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Friday, February 6, 2015

Google is using Helpouts to help sell hardware on Google Play, could be coming to retail stores in the near future

Google Helpouts Live Support Hangouts


When Google formally announced Helpouts a little over a year ago — their 1-on-1 support platform via Hangouts — it was more aimed at connecting regular people with “experts” in a given field, selling their time while Google takes a cut. While Google Helpouts is still alive and well today, the internet search giant is now taking advantage of the platform to do what else, but help drive hardware sales on Google Play.


As discovered by the folks at TechCrunch , Google actually quietly rolled out this new service back in November of last year, which connects prospective buyers with one of their “Google Device Experts” in the Devices section of the Google Play Store. It really isn’t too far off from Amazon’s Mayday service in that you can quickly chat with a live human being, gaining a little extra info about a product before making a purchase.


According to those working on the project, Google has plans to eventually bring their Google Device Experts (via Helpouts) to retail locations, acting as sort of a virtual Genius Bar like those found in Apple brick and mortar stores. This means, in theory, customers could visit a location where Google products are sold and activate some sort of live chat with a Google Device Expert to learn more about a product, or even troubleshoot some issues. No need to train and place a physical human being in every location. It’s all done online through Google Hangouts.


Google Hangouts Helpouts Live Support


Anyone browsing the devices section in the Google Play Store can take advantage of this service right now and as always, is provided completely free of charge. Just navigate to the top right corner of the screen and click on the little question mark bubble, then “Live chat” if you’d like to ask more questions (excluding Nest products) or see a demo of some of these products. Live chatting with a Google Device Expert is only available between 6AM and 6PM Pacific time.


[Google Play Devices]






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Chrome OS devices for education and business can now be locked remotely if lost or stolen

Select Best Buy stores to offer Samsung Gear VR demos on February 8th

Older Devices Might Be Prone To Carrier Charges For Emojis Sent As MMS

Emojis AH


Messenger apps are big business now. As the internet has expanded and carriers, manufacturers and developers have realised people like to talk about anything, numerous messenger apps, services and features have come to the market. After all, why would Facebook pay upwards of $19 billion for WhatsApp unless it was good business? In fact, we only just last month heard a report from App Annie which clearly indicated the app markets to watch in 2015 will be the ‘share economy’ apps and Messenger apps. It seems, talking is good business.


The one thing all these apps have in common though is that they rely on data. Now, if the recent headlines of ‘unlimited data’ makes your blood boil due to the carriers reportedly charging for unlimited data that no one seems to get. Then spare a thought for those who are actually getting charged for using smiley faces and winks. Emojis are everywhere. Texts, emails, notifications, it seems you cannot get through the day anymore, without some form of written word coming attached with a small bouncing smile, frown or wink. While we all throw them onto the end of our messages without thinking, it seems some users on older devices, are reporting that they have started to be charged for the privilege. Now to be clear, these charges only seem to come into play on older devices (pre April 2014) and only when used in text messages. The problem seems to be, these older devices convert SMS (text) into MMS (pictures) when an emoji is included. What’s more, some carriers are trying to charge for those MMS messages. The most famous of these cases is happening right now in the UK with the UK carrier EE (source link below).


According to a spokesperson for EE and in respect of the current UK issue, the emphasis is on manufacturers and not carriers “In this case it was caused by the settings on her handset and so this is a manufacturer – rather than a network – issue”. As mentioned this seems to only be an issue affecting older devices, but it is still one you should be aware of. If you do have an older device, then you can ensure you do not fall into the same trap by heading into your settings and making sure your device is set to ‘UniCode’ under ‘Input Mode’. How upset would you be if you were suddenly charged for using a smiley face? Let us know.


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Corning Announces Project Phire Material With Scratch Resistance Close To Sapphire

AH Corning Logo-1


Corning is pretty well known throughout the tech industry, and even with consumers although many of them may know them better by the product they create, which is Gorilla Glass, a rather tough and fairly scratch resistant glass used on top of many of today’s smartphones and tablet displays as well as other electronics that have a screen. Corning has made a good number of improvements over each series that has surpassed the one before it, although their next iteration of glass just might take things to a whole new level in scratch resistance and toughness for mobile devices.


According to CNET, Corning’s next upcoming material which is referred to as “Gorilla Glass like” called Project Phire, will be up to par with sapphire glass when it comes to scratch resistance and also keeps the toughness of Gorilla Glass 4. Corning stated that it would be approaching the level of scratch resistance of sapphire glass, so sapphire may still hold the title for most scratch resistance, but Project Phire could end up being a better solution since it’ll be near just as resistant to scratches and scuffs but also tougher than sapphire when it comes to drops and damage.


