Home Blog Page 1007

GBoard is finally official via the Google Play Store

AndroidGuys
-
0

The wait is over. GBoard is now available as an update to Google Keyboard on the Google Play Store. Google has long had a keyboard on offer for iOS devices, GBoard, which has some cool tricks and features that were embedded in the keyboard itself. Android users were curious when this keyboard would finally make its official debut on Android devices, and that day has come.

An update has been pushed to Google Keyboard app on Android devices already using it, and GBoard is now available for download from the Play Store. GBoard offers some neat embedded features, like the ability to search Google right on the keyboard, in any app, and share the results just like you would doing a search on the web. It works for searching and sharing videos and .gifs as well. GBoard features swipe-typing, emoji search and multi-language support in addition to the search function. You can even customize the theme and size of the keyboard so it fits your personal style.

Google Keyboard was already a very solid pick for Android users, and the addition of GBoard features makes it even better. GBoard saves you from swapping apps just to search or share some basic info, and the fact that it works in most any app is just icing on the cake. It takes some adjusting, but once you’re used to the new features you’ll wonder how you got on without them. If you’re looking for a new keyboard for your device, or just wanna give it a try, get it from the link below.

Download GBoard from the Google Play Store

Check out these quirky tech gift ideas for the fashion obsessed

Alexandra Arici
-
0

Have a fashion obsessed friend or loved one in your life and you have no idea what to get them this Christmas? If you’re not really great at picking out clothes or shoes, so why not consider another strategy this year?

We’re all hooked to electronics these days, so why not find a gift that’s geeky but also boasts a fashionable component? We can help. And we’ve already zeroed in a few elegant tech gift ideas that will appeal to the inner aesthetic sense of every fashion lover.

Michael Kors Access Bradshaw Smartwatch

michael-kors-access-bradshaw-smartwatch

In Google’s recent Magic Minute Project, model/photographer/creative director Zanita Whittington is creating a host of fashionable looks while rocking a Michael Kors Access Bradshaw smartwatch.

The wearable has recently landed in the Google Store and can be yours for $350 a pop. The watch features a stylish gold case and bracelet and it can easily pass off as a piece of jewelry. It features a circular AMOLED display with 360 x 360 resolution and a 400 mAh battery.

Kate Spade Activity Tracker

kate-spade-activity-tracker

What if your loved one is very much into fitness? Kate Spade’s new line of chic activity trackers are all you need for a perfect gift.

There’s an entire lineup of Kate Spade fashion trackers, so you will have plenty to choose from. Each wearable pairs with the Kate Spade app in order to collect and deliver all physical activity stats and sleeping data, pretty much like Fitbit does.

You can pick up one of these beauties for $98 right now!

STIL Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge Fashion Cases

stil-samsung-galaxy-s7-cases

For Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge owners, the STIL luxury case series is great way to bring designer fashion to their smartphones. STIL’s designers have created these accessories blending luxury fashion and industrial design.

STIL offers two lines that take a different approach. The PAVIS cases have minimalist design inspired by nature and accented by geometric motifs, while Targa models boast an avant-garde design featuring strongly defined geometry and metallic accents.

The phone cases sell for prices starting at $69.

Tinsel Dipper

tinsel-dipper-earbuds-fashion

Fashion meets function with the Tinsel Dipper, which at first glance can be mistaken for a necklace. You’ll be quite surprise to know this gorgeous piece of jewelry hides a pair of earbuds.

The chevron-shaped pendant is offered in combination with stainless-steel chains that are plated in gold or gunmetal-gray finish.

The Tinsel Gunner proved quite popular with fashion lovers around the world, so if you want to acquire one you’ll need to Reserve your unit. The Tinsel website says “new units are shipping” and if you order yours by December 16 (it’s today!) you’ll be able to get it by Christmas.

Oh, the earbuds slash necklace can be yours for $199.

Ringly

ringly

Yes, wearables have been losing their momentum this year, but when it comes to fashion loving people we bet you can still pleasantly surprise them if you gift them with a wearable that can easily pass off as jewelry.

