Google has unveiled two new Android 6.0 Marshmallow-running devices: the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P. The Nexus 5X is LG-made and the smaller of the two. It comes with a 5.2-inch IPS LCD of 1080p Full HD resolution. Under its hood is a 64-bit hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 chipset with 2GB RAM and 16GB/32GB of non-expandable internal storage.
Imaging-wise, it has a 12.3-MP primary camera with 1.55 micron pixels, an f/2.0 aperture, and dual-tone dual-LED flash. 4K video recording is also possible. There is also a 5-MP selfie camera with an f/2.2 aperture on board. Among its signature features are dual front-facing speakers, touch-enabled fingerprint scanner at the back (called the Nexus Imprint, which works with Android Pay), and a USB Type-C port for charging. Connectivity features include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and LTE. A 2,700 mAh battery will keep its lights on.
Image by Google
The Google Nexus 5X will retail for $379 for the 16GB model and $429 for the $32GB model.
Image by Google
Then we have the Google Nexus 6P, which is an Android 6.0 Marshmallow-running phablet made by Huawei. It is an all-metal smartphone, made with aircraft-grade aluminum. It is just 7.3 mm thin and will come in three colors: white, aluminium, and graphite. The Nexus 6P packs a 5.7-inch AMOLED display of Quad HD resolution with Gorilla Glass 4 protection. Ticking inside it is a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset with 3GB RAM and 32GB/64GB/128GB of non-expandable internal storage.
Like the Nexus 5X, the Nexus 6P also comes with a 12.3-MP Sony-made primary camera with an f/2.0 aperture, 1.55 micron pixels, and dual-tone dual-LED flash. It even has laser-assisted auto-focus. Meanwhile, its front camera has an 8-MP sensor with 1.4 micron pixels and an f/2.4 aperture. Naturally, the Nexus 6P is able to shoot videos in 4K resolution at 30 fps.
Image by Google
Among the Nexus 6P's signature features are dual front-facing stereo speakers, touch-enabled fingerprint scanner at the back (called the Nexus Imprint, which works with Android Pay), and a USB Type-C port for charging. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, and LTE are all on board. A 3,450 mAh battery will keep its lights on.
Image by Google
Its base 32GB model will retail for $499 and can go up to $649 for the 128GB model, which is still cheaper than last year's offering. With pre-orders of the Nexus 6P comes a 90-day free trial of Google Play Music and $50 worth of Play Store credit. Are you excited?
Before, only Nokia devices run the HERE Maps application. Then came the Lumia smartphones, under Microsoft, which also carried this application. Very soon, Samsung Galaxy devices will also have access to Nokia's mapping software. And in the near future, Nokia HERE Maps will also debut on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, which will make the maps application available to virtually every smartphone on the market. The Nokia HERE Maps is one of the best maps application available and offers offline navigation solutions for mobile devices.
Aside from Nokia HERE, the Nokia Maps suite is set to arrive on both iOS and Android and will let you download maps of whole countries and regions beforehand, and then use them for searching an address, and navigate with voice guidance to the spot, relying solely on the satellites. Moreover, it includes public parks maps and public transit options. Best of all, the application will be free. So, are you excited about this?
Several Google Play Edition devices were pulled out from the Google Play Store after being out of stock for several weeks. These include the HTC One M7, Sony Xperia Z Ultra, and LG G Pad 8.3. The only remaining devices are the HTC One M8, Moto G, and Samsung Galaxy S4. The Galaxy S4 is still listed as out of stock so it could eventually disappear as well. After all, a Google Play Edition of the Galaxy S5 is expected to replace it.
Image by Android Police
With all these happening, one could not help but think that Google is probably replacing the Google Play Edition devices with Android Silver or just the Nexus devices. There is also a question of the public's interest in getting such devices. What do you think?
Sony's Background defocus application is now available at the Google Play Store. With the app, you can now take photos in a professional style by allowing the object in focus to stand out. The Background defocus app simulates a
shallow depth of field by creating a blurred out background.
It
captures two photos with different focus settings, which you can bring
together to create a photo with one object in sharp focus, against a
beautifully blurred background.
Image by Google
To
get the best results, please focus on an object 15-45cm (0.5-1.5 feet)
away and make sure the background object is 5 meters away from focus
target and hold camera steady. Results are dependent on device and camera specification. Unfortunately, if you’re not a Sony Xperia handset user, you won't be able to download it. Android 4.2 Jelly
Bean or later is also a requirement of the said app.
