Google Play Store

**Jorge-Vieira** · 08-03-16, 09:22

Facebook Messenger Material design rolling out on Android today

The new Google Material design for Facebook Messenger on Android has been revealed. As you can see, it's much cleaner than what's in use currently, and features a 'new conversation' button.

"If you're using Messenger on Android, you've been wanting a brand new material design for a bit," says Vice President of Messaging Products at Facebook David Marcus. "Any major redesign of an essential app used by hundreds of millions of people around the world is painstakingly hard, and that's why we took every precaution to ensure you'd truly enjoy this evolution."

The fresh look will start rolling out approximately... now, if not later today.

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/50914/...oid/index.html

**Jorge-Vieira** · 09-03-16, 16:06

Now you can plan and book an entire vacation using Google's new mobile search engine feature

Google is launching a new feature for mobile that aims to make planning a trip or vacation a whole lot easier. With ‘Destinations on Google,’ you can pick where to go, book dates, organize accommodation, and even check out popular itineraries from previous visitors.
The Destinations feature has been slowly arriving over the last few weeks. It is triggered by certain mobile Google searches, such as “European destinations.” If you want to find a location based on specific activities, you can search for terms like “Colorado Skiing” or “New Zealand Hiking.”

The feature will also appear when searching for a specific country, state, city, or other destination.
When you select a city from those presented in the grid, you’ll be shown a slew of information regarding the location, which includes algorithm-based and editorially curated highlights and itinerary suggestions. From here, you can find out what are the hottest and most popular months, the various cultural sites and activities, when the cheapest flights are available, and all the possible hotels you can stay in.
Once you decide on your destination, Google lets you tailor your travel details. After you set the date and pick the airline, you’ll be sent to the appropriate website to make the actual booking.

There are currently 201 cities worldwide that are covered by Destinations, but more will be added as time goes on.
Google said that part of the reason it introduced Destinations was because of the mobile platform’s 50 percent spike in travel-related questions last year. Quite how many people will be willing to use the feature to actually book a ticket, as opposed to using a desktop, remains to be seen. But even if you don’t want to pay for your vacation with Destinations on Google, it's still a great mobile feature for investigating future trip locations.
Check out the video below to see more of Destinations on Google.

Noticia:
http://www.techspot.com/news/64041-n...ion-using.html

**Jorge-Vieira** · 20-03-16, 17:24

If You Want To Run The Same App Twice, App Cloner Is What You Need

You know you cannot download the same application twice from Google’s Play Store. While some apps have support for multiple accounts, like Facebook Messenger and Instagram, others are restricted to only one. This may lead users to either sign out and log in with a different account or make use of another device. However, running modded APKs is another way of running the same app twice, but there are certain risks associated with it, as the source is unknown and potential errors and viruses could easily harm your device. With that said, if you want to run the same app twice, we have just the app which will allow you to do so.

Install And Run Two Same Apps At The Same Time Using App Cloner

App Cloner solves this dilemma by letting you clone an app and install its duplicate on your smartphone. Not just that, the app also enables you to modify the body and brains of the app. You can choose how a specific app’s body double behaves and looks like. You can rename it to your need and change the icon of the app itself to differentiate it from the original.

Some users might not get the utility derived from owning two same apps in a single place. For instance, if you’re running more than one Facebook account, signing out and then signing back in to a different account is quite a cumbersome task and takes away most of your time. If you’re into smartphone games, you can have two different progresses for the same game. However, the most common use of the app would be to run two accounts simultaneously.
READ Skype 6.4 Updated With Conversation Management Tools On Android Wear

Personally, App Cloner did work for me as I have two Facebook accounts, a personal one and the other for work. Previously, whenever I tried to switch between these two accounts, the purpose died in-between. With App Cloner, all I have to do is open the app that carries my interest and it works perfectly fine.

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If you think the clone app would intervene with system software, you can always hide the app from the app drawer. Moreover, you can also prevent it from setting as the default app when opening various links. So you don’t have to worry about the app intercepting or coinciding with the original app. You have the option available to remove the clone’s widgets and even lock the orientation to landscape or portrait. You can even password protect it and restrict permissions as well. basically, App Cloner has got you covered on any major aspect of control.

As helpful as the app may seem, there were several locations where the app failed to deliver its purpose. For instance, you cannot clone an app that uses Google Play Services, like Google Chrome. Moreover, some clone apps would force close themselves as soon as I opened them. However, the issues are imminent and bound to happen, but they don’t pop-up on every clone app. The results of the app may vary as per an individual’s use.

