TalkAndroid Daily Dose for November 5, 2014

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!! Accessories

Gear Circle is Samsung’s new way for instant hands free communication

Android TV

Nexus Player factory image and binaries now available

NBA Game Time and MLB.TV launch Android TV apps

Apps

Material Design rolling out to Google Maps in coming days

Pushbullet update allows you to send texts from your computer

Carriers

Verizon will play the price-cutting wars conservatively

Chrome

Google Drive can launch desktop programs from Chrome

Chromeboxes

Dell selling Chromebox bundled with keyboard and mouse for only $199

Gaming

NVIDIA Shield Portable update brings latest Hub App, battery improvements and more!

Google

Android Lollipop delayed until November 12 for most Nexus devices

Google and LG enter long-term patent cross-licensing agreement

Google bringing SD card support back to Android in 5.0 Lollipop

Google Fit

RunKeeper gets Google Fit compatibility with latest update

Google Glass

Google Glass being used in hospitals to treat stroke victims

Google Wallet

Google Wallet usage doubles on heels of Apple Pay arrival

Phones

Amazon commits to Fire Phone after acknowledging failure

Motorola announces the Moto Maxx (aka DROID Turbo) for Brazil, Mexico, and other Latin American countries

Android 5.0 Lollipop shows up on a Moto X 2014

Samsung kicks off its Galaxy Gifts package for the Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge

Smartwatches

Sharp shows off extremely battery-friendly smartwatch

Tablets

HTC is planning their own line of premium tablets to launch in 2015

Legendary developer Chainfire roots Nexus 9 mere hours after the source code is made public

Samsung to launch a 13-inch tablet by year’s end

Updates

Android Lollipop delayed until November 12 for most Nexus devices

Google bringing SD card support back to Android in 5.0 Lollipop

Binaries for the Nexus 9 are being included in factory image build

Nexus Player factory image and binaries now available

NVIDIA Shield Portable update brings latest Hub App, battery improvements and more!

Miscellenous

HTC issues apology for Hot Deal snags

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HTC issues apology for Hot Deal snags

Yesterday HTC launched a new program to give people a good reason to visit their web site – nine weeks of hot deals. The first one was a doozy as HTC offered the new Nexus 9 tablet for only $199 for a 16GB model. No doubt this caused a virtual feeding frenzy on the HTC site once the sale opened up. Even with all the extra stress and frustration that goes with events like this, HTC apparently felt some of the problems people experienced went above and beyond what could be reasonably expected for a flash sale. For that, the company has issued an apology.

Through a pop up that appears if you visit the HTC Hot Deal page, HTC America President Jason Mackenzie has posted a message promising to do better in the coming weeks. According to Mackenzie, the “site did not function properly” and failed to meet the company’s goal of offering a “seamless” experience. He goes on to indicate the HTC team is working to correct the system issues so the company can continue to offer an “exciting cadence of offers” during the holiday season.

Anyone out there manage to get in on the deal? Did anyone try and experience problems with the HTC site?

source: HTC

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MONZO From Madfinger Lets You Assemble Fake Revell Model Kits For Real Money (Lots Of Money)

The idea behind MONZO, a sort of simulator for Revell-branded plastic model kits, is actually pretty cool. You "open" a kit, read through a paginated, simplified version of the instructions, then "assemble" digital analogs of the real pieces from the kit. The 3D model of the, uh, model is extremely detailed, and the pan and zoom tools let you examine it minutely. If your phone or tablet has decent 3D capabilities, it's a surprisingly soothing experience.

MONZO From Madfinger Lets You Assemble Fake Revell Model Kits For Real Money (Lots Of Money) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Google Hangouts Gets Ranked Against Other Messaging Apps For Security By EFF

When we think about messaging these days likely a couple things come to mind in terms of what we’re looking for. One being whether or not the app will be easily integratable with other apps we already use. The other probably being security. Security is a big thing these days and if any time was a good time to be looking at a secure solution for messaging it would be now. While many of today’s top messaging apps have some sort of security features set in place, it can be good to have an idea on which ones exactly are the most secure. Where does your messaging app rank against others? EFF wanted to find out so they set up to rank popular messaging apps like Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger among others.

