The rumors and leaks are finally over with the highly anticipated announcement of the Moto E. This is far from being a super phone and its $129 ($79 on contract) price can attest to that, but is it worth the little money it does cost?
Reporting to you from San Francisco, we are getting all the Moto E details you will ever need. The city welcomed me with ample hands-on time with the ideal “first smartphone”, which is the kind of users Motorola claims the Moto E is made for.
Let’s take a look and see if this accessible phone is the one for you.
The Moto E’s resemblance to the Moto G and Moto X is one of the device’s greatest design aspects. The now-iconic round back and elegant front will offer a very good grip and hefty feel, making the Moto E seem much more premium than it really is.
It’s also important to mention the device comes with multiple coatings that make it that much more resistant. The Gorilla Glass 3 and anti-smudge coating will keep the 4.3-inch screen looking great. All while the P2i coating will keep the device protected against water splashes.
Overall, the phone feels great and does not seem like a $129 piece of equipment. Neither will it be boring or bland. Aside from coming in black and white, the device can be customized with interchangeable back covers. You will be able to find multiple colors and designs, making it the perfect companion for any occasion.
Moving on, let’s take a look at one of the most important parts of a smartphone – the screen. This brings forth one of the sacrifices you have to make for paying $129 for a smartphone. Though the screen is not horrible, it does require some squinting due to its 540x960p (qHD) resolution.
The display is also smaller at just 4.3 inches, making it even harder to get accustomed to it after coming from a large smartphone. Then again, this is no phone for those who have been using high-end Android devices.
With that said, the display’s resolution does seem to help the device perform better.
You can’t expect the Moto E to handle complex games and all intensive apps like a champion, but Motorola promises it will “get the job done”, and that it does. The device can take on any casual app and function, but there is no need to get bored either. We put multiple games to the test and the Moto E didn’t do too bad. The occasional stutter and slow-down were present, but the experience was not ruined.
Internal storage also suffers due to the price, but Motorola is not leaving you stranded with the lackluster 4 GB of ROM. A microSD slot has been included to the device, which will allow the user to expand the memory.
Yet another great aspect of this phone is buried in its back. While non-removable, the 1980 mAh battery should keep the device alive throughout your entire day. The unusual battery size, dual-core Snapdragon 200, lesser screen and simple interface should equate to great battery life.
The Moto E delivers $129 of performance and more, following the Moto G’s steps with pride and glory.
Those looking to get a Moto E probably won’t be too worried about their smartphone cameras, but still might want to freeze some fun memories in time. The Moto E’s 5 MP camera will not give you the greatest results, but it should be good enough for the casual photo.
The camera app does take advantage of some simple camera features, but it’s nothing to write home about. Like everything else in the phone, this app focuses on a simple, near-stock experience.
The Moto G’s software was one of the most-liked aspects of the Moto G, and the Moto E is staying true to its roots. You will find a nearly-stock experience, with no bells or whistles. There is no overpowering UI adjustments and the only added apps are the Moto Assist and Moto Migrate.
By the way, this device does feature the latest Android software, Android 4.4.2, and carries the promise of a future update to whatever version may be next.
As previously stated, the Moto E will bust into the market with a $129 out of contract price, while signing a contract will allow you to take it home for just $79. It is currently available for pre-order from Motorola’s website and should be shipping soon.
At a glance, it must be said this is one hell of a $129 device. Reasonable performance, great build quality and current software can be had for this price nowhere else! It will be the perfect phone for a first-time smartphone user or someone who is simply looking for a good basic smartphone.
This is all for now, but be sure to follow Android Authority for the upcoming Moto E review and a through comparison with the Moto G. Who is thinking of buying one?
In a huge step forward for Google’s Glass, their heads-up display style wearable computer, the Explorer Edition is now in open beta to all US residents. That’s right, starting today anyone in the US can purchase the Glass Explorer Edition, as long as Google has them in stock.
After putting Glass up for a one day sale to anyone in the US last month, and peddling it to golfers at a recent pro golf tournament, Google is proving its commitment to find new explorers for Glass. Don’t go thinking this is an official release of the consumer version of Glass, we’re still in the developmental stages here. As with any ‘beta’ program, Google hopes to hear about your experiences and get your feedback to continue to grow the product.
