With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!!
Apps
Google Play Movies now supports 21 new countries
UpTo gets new widgets and an improved interface with latest update
Carriers
Sprint rolling out Android 4.4.3 to the Moto X
Un-carrier 5.0 and 6.0 off to great starts
Verizon rolls out Android 4.4.2 for Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini
Sudden arrival of Android 4.4.4 pushes Motorola DROID line (2013) update 3-5 weeks
Chrome
Chromebooks
NVIDIA-powered Chromebook by Acer appears online
Chromecast
[New Chromecast App] Cast photos, weather, call/sms notifications, and album art with HomeCast
Gaming
Several Sonic titles from Sega on sale for Android devices
Nest to acquire Dropcam for $555 million
Home Automation
Archos selling full total smart home package starter kit for $250
Phones
Updated rumors on the Nexus 8 and HTC One (M8) Prime
New Moto X+1 video leaks — it’s blurry, but it’s something
Sprint rolling out Android 4.4.3 to the Moto X
Sudden arrival of Android 4.4.4 pushes Motorola DROID line (2013) update 3-5 weeks
Nokia’s next Android smartphone could be revealed on June 24
Design choice delays OnePlus One in Europe
Here’s the alleged Samsung Galaxy Note 4 specs based on AnTuTu benchmark
Samsung Galaxy F press render leaked in ‘glowing gold’
Verizon rolls out Android 4.4.2 for Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini
Security
Tablets
Updated rumors on the Nexus 8 and HTC One (M8) Prime
Updates
Verizon rolls out Android 4.4.2 for Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini
Sprint rolling out Android 4.4.3 to the Moto X
Sudden arrival of Android 4.4.4 pushes Motorola DROID line (2013) update 3-5 weeks
Miscellaneous
Come comment on this article: TalkAndroid Daily Dose for June 20, 2014
There have been rumors recently that LG's G Watch might be the focus of Google I/O's Android Wear discussion, with the nascent device possibly being handed out to attendees. Whether Moto's watch, the Moto 360, would make an appearance has remained unclear. Until today though, those were the only two Android Wear devices even rumored for I/O cameos.
Cnet has reported, however, that Samsung will (according to sources) be throwing its hat into the Android Wear ring at I/O as well, debuting an Android Wear smartwatch of its own.
Samsung Rumored To Be Launching An Android Wear Smartwatch At Google I/O was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Google I/O kicks off next Wednesday from Moscone Center in San Francisco. There’s lots of things we expect to see at the developer conference, there’s also plenty of things we likely won’t see at Google I/O this year. And that’s exactly what we are talking about today. Will we see Android 4.5/5.0? What about Android in the Car? Or the Nexus 8? Let’s answer all those questions now.
When it comes to either the Nexus 8 and a new version of Android they come hand in hand. Because Google has never announced a Nexus device without a new version of Android and since the Nexus One way back in the day, we’ve never gotten new Nexus hardware without a new version of Android. I’m still not completely sold on us seeing a new version of Android at Google I/O this year. Last year we did not see a new version of Android at Google I/O nor did we see the Nexus 7 at Google I/O. We had a separate event about 2 months later where Sundar Pichai (who is now the head of Chrome and Android) announced Android 4.3, the Nexus 7 2013, and the Chromecast. Now we have seen tons of leaks of the Nexus 8 already, so there is a chance we’ll see it next week.
Somewhat likely of being announced
Nope. Not gonna happen. We haven’t seen a single leak or rumor about a Nexus 10 since last fall when Google “leaked” it on the Google Play Store and then never announced it. As much as many of us would love having another Nexus 10, I just don’t think it’s happening anytime soon. Google seems to be sold on 7-inch and 8-inch tablets instead of 10-inch ones. While Samsung is making 12-inch tablets now.
Very Unlikely of being announced
Very doubtful we’ll see a new Nexus phone this year at Google I/O. We’ve been hearing rumors that Android Silver will replace the Nexus program, but that just doesn’t seem ready. And we’re basing this off of the amount of leaks and rumors we’ve seen for Android Silver lately. As much as we’d love to see a new Nexus phone at Google I/O, I just don’t see it coming as we haven’t gotten one at Google I/O in a couple of years now. Since the Galaxy Nexus in 2012, the Nexus phone has always been announced in the fall.
