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Google Maps 8.2 features voice action, biking elevation

It was at the end of May this year when we saw that last significant update of Google Maps, bringing back Terrain View to the app – but today we’re seeing a bunch of new stuff being rolled out by the mothership to its primary maps software. Version 8.2 of Google Maps carries some nifty updates that should make outdoor ad biking enthusiasts happy, as well as some voice actions added into the app while in navigation.



The APK is available at the source link (bottom of the post) if you want to go ahead and install the new version. Don’t worry, the MD5 hash is digitally signed by Google and the APK will just update the Google Maps software in your device. The official rollout will most likely take days to get to you, so if you don’t want to endure the wait, go ahead and grab the APK.


The new elevation feature is pretty nice for bikers, especially if you’re the type (like me) who will want to avoid the higher elevations. If you’re a biking monster and eat up elevation like chocolate chip cookies, the feature will also be nice for you. You will basically see the elevation in a timeline view of your route, and even get comparisons of multiple routes. Nice, right?


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The voice actions is initiated by that familiar icon, and you can ask familiar questions like “how far to my destination?” and stuff like that. It also understands “what’s my next turn?”, very useful when driving in traffic and unfamiliar areas. So give it a whirl, you might enjoy Google Maps 8.2.


VIA: Android Police





Google has confirmed that Android Wear will support custom watch faces--which could be good or bad,

Google has confirmed that Android Wear will support custom watch faces—which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.


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goTenna lets you message from remote locations

Hiking. Camping. Going out of town. Gone are the days when you can just leave your mobile phone while doing any of these activities. Even if you don’t have data connection in the area you’re going to, you still need to have your smartphone with you, whether it’s for productivity or even just simple messaging. A new device called goTenna wants to make sure you can at least have messaging capability wherever you are.



With the power of Bluetooth Low Energy, a pair of goTenna devices, as well as the goTenna app itself is all you need to be able to let other people know where you are exactly. It can also share your GPS location with others, just in case there’s a possibility you get lost along the trail or the mountain. The catch is that goTenna will work if your phone is within 20 feet of the device, that’s why you need another one. As long as the two goTenna’s can talk to each other, then you’re in business.


The other thing is that the people who can receive and send your messages need to have their own goTEnna as well, and they need to be within range, which is up to 50.5 miles as per their instruction. They also recommend that to strengthen and increase the range of connection, you can go to higher ground or attach it outside your backpack and not inside. They have an interactive module on their website so you can see how far those 50 miles gets you.


The device is still not available in the retail market, but you can already pre-order it on their website for $149.99, which is 50% off the retail price. They estimate shipping to begin by this fall.


BlueGreen_Black_large emergency (2) Screenshot 2014-07-18 13.53.06


VIA: SlashGear


CM Home now in CM nightlies, not a Google Now killer

CyanogenMod has teased before that it was working on CM Home, which implements a sliding panel behavior ala Google Experience/Now Launcher. That CM Home is now starting to make its way to CyanogenMod 11 nightlies, but its early revelation seems to be drawing some conclusions that this would be CyanogenMod's Google Now killer when in truth, even according to its developers, it is far from it.



The confusion is perhaps due to the deep integration of Google Now into the Google Experience Launcher (GEL), or Google Now Launcher, that debuted in Android 4.4. The truth is that the two are two separate things. GEL's behavior, where you swipe to the leftmost homescreen to bring up a specialized panel, was already present in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) launcher but well hidden and empty. In GEL, Google integrated Google Now into that panel. The CM Home option in the latest Trebuchet enables that "search panel" as well. For now, CyanogenMod has also put Google Search into that panel, but that is not the goal and only a filler.


cm-home-1 cm-home-2 cm-home-3 cm-home-4


CM devs made it clear in follow-up Reddit comments that they are not trying to create a "Google Now killer", and they don't even plan to, considering they don't have the resources to even stand head to head with Google's machinery. But they are looking to providing something similar that lets users peek at relevant and timely information at a glance, and for this they are looking to Dashclock. Yes, they are bringing Dashclock lockscreen widgets to the homescreen, which sounds a bit absurd at first. However, Dashclock is one of the few, if not the only one, that provides API for other app developers to hook into in creating their own information or control widget for the lockscreen. It is only reasonable, then, that CM would leverage on that instead of having to write their own stuff from the ground up. A second motivation is that Dashclock users might actually need a place to put those widgets when Android L rolls out. The reason, according to CM developers, is that the new Android L lockscreen changes the rules of the lock screen, making Dashclock almost irrelevant there. Thus, CM Home could be their new home, no pun intended.


So there you have it, straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. CM Home is not an answer to Google Now, but could turn out to be an even better alternative, especially for those who want to stay clear of Google's smart, data gathering feature. That said, there is still much work to be done, particularly in expanding Dashclock's scope and API to accommodate this new use case. But with this confusion dispelled, the developers can get back to working on that instead of reading and clarifying comments on Reddit.


