Saturday 30 May 2015

I might be too invested in iOS and Android to even consider Windows 10 Mobile

HTC Windows Phone 8X

Yesterday, I saw something out in the wild that, up until that very moment, had never happened before: I saw one. Out there, being used by someone that, I would assume, didn't have to for one reason or another, was an actual Windows Phone. I felt like I had just caught a Tasmanian Wolf out there on the streets, just hiding in plain sight. I even had to take a double take to really accept what I was looking at.



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Amazon Echo Review: The Bluetooth Speaker of the Future

The Amazon Echo is a futuristic Bluetooth speaker that features a powerful voice-assistant formally named Alexa. She's always on, always connected, and always ready to give you information.



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Friday 29 May 2015

Google's next Project Tango smartphone will be powered by a Snapdragon 810

Project Tango logo

Just days after Google opened sales of its Project Tango tablet to everyone, Qualcomm has revealed that it’s working with Google on some fresh Tango hardware.



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BlackBerry Leap review

Back in 2013, BlackBerry tried to reinvent itself with its new touch-optimized operating system, BBOS 10. It came alongside the first all-touch phone since the Storm - the Z10. But sadly, since then, it’s still the devices equipped with the physical keyboards that are selling which makes the company’s decision to launch the Leap quite intriguing.



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Project Vault is Google ATAP's secure microSD card with a processor and OS

Project Vault Google ATAP I/O 2015

Google’s shown a lot of cool things at I/O so far, including Hands Free, expanded virtual reality efforts like Expeditions, and Google Now on Tap. And now we can add to that list with Project Vault.



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Google Hands Free is a new payment service that's coming this year

Yesterday Google took the wraps off of Android Pay, it’s brand new mobile payments service that’s going to debut with Android M. Apparently that’s not the only new payment service that Google is cooking up, though.

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LG Watch Urbane Review

The LG Watch Urbane is the most premium Android Wear smartwatch on the market. For $349, it features a metal construction, leather band, and classy watch faces that quite literally shine quite thanks to the beautiful 1.3-inch P-OLED display.



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Additional Android M features uncovered, including multi-window and Auto Backup for Apps

Android M Nexus devices

When Google introduced us to Android M yesterday, it detailed six major new features that’ll debut in M, like Android Pay and granular app permissions controls. Of course, there will be more than six new features in M total, and folks are discovering what those are now that the Android M Developer Preview is available.



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Hands-on review: Google Photos

Hands-on review: Google Photos

So what is Google Photos?

Google Photos was announced at the company's Google IO 2015 event in San Francisco, and it offers photographers free, unlimited storage (with file size restrictions – see below) and the ability to see, organize and edit their photos on any device, anywhere.

It's a standalone spin-off from the Google+ Photos service, so although the basic premise is similar, you no longer have to subscribe to Google's complex and unloved social networking platform to save, show and manage your photos.

There's a heavy tie-in with mobile Android devices and the whole Google ecosphere, but this is more than just a social tool for smartphone users. Regular camera users can use Google Photos to back up, share and edit their pictures too. The process is designed to be automated, so whether you shoot pictures on your phone or add them to folders on your computer, they still end up safe and sound on Google Photos without you having to lift a finger.

Google Photos

Google Photos

There is an important limitation. You only get unlimited storage if you let Google compress and resize your photos. This is the same system used by the old Google+ Photos service – the difference here is that Google+ restricted you to images 2048 pixels wide or high (somewhere around 2-4 megapixels), whereas Google Photos raises that to 16 megapixels.

This will be fine for smartphone photographers, but if you use a DSLR or compact system camera with a sensor larger than 16 megapixels, and especially if you shoot raw files rather than JPEGs, Google Photos is not going to be a proper backup system – it'll still be useful for sharing photos and checking them out on any device, but you'll need to archive your full-res originals and raw files elsewhere.

Actually, you can upload full resolution originals, but this will count against your Google Drive allowance – this is how Google+ Photos worked too. When your Google Drive fills up you can upgrade but you have to pay.

With that in mind, it's worth remembering that Google Photos is not the only game in town. It's new for Google, but that doesn't mean no-one's done it before. See our Google Photos alternatives at the end of this story.

How it works

If you've got a Google account you can start using Google Photos right now. If you're on your computer, go to the official About Google Photos page. When you've taken it all in, you can click on the 'Go to Google Photos' button top right. If you're already logged in to your Google account, you'll see all your photos so far. If not, you'll need to log in – and if you have more than one account, choose the one to log into. Each Google account has separate photo libraries.

