Inbox by Gmail gives you another way to look at email

There are some that would have us believe that email is passé and is due an overhaul, if not a replacement, and perhaps to some extent they might be right. But for those who live in their virtual inboxes, that isn't even an option, Luckily for them, Google, whose business happens to be beholden to email, is a staunch ally. It has come up with a new app simply called Inbox that turns the age old email into something more dynamic, more personal, and even more productive.

There are four crucial features of Inbox, the first two of which might be familiar to the more dedicated users of Gmail. Bundles builds up on the labels and categories that Gmail already has implemented. In a nutshell, it automatically groups emails into sorting bins so that you don't get immediately overloaded by your massive Inbox list. A few pre-made bundles are available from the get go, but you are completely free to create your own and to move emails in and out of bundles. To help you even better weed out the important emails, Inbox offers Highlights, which puts the most important or urgent emails front and center. Inbox even offers additional information scoured from the web that are related to that critical email, like flight and delivery schedules.

Some people have turned their inboxes into something more than just for emails, lumping even todo items and reminders in there as well. While some productivity gurus might frown on that practice, Inbox tries to accommodate everyone's workflows. If you want to add such items in your inbox, there's a dedicated action for that as well. To go with that feature, Inbox allows you to snooze your emails, and todos, temporarily banishing them from your inbox until an appropriate time, a popular feature based on feedback from apps like Boomerang or Mailbox from Dropbox. Somewhat related to this, you can pin emails and todos in your Inbox so that they remain visible even after you've cleared your Inbox, akin to archiving mail in Gmail.

Inbox doesn't supplant Gmail and in fact works only with Gmail accounts, hopefully something that Google will eventually open up to others. It is currently invite only though Google hasn't given a clue when it will be available to the public. Inbox by Gmail doesn't exactly revolutionize email as we know it, which is probably just fine for many email users. It does, however, give a new way to get those emails under control and keep them from running, and ruining, our lives.

SOURCE: Google

XDA Xposed Tuesday: XHangouts Will Improve Your Hangouts

Ever since Google started supporting text messaging in Hangouts many people have changed over. However, there are many people who still gripe that MMS is a pain at times. Additionally, Hangouts, like most Google apps, tries to tell you which is best, so changing button actions an preferences is not always easy.

In this episode of XDA Xposed Tuesday, XDA TV Producer TK reviews an Xposed Module that lets you change your Hangouts preferences. XDA Senior Member Kevin M created the XHangouts module. TK shows off the modules and gives his thoughts, so check out this Xposed Tuesday video.

Be sure to check out other great XDA TV Videos

• XDA Xposed Tuesday: No Map Tips with Google Maps – XDA TV


• XDA Xposed Tuesday: Don’t Get Down with OBB on Your Internal Memory


• XDA Xposed Tuesday: Modify Your Volume Control


• XDA Xposed Tuesday: How to Shut Up Your Phone – XDA Developer TV


• XDA Xposed Tuesday: DonkeyGuard, Don’t Be a Donkey, Control Your Device – XDA Developer TV


• Android Basics 101: Understanding Xposed Framework – XDA Developer TV


• App Development: Xposed Framework for Android – XDA Developer TV

The post XDA Xposed Tuesday: XHangouts Will Improve Your Hangouts appeared first on xda-developers.

Cell Phones : [ Galaxy Universal Vehicle Navigation Mount ] Galaxy Universal Vehicle Navigation Mount

**Compatible with Samsung smartphones with screen sizes between 4.0 and 6.3 in. **







The Samsung Universal Vehicle Navigation Mount lets you take the brilliance of your Samsung smartphone along for the ride! The custom fitted cradle holds the handset securely during long rides. Attach it to a windshield or dashboard and adjust the multi-angle neck for perfect viewing. GPS capabilities are optimized with navigation applications but that’s just the beginning with the endless Android® apps available. With your hands safely on the steering wheel, experience the convenience of powerful, voice-activated Android applications like S Voice. Your Samsung smartphone and Vehicle Navigation Mount duo is truly brilliance on the go. (Fits handsets with 4.0" - 6.3" screens)

Sim City ventures into city building with Build It app

Who among us have never enjoyed a SIMs game (and maybe you still are addicted to it!) or an entertaining-at-the-start-but-might-get-repetitive-eventually city building game? A new game from EA combines the best of both worlds as they soft launch SIM City Build It, which is what its name says it is. You get to build a whole city from the ground up, but without the complication of having your (sometimes annoying) sims around and you do it from the convenience of your mobile device.

It looks like it and it feels like it, but it is definitely not a straight-up mobile version of the sim city game. At least, not yet. It is simply a city building game where you get to place roads, buildings, water works, the whole urban planning shebang, but without any simulation or drama from characters. You play it just like you would any other city building game on Android, but with the visual style of the most recent Sim City PC game, complete with a full out 360 degree 3D view of the city, which you can zoom in and out of (and even spin!)

You will need to supply your city with basic necessities like water, electricity, etc, because you still need to keep your residents happy (even though you don't see much of them here). You also need to solve other city planning problems like traffic congestion, fires, pollution, etc. Basically, as the "mayor" of the city (and the sole player of the game), the buck stops with you. But you do get to interact with "friends" and other cities and you can trade your resources with them.

