Office for Android preview ends with official availability of the apps

It's only been a few weeks now since Microsoft expanded the preview for Office for Android allowing more folks access to the apps via Google Play. This week Microsoft has announced that the preview stage is now over and the full apps are officially available via Google Play. Microsoft says that the Android apps are similar to Office for Windows 10.

The suite has Word, PowerPoint, and Excel and supports the functions that we are familiar with from the desktop versions of the software. Each of the apps has been optimized for smaller screen touch devices and tweaked with feedback gained during the preview period. All of the apps support external keyboards as well.

Word will allow people to enter text, images, footnotes, tablets, and charts just as you would on the desktop. Excel spreadsheets support formulas, charts, tables, PivotTables, sorting, filtering, and various commands. PowerPoint supports all the formatting, video embedding, transitions, and animations you expect.

Microsoft says that the preview apps generated over 250,000 downloads in 330 languages. Requirements for the apps include a tablet with a screen at least 7-inches or larger and an ARM processor. Devices with screens over 10.1-inches need an Office 365 subscription. The only Android OS supported is KitKat; Android 5.0 isn't supported at this time. However, Lollipop will be supported at a later date. Tablets running Intel processors will be supported within a quarter. You can download the apps here: Word, PowerPoint, Excel.

SOURCE: Office.com

LG G3 discovered to have hidden App Ops feature

Remember App Ops? Maybe not, especially after the heyday of Android Lollipop. It popped up, accidentally according to Google, around Android 4.3 as a way to let users make fine-grained changes to each app's permissions, without requiring root. Google eventually closed off access to App Ops in subsequent updates and we've never heard from it since. Until now. Apparently, LG has the same functionality hidden in the G3, which some have now been able to access, much to the rejoicing of power users.

Do you actually need this kind of functionality? It depends on your views about user control. Google's argument is that exposing such knobs only exposes users to headaches, as it can potentially break the way an app was designed to work, like turning off location permissions for an app that absolutely requires that in order to function properly. On the other side of the coin, some users actually want that much control, blocking apps from accessing things they really have no right accessing, like contacts or files. Even the Electronic Frontier Foundation agrees with that purpose.

That said, some apps do try to fill in App Ops' shoes, but almost all of them do require root access, which is a high barrier for users not ready to make that leap yet. This LG G3 "feature", on the other hand, doesn't require that. It is, however, buried so deep that you will need a separate utility (luckily no root required) to surface it. One commented that the G Flex, the first one, has this as well. Others comment that no other OEM has this feature, hidden or otherwise, and if so, props indeed need to be given to LG.

The question is whether that will be the case in the future. The G3 and the G Flex run on Android 4.3 or 4.4 and it isn't know if that feature will survive the transition to Android 5.0 Lollipop.

SOURCE: Reddit

VIA: Androidworld.it

Story Timeline

• Android 4.3 App ops permission manager: hidden but easily accessible


• App Ops access manager once more accessible in Android 4.4


• Android 4.4.2 factory images now available, changes include hiding App Ops again


• EFF chides Google for removing App Ops access in Android 4.4.2

Peak wearable now with smartphone notifications, data export

If you're constantly being berated for always picking up your smartphone because you're waiting for an important message or you're on a run but you need to get a call without breaking your stride, this means it's time to get a wearable. There are so many options out there now, as compared to a few years ago, and so you need to research which one should fit your lifestyle. Peak is one of those clamoring for your attention, and if it's notifications and lifestyle monitoring you're after, then this might be a pretty good deal.

Peak started out as just a fitness and sleep tracker, but with the new year comes new features with the latest update to the firmware, and that includes the ever important smartwatch notification. Now you'll be able to get notifications when you receive texts, calls, emails, calendar alerts, etc from your connected smartphone. Your Peak will vibrate when you receive a notification, and for five minutes, it will be visible on your wearable until you dismiss them. But if you're working out and you don't want to be disturbed, then you can set it to Do Not Disturb mode.

The update also brings a new data export feature so you can keep track of all your health and fitness activities. Some information that you can download are the sensor data (including heart rate), calories burned, perspiration, skin temperature, etc. You can choose to download the data from the last 7 days, 30 days, or even from the time you started tracking it through Peak.

To be able to use these new features, you have to make sure that your Peak firmware is updated to the latest version, 1.8.15 and that your Basis Peak app is at version 1.5.0. You need to activate the notification features through your connected smartphone.

