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Fleksy updated with Arabic keyboard and announces Chinese Beta

Having received over 100,000 requests from users to come up with additional languages for their virtual keyboard, Fleksy announced the release of the Beta versions of their Arabic keyboard and the beta sign-up for the Chinese language version. This comes after the release of Fleksy 3.0 just a few weeks ago, which brought a redesigned new-look for the app and the addition of even more languages.



According to co-founder and CEO Kosta Eleftheriou because they are committed to listening to their customers, this new release of the Arabic Beta goes to show that “our technology can be applied to any language” to bring a better and more unique typing experience to people from all over the world. He also added that the release of the Chinese version will also be “highly anticipated.” The demo version was tried on, of course, a Chinese smartphone, the brand new Xiaomi Mi3. Fleksy expects that their user base among those who speak Chinese will considerably grow once they’ve released the beta version.


Just two weeks ago, version 3.0 was released, with a brand new design, including a “Jet Black” look that took it down “to the pixel level”, as well as 17 new languages (including Albanian, Catalan, Croatian, Hebrew, Lithuanian, Norwegian and Tagalog). There were also new customisation options available at the Fleksy store, including new themes as well. This latest update also includes 4 new themes: Sun Kiss, Key Lime, Sunflower and Blood Red.


fleksy-keyboard


While the Chinese beta is still not available, you can already register so you’ll be one of the first to know when it’s released. You can download Fleksy from the Google Play Store, which already includes the Arabic Beta version.


SOURCE: Fleksy





Samsung Galaxy Alpha shows up at FCC, launch imminent

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha – at least, that’s the code name given to it at this point – has made an appearance at the FCC, giving credence to rumors that it might just be launched beside the Galaxy Note 4 at IFA 2014 in Berlin. Will this be the new Samsung flagship device? There is a probability that it might actually be that.



According to the FCC documents we’ve seen, the Galaxy Alpha will measure 133 x 67 mm, a little bit smaller than the current flagship the Samsung Galaxy S5. The phone will also be handier than the current flagship, with a 4.7-inch screen. So “ix nay” on the idea that Samsung is making screens larger and larger – although there is this monstrosity right here.


galaxy_alpha_leak


According to earlier leaks, this new smartphone will probably run Android 4.4.4 Kitkat out of the box – it doesn’t make any sense for it not to, especially when you remember that this is supposed to be running a monster Exynos 5433 octacore processor, and have 2GB or RAM.


So on to IFA 2014, and all the gadget goodness it brings. Stick around for next month – Samsung is reportedly launching the Galaxy Alpha and the Note 4 a few days before IFA 2014 officially opens. We will bring you all the juicy details as they are made public, so again – watch this space.


VIA: SlashGear





HTC One M8′s Duo Cam now allows others to refocus your photos

Have you ever felt the need to edit photos when viewing someone else’s gallery because you wanted to focus on something else in the photo? HTC One M8 and its Duo Cam technology now allows you to do something like that to a certain extent with their newest feature, social editing. This means your friends and loved ones who have access to photos taken with the Duo Cam can now tweak it according to what they want to actually look at in your picture.



The Duo Cam system of HTC’s flagship phone uses a secondary camera to support the main rear-facing one. It is a lower-resolution sensor that is slightly offset with the main camera so it is able to capture the deeper depth when taking pictures that have many elements. It also allows users to make Lytro-style focus changes even when the picture has been taken already with its UFocus feature. The Foregrounder effect meanwhile lets you change the main subject of the photo, therefore changing the effect of the overall picture as well. The Dimension Plus feature pans and tilts within the picture itself in a 3D version of the frame. You can save the photo from whatever angle you want after you’ve changed the view.


When the Duo Cam system was revealed in HTC One M8, only the photographer himself could use these effects if he’s not satisfied with the one he took. But now other users can also do so. The photo is uploaded to the Google Drive and is shared through a browser-based version of the HTC Gallery app where your friends can now tweak the photos to their heart’s (eyes’) desire.


one-m8-share

However, if you’d like to keep your photos as it is without the interference of your (nosy) well-meaning friends, you can choose not to upload it to the Gallery. You have the option of just sharing the photo through any social network and of course, this cannot be adjusted by other people anymore. You can download the HTC Gallery app through the Google Play Store.


VIA: SlashGear


Verizon has added its push-to-talk service to Android phones, so now for $5 a month you can use (one

Verizon has added its push-to-talk service to Android phones, so now for $5 a month you can use (one of a range of selected) Android handsets as a walkie-talkie. If you sign up right now, you can try it for free for 6 months.