If you are interested, the price tag is still $1500 and you can head over to the new Glass start page to get enrolled.
The Glass shop has all of the Glass frames, shades and accessories up for sale, and your order of Glass Explorer Edition today appears to come with one free accessory from a selection of frames or shades.
Google Glass has been an intriguing product, right from the early days of jumping out of blimps for Google I/O, through to walking the fashion runways of New York and on to court cases over distracted driving laws and more. The price tag creates a bit of a barrier to entry for Glass, a way to ensure that, at least while in the Explorer Edition phase, only dedicated users pick up Glass to play with. It is still expected that Google could release a consumer version of Glass by the end of 2014, and with the recent revelation that the parts to build a pair come in at about $80, we have hope that it will be available with a far more reasonable price tag.
Time and again we’ve asked if you feel Glass is worth purchasing at this stage of the game, and you’ve always collectively come back rather split on the answer. Many of you want or already have Glass, and the rest are willing to wait for the consumer release. We wonder if having Glass available to purchase at your leisure will change your mind – now that there is no rush to purchase, will you be considering grabbing a pair of Glass?
Plex has been a bit quiet lately, but rest assured that the most popular media server is being improved without rest. The latest update has arrived just in time to bring Android users some fun, but this is a bit of an exclusive party. Are you in the guest list?
Plex has updated its Android and Windows Phone app with the ability to use Camera Upload (as well as the usual bug fixes and improvements). This feature grabs every single image you take with your Android device and uploads them to your Plex library. Who needs hassles in the age of communication, right? This will be done automatically, leaving your favorite images ready for viewing from any other Plex-compatible device.
Of course, there are multiple options for managing your uploads. You can turn the feature on/off in the settings. You can select which library and album photos are uploaded to. Obviously, choosing whether you want uploads to be done only via WiFi or through mobile data is also an option. There is one big catch, though – this feature is exclusive to Plex Pass subscribers.
Plex Pass is currently priced at $3.99 per month or $29.99 per year. If you are really committed to the service, you can also take advantage of the $74.99 lifetime pass. You will have no trouble using this new feature if you are already a subscriber, though! The update is ready and available at the Google Play Store, so go get it. And just in case you are interested, the Windows 8 app also got Sync support.
With today’s massive quad or even octa-core CPUs and 1080p displays, it doesn’t take long to drain a battery if you use your phone regularly for tasks like browsing the web, gaming and watching videos. That’s why it is a wise move to have some sort of battery charger pack if you’re the kind of person that finds themselves away from the wall charger for long stretches of time.
Although there’s a countless number of choices out there, if you are a Samsung fan, you might want to turn your attention to Sammy’s new 6,000 mAh battery pack accessory. Clad in the same faux-leather we know and love from the most recent members of the Galaxy Note series, the battery pack is capable of charging the Galaxy S5 up to two times and retails for about $60.
The battery pack is also rather compact at 74x140x11mm, and it weighs in at 173 grams. The downside? Right now, the battery pack is only available in India. Of course it’s only a matter of time before the accessory arrives to other markets including Europe and the United States, hopefully sooner rather than later. We’ll be sure to update the post as soon as we learn more about Samsung’s plans for the accessory.
If it does come to your region for around the $60 mark, would you be interested in picking one up? Or do you feel that’s way to high when compared to 3rd-party alternatives?
Welcome back to our Meet the Devs segment! In this piece we take a little time to get to know the people who really make Android what it is today and that is the app developers. This week we have with us Ryan Senanayake.
Name: Ryan Senanayake
Developer Name: RSen
Country: United States
Website: www.RSenApps.com
Google + Profile/Page: Ryan Senanayake Google+ Page
How many people on your team? One
Open Mic+ for Google Now
Hangouts Widget
Couplet for Haiku Learning
Founder, CEO
RSenApps
January 2012 – Present (2 years 4 months)
Though I had been coding since an early age, my first publication was an Android app in January 2012 to keep track of classes at school. I later expanded on this solution and brought class schedules and alerts to Android, iOS, and the web via Lion Time. Lion Time also used Google App Engine to push schedule changes to all devices.
