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Google Chrome Apps for iOS and Android are coming

Google Chrome apps for iOS and Android are coming, as the company has just quietly unveiled, in its Chromium blog, that it is finally ready to extend the reach of Chrome apps to mobile platforms. It was previously rumoured to happen, but Google remained quiet even after the news spread fast. But now that it’s official, it is seen as a landmark announcement, as this might be a strategic move for all things Google, going forward. With Chromebooks gaining ground in the notebook space, thanks to several OEMs backing it up with some really interesting products, Google is now taking the bustling platform to mobile. This is a move that the whole industry has been expecting, ever since Google replaced Andy Rubin with Sundar Pichai, the Chrome boss at the Mountain View company. Having developed a tool chain for packaging Chrome apps into native shells for both iOS and Android, this Google-blessed offering will be a dream come true for many developers.

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Google Glass now more socially acceptable with new shades, Titanium frames and prescription lenses

Google Glass, the futuristic HUD-like wearable device from the Mountain View company has been doing its rounds in the form of the Explorer Edition. We had unboxed it a while ago, and we gotta say that it really is something special that offers a glimpse of the future and the advanced present, perhaps. But ever since I saw it up close, I really really wanted to try it out and put it to good use, but haven’t been able to, mainly because it lacked any kind of prescription lens support. Yes, I wear spectacles to compensate for my poor vision, and that is what one exactly gets when using Glass without prescription lenses, it’s a blurry mess. It was the single loudest complaint from many explorers alike, and finally, we have a solution. Google has just unveiled a new range of light weight Titanium frames that can support prescription lenses, and all of them are pictured above. If that is not enough, here is a video showing off the same –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eneEmDtSvzI

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Red Nexus 5 surfaces in UK, expected to launch soon

Red Nexus 5 leak

Google released the Nexus 5 in Black and White colors back in October last year, which was officially launchedin India in November. A Twitter user@ artyomstar has posted images of a huge pile of Nexus 5 in hot Red color. According to the user, the images are taken at a LG warehouse in UK.

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Samsung, Google sign a 10-year patent agreement

samsung_logo1

Samsung and Google has signed a 10 year global patent cross-license agreement that would cover technologies and business areas. This will strengthen their patent position against patent infringement against other, especially Apple. Back in 2012, Samsung paid $1.05 billion to Apple in damages for infringing several patents owned by Apple. Continue reading “Samsung, Google sign a 10-year patent agreement”

Google Nexus 8 powered by Intel Atom processor rumored for 2014

Google Nexus 7 (2013) is an affordable tablet, but it definitely isn’t the most affordable one right now and that is shifting the buyers to more budget friendly options. Google Nexus 7 (2013) is nearly 6 months old and we are hearing rumors that Google is already working on the next generation Nexus tablets. The rumored Google Nexus 8 will have a 8inch display and is likely to be powered by Intel’s Bay Trail processor.

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Google Fitness API shows up in code leak

As sensor technology becomes ever more sophisticated, wearables and health related use cases are becoming ever more prevalent for smartphones. With Android 4.4 KitKat, Google introduced support for persistent pedometer data capture to the operating system thereby enabling application that can track the distance that you walk daily. However this isn’t sufficient for avid fitness buffs and it seems that Google might be working on a more robust offering. Continue reading “Google Fitness API shows up in code leak”

Motorola Moto G Google Play Edition announced

moto-g-google-play-edition

In somewhat of a bizarre announcement, Google just made the Moto G Google Play edition available in the US and several other countries’ Play Stores. Unfortunately, it says “not available in your country” for India, so we might have to wait a bit longer to get the Moto G here. But here’s the thing, Google has just announced a Play Edition of a device that already got fast updates and has a stock interface. From our understanding, the Moto G Google Play Edition will not carry any of Motorola’s additions(which are few already) and will get updates at the same time as other Play Edition devices. These are the only two things that are possibly different with the Google Play Edition of the super “value for money” Moto G. It is available for order on the Play Store for a price of $179, unlocked and the 16GB version costs $199.