You can download the App Cloner from the Play Store for free. However, it is limited to a very few options. To unlock all of its features, the app has $3.99 worth of in-app purchases. Purchasing these IAPs would allow you to play with different kinds of settings and modify the app according to your preferences. Since the app does what Google doesn’t want it to, there are chances that it might be removed from the Play Store. If it does, you can download the APK file from here.
READ Facebook Is Launching A New Personalized Tab For Notifications Soon

App Cloner is definitely a very useful app at times of need and could save a lot of time from switching between different accounts. Have you ever felt the need to have two same apps running at the same time? Which apps would you clone? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Download App Cloner From Play Store

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/if-you-want-to-r...#ixzz43St7DAIV

**Jorge-Vieira** · 23-03-16, 20:36

Google Photos can now automatically suggest new albums based on your best photos, videos

Snapping photos is one of the best ways to remember a family vacation or a weekend getaway with your friends. Perhaps you shared a few images on social media with the intent of creating a proper album but simply never got around to organizing and selecting your favorites. The photos ultimately remain on your device and eventually, you forget about them.
Google wants to make sure those memories don't get lost in the clutter.

A new update to Google Photos seeks to remedy the situation by automatically curating the best photos and images and sorting them into an album for you. Google Photos will also add in maps that show how far you traveled and even pins to highlight places you stopped. Users can of course customize what goes into an album (add or delete a map, for example) and add additional photos that might not have made the automated cut.
Naturally, you'll be able to add in captions and even enable collaboration so others from the trip can add their images to the bunch.
The search giant unveiled Google Photos at last year's I/O conference alongside Android Marshmallow. The service relies heavily on machine learning and intelligence, allowing it to automatically sort images by days, months and years in addition to being able to sort by people, places and things.
Google says the new album experience is rolling out as we speak on Android, iOS and the web.

Noticia:
http://www.techspot.com/news/64204-g...ew-albums.html

**Jorge-Vieira** · 24-03-16, 15:00

YouTube Connect Livestreaming App Is Reportedly Google's Answer To Periscope

One of the newest fads in mobile is live streaming. The idea itself isn't brand new, but with Twitter (via Periscope) and Facebook both pushing live streaming functionality, users are taking notice and jumping on board. The same goes for Google, which is building a live streaming app of its own called YouTube Connect.

You're not supposed to know about YouTube Connect just yet. It hasn't been officially announced and Google isn't keen on commenting on the subject. Nevertheless, VentureBeat caught wind of the project through "a source close to the matter" and shared some of the details of YouTube Connect, details that could change by the time it ships.

image: http://hothardware.com/ContentImages...nt/YouTube.jpg

As it stands now, YouTube Connect isn't all that different from Periscope and Facebook Live. To live stream whatever it is you want to share with the world you simply log into YouTube Connect using your Google or YouTube account. While in there, you can chat with and tag other people, and there's also a news feed that shows clips from friends and your YouTube subscriptions.

While you can certainly watch live streams from within the app, having it installed isn't required. The same live streaming content will be available on YouTube as well. If you have the app, you can store streams that have already been broadcasted, giving YouTube Connect a neat replay aspect to fool around with.

One thing that will be missing from YouTube Connect at launch is the ability to integrate live streams with Facebook or Twitter. Given the massive audiences on both sites, Google would be wise to address that shortcoming sooner than later.

Noticia:
http://hothardware.com/news/youtube-...c5lYzexQROT.99

**Jorge-Vieira** · 25-03-16, 20:42

Google Makes Its Photo Tools Free To Everyone

If you've put off using Google's photo editing tools because of the $150 price tag, I have good news for you. Not only are the tools free now, anyone that bought the tools in 2016 will get a full refund.

Photo enthusiasts all over the world use the Nik Collection to get the best out of their images every day. As we continue to focus our long-term investments in building incredible photo editing tools for mobile, including Google Photos and Snapseed, we’ve decided to make the Nik Collection desktop suite available for free, so that now anyone can use it.

Noticia:
http://www.hardocp.com/news/2016/03/...e#.VvWiK3pv7ug

**Jorge-Vieira** · 29-03-16, 08:23

Periscope turns one, celebrates more than 200 million broadcasts

Periscope, the live video streaming app from Twitter, recently celebrated its one year anniversary. As outlined in a brief post on Medium, Periscope has come a long way since its debut.
As of today, more than 200 million broadcasts have been created. If that doesn’t impress, perhaps the fact that over 110 years of live video are watched every day will. That’s up from 40 years of live video each day back in August.
Periscope owes much of its success to pioneers that blazed the trail before it.
A decade ago, sites like Justin.tv and Ustream introduced and somewhat popularized the concept of lifecasting. Back then, broadcasting live on the go meant you need to haul around a webcam and a laptop computer with a connection to a “speedy” wireless network like Sprint’s EVDO network. The concept was still new but some people, like Justine "iJustine" Ezarik, leveraged the platform to develop a devout legion of fans which helped to springboard her career.