In the following Summer (2012), I added to my portfolio Matrix Mate, a matrix calculator for Android (2k+ Downloads), and a suite of three artist fan apps (11k+ Downloads). For the second half of the Summer, I made an Android client for the medical practice management solution Kareo. Although Kareo recognized the quality of the produced client, they were focused on other projects and were uninterested in purchasing. Nevertheless medical practices that use Kareo are currently using my client.
My Sophomore Summer (2013) gave me the time necessary to allow me to embark on even more ambitious projects. Carma In-Car for Android (5k+ Downloads) used voice control and text-to-speech to provide a completely hands-free in-car experience. This paved the way to my most successful project Open Mic+ (400k+ Downloads) which brought the hands-free experience outside of the car via Google Now. Open Mic+ was featured on XDA, LifeHacker, SlashGear, Android Community, and Android Spin. During the second half of the Summer, I worked on creating an Android client for Haiku Learning. Haiku Learning expressed strong interest in purchasing this client, but after several months of negotiations felt it necessary to be able to hire the developers of the product which was impossible due to school. Nevertheless, the current implementation was released as Couplet for Haiku Learning with the idea of out-performing the official client when it is released.
During my Junior year, I also created Hangouts Widget, a quick project, but also moderately successful with over 40k+ Downloads and also featured on XDA, LifeHacker and Android Community.
My Dad taught me the basics of coding, I have basically taught myself everything more advanced like Java, Android, etc. I am taking AP CS right now, just as a way to make sure I don’t miss concepts. I wrote my very first program in C# around 7 yrs old (not sure about when exactly) and since then I have gathered a considerable amount of experience.
I have extensive experience in Android + Java, C#, HTML/CSS, and Google App Engine and limited experience in Chrome Extensions, iOS, SQL, and Javascript.
Though I had been coding since an early age, my first publication was an Android app in January 2012 to keep track of classes at school. I later expanded on this solution and brought class schedules and alerts to Android, iOS, and the web via Lion Time. Lion Time also used Google App Engine to push schedule changes to all devices.
In the following Summer (2012), I added to my portfolio Matrix Mate, a matrix calculator for Android (2k+ Downloads), and a suite of three artist fan apps (11k+ Downloads). For the second half of the Summer, I made an Android client for the medical practice management solution Kareo. Although Kareo recognized the quality of the produced client, they were focused on other projects and were uninterested in purchasing. Nevertheless medical practices that use Kareo are currently using my client.
My Sophomore Summer (2013) gave me the time necessary to allow me to embark on even more ambitious projects. Carma In-Car for Android (5k+ Downloads) used voice control and text-to-speech to provide a completely hands-free in-car experience. This paved the way to my most successful project Open Mic+ (400k+ Downloads) which brought the hands-free experience outside of the car via Google Now. Open Mic+ was featured on XDA, LifeHacker, SlashGear, Android Community, and Android Spin. During the second half of the Summer, I worked on creating an Android client for Haiku Learning. Haiku Learning expressed strong interest in purchasing this client, but after several months of negotiations felt it necessary to be able to hire the developers of the product which was impossible due to school. Nevertheless, the current implementation was released as Couplet for Haiku Learning (linked above) with the idea of out-performing the official client when it is released.
During my Junior year, I also created Hangouts Widget (linked above), a quick project, but also moderately successful with over 40k+ Downloads and also featured on XDA, LifeHacker and Android Community.
I played around with advertising for awhile, but found that ads annoyed users and paid small amounts. Since then I release my apps as free and if they obtain some success, I’ll add a Pro version to support update development.
I definitely consider myself successful considering my age. While I’m aware of other developers with similar ability at my age, I consider all of them also successful. That being said, I am far from finished and I’ll never stop pushing.
If you have a unique product that takes time and skill to develop, the money will follow. I had made a cumulative $5 before I released Open Mic+. From the release of Open Mic+, I knew that it was different and poured my effort into it. Now I am making a considerable amount of money for an app that was fun to develop.