Very unlikely of being announced
Speaking of Android Silver. We’ve been seeing lots of leaks and rumors about the Android Silver program. Which is supposed to be a Nexus program on steroids. Android Silver is supposedly going to have high-end devices running stock Android and will have great support from Google. Many Nexus fans are worried about this program as they think the Nexus is going away. I don’t think it is. I think we’ll still see Nexus devices, as Google needs a device to launch their new versions of Android on. Right now, it appears that Android Silver is going to launch in early 2015. But then again, Google could sneak up Android Silver on us.
Somewhat unlikely of being announced
When Vic Gundotra left Google, many thought that Google+ was dead. I’m still not sold on that, I don’t see Google just closing up shop on Google+ after they’ve spent so much money on integrating it with other Google products and competing with other social networks. On the Google I/O schedule, so far there is nothing about Google+ there. Now that doesn’t mean that Google+ is dead, but just that they don’t have much to talk about like they did last year.
Somewhat unlikely of being announced
Google I/O is going to be full of goodies and new services for us to use and play with next week. Make sure you follow us for all the latest Google I/O news as we will be there next week in San Francisco. What else do you guys think we won’t see at Google I/O next week?
The post Android Headliner: What We Won’t See at Google I/O 2014 Next Week appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.
It’s time for the second round of Epic App Battles. Every week we’ll be continuing to bring a head to head battle between two similar yet awesome apps, and then you decide who wins in the comments on our G+ post. This week we have two of the most highly used cloud storage apps facing off in an epic battle for total control of the best cloud storage option. Dropbox and Google Drive. Both have their niche, and both have plenty of awesome features and functionality. They each have some pros and cons, and we’ll be going over all of that here. Who deserves to be crowned king of Cloud Storage?
Dropbox is probably one of the biggest if not THE biggest cloud storage applications out there. By now it is pretty much known far and wide by most people, and it’s pre-installed on just about every Android phone out there. You’ll also find it on a virtually every Samsung device. That ties us into one of our very first pros with Dropbox. Buying a Samsung device will usually give you an extra 50GB of Dropbox storage for at least 2 years, which is a huge amount of extra space for most people, and that’s is in addition to the initial 2GB of free space that you get from signing up. Dropbox also allows you to get more storage space on your account for free, for every person that sings up for Dropbox for their own account using your invite. This can rack up to a lot of extra free storage, and can be a nice way to stick with a free account and still get lots of space for all your things.
Beyond the amount of storage you get, Dropbox allows for users to keep all their files synchronized across multiple devices and the Dropbox webpage without much effort. Simply create your Dropbox account and install the file folder to your PC or Mac computer, and it’ll be anywhere else you have your Dropbox account signed into. That includes your laptops, your phone, and the web. All seamlessly connected so that anytime you share something with your Dropbox in one place, it’ll be on every other device that has Dropbox as well. You can easily save email attachments to your Dropbox and share things with other via a Dropbox link, which they can use to download whatever you send them without the need to have a Dropbox account themselves. Dropbox also has more storage options available for those who need more room just in case they don’t want to deal with the limited starting options of the “free” account. for a fee of course. All in all, Dropbox is a very formidable cloud storage app that has not only the experience under its belt, but the features and functionality to back it up that has led to the love from its fans. Some of Dropboxes drawbacks are that it isn’t as “tied in” to other apps for sharing and backups,(not immediately at least) and you start off with a fairly small amount of storage space for free.
Ahh Google Drive. Once known as the ever popular Google Docs, Drive is now a much more capable beast. Not only does it allow for the same type of cloud storage functions as other apps and services, like Dropbox for example, but it also allows to you to create new files like documents and spreadsheets, which are then saved to Drive and can simply be stored for later use, shared, etc. Drive has one awesome feature going for it, and that’s the massive and native integration and compatibility that it has with many other Google apps and services. This makes Google Drive a a force to be reckoned with when it comes to picking your cloud storage app of choice. Drive starts you off with a little more storage to begin with than Dropbox, which might be the deciding factor for most people immediately.
