Hot off the press from Google I/O day 1, Runtastic has announced their apps will support Google Fit, Google Glass and Android Wear integration.
Gameloft has announced that 9 of their games, Asphalt 8: Airborne, Despicable Me: Minion Rush, Gameloft optimized GT Racing 2, Dungeon Hunter 4, Ice Age Village, Modern Combat 4, My Little Pony – Friendship is Magic, Wonder Zoo and World at Arms, will support Android TV.
So watch out in app purchases will now come to a TV new you!
Google has announced a new Gmail API to replace the IMAP protocol. According to Google, while IMAP is great for standard email clients wanting to connect to an email server, the function is was designed for, it is no longer adequate for new features Gmail makes available or the way services have evolved. I wonder how this might impact future email clients though.
One of the differences for Gmail compared to IMAP is the addition of Labels, which Gmail uses instead of folders. The new Gmail API is designed to work with those labels in providing full RESTful access using OAuth 2.0 authorisation and the ability to support CRUD operations.
Another change is in the fact that this is a standard Google API that enables simple HTTPS calls to query or call Gmail. This means developers can use a variety of standard web languages and frameworks to access. As a standard Google API, it also means normal Google search queries can be used to only pull a subset of messages instead of accessing all messages as IMAP required. The new API also adds more granularity to functions accessed, like only giving an app “compose” access so it can send a message and not read access to a user’s messages.
The above should help improve speed of access.
Yesterday, Google live streamed its developer conference opening keynote. And it wasn’t without drama, when protestors tried to interrupt the affair. In all honestly, I think that was the most exciting part of the near 3 hour opening. Google really needs to try and work at its presentation style, and perhaps copy Apple Keynote’s.
But as they say, its not all about the glamour, its about the substance. So what’s new.
1) Well android lollipop or L for short is the name of the next version of android which comes with 5,000 new API’s. Android L is the new OS for your car, TV and phone or tablet. The design of the OS has had a makeover, using more cards and a tweaked colour scheme. It also runs on ART now instead of Dalvik which will provide a major improvement in smoothness and less lag (hopefully).
2) Unified multitasking with your apps and chrome tabs
3) Remote wipe and finally a kill switch
4) Improved battery performance
5) Android apps on Chrome now being supported
6) Microsoft Office files can be edited natively on Google Drive. Google Slides app also announced. Also android L will allow the phone to split work and personal properly with all work data stored in a separate area. Google called with Android for Work.
7) Google Fit platform – Nike, Adidas, Withings, RunKeeper, Basis and Fuel are all on board to support this new Health framework from Google.
8) Chromecast via the Cloud – A feature called Backdrop run feeds of photos, news, weather while you’re not using the Chromecast. And a cast screen button lets you directly mirror anything on your Android device to your TV as long as you’re using a supported phone or tablet from Samsung, HTC, LG, or the Nexus program. Chromecast will also get Live Screen Mirroring, Casting from Other Networks, Google+ Photo Galleries
9) Google Play Games – new features include a new Game Profile, unified leaderboard which lets users compare how they play with their friends. Quests and Saved Games now included. Quests – Allows developers to integrate time-based goals into their games without having to update the app each time. Saved Games – This saves players’ game progress across devices, and displays the total time played along with a cover image. This is cross platform too. Game devs are also getting access to more tools, like Game Stats and a C++ SDK, for, you know, dev stuff. Games will also be able to support Open GL ES 3.1, the Android Extension Pack , and a standard for gamepads. which will make it even easier for games to gain Android TV integration.
10) Android Auto – Google’s OS to support car use- signed up 40 companies including Bentley, LG, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Maserati, Volvo, Pioneer, Parrot, Alpine
11) Actionable lockscreen notifications
12) Google announced a new project at I/O called Android One for emerging markets. The project involves a reference smartphone that’s made of affordable components that manufacturers can model cheaper smartphones from.
