Let's Talk Tech
I had an AMAZING weekend thanks to the Lumia and Mix Radio crews flying a bunch of fun folks out to Delaware to hit the Firefly 2014 music festival!
Four days of live music and fun. I had a blast hanging out with amazing people and making some new friends. Here’s my recap of the weekend!
During Google I/O we heard about native Office document support, and we were pretty sure that was built on the QuickOffice platform.
It looks like after Google Docs receives the updates to natively edit Office files, Google will be properly retiring QuickOffice from the Play store. From the Google Apps Update blog:
With the integration of Quickoffice into the Google Docs, Sheets and Slides apps, the Quickoffice app will be unpublished from Google Play and the App Store in the coming weeks. Existing users with the app can continue to use it, but no features will be added and new users will not be able to install the app.
Short and sweet. Google acquired and retired in around two years. Fret not though as Drive and Docs will be getting much better soon…
A long time ago (about two and a half years), and on a completely different blog, I bemoaned the lack of USB Audio support on Android. There were little hints of it buried in Ice Cream Sandwich, some proprietary solutions surfaced, and a few developers on XDA managed to get some forms of it working on certain devices running certain kernels with certain apps.
It wasn’t looking good.
USB Audio has long been one of the few features iOS could handily beat Android at. Plug a USB mic into an iPad. It worked. Plug a Headphone amp into an iPhone. It worked. Plug an iOS device into a car with USB support. It worked. I happen to be a recording professional, and drooled over mixing consoles which supported the iPad, but the benefits for general consumers were pretty clear too. You can even plug USB mics into Windows Tablets, USB Headphone Amps too.
During the Google I/O 2014 Keynote, we got yet another tease at a feature that many have been looking forward to since the platform’s inception. Buried in the list of updates projected on the wall were mentions of low latency audio recording and USB Audio. Be still my beating heart. Continue reading “Don’t Tease Me Google – Will Android FINALLY Get Proper USB Audio Support?”
Short and sweet.
If you’re concerned that your Android phone might not be compatible with the new Android Wear watches coming out, Google has a simple test link set up.
Head over to g.co/WearCheck with your phone’s browser, and it’ll run a test to see if you’ll be able to sport a Wear watch. Chances are pretty good that if your phone was purchased within the last year or so that you should be good, but it never hurts to get that confirmed right?
Wearable tech will be hot. The smartphone market is maturing and starting to plateau, so manufacturers are pushing into new territories to expand on our relationships with data and services. Google’s Android Wear platform is an excellent step in the right direction to legitimize this new market segment.
It does suffer from one fatal flaw however: Battery life.Â
Playing with several different solutions for wrist computing, my favorite so far are the watches that can best replicate the experience found on traditional time pieces. Namely a screen that can always be referenced for small pieces of information no matter what orientation it’s worn, not depending on any gestures to activate it. I mentioned as much in my last FFC VLOG.
Of course in technology land, compromises have to be made. If you want crazy new features, you have to accept some new limitations. Continue reading “The Problem With Android Wear Watch Screens”
One of my favorite finds from a LootCrate, I’ve been using a Batman Mighty Wallet exclusively for a little more than six months.
How has it held up? Let’s take a look!
Continue reading “Six Months with a DynoMighty Might Wallet – Long Term Review”
Auto in-dash entertainment and navigation systems feel woefully out of step with the rest of the tech landscape. These types of services are far more powerful and updated far more frequently on our phones and tablets. There have been many times I’ve personally just wanted my phone to be the brain of my car.
Starting the Open Auto Alliance, Google plans to provide just that. Plug your phone into your car, and your car screen will show simplified driver friendly versions of the apps and services you might need while operating a motor vehicle. Relying on steering wheel controls and voice recognition services like entertainment, communication, and navigation should help reduce the amount of time drivers take their eyes off the road.
A new Android Auto SDK will help streamline the process of building a car app and releasing it. The initial push will focus on messaging and music services, and the API’s are almost identical to Android Wear.
Over 40 automobile manufacturers have already joined the Open Auto Alliance, and the first Android compatible cars will be released later this year.
We’ll have to wait another month for the gorgeous circular Moto 360 smartwatch, but if you’re jonesing for some Android Wear action Samsung and LG will have you covered starting today!
Featuring an always-on display which provides contextually aware information relevant in that moment or location, Android Wear will be the backbone OS for a number of manufacturers looking at Smartwatches.
A full developer SDK will also be available today allowing future apps and services to feed info to your wrist. As apps are installed on your phone, if they have a Wear component, your watch will automatically update with an applet and interact with that service on your phone.
We’re waiting for the Google Play store to get updated with the LG G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live, so make sure you melt down Google’s servers by smashing your F5 button.