Signing up for a free Drive account gets you 15GB of space, which can be expanded upon by paying a small monthly fee to get more storage. Drive also has ways you can expand your stroage space in the cloud without having to subscribe, by purchasing various devices that will net you some extra space, like Chrome OS devices, and even HTC’s new One M8 comes with 50GB of extra storage. Google Drive also now has a handy offline mode that lets you access any files you need, and basically brings up the files since they were last updated and while connected to the web. If you make any edits to files or documents while on the go and have no connection, then Drive will promptly save those edits on whatever device you’re using at the time and update them to the Drive cloud version of those files once a connection is gained. That is a huge plus for many users as a connection is not always readily available. As we stated above Drive has easy integration with many of Google’s own applications without having to set anything up to do so, and now Gmail attachments is just one of those ways Drive has become infinitely more useful. Now, any attachments you get in Gmail can be saved to Drive right from within Gmail making backups of attachments simple and quick. You can also share just about anything you want to Drive from your mobile device using the “share” button.
Both cloud storage options have fairly similar features and both give the user a great experience and have simple user interfaces. Are you partial to the more seamless integration of Drive with Google’s apps or do you prefer to get your cloud storage from Dropbox? Who should be the winner in this App Battle? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments, what makes one better and worthy of the crown?
The post Epic App Battles: Dropbox V.S. Google Drive appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.
Today Nest announced that they would be purchasing IP camera company Dropcam for a whopping $555 million. The purchase of Dropcam is apparently happening without the assistance of Nest’s parent company, Google, and Dropcam will be incorporated into the Nest brand.
Dropcam has become known for creating WiFi surveillance cameras, and released a Pro version of their camera last year for $199. Dropcam also provides a service to allow users to see what their camera is seeing via the web or a mobile app. We don’t know just yet how the cameras will be incorporated into Nest, but it will surely be interesting!
Come comment on this article: Nest to acquire Dropcam for $555 million
Nest really is completely into this whole "home automation" thing, isn't it? The guys who put out the first smart thermostat and smoke detector have just entered into an agreement to buy Dropcam for $555 million monies. Oh, and in case you've forgotten, Google owns Nest. So, technically, Google is buying Dropcam. That's pretty sweet.
According to Nest's post on the acquisition, they'll begin working together to "reinvent product that will help shape the future of the conscious home and bring our shared vision to more and more people around the world," which sounds pretty exciting.
Whoa – Nest, And By Association Google, Is Acquiring Dropcam was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
And just like that, Google’s recently acquired Nest is now announcing that they’ve agreed to buy Dropcam for a whopping $555 million. The news comes after rumors of the acquisition a short time ago, bringing yet another hardware company into Google’s ever growing family. How long before we see Dropcams on the Play Store? We imagine it wont be long. You can find Nest’s full press release via the link below. You can learn more about Dropcam and the products they offer here .
[Nest]
The long rumored more powerful version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 has yet to show its true face at the party, at least for markets other than the South Korean home base of the phones manufacturer. The Samsung Galaxy F as we’ve come to know it, has been talked about as the possible device coming from Samsung that would have the specs and features that loyal Sammy fans had been hoping for from this year’s flagship from the beginning. Although the Galaxy S5 is no phone to scoff at by any means, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I wanted it to have some higher specs, and there are probably a good number of people that would agree. That isn’t to say that the current flagship S device is in bad shape. On the contrary it’s actually quite good, which is what both our reviewers found after having spent some time with it.
Back to the Galaxy F though. The more “premium” and high performance Galaxy S device has been known by a few different monikers, most recently it seems to have settled in as the Galaxy F. Until recently, we hadn’t really seen much of anything that showed off the design to give us a good idea of what the Galaxy F would look like, further more making it obvious that it was even real in the first place, that seems to potentially have changed with the leak from a few days ago, and again with this recent leak from evleaks just today. Pictured above is what he is calling the Galaxy F, with emphasis that it is also not the Samsung Galaxy S5 LTE-A that will be coming to the South Korean market soon.
There’s also a mention of the color which appears to be named “Glowing Gold”, that suggest it’s a different hue than the other Gold we have seen from the Galaxy S5 devices. As always we could be looking too much into it, but the date on the screen within this image leak points to September 12th, so perhaps we could be looking at a date for launch? IFA 14 is scheduled to happen in Berlin, Germany on September 5th through the 10th, which could be when we get a first look at the Galaxy F although that hasn’t been confirmed and we’re merely speculating on that. What do you think? Is this the Galxay F? If so what are your thoughts on the color?
