Google buys messaging client Emu, will likely use their technology to help make Hangouts “smarter”

Emu is probably the best messaging client you never heard of. Billed as “texting with a built-in assistant” the company announced today via their site that they’ve officially packed their bags for Mountain View and starting August 25th, they’d be shutting down the app (which has since already been removed from the Google Play Store). Sounds so sudden especially considering other Google acquisitions remain alive and kicking many, many months after they’ve been absorbed into the company.

So what exactly does Google have planned? We’re guessing Google will use the talented team at Emu to supercharge Hangouts with new and exciting features. Exactly what? Well, how about Emu’s smart assistant feature for starters. Emu was a unique messaging app in that it understood the context of messages sent/received (not as scary as it sounds).

This meant Emu was able to offer helpful little links appended to messages with everything from sharing locations, scheduling appointments, to showing available movies, to snoozing message reminders for later. The app would even auto notify users when/if the other user was driving, this way everyone is safe and the other party isn’t left in the dark in the event you take too long to reply back. Awesome.

Honestly, we’re only upset we didn’t know about Emu sooner. Seemed like a great cross platform messaging client that could mop the floor with rival services like Kik. With the power of Google Now and Emu, expect your phone to become a whole lot more automated in the coming months. Here’s to a brighter future at Google. We can’t wait to see what comes out of the new partnership.

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Wednesday Poll: How Often do You Upgrade Your Phone?

With so many great choices out there for phones, it is easy to want to constantly switch up your daily driver. Unfortunately, buying phones is not cheap off contract. Couple that with the fact that carriers have many customers under contract with high termination fees, the process is made even more difficult.

Since the last time we ran a poll asking about your upgrade habits, all sorts of new programs through carriers which help customers upgrade phones more frequently have been introduced. They vary depending on carrier, but most require little down as long as you are willing to split up the cost of the phone over a certain number of monthly payments.

Here at DL, we are pretty content with purchasing phones outright, leaving us with the ability to throw in whatever SIM we choose, which means we don’t have to worry about contracts. This is one of the reasons we love Nexus devices so much – they are so no-contract-friendly.

Regardless of how you do it, we want to know how often you upgrade and/or change your phone out for a new one. Are you a flagship hopper, jumping from the latest of one OEM to another? Or do you stick with a phone for a couple of years at a time.

Once you answer the poll, feel free to go into more detail about the process you go through when upgrading/changing to a new phone.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Wednesday Poll: How Often do You Upgrade Your Phone? is a post from: Droid Life

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Annoying Emails Are Now Even Easier To Unsubscribe From In Gmail

Since the invention of E-mail, technology has become a major part of our lives. E-mail is used for work, signing on to your favorite social media websites and so much more. E-mail has come a long way from simply sending messages to your buddies, nowadays we get updates from social media websites, our favorite musicians and bands, discussion boards, and of course, cat photos. Those updates can become overwhelming and as some sites come and go, a lot of the updates we get can become irrelevant to us. I mean, who really uses myspace these days? I’m pretty sure most of us who have left that social network don’t need updates about the site anymore, as most of our friends are located on facebook.

So what do we do when we wish to not receive an of these updates anymore? We simply unsubscribe. Recently, Google has just announced a new feature for its Gmail users that will make unsubscribing from any mailing list your included in easier. The announcement was made on their Google Plus page. According to their post, “Now when a sender includes an “Unsubscribe” link in a Promotions, Social or Forums message, Gmail will surface it to the top, right next to the sender address. If you’re interested in the message’s content, it won’t get in the way, and if not, it’ll make it easier to keep your inbox clutter-free.” That method is so much easier than scrolling all the way down to the bottom of the message and reading through the small print in search for the unsubscribe link.

This new feature isn’t a big update but it does help user quickly unsubscribe from Emails that they do not want to receive any more. In addition to Google’s post, “For email senders, their mail is less likely to be marked as spam and for you.” So now your spam folder will not be full of stuff all the time. What are your thoughts about this new feature that Google has added to Gmail? Is this something that you were looking for? Let us know in the comments.

The post Annoying Emails Are Now Even Easier To Unsubscribe From In Gmail appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

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Google Search Updated To v3.6 With Support For App Deep Linking, More Signs Of Hands-Free, And More [APK Download]

The last update Wednesday was a quiet one, but Google is picking up steam today with that Play Music update and now Google Search is hitting v3.6. This update should enable deep linking for apps through search, and there's some more movement on hands-free mode. No, it doesn't work yet, but check out the hands-free icons below!