Ringly is and atypical one. You won’t wear it on your wrist like smartwatches or fitness trackers, but on your …finger.

Yes Ringly is exactly that. A stunning looing ring that can connect to your phone via Bluetooth (Android/iOS) in order to let you receive notifications via vibrations and a sublet color-coded light.

You can get Ringly in various colors with prices set at $195.

Michael Kors x Fuji Film InstaX

michael-kors-x-fuji-film-instax

We have another Michael Kors entry because, let’s face it all fashionistas love the creative power of Michael Kors. This mini camera is shaped to look like a handbag and you can easily carry it around like one, as it can be pair with a stylish Leather Camera bag.

The Fuji Film InstaX is a film camera and if you buy it you’ll the Instax Mini Film pack (10 photos) included in the bundle as well. The camera features Michael Kors’ logo and can be acquired for $150 a pop. If you want the camera bag you’ll need to pay an additional $198 or $348 if you want the medium version.

Sofia Cashmere Basketweave Trim Tech Gloves

sofia-cashmere-basketweave-trim-tech-gloves

Is your loved one always texting? Then this winter a pair of tech gloves which will allow him/her to text while still keeping warm, sounds like a very good gift idea.

The gloves are made of soft cashmere to create a comfortable but luxurious feel. Sofia Cashmere works with long fibers that resist pilling, which results in a long product life. The gloves can be yours for $89.

BeoPlay S3 by Bang & Olufsen

beoplay-s3-by-bang-olufsen

If the person you’re buying the gift for has also a passion for music, this beautiful Bluetooth speaker is what you need. Its clean design makes it perfect for any interior and the fact that it embeds Bang & Olufsen technology makes it even better.

Detailed oriented people will be happy to know that you can change the speaker covers easily and make the S3 match your style and personality.

Get one for $119 a pop.

Mezzi Mini Cosmia

mezzi-mini-cosmia

The Mini Cosmia might look like your average hand bag, but we assure you it’s not. The Suede & Adria leather bag hides a few secrets. The purse comes with an in-bag light and embeds a 4,000 mAh phone and tablet charger and a Bluetooth speaker. The bag can also deliver call and messages notifications. It’s available in a multitude of colors for $325 a pop.

Kate Spade Selfie Button

kate-spade-selfie-button

People into fashion love snapping pictures of themselves showing off their new outfits. So the Kate Spade selfie button is a must have.

The selfie button allows users to frame their shot from a distance and take the best pictures possible. It also doubles as a key chain and you can grab it for $21.

5 Minute Android Makeovers: Firewatch

AndroidGuys
-
0

How about we switch your home screen up on your Android to something that shows your love for the game Firewatch? Not familiar with the game? You’re totally missing out as it’s an excellent first-person mystery adventure for consoles. Nevertheless, you can still edit your layout to something completely fresh and eye-catching.

For less than the cost of your next lunch you could have an incredible design that breathes fresh air into your phone. If it has been some time since you changed things up, you owe it to yourself to try something new.

Why pay for some of these apps?

You might put in a few bucks to get things rolling but you’ll be glad you did in the long run. The sheer level of configuration and customization behind a few of these titles means endless designs. If you’ve been doing the custom home screen stuff for a while, you may have already purchased some of these apps already. With that said, you’ve got some incredibly flexible stuff here, so have fun with it!

What You’ll Need

Between the icon pack alone you’ll have thousands of icons to choose from with more than a dozen color options. And, when you look at the wallpapers captured and shared on Google+, there’s something inviting in just about any palette. Throw in an extremely robust widget app in KWGT and you’ve got ingredients for all sorts of beautiful layouts.

Where to Go

We learned of this look by checking out Reddit; here’s the thread where the creator shared his original ideas. Be sure to bookmark the page and come back for more dialog around the custom design.

DOOGEE Shoot 1 launches for $99 with Android 6, 5.5-inch display, 3000mAh battery

AndroidGuys
-
2

We find ourselves saying this every so often, but it’s always true; this is a great time to buy an unlocked phone. The prices continue to drop and the selection continues to get better.

