Skype for Android updated with photo, video and file sharing; supports more devices for video calling

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  • December 13, 2011 at 4:08 pm

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Skype for Android 2.6 update

Skype for Android has just been updated to version 2.6 with a number of notable changes. First off, you can now send photos, videos and files to your Skype contacts from your Android device. Sharing files works on either Wi-Fi or over your mobile data plan.

The new version promises to be more gentle on your battery, while certain devices will enjoy better video quality, such as those using Nvidia’s Tegra 2 chipset (like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Motorola XOOM). The Skype team is adding to the number of devices officially supported, with the HTC Amaze 4G and the Motorola DROID RAZR. If after the update your device is still not supported for video calling you might want to check out our post here on how to unofficially enable calling on your device.

How to: sign-up and access Google Music for PC and Android from outside the US, easily

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  • November 20, 2011 at 9:19 am

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Google Music

I’m sure you’ve read about Google’s online music service, appropriately titled Google Music. If you haven’t, it’s Google’s online music store and it’s also a free service which allows you to upload up to 20,000 of your own music files to Google’s cloud. Then, it allows you to listen to both purchased and uploaded songs from any browser (Windows or Mac PC) or through the Google Music app on Android devices. It’s Google’s answer to Apple’s iCloud and Amazon’s Cloud Player.

Unfortunately the service is currently only available within the US, and although Google will successively begin offering the service to other countries, if you reside outside the United States you will be out of luck for a while. Nevertheless there is a very easy way to sign-up and use the service from anywhere in the world, if you are willing to jump a couple of hoops. Note you still won’t be able to buy any music through the service, but you will have access to the free storage and streaming service for you own songs.
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Google+ registration now open for everyone and Hangouts video chat coming to smartphones

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  • September 20, 2011 at 4:15 pm

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Google+ Hangouts video chat for smartphones

Google’s new social endeavor, Google+, has been around for 12 weeks now as a closed beta; that is you needed someone on the inside to send you an invite to join. Well Google just announced that registration is now open to everyone. This comes hot on the news that, after a very successful start, use of Google+ has been dwindling; so we are sure Google is hoping to gather steam for its platform.

To sign-up just head over to plus.google.com.

In addition, Google is rolling out a series of new features for Google+ and the Google+ Android app. We are most excited about the addition of Hangouts for smartphones. Hangouts is a face-to-face video chat platform and will allow Android 2.3+ users to now make video calls using their phones (device must have a front facing camera to support the feature). Apple iOS support will also be coming soon, so iPhone and Android users can debate which OS is the best while seeing each others’ look of disapproval.
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Google adds French, Italian, German and Spanish Voice Actions to Android Voice Search (video)

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  • September 16, 2011 at 4:50 am

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Google Voice Search for Android, European Voice Actions

Android users in Europe can now get talky with their smartphones. Google last year, had introduced Voice Actions as a way of controlling your Android device with your voice. We’ve already covered how you could perform all sorts of tasks, such as sending emails, calling contacts or searching, using your voice. Unfortunately voice recognition until now was limited to English (and mainly US English).

Google just released a new version of Voice Search for Android with voice actions in French, Italian, German, Spanish and specifically tailored British English. As usual, check the Android Market for the latest version of the app. To use, launch Voice Search by keeping the Android search button (the one that looks like a magnifying glass) pressed for a few seconds, or if you have the Google Search widget on your homescreen touch the microphone icon.

Google lists the following commands, though you could also try ‘listen to’ and ‘alarm’:

  • send text to [contact] [message]
  • call [business]
  • call [contact]
  • go to [website]
  • navigate to [location/business name]
  • directions to [location/business name]
  • map of [location]

A video of how it all works is after the break, yay!
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Google Goggles for Android can now run in the background, shames you with its knowledge

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  • September 14, 2011 at 3:46 pm

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Google Goggles for Android v.1.2 background searching

We’re sure that one of the first things you showed-off to your friends and family when you got your Android smartphone was Google Goggles. The app allows you to take pictures of artwork, landmarks and even everyday things and in true Google form, returns back information, such as the name of a landmark or a painting.

However, the true utility of the app was constrained by the fact that you had to launch Goggles with the sole purpose of using it to search for an object but with mixed results. Well, Google just did the smart thing and enabled it to run in the background, silently getting information on any photos that you take normally with your device’s camera. When it recognizes an object in an image, it will notify you through the Android notification bar.

Just a warning to anyone concerned about privacy, in order for Google to look-up your pictures these are sent to Google’s servers for processing. However this is an opt-in feature, that is you have to enable it first.

To try out the new background image search, launch the Market and update Google Goggles to the latest version. To enable or disable the feature at any time touch the option key while in Goggles and go to ‘Settings’ and ‘Search from Camera’.
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How to: Control your Android phone with your voice using Google Voice Search Actions: setting-up and list of commands

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  • August 28, 2011 at 5:27 am

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Google Voice Search actions for Android

You may or may not know that you can control your Android smart phone using just you voice. Have you tried speaking to your phone yet?

