Android

Tuesday Poll: Are You Going to Buy an Android Wear Smartwatch?

moto 360-2
Tim-o-tato
by Tim-o-tato on News Polls

With Google’s announcement of the Android Wear platform for smartwatches this morning, we can see that Google’s vision for what a smartwatch should be is exciting to many of you.

Two companies have already unveiled their plans for bringing Android Wear to the market – the Moto 360 from Motorola and the G Watch from LG. Other companies including HTC, Samsung, and even Fossil have announced partnerships with Google to bring Android Wear to the market.

With that being said, it’s time for us to gauge who among us plans on dropping cash as soon as they hit the market. As for when that will be, LG states that the G Watch should launch in Q2 of this year, and Motorola states the Moto 360 will be available “this summer.”

Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments section below.

Are you going to buy an Android Wear smartwatch?

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Android Wear Developer Preview Now Available

android wear preview
Kellex
by Kellex on News

Developers, your Android Wear developer preview is now available. We already showed you Android Wear in action, but in order to get your own apps ready for that type of experience, Google is letting you get in on the action early.

The dev preview – once you sign up – will get you into an emulator that will let you preview how your notifications will look on both square and round Android wearables. That’s right, we are getting multiple shapes, including a round watch from Motorola dubbed the Moto 360. The preview also includes new Android Wear APIs, so that you can “customize and extend notifications to accept voice replies, feature additional pages, and stack with similar notifications.”  (more…)

Video: See Android Wear in Action on a Watch That Doesn’t Look Like It’s From the Future

android wear2
Kellex
by Kellex on News Videos

In the press release for Google’s new wearables platform, called Android Wear, they talked about a developer preview that can be downloaded by developers who want to get their apps ready for live action on wrists. They also released a video for the developer preview, which just so happens to show a watch in action (or at least a video rendering of how it could work).

You get a full preview of the UI, how the card-style information is presented, navigated through, what happens when you say “OK, Google” to perform an action, and how quickly you can reply using your voice to something like a Hangouts message.  (more…)

Google Announces Android for Wearables, Dubbed “Android Wear” – Very Google Now-powered

android wear
Kellex
by Kellex on News

Well, Google just unwrapped it’s new wearables SDK, along with a video preview of their  vision for Android in products on your body. It’s called Android Wear, and yes, it’s certainly just like Google Now, in that it provides you with information as you need it or as it happens in a card-style format. Google is starting first with watches, but as Android boss Sundar Pichai already said, watches are only the beginning.

Through Android Wear, you can ask your watch questions with an “OK, Google” command, monitor your fitness, control other devices from your wrist, and of course, see timely info and suggestions “right when you need them.”

Google is claiming that they created a new UI specifically for wearables that is based around contextual information, along with your voice. (more…)

Google Play Services 4.3 Rolling Out – Includes APIs for Game Gifts, Analytics, Drive, and More

google play services
Kellex
by Kellex on News

This morning, Google announced all sorts of new Google Play Games-relate goodies like Game Gifts, that allows players to send virtual in-game objects to fellow players. But what good are new goodies without APIs for developers to use to build them in? This afternoon, Google is giving us a Google Play Services update to v4.3 that introduces all sorts of APIs.

We’re talking Analytics and Tag Manager APIs now being incorporated into Google Play services as a “first class citizen,” Game Gifts API, updates to the Drive API (pinning, app folders, change notifications, etc.), and an Address API.

The Google Play Services 4.3 update is rolling out worldwide as you read this.

Play Link

The dirty details of all of these new tools can be found below.  (more…)

Best NCAA March Madness Apps for Android: 2014

ncaa tourney apps
Kellex
by Kellex on Apps News

March Madness and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament kick off this week, which you already knew since you joined the DL NCAA Bracket Challenge. But, you may not know exactly how you should be following all of the action. Don’t worry, just like last year, we have you covered with a list of the best apps that will let you track brackets, see the latest news and scores, and even watch games live.

From ESPN to CBS to Yahoo, all of the best apps can be found below. If there are three apps that I could recommend, it would be the first three on the lists. One lets you watch live games, another will help you keep track of your bracket in the DL Challenge, and a third is a must-have for sports scores.  (more…)