Several years later, Twitch (a spin-off of Justin.tv) arrived with a focus on gaming. The idea that other people would want to sit around and watch strangers play video games is still baffling but as we now know, the concept is wildly popular and has directly led to the creation of similar platforms like YouTube Gaming.
These days, Periscope users have it easy as smartphones are now powerful enough – and equipped with decent enough cameras – to serve as their own streaming platforms, bolstered of course by fast 4G LTE wireless networks. Oh, and let’s not forget to thank Meerkat for popularizing the modern-day live broadcasting genre before Periscope jumped in.

Noticia:
http://www.techspot.com/news/64247-p...0-million.html

**Jorge-Vieira** · 29-03-16, 15:58

You Could Pay For Things With Your Facebook Messenger App Soon

Facebook let you send money to friends through the Facebook Messenger app at the moment, but you could end up being able to spend money in the messenger app as well with some news that the messenger could soon have in-store purchases.
The new feature would be included in a variety of updates and new features that could soon be making their way to the Messenger app. As a result details are scarce, but from what we can gather Facebook’s app would let you pay for goods in person, meaning it would offer the same mobile payments that Android, Apple and Samsung currently offer.
Alongside the payment feature, there is a reference to “secret conversations”, ending unfortunately at just a reference. Initial speculation states this could be a way to hide conversations within the app or even a higher form of encryption that rival apps like WhatsApp offer. The latter would make sense given the current global focus on information security and privacy.
With code further referencing syncing calendars and selective streaming of news feed statuses to groups of friends, the ability to organise and control who sees what could see the app become a go-to for organising your day-to-day life. With no official word yet we have to take these with a pinch of salt, but the payment sending ability was hinted at in a similar fashion months before Facebook officially announced it.
Would you store your payment details on Facebook? How about organising your everyday life with Facebook’s calendars?

Noticia:
http://www.eteknix.com/you-could-pay...nger-app-soon/

**Jorge-Vieira** · 30-03-16, 19:55

Google Calculator hits the Play Store

Google's excellent Calculator app is now available on the Play Store, so you can replace less pretty options like the Samsung Calculator with it, if you don't have the former installed by default.

As you'd expect, it supports basic calculations, but also trigonometric, logarithmic, and exponential functions.

As a bonus, an Android Wear Calculator is bundled into the app, so you can make calculations on the go on your smartwatch.

Hit the source or the Play Store app to download.

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/51367/...ore/index.html

**Jorge-Vieira** · 04-04-16, 13:56

Google removes an app created by the Taliban from the Play Store

While the technological capabilities of ISIS have been widely reported, it now seems that the Taliban is expanding its reach into the online world. An app created by the Islamic fundamentalist group was discovered on the Play Store late last week, but was quickly removed by Google.
The Pashto language app, called Alemarah, included official statements and videos from the Taliban. It was the first application to come from the group, and was “part of our advanced technological efforts to make more global audience," according to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed.
The app was discovered and reported on Friday by the SITE Intelligence Group, a non-governmental counterterrorism organization. Google removed it soon after for violating the company’s policy that states apps are not allowed to “advocate against groups of people based on their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity.”
"Our policies are designed to provide a great experience for users and developers. That's why we remove apps from Google Play that violate those policies," Google said in a statement.
Mujahed claimed the app’s disappearance is due to “technical issues,” and that he expects it to return to the Google Play store soon.
Much like Islamic State, the Taliban has quite a noticeable online presence. The group has a website that is run in five languages and numerous social media accounts. It also uses the encrypted messaging service Telegram, which previously blocked dozens of ISIS-related channels.
"The app will help Taliban to further psychologically weaken Afghanistan by their propaganda reports,” Jawid Kohistani, an independent Kabul-based security analyst, told Bloomberg.

Noticia:
http://www.techspot.com/news/64318-g...lay-store.html

**Jorge-Vieira** · 05-04-16, 07:36

Google Play icons get a new look

Google has taken the liberty of refreshing its Play icon library, including Google Play, Play Store, Play Movies & TV, Play Music, Play Games, Play Books, Play Newsstand. Part of the aim, it says, is to achieve a uniform look across its apps, and that's certainly evident with the results.

The refresh will make its way across devices and the web over the coming weeks.

