their iOS apps directly on webpages and in press releases for as little as $9 a month. Today the company is not only bringing that functionality directly to the Facebook news feed (as pictured above), it’s also announcing that support for Android is on the way.

App.io currently has about 3000 devs signed up, most of which are using the service as a marketing tool to drive users to the App Store. The company says the average user spends about 1 minute, 19 seconds playing the demo with 12 percent making their way to the App Store and those stats are expected to increase thanks to the new Facebook integration. App.io plans to integrate its service with other ad networks and platforms in the future and also launch tracking and analytics features.

You can play an App.io demo of the Angry Bots iOS app below and learn more on the company’s website here:
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Yesterday we told you that Samsung had scheduled an event for June 20th next month in London to unveil new Galaxy and Windows ATIV products. While we speculated that we could very well see the launch of the Galaxy S4 Mini (as well as possibly a few other rumored devices), The Wall Street Journal reports today that the S4 Mini will indeed likely make an appearance:

A person with knowledge of the matter told The Wall Street Journal that the S4 Mini is likely to be one of the several new products the company plans to launch at the event next month at London’s Earl’s Court exhibition center. At the event, Samsung is expected to unveil new devices that run on Google Inc.’s Android and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating systems.

We’ll have to wait until next month to find out for sure, but we’ll be in London on the 20th to bring you the play by play live from the ‘Premiere 2013’ event. 
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The Nexus Swan, a white-cased version of the Nexus 4 which was leaked back in January, has been confirmed by LG …
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British TV broadcaster Sky has had both its Google Play and Twitter accounts hacked by The Syrian Electronic Army. Screenshots in the Play store were replaced with SEA graphics, and a tweet was sent out claiming that the company’s Android apps had been hacked …
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There are a few products that we might get a look at during an upcoming event that Samsung just announced for June 20th in London. While we don’t get much information from the invite itself, we do see that Samsung will have both Galaxy and Ativ related product announcements. That of course leads us to believe we might get our first official look at one of the rumored Galaxy devices that have yet to launch. A few that come to mind include the Galaxy S4 Mini, the much rumored Galaxy S4 Zoom camera/smartphone hybrid, and the S4 Active, a device that is said to be waterproof, dustproof, and specifically geared towards government and corporate customers. There is also no shortage of Galaxy tabs rumored to be landing sometime this year, but we’ll have to wait until next month to find out for sure.

More evidence that a Samsung S4 mini is on the way emerged in the form of a filtering option discovered by Engadget on Samsung’s Content & Services page. The filtering option was quickly removed after the report appeared …
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The image above is being passed around by an anonymous tipster this evening that claims to have screenshots alongside some new information about an upcoming version of Gmail for both the web and mobile devices.

According to the tipster, the update Gmail for web will have new Category tabs that organize emails into separate inboxes based on the content within (as pictured above). Examples given include Main (for family, friends and everything that doesn’t belong in another category), ‘Social’ for emails related to social networks, ‘Offers’ for promotional material, ‘Notifications’ for reservations, bills, etc, and ‘Forums’ for mailing lists and forums.

We have no way of verifying the legitimacy of the tip, but it’s an interesting concept nonetheless and it will apparently also be hitting the new Gmail mobile apps when it begins rolling out this Wednesday…
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According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Google is now in the middle of a new project that will see the company develop wireless networks in emerging countries including sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Google plans on teaming up with local companies to develop the wireless networks, which are said to use airwaves normally reserved for TV, but will first have to get government approvals:

Some of those efforts revolve around using certain airwaves reserved for TV broadcasts to create wireless networks, but only if government regulators allowed it, these people said. Google has long been involved in public trials to prove the technology—which operates at lower frequencies than some cell networks, allowing signals to be more easily transmitted through buildings and other obstacles and across longer distances—can work. And it has begun talking to regulators in countries such as South Africa and Kenya about changing current rules to allow such networks to be built en masse.

The report mentions that Google is also “building an ecosystem of new microprocessors and low-cost smartphones powered by its Android mobile operating system to connect to the wireless networks,” although it didn’t offer up any other specific information on the devices.

It also points out a Google X project that takes advantage of “special balloons or blimps, known as high-altitude platforms, to transmit signals to an area of hundreds of square miles,” but it’s unclear whether or not the two projects are connected.
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In a Google I/O presentation titled “Structure in Android App Design,” Google might have given us a sneak peak at what’s to come for the Gmail Android app. Much of the talk focused on the new navigation drawer that is already present in the latest Google app updates including Earth and Shopper for Android. One slide, as pointed out by AndroidPolice, appears to show off a redesigned Gmail app equipped with the sliding drawer for navigating inboxes (similar to Gmail on iOS) and a number of other tweaks including the removal of the navigation buttons along the bottom of the app. We’ll have to wait and find out for sure if this was simply a mock up for the presentation or the next redesign of the official Gmail app for Android. 
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When seemingly pulling rumors out of thin air, it helps to have a track-record. Geek.com‘s Russell Holly does: he was the guy who told us that a stock Android version of the Samsung S4 would be announced, a day before it was. So when he claims claims rumors that a vanilla version of the HTC One is on the way are true, we pay a little more attention than usual to such things …
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When Google unveiled its brand new $9.99/month “All Access” Google Play music streaming service earlier this month at its I/O keynote, we quickly learned that the service would not be coming to iOS initially. Google didn’t get into why, but today developers of the popular gMusic iOS app has unofficially brought support for the service to iPhone and iPad.