As we wind down 2016 we’re talking about brands and devices from makers many readers likely have not heard of before. The fact is that while many of us are conditioned to trust and buy from bigger names like Samsung, LG, and Motorola, there are other companies fighting equally hard for your attention.

doogee_shoot1_2

Like it or not, you’re going to hear from a bunch of brands in 2017. Some might be more quiet in their approach, going about things slowly but surely. Others, may be more aggressive and hit you in the face with an ad campaign. Either way, there’s much more choice out there for customers than they’d think.

DOOGEE, a brand we’ve covered a few times over the last year, has a new device on the market. Aimed at the entry-level buyer, this unlocked phone, the Shoot 1, carries a $99 price tag. It might not be a prime candidate for our US audience given its supported network bands, but a large section of our readers come from outside of the country.

Powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the handset offers up a 5.5-inch display at full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels). Running the show is a quad-core 1.5Ghz processor from MediaTek with 2GB RAM; internal storage is listed at 16GB with microSD support for up to 256GB of space.

doogee_shoot1_3

In terms of cameras, the DOOGEE Shoot 1 provides a rear dual-camera configuration with a 13.0-megapixel Samsung and 8-megapixel setup. Around front you’ll find another 8-megapixel shooter. Moreover, the main cameras provide phase detection autofocus and work well in low light and nighttime environments.

Rounding things out, a 3,300mAh battery should be enough for most users to get through a day or two’s worth of tasks without having to charge back up.

The DOOGEE Shoot 1 launches with a $99 pre-order price tag and can be purchased from outlets such as Geekbuying. Pick one up in Silver, Gold, and Gray color options. Shipping is expected to begin just after Christmas.

An extra note to our US readers: This isn’t one of those unlocked GSM phones which will work on AT&T or T-Mobile. Take a look at the carrier bands supported by the DOOGEE Shoot 1 and you’ll see it’s not compatible.

  • 2G:GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
  • 3G:WCDMA 900/2100MHz
  • 4G:FDD-LTE 800/900/1800/2100/2600MHz

As is the case with any unlocked handset, check with your wireless service provider to ensure it will work with them before spending the money.

Huawei unveils gorgeous Honor Magic phone with AI capabilities

Alexandra Arici
-
0

Concept phones seem to be the rising trend this year. After Xiaomi’s Mi MIX edge-to-edge phone, now it’s time for Huawei to unveil its own concept – the Honor Magic.

The phone was teased last week and back then we told you the phone might prove to be Huawei’s first attempt at making a modular phone. Turns out, we were wrong. But that doesn’t mean the Honor Magic isn’t a special phone.

huawei-honor-magic-everything

First off, the phone does look stunning. The Honor Magic boasts a fondness for smooth curves that makes it quite appealing to the eyes.

The phone features a 5.09-inch AMOLED display with QHD resolution (1440 x 2560 pixels) and 577 ppi. Huawei throws in a 2.3GHz Kirin 950 processor under the hood which works in concert with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

huawei-honor-magic-gorgeous

As you probably know, Huawei likes dual camera setups, so the Honor Magic takes advantage of a 12MP dual lens sensor with f/2.2 aperture and an 8MP selfie snapper on the back. The phone is supported by a 2,900 mAh battery and comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box.

These are hard cold specs, but the Honor Magic does come bundled with a set of unique feats. You see the Magic is an AI driven phone. That being said, the company has bundled a host of functionalities which are exclusive to the phone.

huawei-honor-magic-sleek-face

For example, say hello to the Wise Screen sensor – a piece of technology that taps into the power of a frame sensor and an infrared sensor located in the selfie camera to perform a nifty trick. When the owner of the Honor Magic picks up the phone the Wise Screen setup will be able to recognize the user’s hand and eyes thus unlocking the phone.

An additional FaceCode Intelligent Recognition ensures notifications and messages are shared only with the pre-registered face(s) thus preventing unwanted parties having access to sensitive information.

huawei-honor-magic-view

Huawei has shared some other AI-related features the Honor Magic takes advantage of. Let’s say you are chatting with a friend about movies, the AI powering the device will be able to pick that up and offer its own set of opinions about what you should watch.