Noticia:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/51455/...ook/index.html

**Jorge-Vieira** · 05-04-16, 15:20

Facebook Wields Artificial Intelligence To Help Blind Users ‘See’ Photos

Facebook is rolling out a new feature today that will help people who are blind or otherwise visually impaired know what's contained in a photograph. The feature is called automatic alternative text (or automatic alt text), and it's job is to audibly describe various elements contained in a photo, such as the number of people, objects in the background, and so forth.

Photos are an integral part of the online experience, particularly social networks. Each day, people share over 2 billion photos across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. While the majority of users are able to view them, Facebook notes there are more than 39 million people who are blind, and over 246 million with a severe visual impairment.

image: http://hothardware.com/ContentImages...k_Alt_Text.jpg

"We want to build technology that helps the blind community experience Facebook the same way others enjoy it," Facebook said. "That's why today we're introducing automatic alternative text."

Facebook is essentially training its PCs to recognize objects and then describe them to people. The underlying technology is based on a neural network that has billions of parameters and millions of examples to tap into. It's an artificial intelligence scheme that gets smarter and more capable with time.

"Before today, people using screen readers would only hear the name of the person who shared the photo, followed by the term 'photo' when they came upon an image in News Feed. Now we can offer a richer description of what’s in a photo thanks to automatic alt text. For instance, someone could now hear, 'Image may contain three people, smiling, outdoors,'" Facebook explains.

Automatic alt text is launching first on iOS screen readers set to English. Over time, Facebook expand the feature to include other languages and platforms.

Vero video:
http://hothardware.com/news/facebook...OBgYT1EcUx9.99

**Jorge-Vieira** · 06-04-16, 06:56

Following Apple-FBI Battle, WhatsApp Offers End-to-End Encryption to Its 1 Billion Users

The battle over encryption between Apple and the FBI may have come to an abrupt halt after a third-party helped the FBI in unlocking an iPhone, but the debate over privacy, encryption and security has only intensified. For years, the law enforcement agencies and governments have tried to pressurize the tech companies into handing over the data, something that neither received user approval nor a nod from the activist corners. Finding themselves in a tight corner, major tech companies like Apple and Google decided to offer encryption to the user – a new system where even the companies themselves can’t access the content.

WhatsApp encryption battle about to start?

In the latest and possibly the biggest such attempt, WhatsApp has announced that all the messages, phone calls, photos, and videos sent over its messaging app will be encrypted end-to-end.

“I don’t really want to be in the business of observing conversations,” he (Brian Acton) says, adding that people were constantly asking the company for full encryption. “This is something our users wanted. Maybe not your average mom in middle America, but people on a worldwide basis.”

This is bigger than what Apple is doing because the messaging app is currently being used by over a billion of devices, from Android to iOS to S60 phones. End-to-end encryption essentially means that the governments all over the world will have no means to access any communications done using WhatsApp, and the company itself won’t be able to help them either. WhatsApp already offers end-to-end encryption, but has never offered a complete solution that encompasses over all the platforms and all types of communications. Previously, WhatsApp has complied with court orders to release information from its servers.
WhatsApp Has Finalized Video Calling Feature and a New Tabbed Design - Leaked Screenshots

While many from the government have tried to push for a system where companies, while offering encryption to their users, also create a backdoor in their systems and services, thereby weakening their own services, tech companies seem to stay strong on their goal of focusing on user privacy.

“Slipping a backdoor into an encrypted service would defeat the purpose: you might as well not encrypt it at all. A backdoor would just open the service to abuse by both government and hackers.”
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“I think this is politicians, in some ways, using these terrible acts to advance their agendas,” he (Koum) says. “If the White House thinks that Twitter can solve their ISIS problem, they’ve got (a lot of problems).”

“WhatsApp runs on an incredible number of mobile platforms, so full deployment will be an incremental process,” company had said when it started offering end-to-end encryption on Android a year back. Acquired by Facebook in 2014, Jan Koum, the founder of the messaging app, had made it clear that WhatsApp will continue to work independently. However, the latest decision definitely received approval from the parent company. “If they (Facebook) were not supportive of us, we wouldn’t be here today,” Koum said in an interview to Wired. WhatsApp’s co-founder Brian Acton also talked about why it is necessary to offer encryption:

Building secure products actually makes for a safer world, (though) many people in law enforcement may not agree with that,” says Acton.
With encryption, Acton explains, anyone can conduct business or talk to a doctor without worrying about eavesdroppers. With encryption, he says, you can even be a whistleblower—and not worry.

