Google Currents [App Review]

This was going to be a post about the recently leaked Flipboard app...

But it was a huge meh. The popular app that has been released for iOS is finally coming to Android later this year, and is going to be exclusively available on the yet to be released Samsung Galaxy SIII. The leaked app performance supposedly varied on different devices, and was pretty finicky on my own Galaxy Nexus, so I decided not to (p)review it. Plus there's a philosophical debate about using apps that were hacked from their original intended source.

However, this has renewed my interest in Google Currents, Google's own take on the visual RSS reader game.

I've always been confused on which RSS reader would best work for me. I've gone through the whole lot (at least for Android) such as Pulse and Zinio, and Google Reader. None of them presented themselves strong enough for me to keep using them for long.

Phone format, not too small, not too big

Then comes along Currents, which is more like a magazine service than a simple RSS feed catcher. The Providers (which could be any website, even me) can decide what the reader sees when they subscribe to their current. Subscribing to the Android Central current, for example, shows different sections of their website such as reviews, videos, their Google+ feed and whatever other posts they decide they want. The publisher can also elect to just show their plain 'ole feed from their blog if they don't want to get fancy.

Like any other reader, you can manually add a website's feed, and Currents will "convert" it into more of a magazine format. There's also a list of popular currents to subscribe to, from many of the major news source. Google Reader support is also built in (figures, right?) which lets you import whatever you've been subscribed to and add to Currents' format. Again I'm a Google-centric guy, but this just makes Reader another redundant app which really annoys me.

Reading an article on the tablet

The tablet experience is just as consistent, and scales up quite nicely if I do say so myself. Pictures are just as clear as they are on their original website. Along with video integration, which means you don't have to open an external website, a cool feature lets you view all the pictures in a particular article/post in a gallery-like feature without having to scroll to them individually.

The tablet format is just right

Any article that has been synced to the device will be available for offline reading, images too, depending on your settings. The initial push of Google Currents was focused on offline availability, but I can see it going farther than that. Loading of each provider's currents are fast, and lets you quickly get to reading.

I won't go into how much customization the providers have, but my own setup is in the following screenshot, more of an aggregator of my own posts. Kind of limited right now, but hopefully they start to support more feed types than simple RSS and Google's own services like Picasa.

Terrible colors... need to change that

You can download Google Currents for your device down below:

Download on Google Play | Download for iOS

Mobile Apps for Seasonal Allergy Sufferers

5 Mobile Apps for Seasonal Allergy Sufferers
by Jeana Lee Tahnk on Mashable

1. Allergy Advisor

Allergy sufferers can check their local weather and pollen forecast every morning with Allergy Advisor and also see which specific pollens are most predominant in the area. In addition to pollen levels, users can also keep track of their symptoms and how they progress over time. Although the app was created by a pharmaceutical company, the alerts, allergy tips, and general information make it easy to overlook the subtle branding for nasal spray. (iOS and Android)

Cost: FREE

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2. Allergy Track

If you want a more in-depth way to track your allergies and symptoms, Allergy Track is a good choice. You may be used to operating in a stuffy haze, but this app graphs it so you can see how much allergy symptoms actually affect you. It’s also helpful for keeping daily notes and developing a long-term account that you can bring to your next doctor’s appointment. (iOS and Android)

Cost: FREE

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3. ZocDoc

Speaking of doctors, ZocDoc is a helpful app for finding allergists (or any other type of specialist or medical professional) near you. Not only does it locate doctors in your area, it also lets you know what open appointments are available, and what kind of insurance is accepted. But the best part is that you can book your appointment directly from the app. The app only serves select cities across the U.S. Make sure to check if yours is on it before you download. (iOS, Android and Blackberry)

Cost: FREE

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4. RxmindMe Prescription / Medicine Reminder and Pill Tracker

Anyone who has received allergy treatment knows that consistency is key when it comes to allergy medicine. RxmindMe is that little birdie on your shoulder, providing helpful reminders of what you should be taking on a daily basis. You can even take photos of your pills to make sure you don’t get meds mixed up. There's also an option to create reminders for those pesky weekly appointments with your allergist. (iOS)