The DeepThink option gets activated when users press and hold the home button in order to retrieve multi-faced info based on your search history.

huawei-honor-magic-side-view-2

If you use the Honor Magic to order a cab, you’ll be able to see the car’s license plate under locked screen mode. When you arrive at the theater, the phone will know to display the ticket (booking number) or the tracking number if you’re retrieving a parcel from the post office.

The Honor Magic is supposed to see what you see. So walk into a dark room at night and the phone will automatically launch the flashlight feature. Last but not least, Huawei teases the My Pocket feat which enables users to swipe up from the bottom screen in order to activate a save/share button.

honor-logo

Naturally the phone will be sold under a premium price tag. Customers in China can already place a pre-order for the Honor Magic if they are willing to pay $530. Estimated delivery is scheduled for December 25. Hopefully Huawei will bring this “Magic” phone to the States pretty soon. We already know its current flagship, the Mate9 is bound for the US.

OK Google is now enabled in Android Auto for all

Alexandra Arici
-
1

Remember that earlier this month, we told you some users noticed “OK Google” feature finally became available on Android Auto.

Well today Google officially announced the feature it going live for all, while inviting users to download the latest version from the Google Play Store in the process.

use-android-auto

Google boasts that Android Auto will now work with every car. All users need to do is connect a phone to a compatible car display or just put the phone in a dock and use Android Auto directly from the phone screen. However you’ll need to have a phone with Android 5.0 Lollipop or higher and an active data connection to get Android Auto running.

google-maps-android-auto

Users can now get in the car and utter the magic “OK Google” words to activate the feature. Previously users had to press an on-screen microphone button to be able to start using voice commands, but that’s no longer the case.

directions-android-auto

The feature is bound to make driving a lot safer. By using only voice commands drivers can now dictate a text message, switch songs or check the weather and the calendar without taking their hands off the wheel.

Android Auto is currently available in 31 countries including the United States and UK. However users in Germany, Sweden, Finland and Netherlands are reporting the service does not work in their country, although we do have confirmation it works in Portugal.

Capcom is bringing Mega Man to Android starting January 6

Alexandra Arici
-
0

Are you nostalgic about old school games? Well if that’s the case then you’ll going to love this announcement. Japanese game maker Capcom has just revealed it will be porting the Mega Man series (Mega Man 1 through Mega Man 6) to iOS and Android next year.

Each game will be sold individually, but a set including all six game will be made available. The company will launch the games really soon, on January 6 but only in Japan. However, we’re pretty sure Capcom will make the games available worldwide soon after.

mega-man

The games start robot character Mega Man (or Rock Man) who must first through the levels using variations of the “Mega Buster” – a canon attached to his arm in order to save the world from Dr. Wily’s psychotic robotic threats.

Capcom shared teased gamers with a screenshot of the upcoming mobile title, which seems to suggest Mega Man will continue to take advantage of the 4:3 aspect ratio characteristic of the original series.

capcom-heroes

It’s not the first time Rock Man tries to make it out on mobile. A few years ago Capcom released an emulated version of Mega Man 2 pus a Mega Man X port. However the titles weren’t too well received by the gaming community due to their questionable quality. Hopefully Capcom will get it right this time.

FreedomPop adds AT&T network support via new SIM card and hotspot

Alexandra Arici
-
0

Here at AndrodGuys we’re big fans of MVNOs and their small business. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, a MNVO is a wireless service provider that does not have its own infrastructure and licenses network access from other carriers.

This week’s MNVO news comes from FreedomPop, the Los Angeles-based started which just announced it is now offering subscribers access to the AT&T network via a new SIM card (priced at $10) and a new hotspot (priced at $30).

freedompop

Previously, FreedomPop allowed users to tap only into Sprint’s network and now the new option gives users more variety.

The hotspot comes with 2GB of free data, while the SIM card can be used in concert with any GSM-compatible phone.

