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Blackberry updating BBM to allow for larger file sharing, bigger emoticons

Are you a BBM user? If you are, an incoming update might just make you smile. According to Blackberry, they’re making some important updates to BBM, offering larger file sharing and new features for group chats. Though still not a world-beating messaging service, these tweaks bring BBM closer to their peers when it comes to being a fully functioning messaging app.



BBM users will soon ahve the ability to share photos in a multi-person chat. This has been a function we’d long wondered about, and Blackberry says it’s one of their most requested features. The file size for sharing is also being bumped from 6MB to 16MB. That should help when you’re sending big pictures, or want to attach an Instagram-sized video.


If you like your emoticons, Blackberry promises the update will make those bigger, too. Though they didn’t detail just how much bigger emoticons would or wouldn’t be, they are bumping the size. That will make older eyes happy.


There is also no timetable for release of this update, but we anticipate it coming pretty soon. An announcement is usually a precursor to rollout shortly thereafter, but with Blackberry, you never know. They had issues releasing the app proper, pulling it from the Play Store shortly after release. While these are needed tweaks for BBM, they still don’t bring the messaging service quite up to par with the likes of Google’s Hangouts. Incoming BBM features have long been a staple of Google’s messaging platform.


Source: Blackberry

Via: Engadget





Android Community Weekly Wrap-Up for March 1, 2014

This time last week we were looking forward to seeing what would come out of Mobile World Congress. We were still trying to decipher what would end up having been rumor and speculation, and what would actually come to be. As it turned out, the announcements were plentiful, including some from HTC, Samsung, Lenovo, Sony, and Nokia.



The travel time for the Android Community team has come to an end, and we've had some time to do a bit more thinking about the announcements. Nate hit the highlights from the show earlier in the week, just as we were getting ready to board the plane and fly back stateside, so instead of rehashing those thoughts, we'll simply point you to that post (just in case you missed it the first time around).


We do want to touch briefly on Nokia though. Based on rumors we were expecting to see the Nokia X, an Android handset. Nokia surprised us with another model, the bigger X, however we aren't entirely convinced this is what everyone had been hoping and waiting for. Having spent some hands-on time with both models of the X during the show we can say this -- the hardware is nice, and we look forward to spending a bit more quality time with both of those devices.


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The catch here, we aren't convinced these are the Nokia Android devices anyone had really been hoping to see. Taking a line from Star Wars IV: A New Hope, we are reminded of the Ben "Obi-Wan" Kenobi line about how "These aren't the droids you're looking for." Trying to stay positive though, while we suspect these may not be the Nokia Android handsets everyone had been waiting for, we are rather curious to see the crowd reaction once they begin to arrive in the public space.


Otherwise, on the topic of Mobile World Congress announcements -- what we saw were nice steps. Sony had some good stuff, as well Samsung. And HTC introduced the Desire 816, a mid-range flagship. The Galaxy S5 is a nice iteration from the Galaxy S4, but it may not be a device lots of people feel they simply must have immediately. Needless to say, Samsung will likely still sell many millions.


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The other was Lenovo, and while their tablet, the Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ wasn't anything different to see -- as compared to the previous model Yoga Tablet 10 - they did seem to upgrade the key components. To that point, we look back to our original Yoga Tablet review, and then look to this new model -- Lenovo hit the highlights including the display and processing power. This Lenovo tablet sure has a unique look, one that took us back initially, but it proved to be a nice user experience for many reasons. We look forward to testing the 10 HD+ in the not to distant future.


Looking outside Mobile World Congress coverage and some of the highlights included the Samsung 64-bit chipset news, talk of a Google Play Services update that will deal with malware, the Google+ image editing, the Google Now launcher, and the possibility of a Motorola smartwatch coming later in the year.


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We are also going to do a bit of teasing here. We traveled with a Kindle Fire HDX (for in-flight entertainment) and have some thoughts on that, as well, some additional thoughts on the Omate TrueSmart. We have a review upcoming for the Garmin Vivofit, and a newly announced handset from LG. We also promised, and will deliver some further thoughts on the SCOTTEVEST gear we spent a week wearing in Barcelona.





Omate TrueSmart: out running

We have to remember one thing when talking about any gadget -- just because you may hate it, that doesn't mean it isn't a perfect device for someone else. While some may criticize smartwatches, or the Omate TrueSmart in particular, I am thinking it may be a good running partner. It is a bit early to get super excited here, however I did take the TrueSmart out for its first run this morning. And at risk of offer the spoiler in the beginning, it seems to have performed rather well.



First though, something needs to be said. As we learned a while back, the TrueSmart does not ship with the Google Play Store. That brings this, my usage from earlier today was solely dependent on having already installed the Play Store on the watch. I will talk about that process in future posts, but suffice to say, the Play Store can be run (rather easily, and with success) on the TrueSmart.


Anyway, one thing you'll likely learn about me -- I am a runner. Because I often run distances that take me well away from my home, I prefer to run with a smartphone for emergencies. Also, that same smartphone provides me with entertainment through DoggCatcher and Audible, and also tracks my runs with RunKeeper. Those apps, amongst others, have all been installed on my TrueSmart.


A bit about the experience from this mornings run though. The watch has an AT&T StraightTalk SIM, and when I set out for the run the watch was fully charged. The SIM was active, in that mobile data was on. Also, Bluetooth and GPS were turned on. The watch was paired with the Jabra Sport Wireless Plus headphones, and I listened to an audiobook that had been downloaded to the watch. The GPS, obviously, was active for the purpose of using RunKeeper.