Cost: FREE

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5. AroundMe

You’re driving to an interview when you look in the rear-view mirror and realize your eyes are so bloodshot. You can use AroundMe to quickly find a pharmacy along the way and pick up some Visine. Who wants to show up to a meeting with suspiciously red eyes, right. (iOS and Android)

Cost: FREE

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With April showers, come May flowers and for many, May flowers also come with itchy eyes, runny noses, sneezing, and general pollen-induced misery. Seasonal allergies are on the way, like it or not.

So, if you see the beautiful sights of spring through watery eyes, then these five mobile apps will help you better prepare for the upcoming season.

Source: http://mashable.com/2012/04/13/mobile-apps-seasonal-allergy-sufferers

Toshiba Debuts Monstrous 13-Inch Tablet [PICS], Excite Trio, Galaxy Note, Kindle Fire, Toshiba Excite 13, SUV, world’s thinnest tablet, Microsoft Surface, Nvidia Tegra 3, The Excite 13, GeForce graphics, Toshiba, USB, Micro HDMI, gigantic, Android, kitchen counter

Toshiba Debuts Monstrous 13-Inch Tablet [PICS]
10 April 2012 by Peter Pachal

Toshiba Excite Tablets

The Toshiba Excite 13 (bottom right), with a 13-inch screen, is the world's biggest mass-market tablet, dwarfing its brothers in the newly christened Excite lineup, the Excite 10 (bottom left) and Excite 7.7 (top).

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Excite 13

The Excite 13 is intended to give multiple users a better shared experience when watching videos or looking at photos.

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Websites

By virtue of the extra real estate, you can see much more of any website on the screen when you view it on the Toshiba Excite 13.

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Countertop Friend

Reading on an Excite 13 is closer to a real newspaper experience.

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Thin Chassis

The Excite 13 is still just 0.4 inches thick and includes ports for micro USB and micro HDMI as well as an SD card slot.

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Excite Trio

Each Excite tablet is made to appeal to a different customer.

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Excite 13 vs. Galaxy Note

The Excite 13 even makes a large-size smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Note, look tiny.

Up till now tablets have generally been in two size classes: smaller models like the Kindle Fire whose screens measure 7 inches or less, and large-size models like the iPad that are in the 10-inch range.

But the category has evolved. Now there’s a new giant-size species.

Toshiba just unveiled its latest Android tablets in the Excite line (following the “world’s thinnest” tablet earlier this year), and one of them’s a doozy. If the iPad is a mid-size sedan in tablet world, the new Toshiba Excite 13 is an SUV: a 13-inch monster that makes other tablets look like pygmies.

Why would anyone want a tablet that big? Toshiba has a couple of ideas.

The first is that in sometimes multiple people gather around the same tablet to collectively watch a video or look at photos. Say you have three kids, and each one wants the tablet. Instead of getting three tablets (or having them all fight for one), the large screen lets them all share the tablet. And propped up on a kickstand — on a kitchen counter, for example — users can see media clearly from a short distance away.

The other reason you may want a dreadnought-class tablet is as a casual gaming platform. If you lay the Excite 13 on, say, a coffee table, it would theoretically be used as kind of an electronic board game for people gathered around — similar to Microsoft Surface.

As you’d expect, Toshiba’s ginormous tablet is heftier than other models, weighing in at 2.2 pounds, although it’s just 0.4 inches thick. Its LED-backlit LCD screen has a resolution of 1,600 x 900 pixels and a widescreen (16:9) aspect ratio, and it has 10-finger touch support.


The Excite 13 packs a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 chip with GeForce graphics and 1GB of RAM, so it should be ready for the most performance-taxing games you can throw at it. It ships with the latest Android, version 4.0 or “Ice Cream Sandwich.” Like Toshiba’s previous Thrive tablets that the Excite line replaces, it has micro USB and micro HDMI ports, plus a full-size SD card slot.