However, like with most service plans, there are a few caveats with what FreedomPop is offering. For starters, the free plan includes only 200 minutes of talk, 500 text messages and 200MB of data which might not be enough for the majority of users.

att globe logo image

Those who want more can jump onboard with a paid option, the most expensive one offering 10GB of data for $74.99 a month.

FreedomPop has gained a reputation of being a low-cost service provider. The MVNO’s tactics for keeping rates down include relying mostly on Wi-Fi access and zero-rating – a practice which allows access to apps and services without tapping in to the allotted data. The virtual carrier is also always looking to strike friendly deals with big carrier players like AT&T.

Verizon reconsiders, will brick the Galaxy Note7 come January 5

Alexandra Arici
-
0

A few days ago we told you major carriers in the US agreed to work with Samsung and push an update that will suspend the Galaxy Note7’s ability to charge. But not all telecoms were so accommodating.

Verizon was the only one among big carriers which refused to help disable the Galaxy Note7 due to concerns related to the added risks the measure could pose to phablet users who don’t have a device to switch to.

On top of that, the holidays are coming and Verizon wanted to make sure its users stay connected with friends and family and have a functional phone in case they get stranded somewhere during the holiday travel season.

galaxy-note7

Well it seems Big Red has reconsidered and will now join the AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint bandwagon and will release the update meant to kill the controversial phablet.

However, the company will let you enjoy Christmas first. But come January 5, Verizon will unleash the scythe of death upon remaining Galaxy Note7 units.

T-Mobile will be the first carrier to start rolling the update, scheduled for December 27. After which both AT&T and Verizon will release it on January 5, while Sprint will wait until January 8 to unchain its kill switch.

s-pen-hanging-out

In a recent statement, Samsung revealed that 93% Galaxy Note7s in the country have been return. Now the company hopes to retrieve the remaining 7% and be done with the Galaxy Note7 affair once and for all (at least in the US).

In other countries like the UK, Samsung is applying more permissive strategy. The company is expected to roll out an update which will limit the Note7’s battery charging to 30%.

Easily send your Evernote documents to Google Docs [How-To]

AndroidGuys
-
0

Evernote recently released its new Privacy Policy which is set to go effective on January 23, 2017, in which it states, among other things, that Evernote employees are allowed to review your content for what they call the oversight of machine learning.

We will not get into the specifics in this post however if the changes listed in the article above make you feel like jumping ship and moving to another platform, here is the easiest way i have found to move all of your content from Evernote into Google Docs

Prerequisites:

For this How-To, we are going to use a third party application called IFTTT (If This Then That). If you are not familiar with this app do not fear, we are here to guide you. There are a few things you will need for this to work:

  1. You will need an Evernote account from which you want to export your files
  2. You will need a Google account to access your Google Docs
  3. You will need to create an IFTTT account.

Transfer your documents:

Lets jump right in and get your documents moved.

  1. Log into your IFTTT account. You can use either the web app or the mobile app.
  2. Tap on the search option.
  3. In the search bar, type in “IF the note has a tag upload it to GDrive”.
  4. Tap on the option named the same as above.
  5. Tap the “Turn On” slider.
  6. Set the specific tag you would like to trigger this action. The default tag is “mw-drive”
  7. Tap the check mark in the upper right hand corner.
  8. Launch your Evernote mobile app.
  9. Tap the Hamburger menu in the upper left hand corner.
  10. Select “All Notes”.
  11. Tap and hold on any note to begin the multi select option.
  12. Once you have all your notes selected, tap the three dots in the  upper right corner.
  13. Tap on the “Tag” option.
  14. Type in whatever you designated as your tag in the IFTTT recipe. PLEASE NOTE, the tag MUST be added AFTER the recipe is created.
  15. Sit back and watch the documents roll into your Google Drive folders. (IFTTT\Evernote by default)

YOU DID IT! I know this was a longer How-To than normal. But think about what you just accomplished. You just transferred all your notes into a completely separate system that otherwise had no way to simply export and import documents.

Have you ever used IFTTT before? What are your favorite recipes? Comment below and show us some new life hacks.

1...1,0061,0071,008...1,315Page 1,007 of 1,315