Google | Stuff-Review

Nexus S to get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update soon, for real this time

March 16, 2012 at 5:29 am

One of the allures of getting one of Google’s developer-friendly Nexus Android devices is that you have bigger chances in getting timely official updates when new major Android versions hit. Well, the Nexus S and Nexus S 4G started receiving the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) update only a month after Google released the latest and greatest version of Android, however the update was soon pulled with Google citing battery and Wi-Fi issues related to the update.
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Google reaches for the cloud: Android Market, Google Music and Google Books become Google Play

News

March 6, 2012 at 2:32 pm

Google just made a big play of its content and cloud efforts, pun intended. The search giant is bringing all its mobile content offerings into one umbrella, titled Google Play, this includes music, books, videos and of course Android apps. Starting today the Android Market, Google Music and Google Books all become Google Play and are accessible through play.google.com on any browser. For now this is just a name change as the individual services will continue to look as before.

Over the next few days Google will also be updating the standard Android apps on phones and tablets running Android 2.2+. The Android Market app will become Google Play Store, and respectively you’ll get Google Play Music, Google Play Movies and Google Play Books apps, depending on availability of the services where you live.
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Google Docs for Android update brings real-time collaborative editing and rich text

News

February 22, 2012 at 3:00 pm

Google has just announced a new version of its Google Docs for Android app, that won’t just let you edit documents on the go, but will also allow you to co-edit them in realtime with other users.

Google is mirroring the same desktop experience on Android mobile devices, so provided you have an active data connection on your smartphone or tablet, you’ll be able to see live updates in documents as others type or their computers or mobile devices and you can easily join in or invite others to collaborate on your own documents.
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Google Goggles app can now recognize amongst 45,000 types of banknotes

News

February 19, 2012 at 12:06 pm

Google’s Goggles app is striving to become a Swiss army knife for globetrotters. Using your device’s camera and an active data connection, Goggles can recognize landmarks and famous artworks and more recently it can even translate text on the fly.

The always-active Google development team has been adding even more capabilities to Goggles and it has just enabled the app to recognize between more than 45,000 types of currency from over 300 countries. Currently the app is limited to banknotes, and as usual you just take a picture of the note and it will come back with the type, amount and links to further information.
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Google announces Chrome for Android beta browser

News

February 7, 2012 at 1:11 pm

Google has just announced a mobile version of its Chrome browser. You will need a device running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to get the beta app. It does not replace the default Android browser but rather co-lives with it. We will be posting more info as we test the new browser.
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All black ‘inverted’ Google Apps for Android 4.0 make you cool, can save you battery

News

January 29, 2012 at 9:43 am

Feeling like black is your thing? A themer, going by the name travp624, has posted all black versions of a number of stock Google applications. The inverted apps have a requirement that you should be running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and have been tested on version 4.0.3 and up. The available inverted apps are: Google+, Gmail, Email, Market Google Talk, Contacts, Calendar, Google Voice, Google Music and MMS. They will sure look cool on an all-black device like the Galaxy Nexus.
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Google Sky Map set free, joining the open source family

News

January 22, 2012 at 2:28 pm

Google Sky Map was released in May 2009 for Android phones and it has served us well since then, ramping up 20 million users. The app was created by some of Google’s employees during their “20-percent time“, which has birthed many of Google’s best projects. Well, the search giant has decided to donate Sky Map to the community, making the project open source.

Now that the project has been set free, Carnegie Mellon University has partnered with Google and will see to the development of Sky Map as part of student projects, Googlers will remain as advisers.
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Random reboots continue to plague the Galaxy Nexus, how about yours?

News

January 16, 2012 at 1:56 pm

When we thoroughly reviewed the Galaxy Nexus, the buggy launch of the device was one of its sticking points. While both the GSM and LTE versions of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus are now running Android 4.0.2, there are a number of bugs still plaguing both devices.

One of the most annoying issues plaguing the Galaxy Nexus are random reboots. I’ve been having them on my first Galaxy Nexus and now the same situation has been going on with the second Nexus I’ve got my hands on. They could happen at any time and a couple of times the Galaxy Nexus rebooted while charging during the night. If you have a PIN number set, your device will be ‘off the hook’ when it restarts, until you punch in the PIN number. I also had my first reboot yesterday after updating to 4.0.2 on a GSM/HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus last week.
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Google in talks with LG for a ‘Nexus’ TV set running Google TV 3.0

News

January 13, 2012 at 9:09 am

Google could be tying up with LG to introduce its next version of connected/smart TV software, Google TV. Though we would normally take such news with a grain of salt, the report comes from Bloomberg, based on accounts by two people familiar with the project. The deal between Google and LG would be similar to the ones the search giant had made with HTC for the Nexus One and Samsung for the release of the Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus, giving LG early access to software.

