Get a Samsung Gear Fit for just $100

Update: Amazon has increased the Gear Fit to $143.94, but Best Buy is still $99.99.

The first round of Android Wear powered smartwatches are shipping to customers as we speak, making this a great time to find deals on competing technology. It just so happens that you can grab a Samsung Gear Fit for about half price right now from vendors like Amazon and Best Buy.

If you’ve been on the fence about snapping up a Gear Fit, the $99.99 price tag is a great opportunity to grab one without breaking the bank.

The Samsung Tizen powered smartwatch is designed with fitness in mind. The unit skips the larger screen and other features like a camera and microphone that are found on some of Samsung’s larger Gear and Gear 2 smartwatches. Pairing with tools on a connected Samsung smartphone, you can keep tabs on your step count, heart rate and more.

We are unsure if the price drop is temporary, or if this is the new going price for the Gear Fit. Interestingly enough, if the price drop is purely to compete with the new Android Wear powered watches, Samsung finds itself its own competitor. Samsung all but surprised us by launching the Samsung Gear Live at Google I/O in June. The Gear Live and the LG G Watch both are set to arrive with consumers starting July 7th, that’s tomorrow, with the round faced Motorola Moto 360 set for later this year.

Be sure to check out our Gear Fit coverage and hands on reviews for more details. If the Gear Fit is for you, run on over to Amazon or Best Buy to snag yours at this great price.

What’s it going to be guys, is the Samsung Gear Fit worth $100?

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Android Headliner: Android L and Material Design are Google’s Best Mobile Efforts Yet

While Google isn’t the be all and end all of Android, it’s pretty obvious that Google’s interests are the driving force behind Android. The search giant may have bought their way into the mobile market with the purchase of Android years ago, and while things started off slowly, Google is now one of the biggest names in mobile with Android being the world’s most used mobile platform. With version after version of Android, Google improved their platform and now, Android is a well-established platform, so where do you go from here?

Last week’s Google I/O was easily one of the more eventful events we’ve seen in a long time and the announcement of Android L and Material Design marked the next era for Android and Google’s mobile agenda. To answer the above question, Google is to focus on what makes Android great and what needs work. Since Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, we’ve been using a fairly digital and almost cold interface that tech lovers everywhere really like, but it wasn’t always the most inviting look. This is to change, completely, with Android L and what is obviously Matias Duarte’s baby; Material Design.

Color has been absent from Android for a long time now and the warm, inviting demo that was vibrant and alive with movement looked completely different from KitKat and below. The interface looked alive and it was simple, far more intuitive than Holo is. Those of us that get giddy at the sight of new typography and drop shadows can appreciate L for the impressive feat it is, but otherwise this new approach of Google’s will be great for, well, everyone.

This universal appeal is what makes Material Design perhaps the best thing Google ever did when it comes to mobile. The average user doesn’t particularly care about why Holo was apparently better than Samsung’s TouchWiz or HTC’s Sense, instead what they often saw on Nexus devices was a stark and barren build of software that was uninspiring. I’m a Nexus user and I really like the look of KitKat and simple software in general, but then I know what I’m doing and I’m happy to spend the time playing around with something. Meanwhile, my father and my girlfriend frankly don’t care. They want color and easy, straightforward and obvious interfaces. That’s what Matias and his team have tried to bring to Material Design.

With this approach, more and more users will be able to take advantage of somewhat advanced features and just generally enjoy their devices more. What this means for the slew of skins from Sony, LG, Samsung, HTC and others is unclear, but Google have presented an excellent new approach to interface design with L and the need to cover it up and change it isn’t as necessary – if it ever was – as it used to be.

Moreover, Android L holds big changes for developers as well, whom arguably make mobile platforms like Android viable to use everyday. On stage during the Android TV demo, it was noted that the same APK file for a game could be used on Android TV and Android Tablets. That’s the promise we’ve been hearing about since Ice Cream Sandwich, but it’s only now coming true. Not only that, but we’ve seen that Material Design will help developers easily create excellently designed apps with nowhere near as much effort required in previous versions of Android.

Android L – whatever it end up being named after – will no doubt give Apple and Microsoft a lot to worry about when it hits this Fall, bringing watches, TVs, tablets and phones together at long last. While also offering an excellent new look and feel that will appeal to everyone, something that Apple’s iOS 7 didn’t quite do.

