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Apple Music on Android: Setup and first impressions [Video]

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Apple Music is finally available to download for Android, so I wanted to give you a quick setup tour and first impressions of Apple’s second app for Google’s mobile platform. It’s free to download and offers almost all of the same features and services found in the iOS and OS X apps, including the option to sign up for a free three-month trial…

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Star Wars Battlefront gets its own official Android companion app

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Thanks to the impending arrival of Star Wars: Episode VII, one of this year’s most talked-about console games is Battlefront, which is undoubtedly one of the best (if not THE best) Star Wars games of all time. And now, it has its own official mobile companion app on the Google Play Store. The Android app was just released and features a number of mini games that unlock various objects in the full Battlefront console title…


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Google launches official DoubleClick for Publishers Android app

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Google has finally launched an Android app for its DoubleClick for Publishers customers. This way, those who use the service to serve or sell ads will be able to keep on top of their performance without being tied to a desktop. If you are a DoubleClick for Publishers user, you’ll be able to monitor network performance by measuring several key metrics, including impressions, clicks, click ratios and CPM as well as individual advertisement performance.

All in all, it’s a pretty simple app, but potentially very useful to DFP customers. The description itself says nothing but the following:

Provides a high-level overview of a DFP network’s performance. The data is displayed in a series of cards, which contain information associated with what’s happening in your DFP network.

As you’d expect, it’s a free download from the Play Store. It’s compatible with any Android device running 4.0.3 or later.

YouTube now supports VR video, app updated with Google Cardboard support

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YouTube announced today that it’s bringing two new features to its popular video-viewing service. Perhaps the most important of the two updates is that YouTube now supports VR Video. That means people can upload full virtual reality experience videos which have an added depth versus the regular two-dimensional flat video. Objects that are near look close, those further away seem far.


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Android 6.0 Marshmallow tip: Launch any app or URL from Quick Settings [Video]

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Last week a cool new app was launched which lets any user running Android 6.0 Marshmallow launch apps from their quick settings drop-down menu. I decided to take a look and shoot a quick video showing how to use it, and how — despite it taking a little time to set up — it can save a lot of time in your daily workflow. Check it out below…


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Latest Sling TV update lets you sling your favorite shows to your Chromecast

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Dish Network’s Sling TV has been around for a while, but one feature that was long been missing from its Android and iPhone apps was Chromecast support. Now, following Google’s announcement last month that the feature was on the way, watchers of live on-demand TV programming via Sling TV can finally sling that content onto their big screen…
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Pushbullet gets Android 6.0 Marshmallow optimization, more in latest update

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Pushbullet, the popular multi-device notification and link-sharing tool has been updated today to take full advantage of Android 6.0 Marshmallow’s built-in improvements. The company announced that the new update uses Android 6.0‘s runtime permissions and Direct Share features to give you more fine-tuned control over which parts of your system it has access to, and give the option to share items more easily and quickly with compatible devices…


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Google Apps for Work hits 2 million paid businesses, introduces app recommendations

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Google is making some announcements for its Google for Work platform today at the Web Summit in Dublin, including the introduction of a new program dubbed “Recommended for Google Apps for Work” and an update on paid user numbers.

In addition to announcing the new app recommendations, Google’s Amit Singh unveiled that the company has now hit over 2 million businesses with paid Google Apps for Work accounts:
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Inbox app will use AI-powered Smart Reply feature to respond to Gmail messages for you

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Update: It looks like the Smart Reply feature is rolling out starting tomorrow.

Google’s Inbox app for Gmail is one of the best things to happen to personal email management since email was invented. Using Google Now’s power, it can automatically create calendar events, sort out your junk and priority emails and suggest reminders. Now it’s about to get a whole lot smarter


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Nest Cam Review: Is Google’s Wi-Fi security cam worth the subscription costs?

It’s certainly not the only connected-security camera, but following Google’s acquisition of popular security cam maker Dropcam last year, the company has just launched a second-generation product with new features. The new product was re-envisioned by Google’s Nest team— the people building smart home accessories like the Nest thermostat and fire alarm— and in the process dropped the Dropcam branding and gained a few notable enhancements.

But is the new Nest Cam worth an upgrade from your current Dropcam setup? And how does the product compare to the other connected home security-cam and all-in-one security devices on the market? We’ve been testing out Nest Cam since its release a few weeks back to find out.
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Sunrise app officially sunsetted as Outlook steals its thunder

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When Microsoft purchased Sunrise, things didn’t look good for the popular cross-platform calendar app. There were fears Microsoft would take its talent and shut the app down. Fears — it seems — that were completely justified. Sunrise announced in a blog post today that the app will no longer receive any updates. If you are an avid user of Sunrise (like me), you’ll now need to go hunting for a new calendar app if you expect new features.
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Developers can now charge up to $400 per app on the Google Play Store

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Google has raised the per-app maximum charge limit available to developers on its Play Store to $400 in the US. The maximum limit has been increased in multiple regions, and means app developers can now charge up to $400 for an app. It’s worth noting that $400 apps probably won’t show up any time soon. However, it is perhaps concerning to think which developers may decide to start offering ludicrously expensive in-app purchases for virtual donuts, credits or gold (or whatever else you may wish to pay for).
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BlackBerry releases the Priv’s pre-loaded Android apps to the Play Store

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Ahead of the device’s release, BlackBerry today has released the Priv’s stock Android apps to the Google Play Store. The apps mostly all feature tweaks on BlackBerry’s end to give the Priv the feeling of a true BlackBerry device, but just running Android.

