The push for Android 4.4.4 continues with UK Moto G owners receiving the latest wave of KitKat starting today. While it may not be the most feature-rich update, Motorola has provided a changelog outlining what people can expect. As seen with other devices, Android 4.4.4 patches a potential OpenSSL hole, and offers some stability improvements, however the Moto G has also managed to score a few extras.
The US isn’t the only country making preparations for self-driving cars, the UK is in the process of revamping its laws to allow driverless vehicles to cruise its roads. Science minister David Willetts recently told Mail Online that he has started talking with the Department for Transport to help British companies develop their own self-driving cars, with efforts currently underway in Oxford.
Google has a creative way of advertising its products and its latest effort is quite a doozy. On May 30th at 10:45pm (local time) the company will air a live music performance by Sam Smith from London’s Roundhouse venue that will broadcast across a full ad break on the UK’s Channel 4. So what’s with the quickie concert? It’s an advertising platform for Mountain View’s digital music service.
The Nexus 7 might be due for a replacement, however UK residents who have their eyes on last year’s model can score a deal on Google’s reigning 7-inch slab. The search giant has partnered up with Asus to offer £50 in Play Store credit to people who purchase a 16GB model of the 2013 Nexus 7. The offer is available from now until June 1st from the following retailers: Asda, Carphone Warehouse, Currys and Tesco.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTLBCACEX2k]
Samsung’s “Crystal Collection” Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Gear line are available on the company’s online store starting today, though only in Korea. The devices are also available for pre-order for the Chinese market.
The sparkly device will eventually be make its way to Samsung’s UK retail stores in the UK in the coming weeks. If you’re in the United States and hoping to get your hands on this handset, start looking into importing it. Chances are, Samsung will never officially release the device in the North American, as no plans have been shared thus far.
The “Swarovski for Samsung” collaboration comes on the heels of a successful accessory partnership between the two brands during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York this past season. The collection marks the first time in more than 100 years that Swarovski has participated in a collaboration of this scale, where it fully integrates its branding into the collection.
With technology and fashion so deeply intertwined, Samsung is more dedicated than ever to supporting self-expression through technological innovation and meaningful partnerships,” said Younghee Lee, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, IT & Mobile Division at Samsung. “Collaborating with Swarovski on this stunning collection of device accessories reflects our commitment to providing people with user-experiences that express their distinct personalities and taste.
Here’s a quick deal for our friends across the pond. From now until July 15th, Google is offering a £4.99 Play Store movie rental credit to UK residents who set up a new Chromecast. Since some of the movies in the UK Play Store are less than the promotion’s offering, it’s quite possible that you’ll have something leftover towards your next rental.
If you recently purchased Google’s entertainment dongle and you’re planning your next movie night, head on over to the Chromecast set up page to take advantage of this offer.
Members of the UK government are seeking to close a tax loophole that currently allows online music, app, and book downloads to avoid the country’s 20% “value added tax” in favor of much lower international tax rates, reports The Guardian. If the push is successful, Google Play customers in the UK will instead be taxed at the appropriate rate for their own country.
However, the new law won’t go into effect until January 1, 2015, so there’s still time for things to change. Supporters of the change say that it will lead to more fair competition among foreign and domestic companies, since UK-based companies are currently at a major disadvantage due to the higher tax rate.
Google is releasing its Chromecast streaming device in the United Kingdom next week, according to a Gizmodo source. Above is a photo taken by a Currys PC World employee which shows an announcement on the store’s internal portal. That announcement pegs March 19th as the launch date. According to the article, the store already has the device in stock.
The Chromecast launched in the United States last year but hasn’t yet been available outside the country. Germany and France are also said to be included in the international launch next week. No information on the device’s price has been released yet.
Update: We’ve received a clearer shot. Shown above.
Samsung showed off its new flagship smartphone at Mobile World Congress just two weeks ago, and today the Korean firm is announcing availability details for the Galaxy S5… in the UK. While pricing has yet to be officially announced, Samsung is allowing its customers in the UK to preorder on Friday, March 28th, through Samsung’s web store, selected retailers, and the Stratford Westfield Experience Store. Samsung also notes that the Galaxy S5 will roll out globally on April 11th. Earlier this week, Samsung shared a detailed video promoting its new smartphone. For all the details, read on for the official press release…
Image: vosizneias.com
Google today lost its attempt to have a British court dismiss a claim for breach of privacy in respect of dropping cookies in Safari even when the option was switched off.
