Huawei announces the gorgeous P8 and giant P8max

As we’ve remarked in the past, Huawei is “so hot right now.” They’re actually the fourth biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world right now. Today they’ve announced their latest devices, the Huawei P8 and Huawei P8max. These two devices are follow-ups to last year’s Huawei Ascend P7.

Both devices are gorgeous. They’re built from premium metal unibody construction. The P8 comes in at just 6.4mm thick. It has a 5.2-inch 1080p display and a 13MP camera that Huawei went on and on about. They claim the four-color RGBW sensor will offer higher brightness and reduce color noise in low light. The camera also has an independent image signal processor for reduced noise reduction in low light. It also has optical image stabilization.

Other specs for the P8 include 2GHz octacore processor, 8MP front camera, 2680 mAh battery, Android 5.0, and 3GB of RAM.

The P8max is the much bigger version of the P8. It has a gigantic 6.8-inch display, but still 1080p resolution. They also packed in a beefier 4360 mAh battery with the extra size and thickness. It has the same 13MP camera and processor.

The P8 will be available for 9-635 in more than 30 countries (not including the US). The P8max will be available for 1 in the same countries.

[via Huawei]

Google announces 70 new apps that integrate with Google Now

Google Now is consistently one of the best features of Android. It can help you answer questions, schedule things, set alarms, and it will even notify you of things before you need them. Recently 3rd-party apps have started integrating with Google Now, making the feature infinitely more amazing. Today Google has announced 70(!) new partners with even more Now cards.

Google doesn’t list all of the new apps, but they mention Zipcar, Spotify, ABC News, Circa, Feedly, Eat24, Allrecipes, Runkeeper, Jawbone, Adidas, and OpenTable in the announcement post. For example, when you rent a Zipcar, you can see the return time and directions to the drop-off location in Google Now. All of the app partners can be found on this page.

Do you use Google Now a lot? Do your favorite apps and services integrate with Google Now?

[via Google]

Google announces new Chromebooks and Chromebit HDMI stick to supercharge your TV

Given the amount of time most people spend on their computers surfing the web — whether for school, work, or play — a low-cost computing device like Google’s Chromebooks make a lot of sense. Today, Google has announced a few new entries into the Chromebook space, with new laptops from Haier and Hisense — all running Google’s Chrome OS. They’re not available just yet, but they can be pre-ordered for 0 from Amazon and Walmart.

Google also unveiled a new high-end Chromebook from ASUS, called the Chromebook Flip. As the name suggests, the ASUS Chromebook Flip is a convertible, ultra-portable laptop measuring in at just 15mm in thickness, and less than 2lbs in weight. The Flip also features an all-metal construction and a touch screen, should you want to go keyboard-less. The Chromebook Flip will launch this spring and be priced at 0.

Probably the most interesting new device was ASUS’ new 0 Chromebit HDMI dongle. It’s about the size of a candybar and features a full blown Chrome OS along with hardware specs like a Rockchip 3288 ARM Cortex-A17 quad-core processor, ARM Mali 760 GPU, 16GB of internal storage, 2GB RAM, USB port, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, and Bluetooth 4.0. It even has a swivel to help it reach those hard-to-reach places behind your TV.

Once plugged in, it’ll level up your television and could come in handy if you enjoy keeping up with The Walking Dead on the web. While extremely affordable, other necessary hardware like a keyboard or mouse is sold separately, but you should have no trouble finding those.

[Google Chrome Blog]

Google announces new “Designed for Families” program to label family-friendly apps

The Google Play Store is full of great apps, but not all of them are suitable for children. Recently Google has made a push to bring kid-friendly content to the forefront with apps like YouTube Kids. Today they have announced another program for family-friendly content: Designed for Families.

Designed for Families is a Google Play Developer program. If developers opt into the program their apps will undergo an additional review in order to be labeled as being “family-friendly.” Google wants apps from great developers like PBS Kids and Crayola to stand out to families. Right now they are mixed in with all the other Android apps, which makes it hard for parents to find them.

This announcement follows the recent news about Google reviewing all apps more closely. The “Wild West” days of the Android Market are long gone. Developers that opt in to the Designed for Families program will most likely see a longer review process, but the reward will be better visibility among parents and kids. A more curated app store is a good thing for everyone.

[via Google]

Cyanogen announces partnership with Microsoft that will bundle their apps on Cyanogen OS

OK, so Cyanogen was only half-joking about their operating system being “powered by Microsoft” on April Fools day. The company today announced that they’ve entered a strategic partnership with the Redmond-based company to have their apps pre-loaded on Cyanogen OS.

Bing services, Skype, OneDrive, OneNote, Outlook, and Microsoft Office will all find homes on devices that come with Cyanogen OS (and not necessarily CyanogenMod, the community-focused ROM). The apps will be “deeply integrated” with Cyanogen OS at its core, though we’re not expecting them to enable you to do anything that simply downloading the apps from the Google Play Store doesn’t already.

And that’s it folks — Cyanogen and Microsoft definitely are a thing, no matter how many rumor-busting reports wanted to deny it. Let us know how you feel about that in the comments ahead.