Corning more or less seems to have fallen into the act of developing this super tough and super scratch resistant material for the successor to Gorilla Glass 4, as development began only after Apple(who is one of their biggest customers of supplied glass for use on the iPhone displays)was looking into switching to screens made from a synthetic sapphire due to it having the capability to resist scratches quite a bit better than Corning’s Gorilla Glass. However that plan ended up falling through when the supplier of the synthetic sapphire(GT Advanced Technologies)filed for bankruptcy and Apple was left without anything to show for its money dumped into development. This gave Corning the opportunity to develop the Project Phire material covertly, which led them to the surprise announcement this morning about the product. It will still be a while before we see Corning sell this material to manufacturers, so it’s very likely that we won’t see it actually on devices until the end of this year or early next year.


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Deal Alert: Grab an Anker 40W 5-Port USB Charger for only $38.99 (22% off)

Verizon Nexus 6 release date tipped in leaked screenshot, Sapphire Blue DROID Turbo too

Nexus_6_Back


It’s been 4 months since the Nexus 6 was announced, and despite Verizon Wireless initially being named as one of the big 4 carrier to sell the device in stores, they’ve been really quiet on providing us with an actual release date for the 6-inch behemoth. To be fair, they did throw up a tiny “coming soon banner” recently, but you had to actually search for it.


We’re sure that’s partly Verizon’s fault and the fact that Android 5.0 was such a buggy mess (causing the phone to remain in Verizon purgatory), but a new leak suggests we wont have to wait much longer before the phone is officially available to purchase on Big Red.


Nexus 6 Verizon release date leak


Obtained by the folks at Android Police , a leaked internal Verizon Wireless screenshot is showing a February 26th release date for the Nexus 6, nearly 3 weeks away. Also showing up on the list is an extremely low-end Samsung Galaxy Core Prime, and a new Sapphire Blue color variant of the Motorola DROID Turbo. We’re not sure if this will be the exact color as the exclusive Best Buy option, or a brighter blue, but we’re definitely curious.


Of course the question on why anyone would want to pick up the Nexus 6 on Verizon remains. This is likely only for those with an available upgrade or looking to put it Verizon’s Edge payment plans. Like other Verizon LTE devices, the phone will come unlocked which should help resale value (or should you switch to a carrier like AT&T sometime in the near future), so there’s that.


We’d recommend getting some kind of an extended warranty on the Nexus 6 should you pick it up. We heard a few devices shipped with expanding batteries, resulting in the back cover raising over time.






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Android Game Of The Week: Epic War TD 2

AH Epic War TD 2-1


Strategy games can be deeply satisfying if they’re developed correctly, especially if you love the intensity of a good challenge. Tower defense games are some of the best strategy type games around, and in most cases they don’t take a whole lot to be decent. As long as they can be somewhat tough and give you freedom to mix and match the towers you like and they aren’t extremely easy, they can be fun. This isn’t exactly the case with this week’s pick for game of the week, but it is a great deal of fun and should be given a shot. Not to mention the visuals here are probably the best I’ve seen from any tower defense game, or very close to it.


The only issue I have with Epic War TD 2 is that it seems there is a specific set way you have to beat each consecutive wave sequence. There isn’t really enough freedom to place the kind of towers you want, as you’ll usually end up failing if you don’t use a specific type of tower for certain scenarios. It almost feels like hand holding. Mind you, I am only on the 7th or 8th wave mission of the first chapter, and there are about 9 or 10 missions per chapter with six chapters, so this could very well change going into the second chapter and moving forward. Other than that one detail, Epic War TD 2 is a great game.


As far as Tower Defense genre titles go, this has plenty to offer. You’ll find that your towers are comprised of highly advanced weaponry to take on the waves of infantry, bots, tanks, and other manner of mobs you’ll need to keep from getting past a checkpoint. Each mission will have three waves in which you need to stick it out through in order to complete that wave, and in each wave there are usually three to four sub-waves of enemies. You’ll get stars for completing missions with which you can buy your new towers as well as unlock their upgrade capability. There are 9 total high power towers, 4 mega towers, 44 unique enemy types, and according to the devs, 100+ hours of content across 50 puzzling missions. The game is only $2.99 right now but that price is also listed as 40% off as a special launch sale price, so if you’re interested I would recommend picking it up asap.