Google has argued that the appropriate jurisdiction was the US legal system, where a similar case had already been rejected. Mr Justice Tugendhat at London’s High Court today rejected that argument, stating that he was satisfied there was a case to answer and that it should be heard in the UK.
I am satisfied that there is a serious issue to be tried in each of the claimant’s claims for misuse of private information.
The claimants have clearly established that this jurisdiction is the appropriate one in which to try each of the above claims.
Although Google was denied the right to appeal the ruling, it has said that it intends to attempt an appeal regardless.
We still don’t think that this case meets the standards required in the UK for it to go to trial, and we’ll be appealing today’s ruling.
In the U.S., the company was fined $22.5M by the FTC last July over the infringement of privacy.
Following its announcement last August and rollout in the US, the Google-owned Motorola announced today via Twitter a timeline for Moto X availability in select European countries. Motorola is taking its Moto X smartphone to the United Kingdom, France, and Germany beginning sometime next month.
Google, which was fined $22.5M by the FTC for illegal use of tracking cookies on iPhones even when the user had set Safari to reject them, is asking the UK’s High Court to reject a claim for compensation from a group of British iPhone owners, reports The Guardian.
Google is arguing that any case should be held in the U.S., and that UK courts have no jurisdiction in the matter. It also observes that a similar claim in the USA was dismissed two months ago.
Google has been called “arrogant and immoral” for arguing that a privacy claim brought by internet users in the UK should not be heard by the British legal system […]
In the first group claim brought against Google in the UK, the internet firm has insisted that the lawsuit must be brought in California, where it is based, instead of a British courtroom …
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Thinkspace, an organization created by sixteen-year-old James Anderson, seeks to “inspire the next generation of app developers” through dedicated coding zones in high schools across the globe. Anderson formally launched Thinkspace this month with campuses in Plymouth and Northern Ireland.
Anderson first came up with the idea for Thinkspace when he became disappointed with the UK educational system’s approach to computer information and related topics. Rather than attempt to change the curriculum, Anderson sought to work around it by creating “Thinkspaces” within schools.
Google’s run-ins with the law in Europe have not gone unnoticed. Earlier this week, the company was ordered to fix its privacy issues in France to avoid facing fines, and now a UK regulator is ordering the company to delete all remaining Street View data within 35 days to avoid facing criminal charges, the ICO reports. Should Google find any further data, then it must inform the ICO immediately.
Today’s enforcement notice strengthens the action already taken by our office, placing a legal requirement on Google to delete the remaining payload data identified last year within the next 35 days and immediately inform the ICO if any further disks are found. Failure to abide by the notice will be considered as contempt of court, which is a criminal offense.
Back in 2010, Google had reached an agreement with the IOC over the WiFi data its Street View cars had accidentally collected. Earlier this year, however, Google stated that had not deleted all the data the first time around, which the IOC was not pleased with. Should Google fail to delete the remaining data within the given time period, it will be hit with a criminal offense.
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According to Bloomberg, U.K. based internet map provider Streetmap is suing Google over allegedly favoring its own maps to those of competitors. Streepmap is claiming that it’s harder to find their maps (and other competitors) in a Google search than it is to find Google Maps. Streetmaps is calling the issue a “cynical manipulation” by Google and is calling for a change in the way Google displays map related search results:
“We have had to take this action in an effort to protect our business and attract attention to those that, like us, have started their own technology businesses, only to find them damaged by Google’s cynical manipulation of search results,” Kate Sutton, commercial director of Streetmap, said in the statement.
The lawsuit mirrors complaints at the heart of the EU’s current investigation into whether or not Google’s abuses its search dominance to favor its own services over competitors within search results and elsewhere. Earlier today we reported that Google had handed in a formal offer of concessions to the European Commission related to the investigation, but there is no word yet on exactly Google’s settlement offer includes…
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Starting today, Google is rolling out its Map Maker service in the UK, allowing Google Maps users in the United Kingdom the ability to join the over 40,000 other people around the globe making contributions to improve the Google Maps experience:
Now it’s your turn to help, whether marking the trails through Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, adding all your favorite shops in London’s Soho Square, or improving driving directions to St Ives in Cornwall. Drawing from your knowledge about world famous tourist destinations or the streets of your hometown, you can now use Google Map Maker to make the map of the United Kingdom (along with Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey) more comprehensive and accurate than ever before. Once approved, these improvements will appear across Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Maps for Mobile.
Google is encouraging users in the UK to submit contributions through Map Maker and also invited them to check out its “community of mappers” and the “Map Maker Help Center” for additional information.