We got some hands-on time with the Excite 13 and were taken aback by its massive size. It’s noticeably heavier than an iPad, or roughly as heavy as a smaller-size MacBook Air. Still, we must say videos look fantastic on it, making them that much more shareable between multiple people — the tablet’s main raison d’être.

The Excite 13 strains the definition of “mobile,” but we could see it as a family device, occasionally propped up on a kitchen counter, then come evening moved to the family room for the Android equivalent of Sorry.

If you like the sound of that experience, it’s going the cost you: The Excite 13 starts at $650 for 32GB of storage. The 64GB version goes for $750. They’ll be available in June.

Do you like the idea of a gigantic, 13-inch tablet? Let us know why in the comments.







Sorce: (Mashable)   http://mashable.com/2012/04/10/toshiba-excite-13








Tags:
Excite Trio, Galaxy Note, Kindle Fire, Toshiba Excite 13, SUV, world’s thinnest tablet, Microsoft Surface, Nvidia Tegra 3, The Excite 13, GeForce graphics, Toshiba, USB, Micro HDMI, gigantic, Android, kitchen counter

Nokia Lumia 900 Hard To Find On Launch Day, Still Selling Well [VIDEO]

Nokia Lumia 900 Hard To Find On Launch Day, Still Selling Well [VIDEO]
by Emily Price on Mashable

Nokia held a huge launch party for the Lumia 900 in NYC’s Times Square on Friday night. But when it came time for the phone’s release on Sunday it was hard to find the handset anywhere near where the celebration was.

According to New York Times writer Brian Chen, nearly all 39 AT&T stores located near Times Square were either closed for Easter Sunday, or did not answer phone calls when he called to inquire about the handset’s availability. The stores that were closed also played an automated message that advertised the availability of the iPhone 4S — but didn’t mention the Nokia Lumia 900′s existence.

The Lumia 900 handset runs on AT&T’s super-fast LTE network. The HTC Titan II is currently the only other Windows Phone smartphone that is capable of doing the same.

The Nokia smartphone sports a unique high-quality design, and has been a hit with reviewers, many who have called the handset the world’s best Windows Phone 7 handset.

The $99 Lumia 900 is Nokia and Microsoft’s best horse in the smartphone race, and both companies have a lot riding on its success. iPhone and Android have a stronghold in the smartphone market in the United States, and both companies need a winner to put both Nokia and Windows Phone on the map stateside.

Prior to its launch, AT&T said that the Lumia 900 would be “one of its biggest launches ever”. Advertising for the handset has likened it to the iPhone, and Nokia even launched a nationwide ad campaign called “smartphonbetatest” — implying that the all other smartphones prior to the launch of the 900 were just beta versions.

The smartphonebetatest site counted down to zero when the phone was supposed to be revealed. But the ultimate effect of it was somewhat dampened. The clock hit zero at least three times Friday evening, then added an arbitrary amount of time.

Launch day woes don’t seem to have affected Nokia’s sales of the Lumia 900, however. The phone was available for pre-order before Sunday, and made its way into the hands of customers over the weekend. The handset is also currently the top selling phone on Amazon (taking both the #1 and #2 slots), a coveted title definitely worth getting excited about.

What do you think about the Lumia 900 launch? Do you think Nokia, Microsoft, or AT&T should have made a bigger deal about it on Sunday, or was offering pre-orders for the phone enough? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Source: Mashable

Got a Hot App? Microsoft Will Pay Top Dollar for a Windows Phone Version

Got a Hot App? Microsoft Will Pay Top Dollar for a Windows Phone Version
by Peter Pachal on Mashable

Microsoft has a plan to beef up its Windows Phone catalog of apps. And it involves cash — lots of cold, hard cash.

In the mobile world, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform is a toddler compared to the mature ecosystems of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. That means the number of apps on offer in the Windows Marketplace is just a fraction of those available from its counterparts — it’s officially 65,000 to iOS’s 600,000 and Android’s 500,000. Some counts put it higher.