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Epic App Battles: Pocket V.S. Flipboard

Everyone has a favorite reader app. Rather, a favorite app that they use to read their news and the latest in whatever their interests are. There are plenty of different apps to get this job done, and arguably many, many popular ones. Today though we’re focusing on two of the most popular apps to organize and aggregate your news feeds, social topics, interests and more, in the latest Epic App Battle of Pocket V.S. Flipboard. If you have used either one, then you know the kind of great content that both apps bring to the table.

Pocket

Pocket is one of those apps that is honestly just too good to pass up. If you hate missed opportunities, and by that I mean missing the chance to read up on something or watch a video that you found just because you didn’t have enough time, then you absolutely need Pocket. Formerly known as “Read It Later”, Pocket has been around for quite a while and is hands down one of the best ways to save content that you find around the web that you want to check out later. Pocket prides itself not on being an app to aggregate your news from your favorite feeds, but by storing and organizing your content from those feeds in a clean and intuitive(also user friendly)UI for access to the content at a time when you can get to it. I can’t tell you how many times I personally missed out on reading or viewing something because I forgot to save a bookmark, forgot the webpage address, etc. Pocket makes it easy to simply share the content you want that you find on the web with the app interface, and it’s accessible from your Pocket account on any of your devices and their own webpage as long as your logged in with the same account. You can save virtually anything you want for later, like web links, news articles, blog posts, videos, recipes etc., and you’re not limited to just saving content from the web, you can share content from other apps with Pocket too. Another great feature is that it works offline. Once you share something with Pocket, the content is available with or without a web connection. It’s automatically dumped into the Pocket app interface for easy viewing so you can get to the content any time and anywhere. You can also easily filter and organize your content further with Pocket by adding tags or by favoriting content that you’ve already viewed to make it easier to find later on. Best of all Pocket is completely free, although they do offer a premium version for a one time in app purchase.

Flipboard

Flipboard is definitely one of the better news reader apps, and has been around long enough to gain a good following, unlike Pocket, Flipboard actually aggregates the news from your favorite topics, sites, and blogs right within the app and feeds it to you in a big and easy to view interface, almost like a magazine. Instead of flipping pages from left to right or right to left though, you swipe up and down on your screen to view the next or previous page like you would a calendar. You can select to “follow” content from specific websites that you already enjoy reading, or you can simply select topical categories that Flipboard has laid out and Flipboard will insert news and articles from various places based on the criteria of the stuff that you’re interested in. Although saving content is possible within Flipboard, it isn’t as easy and convenient as it is with Pocket. However, Flipboard does have one very intriguing feature that Pocket does not, and that’s the possibility to not only aggregate your favorite news articles and online magazines, but you can also connect up to 12 social networks to your Flipboard account, so that posts and such from those feeds also get imported in for your viewing pleasure, which is quite honestly pretty cool if you like to read everything you care about in one place. Flipboard is also free, and has no premium version of the app which means what you see is what you get. Interestingly enough, if you like the way that Flipboard gathers news and information but are still pressed for time to read and view the content that you love and if you prefer the UI of Pocket more, you can save your Flipboard content to Pocket for access later on.

So, there we have it. Two popular news related applications for viewing content and reading, seeing, and watching anything you love from blogs to cat videos, which application suits you best for getting access to content you absolutely don’t want to miss? Who should be crowned champion of these two content reader apps?

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Android Game Of The Week: Indy 500 Arcade Racing

HyperDevbox has a love for arcade style games and it really shows with their latest title. Normally you’d expect something like Exzeus 2 or any one of the many tactical RPG style games they’ve launched to be the next game they release, but this time they have taken their game developing expertise to a whole new plain and launched an officially licensed racing game based off of Indy car racing. Indy 500 Arcade Racing is a great title to check out for anyone that is looking to get their hands the classic feel of arcade style racing on their mobile. This is quite a bit different than your games like Need For Speed Most Wanted or Real Racing. The graphics are not as flashy but the fun is all there, and really brings back memories of awesome racing titles on the original Playstation.