The app previously acted as client for songs stored in your Google Music library, but with an update to version 6.0 today the All Access subscription service is now officially available to iOS users. The changelog on iTunes also lists the ability to “Create/play Radio Stations” and “Search, listen, and add music to your library from inside the app.”

As for why Google didn’t make it’s own All Access app for iOS, we’ve heard from sources close to the situation that Google wants to submit an app but is currently in a holding pattern with Apple regarding what they will accept.

gMusic: Google Music Player is available on the App Store now for $1.99. The updated app will require users to have a Google Play All Access subscription to access the new features. 
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AT&T announced today that it will exclusively be offering the Samsung Galaxy S4 in Aurora Red starting June 14. The new color will be available on the 16GB variant for the usual $199 on a two-year contract and preorders will officially kick off tomorrow, May 24. Samsung is also planning to launch some more special edition colors this summer including: Blue Arctic, Purple Mirage and Brown Autumn.

Starting tomorrow you’ll be able to preorder the Galaxy S4 in Aurora Red exclusively through AT&T at  www.att.com/galaxys4 or at a brick and mortar location.

Good timing on the announcement because (coincidence!) Verizon’s Galaxy S4 is availabile today.

Amazon, which recently dramatically expanded its Appstore to 200 countries, is now following suit with its Kindle Fire HD 7″ and 8.9″ tablets, making them available for pre-order in 170 countries. Pre-orders will be shipped on June 13 …
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Just a day after adding conversational voice search on the desktop version of Chrome, Google has revamped its Android version of the browser to support automatic full-screen browsing and making it easier to refine search queries …
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Google announced on its Google Drive blog today that it is rolling out an updated Google Drive app for Android that includes a couple notable new features.

The app’s UI has been overhauled and now displays your Drive files in a familiar grid style view:

You can swipe between files to see large previews that let you quickly review and discover the information you’re looking for. And if you want to keep some Drive files on your Android device, you’ll now be able to “download a copy” from the actions menu inside settings.

Another big update included in the latest version of Drive for Android is the ability to ‘scan’ and store physical documents as PDFs. The new scan option will allow users to snap photos of documents and save them within Drive as a PDF. Thanks to Optical Character Recognition, you’ll also be able to search for the scanned docs using keywords.

The update includes a number of other improvements as well including the ability to download a copy of your files in Drive your device’s local storage, improvements to editing features in Google Sheets, and much more:
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Sprint has made a few announcements today for new devices and services coming to its customers on its Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA prepaid brands. The company announced today that the Samsung Galaxy S III will be landing on both Boost and Virgin beginning in June. Both devices will be available on the two carriers’ no contract plans but Sprint didn’t make any details available for pricing on the device yet.

Also announced today is the waterproof Kyocera Hydro Edge smartphone, a 4.1-inch Android 4.1 device that’s capable of submersion up to 3.28 feet. No exact launch date or pricing as of yet, but Sprint will be making it available through both its Sprint and Boost Mobile brands later this summer.

Sprint also announced today that it is launching a new ‘Boost Mobile Wallet’ service powered by technology from mobile payments company Wipit. The service is available for Boost customers starting today through a free app on Google Play, but for now is only available to users in Los Angeles, San Diego and parts of New Jersey.

The app allows users to load cash into their wallet at Boost Mobile stores, send money to 135 countries, and Sprint will also be giving out reloadable Visa prepaid cards for ATM access:
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Mobile Tech Review has posted a brief video of what it claims is a sneak peek at the rumored Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, a waterproof and ruggedized version of its flagship phone …
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Benchmark results from GFXBench suggest that Samsung’s next 10-inch version of its Galaxy Tab 3 may be powered by an Intel processor instead of the ARM chips it has used in the past. The benchmark data shows the board as ‘clovertrail’, a codename for an Intel Atom Z2560 processor originally aimed at the smartphone market …
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Consumer Reports (via BGR) has declared the Samsung S4 its “new top-rated smartphone” after detailed tests, taking the title from the LG Optimus G.

The S4 delivered top-notch performance in the most critical areas of our tests, including the camera.

The S4 has an excellent 5-inch, high-definition (1080p) touch-screen display, as well as oodles of gesture- and sensor-based tools for accessing and sharing content you create and capture on your phone. The display is sensitive enough to use with gloves on—handy during cold weather …
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