In the EFF’s(Electronic Frontier Foundation)Secure Messaging Scorecard, they set out to find which messaging apps and tools give you true safe and secure messages which is important in the light of growing internet surveillance. Hangouts actually ranked quite low having lacked end to end encryption, but it certainly wasn’t the worst messaging app on the scorecard. That title belongs to either Blackberry messenger, AIM, or a number of other messaging apps listed, having only met one criteria for a truly secure messaging app out of a total of seven.

The scorecard includes plenty of other communication apps and services, like Secret, iMessage, Facetime, Viber and many others. Apps like CrytoCat and ChatSecure score greenlit across the board having met all seven criteria including in transit encryption, encryption that blocks the provider’s ability to read the messages,(basically the end to end encryption) open, independent code that can be reviewed, and code auditing. Snapchat scored fairly poor as well, but as we stated they aren’t alone with several of the apps only meeting in transit encryption but nothing else. If anything the scorecard serves as an eye opener to just how secure the apps we use to message really are. EFF puts many popular apps on the spot as they mention that more than a few lack end to end encryption. To many of us this may not actually matter, but perhaps it should, and for those that are actually concerned with this sort of information, it might be a good idea to consider something a little more secure if you’re looking for that type of thing. What do you think of the scorecard report? Are you surprised at all by any of the stats?

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Google’s Nexus 9 And Nexus Player Kernel Source Code Released By Google

The beauty of android is its open source nature. Not only do android users get a great operating system and great android devices, but on top of this, as part of the open source alliance we get every line of code and every letter of code within those lines. Now for most end-users that won’t be of much interest as it is just gibberish. But that said, to the legions of android developers this is the magic. This is actual android and the building blocks needed for those same developers to come up with the numerous apps, ROMs and features we end-users are lucky enough to come in contact with.

Back on Monday we saw the release of Lollipop and this came in the form of the Android 5.0’s source code being uploaded to the Android Open Source Project aka AOSP. Once here, the world of developers can get the code, use it or adjust as this wish and get cracking on everything we will know Lollipop to be in the future. It now seems Google are getting busy uploaded the kernels to AOSP for developer consumption. For those out there new to this world, then kernels are an integral part of ROM development. In fact, kernels are just as important in an operating system as the software and hardware. This is largely because kernels (in the most basic sense) are the go-between software and hardware. When software wants the hardware to do something it sends a request to the kernel. From this request, the kernel interprets the action and hey presto your hardware responds. This pretty much occurs for anything and everything a device does. You click a button and it is the kernel that translates your click. As such the kernels are maybe more important than the hardware and software as without a kernel the hardware simply remains the hardware and the software simply remain the software.

Part of the open source nature means all device software tends to come with its relative compatible kernels. As mentioned, today Google has begun uploaded the kernel source codes for the Nexus 9 (flounder) and the News Player (fugu). If you are a developer then you will probably already know the kernel code is available via AOSP. For those who want to see what a kernel and its code looks like then you too can download it from here.

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T-Mobile On Track To Match Sprint In Subscriber Numbers By Next Quarter

T-Mobile has been on a binge with adding new subscribers pretty much for the past year. They have steadily been adding more and more subscribers as we’ve come to learn from their revealed subscriber numbers every single quarter. At the end of the third quarter for 2014, T-Mobile has revealed that they added an additional 2.3 million new subscribers now bringing them to a total number of about 53 million customers. That’s nearly 20 million new subscribers since their third quarter subscriber results in 2012 which were set at just over 33 million total subs. 20 million subscribers in two years. Think about that. If T-Mobile continues this trend of adding large numbers of subs consecutively they should have no trouble at all surpassing Sprint by the end of this year or by the end of the first quarter of 2015.

Sprint is currently sitting at about 55 million subscribers total, so all T-mobile has to do is end the fourth quarter with the same amount of subscribers to catch up to Sprint. If they can surpass their own third quarter numbers, then they may even be able to bump Sprint from the spot of the nation’s third largest wireless carrier by the time we enter into the first quarter of next year. It’s a large undertaking to be sure, but at the rate things have been going for T-Mobile it isn’t a goal that is completely out of reach.

