HTC Internet browser app arrives at the Google Play Store

This new HTC app that recently debuted at the Google Play Store is actually the HTC Sense built-in internet browser, just that it is now being made available for download via Android’s favorite virtual app market. If you have an HTC smartphone, you can easily grab the app now, which goes by the name “HTC Internet”.

As you might expect, this app is no different from the internet browser in HTC’s Sense UI. The app is compatible with HTC devices, and the latest version includes some tweaks like “Text reflow” – which is a feature that wraps browser text content to fit the screen depending on zoom levels. There’s also a “Read later” feature, which is exactly what it says it is – save an article to read later, even when offline.

The caveat here is that it is only compatible with HTC devices (naturally) so only HTC owners can download it for their use. We suspect that HTC is trying to simplify the update process of the browser, so that they wouldn’t have to come out with firmware updates just to fix or update the browser. Which makes sense, right? (pun intended, for realz.)

So if you have your HTC device handy, check out the download link below to get the new release of the app.

DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store

Story Timeline

• Chrome Browser v37 now has Google's material design


• Firefox for Android Beta tests out browser casting feature


• Dolphin Browser now with flash player for Android Lollipop devices

Google Classroom app now available for Android and iOS

Google Classroom was introduced back in May 2014, providing a more efficient way to save on paper and strengthen communication between educators and students. The service allowed teachers to assign digital assignments and monitor students' progress. Since then, the service has become available for Android and iOS devices. There has always been an issue with using phones in class - now students have an excuse. Instructors would most likely encourage phone use now if they plan on adapting to the Google Classroom service.

The app is simply a mobile version of the Google Classroom service, which packs in all the same features but in a more neatly compacted appealing manner. Creating and collecting assignments is made possible by pairing the Google service with Google Drive.

The app and service is plain and straightforward. Teachers can now create assignments and view students' progress. Students would be receiving the assignments or lesson plans, and virtually turn them in. The app lets you view grades, send messages, and other functions.

The theory behind the service and app is promising. Moving into a paperless world, the app can be seen to prove efficient and hopefully help students out with coursework material. The app is free to use and requires you have Google Apps for Education account.

VIA: Google Play Store

Minima brings live Material Design wallpapers to your phone

As Android 5.0 Lollipop continues to roll out to various devices, our smartphones and tablets have been "transformed" to the Material Design visual guidelines that Google has strongly suggested to OEMs and app developers. Even your devices apps have to keep up with this style guide in order to fit in with the new UI and look once you've been upgraded and there are several apps out there to give your gadget a fresh new and live look.

One of those apps is Minima Live Wallpaper and it brings you the colors, shapes and layers that will fit right in with Google's Material Design. And not only will look pretty, but it will look alive. As you move and scroll through your device, the shapes and forms swirl and tilt and shift in 3D parallax motion. You get to change your device's wallpaper depending on your mood, and you get to choose from around 14 hand-crafted themes, and if you get the Pro edition, that number goes up to 70. If you want to be "surprised" with what you'll see on your screen, you can choose the Randomizer, which will change your wallpaper once a day.

However, that feature is only available in the Pro edition. If you're also willing to pay for the app, you'll also get the chance to edit the built-in themes available. What's cooler is that you get to design your own live wallpapers and you can share these creations with other users online.

You can get the Minima Live Wallpaper app for free from the Google Play Store. But if you want the Pro version, you need to pay $1.99 for the other features we mentioned above.

Will Sony sell its TV, mobile division anytime soon?

Sony probably still hasn't recovered from the whole hacking, leaking and The Interview brouhaha the past few weeks, but it seems like other rumors about the state of several of their businesses have been floating around. After selling their VAIO personal computer business just last year, the murmurs are saying that their mobile and TV business will be up for sale pretty soon, if things don't drastically change.

If you've followed business news, it won't come as a surprise, given the state of their business profits the past few years. But the speculation over what businesses will eventually be sold became ripe when during the recently concluded CES 2015, Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai, dropped this statement as a warning to investors, “Electronics in general, along with entertainment and finance, will continue to be an important business, but within that there are some operations that will need to be run with caution - and that might be TV or mobile, for example”.

Sources close to management have told news agency Reuters that "no business is forever" and that no division is safe from being sold. This, despite the fact that Sony has continually emphasized that mobile will remain their core business model. In fact, they have not made huge steps, but they have been quietly trying to stake a claim in the US market. The QR lens and the Smartwatch 3 have huge potential to expand their presence in mobile.