Amazon announced today in a press release that it is lowering the price of its the largest tablet in the U.S., the Kindle Fire HD 8.9″. The price of the entry level WiFi only model drops from $299 to $269, while the 4G variant will now sell for $399 (down from $499 previously). In addition, the company is also rolling out the device to a handful of new countries including: the UK, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, and Italy.
The 8.9-inch tablet includes a1920x1200, 254 ppi display, TI OMAP4470 processor, 1GB of RAM, Custom Dolby audio and dual stereo speakers, 10 hours of battery life, and of course access to Amazon’s ecosystem of content.
You can already find the updated pricing for the both the entry level $269 model and the $399 4G model on Amazon.
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Samsung announced today in a press release that it will release a new Galaxy S III variant at the end of the month that packs in NFC capabilities. Customers in the United Kingdom will be able to purchase the device through all major U.K. carriers and select retailers beginning at the end of January. The full press release (via AndroidCentral) is below:
SAMSUNG ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY OF GALAXY S III MINI WITH NFC
New NFC variant set to hit shops at end of January
21st January 2013, London, UK – Samsung Mobile UK today announced that an NFC-enabled version of the Galaxy S III Mini smartphone will be available to buy in the UK from the end of January.
Owners of the new Galaxy S III Mini will be able to share content, such as photos, videos and music, much faster and more easily. Its S Beam feature allows a 10MB music file to be shared in just two seconds by simply tapping on another S Beam-enabled device, such as the Galaxy S III or Galaxy Note II, even without a Wi-Fi or cellular signal. By combining NFC and Wi-Fi Direct, S Beam is capable of sending larger files between phones, such as images, videos and music tracks.
The Galaxy S III Mini is powered by Android™ 4.1 (Jelly Bean) and packed with many of the same features available on the Galaxy S III, including S Voice which people can use to tell the phone to wake up, answer an incoming call, or even take a photo, and Direct Call which allows customers to automatically call someone they’ve just received a text by simply lifting the phone to their ear.
Simon Stanford, Vice President, Telecommunications & Networks, Samsung UK and Ireland said:
“NFC technology and the digital wallet started to gain significant traction in 2012, particularly in the run up to the Olympics. It’s an exciting time in the mobile market watching the next phase of its evolution take shape, so we’re happy to announce that we are bringing these new experiences to our customers through our growing number of NFC-enabled devices.”
The Galaxy S III Mini will be available to buy in the UK across all major networks, key high street and out of town electrical retailers and online retailers from the end of January.
Google is set to take the stage this Monday in New York City for what many expect will be the launch of the new LG Nexus 4, among other things. Just a few days before the event, U.K. retailer Carphone Warehouse is now listing the device, specs, and more, as well as accepting pre-orders with a delivery date of Oct. 30. The phone is listed as being free with a two-year contract through Vodafone or O2 UK. This isn’t the first time the retailer has leaked a device prior to launch, but it’s always a possibility the details will change.
[tweet https://twitter.com/hack_in_the_box/status/261442508704329728]
Many of the specs listed on the retailer’s website seem to line up with previous leaks, including: 2GB of RAM, a 320ppi HD display similar to the Optimus G, a 1.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, and 8-megapixel camera. The website lists the device as shipping with Jelly Bean rather than Key Lime Pie, but the new OS is expected to be unveiled during Google’s media event on Monday. Other specs listed include 8GB of storage, 1080p@30fps video, and NFC. There is of course no telling how legit this, but the retailer does appear to be pretty confident. U.K. readers can pre-order the device now through Carphone Warehouse, with an expected delivery date of Oct. 30. We’ll be on hand in New York on Monday to bring you live coverage of the event.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TrCK0ya097Q]
We have seen Siri clones in the Android Market trying to pass themselves off as the real thing, and some Siri alternatives making their way to the Windows Phone Marketplace. Evi, on the other hand, might actually be the first true Siri competitor/alternative for Android and non-iPhone 4S iOS users.
Available on the App Store for 99 cents and free to Android users on the Android Market, Evi is the work of True Knowledge and its “core semantic search technology” better known as The True Knowledge Answer Engine. The 99-cent price tag on iOS is apparently to cover the cost of using Nuance voice recognition (the same voice recognition tech as Siri), which is not used in the Android version.
The app’s iTunes page explained Evi is capable of returning local data for the United Kingdom (along with the United States), which has been a complaint from U.K. Siri users since the iPhone 4S launch. According to TechCrunch, the app uses “an ontology of tens of thousands of classes into which” every possible user command can be recognized. True Knowledge said the app contains “almost a billion ‘facts’ (machine understandable bits of knowledge)” with the ability to infer trillions if necessary. It also reportedly uses all the expected sources, such as local results from Yelp, third-party websites, traditional web searches, and APIs.