13) Android Wear – full SDK available for developers – Google OS for wearables
14) Google TV – new hardware and software – with voice integration
The above is as brief a summary as I could make, without straying off in to tech speak. So what does all the above mean. Google wants to be on every screen you use and at the same time will gather data at an unprecedented level on each and every one of us. On the other side, Google is offering a platform with API’s covering all aspects of its new L operating system, Auto, TV, Wearables and Fit platforms.
All we need is beatiful hardware and software tightly integrated together – oh wait, that’s Apple!
The X2 is the next Nokia phone to run a forked version of Android. It has a low off-contract price of $99 and comes with dual SIM card slots.
Don’t worry about the specs as it’s all low end, including a 4.3″ 800×480 screen, a 5MP rear camera, a front-facing camera for Skype, a Snapdragon 200 processor, 1GB of RAM , and just 4GB of storage plus a MicroSD card slot.
Nokia X phones, the X2 runs a super-customized version of Android, which has all traces of Google removed and replaced with Microsoft-powered alternatives like Skype, Outlook, and OneDrive. Nokia’s purpose-built app store will give you access to new software, but excluding any Google services and apps.
This phone is not for me. Probably more for emerging markets.
If you own an Apple TV box, it might be worth having a look at all the services available.
Now Apple TV includes ABC News, AOL On, PBS Kids, Willow TV, and redesigned a Flickr app.
Apple held their World Wide Developer Conference on 2nd June and some 3 weeks later it is now Google’s turn to woo the crowds.
Expect wearables and the home to feature heavily, with new hardware being shown for the first time. Google’s car integration will likely be revealed plus updates to its Google apps and services and a preview of the next version of android operating system.
Could be an exciting day later today. So what are you waiting for to be announced?
According to Bloomberg (www.bloomberg.com) Apple is ramping up on two bigger-screen iPhones. One model will have a 4.7-inch screen that may be available to ship to retailers around September. A larger 5.5-inch version is also being prepared for manufacturing and may be available at the same time but in smaller quantities.
I have always been doubtful that Apple would release 2 iPhone sizes, but based on the fact that everyone wants a “larger” iPhone, maybe 2 new screen sizes are forthcoming. This is even more likely, as there is always a shortage apparently just before any launch and especially of the version that everyone wants!
OneDrive offers free 7GB of storage. This storage is accessible via the OneDrive apps on iOS, Android, Windows, and on the web, and much like Dropbox and the upcoming iCloud Drive,
Now, the storage space is increasing from 7GB to 15GB. Microsoft says it is making the switch to 15GB now that people store more files in the cloud and now that images and videos taken on smartphones consume much more space.
With the Office 365 storage side, its moving from 20GB of storage to 1TB of storage per user. This 1TB tier costs the same $6.99 per month for an individual user or $9.99 for a 5 person family plan (which still provides 1TB per family member).
Or if you do not want an Office 365 subscription you can now add on additional storage to a OneDrive account in increments of 100GB or 200GB. 100GB is $1.99/month and 200GB is $3.99/month. The change here is price decreases: 100GB used to cost $7.49 per month and 200GB previously was $11.49 each month.
After the swanky new LG G3. Well Clove Technology ( http://www.clove.co.uk ) has let its customers know that the LG G3 is going to be available sooner than the original date of 1st July 2014.
Clove are also offering at the moment the free LG qi wireless charger.
Long story, well here’s the short story.
My iPad battery is only providing half of the run time as it should. Apple support suggested restoring as new using iTunes on a computer, but backing up first. I haven’t used my computer for a while to backup and restore , since this process can be done via Apple’s iCloud.
So, I let my computer backup the iPad, and started the restore as new. The firmware downloads and is installed on the iPad. Next all my apps, games, films, photos, books, music and more were reinstalled. Now here’s the clever part.
It was restored to the exact position prior to the restore. Even the safari tabs were showing, no passwords needed re-entering. It was a perfect restore. Any there is currently no other operating system that does this. Not even remotely close.
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