Speech Recognition libraries are atrocious on Android! There are known bugs that Google knows about, but has only fixed for their closed source libraries, if Android was to fix these it would make development so much easier. But in general, Google has done a tremendous job in helping developers out and it is always a pleasure to do Android development.
I chose Android initially, mainly because my first phone was Android and I thought it was magical to be able to actually create something to make my life easier. Now I choose Android because I foresee it crushing the rest of the competition and I want to build products for the future instead of the past. Also when I develop on Android I just feel like I have the flexibility and control to make an app different whereas as iOS and Windows phone kind of force you down a path.
I’m not the type of person who hates people because they don’t use Android. I think that iOS and Windows Phone OS fills some of the customer segments that Android doesn’t. But what does annoy me is when people use iOS because everybody else has it or because it is made by Apple. I think that if more people looked at phones at their face-value they would choose Android.
I think the design guidelines are really well formed and really help developers make sure that their apps stay consistent with the OS experience while also giving them enough control to make their app unique.
Switchr is an app that is actually developed by my friend who goes to high school 15 minutes from mine, I think it is a tremendous piece of work and use it everyday as a replacement for navigation buttons. I also really like Facebook Messenger (chatheads was quite innovative, though it is still a bit buggy), Google Now, Muzei, Stack Exchange, Quizlet, Tasker, Twilight, and Waze.
I have always loved Google. I did a summer camp called Google CAPE during the summer of 9th grade where they gave me a bunch of free stuff, helped me learn coding, and other really fun stuff. Ever since then my dream job has been at Google (or forming my own company). That being said, I had a rough time with them a couple of months after the release of Open Mic+ (~sept last year) where Google took down the app because of privacy concerns. They were basically concerned that I was forwarding speech recognition results off of the device, but this isn’t even possible as I didn’t have the internet permission. They never reinstated the app which bugged me, but they also never took down Open Mic+ after I put it back up on the play store. Despite that episode, I still really like Google.
Definitely the next big thing is going to be wearables. A couple of my friends have Google Glass and while it is still way too expensive, I can definitely see the applications. Also the Moto 360 looks awesome and I’m definitely buying when it comes out.
Have fun learning, if you aren’t having fun you won’t make it far. Also don’t let anybody tell you that you’re too young to be doing CS, everybody is equal in the eyes of the app store. Finally, participate in hackathons, I haven’t yet and will be participating in my first in Codeday Seattle, but from talking to my friend (a senior in high school), they are really useful networking events as well as a lot of fun!
We want to thank RSen for chatting with us! If you’re a developer and this looks like something you’d like to do, check out our Meet the Devs form! We look forward to hearing from you.
Cider, an operating system compatibility layer, allows iOS applications to run natively on Android devices.
Developed by computer science students from Columbia University, Cider effectively tricks iOS apps into running on the Android kernel just as they would on Apple’s XNU kernel.
Quoting from the team’s recently published research paper, “Cider enhances the domestic operating system, Android, of a device with kernel-managed, per-thread personas to mimic the application binary interface of a foreign operating system, iOS, enabling it to run unmodified foreign binaries.” To achieve this, researchers used several binary compatibility techniques, including compile-time code adaptation, which allows unmodified iOS code to run on the host Android, and diplomatic functions, which enable iOS apps to tap into domestic libraries to interact with the Android’s device hardware and software.
In the video above, a Nexus 7 (2012) modified to run Cider on top of Android is able to open and run both regular Android apps and iOS apps such as Yelp or Apple iBooks.
As a work in progress, Cider suffers from some limitations. Apps that rely on features like the phone’s camera, GPS module, or Bluetooth either don’t work or have limited functionality. Further work is required to enable these features.
While the team says Cider removes the need for resource-intensive virtualization techniques, there’s still significant lag when running iOS apps. According to the research paper, this is due to the incomplete OpenGL ES implementation, but additional work could solve the issues.
For now, Cider is a prototype developed as a research project. The team has not announced any plans to continue the project, but cross-platform app compatibility is an area of intense interest, especially in the enterprise sector, making it possible for Cider to eventually become a full-fledged product.
