Google and Udacity have today announced the Android Basics Nanodegree, a new program to help people — namely, those with no previous development experience — learn the basics of creating applications for Android. The series of courses is developed by Udacity in collaboration with Google and allows students to work within the Android Studio at their own pace…
Following the launch of Gboard yesterday, Google has released a version of the I/O 2016 conference app for iOS. With the dedicated app, attendees who use iPhone won’t have to rely on I/O’s mobile site.
After first planning to launch the app during Google I/O 2015 and changing its mind at the last minute, Google has finally launched Voice Access in beta, a new accessibility app that allows users to control their phone using their voice. With Voice Access, you can use a wide variety of voice commands like “open Chrome” to bring up the browser or “go home” to go to the home screen…
T-Mobile may not traditionally have the MLB coverage that bigger providers like AT&T and Verizon possess, but no one can argue that it isn’t trying to do everything in its power to stand out in other ways. Between April 3rd and April 10th, T-Mobile customers can sign up for a free year of MLB.TV Premium service, a $109.99 value, that features live games for the entire 2016 MLB season.
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In 2012, Google purchased Nik Software and made their excellent mobile photo editor Snapseed free on Android and iOS. Since then, many of Snapseed’s features have been integrated into Google’s various photo products. Besides mobile, though, Nik also developed plugins for desktop photo editors — and starting today they are also free.
Google recently pushed out an update to its Clock app, and this one’s a game changer. You know the clock widget that lets you put analog and digital clocks on your home screen? Until now, dragging it around and resizing the widget simply changed its alignment. Now, when you resize the widget, the clocks themselves actually change size too…
Skype today announced that it’s bringing free group video calling— a feature it’s long had available on the desktop—to mobile devices including Android users.
Yes, it really has been a decade since Skype changed the way people connect with their loved ones. 6 years ago, we innovated again with one-to-one video calling on mobile phones. Today, we are excited to announce the next evolution – group video calling on Android, iPhone, iPad and Windows 10 Mobile.
The feature will officially launch in the coming weeks, but you can pre-register through Skype’s website here starting today.
And keep an eye out for updates to the Skype for Android app. In the latest update to the app, Skype also introduced to the ability to “Send video messages to groups directly from group chats.”
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t20MzFcwWVM]
Facebook today announced it’s rolling out a new feature for its Messenger chat app that will let users book a car through Uber. The feature, it said, expands on other “integrations” it’s added recently outside of the app’s core chat functionality, like the ability to send money or use the app for customer support.
The Pushbullet you know and love isn’t going to be the same for much longer, at least for those that don’t want to throw $40 at the company for a year-long “Pro” subscription (or $5/month). Today, the company announced a “Pro” version of its app, which sadly doesn’t add any new features at all. Instead, Pushbullet is simply using emotional appeals and asking for users to start paying for features that were — until today — free.
What’s more, it looks like the original Pushbullet creator, a man by the name of Ryan Oldenburg, once promised that exactly this kind of thing would never happen happen…
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An exciting new feature came with Android 6.0 Marshmallow in the form of UI Tuner, a hidden section of the Settings app that was practically useless unless you knew what you’re doing… until now. With a new app called Custom Quick Settings, you can quickly and easily create new custom tiles in the Quick Settings pull-down with just a few taps…
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Google has today released a new app called Delhi Public Transport Offline and, well, most people probably don’t need it. But if you do happen to live in Delhi and would like a very simple app to help you get around town via public transportation, today’s your lucky day — it’s free, and it’s packed with lots of features that might make a quick download worth your time…
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Google Play has 10 tracks of Latin Vibes Free for a limited time. Just head on over and download the full album.
We can honestly say we are only familiar with one artist in this collection (I think you can guess who), but the price is just right.
Google teased some kind of #paywithaphoto Google Photos promotion last week, and now it looks like the food trucks are rolling out. The first locale luckily able to participate is New York City, and you can see the full schedule, running until August 2nd, below.
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Google announced today that it is launching a program to bring completely free internet access to public and affordable housing residents in four of its Google Fiber markets. The initiative is part of President Barack Obama’s ConnectHome initiative, which hopes to bring broadband connections to low-income households in communities across the United States…
The web is where we go to connect with people, learn new subjects, and find opportunities for personal and economic growth. But not everyone benefits from all the web has to offer. As many as 26% of households earning less than $30,000 per year don’t access the Internet, compared to just 3% of adults with annual incomes over $75,000. Google Fiber is working to change that. Today, in all of our Google Fiber markets, we’re launching a program to connect residents in select public and affordable housing properties for $0/month with no installation fee.
Google says that the program aims to bring Internet to children and families living in homes under the assistance of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This currently includes 27 communities, four of which are Google Fiber markets where the Mountain View company will be able to contribute: Atlanta, Durham, Nashville and Kansas City. Google says it’s coming to future Fiber markets as well.
