Living in the cloud definitely has its benefits. One is the ability of syncing your set-up between multiple devices and platforms. But what happens when you lose your data connection? Or when your used megabytes start adding up to insane overage fees? Sometimes you just need to give up your internal storage and take your music offline.
This was a complicated process in Spotify. You had to download specific playlists or songs, but with the latest update Spotify has made it a breeze to download all your Spotify music at once.
This is done simply by going to the “Songs” tab, where a new “Available Offline” toggle has been made available. Just switch it on and your music will download for your offline listening pleasure. It’s very convenient and easy to manage.
No good thing comes without its compromises, though. Gladly, there are only two limitations to this new feature. The first is you can only download 3,333 songs per device. This is no problem to most people. I am sure very few of you keep that much music in Spotify.
The second limitation is a time restrain. Users can only keep the music offline for up to 30-days, after which it will become unavailable and you may choose to re-download it. It should be more than enough time for you to keep your music handy for those long trips, though.
I am still much more of a Google Play Music kind of guy. I tend to listen to the same music and really don’t buy enough albums to make a monthly subscription worth it. I can see how this new feature could make for a great Spotify experience, though. It’s definitely not this easy to “pin” all your songs on Google Play Music.
Google has taken it to their official Chrome Blog to let us know Chromebooks are headed to new horizons. These web-based laptops are growing while the rest of the computer market is suffering from a steep decline in sales numbers. Why? That is another day’s topic, but we are sure it has everything to do with affordability, simplicity and performance.
Shortly after taking Chromebooks to six new countries, Google is now expanding even further. Google’s creative way of announcing Chromebook availability in nine new countries is by saying “hello” to each one of them in their native tongues. It’s a fun read, so go ahead and give it a look at the Google Chrome Blog.
Here is the official list of new Chromebook-powered countries:
With all these new countries in line, I can only imagine how much more Chromebooks will continue to grow. These laptops are unlike anything we have seen before. This is both good and bad, because their web advantage is also what makes them limited. At the end of the day, though, the numbers don’t lie. Chrome OS has the numbers to back itself up in the competitive world of computing.
We are not sure which laptops these countries will get, exactly. Google did mention they will be of all shapes, colors and sizes. We can assume most models will make it out there.
Android 4.4.3 is said to come to Nexus devices very soon. In fact, T-Mobile spilled the beans a little earlier, hinting the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 would get the update today. If you needed more evidence, now we have it!
The Google Developers website has just posted the Factory Images and Binaries of Android 4.4.3 for the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. This means the updates should be coming very soon, but we know some of you just can’t wait.
If you find yourself too desperate to stop yourself from biting right through your nails, you can always install it manually. Do remember this process is not very user-friendly, though. You will need to wipe your device, have ADB/fasboot working, unlock the bootloader and have Android SDK installed. If you are not comfortable with any of these, you should simply wait.
With that disclaimer out of the way, you can go ahead and get the Factory Images and Binaries from their respective websites. We have previously shown you how to install an update from a Factory Image. You need to take the same steps, except using the new Factory Image. Find our tutorial here.
We are not exactly sure what kind of changes we will see, but this is not meant to be a huge update. It will probably address the usual performance and bug fixes, including the dreaded Nexus 5 camera bug. More light will be shed on other improvements or new features as the update rolls out. Stay tuned for more details, and let us know if you start seeing your updates!
Smartphones have revolutionized how we use the cell phone. What was once a fun little thing we kept in our pockets that got bad reception everywhere has turned into a game playing, battery draining, socializing, HD-video-watching super machine. They’ve changed how we do pretty much everything. One of the few exceptions being how we manage contacts. Your address book is pretty much the same as it has always been with the notable exception of syncing to social media. A new app on Android called addappt may be changing that.
Here’s how the app works. On the face, it looks like your ordinary contacts replacement app. It’ll sync your current address book and show you all of your ordinary contacts. It’s once you start using it the way it is supposed to be used and getting others to use it that way that things become interesting.
When you add someone to addappt using the app’s built in system, you no longer have to worry about their contact information. If they move, change phone numbers, their email address, or anything else, they simply update it in addappt. The change will then sync to everyone that the person is connected to.
Let’s say you and I were connected on addappt. If I got a new phone number and updated my information in the application. That change would sync to your device (and everyone else I’m connected to). Thus you would automatically have my new contact information without my having to give it to you again or you having to request it.
This has the potential to change how we think about contacts. Usually when a phone gets broken, contacts get lost, or information gets changed, people have to go through the painstaking process of reaching out to all the important people, posting their new details on Facebook via the now-infamous “inbox me to get my new number”, and all sorts of other tedious methods. With addappt, once everyone is connected, you just sign into the app and all of your contacts will sync. You update your details and they get your new information. No more tedious emails.