When I reviewed the Nokia Lumia 900 smartphone earlier this week, I was surprised at how many apps are on offer from major brands like Twitter, Facebook and eBay.

What I didn’t realize was that Microsoft is paying some of those companies to develop apps for the Windows Phone, since they normally wouldn’t dedicate the resources to create apps for a platform that has less than 4% market share.

Take Foursquare. The service’s Windows Phone app is a beautiful example of how the platform’s interface, called Metro, can shine. Fonts are large, type pops and the menus have a fluid movement that makes the whole experience come alive.

But Foursquare didn’t create the app. Microsoft paid an outside company to do it, The New York Times reports. Foursquare was involved — and the app is listed in the Marketplace as coming from “Foursquare Labs, Inc.” — but since the growing startup has limited resources, it spends most of its time fishing where the fish are: iOS and Android.

Foursquare is not alone. Microsoft is said to be paying developers anywhere between $60,000 and $600,000 to create apps, presumably for well-known or rising brands, to shore up its app catalog.

With Nokia as a partner, Microsoft has help. The “Nokia Collection” in the Windows Marketplace has even more big names, offering apps from CNN, ESPN and Univision. However, all of the apps are made by Nokia, not the companies themselves.

What Microsoft and Nokia are doing may seem a little desperate, but it’s actually not that surprising. Windows Phone is playing catch-up, after all, and it needs to everything it can to close the “app gap” between its platform and the others, appearances be damned. If an app is in the catalog, and customers like it, does it matter who made it and why?

That’s up to you. Does the fact that Microsoft directly finances some of the apps in the Windows Marketplace matter to you? Would it influence whether or not you’d buy a Windows Phone? Have your say in the comments.



Source: Mashable

Sorry, Larry Page. Steve Jobs Really Wanted to Destroy Android

Sorry, Larry Page. Steve Jobs Really Wanted to Destroy Android
by Chris Taylor on Mashable

Steve Jobs passed into legend a little more than six months ago. Now it seems the arguments over his intentions for Apple are just getting started.

In the Jobs-approved biography by Walter Isaacson, the Apple founder is seen railing against Android toward the end of his life. Insisting that Google stole its look and feel from the iPhone’s iOS, Jobs vowed to declare “thermonuclear war” on Android. That’s quite an image.

Recently, Google CEO Larry Page has tried to play down that comment. In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, released Wednesday, Page said he thought Jobs’s attacks were “for show,” adding that “it’s useful for them to feel like they have an obvious competitor and to rally around that.”

Isaacson has fired back. In a Q&A session following his lecture at the historic Royal Institute in London, the biographer and former TIME editor insists that Jobs’s genuine passion on this topic was not to be underestimated.

“Our lawsuit is saying, ‘Google, you f___ing ripped off the iPhone, wholesale ripped us off.’ Grand theft,” Jobs told Isaacson in the book. “Make no mistake. They want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them.”

He would not be swayed, not even by settlements. “It wasn’t a matter of money,” Isaacson explained. “He said: ‘You can’t pay me off, I’m here to destroy you.’”

What Page was actually trying to focus on in the Bloomberg interview was the fact that Jobs spent so much time with him toward the end, mentoring the young founder and CEO.

How, therefore, could their companies be anything but the best of friends?

Enter the Gates
But Page clearly hasn’t read the parts of the biography pertaining to another Jobs rival: Bill Gates.

The Microsoft founder could also be smiling and shaking Jobs’s hand one minute, and be the target of his fury over Windows “theft” the next.

That was part of Jobs’ genius, and also his weakness. He could be best friends with his worst enemies. (See also: Sculley, John.)

I’m not saying that Jobs railed at Page about Android in person the way he fumed about Windows. He was older, and wiser, and was clearly fond of the younger man, a prodigal genius with a killer product.

But Jobs’s fondness for Gates stayed as solid as his lifelong hatred of Windows. Clearly, he was capable of mentoring Page and plotting corporate strategy to destroy Android at the same time.