INDY 500 Arcade Racing features the official INDY 500 race track and a total of 33 awesome open-wheel INDY cars for you to choose from. Although this is supposed to have an arcade type feel to it, the 3D graphics are still very detailed and has everything you could expect possible from an INDY race from car crashes to pit stops. You’ll put it all on the line and race against 32 other INDY race cars, which can be enjoyed in the single player arcade mode or in the multiplayer challenge mode where you go head to head against other local rivals over a Bluetooth connection with up to 3 players.

You can tune up your car and unlock new car texture packs through leveling up as you play. You can save and replay up to 32 different races so you can go back and watch them later if you wish. As always with HyperDevbox games, there’s an awesome soundtrack adding another layer of depth to the game. There’s full Google Play Games support with achievements(37 in all)and leaderboards. One of the best features is that HyperDevbox has included 3 different control types, so you can play the game the way you see fit. INDY 500 Arcade Racing supports the gyro controls, an onscreen virtual D-Pad or you can connect up a gamepad to play like the familiar old days. For those of you on Kit Kat based devices running ART, unfortunately the game doesn’t support it just yet. If you wish to kick back and have a little arcade racing fun, INDY 500 Arcade Racing will only set you back $1.99 if you pick it up during the special launch sale, afterwards it’ll cost $2.99.

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Never forget your Android phone with Wear Aware for Android Wear

As shipments for the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live start to arrive this weak, new smartwatch owners are going to be chomping at the bit to get the most out of Android Wear. We’re going to add Wear Aware to our upcoming list of must have applications for your wrist.

Wear Aware acts as a smartphone leash, notifying you whenever your phone gets out of range and loses Bluetooth connectivity. When this occurs, your wrist will immediately begin vibrating, buzzing, and the display on your smartwatch will turn bright red letting you know that you forgot your precious phone. This is the very first release of the app, so expect bugs and there’s also bound to be room for improvement.

It’s worth mentioning that this functionality isn’t meant to replace Google’s Android Device Manager for finding lost phones. If you’re in the habit of walking away from your phone or leaving your phone behind as you go about your day, this app is for you.

Wear Aware – Phone Lost (Playboard) | Wear Aware – Phone Lost (Play Store)

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Top Android Homescreen July 6th Edition: Ormint

We’ere back with another awesome homescreen for your Android phone, so if you’re like me and you have a need to customize your device with some awesome style and a touch of originality, this weeks pick should suit your tastes. As always the homescreen we pick comes from a talented individual who has their work posted up at mycolorscreen. Ormint is the top homescreen this week and reminds us just a little bit of the fresh and clean look of Linux Mint builds for your computer, although that is probably not where this inspiration for the design came from. In any case, Ormint is a fantastic design and it deserves a little praise.

Ormint was created by an individual that goes by the name of 21MaRcO12, and we have actually featured at least one of their works before in an earlier post about the top homescreens of the month/week. For those of you that use Themer as your home launcher of choice, Ormint has been set up as a Themer theme just for you so installation couldn’t get any easier. For everyone else that wants to get this look but doesn’t paticularly care for Themer, or just prefers another home launcher more, the creator has the files available to download so you can set everything up yourself, using Zooper to do so. Just for clarification, all the file downloads are Zooper widget files which is why Zooper was mentioned. You’ll most likely need Zooper Pro to do this, so be prepared to drop a couple bucks on that to get this look if you don’t already have it. If you like the style of Ormint and want to set it up, all you have to do is head to the source link for the homescreen below, and make sure to “zoom” the image, as well as hit the love button after logging into mycolorscreen and then comment in the thread with your email so 21MaRcO12 can send you the required files.

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Nexus 4 Owners Get Their Chance At The Android L Preview Thanks To Successful Port

While the Android L Preview has thus far been limited to use on the Nexus 5 and the 2013 version of the Nexus 7 tablet, that limit has now been breached as some crafty individuals have gotten the preview of Android L to work successfully on the previous Nexus phone, the Nexus 4. If you own a Nexus 4 still and have been eager to try out the Android L Preview for yourself, now is your chance and there is even a handy little video that they uploaded to show just how everything works on the Nexus 4 so you can see that it’s in good working condition. Just like with the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 devices, it’s important to remember that this is a “preview” version of the software build so there are going to be some bugs, that is the point. If you notice anything that doesn’t work quite right don’t be surprised.