The good news? Sim City Build It is free to download from the Google Play Store. The "meh" news"? There are in-app purchases so you need to be careful if you're concerned with your credit card health. The bad news? This game is still in soft launch and is only available in Canada.

First phone app for hearing impaired to come to Android soon

According to statistics, there are over 70 million people in the world who are suffering from profound to severe hearing loss. And obviously, they would find it extremely difficult or impossible to use mobile phones to make and take calls. But a new technology might just make it possible and its creators are raising funds to build make it a reality. It's called RogerVoice and it's an app that will make your calls for you and then translate in real time and give you a text transcript of what your caller is saying.

Using the VoIP platform and integrating it with automatic speech recognition (ASR), the call will not pass through any third-party who will do the transcription for you. It's a program built from the ground up and is considered the first of its kind. Hearing impaired people will now be able to use their mobile phones to communicate with loved ones or in work-related situations. And everything remains private since there is no human go-between listening in to the call; everything is automated and there is no waiting time as well. It should work on any mobile device (just Android for now) and also supports multiple languages including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Greek and Japanese among others.

It not only benefits the hearing impaired community but even regular hearing people will also be able to use the app. It will of course help you communicate with your friends or colleagues that are hard of hearing. But it can also serve as an instant transcribe of your call, especially if it's for business purposes. You can also easily store and archive these communications and it has an easy search function for reference. If it works properly, this will truly be a great step towards technology benefiting those who have disabilities.

They have already met their target of $20,000 to be able to start the development, but they're still looking to raise more to reach their other milestones, like developing an iOS version and also text-to-speech features. If you believe in this project, you can visit their Kickstarter page to invest in RogerVoice.

SOURCE: Kickstarter

Galaxy Note 4 teardown shows Sony IMX240 camera inside

The Galaxy Note 4 might be Samsung's latest high-end contender but, for the first time after a long while, the OEM isn't bragging about its own camera technology inside. Instead, a recent teardown revealed that Samsung's best is borrowing components from its competitor, sporting a 16 megapixel camera sensor made by Sony, specifically the Sony IMX240.

Of course, this isn't exactly scandalous, as OEMs are known to use components made by others, even by industry rivals, to make their own. This is just how the business goes. That Samsung would be using Sony's imaging technology isn't exactly new either. Or at least we've heard it before. Way back last year, there was already a rumor that the Galaxy S5 would use Sony's camera inside. The flagship, however came instead with Samsung's own technology, which is what makes this revelation somewhat interesting.

Even before the Galaxy S5 went out, Samsung was already singing the praises of its ISOCELL imaging technology. It claims to be able to reduce bleeding and improve light absorption by creating walls between cell, isolating them from one another, hence the name. The Galaxy S5 debuted with a 16 megapixel sensor with this technology and with the Galaxy Note 4 also packing a 16 megapixel sensor, it was merely presumed that they are similar. For whatever reason, however, it seems that Samsung has ditched that and gone with the Sony IMX240 instead. Whether that points to a change in beliefs about its ISOCELL technology is something we'll have observe in the future. For now, however, Samsung is curiously silent on that front.

That said, this tidbit doesn't really speak much about the Galaxy Note 4's camera capabilities, aside from the fact that it has larger than usual 1/2.6-inch sensor. Its photography prowess still has to be properly tested and documented, perhaps by something like DxOMark, who crowned the iPhone 6 as the king of the smarpthone camera hill shortly after it awarded the title to Sony's Xperia Z3. And we are definitely still waiting for iFixit to give the Galaxy Note 4 a proper teardown treatment.

VIA: phoneArena

Story Timeline

• Samsung ISOCELL CMOS sensor technology announced for premium devices


• Samsung Galaxy S5 could get 16MP shooter, perhaps made by Sony


• Samsung ISOCELL CMOS sensor technology explained


• Samsung Galaxy Note 4 hands-on: stylus phone at its finest

Shattered Screen? Turn Your Broken Device into a Complete Media Center!

A cracked screen usually means you’ll have to spend a hefty amount to make your device usable again. For older devices, it might actually be easier to buy a new one. If this situation sounds familiar, or if you simply have an old device with a shattered screen laying around, XDA Forum Member mailme45 has written a guide that may help you make that device useful once again.

The tutorial walks you through turning your phone into a fully fledged media center (running a fork of XBMC/Kodi). Assuming your device supports MHL, you’ll only need a few things to get started:

1. A USB OTG cable along with a mouse so you can control the phone until it’s fully set up.


2. An MHL adapter that allows you to display your phone’s screen on your TV or monitor.


3. A way to control the device remotely once it’s ready. In this case, a Wi-Fi connection and Yatse, a free remote app for XBMC/Kodi.

This probably won’t cost you more than $10 to $40, depending on where you buy the accessories from. You could even do without the USB OTG cable if you’re rooted, in which case you’d be able to use ADB instead.

Alright, folks — you’ve seen the requirements, so if you have a device with a shattered screen laying around, a USB OTG cable and MHL adapter, make sure to head over to the Shattered Scren Media Center tutorial thread to give a new life to your phone, and turn it into a complete media center.

The post Shattered Screen? Turn Your Broken Device into a Complete Media Center! appeared first on xda-developers.