AH Epic War TD 2-5 AH Epic War TD 2-6 AH Epic War TD 2-4 AH Epic War TD 2-3 AH Epic War TD 2-2 AH Epic War TD 2-7

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AH Tech Talk: The Galaxy S6 Likely Won’t Differentiate Samsung From The Rest Of The Android World

Samsung-Galaxy-Note-Edge-AH-22


The Verge have run an article proclaiming that the Samsung Galaxy S6 will be a differentiating smartphone for the industry. In it, they discuss how Samsung have made a different device that they (Samsung and presumably the Verge) believe will change the world forever. They make much of the S6’s rumored curved design and 14nm Samsung Exynos processor, again a rumor. Perhaps the Verge know things that the wider public does not, but their article makes one big assumption: that Samsung’s scale means when they turn over in the bed, the other manufacturers fall out of the other side. And I don’t see this for a few reasons.


I’ll set out the first reason, which is the fuss about curved glass. Yes, having a curved edge is pretty and perhaps it’s even a technological and engineering masterpiece to build something pretty and tough, but it will ultimately hinge on how Samsung’s software engineers implement the technology. That means relying on a mix of programming resources made available to developers, an encouraging, coaching approach from Samsung and some great examples of how to best use the curved edges of the S6. Going on what I’ve seen with the Note Edge – which by the way is the only Note I would buy – I’d say that curved edges have yet to capture the imagination. Ah, but perhaps this time it’s different? Those are the four most expensive words ever said in history across pretty much any industrial sector you care to mention. Samsung’s curved glass needs to be offered across a much broader number of devices and this will encourage third party developers to do something useful with the technology, which means we need to be seeing Cyanogenmod supporting it, plus the myriad of other ROM developers. That edged glass could do many brilliant, wonderful things: think Google’s active display on the edge for example.


In 2014, Samsung demonstrated that they can build devices made out of a material other than flimsy plastic, but most of their metal-built devices have had one or more compromises. The Galaxy Alpha is a beautiful design; it’s thin and light, it has a respectable processor and screen, but Samsung forgot to give the device a decent sized battery. No; let me redact that claim. Samsung deliberately picked a thin design over decent battery life. If the rumors that the Galaxy S6 is to be under 7mm thick are true, I can only hope that Samsung have managed to keep battery life up, because if the S6 turns out to offer amazing functionality but is limited by the length of your extension cord, it won’t be great for Samsung.


I’m also not convinced that Samsung will produce a curved glass, all metal-clad Galaxy S6. I hope that I’m wrong, but if they release two Galaxy S6 models – one being the normal, metal S6 and the other having less metal, more glass and curved edges (let’s call it the S6 Edge) then this weakens both the relevance of their curved glass design and ultimately their ability to design a device built out of metal.


And then there’s the Samsung Exynos picking up where the Qualcomm Snapdragon has presumably overheated and died. Yes; Samsung have experience of big.LITTLE processor technology and the push to the 14nm smaller die size is exciting. Smaller processors mean less energy is used to move information about the processor even quicker, which means we can have our cheesecake and eat it too: get more done using less battery. This is a great thing. Samsung’s integrated modem technology also needs to be good enough and I’m sure it will be. Is this a crushing blow for Qualcomm? No. Samsung are currently the largest single Android device manufacturer and they are a major customer for Qualcomm, but there are plenty of other competitors snapping at Samsung’s heels to sell components to. No; Qualcomm have more to fear from changes in their business structure, especially in China. Samsung’s Exynos processor is but one competitor; there’s MediaTek and other Chinese manufacturers, where the technology gap is narrowing. As the integrated modem and processor package becomes more universal, I expect MediaTek’s processors to start taking more and more business from Qualcomm. Until recently, if you wanted a processor with a built-in LTE, you had to go the Snapdragon route but now there’s a lot more choice. Samsung’s reported decision to use their own processor family for the S6 isn’t going to help things but it’s not going to be such the disaster in isolation.


Ultimately, the Samsung Galaxy S6, as it’s rumored, only addresses some of the reasons why the Galaxy line has lost the edge (pun intended). Samsung are bringing new technologies into their smartphone game that may give them a technological advantage compared with the emerging market manufacturers: the Xiaomis of this world. The Galaxy devices can be around half as expensive again as what consumers see as being an equivalent specification Xiaomi device but are not seen as being worth the extra. I am not convinced that customers will pay a hefty premium for curved glass edges and a new advanced processor that’s difficult to pronounce.