The post Samsung’s Galaxy F Gets Leaked Again In Image Render Sporting A “Glowing Gold” Trim appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.
It seems that just about everyone has an answer to Google’s wildly popular streaming HDMI dongle. Yes, the Chromecast enjoyed its time in the limelight all by its lonesome but not soon after its release we saw other competition come to market. That isn’t a bad thing either, as competition forces the companies who are peddling their wares to update, innovate and otherwise improve their product in any way they can in an attempt to draw in more consumers over competitors. The latest addition to the streaming party looks to be this streaming stick from Mozilla that runs the Firefox OS, and we’d gather that it works in much the same way that the Chromecast does. It certainly has a similar design, albeit a couple of minor differences, nonetheless lets check out what sets it apart.
The device seems to have been leaked a few weeks prior to when it was supposed to be getting an official debut according to the source, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone since anything of this nature tends to make its way to the web and into the public eye before it’s supposed to. So what’s Mozilla’s streaming stick all about? Basically and in short, it’s a streaming stick that aims to offer a similar if not almost identical experience to Chromecast but running the Firefox OS instead. The rumor is that it will also be able to run some Chromecast applications, although at this time it isn’t known which ones those will be. We’d imagine they’re bigger, more well known apps though, and in the hands on video below from GIGAOM it appears that YouTube may be one of those.
There are truth be told many unknown variables in this equation, like price, and availability just to name off a couple big ones, and when we say availability we don’t just mean when, we also mean where. For all we know the Firefox streaming stick(as I’m calling it)could only see a lunch in a few markets, and it’s always possible that it could be limited to U.S. only in the end(at least in the beginning)like the Chromecast was. It’s also not known at this point who will produce the hardware for Mozilla, but it likely won’t be themselves as they aren’t a hardware company. When and if we eventually see this device, it’s said that it will have streaming capabilities from within the Firefox browser much like you can do with Chrome and the Chromecast dongle, which most of you probably already suspected. Whatever this device may cost, it’ll have to offer up a decent amount of functionality at a competitive enough price to beat out the likes of the Chromecast and the Roku 3500R streaming stick, both of which are doing fairly well and offer up some great features.
Click here to view the embedded video.
The post Mozilla Streaming Stick That Runs Firefox OS Gets Leaked, Aims To Compete With Chromecast appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.
Yo took the industry by surprise with one of the simplest apps to appear in the Google Play Store. In essence, it’s nothing but a tool to send a message to your contacts, with a colorful and simple-to-use interface that will confuse no one. You can’t send any message, either… just “Yo”.
It somehow got a million dollars in funding and is constantly growing. As with any popular app, it is bound to get hackers’ attention, and that it did. Some amazing things can be accomplished from the comfort of a dorm room, Yo’s hack being the latest one.
Three Georgia Tech students have managed to tap into Yo’s systems and are able to take some crazy actions. For such a simple and single-purposed app, these hackers accomplished quite a bit. The hacker has contacted Tech Crunch with some revealing, and worrisome, information.
“We can get any Yo user’s phone number (I actually texted the founder, and he called me back). We can spoof Yos from any users, and we can spam any user with as many Yos as we want. We could also send any Yo user a push notification with any text we want (though we decided not to do that).” -Hacker
Some proof of hacks has shown up across the web; a Vine video and an Instagram post being the most popular.
Or Arbel, Yo’s founder, has gone on the record about this, simply saying the app has “security issues”. The company seems to be taking the matter rather seriously, as they should. The problem was said to be fixed very soon, so chances are you won’t be seeing these issues anymore. At least not for a while, that is.
Let’s hope this doesn’t happen again. Such an innocent and simple app can turn into a mess very soon.
Welcome to the Android Police Podcast Live for Thursday, June 20th! We'll be starting soon - if you don't see a YouTube player, we haven't begun.
Welcome to the home of the Android Police Podcast's live broadcast. We're live every Thursday (unless otherwise noted on the official calendar below) at 5PM PST (8PM EST) - or perhaps a few minutes after that - every week. This post will be stickied on the Android Police homepage whenever we're broadcasting, so if you see it, we're either live right now, or about to be!
The Android Police Podcast LIVE (6/20/14) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
