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Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Deal: Pick Up the Android Mobile Hacker Bundle for Free

On the DL Deals Store, you can grab the Android Mobile Hacker Bundle for completely free (valued at over $100). This bundle includes courses on iOS and Android HTML5 development, as well as a tutorial on learning Android Studio. 

Also included in the bundle are development essentials with a DIY project, as well as a game development crash course. This bundle, and its contents, will bring you up to speed on learning how to develop for the Android OS.

You can’t beat free.

What’s Included

  • iOS & Android HTML5 Apps for Beginners
  • Learn Android Studio in 2 Hours
  • Development Essentials with DIY Project
  • Game Development Crash Course
  • Learn Android 4.0 Programming in Java

Deal Link

Deal: Pick Up the Android Mobile Hacker Bundle for Free is a post from: Droid Life



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Deal: Nexus 6 is Back (Again) on eBay for $299

It’s back (for the 3rd time)! The Nexus 6 32GB for $299 is back at eBay today. Who knows for how long, but previous week’s similar deals sold out pretty quickly. If you want last year’s Nexus before it’s gone forever, now would be the time to jump on it.

As a reminder, this phone originally retailed for $650. Quite the discount in less than 12 months.

eBay Link 

Deal: Nexus 6 is Back (Again) on eBay for $299 is a post from: Droid Life



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And Then Google Voice Got Its First Update in Over a Year…

So, Google Voice just received its first update in over a year. The last time Google Voice got an update was when the Hangouts-Google Voice merger was supposed to have begun, which was on September 12 of last year.

In today’s update, which jumps the app up to v0.4.7.6 appears to be quite minor. In fact, we aren’t seeing anything new, so this must be background fixes or behind-the-scenes stuff that we don’t have access to. I should point out that this app also seems to be a dogfood version, which is what Google refers to internally tested apps. When installed, you’ll see the dog paw on the top right corner of that app’s icon.

If we find anything new, we’ll be sure to update this post. 

Edit:  There is a new pop-up after updating that mentions Google announcing international rates when international calls are made. That could be the newness.

Play Link | Download Link (apk)

google voice update

And Then Google Voice Got Its First Update in Over a Year… is a post from: Droid Life



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Save Your WhatsApp Chat History and Media to Google Drive

Set to roll out to users over the next couple of months, WhatsApp is implementing native cloud storage of chat history, voice messages, and media for users to Google Drive. Once available, users can back up all of their personal WhatsApp data to the Drive cloud, and then restore it on newer devices with a couple taps. 

As stated in a blog post, WhatsApp has 900 million users, a majority of which are Android users. When shopping which service would be the best to backup user data to, “Google Drive was an easy choice,” said WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton.

Thanks to the privacy settings of Drive, in addition to the automatic encryption, all of your WhatsApp conversations will stay safe and secure.

If you rock WhatsApp, be on the lookout for it to hit your device.

Via: Google Drive

Save Your WhatsApp Chat History and Media to Google Drive is a post from: Droid Life



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Ugh, Smartwatches.

I’ve spent the better part of the last year or so with a smartwatch or smart something-or-other strapped to my wrist. It has been a miserable experience. From Android Wear to Pebble to Apple Watch to Samsung’s new Tizen-powered Gear S2, I think it’s safe to say that I’m smartwatch’d out. I need a break. My wrist needs an immediate break or I might snap. 

I need my wrist to stop buzzing at me. I need it to stop buzzing, because my phone is also buzzing, usually right before my watch buzzes. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Can you imagine if that every time before burning your mouth on a cup of hot coffee, you also burned your hand. That’s what it’s like to wear a smartwatch today.

Incoming buzz on phone! I now just assume it’s something that I need to take care of, but you know what, I’m wearing a smartwatch and so I may as well not pull my phone out at the slightest chance that this buzz is just glanceable info. Watch buzz received! And yep, it’s a f*cking email that I can’t fully read because this watch won’t show me the full thing. So yeah, out comes my phone.

Incoming buzz on phone! Hey, another buzz that will soon arrive on my watch that will then force me to pull out my phone anyway. Watch buzz received! Yep, it’s a Hangouts message and I’m in a place that won’t exactly work in a voice-to-text scenario, assuming it can even translate half of what I say the first time. I also don’t feel like being the guy in the room talking to his watch. Out comes my phone again!

Incoming buzz on phone! Will it ever end…let me guess, another thing that will soon be on my watch that I’ll also need to just pull my phone out for anyway. Watch buzz received! Shocker. The asshole I just emailed has emailed me back and I can’t read anything on this stupid small screen. Phone to the rescue!

Incoming buzz on phone! Buzz before I can see the last buzz. Buzz again. Buzzzzzzzzz. GAAAAAHHH STOP. If you keep buzzing, smartwatch, I’ll now not only be stressing about buzzes and whether or not I’ll need my phone out, I’ll also be worrying about your battery life. Actually, too late. Now staring at battery percentage, attempting to calculate number of hours remaining in day or whether or not I need to find another human with this thing’s proprietary charger, which is hilarious because those people don’t exist.

Buzz. Battery stare. Buzz. Pull phone out. Buzz, buzz. Incoming call! Ooh, that’s new. How does this work, I wonder?

Swipe a color…green to accept, I’d imagine. Wait, do I talk into this watch or pull phone out or is this speaker working? WTF. This person is going to hang up. PULL PHONE OUT ANYWAY.