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LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition Photo Gallery

LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition-2

Google and LG partnered to launch the LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition back in December. We already unboxed the tablet and also brought you the Benchmarks, here we have the photo gallery of the tablet. It is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor clocked at 1.7 GHz with Adreno 320 GPU and packs 2GB of LPDDR2 RAM, similar to the global variant of the LG G Pad 8.3. Continue reading “LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition Photo Gallery”

Google acquires Timely Android Alarm Clock app maker Bitspin

Bitspin Timely

After several reports, Bitspin has confirmed that Google has indeed acquired the markers of Timely alarm clock app for Android. It also announced that the app is now free forever, including in-app purchases. It would work with Google to build new apps. These companies did not reveal the price of the deal. Continue reading “Google acquires Timely Android Alarm Clock app maker Bitspin”

LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition Unboxing

LG is the company that is currently producing Google’s Nexus smartphones, but Google’s Nexus tablets are produced by Asus. So LG has decided to work with Google to bring the best of their tablet offerings – LG G Pad 8.3 as a Google Play Edition. So, today we have the LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition for unboxing and you can check out the video right below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAjAipVi6Vw

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Google, Audi to announce Android-Based in-car infotainment system at CES 2014, says WSJ

Audi Concept

Apple introduced iOS in the car back in June 2013 for iPhone screen mirroring on compatible in-car displays. Google would partner with Audi to develop in-car entertainment and information systems based on Android, reports WSJ. The partnership is expected to be announced at the CES 2014 in Las Vegas next week. Audi is also expected to demonstrate new technologies that allow cars to drive themselves in certain situations and for short periods, and is expected to announce the roadmap of new models that would arrive in the next four or five years, the report adds. Continue reading “Google, Audi to announce Android-Based in-car infotainment system at CES 2014, says WSJ”

Google Nexus 5 with Android 4.4.2 – Is the camera better?

Very recently, Google had announced the Android 4.4.1 update to fix the Nexus 5’s camera. The update was quickly superseded with the 4.4.2 update that brought in more fixes and was directly delivered to all 4.4 users. We had reviewed the Nexus 5 initially, and found it to offer good pictures only in the HDR+ mode and not the normal mode which produced average pictures with warm saturated colours. Google says they have fixed that with the 4.4.2 update, with improved autofocus times and general overall speediness that will hopefully reduce the shot-to-shot time. Well, does it? We find out, in this video below –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ASwFFKftP8

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Google Glass Unboxing in India

google-glass-explorer-edition-unboxing-16

We are lucky to have Google Glass at the FoneArena for an unboxing. We have managed to get hold of a Google Glass Explorer Edition 2013 version and we are bringing you the first ever unboxing of this innovative product in India. Watch the full unboxing below.Google Glass is probably one of most innovative products from Google and it was publicly announced at the Google IO developer conference in 2012. It is currently available only in the US on a invite only basis for a 1500 USD. Thanks to some of our friends who made this possible! Watch the unboxing below and make sure to subscribe to our channel and newsletter , we have some exciting stuff planned around Glass!

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iPad mini with Retina display vs Nexus 7 2013 Photo Gallery

Google and Apple haven’t really considered India as a potential market in the previous years, but things are changing pretty soon as all the products are arriving pretty soon in India. Google launched the latest Nexus 7 2013 sometime in July and the product has been available in India for nearly a month. On the other hand, the iPad mini with Retina display has been just launched. Both the tablets are in the second iteration and have amazing high resolution displays.

ipad-mini-retina-display-vsnexus-7-2013-photo-gallery-3 Continue reading “iPad mini with Retina display vs Nexus 7 2013 Photo Gallery”

Round 2 – Google Nexus 5 vs Sony Xperia Z1 #SmartFone13

Round 2 of the SmartFone 2013 championship had begun yesterday with a really close competition between the LG G2 vs Nokia Lumia 1020, and today it’s the turn of Google Nexus 5 and the Sony Xperia Z1 to fight it out in our battleground. After winning massively over the iPhone 5s, the Nexus 5 is in contention with the Xperia Z1 which initially trailed so close with the Note 3 and later pulled a massive lead out of the hat. Both these devices are flagships and have their own advantages and disadvantages, so which one do you want to vote for? Time to decide!

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