Web-connected TVs were big news at CES this year, with Samsung introducing several new models in its Smart TV line. Apple is also said to be preparing its own connected and perhaps, talkative TV set.
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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich now accounts for 0.6 percent of Android devices

News

January 4, 2012 at 1:21 pm

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was released with much fanfare this past November together with the Galaxy Nexus — you can read our full review here. Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) is a huge step forward for Google’s mobile platform, and offers a large number of visual and backend enhancements.

We are pretty sure that every knowledgeable Android user can’t wait to get his hands on this latest version, however ICS currently only comes officially pre-loaded on the Galaxy Nexus, while existing Android device owners would have to wait if and when their devices get upgraded. The ASUS Transformer Prime tablet, will be the first device to receive an Android 4.0 update on January 12.

Well, now we have the first official numbers for the adoption of Android ICS, which now accounts for 0.6% of all Android devices that have accessed the Android Market during a set period. The pie chart below is based on the number of devices that accessed the Android Market within a 14-day period ending January 3rd.
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Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from Google and Android (video)

News

December 25, 2011 at 4:24 am

An interactive Google Doodle is up on the giant’s main search page celebrating Christmas. Clicking each button under a letter in the Google logo switches it with a symbol and when you’ve gone through all the buttons you’ll be greeted with a familiar tune and a typical gaudy light show. We’ve able to access the Doodle over at the UK search page google.co.uk, but we’re pretty sure it will go up in the US very soon too.

The Android team has also been pretty active and with the help of some free Galaxy Nexus’s being distributed to employees and tons of snow being sprayed at Google’s Mountain View, California headquarters, they really got into the holiday spirit and have created the video below. As you would expect, there is a lot of Ice Cream Sandwich plastered all over.
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Search for ‘let it snow’ on Google for a flurry of holiday fun

News

December 18, 2011 at 3:59 am

Google loves its virtual Easter eggs and the latest hidden piece of virtual fun has come from the Google Search page. Head over to google.com and search for ‘let it snow’ (without the quotation marks). The resulting page will be covered with snowflakes until it freezes over. Don’t despair, just hit defrost to get back to the results, but you might want to try your hand on some drawing first. Once the page has frozen over click with your mouse and draw.

How to: easily install Google Wallet on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus LTE with an APK file

Guides

December 18, 2011 at 3:30 am

Verizon’s version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was finally released last friday missing one key feature, the ability to make payments using NFC and Google Wallet. Over the weekend, a number of methods came in to go around this, and install Google Wallet on the Galaxy Nexus LTE, which involved some level of hackery. Today, you can install Google Wallet on your Verizon Galaxy Nexus without having to root your device or resort to any hackery.

Simply go here to download the application APK file. You can do this either directly on your device, or from you computer and then transfer the APK file to your smartphone. Make sure that under ‘Settings’ > ‘Security’ you have ‘Unknown sources’ checked. Now open the APK on your device using a file manager like ASTRO.
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How to: transfer files between the Galaxy Nexus and Mac OS X

Guides

December 15, 2011 at 3:51 am

Connecting the Samsung Galaxy Nexus to your MacBook Pro, Air, iMac or any other Mac OS X computer isn’t as straightforward as other Android devices. Other Android devices offer access through a protocol named USB mass storage, which means your device is treated like a USB flash drive. The Galaxy Nexus uses the Media Transfer Protocol (MTP in short) in order to allow you to transfer media and other files between your computer. Windows PCs have built-in support for MTP but Mac OS computers don’t. If you want a more detailed account of MTP, USB mass storage and the Nexus, hit our article here.

To transfer files between the Galaxy Nexus and a Mac OS X system you must first download and a install the small official Android application named ‘Android File Transfer’. First go here and download the application dmg. Once the download has completed, doubleclick on androidfiletransfer.dmg. Now in the installer window click and drag the Android File Transfer icon to the Applications folder on its right (note you may be required to enter you system password at this point). Now the tool is installed on your Mac.
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