[via Digital Journal]

Google announces Android Wear 5.1.1 again, confirms which devices will get WiFi support

Google announced Android 5.1 for their smartwatches running Android Wear late last month, but few devices ever saw the update. Bringing WiFi support and always-on apps, the update debuted on the LG Watch Urbane only to later rollout officially to the ASUS ZenWatch only last week. For everyone else, we were left scratching our heads as to when this update would be hitting our devices.

Today Google took to their Android Wear help forums to officially announce Android Wear 5.1.1 again, leading us to believe that the update is fixing to rollout for the rest of us. They also confirmed that only a few smartwatches will be receiving WiFi support, leaving out the LG G Watch R (sorry, guys). Here’s the devices receiving WiFi support:

• LG Watch Urbane


• Moto 360


• Sony SmartWatch 3


• Samsung Gear Live

Google says to make sure the update hits your Android Wear device, make sure you’re running the most up-to-date version of the Android Wear app on the Google Play Store. The rollout is said to be rolling out gradually over the next few weeks, but we’ve started seeing reports from both LG G Watch and LG G Watch R owners that the update is already hit their smartwatches.

Oh, and if you’re curious, check out the video below to see how those fancy new wrist gestures work.

Sprint announces upcoming cities getting ‘Direct 2 You’ traveling reps, now open to new or existing customers

We thought that maybe if we had time to stew it over a little bit, Sprint’s Direct 2 You program would make a little more sense to us. But here we are, a little over a month later and it still sounds like a really strange to move to us. Not bad, mind you. Just strange for a carrier struggling to keep that #3 spot in the US.

In either case, Sprint has announced the next few cities that will benefit from their traveling representatives. Direct 2 You will officially become available in New York City, San Francisco, and Denver starting June 1st. Sprint says their “Xperts” (reps) bring the full in-store “Xperience” straight into the confines of your home. Getting up off the couch to make a trip across town is now obsolete.

The service is completely free, and where it was previously only available to Sprint customers in Kansas City, Miami, and Chicago looking to upgrade their devices (and needing help with setup), it’s now opened to anyone. That means even if you’re currently on T-Mobile and have your heart set on switching to Sprint, Direct 2 You can be at your door in a jiffy.

All you have to do is schedule an appointment by calling Sprint’s 800 number (which can be found at sprint.com/direct2you) and pick the time and place you’d like a Sprint rep to meet with you and give the rundown on your new phone. Sprint says some people have even set up appointments in hotel lobbies or restaurants, so just about anyplace is fair game. Now that’s service.

[Sprint]

Google announces Android Pay to replace Google Wallet

Today during its keynote, Google officially unveiled Android Pay as the successor to Google Wallet, it’s long standing attempt to break into the mobile payments market. Android Pay will power both in-app and tap-to-pay purchases on mobile devices. As for Google Wallet, it’ll still be around, but instead it will focus on accepting payments outside of the mobile web.

Several partners have been announced with the new service, including the major credit and debit card issuers, MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover. Android Pay will work exactly like Google Wallet, where you simply tap your smartphone to any NFC terminal in order to pay your bill. Your credit card information isn’t shared with the store, adding another layer of protection for the security conscious.

While Android Pay was unveiled during Google’s big Android M developer preview, it was confirmed that the service will work on all devices on KitKat and above. Perhaps the biggest news for developers is that Android Pay will be available to developers to integrate payment functionality from the service into their own apps. Uber and Lyft are two examples of apps that will utilize Android Pay in the future, rather than relying on typing in credit card information.

The short list of app partners Google showcased during the presentation include:

• Dominos


• Chipotle


• Dunkin’ Donuts


• Etsy


• GrubHub


• B&H


• Yelp Eat 24


• Expedia


• Groupon


• Travelocity


• Uber


• Lyft


• Wish


• Hotels.com Hotel Tonight


• Newegg


• Orbitz

Google announces Sidewalk Labs, their latest venture to help improve life for city dwellers

When they aren’t focused on bringing internet to the farthest reaches of the globe, or building robots and self-driving cars, Google is thinking of new problems to take on. Their latest venture is a startup called Sidewalk Labs and according to Google, it looks to improve city living by introducing new technologies to improve things like affordable housing, public transportation, pollution — basically anything and everything that irks city dwellers. Here’s a short blurb about Sidewalk Labs taken from their new webpage:

“We’re on the brink of a historic period for cities around the world. By 2050, the population in cities will double, intensifying existing socioeconomic, public health and environmental problems.

At the same time, innovations in technology can be used to design communities that are more efficient, responsive and resilient. Sidewalk Labs aims to foster the development of technology products, platforms and infrastructure that help improve life in cities around the world.”

The company — which Google calls a “modest investment — will be headed by Dan Doctoroff, Deputy Mayor of Economic Development and Rebuilding for the City of New York. Oh, and he just also happens to be the former CEO of Bloomberg. Like Google X and Calico, Google says Sidewalk Labs is another one of the company’s “10X bets.” Google’s Larry Page says he believes there are endless opportunities to improve life in urban environments while using technology to make make cities more “livable, flexible and vibrant.” You can find the full press release here.