What’s the Beef?
Did Jobs have anything like a point?

Yes, from his perspective. Not at all, from Page’s.

Jobs was firm in his belief that Eric Schmidt — then Google CEO — had sat through Apple’s board presentations on the development of the iPhone, and been inspired to create a competitor. More than inspired, Jobs said.

Android was launched a year after the first iPhone. Schmidt left the Apple board a year after that, citing conflicts of interest between the companies. Jobs never stopped being furious with him.

To Googlers, the anger seems odd. After all, the search giant acquired Android Inc. in 2005, two years before the iPhone launch. At the time, it was known that both Google and Apple had strong interests in the mobile space.

But Jobs won that race with the iPhone, by a year. He basked in glory as the world went wild for it.

And then he saw suspiciously similar handsets with suspiciously similar operating systems, all of which were driven by a company run by a guy sitting on his board. Who knew a lot about the design of the product early in its life.

Even the most placid of CEOs might go thermonuclear in those circumstances. And Jobs — well, once he started a vendetta, the biography makes clear, it took a lot to make him stop.

He buried the hatchet with Windows, at least in a business sense, a mere 12 years after that feud started. But that was 1997, he had just returned to Apple, and the company was on life support.

Going by that reckoning, the earliest Page could have expected Jobs to quit his “thermonuclear war” on Android would be sometime in 2020.

What would that war have meant, in practice? A bunch more lawsuits, possibly. Ever more aggressive acquisitions and patents, very likely. Jobs focusing his genius design mind on making sure each iPhone iteration blew every Android handset out of the water, most definitely.

It would never have been for show. Never just to rally the troops. Given his obsession, Jobs’s strong distaste for the design of Android would have been the supercharged energy cell inside him. Had he lived, it never would have died.

Perhaps — depending on how Tim Cook steers the good ship Apple — it hasn’t.

Mobile Jobseeking is Going Mainstream [INFOGRAPHIC]

Mobile Jobseeking is Going Mainstream [INFOGRAPHIC]
March 31, 2012 by Lauren Hockenson on Mashable

Have you checked your company’s mobile job offerings recently?

While there are many people already using mobile to find their dream jobs, don’t be misunderstood — using a smartphone to check out job boards isn’t just for early adopters or technophiles. In fact, it’s quickly becoming a mainstream method of finding a lasting career.

According to this infographic by mobile job search and recruiting company JIBE — based on research done by marketing research company Kelton Research — more than 4 out of 5 of surveyed smartphone users would use an iPhone, Android, Blackberry or Windows phone to search for jobs. Of those, nearly half would actually apply to a job right from a smartphone. Given the number of American who own smartphones has surpassed 100 million mark, the level of jobseekers looking to potentially score a job right on their phones can be staggering.

So what does it all mean? Plain and simple: if your company doesn’t have a mobile-friendly job board, it’s time to begin building one as soon as possible. More and more jobseekers are turning to the convenience, simplicity and speed of mobile to access jobs on the fly. If your mobile application isn’t optimized to suit the needs of potential employees, there’s an opportunity to miss out on quality talent.

Take a look at the infographic below to learn more about how mobile is changing the way people are looking for jobs. Would you use mobile to find your new job, or integrate mobile into your company’s recruiting strategy? Let us know in the comments.

Infographic provided by JIBE.



article source: Mashable

850,000 Android Devices Activated Every Day

Google: 850,000 Android Devices Activated Every Day
By Peter Pachal For Mashable

To ring in the first day of Mobile World Congress, Google revealed some new statistics about how far its Android mobile operating system has come. Close to a million Android devices are activated every day, the company says, and there are now 450,000 apps in the Android Market.

The news comes straight from Google’s head of Android, Andy Rubin, who posted the stats on the Google Mobile Blog this morning. With 850,000 devices activated daily, Android is already 150,000 devices above the count from December, and the number represents year-over-year growth of 250%, according to the post. The estimated total of android devices in the world is now a staggering 300 million, Rubin says.