You may be in no rush load on Android L especially if you’d rather wait for an official launch of the update, and that’s completely OK as you’ll get your chance later in the year when it releases. Yes, the Nexus 4 will reportedly be on the list of supported devices, however when it comes to Nexus phones that is as far back as it goes, which also shouldn’t be a surprise since the Galaxy Nexus didn’t get Kit Kat officially either.

If you want you chance at the preview and don’t particularly care to wait for these kinds of things and are OK with the bugs that will undoubtedly show up as a result of loading on this software, than you can find all the instructions you need at the XDA link for the original thread below. We did post the video for you below so you can watch that as well which we absolutely recommended if you’re moving forward with this. As always with anything of this nature, make sure to do a nice little backup of anything you want saved just in case, and it would be a great idea to make sure you have a backup of the system image should something go wrong.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Huawei Utilizes WeChat App to Promote Their New Phone

The WeChat app has about 400 million monthly users, most of whom live in China. While the app is primarily used for texting and voice messages, users can also share pictures, play games and even hail taxis. Last month, online retailer JD.com, teamed up with Huawei for a promotion to win the new Honor 6 smartphone, utilizing the WeChat app to guess the retail price and available date of the phone. Last week JD said that over 550,000 customers either pre-ordered the Honor 6 or participated in the contest.

Tencent, the internet giant that developed the WeChat app, announced in March a deal to buy a 15% stake in JD.com, marking the first time the new JD-WeChat store has teamed up with a handset maker. The virtual store run by JD was integrated into WeChat in late May. Huawei had previously teamed mainly with telecom carriers to promote their phones and is now looking to broaden its customer base by dipping into the massive pool that makes up WeChat. This shift in marketing tactics likely comes from Huawei trying to gain market share after coming in sixth place with an 8% slice of the pie behind not only Samsung and Apple but also Chinese rivals such as Lenovo, Xiaomi and Yulong.

With more and more people gravitating towards chat apps and other forms of social media, retailers and manufacturers alike are looking to merge business practices to reach as wide an audience as possible, and wouldn’t the lure of nearly a half-billion users logging onto an app with the potential to see your product for sale be an enticing proposition? Also, companies usually spend tons of money promoting their products via commercials or print ads while a virtual store that relies on word of mouth and repostings by millions of users can be seen as a much cheaper alternative. Saving money on advertising could mean savings passed along to the customers. The virtual store has been running ads for the Honor 6 which features a 5 inch screen, a 13 megapixel camera and a mobile processor made in-house by Huawei. The phone went on sale last week in China for 1,999 yuan (about $322).

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Google Now Adds An 'Occasionally' Reminder Option, For When It's Only Kinda Important

There are some things that you don't need to do every day, yet are still important enough to warrant a reminder. You know, like vacuuming, or checking your stock portfolio, or reminding yourself to tweet about how incredibly important it is to bring Firefly back to television. Google's got your back: at some point they added an "occasionally" option to Google Now's built-in reminders, triggered when you tell Now to "remind me" to do something.

Google Now Adds An 'Occasionally' Reminder Option, For When It's Only Kinda Important was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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ODIN Android-Powered Portable Micro Projector Reaches Its $250,000 Kickstarter Goal

If you can put Android into a watch, or a car, or a stove, you can cram it in just about anywhere. And given that last option, placing it into a micro or "pico" projector seems like a pretty good idea. ODIN is a Kickstarter project aiming to do just that, expanding an already flexible gadget by throwing in a little extra electronics and Android for media-focused apps. The Kickstarter campaign passed its $250,000 goal this weekend, and it's got a day and a half left to go.

ODIN Android-Powered Portable Micro Projector Reaches Its $250,000 Kickstarter Goal was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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[New App] Commander Expands Google Now's Voice Control To Hardware Functions With A 'Note To Self' Work-Around

You probably know that you can use the "OK Google" command in Google Now (and just recently, anywhere else in Android) to do some cool things like set an alarm or check a flight number. But up to now, it hasn't been able to do much with the actual hardware on your phone. There's no easy way to expand Google Now functionality with third-party apps, but at least one developer found a work-around: meet Commandr, the new in-between service for flipping hardware switches in Google Now.

[New App] Commander Expands Google Now's Voice Control To Hardware Functions With A 'Note To Self' Work-Around was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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