I often wonder if maybe leaving my phone behind for a bit is a good idea, you know, going the WiFi route. It’ll be like almost disconnecting from the world. BUZZ. Email! Text message! eBay inquiry! Facebook event invite. Calendar reminder. GO FIND PHONE. Nope.

Fitness…how about a run? That will really get me using this thing properly. Wait, I need to bring my phone with. I need the full app experience. What if someone calls me? What if I miss a buzz? This thing doesn’t have GPS anyway, so I have to bring it all. Buzz phoneBuzz watch! Pause running app to respondRespond (on phone of course). Re-start run…ummm…where the hell did it go…swipe through cards…swipe left, right, tap…the app crashed. Open on phone to re-start. I quit.

I can’t handle it. I’m so over smartwatches at the moment. My life isn’t easier with them in it. Smartwatches are only adding a layer of complexity that I don’t need. They are another layer in this vicious smart world of ours that begs for our immediate interaction and response. They aren’t convenient. They aren’t even that smart. Some think they are, but your watch is really like this half-baked, knock-off version of whatever your phone is running. It won’t get the job done 99% of the time. It’ll just remind you that your phone is there, waiting for your interaction.

Is that what we all were asking for? Were we really asking for tech companies to give us a wrist-worn reminder that we have a phone in our pocket or bags? I wasn’t.

Back to single buzz life for me. After this Gear S2 review…

Buzz. Buzz.

Ugh, Smartwatches. is a post from: Droid Life



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Barnes & Noble Teams Up With Samsung to Intro Galaxy Tab E Nook

Barnes & Noble introduced a new Nook tablet this morning, the Samsung-produced Galaxy Tab E Nook. Priced at $249, the idea is to bring a large screen tablet device to the masses for enjoying all of B&N’s content.

The Galaxy Tab E Nook features a 9.6″ AMOLED HD display, Qualcomm APQ 8016 Processor, 16GB of onboard storage, microSD slot for up to 128GB of storage, and 5MP rear-facing camera. 

Not only will you find B&N’s readable and playable content, Samsung is bringing a Multi Window UI for users to enjoy, and the tablet also comes preloaded with a suite of Microsoft applications.

The tablet is purchasable right now on the Barnes & Noble website, as well as in-store.

Buy Link ($249.99)

Via: Barnes and Noble

Barnes & Noble Teams Up With Samsung to Intro Galaxy Tab E Nook is a post from: Droid Life



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Google Intros AMP Project, Aims to Dramatically Increase Speed of the Mobile Web

This morning, Google announced a partnership with publishers and technology companies to build a faster mobile web experience for everyone. Named the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project, or AMP for short, Google states that the goal of AMP is quite simple – dramatically improve the performance of the mobile web.

Using AMP HTML, an open framework built on existing web technologies, the idea is to build lightweight webpages, allowing for faster loading times on smartphones and tablets, regardless of the content they hold. Publishers will still be able to provide rich media content for readers, including pictures and videos, while also continuing to monetize the content with any ad network of their choosing. Essentially, it will be the same mobile web as we have today, complete with ads, but should load significantly faster. 

Over time, Google hopes to implement AMP across the web and their own services, such as Google News. As for a few of the companies signed up to take part in the project, Google listed Twitter, WordPress, Adobe Analytics, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Chartbeat, and others.

Google posted the below video to give folks a sense of what to expect from AMP. In addition, you can test AMP yourself on a mobile device by following one of the below links. Just make sure you are on your phone or tablet to see it correctly.

g.co/ampdemo | fashion | mars | syrianytimes

Via: Google [2]

Google Intros AMP Project, Aims to Dramatically Increase Speed of the Mobile Web is a post from: Droid Life



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Sony is Easy to Like: Will Let 10,000 Xperia Z3 Owners Beta Test Marshmallow

Sony may struggle mightily in the US and is still relatively unknown here as a smartphone maker, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t always still watching their every move. We constantly keep an eye on Sony because they often times create really great phones, still respect the fact that some of us want smaller phones with flagship specs, and do cool things for their customers, like let them beta test big new versions of Android ahead of time. 

This morning, Sony announced that they have opened up 10,000 spots for owners of the Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact who want to beta test Android 6.0 Marshmallow ahead of time. That’s sort of an unheard of move from an OEM. Most lock up software updates tightly until they are ready for mass consumption, but Sony seems to understand the importance of user feedback, especially from its core customers.

This Marshmallow beta test falls into Sony’s new Concept for Android program that was first launched in July as a way for select Xperia users to test out a stripped down, almost stock-like Android experience that was light on the Sony skin. Only this time around, Sony is letting 10,000 people get in on the actual from a variety of countries, whereas that first test was only to Sweden and likely a much smaller test group.

The idea behind this Marshmallow test isn’t so much for giddy hypebeasts to feel special by testing new software as much as it is for Sony to prove that letting beta tests happen helps them build better user experiences and improve the process for getting updates out quicker.

This new Marshmallow test will be available, as I previously mentioned, to Z3 and Z3 Compact owners in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany. If you are interested in signing up and happen to be from one of those countries, you’ll need to install Sony’s Concept for Android app and let them know.

Via:  Sony

Sony is Easy to Like: Will Let 10,000 Xperia Z3 Owners Beta Test Marshmallow is a post from: Droid Life



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