Google Photos

If you're on your mobile device, download the Google Photos app (it's on both Android and iOS) and use it to log in to your Google account. Now sit back and wait – and then maybe wait some more – while your mobile device and your Google Photos account figure out what to synchronize and in which direction.

If you have a lot of photos on your mobile device, you could be in for a long haul – but this initial synchronization should be a once-only process; after this, it's only new photos which will need synchronizing.

If you like, you can watch what's happening in the mobile app. Image thumbnails with no badge have been synced, those which are waiting will have a circular sync badge in the bottom right corner, and those just synced with briefly show a tick in a cloud. Nice symbolism.

That 16-megapixel limitation

All this is fine if you use your mobile device for photography, but it also works if you shoot with a regular camera and copy images across to your computer. Google has uploader apps for both Windows and Mac and you'll find the links in the left sidebar menu on your Google Photos page. Once they're downloaded, look for the 'Google Photos Backup' app.

These are not like the Android or iOS mobile apps – they're simple uploaders that prompt you go choose specific folders on your computer, for example 'Pictures' or 'Desktop'. Any photos you add to these folders will now be synchronised with your Google Photos account.

Google Photos

Google Photos

Once it was running on a test Mac, the uploader minimised to a toolbar icon and a drop-down menu for program Preferences, including the folders you want to sync (if you change your mind), the Photo size (remember, high quality and free, or full res that counts against your quota). You can also use the drop-down menu to check sync progress and view your uploaded photos – though annoyingly this will link to your main/default Google account, not necessarily the one you want to upload your photos to.

Image resizing

So is 16 megapixels enough? Actually, for a lot of photographers it will be. We tried round-tripping a 16-megapixel JPEG image from a Fuji X-T1 (3,264 x 4,896) pixels by sending it to Google Photos via the uploader (choosing the unlimited storage option, not original size), then downloaded it from Google Photos and it arrived back at exactly the same dimensions – though the file size was 4.9MB compared to the original's 6.8MB, so Google Photos clearly added some compression, even though the image dimensions stayed the same.

Trying the same trick with a 24-megapixel file from a Nikon D3200 showed the resizing effect – the version stored on Google Photos was resized from 6,016 x 4,000 pixels down to 4,905 x 3,261 pixels (yup, 16 megapixels, as promised).

Google Photos

There is an option to upload raw files as well as JPEGs, but if you go for the unlimited storage option, Google Photos will not only resize them but convert them to JPEGs too.

For that reason, Google Photos could work well as a free, unlimited backup solution if you shoot 16-megapixel JPEGs or smaller. But even if you use higher end kit, it could still be useful as a solution for showcasing and sharing your photos with a wider audience. It's also a way of having your entire photo portfolio available on your mobile device.

Google Photos in action

Your organizing and editing experience varies slightly according to whether you're viewing Google Photos on your computer or a mobile device.

On a computer, you'll be looking at them in a browser window, so you don't get the same pinch/zoom/swipe navigation you get on the mobile apps. Broadly, though, the system is the same: Google Photos uses a mixture of image metadata (using the date information embedded by all digital cameras, plus location for pictures taken on a smart device) and some clever behind-the-scenes image analysis to group your photos into themed Collections.

Google Photos

Google photos

You can select images and create your own Albums too, which sit alongside the Collections (Google needs to make these terms a bit more consistent, maybe). The website had a glitch where a new album name was displayed as 'Untitled' in the main view, even though we gave it a name – though the iOS app reported the name correctly. It's early days yet, though.

Interestingly, Google Photos also offers to make things with your photos, such as collages, from related photos, stylized photos (with image effects) and, on the iOS app, 'stories' made up from related photos again, but this time with a narrative timeline and caption boxes.

It looks as if Google may add to these 'Assistant' types in the future, so it's going to be interesting to see what comes.

There are editing tools too. Beginners can use simple auto enhancements, while more advanced users can push Light, Colour, Pop and Vignette sliders around. There's also a selection of effects filters named after planetary moons in our solar system, such as Phobos and Diemos, the two pint-sized moons of Mars.

Google Photos

These are a tiny bit disappointing, though, because they just shift the colors around. So why oh why (oh why) didn't Google link Google Photos to Google Snapseed, which already exists as a set of web tools and mobile apps? Snapseed is a fantastic image-editor and effects generator but now it's fallen into Google's hands it's being cruelly underused.

By now you may be noticing some similarities between Google Photos and Apple Photos. By 'similarities' we mean 'identicalities'. They're essentially the same thing, except that Apple Photos relies on paid storage upgrades to be of any use to anyone and is locked into the desktop Photos app, while Google Photos works on both iOS and Android and can sync any folders on your computer that you nominate.