Both carriers are offering some really good deals on plans and phones right now, but when it comes to compelling devices T-Mobile probably takes the cake. Both Sprint and T-Mobile also have a grouping of competitively prices rate plans, offering customers enticing data packages too. What will be interesting, even if T-Mobile does take over the number three spot of the four major U.S. carriers, is what will happen if Sprint actually decides to deploy their plan to do away with contracts and subsidy pricing on phones next year. That model for device pricing and plans has proven to be a winner for T-Mobile, and if Sprint does something similar it could greatly boost their customer subs. Time will tell of course, and perhaps the add numbers for Q1 of 2015 will end up in Sprint’s favor.

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Inbox By Gmail ‘Happy Hour’ With Guaranteed Invites For All That Apply

2014 has brought with it many interesting things in the tech world. We now have Lollipop (kinda) and we have a wealth of new flagship devices not forgetting also a variety of smartwatch and other wearables. However one of the most memorable aspects of 2014 (at least for me) is the notion of ‘invites’. Last year, invites were not really a big deal but that all changed when OnePlus came along and annoyed literally the entire planet with their One Plus One invite system. In short if you wanted to buy a flagship device at half the cost of the competitors you had to be invited. How to get an invite, win one or from someone who has the device.

Just when its seemed invites were finally coming to a close and OnePlus were starting to roll-out somewhat of a normal device release along came Google and brought them back. Thanks Google. This time, the invites were for their new and mysterious email client dubbed Inbox by Gmail. Like the One Plus One those who wanted an invite had to either be directly invited by Google or by someone who was already using Inbox. This again opened the floodgates on social media sites with an almost continuous influx of users asking and begging for invites.

Well, listen up and listen good. Today is the day. it finally seems Google is ready to open Inbox to the masses and in doing so will begin the major roll out with a Happy Hour. A tweet sent out a short while ago from Inbox by Gmail’s official twitter account is advising that today for one hour anyone who requests an invite will get one. No more games, no more waiting. If you email inbox@google.com between 3pm and 4pm (PT) then by 5 pm (PT) you will have an invite to use Inbox. Just to make sure it is clear that’s 3-4pm PT which is 6-7pm ET and 11pm-12am GMT. So if you have been waiting for an invite then get ready. Who will be requesting one? Who is already using Inbox? What’s better, Inbox or Gmail? Let us know.

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RunKeeper Updates Their Android App For Google Fit Integration

For those interested in keeping up with their healthy activities, more specifically those who also own and use an Android Wear smartwatch or are considering buying one, Google Fit is probably something you might want to pay a little attention to. That is, if you’re not already doing so. With Google Fit’s recent launch this Fall it brings a comprehensive open platform for developers and manufacturer alike to focus on creating amazing apps and devices that can interface with our daily fitness goals and routines. Google Fit will also be a platform that can compile data from all of the fitness apps and devices people are currently using so it can be fed to them in one easy to access place. The Google Fit app for Android devices just recently launched onto the Play Store last week, and with that RunKeeper has updated their app to be integrated with the Google Fit app and data.

RunKeeper is a popular fitness oriented app for Android devices that lets users keep track of their fitness goals, track their pace during a run or jog, users can even track their workouts, bike rides and walks. Today RunKeeper has announced that they have updated their app to be compatible with Android Wear and the newly released Google Fit application. This of course will now allow users of RunKeeper to see stats like steps taken and pace calculated on the display of their Android Wear device.

RunKeeper now also having Google Fit support means that you’ll be able to take your fitness data from the app, and merge it together with the data collected from other apps and services. It should definitely be an interesting thing to see how well the RunKeeper app and Google Fit platform work together. RunKeeper joins a growing list of fitness applications for Android that are already compatible with Android Wear devices, and it’s likely we’ll continue to see many more update their own apps to provide similar experiences as we get closer and closer to a Google Fit launch. Do you use RunKeeper or do you prefer another type of fitness app to collect and feed your health data?

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Verizon Won’t Be Baited Into Aggressive Price Wars

T-Mobile USA and Sprint have between them started a price war amongst the US carriers and this is good news for the customer, at least in the short term. The carriers are keen to keep customers paying at least what they’re currently paying and so have been offering better deals, typically more data. The bigger carriers of AT&T and Verizon have not offered such great deals; instead, their movement has been more limited. We are seeing movement though, but AT&T and Verizon have less need to entice customers to their networks. Despite their higher prices, both carriers have been adding customers and at a considerably higher margin than the smaller carriers: Verizon’s current profit margin is over 40% compared with under 10% for T-Mobile USA!