SOURCE: Basis

Android Wear messaging app adds FlickKey

Did you know you can type on your smartwatch? Even on a small screen, users can still reply to messages using voice recognition or simply by typing. But with the size of the screen, typing can be very limited. It's not easy to type letters on such a small screen but Wear Messenger messaging app is adding the FlickKey Keyboard for Android. This solution aims to attract more people to jump into the bandwagon of smartwatches.

A lot of people want a smartwatch but they get turned off by the limited texting ability. Actually, you shouldn't expect to text and do more typing on a smartwatch but of course, why be limited with a small screen when you can do more. The Wear Messenger app makes it easier to exchange instant messages but typing is not as easy. With the addition of FlickKey, users can make use of the fully gestured method. FlickKey requires the user to type all common words at first using popup flick-keys. This makes typing text more efficient and faster.

We noted last year how the FlickKey keyboard can be useful. The keyboard app developers said that flicks are better than swipes and looks like Dream Code, the guys behind Wear Messenger agree so it's currently using FlickKey.

The Wear Messenger app update also features a better user interface, notifications linking, more notifications settings, and disabling of New Message and Contacts as needed.

Thanks for the tip, Will!

Download Wear Messenger and FlickKey Keyboard for Android Wear from the Google Play Store

Story Timeline

• Google Keyboard updated with Material Design in mind


• SwiftKey releases Frozen-themed virtual keyboards in time for Christmas


• Major Fleksy update brings virtual keyboard extensions to your phone

Xbox One SmartGlass Beta finally gets OneGuide support

Looks like Microsoft is cooking up something tasty for its Xbox One faithful. It has just updated the beta version of its SmartGlass app with one very important feature: OneGuide. Now users in selected areas will be able to look up what's showing on TV right from the Android app itself. Thought just a small addition, it heralds the arrival of even more features expected to come really soon now.

OneGuide has been rolling out slowly to Xbox One users, merging the worlds of gaming, video streaming, and terrestrial TV in one Xbox ecosystem. The SmartGlass Android app is just one of the latest to get that feature. And with the update, Microsoft is also announcing the arrival of OneGuide in Australia and the Netherlands.

OneGuide isn't the only superpower that the SmartGlass app has. It can also stream live TV right into your SmartGlass device, whether it be a phone or a tablet, from the Xbox One Digital TV Tuner. That said, that feature belongs only to a limited number of markets, and Australia is the newest member of that exclusive club.

Microsoft is expected to launch the Xbox One Digital HD Tuner in March that will unlock the full potential of the OneGuide feature. Aside from browsing TV channels, it will allow any SmartGlass device to actually watch those channels directly from OneGuide as well. For now, however, the feature is limited in both functionality and reach. The Xbox One SmartGlass Beta app is free to claim on Google Play Store and is actually a separate download from the stable version.

Download: Xbox One SmartGlasss Beta on Google Play Store

VIA: Kotaku

Story Timeline

• Xbox One SmartGlass improves remote control, social features


• Xbox One SmartGlass beta: TV streaming, game recording


• Xbox One SmartGlass gets more social, game recording added

Scan With Your Camera Using SimplyScan

If you often need to scan documents using your phone’s camera, make sure to check out SimplyScan. It makes the job much easier for you by allowing you to intuitively transform the image’s perspective, crop, rotate and adjust the image’s effects for the best readability.

The post Scan With Your Camera Using SimplyScan appeared first on xda-developers.

HTC One M8 (Europe), Galaxy Note 3 (Russia) now get Anrdoid 5.0 Lollipop

For some smartphone users, the wait has been long and arduous, and challenging, but is now almost finally over. We're talking about the (very) gradual roll-out of the much awaited Android 5.0 Lollipop. Google and the various OEMs have been trying to perfect the update probably, and so it's taking them some time. For owners of the HTC One M8 in Europe, and for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, the good news has finally arrived and their devices will be Lollipop-ized in the next few days (if not already).

Owners of HTC's flagship One M8 who live in Europe have started receiving updates to their devices, at least for those in Germany and France. Those who are in Britain and Scotland say they haven't gotten theirs, but the Senior Global Online Communications Manager for HTC, Jeff Gordon, says that the update will be arriving "in waves". The official build is marked as 4.16.401.10 and is just 780MB, compared to the heavier upgrades we've had before.

For those who have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, you can already officially upgrade your smartphone to Android Lollipop as well, that is, if you're in Russia or have a model that is the same as the Russian one. The firmware file is now available for download so you can enjoy those Lollipop features that people have been talking about, like the Material Design, lockscreen notifications, etc.

For those who are still waiting, you just have to be a little more patient. It usually takes several months for all eligible Android devices to be updated. Let's just hope you think it's worth it.

VIA: SlashGear, XDA