Well we’ve compiled below a handy list of commands you can use to control certain aspects of your phone. You’ll be surprised how accurate and convenient this can be. But before you start testing the commands out, first make sure you have the latest version of Google Search installed. Open the Market from your applications and search for Google Search. Either install or update if you haven’t yet.

Now launch Google Voice Search, if you have the Google Search widget on your homescreen touch the microphone icon or else press and hold the Android search key (the one that looks like a magnifying glass) until the “Speak now” dialogue appears. Now speak your commands. If you are dictating text, Voice Search will present you with a closest match and highlight in blue, words it’s not sure about, touch those words and you are presented with alternative matches.
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Google Maps for Android adds shortcut ‘Bubble Buttons’ for navigation and calls, here’s how to enable them

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  • August 17, 2011 at 6:44 am

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Google Maps Bubble Button shortcuts

So Google must have been reading my mind, because I have been wishing for a way to quickly jump from a Maps result to Navigation or just quickly call a business I’ve searched for. Google Maps v5.9 for Android, which was released yesterday, has added the option for two ‘bubble buttons’ which act as shortcuts to call or navigate to a result from the main map area. The feature has to be enabled manually first, so read on to find out how.

The latest version of Google Maps also brings voice and ring tone notifications for Transit Navigation as well as support for Transit Navigation on tablets.
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Skype for Android video calling now supporting more devices

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  • August 4, 2011 at 4:25 am

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Skype for Android with video calls

When video chatting was initially released on Skype for Android there was only official support for four devices. That didn’t stop many of you however from enabling video calling ‘un-officially’.

Skype has just updated their application, version 2.1.0.46, with added support for 17 more smartphones and tablets. Skype is forewarning however that you if your device is running Android 2.2 (Froyo), only the back camera will work, as only Android 2.3+ allows access to the front facing camera.
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How to stream your music around the house on a budget: Logitech S715i speaker and Audiogalaxy app review

FeaturedGuidesReviews

  • July 31, 2011 at 3:21 pm

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Logitech S715i Speaker and Audiogalaxy app

There are as many options for streaming music around the house as there are combinations of portable speakers, speaker docks, network players and portable device apps — and that’s a whole lot.

Here I’m going to go over just one of these combinations, which was the result of my search for a cost efficient, convenient, and aurally pleasing way to stream and listen to my locally stored music around the house and in the garden.
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How to: Pre-download a map area in Google Maps for Android

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  • July 11, 2011 at 7:42 am

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Google Maps 5.7 for Android - Download map area

One of our biggest frustrations with Google Maps for devices has been that you couldn’t set the application to pre-download a specific area, city or country. So, if you were travelling to, let’s say France, with no data access — unless you opted to enable very costly data roaming — what you could end up looking at was a not-so-helpful blurry image, like the one below.
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Skype for Android with video chat official for some, unofficially for Galaxy S II, HTC Evo 3D, Thunderbolt, Sensation and others

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  • July 1, 2011 at 7:37 am

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Skype for Android with video calls

Skype released yesterday a new version of its Android app, v2.0.0.45, which brings much awaited free Skype-to-Skype video calls over 3G or WiFi.

Unfortunately, although everyone can download the updated application, official support for video chatting is restricted to the Google Nexus S (excluding the US Google Nexus S 4G), HTC Desire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo and Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro, at least for now.

It didn’t take long though for the Android modding community to fiddle with the installation APK file and allow support for more handsets. You can find the modded files and installation instructions after the break.
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MSI demos Android app for overclocking and monitoring your PC’s graphics card

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  • June 6, 2011 at 7:41 am

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MSI Afterburner graphics card overclocking and monitoring Android app

Modders rejoice! MSI has demoed, at Computex 2011, an Android version of it’s ‘Afreburner’ graphics card over-clocking utility. The app, which should run on most Android phones and tablets, allows you to connect to your PC running Afterburner via Wi-Fi and over-clock your computer’s graphics card to your heart’s desire.

The app will allow you to over-lock and over-voltage an MSI graphics card from your Android device while giving you some useful up-to-the-minute stats such as GPU temperature and usage using your device’s real estate.
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Zune and Windows Phone 7 styled music player for Android

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  • May 20, 2011 at 2:47 pm

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Zune / Windows Phone 7 music player for Android

We love the Zune’s stylish, flashy and efficient music player user interface which, by not simple luck, has been inherited by Windows Phone 7. Official Zune development might or might not have stopped, nevertheless it’s created something bigger and also quite a following. So, when we found out that it’s been ported into an Android music player we were pretty excited.

The application comes from LauncherPro’s developer, and although it’s still quite an early alpha build, we’ve taken it through its paces and its pretty smooth and really close both functionally and visually to the original.

UPDATE 1: Zune/WP7 styled music player shown running on Nook Color, images after the link.

UPDATE 2: Alpha 3 just released with many bug fixes and new features, link for download after the break.

UPDATE 3: Alpha 4 now out with widget support and playlist creation, link for download after the break.
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