Google has just made Google Camera available to all Android 4.4 KitKat users through the Play Store. With it, you can snap quick and easy photos and videos, and has creative picture modes like Photo Sphere, Lens Blur, and Panorama. It features:
- Photo Spheres for immersive 360º views
- Lens Blur mode for SLR-like photos with shallow depth of field
- Panorama mode with high resolution
- 100% viewfinder for getting the maximum resolution from the sensor (no dropped pixels)
- Updated UI that gets out of your way and is centered on an extra large capture button
- Works on phones and tablets running Android 4.4+ KitKat
Image by Google
Image by Google
Google Camera is available on all Android smartphones and tablets
with Android 4.4 KitKat and up.
HTC has also released its custom Android launcher on Google
Play Store. Along with its proprietary BlinkFeed launcher, HTC also published SenseTV (its remote control app) and the HTC Service Pack.
Image by Google Play
With BlinkFeed, you can now get all your social feeds, calendar events, news, music and
content arranged and constantly updated in one place. BlinkFeed removes
the need to open multiple apps. And for those with no data plan, the
Offline Reading feature lets you update feeds with WiFi, and then save
them to read later. Take note that availability is still limited.
Image by Google Play
Meanwhile, the HTC SenseTV makes your smartphone a key part of the entertainment experience.
By using this application, you easily discover new movies or TV shows,
tune into your preferred shows, get reminded when your favorite shows
are on, see what shows are coming up, and more. With it, you can control your TV, set top box, and home theater system in your room seamlessly.
Image by Google Play
Lastly, the HTC Service Pack is a support service update that combines
previously released updates and helps make your HTC experience more
reliable. Service packs are provided free of charge. Make sure you
install the latest service pack to help keep your HTC experiences up to
date.
Download BlinkFeed HERE
Download SenseTV HERE
Download HTC Service Pack HERE
Sony has just released Xperia Themes for its lineup of Android devices. As the name suggests, Xperia Themes customize the UI of Xperia smartphones and tablets. With it, users can customize wallpapers, background colors, and the navigation bar. It allows changes for up to 280 UI items. Unfortunately, it will be available only to Xperia devices running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and up. Check out the video below:
If we were to believe its creator, Dong Nguyen, popular mobile game Flappy Bird will be taken down from the App Store and Google Play. And he just did. Flappy Bird could no longer be found on any app market. This is sad news considering that Flappy Bird is at the height of its success and popularity. But why such drastic move? According to Nguyen, "I cannot take this anymore." This is probably his reaction to the backlash on and notoriety of the said game.
There may also be some legal issues going on, considering that the game was inspired by Mario Bros.
UPDATE: Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen himself confirmed that he decided to remove Flappy
Bird because it was very addictive and has troubled lots of people. This
was not his intention, as the game was designed to be played for fun
and relaxation. Nguyen thinks the game has become a problem for too many
people and even changed his life. Even though the app brings him an
estimated $50,000 per day from ad revenue, he couldn’t take the
pressure, couldn’t sleep and even got off the Internet for a few days. What a noble guy!
Google acquired Bump in September 2013, and now the search engine giant has decided to put two of the company's apps to sleep, namely Bump and Flock. Bump’s CEO and
Founder, David Lieb, announced on his blog that Bump
and Flock will be terminated officially on January 31, 2014. Both apps will be removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Bump was introduced in 2009, allowing smartphone users (regardless of OS) to share
photos, files, and contacts by simply bumping their phones together. Bump then ventured out with their own mobile payment
application by releasing Flock, which was capable of aggregating
pictures from various devices into one photo album.
To formally compete with Apple's Newsstand for iOS, Google has launched the Google Play Newsstand, which aims to take over most of your reading duties on your Android device. Its functionality is very similar to its iOS counterpart, where subscriptions to newspapers and magazines can be done. Both Google Play Magazines and Google Currents can now be found under Google Play Newsstand. Watch the promo video below:
Great news to all owners of current Sony flagship devices! The Xperia Z1, Xperia Z Ultra, and Xperia Tablet Z will now come with an exclusive
entertainment pack filled with music, films and games. Through the Xperia Privilege App from the app tray or by downloading the said app from Google Play, owners of these devices will have access to 10 free games, which include: Hungry Giraffe, Surge, Forevolution, Switch Galaxy,
Yu-Nama: The Puzzle, Tokyo Jungle Mobile, Rebel, Haunt the House:
Terrortown, Aqua Kitty – Milk Mine Defender, and Ten By Eight.