Apple's editing tools are better and more sophisticated, but Google Photos fights back with some smart organizational tools.

Google Photos alternatives

Google Photos is a smart, fuss-free way to backup and share your photos online but it's designed primarily for casual photographers. Enthusiasts and pro photographers using higher-res cameras and shooting raw files may still find it useful, but it won't be a proper backup solution.

And there are some other very good online storage & sharing sites already out there. We've already mentioned Apple Photos, which isn't the best for keen photographers, but there are others which could fit the bill rather well.

Google Photos

Dropbox offers fairly basic photo organizing and viewing tools, but it's the perfect solution for no-frills online backup and sharing – as long as you don't mind paying for storage. The Dropbox Pro plan currently comes with 1Tb storage, and that's enough for a pretty big image library, even one containing lots of raw files.

And then there's SmugMug, another paid-for service which can organize and showcase unlimited JPEG images at their full resolution, with custom web page designs and controllable privacy options for different galleries. SmugMug is currently 'transitioning' its raw file support so it's not quite clear how this will pan out yet.

Or, if you've signed up for Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan, you can synchronize Lightroom Collections with mobile Lightroom apps where you can also apply simple edits and ratings which are synced back to the desktop version. Online storage is limited, though, so currently this is a sharing/mobile editing tool rather than a large-scale backup solution.

Finally, don't forget Flickr. Although it's designed primarily for sharing and social interaction you can control the privacy settings and use it as an archiving/synchronizing tool for your own benefit. You get 1Tb of free storage, which is good, but although Flickr won't stop you trying to upload raw files, it will convert them to JPEGs.

It all depends on which photography 'ecosystem' looks like it might suit you best and which tools you use already.










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With debut of Android Pay, a new version of Google Wallet is being made

Android Pay announcement I/O 2015

Yesterday Google announced Android Pay, its new mobile payment initiative. Of course, Android Pay isn’t Google’s first mobile payments effort, with Google Wallet having launched way back in May 2011. However, just because Android Pay is coming to take on mobile payments, that doesn’t mean that Google Wallet is going away completely.



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Apple shares temporary fix for text message crash bug as it's found to affect other apps

iPhone 6 Plus landscape home screen

Earlier this week, it was discovered that a specific string of characters could crash an iPhone and cause problems for the user’s Messages app. Apple has said that it’s working on a software update to fix the problem, but until then, it’s published a temporary fix for anyone affected.



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Android M will come to the HTC One M9, One M9+

HTC One M9 hands on large

Now that Android M is official, the question on the minds of many Android device owners is, “Will my phone get it?” We’ll likely get many answers to that question in the coming months, but today we can definitively answer “Yes” for owners of two HTC models.



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ZTE Overture 2 lands at Cricket with a 4.5-inch display, Android 5.0

ZTE Overture 2 Cricket Wireless large

Two years after the ZTE Overture launched at Aio Wireless, its successor has launched at Cricket Wireless (which Aio became part of when AT&T bought Cricket).



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Thursday 28 May 2015

Android M Developer Preview will receive OTA updates over the coming months

Android M Nexus devices

Google today launched the Android M Developer Preview, allowing owners of select Nexus devices the opportunity to get an early taste of the next major Android update. Now it’s been revealed that those folks that decided to pull the Android M trigger will get updated versions on a monthly basis.



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Google's Inbox email app now open to all, gains Undo Send and more new features

Inbox by Gmail Android

Google launched Inbox, its new email app, using an invitation-based system back in October 2014. Folks scrambled to get invites in the following months to give Inbox a try, but if you never managed to get one, you can now give up your hunt.



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Are you impressed with Android M?

Android M

Android has always been an incredibly advanced piece of software, and Google aims every year to push it even further into the future, lacing it with features that makes it stand out against the competition. This year isn’t any different. It’s already been a few hours since Google’s I/O 2015 keynote wrapped up, but I’m still looking over these new features and wondering: Will this make people switch?



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Android M Developer Preview includes a new easter egg

Android M Developer Preview devices

With each new version of Android comes a new easter egg for folks to mess with in the Settings app. Android M is no different, and so it should come as no surprise that hours within the launch of the Android M Developer Preview, the new M easter egg was found.



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Top 8 Features of Android Wear 5.1.1

Beau HD highlights eight of the new improvements and features found in Android Wear version 5.1.1 running on the LG Watch Urbane. While the LG Watch Urbane is the first Android Wear powered smartwatch to receive this update, the Moto 360, Sony Smartwatch 3, LG G Watch R, and others will receive the update within the next few months.



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