Despite Google’s foray into the automobile space – Android Auto – being announced at Google I/O last year, the platform has only recently started gaining traction, and the Android Developers team has published an excellent tutorial to help developers of messaging apps enable their app for Android Auto
The post Enable Your Messaging App for Android Auto Official Tutorial appeared first on xda-developers.
The battle of the music streaming services just got even more interesting (and no, we're not talking about Jay Z's Tidal) with the arrival of another new challenger to the throne. Rithm has been in beta for some time now, but finally they're ready to take on the world, with a price tag that might attract those hold-outs for a paying service and a built-in messaging service that encourages sharing music with your friends.
The secret to attracting new users or to convince music lovers to abandon their current one or add another option to their mobile devices is a great interface, an extensive library, and a relatively cheaper price. So far from what we've seen, Rithm has a fighting chance (apart from its slightly bothersome name, which might irk spelling nazis). They have partnered with major music labels like Universal, Sony, Warner Brothers and even some indie label aggregating services like The Orchard and Merlin. They will even be bringing in later on Artist Shops where users can buy and share emojis and stickers, based on musicians like Steve Aoki, Migos, Zeds Dead, and The Chainsmokers.
In terms of user interface, it seems easy enough to understand, although it does lack a certain wow factor. But the built-in messaging might attract some people, particularly since it's easy to share songs with your friends, without really advertising it on other social networks (you don't want your officemates to know you listen to Ariana Grande non-stop).
But of course the biggest draw would be its price of $3.99 per month, which is better on the wallet than Spotify's $9.99 and most especially the $19.99 price tag on Jay Z's TIDAL. Now let's see if this new music streaming player can actually make a dent in the market. If you want to try it out, you can download the app for free from the Google Play Store.
VIA: The Next Web
Most of the messaging apps that are really popular in the market sometimes have more than just the ability to send text messages going for them. In fact, a lot of them do not rely on actual text or words but on little drawings, icons that allow you to express yourself better. Skype is still primariy a communication platform, where you can have both personal and business conversations, serious and fun as well. The newest update brings a bit more emphasis on the fun.
Those drawings and icons we mentioned are of course more popularly known as emojis. Skype has now added support for these cute little things, so you can add it to the app's own emoticons and express yourself even better, all without using much words, or any words at all. And when you use Skype's very own emoticons, it will now have a large animated version, to make it even more interesting. Even the look of your conversation is now different as they have finally adapted the bubble style chat layout that you've probably seen on the dektop version and maybe some other platforms that Skype has.
If your device is connected to the newly-launched Android Auto, then you will be able to use Skype as well because it now supports sending messages through speech to text. You can Skype with someone even while driving (but make sure you're not too distracted okay?) There are other new improvements to the app as well. When new messages come in, it will not automatically bring you to the latest message, so it will be easier to catch up with conversations. If you maintain more than one Skype account, it's also easier now because when you sign out, you'll need to re-enter your username and password again. Now if you just have one account, that could be a hassle though.
Skype version 5.3 is now rolling out to various devices. If you don't have it yet, you can download it from the Google Play Store for free.
SOURCE: Skype
Want to control your Phillips Hue lights using Google Now commands? XDA Forum Member shadow321337 has created a guide to let you do just that, provided you’ve got a bit of time and a few bucks to get Tasker and some extra plugins. Turn your lights on and off, change their brightness and more using your voice!
The post Control Your Hue Bulbs with Google Now and Tasker appeared first on xda-developers.
We can thank smartwatches in part for many of us wanting a watch that does more than just tell the time. It is convenient to have a watch you can wear that can show you tweets and other notifications. One thing that we don’t see are smartclocks for the wall and a new one has debuted.
It’s called the Coolest Clock, and it is very cool. This isn’t a traditional clock in any sense of the word. There is no physical clock face with hands. The entire works is projected onto the wall by a projector housed in a blister that you hang on the wall.
The Coolest Clock can do more than show you the time, it can also project the weather, tweets, reminders, and even Facebook status updates. It's controlled by a smartphone app that allows you to customize what you see.
The Coolest Clock was seeking $20,000 on Indiegogo and blew that goal out of the water with over $233,000 raised with eight days to go. You can get a Coolest Clock for $199 with shipping estimated for December 2015. International shipping is included.
SOURCE: Indiegogo
A year after its initial launch, one of the most popular free apps for Windows phone is coming to Android. Office Lens takes your photos of documents or whiteboards cropping and enhancing them before saving them in one of many formats, essentially giving you a simple scanner wherever you are.
The post Office Lens Comes to Android appeared first on xda-developers.
First it was video sharing apps. Then it became ephemeral video sharing. Now, it looks like collaborative video creation and sharing will be the name of the social media video game. Facebook has released the newest app from their Creative Labs. It's called Riff and its main purpose in life is to get you and your friends to collaborate on interesting and fun videos and then share them with the world.
A few years ago you would need video editing software and for your friends to email or message you their videos, then a few more hours (or even days) for you to stitch them together. But now, you can do all that in just a few minutes (maybe even seconds) with collaborative video apps. Riff makes it even easier as it is connected to your Facebook account so no need to convince other people to join a new social network. It's also pretty easy to use so that birthday greeting or funny video or viral clip that you've always wanted to do is just a few clicks away.
Start a video that you've thought of, put a catchy title that can also serve as the instructions for your friends, and then post them on Riff. Your friends will be able to see it and then add their own take on the topic, and then their friends will also be able to see and add, and so on and so forth. It's like an elaborate but fun video message chain (but without the threats that you will get bad luck if you don't do it). You can also look at what other people are doing, and then add your own clip to theirs.
The folks over at Riff will also be posting some nifty videos which might just inspire and/or challenge you. You can download Riff from the Google Play Store for free.
SOURCE: Facebook