Image by Sony
In addition to the games, they will also be able to download 5 movies
including the Amazing Spider-Man and Elysium. On top of that, they will also be able to choose from millions of songs and explore loads of channels and
playlists for all music tastes through Sony's new WALKMAN application and Music
Unlimited free for 60 days.
Google has made the Nexus 5 smartphone official, and it is still manufactured by LG. It packs a 4.95" LCD display with 1080p Full HD resolution and a pixel density of 445 ppi. The display is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 3. The smartphone measures 137.84 mm x 69.17 mm x 8.59 mm, which is not the sveltest but it weighs just 130 grams.
Image by GSMArena
Ticking inside the Nexus 5 is a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset with
four Krait 400 cores and Adreno 330 GPU. It has 2GB RAM and runs on the latest Android 4.4 KitKat OS. As expected, internal memory is non-expandable and comes only in 16GB and 32GB variants. At the back of the device, there's an 8-MP primary camera with OIS and LED flash. The camera uses a
1/3.2" sensor and an f/2.4 aperture. At the front, there's a
1.3-MP camera, which can be used for video calling, too.
Image by GSMArena
The Nexus 5 is powered by a 2,300 mAh battery and supports wireless charging. On the connectivity side, the Nexus 5 has it all covered - penta-band 3G,
4G LTE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, A-GPS, and NFC.
Image by GSMArena
The Nexus 5 will be available in the US, Canada,
the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia,
Japan, Korea and soon India. The 16GB version of the Nexus 5 is priced at $349 / €349 / £300
while the 32GB version is priced at $400 /€400 / £340. All Nexus 5 models can be purchased on the Google Play Store. You'll
also be able to grab one from Sprint, T-Mobile, Amazon, Best Buy and
RadioShack.
Image by GSMArena
Lastly, Google will also be selling accessories for the Nexus 5. These include
bumper cases in several colors and a QuickCover, similar to those on LG
phones. There are 4 color options for the bumper cases: red, yellow, gray, and black. They all cost $35 each. The QuickCover comes in black or white and costs $50 each. The QuickCovers are also compatible with wireless charging and will automatically unlock the phone when you flip them open.
After debuting on the iOS platform last August 2013, Plants vs. Zombies 2 is finally available on Android devices. The Android version of the game is essentially the same as its iOS counterpart. It is still a "freemium", free to play but with in-app purchase options.
Here's what the critics have to say on the iOS version of the game:
“Not just good, not even just great, but an instant classic.” —NBCNews.com
“An experience that’s every bit as challenging and rewarding as the original.” —Kotaku
“Plants vs. Zombies 2 is a must-download.” —CNET
Plants vs. Zombies 2 is available to download for all Android devices running on Gingerbread or later and with 1GB RAM. Currently, it's available in selected markets only such as the United States but soon, it will roll out to other countries.
The recently launched Moto X smartphone by Motorola will be available on the Google Play Store as well. The Google Play edition of the Moto X smartphone will be similar to the Google Play editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, where it would come with a stock Android version. Naturally, most of Motorola's customizations will not be present on the Google Play edition of the Moto X smartphone, such as the Quick Draw, shake-to-start-camera, active lockscreen, and the always-on feature.
Image by GSMArena
Motorola may have promised quick updates to the Moto X but the Google
Play edition of the said smartphone will get the updates even quicker since they don't have to go
through the carrier before being pushed to the device. The Moto X Google Play Edition will be sold
unlocked and at full price. Estimates are around $299 for the 16GB model. It's also unlikely that Google
would offer the Moto X in a variety of colors other than
black and white.
Just recently, Microsoft made the Office Mobile for Office 365 available for iOS devices. Now, it has become available to Android smartphones as well. With Office Mobile for Office 365 Android app, one can edit documents through their smartphone and sync them with SkyDrive.
Image by Office.com
Microsoft describes it as "the official Office companion optimized for
your Android phone. You can access, view and edit your Microsoft Word,
Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint documents from virtually
anywhere. Documents look like the originals, thanks to support for
charts, animations, SmartArt graphics and shapes. When you make quick
edits or add comments to a document, the formatting and content remain
intact."
Image by Office.com
The user interface looks lifted straight out of the Windows Phone 8
version. Through the cloud, you can access Office documents that are stored on SkyDrive, SkyDrive Pro, or SharePoint on your phone. There's also Resume Reading, where opening a Word document from SkyDrive or SkyDrive Pro on your
phone, automatically resumes at the place where you left off reading,
even if you last viewed the document on your PC or tablet. Sharing is also enabled, so you can easily share a doc from your phone when you're done with the corrections.
