Verizon pushing Eye Experience update to its HTC One (M8) on Wednesday

Either the hardware manufacturers are getting things right or the carriers are easing up on the testing phase. Tomorrow, owners of the HTC One (M8) on Verizon will be getting a software update. The update includes the new Eye Experience that was announced alongside the Desire Eye and RE Camera. HTC expects the over-the-air (OTA) update to arrive around noon on Wednesday.

Mo Versi, HTC’s VP of Product Management, tweeted the news on Tuesday:

HTC One (M8) Verizon owners! We have technical approval on Eye SW! OTA target for tomorrow at noon! #HTCAdvantage

Source: @moversi (Twitter)

Come comment on this article: Verizon pushing Eye Experience update to its HTC One (M8) on Wednesday

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[Android Wear 4.4W2 Feature Spotlight] Here Is The New Music Control UI For Wear, Now Including Volume Buttons

We spotted it in a teardown of the new material Play Music app this morning, but it looks like a new set of media controls in Android Wear are live - and here's exactly what they look like.

The new controls get a red-themed makeover and volume +/- buttons, plus a nifty kind of physical remote key animation. It's nice. For Play Music, these new controls require two things: the material version of Play Music (which contains an updated mini APK for Wear with these controls) and the 4.4W2 update to Wear, which is rolling out to some devices now, like the LG G Watch.

[Android Wear 4.4W2 Feature Spotlight] Here Is The New Music Control UI For Wear, Now Including Volume Buttons was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Teardown confirms Sony IMX240 camera sensor inside the Galaxy Note 4

With the Galaxy S and Note lines, Samsung has the tendency to use the same camera sensors for both in a given year. So when the Galaxy Note 4 was announced, as tradition would suggest, we should see it toting their new ISOCELL technology, right? Wrong.

As previously reported, a recent teardown of the phone confirms that Samsung has in fact gone with a Sony IMX240 camera sensor in their most recent flagship. In the past, Samsung hasn’t exactly been shy about it’s journey into ISOCELL camera technology, especially after seeing its first iteration in the Galaxy S5. So, after ISOCELL’s brief, mass-market trial period with the S5, Samsung has decided to go back to Sony sensors — at least for now.

If we had to take a guess as to why, we have a feeling OIS support has a big part to play in this change. After all, we praised the camera in our Galaxy S5 review but at the moment Samsung’s ISOCELL cams are without OIS support. Does this mean that Samsung is done with ISOCELL cameras in their flagship phones? We doubt it.

What do you think of the change, glad to see a return to Sony’s cams or would you prefer Samsung to have stuck with ISOCELL?

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Meet the Devs – Neverend Studios

Welcome back to our Meet the Devs segment! In this piece we take a little time to get to know the people who really make Android what it is today and that is the app developers. In this week’s developer interview, we are talking to Kyle Denney.

Name: Omar Farooq

Developer Name: Neverend Studios

Country: Pakistan

Website: Official website

Facebook Profile/Page: Binary Fall Facebook page

How many people on your team? 3

Apps

Binary Fall

Tell us about your company

We are a small team of young developers still in college we are all very passionate about games and we really enjoy making games which we ourselves would like to play. We are just starting out in game development and we try to make the best possible games that we can using our limited resources.

What level of experience do you have with coding and development?

We are all computer science students and beside a few pet projects this has to be the most serious kind of development we have ever done.

What languages do you know? How and where did you learn them?

C, C++ we learned in college where as Java and C# we learned ourselves.

What level of experience do you have with design?

We have a very basic experience with design.

What apps have you made?

Currently Binary Fall is the Only app we have made

How do you monetize your apps?

Ads.

Do you consider yourself successful?

No.

How difficult is it to make money as a developer?

So far making money has been only a fantasy since getting downloads has been an impossible task.

What can Android do to improve?

It can provide more support for third world Countries developers it was extremely difficult to acquire a google developer account.

Why did you choose Android? Do you develop for other platforms? What are the differences between them?

Google was the best choice in terms of affordability and market share. We have also developed for windows phone which was very affordable, free actually but it has been difficult for our app to gain much traction on the platform because of the low market share.

What are your thoughts on iOS and Windows 8?

iOS is a good platform but if only it was cheaper we don’t have problem with their closed ecosystem and actually enjoy their design decisions. We are avid users of windows 8 and simply don’t understand the problem the rest of the world seems to have with it.

What do you think of the Android design guidelines?

Android design guidelines seem pretty vague since Android itself is pretty fragmented and every other OEM seems to have their own version of Android.

What are your favorite apps?

• 2048 we do give credit to threes.


• Super Hexagon simple gameplay excellent execution something we aspire to.


• Don’t the white tile, very fun very addictive


• Binary Fall the best there is :)

What has been your experience been like working with Google?

Well we have just started so all we can say is it has been good.

What does the future of development look like?

Well this is a big question, it seems to us that indie development will keep growing which is good because indie development provides more freedom to game designers to employ innovative designs in their games without the burden of huge budget and market expectations. Game development particularly seems to be in a very exciting place right games such as Flappy Bird and 2048 have proved that any game can become popular irrelevant of its surface appeal.

What tips do you have for aspiring developers?