The app itself is fairly well designed and it’s worth noting that it’s pretty much the same design across platforms. So iOS users and Android users all have invariably the same experience with the same set up which is actually something we quite liked. There are buttons on contact cards that let you call, message, or email them. You can also see quite a bit of info such as email, phone number, address, events (such as birthdays), websites, GPS location, and even personal stuff like family members. Each user can determine how much of their information is shown.
Is today finally the day when Google begins pushing out the long-awaited Android 4.4.3 update?
According to a T-Mobile support page, the Android 4.4.3 over the air update should begin rolling out to Nexus 5 users starting today, June 2. There’s little detail about what’s coming in the update on the support page, with a very generic “Security enhancements” and “Various bug fixes.” The update will bring firmware number KTU84M.
Another support page mentions the same update for the Nexus 7 (2013), this time bearing the KTU84L firmware number. Both updates are said to be weighing 54MB, suggesting that, indeed, the update will bring just bug fixes and tweaks.
Excited as we may be, we need to remember that we’ve been through all this in April, and we ended up disappointed. Back then, the Android 4.4.3 update window for the Nexus 5 on Sprint passed, and the support page for the update was eventually taken down.
We’ll keep you posted on this, but it’s worth keeping an eye on your notifications or checking manually from Settings>About Phone>System Updates.
Last month, this site reported on Google’s new project called Loon, which uses hot air balloons to deliver broadband and wireless services to under-served or emergency prone areas.
Now, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google plans is to invest between $1 to $3 billion on 180 “small, high capacity” satellites that will extend Internet access to additional under-served areas of the world.
Google recently purchased drone-maker Titan Aerospace to deliver solar-powered high-altitude drones that can stay airborne for five years at a time. Satellite-communications expert Greg Wyler is reportedly leading the new project for Google reporting directly to chief executive Larry Page with a team of about 20 people.
Google’s move into satellites follows Facebook’s efforts under internet.org and the Connectivity Lab to explore the potential for drones, satellites, and lasers to connect people.
It is estimated that it will take around five years to construct and launch the 180 satellites.
After repeated delays and rumors of the project’s death, today Samsung finally introduced the first smartphone running Tizen. So, is the Samsung Z a threat to Android or is it too little, too late?
The Samsung Z packs decent specifications and a Galaxy-inspired design, but, of course, what really matters is the phone’s operating system. Long in development, Tizen is a Linux-based operating system created by Samsung and Intel, in collaboration with an alliance of various other manufacturers, carriers, and software developers. Tizen is designed to provide a consistent experience across platforms, including smartphones, tablets, TVs, wearables, and even vehicles. Samsung has so far introduced a smart camera running the operating system, but the best known Tizen device so far has been the Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch.
The Samsung Z is a road opener and a demonstration of Samsung’s commitment to a project that, at one point in 2013, was rumored to be cancelled. As with any new platform, it’s vital for Tizen to attract developers, and the belated release of the Z gives developers a little more confidence that they are investing in a viable platform.
Back to the actual device, the Samsung Z comes with a 4.8-inch HD (1280 x 720) AMOLED display (306 ppi), that seems to be similar to the display of the 2012 Galaxy S3. There’s a 2.3GHz quad-core processor (Samsung did not offer more details), 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot that allows the addition of another 64GB. The rear shooter is an 8MP model, while the battery is a respectable 2,600 mAh unit. Here are the full specs:
Somehow surprising is the presence of a fingerprint sensor and heart rate monitor, both features that have been so far exclusive to the Galaxy S5.
Overall, the Samsung Z looks like a decent mid-ranger for 2014, and in line with what we’d expect from a device that Samsung will use to test the waters in a handful of developing markets.
Design-wise, we’re looking at a “slim, angular design with sophisticated lines, providing a differentiated look and feel while maintaining Samsung’s overall design identity.” This is a Samsung-phone through and through, with the typical button arrangement and the distinctive faux leather texture (complete with faux stitching) that the Note 3 made popular.
Moving on Tizen, the user interface was styled to resemble Samsung’s TouchWiz, with the round icons serving as a differentiator. Samsung has not released a lot of details about the OS, but it promises optimization, fast startup times, and “immediate multi-tasking capabilities.” It’s not just the look of the launcher that Samsung borrowed from TouchWiz – there’s a bunch of features that were previously only found on Android, such as Download Booster and Ultra Power Saving Mode (both introduced with the Galaxy S5), S Health 3.0, and a variety of camera features.
The Samsung Z will launch in Russia in Q3 2014, and Samsung says it plans to bring it to other parts of the world after that. We don’t expect the Korean giant to throw its full weight behind it; again, the Z is probably just a way for Samsung to test the waters and to encourage developers to create apps for Tizen. The choice of initial market launch is telling – Russia favors its homegrown cloud services over Google’s, so Samsung could find it easier to launch a new platform that lacks Google’s apps.
Is the Samsung Z a threat to Android? No. For now, it’s just an experiment. If the device gets some decent traction, we may see Samsung pushing it, but it’s hard to say for now if users will find it attractive.