SOURCE: Reddit (1), (2)





cPulse LED Case lets your phone be a smart lighting device

Did you ever look at your Android phone’s backlight (that sometimes blinds your eyes when you’re in the dark) and think to yourself: “Wouldn’t this be so much better if this was LED light?” Well, some tech guys from France thought of the exact same thing and came up with cPulse, the world’s first smart LED lighting case. It can turn your phone into a cool LED lighting source, unlike any other in the market right now.



But really, what would you do with a phone that lights up like an LED board? Glad you asked. Imagine you’re sleeping in an extremely dark room. People now normally use their phones as their alarms and so you set yours the night before. As the alarm sounds off, your phone’s LED light starts flashing, giving you even more incentive to get up right? Or let’s say you’re at a party, and things are starting to get boring. You whip out your cPulse encased phone, turn on the music, and start waving the LED light around. Or the kids are bored at home and so you start an LED light shadow game.


How it works is simple. You connect the cPulse case, which has an articulated hinge, to your smartphone’s micro-USB port. Then you can download several cPulse apps from the Google Play Store, install them in your phone, and now you can enjoy the different lighting experiences it offers. You can even share the lighting file format with others who also have cPulse, just like you would any music or video file. The LED panel also has touch buttons for easier use, and the case has an external micro-USB port so you don’t have to remove it when you charge or connect to your computer. The case also serves as protection for your phone and the LED screen as well.




So if you believe that LED lighting cases are the way to go, you can head over to Kickstarter to support this project. It’s still relatively new so they only have very few backers, but you have 44 days to decide if you want to back them up.


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SOURCE: Kickstarter


Android Wear to get API for making custom watch faces

Despite having its official release and even official devices, Android Wear might still be a bit raw, untested in the wild at the very least. So it isn't surprising to learn that not everything is set in stone yet, even when it comes to the tools that developers need. The Android Wear team has just revealed that they are working on API that will make it easy for developers to create their own custom watch faces.



Google might be a little too late to the party. Ever since the Android Wear smartwatches launched, Android Wear apps started raining down, including watch faces, just like the Star Trek and Matrix themed designs we saw earlier. That said, making said smartwatch faces isn't exactly a walk in the park. It's almost akin to making your own homescreen launcher, except you need to have more considerations to keep in mind due to the special way Android Wear functions, like its information stream, battery and mute notifications, and always-on ambient mode.


It is even harder when you consider that the current API available are marked as unofficial, unreleased, and are therefore subject to change. The Android Wear dev team, however, is already hard at work in polishing up the API for a final release. And the benefits might be well worth waiting for, as the API would bring features like support for multiple form factors (think, both square and round faces), lower battery consumption, and generally a more reliable way to make faces.


To that end, Google is exhorting developers and designers to hold off from publishing their fancy sci-fi or fantasy design on Google Play Store, the reason being that the final version of the API might be totally incompatible with the experimental ones everyone seems to be using right now. Unfortunately, they also note that some of the promises of the Watch Face API won't be fulfilled until after Android Wear has been migrated to Android L, which means sometime later this year. Of course, that won't probably stop any of the current and future watch faces from coming out, both on Google Play Store or from other sources, but hopefully their developers know what they will be in for once the final API comes out.


SOURCE: +Wayne Piekarski





Select Nokia X designs to become Windows phones

It was really inevitable so it's no surprise that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote in an open letter that Nokia X phones will be discontinued. Sort of. His exact words were "select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows", hinting that some of the existing line might see themselves running Windows Phone 8.1 soon.



You don't really need both hands to count the number of Nokia X designs in existence today. There are practically only three, four if you count the dual SIM Nokia X+. So there really isn't much "selection" to be required here. But if there will be one involved, it might be the Nokia X2, which is a marked improvement over the Nokia X and XL, which looked more like prototypes when held in comparison. That said, the letter mentions "Nokia X product designs" and not exactly products, so we might be looking at Nokia Lumia phones looking like Nokia X's in the future instead.


This adoption, or "integration", of the Nokia X design into the Windows ecosystem seems to be part of Nadella's vision for affordable smartphones. After all, they were able to pull down the prices of the Nokia X down to the same level of the Lumia 520, arguably the best among the cheapest Lumia phones. A bit worrying for fans of Microsoft/Nokia's other budget line, Nadella makes no mention of Asha, which leads to speculation that this too would be on its way out.


The news comes as part of Microsoft's strategy to restructure and reimagine itself as a "productivity and platform company" under Nadella's leadership. Part of that involves further pulling in the Nokia Devices and Services division that it acquired from the Finnish company, which now still exists just as a fraction of its once glorious self. Unfortunately, that integration also means letting go of employees that will have become redundant in Microsoft's new vision of itself. Nadella says that as much as 18,000 members of their workforce will be let go in the next year, in order to make the company more agile and move faster. Talk about throwing away excess weight.


SOURCE: Microsoft

VIA: SlashGear





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