Game development is a fun proposition but it requires serious commitment and requires a little bit of discipline if you really want to achieve something noteworthy. If your just starting out and don’t know where to start than you should acquire a skill useful in game development mainly programming or art design since that would be the best way to make the game you want to make because getting someone who has those skills to work on your game could prove to be a more difficult task, execution is everything even if you have a dozen ground breaking ideas if you aren’t able to translate them to a good quality game than those don’t really help you in any way.

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We want to thank Omar for chatting with us in this week’s developer interview! If you’re a developer and this looks like something you’d like to do, check out our Meet the Devs form! We look forward to hearing from you.

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Google hoping to lure smaller manufacturers to Google’s Android, over AOSP

For most of us, Android is more than just an open-source operating system, it’s a portal to awesome Google services like Google Maps, Google Play and so many others. In reality, AOSP Android doesn’t have any special Google services included by default, leaving it up to various OEMs to secure Google Play certification and make sure their software builds comply with Google’s standards.

Most Android devices found in major markets are going to be Google Certified, but that’s not necessarily the case in many emerging markets. The growth of AOSP Android devices goes way beyond just China, as new data indicates that as much as 30% of Android devices in several emerging markets are actually running open-source Android without officially certified Google apps. ABI Research claims that 65 million devices shipped globally with open-source Android in the second quarter of this year, up from 54 million in the first quarter.

Google is working to simplify the process for smaller handset makers looking to get certified

According to The Information, Google is hoping to combat AOSP Android’s growth in emerging markets so it can more effectively push its vision for Android and provide a unified experience for Android users everywhere. Part of this move involves Android One, which provides cheap Google certified devices with quick updates to new OS versions, but that’s just the beginning. Reportedly Google is working to simplify the process for smaller handset makers looking to get certified.

To help speed things along, Google is said to be looking into the idea of forming partnerships with ODMs such as Foxconn, Quanta and Flextronics, which produce smartphones for smaller firms which then sale their devices to India, Brazil, China and many other markets.

It’s unclear what Google plans to do to incentivize both the ODMS and the smaller Android manufacturers into going through certification, but it’s a move that would (arguably) be in the better interest of Android users as it would open the door to legal copies of Maps, Play and other key apps. Beyond that, it would also ensure that these handset makers would have to agree to certain “compatibility” requirements and standards in order to get certification.

What do you think, is Google wise to go after the AOSP Android market? Conversely, do you feel Google is trying too hard to control the direction of Android?

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Play Music gets handcrafted Songza playlists and a touch of Material

When Google bought music streaming service Songza back in July, we speculated that the main reason was Songza’s expertise in creating handcrafted playlists and matching them with the moment of the day, the user’s location, and past activity.

Fast forward a few months, and Google announced the first result of Songza’s integration – “expert curated” playlists are now available to Play Music subscribers in the US and Canada on Android, the web, and iOS.

Unsurprisingly, Google makes a big deal of the playlists being assembled and curated by real people, as opposed to algorithms. Google/Songza employed “dozens of DJs, musicians, music critics and ethnomusicologists” to create the perfect tunes for busy mornings, a late night studying session, or an evening jog. Some examples of actual playlists are “Waking Up Happy,” “Drinking Gourmet Coffee” or “Driving.” If you used Songza or Spotify, it’s not something new, but it’s a welcome addition that music explorers will definitely appreciate.

The other big change in the latest update (coming to all users across the world) is a redesigned Listen Now page, with a healthy dose of Material design. You get nice, large cards for your playlists and recent listens, and everything is doused in bold orange.

The update to Play Music 5.7 is now rolling out to all users, but remember that the availability of the new playlists is sadly limited to North America for now. Google did not say if and when the feature would hit the rest of the world. If you can’t wait to test it out, the updated apk is available from Gapps Early .

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3D Live Wallpaper – Dark City – Indie app of the day

What is 3D Live Wallpaper – Dark City?

3D Live Wallpaper – Dark City is a pretty much what the name says it is. It’s a dark city that you can view in the form of a live wallpaper. It has some interesting features and it’s free to use in the Google Play Store. There is also a pro version for $1.97US.

Like most live wallpapers, there are a cursory set of customization options but not too many. Once you set the live wallpaper you’ll be treated with a purple, blue, gray, and black city scape that look really good. The fun part is that Dark City uses your device’s gyroscope to control your view of the city. So if you spin in a circle, the “camera” will spin 360 with you and you can view the entire city. Looking down makes it look down. This is what makes this live wallpaper so fun.

The free version doesn’t have all that many options but the pro version does. It includes improved graphics and you can select more camera views. Dark City is powered by Unity and that makes this app one of the more interesting uses of the Unity platform that you’ll find.

It's a pretty unique wallpaper.

PROS

• Uses Unity to give you a unique view camera experience that uses your device's gyroscope.


• Free and paid version. No in app purchases.


• A few small customization options to make things a little better.


• Dark theme goes well with a lot of themes.

CONS

• The wallpaper is a bit finnicky. For instance, you have to let it load before you can set it or it won't work properly.


• If you don't like dark themes or cityscapes, you won't like this.

7.5

If you’re a fan of live wallpapers then this is a fun app to try. The dark theme of the city meshes well with a lot of themes and the app reportedly doesn’t use much battery. It does have its problems here and there but that’s why there’s a free version. So you can try it out first.

Check out the last indie app of the day: StuffMerge Clipboard Composer

Join us in the Apps and Games section of the Android Authority forums! Just don’t forget to read the rules first!

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