These are the new and updated Android apps worth digging into this week.
You’ve been warned: Facebook is about to become even more captivating. On Friday “We’ve discovered that if people spend significantly more time on a particular story in News Feed than the majority of other stories they look at, this is a good sign that content was relevant to them,” wrote Facebook software engineers Ansha Yu and Sami Tas.
Whether you like your chills on demand or as a linear feed, AMC new service has you covered.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules went into effect Friday, after an appeals court denied multiple requests to delay them while the agency faces 10 lawsuits challenging the regulations. The rules prohibit broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing Internet traffic and from charging website owners and providers of Web-based services for prioritized traffic. The rules also reclassify broadband from a lightly regulated information service to a more heavily regulated telecom-style service, although the FCC voted to exempt broadband providers from many of those common-carrier rules. Here are four things to watch for as the rules go into effect and the lawsuits go forward:
What’s a massive company to do when its plans for an acquisition fall through and it’s forced to compete on its own merits instead? If you’re YouTube, apparently you go the “If you can’t join ‘em, beat ‘em” route and grind game streaming giant Twitch.tv into soft, purple dust. That’s my takeaway from YouTube’s latest venture: a dedicated “YouTube Gaming” site, app, and a brand that’s poised to take on Twitch directly—streaming, video hosting, you name it. Also, the interface is super dark because that appeals to “the youth” or something, I assume.
Spotify is adding some visual polish to its Android app. The The main player has some nice visual changes in Spotify for Android 3.0.
Google Slides users now have a dead-simple way to With Chromecast (or any Android TV set-top box), users can now beam their presentations to the big screen from the Google Slides app for iOS and Android. As long as the phone and the Chromecast are on the same Wi-Fi network, a “Cast” icon will appear at the top of the Slides app when viewing a presentation. Apple TV users can also control presentations using AirPlay. Users must swipe up on the iPhone to show the quick settings menu, hit the AirPlay button, then turn on screen mirroring. After loading the presentation and hitting the play button, it’ll appear on the television, properly formatted to fit the TV screen.
Pebble is turning to Best Buy to help ship the new Pebble Time smartwatch, with pre-orders starting on June 22. The exclusive arrangement means that BestBuy.com will be the only place to pre-order a Pebble Time in the United States. Customers outside the United States can order through Pebble’s website, also on June 22. Pebble has said that the regular retail price will be $199, and watches will ship “soon after” the pre-order period. For people who backed Pebble Time
A software update to the Apple Watch’s OS gave third-party developers access to the device’s sensors this week, fulfilling a request they’ve had since Apple unveiled the wearable. With watchOS 2, which Apple showed on Monday at its annual developer’s conference, developers can create more-capable apps that directly tap into the watch’s components, like its microphone and heart rate sensor, instead of relying on an accompanying iPhone to handle app processing. While developers welcomed this news, some think Apple could go even further in making the watch a
The number of LTE subscriptions will pass 1 billion before the end of the year, prompting operators to invest in technologies such as small cells to keep up. There will be nearly 1.37 billion 4G LTE subscribers around the world by year-end, up from nearly 650 million in 2014, according to market research company ABI Research. LTE’s growing popularity is helped by a number of things: mobile operators including the technology in more of their plans, cheaper LTE smartphones and aggressive network expansions in countries like China. LTE is being rapidly embraced in North America, Japan and South Korea where it’ll be included in a majority of subscriptions this year, according to telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson, which last week published a report on its expectations for future mobile growth.
No professional sports league has embraced online audiences as heartily as But there’s a catch: Subscribers must prove that they’re also signed up with a pay-TV service; cord cutters (and anyone living outside the U.S.) are excluded from the offer even if they’re paying for MLB.TV Premium. So far, the list of participating service providers includes AT&T U-Verse, Bright House Networks, Cablevision/Optimum, Cox, DirecTV, Dish Network, Time Warner Cable, or Verizon Fios. Notably absent from the starting lineup: Comcast and Charter Communications.
Uber launched a new game for iPhone users today aimed at teaching people what it’s like to work as a driver for the tech-driven transportation company.
Don't be the parent who uses your smartphone as a pacifier!
