Facebook introduces Hello dialer app with caller ID, business search, and more

After introducing the ability to place voice calls over Messenger just a little over a year ago, Facebook is now introducing a completely dedicated dialer app called “Hello.” The app looks to make your dialer smarter by being able to see who’s calling with intelligent caller ID, the ability to easily block or mute callers, and search for people and businesses all from within the dialer.

Information is grabbed from Facebook where it is continuously synced with the Hello app. Should Hello pull up someone that doesn’t have a number tied to their Facebook account — or you’d simply like to make a call for free using your data connection — you also have the option to place a call using Messenger, also linked inside the app.

The caller ID benefits are clear. There’s nothing worse than receiving a call from an unknown person. The problem is you wont see any info on these callers unless their info is linked to their Facebook account and/or shared with their friends. I found a good majority of the contacts pooled from Facebook didn’t have any phone numbers attached.

But the auto-blocking feature — which blocks calls other Facebookers have blocked — is a nice touch, along with profile pictures and birthdays. So it’s definitely got some things going for it. Download for free via the link below.

Download on Google Play: Hello — Caller ID & Blocking

Say hello to the Google Store, Google’s awesome new online gadget shop

Google’s exciting gizmos and gadgets no longer have to compete with a horde of games, apps and other digital goods available in Google Play — they have an online storefront of their own now. This is the Google Store, a one-stop shop for Nexus phones and tablets, Android TV boxes, Android Wear smart watches, Chromebook notebooks and, of course, the Nest Learning Thermostat.

Everything is as you’d expect for an online store. Each device category gets its own section, and diving deeper into each one will show you all the options available to you. You’ll get a good look at specs, features and accessories, too. Decide you want to order one? There’s a handy order button that remains visible even as you’re scrolling.

The Google Store isn’t a new idea or some grand innovation. It’s a store. But it represents Google’s desire to increase their retail presence and spread their consumer brands, whether it be in a small corner inside the UK’s biggest electronics store or a click away in your web browser. This is the first step, and we can’t wait to see what else Google’s looking to do to make sure Android, Chrome and all the wonderful products based on those platforms get as much of a spotlight as their rivals’ products in Cupertino do.

Visit the Google Store right here

HTC CEO Peter Chou steps down, say hello to Cher Wang

Remember back at HTC’s Mobile World Congress event where they unveiled the HTC One M9? Peter Chou, the company’s rock star CEO, shared a fair bit of stage time with a woman named Cher Wang, who was then known as the Chairperson for HTC’s board of directors and the co-founder of the company. She helped Chou unveil the HTC One M9 with a degree of glee that only a truly happy woman was capable of showing.

And now we know why she was so happy: she’s been named the new CEO of HTC. HTC announced the news this morning as they looked to publicize some long-awaited corporate restructuring.

Before assuming this is some sort of backlash for Chou in the wake of what many of you consider a lackluster follow-up to one of 2014’s best phones, HTC reveals they’ve been working toward this transition for at least a couple of years. Wang had already been heavily involved in day-to-day management of HTC’s business, while Chou had taken a more hands-on approach with new product development.

That would explain HTC’s recent evolution from being just a smartphone company to being a technology company. They made the first move with the HTC Re Camera last year, and looked to capitalize on that with the launches of the HTC Re Vive VR headset and the Under Armour-powered HTC Re Grip fitness band a short couple of weeks ago.

As such, Peter Chou isn’t going anywhere — he’s still with HTC in a big way. He is heading up the future development labs for the company, and will continue to be the driving influence behind the phones, tablets and accessories HTC makes going forward.

As for Cher Wang, she will continue doing what she’s always done — be very good at business. Forbes ranked her as the 54th most powerful woman in the world recently, and she has been widely recognized as being one of the most influential women in tech. Her roles in creating and growing VIA Technologies and HTC a couple of decades ago should quell any fears (within HTC or otherwise) that she doesn’t know what she’s doing.

Android 5.1.1 for the Samsung Galaxy S6 detailed – say hello to lower ISO values, RAW shooting, and other UI tweaks [VIDEO]

We’re anxiously awaiting Android 5.1 on our Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. To us it’s the real version of Lollipop, the one that fixed bugs and polished things up a bit. While we already know the basic, stock Android 5.1 features headed to the Galaxy S6, the boys at SamMobile are providing a few extra details on what Samsung has in store with their custom software.

When it comes to camera software, the Galaxy S6 is allegedly getting an even bigger boost. Manual controls are all the rage these days and users will find even more features inside the S6’s “Pro” shooting mode. Namely, the ability to shoot in RAW and lower ISO values (below 100) have been added. We couldn’t care less about RAW shooting (it’s way more trouble than it’s worth), the prospect of shooting even smoother photos with less noise certainly has us excited.

Small UI tweaks and new options to disable the parallax effect on the wallpaper were also discovered, all of which is covered in the video down below.

All in all, we’re excited to see what Android 5.1.1 brings to the Galaxy S6 and even though it wasn’t present in this early build, multi-user support is said to be arriving as well. Currently, the Android 5.1.1 update for the S6 and S6 Edge is rumored to arrive sometime in June/July for international models. No telling how long it’ll be before we see it hit stateside on carrier branded devices.