Google has somewhat tackled the problem of fragmentation by releasing its core apps as separate applications in the Google Play Store, but it is only a small towards a very big problem. According to Engadget, Google is working on a separate Camera application for Android smartphones that it will soon launch on Google Play Store.
Continue reading “Google is rumored to be working on a new Camera app for Android”
Google is definitely considering the wearable market as its next battleground and it is equipping itself in the process. Earlier in 2013, Google announced that they will be launching the Explorer Edition of Google Glass for $1500 and eventually it will come to the market at a much lower price point. Last week, they announced Android Wear SDK for wearables(read smartwatches).
Google has been targeting audience with great products at affordable products through their Nexus line up. The smartphones – Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 are an example of that. Each of the device offers the best in class performance for a considerably affordable price point. They did the similar thing with the tablets as well – Google Nexus 7 and Nexus 7 2013 – offering great features for an affordable price. It looks like things could change.
Continue reading “Google rumored to be working on a 8.9inch Nexus tablet”
We had unboxed the Nokia X a while back, right after it launched in India. Only a few weeks back, Espoo’s first bold entry into the low end Android smartphone segment was revealed at MWC. The phone might be running Android, a Google owned entity, but is completely devoid of anything that resembles Google services. Nokia completely forked the open source variant of Android, just like Amazon did, by choosing not to include Google services and apps, which are obviously a conflict of interests for the company. But being open source, the malleable Android is always willing to bend to our will, and soon enough, enterprising developers who got their hands on the Nokia X, devised a way to install Google apps and services onto this neat little device. We followed their path, and made a video, so that willing users can take advantage of it too –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_smAYnH6A64
Continue reading “How to root Nokia X and install Google Play Apps”
Earlier this year, at the CES 2014, Asus announced the Transformer Duet which ran Android and Windows side by side. This was probably designed for those who wanted the best of both the worlds and it was quite a hit at the CES 2014. Even an Indian manufacturer – Micromax, announced a similar dual boot device – Micromax Laptab which was supposed to be available in February.
Google is trying to compete with Yahoo in the acquisition spree and after a stellar purchase of Nest, a hardware company that produces smart home products, Google has now acquired a software startup – SlickLogin, whose chief area of expertise is a sound based login. Just six months after they showcased their product at TechCrunch Disrupt, Google acquired them.
Continue reading “Google acquires a sound based login startup, SlickLogin”
Hankering for a bit of color in your favorite Google edition device? The Nexus 5 in red is now available on the Play Store in the same 16 and 32GB capacities as the other variants. The phone has a dual tone finish with the front being black, and the matte red finish extending to the edges. The specifications of the phone remain identical to the black and white versions and are detailed below. Continue reading “Google Nexus 5 in Bright Red goes official, available in India now”
Google is working on its photography suite seriously and it was pretty evident after the Mountain View company acquired Snapseed photo editing app. In the latest move to strength its photography team, Google has pocketed Adobe’s John Nack.
John Nack has been associated with Adobe and one of its primary offering – Adobe Photoshop. John Nack was the Senior Product Manager for Adobe Photoshop. He had been associated with Adobe for 14 years and was the man to lead the company’s first public beta – CS3. Apart from that, he was also responsible for features inside Photoshop like Smart Objects.
In a blog post at Adobe’s website, John Nack bid his former company a adieu and hopes for a great experience at Google. He also said that the two companies have been in good terms and are working to make the best for photographers to tell their tales.
Not long ago, we saw that the UK retail box of the red Google Nexus 5 leaked out. It was an interesting colour choice for the popular smartphone, which released with only two colours – Black or White, back in October. We had compared the two colours and found that the material used for them are vastly different with each providing a different level of build quality and handling. Now, we have a new red coloured version which looks like the real deal, as the press image leaked by evleaks showcases it in bleeding red. Riding the colour wave started by Nokia with its Lumia series of devices, the Nexus 5 in red might be really tempting for people who are still holding back on the purchase because of the lack of colour choices.