Although T-Mobile claim that this high profit margin is a sign that Verizon’s prices are too high, and many customers might agree, many are content with Verizon. The business is confident that the current wireless strategy will continue to work for the business. One of the key messages from Verizon is that they will not overreact to aggressive price cuts from rival carriers. These are brave words: T-Mobile USA is showing strong subscriber growth and aggressive un-carrier marketing and Sprint are on something of a charm offensive with high value shared data plans and individual unlimited data plans. Arguably, Verizon has more to lose than the competition. Verizon’s plan is to offer discounts to what it rather quaintly calls, “at risk customers,” and take “surgical plan changes.” In Verizon’s management-speak, they believe that they are taking a disciplined approach; in other words, they’re not rushing into the market to offer the same discounts and deals as T-Mobile USA and Sprint. Where Verizon have offered deals, they’ve intelligently planned them. For example, new and existing customers who pick an $80 or higher More Everything shared data plan benefit from 10 GB of data (up from 6 GB), at $100 that’s 15 GB (up from 10 GB). Customers switching in for a new LTE smartphone with either a two year plan or Verizon Edge will receive a $150 port-in credit – all designed to arrive in front of the Black Monday traditional industry promotions.

Looking forwards, Verizon’s next project must surely be acquiring and deploying AWS-3 spectrum. The idea here is that Verizon are working hard to ensure their network performs well during peak times and management believe that network quality will be critical. This, then, is the justification for not being baited into aggressive price cuts. Verizon will charge more because their service is consistently better. And having considered it, it’s something that’s close to my heart: I don’t mind a slow network, I prefer a fast network but I’d rather my network be consistent. This is what I do with my smartphone but with my tablet I’m less concerned and so use a different provider, one where it’ll sometimes run quicker but sometimes drop signal altogether. But what do our readers think? Do you value speed, even if coverage is spotty, or will you put a premium on a more consistent service?

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Deal: Moto X Developer Edition for $269.99

While the Moto X may be a year old at this point. It’s still a great device. Especially for those that don’t want to pay $600+ for a new phone. Like the Nexus 6. Right now, eBay has a deal on the Moto X 2013 Developer Edition for just $269.99. Now this – obviously – doesn’t come with Moto Maker, but you can get it in black or white. You’ll want to pick this up before it’s gone. Grab it from the link below.

Moto X Developer Edition – $269.99

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Case of the Day: Ringke SLIM Nexus 6 Case

Today’s case of the day is for the phone that no one can seem to pre-order right now. And that’s the Nexus 6. It went up for sale again today but was sold out in a mere seconds. But there are still cases available for order. And today we’re looking at the Ringke Slim case for the Google Nexus 6. It includes 1 Free premium HD clear screen protector included – Compatible with Google Nexus 6. The top and bottom cover design for an all around protection. Super-slim design and perfect fit that adds minimal bulk to your phone. Perfect natural grip design by Rearth’s efficiency engineering. New Enhanced Dual Coating Technology for 2x Longer Lasting Durability.

Nexus 6 Case – Ringke SLIM Nexus 6 Case [Free HD Film/All Around Protection][SF BLACK] Premium Dual Coated Hard Case Cover for Google Motorola Nexus 6 – ECO Package

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Your Wireless Carrier May Be Tracking You With ‘Supercookies’

It looks like a couple of US carriers have been tracking a portion of their customers with something being dubbed “supercookies.” More specifically, Verizon and AT&T are tracking over 100 million customers with this new supercookie, a marker that allows the carriers to track customers’ in great detail. The supercookie allows the carriers to monitor which sites their customers visit and then keep track of their likes and dislikes.

Perhaps the worst part of this supercookie tracking method used by the carriers is the fact that there is no way for the customers being tracked by it to erase the cookies like they would be able to with regular browsing cookies. On top of that, there is no way to evade being tracked by them either, there is no setting anywhere on the customers device that would allow them to opt-out of being tracked and cataloged by these supercookies. How all of this unnecessary data is being stored or what kind of security it is being used to protect it is unknown, but it is something consumers should definitely be made aware of due to it being data essentially being kept about us without our saying.