In order to Samsung’s S6 to differentiate itself from the established manufacturer competition (the Sony, HTC, Motorolas of this world) it needs to drop prices. Let’s see it released at LG Google Nexus 5 prices.


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WiFi Only ‘Unlimited Data’ Freewheel Smartphone By Cablevision Now Available

freewheel - Edited


Carriers do not seem to be doing so well in the headlines recently. If they are not being accused of buying up all the Nexus 6 devices from Google then they are being accused of charging people for unlimited data and not providing them with the unlimited amount of data they had paid for. So, overall, no one is liking those carriers at the minute. That is why, when something new comes around and promises cell coverage at a cheap rate it is going to attract some attention and headlines.


Enter Freewheel. The tagline for Cablevision’s new phone service pretty much sums up what this offering is all about “Goodbye data limits. Hello Generation WiFi”. So basically, Freewheel is offering its users a carrier-like service without an actual network carrier. Instead, the Freewheel service is entirely dependent on WiFi hotspots dotted around your area. As such, your device will be ignoring all the pings from the nearby cell networks and instead will only latch on to the reporedly millions of WiFI networks in range. The upside of having a WiFi dedicated network is that costs can be kept low. And they are low. For $29.99 a month, users are offered unlimited (apparently the real ‘unlimited’) data, calls and texts. if you happen to already be a Cablevision cable customer then you can benefit from all the Freewheel services for only $10 a month. Not to mention there is no annual contract needed to benefit from the service.


We first heard about Freewheel a couple of weeks ago when Cablevision made the press announcement that the service was due to go live in February. Well, as February is now upon us, it is probably less of a surprise that the service has now indeed gone live. As a result you can right now pick you your first ever Freewheel device. Which, by the way, happens to be a Motorola Moto G. The device will currently set you back a rather small $99 and comes loaded with the WiFi searching network installed. If this sounds like something you might be interested in, then follow the source link below to head over to the Freewheel website. In case you are worried about how good the WiFi coverage is in your area, it is worth noting they offer a 30-day money back guarantee. So any takers?


freewheel_cablevision


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Verizon's INDYCAR App Updated For 2015 Season, Available On All Devices And Carriers

unnamed (16) I'll confess: I know basically nothing about high-performance racing. It's got weird-looking cars that go around the track really, really fast, and some people seem to think that it's very important in the context of production cars in the same way that NASA is really important for radical developments in writing utensils. All that is a bit over my head. But if you're a fan of the INDYCAR series of American races, you might want to check out Verizon's updated app.



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Verizon's INDYCAR App Updated For 2015 Season, Available On All Devices And Carriers was written by the awesome team at Android Police.












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High There! Is A New Dating/Social App On Android That Aims To Ignite The Flame Between Cannabis Users

2015-02-06


When it comes to matter of the heart, people that use cannabis need love too. They’re just as much as in touch with their feels as we are,(and by we I mean people who don’t use cannabis)and one might argue that it could be beneficial to attempt meeting another person who shares the same values as you on cannabis use and perhaps even enjoys it too. If you live in a state where cannabis has currently been legalized, then a new app that is currently on the Play Store,(who knows for how long though as we aren’t sure how Google will feel about it)called High There! is a dating/social app meant to pair you up with others that use cannabis, whether it be just for some fun, looking for someone to potentially date, or just finding more friends who like and use cannabis.


While marijuana may be legal in some states, it still seems to be something people(not all mind you)want to keep private if possible. Let’s face it, others can be judgmental especially if they don’t feel like your use of cannabis is appropriate, legal or not. With High There! you don’t have to worry about what others think because presumably, anyone else using it will be like minded individuals who are looking for other friends or singles to meet.


Setup should be pretty simple here. Take a picture of yourself. We’d suggest not while you’re high unless you’re absolutely sure of your photography skills in that state of mind. Then once you have photo taken care of, create your profile and proceed to fill in a few pieces of information about yourself, like what your energy level is when you’re using cannabis, what you’re in the mood for doing, and the kind of things you like. Once your profile is created you can sift through other people in your area who are also using High There! and connect and chat, which could ultimately lead to meeting up. The app is free, but the devs can’t stress enough that this app only supports locations where cannabis use is legalized. If it isn’t legalized in your state, chances are you won’t be able to use the app or create a profile, so keep that in mind if you try to install and use it and are met with a roadblock because the reasoning is probably for legality issues. You can check the app out from the Play Store link below if you want to get started.