Continue reading “Red Google Nexus 5 leaks again in a press image”
It’s the numbers season, with various analysis groups releasing their take on the smartphone market for the whole year of 2013. We saw the IDC report recently that the Smartphone market has crossed the 1 billion threshold. In that lineup, we have Canalys reporting that Android dominated 2013 with almost 80% of that whole Smartphone market in 2013, and amongst them, Windows Phone posted the fastest growth, with a 69% rise YoY between the three major platforms. Both Android’s meteoric rise to the top and Windows Phone’s slow rise from the bottom are pretty much known quantities now, but some of the numbers are interesting. The second biggest platform, Apple’s iOS, has almost stagnated with only 7% growth by losing marketshare, whereas Android is steadily growing at 54%, a good 10% above the market growth percentage. This technically means that Android will reach its maximum in about 2 or 3 years if it and the market retains the growth pattern. Yes, it can happen only at the expense of gobbling up other platform’s shares but it begs this question. Will we we start to see saturation in the Smartphone market soon?
Continue reading “Android runs on 79% of 2013 smartphones, Windows Phone posts fastest growth”
Games are usually the best examples to showcase any new platform. The iPhone got a ton of mini apps and games that showed off its accelerometer and touch screen, which were novel at that time. Similarly, Google has developed 5 mini games for its innovative “Glass” wearable product, to showcase the hardware’s unique capabilities. As of now, the Glass can already let you make calls, get directions and so on, but games are something new. Having unboxed the Glass and found it to work really well, we can’t wait to test these mini games which might give us a glimpse of the kind of apps that Google will let developers make for the wearable product, that just got a lot more socially acceptable with new frames for prescription lenses. Anyways, here is a video representation of the 5 mini games Google has developed –
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9naxeHGIaRY
Continue reading “Google releases 5 mini games for Glass, wants devs to make more”
Out of nowhere Google is sold off its Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for a deal worth close to 3 billion USD earlier today. The almost 3 billion USD sale doesn’t include the Advanced Technology and Projects group led by former DARPA director Regina Dugan. The Verge was able to confirm this and according to the sources, the team will be integrated with Google’s Android team which is headed by Sundar Pichai. Regina Dugan will reportedly report to Sundar Pichai, but is expected to maintain an individual role.
Continue reading “Google keeps Project Ara after selling off Motorola”
Hot on the heels of the news that Google might be planning to offload Motorola to Lenovo comes the official announcement. Google today revealed that Lenovo plans to acquire the Motorola Mobility smartphone business for $2.91 billion. Google had acquired Motorola for a whopping 12.5 billion dollars which makes the sale price seem suspiciously low. That said, Google will retain control of Motorola Mobility’s patent portfolio which seems to have been the intention all along. Lenovo will receive a license to get access to this patent portfolio. It remains unclear if this will be an exclusive license however, Lenovo will also receive over 2,000 patent assets as well as the brand and trademark portfolio for Motorola Mobility. Continue reading “Google makes it official: sells Motorola to Lenovo for $2.91bn, retains patents”
Lenovo, the world’s no. 1 PC maker and one of the top 5 Smartphone vendors in the world, is reportedly buying out Motorola’s Mobility division from Google for close 3 billion USD, reports Reuters. With final talks between Lenovo and Google going on, Reuters adds that the Motorola mobility division is the one that makes the Moto X and the recently launched popular budget device, Moto G. Lenovo will also be getting its hands on certain patents as a part of the deal, reportedly. Google created a lot of flutter, not long ago, when it announced that it will acquire Motorola’s mobility division for a whopping 12.5 billion USD. It was assumed that the money was for all the patents, but Motorola(under Google’s leadership) announced the Moto X and the Moto G, with very few tweaks and modifications, which possibly signaled more Google intervention than ever, but it looks like that was not the case then, nor is it now.
Lenovo and Google have just made the acquisition official, read here for more details.
Continue reading “Lenovo to buy Motorola from Google for 3 billion USD”
Samsung, the world’s biggest Android manufacturer, is reportedly toning down its TouchWiz UI tweaks and own custom apps due to pressure from Google, reports re/code. Not long before, the Korean Chaebol unveiled a range of new Android devices at the Consumer Electronics Show, all featuring the company’s latest and heavily modified Touchwiz “Magazine” UX, that looked nothing like Android. And then we saw a couple more leaks of its adaptation for the mobile form factor, and even that was a drastic departure from the previous version of TouchWiz, let alone stock Android. This might have set Google off and reportedly, the two companies have come to a compromise(among many other things) in which Samsung will tone down its UI tweaks and replacement apps for Google’s services, going forward.
The image above, taken from a Ars Technica opinion piece paints a clear picture of how Samsung had its own ecosystem around Android, replacing almost every little Google service possible. It is all set to change soon.