What’s New

Unfortunately, APKtools crashes trying to decompile this version of search. We managed to get in with JEB, though (Artem paid $1000 cash money for a JEB license).

Google Search Updated To v3.6 With Support For App Deep Linking, More Signs Of Hands-Free, And More [APK Download] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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ZTE Grand X: Cricket’s new affordable and large smartphone

Cricket Wireless is known for affordability and needs the right devices to back up its reputation. The latest device offers affordability, moderate power, a good size and one heck of a price tag. Enter the ZTE Grand X, the newest 4G device to come to the popular prepaid network.

It may not be the superphone of your dreams, but the Grand X is targeted towards another market. Costing only $99 after a $50 rebate, this device won’t disappoint the casual user in the family. ZTE and/or Cricket are keeping some of the specs out of the public’s eye for now, but that is because possible customers probably won’t care much about such specific details. At the end of the day, it will get the job done.

ZTE Grand X specs

• Android 4.3


• 5-inch display with Corning Gorilla Glass


• 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor


• 5 MP/1 MP cameras


• TruMedia surround sound


• 2300 mAh battery

This device has been around and it’s not the newest, but it is definitely not a bad phone to purchase for just $99 with no contracts or commitments. Those interested can buy it from Cricket Wireless in-store and online starting August 8th (this Friday).

If this phone is not exactly what you are looking for, we also have curated a neat list of the best affordable smartphones in the market. Give it a good luck and you will probably find some great options.

Source: Cricket Wireless;



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The all new, completely redesigned Foursquare is now available on Google Play

If you haven’t heard, Foursquare’s all new, super fantastic, completely redesigned Android app has officially hit the Google Play Store. We gave you guys the low down a few weeks ago after Foursquare gave us a sneak peek at what they had in store for their users. Today, the update has arrived but it’s not just a new can of paint — Foursquare has completely changed they way the app works with a new focus on localized search, custom tailored to your personal interests or tastes.

When you open the app, you’ll be presented with a barrage of tags or tastes, rather. Everything from specific dishes like breakfast burritos, to categories like “quick meals” or “happy hour.” Once Foursquare has an idea of what you’re into, they’ll begin bringing you eateries or other businesses they think you’ll like. Similar to Google Now, the general idea is you shouldn’t have to search for what you’re looking for, Foursquare will already know.

Gone is any kind of checking in from the app, replaced now with a shortcut to download Foursquare’s social checkin app, Swarm. Even though Foursquare wants to distance itself from boring old Yellow Pages, there is still the ability to share businesses on social media and/or leave reviews/tips. Of course, with such a big change veterans are likely to find something they previously liked about the app is now missing, in which case let us know in the comments below. For everyone, get to downloading.

Foursquare (Playboard) | Foursquare (Play Store)

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Google Buys Up Messaging Service Emu, Hangouts Enhancements To Follow?

Google has bought up yet another small company that it can use to integrate in some way, shape, or form into its own services, and this one looks most likely to get some type of integration into messaging on Android, possibly Hangouts, as the company that is joining Google is called Emu, which is a messaging app currently available(although not for much longer)for iOS and at one point during the beta phase of the app it was even available for Android. After beta the Android app was discontinued but the team wanted to remain bringing a messaging experience to iOS users, and now that the team(which is comprised of former Google and Apple employees)is joining Google the iOS version is disappearing as well.

With some of the app creators having been former Googlers we imagine it must feel good to go back and work for a company like Google, and we wonder what they have in store to bring to the messaging experience on Android, whether that be any sort of improvements or new features. For anyone still using the Emu app on iOS the app shuts down as of August 25th, no real shame to anyone on Android since the app was no longer available anyway. To existing users though the app will not only be leaving the app store but apparently any and all functionality of the Emu app will cease entirely.

Google is known for buying up smaller companies with plans to somehow use them to enhance their own offerings, although they don’t usually completely absorb them. Both Nest which specializes in the hardware they make and Songza which specializes in the music software and app/service were both bought out by Google and they both still operate independently and have their services up and running. Google likely has something to gain from Emu’s technology which is most likely why they will be closing the app entirely and shutting the service down, it also could have been part of the deal in the acquisition that they let the app go, allowing Google to utilize whatever technology and software was involved for messaging tools on their own end.

The post Google Buys Up Messaging Service Emu, Hangouts Enhancements To Follow? appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

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