High There! High There! High There! High There!

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Top Android Homescreen February 5th Edition: W 9 Concept UI

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It’s Friday and that means the weekend is nearly upon us, it also means we have another homescreen for you today so you can enjoy the weekend with a newly customized design on your phone. Normally we search through and select our weekly picks for top homescreen from mycolorscreen, this time though we decided to find one that comes straight from a creator who time and time again presents us with amazing looking homescreen designs that are just too good to go unnoticed. This one is called W 9 Concept UI and it comes from David Lopez Pitoko. We’ll gloss over what it is you need to get this homescreen up and running, then give you the basics of how to set it up.


First and foremost you’ll need a third party launcher installed. As described by Pitoko, this design uses Apex launcher, most likely the pro version. You’ll also need Zooper Pro as this is the app that will allow you to apply the widget skins, and that is it for the app installs. You’ll also need to download the files for the widgets themselves, which you can grab from the source link below at Pitoko’s page. Once you have everything installed and downloaded, you’ll want to make sure and set the homescreen grid(found inside of Apex settings) to 6 x 6, and then follow that step up by hiding the status bar up top, the navigation bar down at the bottom, and finally hiding the app dock. These settings can also be found within the Apex settings.


That is pretty much it for the setup. It’s a little more simple and straight forward then we usually have for you in terms of putting the homescreen together, but that’s a good thing. There are 11 different widgets in all, and since Zooper allows you to modify the widget sizes, you should be able to manipulate the sizes of each widget shown here and place them in the order you like. Have a great weekend and happy themeing!!!!


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The Visual Search App For Glass ‘CamFind’ Finally Available To Download

camfind


Over the last week, there has been a lot of talk about Google Glass, its apparent demise and it’s rising again from the ashes. In short, the headline was ‘Glass has Graduated’. Not much actually changed from the end-user perspective in this respect, but in terms of Glass’s own story, one chapter had closed and a new one begun. That said, we have not heard too much recently in the way of new Glass apps. Over the last twelve months they have been coming steadily although not exactly frequently, Therefore, every time one is released it is worth making a note of and knowing a little about.


Today is time for one of those announcements as a new app has made its way onto the Glass store. Strangely though, this is not a new app in the traditional sense. It is newly available (as in, it is finally able to be downloaded) but not new in terms of us knowing about it. CamFind was reported as early as September last year (when it was first announced) and has taken this long to finally reach a download available state. However, if you are a Wearer then this is one of those which was probably worth the wait


For those that missed the earlier announcement, CamFind is an app which sort of works like a visual Google Search. You can effectively take a picture of anything using Glass and retrieve information on the item in question. See a nice bag, snap it and find out what it is. Not only will you just get information on what the item is, but you will also be presented with Google Search results too. All from one snap. So although, it has taken its time, maybe this was one worth holding on for. If you are currently an Explorer and want to give CamFind a try, then click here to head over to the Glass store listing. once downloaded, simply say “OK Google, Recognize this” and start finding out about things around you. Let us know if you give a try. In the meantime, you can check out this promo video from last September for a better idea of what CamFind is.



Click here to view the embedded video.


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Innovative Classic 'Deus Ex Machina' Gets Ported To Android 30 Years After Its Debut, Enhancements Included

thumb Today's gaming machines allow for experiences that we could only dream of decades ago, but nevertheless, the early years of gaming was a time ripe with innovation. While gaming at home was no longer a new concept by the time the 80's came around, the decade was still a time of creativity as developers experienced with genres and art styles that wouldn't hit their heydays until years later. Others were just weird by design, such as Deus Ex Machina, an interactive movie released in 1984 that has now found its way over to Android.



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Innovative Classic 'Deus Ex Machina' Gets Ported To Android 30 Years After Its Debut, Enhancements Included was written by the awesome team at Android Police.












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Motorola Has The Blue 64GB Nexus 6 In Stock Right Now—Hurry

nexus2cee_n6.png The 64GB Nexus 6 is still hard to get your hands on even a few months after release. Supply is evening out on the 32GB, but there's no microSD card slot. Unacceptable, right? Today you've got a chance to snag a 64GB from Motorola, but don't dilly-dally—it probably won't last long.


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The white 64GB is probably the most soughtafter version of the new Nexus, but it's more fantasy than reality. It's a unicorn, basically.



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