About a year ago Google had just 150,000 apps in the Android Market, but today it says there are 450,000. That’s impressive growth, but the platform still hasn’t caught up with Apple, whose iOS App Store boasts 550,000 apps officially, though some estimates go as high as 725,000. However, Android is clearly miles ahead of other rivals like Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace (65,000) or BlackBerry App World (60,000).

Although the official count of Android apps is high, it bears reminding that Google counts wallpapers and “lite” versions of apps as separate apps. Microsoft, for one, says it doesn’t count such apps when tallying its count for its Windows Phone Marketplace.

SEE ALSO: Google Activates 3.7 Million Android Devices on Christmas Weekend [VIDEO]
Android’s rapid growth has a well-known price: fragmentation. With so many different devices — phones, tablets and now even gear like TVs — running Android, it’s difficult for users to know when, or even if a specific device will get an update. The latest version, Android 4.0 aka “Ice Cream Sandwich,” is intended to mitigate fragmentation somewhat but obviously it only applies to devices that ship with the OS.

Rubin also made comments about Google and tablets while at Mobile World Congress. The Verge reports that Rubin said Google plans to “double down” on tablets in 2012, making reference to the lukewarm reception Android tablets got in the marketplace in 2011. In a meeting with reporters, Rubin said the 12 million Android tablets sold thus far was “not insignificant, but less than I’d expect it to be if you really want to win.”

What’s your take on the state of Android? Unstoppable platform that will continue to dominate, or fragmented mess of an OS that needs tighter control? Sound off in the comments.

BONUS: 10 Android Pics You Must See

1. Arrow by John Homer

This slice of urban art was captured in Swindon, UK. The muted colors come courtesy of the FXCamera app, but the clever use of the arrow and great composition are John Homer's own.

Taken with: HTC Magic

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2. View From a Starbucks by Terry Wong

This unusual Boston street scene offers lots of movement, suggested by the wheel and delivered by the blurry woman. The monotone finish helps add a sense of timelessness.

Taken with: T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream

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3. After the Rain by Clayton Perry

It's the light that makes this photo extraordinary, with the brilliant sun creating reflections that add interest, as well as a nice lens flare effect. Viewing this image, you feel that Clayton Perry managed to capture the exact moment the sun came out from behind the clouds after the rain had stopped.

Taken with: HTC Hero

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4. Printemps by Vincent Vandevelde

With the looks of an Impressionist painting, beautifully vivid colors contrast in this shot of French fields to give the photo a dream-like quality.

Taken with: HTC Desire

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5. Old Street by Matt King

How often do you take the time to look up? Matt King did and it got him this fab shot.

Taken with: T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream

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6. Sunset by Zan McQuade

This amazing sunset was captured sans app by Zan McQuade, although some minor tweaks to the saturation, contrast, and brightness settings have helped make it the stunning shot it is.

Taken with: HTC EVO 4G

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7. Telephone in Kingston by Lomodroid

The popular Android Vignette app helped Lomodroid snap this surreal pic. The bright red telephone boxes against the greened-out background and the fab framing add up to a striking shot.

Taken with: Nexus One

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8. Japanese Sky by Nox Dineen

"Looking up through the trees reminded me of Japanese art," says Nox Dineen of this wonderful photo. Almost abstract, it's a beautifully stark example of how to zoom in on an object and fill the frame with detail to create a strong image.

Taken with: HTC Hero

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9. Outside the Kimball Art Museum by Jessica Martinez

The setting sun just peeking out from behind a tree adds a warm radiance to this tranquil landscape, while the colors make for a lovely Autumnal palette.

Taken with: T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream

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10. Untitled by Tara Holland

Arguably more a portrait than a city-scape, this street scene caught our eye and we just had to share it. The awkward-looking subject contrasts brilliantly with the models in the background, and who can fail to smile at a classic case of blackened tooth graffiti?

Taken with: T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream

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Complete Coverage of Mobile World Congress 2012