[Google+]

Bethesda announces new Fallout Shelter game for Android [VIDEO]

Bethesda yesterday announced a new game headed for mobile. It’s called Fallout Shelter, and it obviously takes after the popular post-apocalyptic RPG games the name is attached to.

The game won’t set you off on an epic quest of ultimate survival in the wastelands like Fallout 4 will later this year, but you do get to manage a covenant of folks holed up inside the vault. The vault, if you don’t know, is a wartime bunker that houses survivors of nuclear fallout. Residents of the vault are mostly forbidden to leave, and as such a vast majority will die there.

The inhabitants all tend to the vault in various jobs, and it’s your job to manage them and keep them happy. Residents can die, and they can also reproduce, so you’ll have an ever-changing scene of folks to take care of.

Unfortunately the game gets a timed exclusive on iOS so you won’t get to play it right away. That said, we’re assured it’ll be on its way to Android shortly so get excited! In the meantime be sure to check out a quick gameplay trailer up above.

OPPO officially announces Neo 5 (2015) and Neo 5s

Amidst all the Apple news and mayhem, Chinese manufacturer OPPO is announcing a pair of new handsets: the OPPO Neo 5 (2015) and the Neo 5s. Both of these devices are a follow up to last year’s Neo 5 (2014) and feature the same thin, “double-layer” metallic body with a laminated back cover.

Specs are largely the same, with the regular Neo 5 sporting a MediaTek MT6582 processor with support for a 32GB micro SD card, while the 5s has a snappier 64-bit Qualcomm S410 SoC and supports up to a 128GB micro SD. Here’s the quick spec sheet:

OPPO Neo 5 (2015) and 5s

• 4.5-inch 854×480 resolution IPS display


• 8MP camera f/2.2 (Pure Image 2.0+)


• 8GB internal storage / 1GB RAM


• Micro SD card slot


• 2,000mAh


• Dual SIM


• 131.9mm x 65.5mm x 8mm and 135g


• Android 4.4.2 KitKat with ColorOS v2.0.1

OPPO says their software features some kind of “eye protection” system which filters out blue light to create a warmer, more soothing screen for added health benefits. ColorOS also has a variety of gestures like a 3-finger swipe for taking screen shots or others to wake up or quickly launch the camera.

Somehow left out of the press release was pricing or an actual launch date, but we expect both these models to be affordably priced. The OPPO Neo 5 (2015) and Neo 5s will be available in either crystal white or sapphire blue colors when they launch later this year.

Google formally announces Chrome’s new tap to search feature, will support Asian languages eventually

After it began rolling out earlier this week, Google is now formally announcing their latest feature to hit Chrome: tap to search. If you haven’t noticed this yet, you basically tap anywhere there’s text on a web page and Google Search tab will appear near the bottom. If you slide it up, you’ll be presented with Google Search results straight from inside the Chrome web browser.

Since this is working in Chrome, Google knows the context of the word or phrase being searched, meaning if you search “Active” when visiting a page about the Galaxy S6 Active, it’ll pull up Galaxy S6 Active results. Well, at least that’s how it’s supposed to work. You can see it in action in the GIF down below.

It’s already rolling out to Android devices courtesy of the Chrome web browser so if you don’t have it yet, give it a download. While it’s only English at the moment, Google promises to have Asian languages covered in the near future so be on the lookout.

Chrome Browser – Google (Playboard) | Chrome Browser – Google (Play Store)

Google announces 3 new initiatives for promoting eyewitness news video on YouTube

Nearly everyone has a smartphone with a camera these days, so when something big goes down in the world you can expect more on-the-scene footage than a news crew could ever hope to gather on their own. Much of that footage gets uploaded to YouTube, so Google feels like it’s time to start putting an emphasis on it.

They’ve announced 3 new initiatives for those who find themselves seeking out every bit of footage they can about local and world happenings.

Firstly is the YouTube Newswire, which is a curated feed of videos from the events Google feels are most interesting. The stories would all be validated and verified by Storyful, a social news agency in cahoots with El Goog.

Next up is more for journalists. They call it the First Draft Coalition, a movement that will help educate journalists on using eyewitness video in their stories. The main benefit will be a site ready-made for journalists that will train them on how to verify an eyewitness video, including showing them the tools to do so and the research needed to facilitate such a task.

Finally, the WITNESS Media Lab promotes human rights movements by giving activists a platform to share their story. YouTube and WITNESS will produce ongoing video series about several issues, with the first being the exploration of the impact bystander eyewitness videos have on delivering justice in police brutality cases.

All of this comes at a very interesting time where other companies are beginning to latch onto the trend. Twitter curiously has their own curated eyewitness news platform coming up, details of which were just revealed for the first time today. Their angle is that you can follow specific topics and events — the Baltimore riots, for instance — and get quick and easy access to Tweets, photos and live video coverage through Periscope and short user-recorded videos.

The difference? We don’t have to wait for YouTube and Google’s project — it’s already waiting for your curious minds to explore. Use the links straight ahead to check it all out!

• YouTube Newswire


• First Draft Coalition


• WITNESS Media Lab

[via YouTube]