But is it all a case of too little too late? Already, they can't keep up with their competitors like Motorola, Samsung who are all producing both high end and entry level devices while Sony mostly has high end flagship gadgets. The TV division has actually become a standalone entity already, so selling it eventually may not be such a difficulty for the Japanese electronics giant. The question now is whether their mobile division can withstand the barrage of competition from other OEMs.

VIA: SlashGear

Google Translate update for Android brings Word Lens

It can be difficult to visit a foreign land if you don't speak the language. Not only can you not talk to the locals to ask for directions, but you can’t read the street signs to figure out where you are and find where you are going. Google has updated the Translate app for Android users with a new feature called Word Lens.

Word Lens will allow users to use the smartphone camera to highlight any text and get a translation on the fly. When used to read a street sign, the text is overlaid right over the sign in translated from. This makes it easy to see what the sign means in any of the supported languages. Street signs aren’t all the app can translate though.

One of the good things about Word Lens is that you also don’t need to have a data connection for the feature to work. Word Lens instant translation works from English to and from French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

The update also makes it easier to have a conversation with a person who doesn't speak your language. You can type the mic to start speaking in a selected language and then tap the mic again to recognize what languages the two people are speaking. That means you don’t even need to know what language the other person is speaking is called to have a conversation.

SOURCE: Insidesearch

Bear Winter is ‘match three’ with a survival twist, addictive as heck

Did you ever think that a “match three” put-em-in-a-line kinda game could also be a survival game? We didn’t think it could be done – much less have an idea that the two notions could be put together and make an addictive mobile game. But Nevercenter has done it, coming out with Bear Winter for Android.

Truly, sometimes the most successful games are those that pay attention to the simple details. Bear Winter is a match-3 puzzler. But the main idea here is to survive the harsh winter among the ice bears for as long as you can. For this, you'll need fire, acorns, and arrows – elements that you can collect if you match three of those.

Then the twists come along, which makes Bear Winter a tough game to master. First, you can only swipe from the last three rows of the main game area – a 3x3 grid where you can swipe vertically, horizontally or diagonally. You can only defeat bears by matching three bear icons in a row. If you only match one or two bear icons then you take damage, and you only have four life points to spare.

Each swipe you make (you don’t need to match any to make a swipe – just swipe any three in a row) reduces your fire level by one as well. So another concern is to regularly match three fire icons to warm yourself up, or face death by freezing. Your focus is multi-faceted – avoid bear attacks, keep your life level up, keep the fire burning, and collect arrows so you can shoot bears in desperate times.

Sometimes, you can trade life for fire, or for other elements, depending on the need. The game takes a lot of careful planning. You up for it? It’s a free download via the Google Play Store. Check out the download link below. But you have been warned. This is addicting as heck.

DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store

Story Timeline

• First LEGO BIONICLE game arrives at Google Play Store


• Crossy Road hands-on gameplay


• Stunt Rush 3D Buggy Racing Game lets you steer in air, jump off ramps

WearResponses lets you reply to SMS with canned messages

Smartwatches have become more than just notification centers, particularly those running on the Android Wear platform. Aside from the health and tracking features, your wearable, with the assist of some apps, have made it possible for you to reply (within limited range) to text messages sent to your phone. One such app is WearResponse and it brings you more than just the standard responses available.

Google has of course installed standard responses on your Android Wear, but who would really appreciate receiving a terse "Ok" "Call you later" or "In a meeting" kind of message? With WearResponse, you get to create three custom responses, and if you pay for the app, you actually get an unlimited number of canned messages which you can use as you respond to SMS without taking out your smartphone, coming straight from the watch.

What's cooler is that when you first install WearResponse on your smartwatch and smartphone, it will scan your past text messages to check out what words and phrases you usually use, and then you can choose to add these to your canned responses. You also have to make sure that you stop notifications of your default SMS app to your wearable because you will receive double notifications (unless you prefer it that way). To reply to an incoming message, swipe over the reply button and then swipe down to choose from the responses. Unfortunately, the Google standard responses are still included there and you'll see them first before the customized WearResponse messages.

The first version of the app required that the connected smartphone be rooted, but version 2.0 now works with any Android phone. You can get WearResponse from the Google Play Store for free but you need to have a $3 upgrade to get the unlimited customized messages option.