You’ve been able to use your voice (“Ok Google”) to do all sorts of stuff on Android for a while now. But said stuff has all been built-in by Google itself; third party developers haven’t really been able to tap into that functionality. Today, that changes. Read More
Siri started handling song queries when iOS 8 arrived, and now Google's voice commands recognize Shazam as a prompt to do the same on Android. That's right, Android devices now recognize the "Shazam" command, in addition to "recognize" or "name" for ...
Hello hello hello. So Dieter Bohn is on vacation. Chris Plante is in the process of moving. And Chris Ziegler is... somewhere. But fret not: Nilay Patel is here. As is Sam Sheffer (me). So we're going to do a show. This week was a big one: Microsoft held its annual Build developers conference; Facebook, Apple, and many others reported their quarterly earnings; LG announced its new flagship phone, the G4; and Secret shut down.
We'll be live a bit earlier today — 4:15PM ET / 1:15PM PT / 8:15PM GMT via the Livestream embed above. And if you miss the live show, you can always watch the replay (using the embed above) or download the audio version on iTunes. And speaking of iTunes, be sure to rate us five stars if you enjoyed the show. We'll...
Google announced today that it will begin running tests of a new way to deliver search results to mobile users with slow connections. The company’s pilot trials will initially take place in Indonesia, a country where the Internet is playing a greater role in people’s lives – especially among younger users – but is still plagued by slow mobile connection speeds,… Read More
Cyanogen and OnePlus, the companies that teamed up to make last year’s most interesting smartphone, won’t be working together anymore. What’s next for the anti-Google Android sect?
Browsing the web on your mobile is always something of a compromise between getting all the information you need and trying not to hit your mobile data limit (if indeed you have one). Chrome for iOS and Android includes a Data Saver feature you can utilize to compress files before they reach you and save yourself some megabytes.
Survey the vast landscape of Android phones you can buy, and you'll find devices of all sizes, designs, and prices. Many of them have giant screens, which are great for all the cool stuff you can do with a smartphone, like browsing the web, playing games, and making video calls. But what you won't find are phones with physical keyboards, and it can be pretty hard to type on a phone with a nearly 6-inch screen, especially with one hand.
Fortunately, for years Android has let you customize the keyboard you use, and there are countless options in the Google Play Store. You can get keyboards that let you trace, keyboards with non-standard layouts, keyboards that shrink down to tiny sizes, and keyboards that let you drop in images and emoji...
Android Wear gets dressed up, Uber plans a big move for local delivery, Pluto gets GIFed. BitStream is all the tech news and rumors you missed in the past 24 hours.
If you're looking at a wireless speaker to use in your home, chances are you're making a choice between Bluetooth or AirPlay. Wren's new V5US doesn't force you to make that choice: it supports AirPlay, Bluetooth, and Play-Fi, so you can connect iOS devices, Android devices, or any smartphone with Bluetooth to it to play your tunes wirelessly. It also looks pretty great.
The V5US is kind of like a combination of three earlier V5 models, which separately supported AirPlay, Bluetooth, and Play-Fi. It retains the same wave design, wooden enclosure, and great sound of the earlier models, while supporting more wireless connectivity options.
Wren's speakers have been praised for great sound and the V5US is no exception. It has large,...
Yesterday’s news that Microsoft will support iOS and Android apps sure was exciting. Here’s an excerpt from the press release:
“Developers wanting to bring their new and existing apps to the highly anticipated [Windows 10 OS] will soon have additional tools and options to enhance and expand their commercial opportunities. [Microsoft] today announced plans to greatly expand the application ecosystem for [Windows 10].”“[Windows 10] is an amazing [OS]. The power that we have embedded creates one of the most compelling app experiences available in a mobile computing device today,” said [Satya Nadella]. “The upcoming addition of [iOS] and Android apps for the [Windows 10 OS] on the [Windows Store] will provide our users with an even...
A key benefit of spaceships: they operate predominantly in zero-gravity environments, so they don't have to be particularly aerodynamic. Remind yourself of that as you control a ship in the shape of a 60-year-old man wearing a karate gi in Namco Bandai's new Galaga: Tekken 20th Anniversary crossover game. The mobile game, available on Android and iOS for free right now, replaces venerable arcade classic Galaga's spaceships and enemies with characters from the fighting game series.
The old man is the surprisingly fearsome Heihachi, a mainstay for the Tekken series since its inception. He's joined — in pixelated spaceship form — by spoiled heiress Lili and the dashing Claudio Serafino, a new character for Tekken 7. In terms of crossovers,...
Google is letting hardcore Android users get their hands on the roughest, rawest, most advanced version of Chrome available, making the Dev channel for Chrome on Android available to download via the Play Store. This lets experienced users and developers try out the browser's newest features on Google's mobile OS before they hit the mainstream. Casual users should be warned however, this is the equivalent of riding in a supercar before the manufacturers have checked the brakes: it might look fun, but you're going to crash. Although the Dev channel is already available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and ChromeOS, this is the first time it's been released for Android as well.
the different versions of chrome give users access to new features
F...