Although, Verizon and AT&T have both said that they have taken steps to protect customer privacy, but at the same time they admit to the programs like this are being used for targeted ads. Customers internet browsing data being sold to advertisers for targeted ads is definitely not a new concept in the technology world, what we don’t like about this particular situation is that the user has no way to opt-out of being tracked. With almost all other programs like this the user has the option to opt-out of being tracked, granted, most of the time it’s difficult to opt-out, it can ultimately still be done. And what scares us the most about Verizon and AT&T creating a program like this is the same thing that is scaring a lot of privacy advocates, copycats will arise.

Before we end this article we wanted to end on something very important. Verizon did, technically, offer their customers a one-time opt-out option. The option appeared as a notification on their device, which Verizon has refused to discuss. The notification, we can almost guarantee, was very vague and didn’t make much sense to the regular customer, and even if they did choose to opt-out they were assigned a unique identifying code attached to all of their web traffic that was still tracked.

Verizon and AT&T need to stop doing this all together, but lets be honest, they won’t. So what they really need to do is be much more transparent about the whole program. Let users know why if they are being tracked and why, and above all, let give them the option to opt-out whenever they want.

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Google’s Nest Strikes A Deal With Irish Electric To Offer Free Smart Thermostats

Back in January, Google announced that it was buying smart thermostat manufacturer Nest for $3.2 billion. Since then, we’ve seen Nest run as an independent business, although the smart thermostat is available on the Google Play Store. Today, Google-owned Nest has announced a deal with Electric Ireland in a deal which will see Irish citizens given a free Nest smart thermostat by signing a two year deal with the electric company. This means that up to 1.6 million Irish households can now benefit from a free Nest. The news was announced by Nest Chief Executive, Tony Fadell, at the Web Summit tech conference. The deal could save customers up to $250, the retail price of the smart thermostat. We know that signing deals such as this is very much a part of Nest’s plan and we hope that this is the first of many deals.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Nest smart thermostat, the device consists of three main parts: there’s the pretty bit, the thermostat that you mount somewhere in the house. You also have the part that goes next to your boiler, which is how it controls the heat, and the third part is the mobile application. The Nest system communicates via WiFi and is simply designed to improve household heating and cooling efficiency. When it’s installed, the instructions encourage you to turn the device up when you’re in and down when you’re out, but it learns when people are about via a movement sensor that’s smart enough not to heat the house because your cat walks past it (my three will not be impressed!). It learns how quickly it takes for your home to warm up or cool down and so adapts to suit the particular conditions. You can control the heat from the app from anywhere you have an Internet connection, too. Over time, the unit figures our pretty quickly when you’re at home and when you’re not and uses this to reduce unnecessary heating (or cooling). It’s a simple but smart idea with massive potential – there’s a “Works With Nest” application development system that’s been designed to connect the Nest technology with other devices.

We’ve discussed why Google are keen to get in on the home automation scene at Android Headlines before but currently, Nest is run as an independent business to Google. For most homeowners, Nest is expected to pay for itself in around two to three years, so for those Irish Electric customers considering the smart thermostat, it’s an easier decision. For everybody else, let’s hope that our provider (or country) starts offering the deal!

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[Deal Alert] Unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (SM-N900A) On Sale For $369.99 Through eBay Daily Deals

It might not be the latest and greatest anymore, but the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is on sale today for the reasonable price of $369.99. That would be a good deal all by itself, but this is also an unlocked device.

This phone is model SM-N900A, which is the AT&T variant. That means it supports HSPA+ bands 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 and LTE bands 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, and 17.

[Deal Alert] Unlocked Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (SM-N900A) On Sale For $369.99 Through eBay Daily Deals was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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The Chromecast Will Be Available In Mexico Starting Tomorrow, November 6th For 699 Pesos

According to Android Police's traffic data, less than 1% of the people who visit our site do so from Mexico. But that 1% is having a really good day today: in addition to getting news of the Moto Maxx (a non-Verizon version of the high-powered DROID Turbo) coming to Mexico, you'll soon be able to buy a Chromecast south of the border. I don't know what took Google so long, but you should be able to find one in Best Buy, Liverpool, or Linio retailers starting tomorrow.

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