The debate around the balance between security and privacy will continue to intensify in the coming years, as more tech companies join this battle. In a world where no tech service is limited to serving an “average mom in middle America,” it will be tricky even for the sake of “national security” to create a backdoor in order to help some specific governments.
The update to WhatsApp is rolling out to all the platforms, including iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/whatsapp-encrypt...#ixzz451k6E2R8

**Jorge-Vieira** · 06-04-16, 15:44

Transfer Photos And Videos Across Platforms Without Any Hustle

iOS and Android are two different operating systems that work fluidly in their own respective ecosystem. With iOS, you have AirDrop to transfer photos and videos on another iOS device. On the other hand, Android uses Android Beam to send and receive photos from another device. However, it is really cumbersome and annoying to transfer photos from an iOS device to an Android device or vice versa. If you’re someone like me who uses both of these operating systems, there’s an easy way to swipe your photos from one OS to another.

Transfer Photos From iOS To Android With FotoSwipe

FotoSwipe is a brand new app for both, iOS and Android that transfers your photos from one device to another. While there may be plenty of other apps on the market for this specific functionality, FotoSwipe does it way better with a wee bit of intuitiveness. The app is not restricted to the mobile platform, it can also send and receive photos from a computer.

For now, let’s just focus on FotoSwipe for iOS and Android. Once you install the app on your iOS and Android device. The procedure to send and receive photos is relatively simple and fun. Once the app is installed, launch it and let it access your photos. Simply swipe your photo to the right edge of the screen to send it. On the other phone, you must tap on the ”Tap to Receive” button to get it. This is it. You can send videos as well as multiple files using the same procedure. Check out the video below for more details.
Lara Croft GO For iOS Gets An August 27 Release Date

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If you wish to send files to a computer from your smartphone, head to the FotoSwipe website on your PC and launch the app on your device. You will be prompted with a Pairing Code once you swipe your photo to share. The Pairing Code will mark the authentication of the device that you’re sending a file to. After a short while, your file will appear on your computer in the browser’s download folder. It’s this simple.
Sending and receiving photos across different devices has never been this simple. If you have your location enabled on both of your phones, you will not be prompted a Pairing Code otherwise it will. FotoSwipe requires minimum setup and the procedure is fairly simple. At times of need, the app does a wonderful job in transferring photos across devices. FotoSwipe is available as a free download for both iOS and Android.
Have you ever felt the need to transfer photos from iOS to Android? If yes, will you be giving this app a whirl? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Download FotoSwipe For Android

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/transfer-photos-...#ixzz453sofIkf

**Jorge-Vieira** · 06-04-16, 19:57

Facebook Is Getting A New Video Tab For Live Video Broadcast

It looks like Facebook wasn’t kidding when it told the world about a live video streaming integration within its application. The move is to take on the Twitter-owned Periscope and YouTube’s live streaming service. Today, Facebook announced an upcoming update for its iOS and Android app that would focus primarily on videos, both recorded and live. It seems that the addition of a dedicated video tab will replace the Messenger tab in the Facebook app.

Facebook To Introduce Live Video Broadcast Very Soon

The forthcoming video tab will allow users to live stream videos of their friends and the pages that they have liked. You might have come across various live videos from pages and people, Facebook is now working to accumulate them and pile them up in a single tab so you have an easy access. Live video is not the only thing that Facebook is working on. The company is also looking forward to enhancing its live video tools. Moreover, you will also be able to share a specific live broadcast to a group. This way your group won’t miss out on an event that they were invited on but couldn’t make it.

Fidji Simo, the product management director of Facebook said, “We really believe that the future is going to be more immersive, and video is a big part of that.” The live tab will encompass different sections for the broadcasts happening in the world. You will also be given the option to search videos based on their topics. Currently, the tab is rolling out to a small number of users, however, the scale would widen in the coming days.
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Microsoft's Word Flow Keyboard Is Coming To iPhone

There are tons of features that users would adhere to while watching a live broadcast. You can obviously make live comments, but the inclusion of sharing reactions is pretty handy. You will also have the availability to add filters to a broadcast as per your preferences and taste. It will definitely be a step further for Facebook to make social networking more immersive.

To judge how hard Facebook is working on pushing its live video broadcast into action, we also hear that the company is signing deals with publishers to produce specific amount of videos on a monthly bases. This act by the company could open new doors to the live video streaming in Facebook. There are innumerable other features part of the upcoming update, which would probably roll out gradually in the coming days.
This is it for now, folks. What do you think about the upcoming video tab in Facebook? Are you planning to live stream your own videos once it’s here? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Source

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/facebook-video-t...#ixzz454ufWykp