While as of yet Evi is incapable of integrating with Calendar and Reminders like Siri, TechCrunch pointed out it sometimes provides more accurate and useful results for certain types of questions. Siri requests to search the web for an answer when users ask certain questions, such as “How do I make apple pie?” Evi, however, would provide a list of recipes with relevant links to that specific question. TechCrunch highlighted another example where Evi excels:
From the world of non-tablet Android devices, both Motorola and Sony have products launching in the UK including the Sony Tablet P and Motorola’s MotoACTV. You can grab the foldable 5.5-inch dual screen Sony Tablet P starting today, while the MotoACTV fitness-focused device will go up for sale on Thursday, December 1.
As for the Tablet P, expect a Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, Android 3.1 on Wifi model, and Android 3.2 on 3G models. We haven’t got our hands on the dual screen experience as of yet, but we know other dual screen devices like Nintendo’s DS line rely on software designed specifically for the display setup. Unfortunately at £500 (about $750) for the 3G model, we’re not so sure there will be a market for the Tablet P. The device is available now through Dixons and local Sony Centre stores.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Moto ACTV, it is essentially an iPod nano/Nike+ competitor allowing you to track fitness stats like calories burned as well as sync and monitor the stats online. It also includes GPS features, and the ability to transfer calls to the bundled SF700 headset/biometric sensor. The Moto ACTV will be available to UK customers later this week on December 1 for £249.99 through fitness apparel retailer sweatshop.co.uk.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CdD8s0jFJYo]
Today is the day that UK customers can finally get their hands on the Galaxy Nexus, with Google updating the device’s page to include links to retailers and carriers including Phones4U, Three, Carphone Warehouse, Vodafone, and O2.
Earlier Samsung sent out a tweet of Alex Ioannou, the first customer to purchase the device this morning. However, it looks like Ioannou might not have had the best of luck, as Engadget reports the man got home only to find a pre-release developer build of Android with a bunch of developer tools including “Report a WTF condition”. Needlessly to say, Ioannou has since replaced the device, which somehow must have slipped through the cracks without getting the final ICS treatment.
Google has also posted a bunch of videos to their Nexus YouTube account showing off some of the new ICS features of the Galaxy Nexus including multitasking, face unlock, camera and panorama, and Android Beam. One video, entitled “Getting Started (US)”, shows the US version of the device with “Verizon 4G” branding and all. You can check out a selection of the videos below.
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Following the introduction of YouTube movie rentals and Google eBooks in the UK earlier this month, The Telegraph is reporting that Google has now opened up movie rentals to UK users via the Android Market.
Starting at £2.49, users have one of two choices for renting movies. Either grab the video app from the Market, or head over to market.android.com/movies to rent and watch films from your PC. Of course, films rented through either method will be available to watch through your phone, PC, or Android tablet during the rental period. As with the service in the US, you’ll have up to thirty days to watch a film after purchasing the rental. However, after the first play it will expire after 48 hours.
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As 9to5Google reported this summer, Apple and Google are battling it out in several categories in Gadget Awards 2011, an annual gadget awards ceremony organized by British monthly Tomorrow’s Technology Today, better known as T3. The smartphone category pitted Apple’s iPhone 4, HTC’s Incredible S and Sensation, Motorola’s laptop-killing Atrix, Sony Ericsson’s Xperia Arc and Samsung’s Galaxy S II against each other. Samsung’s phone, which shipped ten million units in five months, has beatten Apple’s sixteen months old iPhone 4 and took home the prestigious Phone of the Year 2011 award. Per the official Gadget Awards web site, Britons this year voted Samsung’s phone as their #1 choice, the first time in three years that neither Apple nor HTC had won the award:
Samsung smashed it into the roof of the net with its top-of-the-range Android blower. A gorgeous looking phone with slick operation, the S II also features the best camera on any smartphone to date, great integration with Samsung’s TVs and other kit and a screen that matches the iPhone 4’s, without aping it, thanks to the unfathomable power of Super AMOLED.
Samsung should launch the Galaxy Prime (alternatively named the Nexus Prime) soon, perhaps November 3. Nexus Prime will be the first Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich device built in partnership with Google. It should boast the original Android experience (meaning no skins). Hardware-wise, the device is expected to sport a big, native 720p display, an eight-megapixel camera that captures full HD video, a speedy dual-core 1.5GHz processor and other treats. The phone should have already debuted, but Samsung and Google decided to delay the launch out of respect for Steve Jobs.