Image by Office.com
Currently, the app is available only in
the US, but Microsoft is promising to add more countries to the list in
the coming weeks. Also, you need an Android 4.0+ smartphone. It is not optimized to work on Android tablets yet, which is weird since people would most likely edit documents on their tablets than smartphones. Also you need an Office 365 subscription to use
the app (but you can get a 30 day trial), unlike the WP8 version which is
free out of the box. To subscribe, go to www.office.com.
Since Facebook acquired Instagram, several changes have been seen on the application. Now, in a bid to take down Twitter and its Vine application, Facebook and Instagram have
added a new feature on the popular mobile app: video capture. Along with being able to upload photos, Instagram will also let you
upload 15-second videos from your smartphone or tablet.
Image by TechCrunch
The new video recording interface on Instagram works
similar to Vine, where you press and hold the record button to record
the video. You can release it as many times you want during the fifteen
second span you are allotted and the app stitches the moments into one
clip. As with Vine, audio is recorded as well. Instagram also
lets you choose filters for your videos. Once you are done recording,
you are presented with a choice of thirteen brand new filters that you
can select and watch being applied on the recorded video playing above
in real-time. Once you choose the filter, you get to select the frame
that will appear as a still when people see your video in their stream
and then you upload it.
Image by TechCrunch
Aside from video filters, Instagram also claims to have added image stabilization
to smooth out the camera shake. As with the photos, the
videos appear in 1:1 aspect ratio. Unlike Vine, the videos on Instagram don’t loop, so you have to tap
the replay button to play them again. Below is a chart that compares Instagram Video and Vine spec by spec:
Image by TechCrunch
To learn more about Instagram's new video recording feature, watch the promo video below:
Download Instagram for iOS here and for Android here.
Google’s stock Android keyboard is now officially available in the Play
store as a standalone app. The keyboard is available for free for users
of devices running on Android Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean. The Google Keyboard app promises a Nexus typing experience.
It supports Gesture Typing, automatic error corrections and word
predictions for 26 languages. Voice Typing is also at your disposal.
Google Keyboard makes text input smart and easy. Glide through letters
with Gesture Typing – just lift to finish a word, no space bar required.
Compose notes on-the-go with Voice Typing. With amazing word
recognition and next-word prediction, Google Keyboard helps you type
faster and more accurately on all your Android devices.
Key features:
• Gesture Typing with dynamic floating preview
• Voice Typing
• Next-word suggestions and current-word completions
• Dictionaries for 26 languages
• Advanced keyboard layouts
• Works across your Android devices (tablets and phones)
Google has announced that it will be selling Samsung's flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4, running on stock Android (AOSP). This means that the Galaxy S4 will be free of Samsung's TouchWiz modifications. The said device will be sold directly through Google Play and will get timely Android updates just like the Nexus devices. It will also come with an unlocked bootloader for extra flexibility. It will be available in a 16GB model with a microSD slot to
expand it.
Image by GSMArena
This Google edition of the Galaxy S4 will be selling in the US
starting June 26 without a contract and with no carrier subsidy.
The retail price will be $649 and it will work on both the AT&T and
T-Mobile US networks (LTE included).
I just find it odd that Google would tie up with Samsung to release a pure Android Galaxy S4 when it could have released a phone with similar specs with Motorola. Moreover, $600+ is quite expensive for a Nexus phone. Probably, Google is just riding on the popularity of the said Samsung flagship.
Google Play Store is about to undergo a major overhaul. After celebrating its first birthday, Google's repository of 700,000+ applications will be given the Holo treatment. Some of the changes also include new
fonts, larger thumbnail images, and a cleaner look,
resulting in a much more pleasant browsing experience.
Image by GSMArena.com
Here's a preview of the redesigned Play Store below:
There is no timeline yet for its official release. I'll keep you posted.
Similar to Temple Run: Brave, Disney has tied up once again with Temple Run to come up with a new version of the game, aptly named Temple Run: Oz. This one is based on the Disney movie, Oz the Great and Powerful. The game is not far too different from previous Temple Run games and
seems to be using the same engine as Temple Run 2. You will notice some
similarities, such as the flowing level design, where the track gently
bends, rises or dips unlike the flat, straight tracks on older Temple
Run games. However, there are several differences that set this game
apart. The app is available on both iOS and Android for US$0.99.