Bottom line here, the Bluetooth experience was solid and RunKeeper tracked my entire run without issue. Perhaps key here, the battery life. As mentioned, the battery began at 100 percent. The end had the battery sitting at 72 percent, and for reference, this was for a run that lasted 1 hour and 7 minutes. Again, this may not be the watch for everyone, but for the purpose of this post I am looking at the Omate TrueSmart as a replacement to some of the current devices specifically being targeted towards runners.





Nokia X rooted, now has flashed ROM and proper Google apps

What’s the saying? Oh yeah: You can lead a Developer to a smartphone, but you can’t make them use the weird OS you put on it. That goes for any device, and the newest “Android” handset, the Nokia X, has already been rooted and flashed with a custom ROM.



Who’s got these things already, you ask? Developers, of course. The Developer-only (for now) Nokia X devices have already been shipped, and giving Developers a device means they’re going to tinker. Using Framaroot, one Developer has easily made the Nokia X their own. Sounds ho-hum, save for one thing: Google Services.


The Nokia X does not ship with Google services, meaning buyers lose out on all sorts of things that make Android great like Maps or Search. The current method of providing apps to the Nokia X is for Developers to submit their Android apps to the Nokia store, which Nokia says can usually be done without any rewriting of code. Third party apps are great, but some just can’t stack up to Google’s offerings.


While the Nokia X doesn’t pack much in the way of specs, we find a different reason to raise an eyebrow here. First, we love a good root story. More importantly, if KitKat is really meant to be optimized for lower-end devices, what better example than the Nokia X? We’re hoping a root/KitKat duo will show us just how low KitKat can really go. At 512MB memory and 4GB Memory with a 1GHz Snapdragon, the bar is set really low.


Source: XDA Developers

Via: Ubergizmo





How to: load widgets with the Google Now Launcher

For those of you who have upgraded to the new Google Now Launcher, you’ll notice some things have changed quite a bit. A swipe to the left will get you right into Google Now, and you no longer have five screens by default. One thing we’ve been asked quite a bit is where the widgets are. Moved from settings, widgets are now right up front — sort of.



Widgets can be found in different places, depending on your device. The HTC One is a touch different, for instance, but finding widgets there isn’t too hard. More often than not, the widgets are housed with the apps in the app drawer. In stock Android, there is a section in the app drawer just for widgets — but the Google Now Launcher changed all that.


Getting widgets is still really easy, though. All you have to do is long press on any screen, like you would to change the wallpaper. From there, a menu will pop up, and you see the widgets option front and center (literally). Selecting that button will bring you to the widgets menu, and away you go.


This is pretty simple, but there have been several questions on where widgets are housed in the new launcher, leading us to write this. We will admit that, in loading the launcher onto a new device, Google didn't provide a solid walkthrough of where stuff was. The new launcher just rebranded our device anew, removing all the widgets and such we’d placed so carefully. If you had the same experience, but didn’t know how to get your stuff back on the screen, this should help!





New video shows Samsung Galaxy S5 settings icons are flatter, brighter

Samsung’s interface has changed with the Galaxy S5, bringing in a flatter appearance. The icons in the settings menu have been altered, and the look might be polarizing. While flat may be the new black when it comes to user interface, we’re not sure everyone is going to like Samsung’s take.



Via SlashGear, we see that Samsung’s new TouchWiz settings flair is, as we said, flatter. The icons are simple, clean, and easy to read. There colors pop, and the plain white outline of the utility it fronts is plain to see. From a point of being new, Samsung has done a good job in going a wholly new direction with their settings icons.


On the other hand, it’s all really simple. We don’t want to cheapen the experience, but some we’ve shown this to say the icons are almost child-like. They’re laid out effectively, though, falling into categories rather than a bulk list of icons. In some ways, it looks a bit too simple. In others, it could be considered subtly brilliant.


We’ve long felt TouchWiz needs an update, and we won’t say this one is necessarily bad. It will have it’s detractors, but everything does, right? We do like that Samsung took the liberty of changing the quick launch settings icons, too. We’ll see those a lot more than system settings, and we think it adds a nice little update for the Galaxy S5.









Survey: Less than 1% of mobile gamers make up 50% of spending

Do you play games on your tablet or smartphone? If you do (and we’re willing to bet you do), a new study shows you’re probably not spending anything. If you are making in-app purchases or buying apps, you’re likely doing it quite a bit, as less than 1% of us comprise 50% of total spending.



Swrve, an analytics and app marketing firm, recently conducted a survey. In that study they found that a small percentage of us were responsible for the majority of spending, and we probably make a monthly purchase of some kind. Around 49% of us make a purchase monthly, while 13% make five or more purchases each month.


When it comes to making those purchases, we’re as addicted to spending as we are the game. The average time between the first and second purchase is just under two hours. Over half (53%) of us will make another buy within two weeks, while 13.7% rack up more than four purchases in their first two weeks. So how much are we spending? the average in-app purchase is $5.94. Purchases between $1-5 make up about 67% of spending, but purchases of $50 or more make up just under 1%. That helps bring the average up and revenue flowing; 9% of all revenue is from those massive purchases.


Swrve is going to make these “Mobile Game Monetization Reports” avaialble monthly from now on. This was their first, and it brings to light some interesting statistics about our spending habits. We’l look forward to finding out how 1% of us are going broke playing Clash of Clans over the course of 2014.


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Source: Venture Beat





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