BlackBerry today has pushed the BlackBerry Camera, BlackBerry Launcher, BlackBerry Keyboard, and BlackBerry Services apps to the Play Store, as well as MicrosoftexFAT and DTEK. The keyboard app, for instance, includes the classic floating word suggestions that BlackBerry introduced with BB10. As you’d expect, most of these apps aren’t compatible with non-BlackBerry Priv devices, so they’re not incredibly useful at this point in time.

BlackBerry pushing its apps to the Play Store means that it will be able to quickly provide updates to its individual apps rather than having to push an entire over-the-air software update to the device to update one app. Other Android manufacturers like HTC and Motorola have also taken a similar approach.

You can view all of BlackBerry’s apps that are available on the Play Store via this link.

Facebook bolstering Android Notifications tab with sports scores, birthdays, more

A More Useful Notifications Tab on Mobile | Facebook Newsroom 2015-10-26 13-25-16

If you’re a Facebook user, you’re definitely familiar with the Notifications tab in the company’s Android app. Although it has barely evolved from being a simple stream of your notifications since its introduction many years ago, Facebook has today come out to outline some changes on the way to make it more useful and personalized.
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Instagram intros Boomerang, a new 1-second video looping app for Android

boomerang-leadInstagram is expanding its range of apps further today by introducing a new video-looping service to rival the likes of HTC Zoe and the iPhone’s baked-in Live Photos. Boomerang takes a quick burst of photos in-app, and then turns them in to a moving photo, or video, that loops forward and backward. Don’t call it a GIF though, it’s a Boomerang…
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Play Store listings now tell you when an app has Android Wear support

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Since day one of the Apple Watch, iOS users have been able to get a quick glance at which apps have a companion Apple Watch app and which ones don’t. Android users have never had this luxury, and have instead been left guessing — or reading a site like this one — to find out whether or not a given app will have a wrist companion. Now, that has changed thanks to a new Android Wear icon that’s appearing on the Play Store…
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Here’s how to download the WhatsApp APK and enable Google Drive backups

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Last week, WhatsApp announced that it will be bringing a much-needed feature to its Android app: Google Drive backups. While the updated version of the app hasn’t hit the Google Play Store yet, you can already download it directly from WhatsApp and install the Drive backup-equipped app on your phone now. Installing it couldn’t be simpler:
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Google offering popular games like Monopoly & Need for Speed for just $0.10 [Update: More]

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Google today has started a sale on the Play Store that offers a variety of popular games for just $0.10. Google is notorious for offering sales on apps at steep discounts and this time is no different. The company is offering games such as Monopoly, Need for Speed Most Wanted, and more for the small price of $.10.

13 popular games are included in the sale. The full list can be seen below:

  • Dead Space
  • Monopoly
  • Need for Speed Most Wanted
  • Bloodstroke
  • Contre Jour
  • Fleece Lightning
  • Harry The Fairy
  • In Fear I Trust
  • Incredibly Jack
  • Power Ping Pong
  • Robbery Bob 2: Double Trouble
  • Spider Jack
  • Wake the Cat

You can view all of the above games on Google’s dedicated page for its $0.10 game sale here.

Update: The following games also appear to be getting the $0.10 treatment, although they aren’t listed on the dedicated page:

  • Roll in the Hole
  • Office Gamebox
  • iBomber Defense Pacific
  • Spy vs. Spy

SwiftKey launches world’s first AI-powered software keyboard for Android

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If you thought SwiftKey for Android was already smart and intuitive, you’ll be excited to know the company has just finished working on a product which it claims is even smarter. SwiftKey Neural Alpha has made its way to the Google Play Store, and instead of using word frequency calculators (n-gram model) to predict your next words, it’s more contextually aware of the sentence you’re typing…


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Hangouts 5.0 for Android launch imminent with more splash, less lag

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Hangouts 4.0 hasn’t been around that long, but according to a tip from Derek Ross, version 5.0 will be launching imminently with a handful of important improvements. Most of the improvements seem to center around speed and efficiency. Ross posted the following list of features to his Google+ profile, suggesting we might see some visual differences as well as performance improvements:

  • Sending messages lag: Gone.
  • Loading conversation lag: Gone.
  • Main screen conversation update lag: Reduced.
  • Hangouts splash screen: Included.
  • Pop-up ‘signed in as’: Now in white.
  • GIFs: They work!
  • Dogfood icon: Removed.
  • Is it coming today: Shrug emoji.

Visual changes include a new Hangouts splash screen as well as making the ‘signed in as’ pop-up white, giving it a cleaner look. What’s more, GIFs now work for the first time, so you’ll be able to annoy your friends and contacts with animated pictures, if you like.

We’re not sure when the update is going to drop, but the last couple of points are a good indication that it’s coming very soon. The Dogfood icon being removed suggests that internal testing is completed and that it’s ready for public use.

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