After around seven million downloads of its popular third-party keyboard app, Fleksy is today announcing that its mobile apps will be completely free for all going forward.
The company was originally charging $4 for the app but had dropped the price to $1 and even made the app free temporarily a couple times in the past. Starting today, however, Fleksy says its apps for both iOS and Android will be free forever.
For everyone that has paid for the app and feels left out, Fleksy is offering a free gift that it says is worth $8 to make up for it. The in-app download includes a selection of new themes and extensions, which also arrive with today’s update. While the app is going free for all to download and use, the company will continue offering premium themes and extensions as paid in-app purchases.
In addition to going free, the company highlighted some other new features and improvements arriving today:
Going free is not the only big update today. We also launched an improved rich content view called Highlights. Meaning, Fleksy will better assist with GIF, sticker and other content discovery based on what you type. Instead of manually searching for stickers and GIFs on separate pages, now you’ll only need to tap on the auto-recommended hashtag (Highlight) and Fleksy will take you to an integrated page of relevant content all in one convenient place.
The Fleksy Keyboard app for Android is available now. A full list of what’s included in the update below:
One of the biggest reasons of going with cardboard for Google Cardboard was to get these viewers into the hands of as many people as possible. But while many vendors are selling their Cardboard viewers for around $20 (and up), OnePlus has decided to sell its new viewer—which will help you watch the VR launch of the company’s next handset—for just $0 plus shipping. And it’s available now.
Convincing educated buyers to grab the HTC One M9 might not be the easiest task, but Verizon seems to want to take a crack at it. For a limited time, buyers of HTC’s latest—and less than well-received—flagship handset will get $100 in free Google Play credit…
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Update: A tipster has sent an email confirming the existence of the “Welcome Kit”…
If you’re one of the lucky few who have received their invite to Project Fi, you’re probably also the kind of person that already owns a Nexus 6. If you don’t already have a Nexus 6 and you sign up for Fi though, Google makes you buy one—as it’s the only phone currently compatible with the service. According to a couple reports on Reddit, Google is giving these buyers some goodies…
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All of the attendees of Google I/O this year (myself included) got the latest version of the Mountain View company’s Cardboard virtual reality headset for free—and now it looks like you can too. To promote their “Adult Swim Virtual Brainload” app, Adult Swim is trying to put a free Cardboard viewer in the hands of as many people as they can. But there’s only one catch: You have to fax them a form.
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Mojang today announced a huge update to its popular Minecraft Pocket Edition app for Android devices. The big focus of the update is access to new free and paid skins for characters (as pictured above):
Skins are the way you change the appearance of your Minecraft character. Instead of looking like Alex or Steve, you can roll with a different vibe, like a butcher, dog, or plumber. Skins are purely cosmetic – they don’t affect the way the game plays or give you any special abilities.
Paid skins are available to purchase in bundles, but users can also upload or create their own as well as find free skins within the game. You’ll get around 20 skins for $0.99/€0.79/£0.79 if you opt for the paid bundles.
The update also includes other improvements and new features including the ability to fish and a long list of new animals. The full list of what’s new is below:
You can grab the updated Minecraft Pocket Edition on Google Play soon.
AppChat is a really interesting new app. First released just a week ago in a humble thread on XDA-Developers, the app—which creates little chatrooms for all of your currently-installed apps—has seen the creation of almost 80,000 of these rooms and more than 70,000 messages sent within them. The response has been pretty big, and the app has gone through 6 releases over the last week to make the experience as great as possible.
But what exactly is AppChat?
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As it usually does, Samsung is giving away a bunch of free content to owners of its new Galaxy S6 and S6 edge and now it has revealed what exactly will be included this time around.
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Update: Sprint too.
Many tech companies are attempting to help victims of the devastating Nepal earthquake this week and the latest is T-Mobile. The carrier announced that it’s making calling and texting Nepal free in order to aid relief efforts:
In the wake of the devastating Nepalese earthquake, many T-Mobile customers are trying to stay in touch with their family and friends in Nepal. T-Mobile is making this easier by waiving and crediting fees for all calls and text messages to and from Nepal from Saturday, April 25 through Saturday, May 16. Calling and texting to and from Nepal without charges applies to all postpaid and prepaid customers of T-Mobile, MetroPCS, GoSmart Mobile and Walmart Family Mobile with international calling.
T-Mobile also notes that its customers can text to various charities to make a donation that will be charged to their mobile bill:
Google and Apple have also launched efforts to aid people in Nepal impacted by the earthquake.
Earlier today, Google announced a new program called “Works with Google Cardboard” that highlights all of the third-party Cardboard-compatiable viewers. The program is Google’s attempt at unifying the various variants of Cardboard, which was first shown at I/O 2014, and making sure they are all compatible with the variety of Cardboard apps that are available.
To celebrate the launch of Works with Google Cardboard, Dodocase is briefly offering its Google-certified virtual reality viewer for free…
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