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Google Fit SDK preview launched to give devs a head start

As promised at Google I/O 2014 late last June, Google is kicking off its own Android-based fitness platform. And with the new Google Fit SDK, now available in preview form, developers will be able to harness a single set of API to communicate with health-related sensors, and of course access the entire fitness history of the user stored on the device.



As early as January, Google has been discovered to be preparing fitness API in preparation for its wearables thrust. Android Wear did become reality and yet that API was nowhere to be seen. At least until now. Google's Fit SDK announcement reveals the company's vision for fitness applications beyond smartphones and even wearables. Mentioned in its list of possible devices include heart rate monitors as well connected "smart" weighing scales. For now, though, Google Fit's focus in on Android on smartphones (and maybe tablets), Android Wear on wearables (particularly smartwatches), and the Web.


There are three sets of APIs included in Google Fit. The Sensors API is a convenient way for apps to talk to sensors found in the device, registering as a recipient of sensor data at given intervals. The Recording API is a way for apps to direct Fit to record fitness data for later use. It will be Google Fit that will take charge of the data collection so that apps won't have to think much about it. Finally, the History API gives apps access to that fitness data collected by fit, both with read and write (insert, delete) access.


google-fit-2


For developers, Google Fit gives them a set of convenience API that is guaranteed to work on any Fit-compliant device. For users, this might be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it means that all their fitness data is located in one place, available for any authorized app of their choice to access. On the other hand, it means that all their fitness data is located in one place, a single point of failure or vulnerability. Expect Google Fit in its final form to launch later this year, with the roll out of an updated Google Play Services and most likely with Android L, or whatever its name will be by then.


SOURCE: Google


OneDrive now available on Kindle Fire and Fire phone

As Amazon continues to establish its prowess in the Android gadget market, Microsoft is making sure that their productivity services will also be available in those devices. They announced today that their cloud storage app OneDrive is also now available for both the Kindle Fire and the Fire phone, following the earlier rollout of the OneNote app for the Amazon devices.



The availability of OneDrive on the Kindle Android gadgets means users can now store and access their documents, pictures and files that are located in Microsoft’s cloud service. Just last month, they upped their free storage to 15GB and 1TB for Office 365 subscribers, with the option of increasing it to 100GB or 200GB but for a monthly fee of course. Having all of these files available on your Kindle devices means you can work wherever you are, without needing to open a desktop or laptop, as long as you have connectivity.


Just a few weeks ago as well, Microsoft also announced that OneNote, their official note-taking app is also now available for Kindle Fire and Fire phone. With the integration of these two app services, the Kindle devices can also now add productivity to its primary purposes. Although there are other note-taking and cloud service apps available at the Amazon App Store, they of course lack the seamless integration of OneDrive and OneNote and probably more Microsoft products in the future.


OneDrive can now be found in most of the major platforms - desktops, Macs and PCs, iOS, Windows devices, Android and of course now, Kindle Android products. You can download the app from the Amazon app store and just log in using your Microsoft credentials.


SOURCE: Microsoft





Updated Android L Developer Preview Images for the Nexus 5 and 7

Android L Developer Preview Update

It’s now been approximately two months since Google I/O 2014. While the Mountain View giant talked about quite a few new technologies and releases during the conference, most of us here at XDA-Developers were undoubtedly most excited about Android L and the associated Developer Preview images for the Nexus 5 (hammerhead) and the WiFi-only edition of the Nexus 7-2013 (razor).


Now two months later, we’ve all gotten a better taste of what Android L brings to the table, as well as certain bugs and other miscellaneous issues that have cropped up along the way. But rather than keep us all waiting for the official Fall release, Google has seen fit to update the developer preview images for these two devices.


These new updated images for both devices come in at build number LPV81C, and they are available for download and manual install directly on the Android L Developer Preview Site.


Unfortunately for those already running the previous dev preview release, there is no OTA rolling out at this time. Instead, the only officially supported means of installing these updated images is to manually flash them–wiping your data in the process. However, if you already have the original preview released and you wish to manually flash the images, you can do so using fastboot flash system system.img. But if you upgrade this way, don’t be too surprised if you encounter a few additional bugs here and there due to app data incompatibilities.


[Source: Android L Developer Preview]


The post Updated Android L Developer Preview Images for the Nexus 5 and 7 appeared first on xda-developers.


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