Microsoft had a lot on the docket for its Build developer conference today, so much that it ran just a hair under three hours. A lot of that was code demos, some third-party code demos, and even more demos that happened to involve code. But there were also some pretty exciting moments too. Things like augmented reality robots, new browsers that are not named Internet Explorer, and Microsoft giving us a look at how developers can bring over their software from Android and iOS. We've condensed these things and more into just nine minutes. If time was money and you were being paid the minimum wage, that's less than a cup of coffee in most places. And you're getting Satya Nadella to boot. Does your sad little Keurig latte offer that? Didn't...
Hangouts may be Android's star messaging app at the moment, but Google is still willing to show its original Messenger client a little TLC. The company has updated its basic Android texting app with support for quick replies from notifications. While...
It's been almost a year since home-sharing service Airbnb announced a comprehensive and far-reaching redesign across the entire company — that included a new website, new mobile apps, and a new logo. Both the site and apps put a major focus on the often-beautiful photography Airbnb uses to advertise the homes of users that are available, something that seemed like a logical translation to tablets, but Airbnb's app remained phone-only. That change today with the release of Airbnb for the iPad and Android tablets.
If you've used Airbnb at all since its redesign last July, you'll feel right at home here. After logging in, the app presents you with a nicely scrolling grid of potential destinations — right now, the first things I see are New...
We heard the rumors over and over: Android apps are coming to Windows 10. It sounded like a good way to let Windows Phone and Desktop users fill the gaps in the Windows Store—but it isn’t happening. Instead, Microsoft is making it ridiculously easy to port Android apps to the Windows Store. And everything else too: iOS apps, Win23 (desktop) applications—even websites.
At Build 2015, Microsoft offered fresh details on its vision of Windows 10 as one operating system that consumers will use across PCs, smartphones, tablets, and the Xbox One game console. Among other announcements, we learned the name of Internet Explorer's successor: Microsoft Edge. The company also revealed that Office will soon be its own platform with add-on apps running inside the productivity suite. Microsoft is also making it easier for developers to bring apps from Android and iOS to Windows on smartphones. And once again, we got a demonstration of the futuristic HoloLens headset. These are the biggest stories of Microsoft's Build 2015 conference.
Microsoft's own Joe Belfiore just unveiled the company's successor to Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, and he showed how the browser is another extension of Redmond's cross-platform ambitions. Similar to how Windows 10 supports code from Android and iOS, Edge supports browser extensions from Chrome and Firefox.
With Internet Explorer in the rearview, Microsoft clearly has its sights on the two browsers that users generally rely on while also focusing on productivity. Belfiore said onstage that Edge is "a browser that end users will think about for getting things done." Pulling that off means building in support for the extensions users already use, but modified with Edge functionality. Extensions will live in the browser toolbar....
If you're looking forward to picking up the first smartwatch from a major Swiss watchmaker, it's going to cost you. Tag Heuer will start selling its upcoming smartwatch for $1,400, as first reported by Bloomberg. The price isn't that outlandish in context — the smartwatch is reportedly based on the Tag Heuer Carrera, which starts around $1,500. While details are still scarce on Tag Heuer's smartwatch, we do know Intel will provide the chipsets and sensors, it will run Android Wear, and will be available in October or November.
According to Tag Heuer CEO Jean-Claude Biver, the upcoming smartwatch will last 40 hours, which surpasses the Apple Watch and every Android Wear smartwatch on the market. Speaking to Bloomberg, Biver said he's...
Today, as expected, Microsoft announced that developers will be able to more easily bring their Android applications to Windows devices. Developers, Microsoft said, will be able to “reuse nearly all the Java and C++ code from an Android phone app to create apps for phones running Windows 10.” Developers will also be able to recycle their Objective-C apps for iOS using new tools… Read More
Microsoft's Terry Myerson confirmed on-stage at Build what many of us suspected in the hours leading up to the event -- the company's going to make it easier for developers to bring Android apps into the Windows Store. To make this possible, Myers sa...
After months of rumors, Microsoft is revealing its plans to get mobile apps on Windows 10 today. While the company has been investigating emulating Android apps, it has settled on a different solution, or set of solutions, that will allow developers to bring their existing code to Windows 10.
iOS and Android developers will be able to port their apps and games directly to Windows universal apps, and Microsoft is enabling this with two new software development kits. On the Android side, Microsoft is enabling developers to use Java and C++ code on Windows 10, and for iOS developers they’ll be able to take advantage of their existing Objective C code. "We want to enable developers to leverage their current code and current skills to start...
So much for hopes that TAG Heuer's first smartwatch will cost less than its conventional counterparts. Jean-Claude Biver, the head of TAG's parent company LVMH, says that the Android Wear timepiece will cost about $1,400 when it ships in October or N...
Airbnb is finally rolling out an app that will enable users to browse and search its listings on a device that’s bigger than a phone, but not quite as unwieldy as a laptop. But more than that, the new app for iPad and Android tablets is designed to provide users with some inspiration for where they might want to take their next trip. Read More
