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Facebook Adding Video to Instagram This Week

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 10:16 am

Facebook recently announced that it will be holding a press event on Thursday, although few details have leaked about what the social network plans to discuss. Until now.

According to Ingrid Lunden of TechCrunch, citing a source familiar with the matter, Facebook will be unveiling video support for Instagram, its popular photo-sharing app, at the June 20th event. Users will then be able to take and share short videos, alongside traditional filtered photos.

The surging popularity of video-sharing app Vine is more than likely the motivating factor behind this move, as Facebook looks to compete with the service owned by social network rival Twitter. Viddy, Cinemagram and Socialcam have also been strong contenders in this space. (more…)

Project Loon: Google’s Plan to Bring Internet to the World

Posted by Stephen Hall at 8:58 pm

In the latest Google X moonshot, the Mountain View, California corporation intends to use balloons–yes, balloons–to bring the internet to the entire world. No, this isn’t another one of Google’s April fools jokes and no, this isn’t another “Google Nose.” This is very real and although the project is in its infancy, it’s definitely a project.

We believe that it might actually be possible to build a ring of balloons, flying around the globe on the stratospheric winds, that provides Internet access to the earth below. It’s very early days, but we’ve built a system that uses balloons, carried by the wind at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, to beam Internet access to the ground at speeds similar to today’s 3G networks or faster. As a result, we hope balloons could become an option for connecting rural, remote, and underserved areas, and for helping with communications after natural disasters. The idea may sound a bit crazy—and that’s part of the reason we’re calling it Project Loon—but there’s solid science behind it.

Steven Levy of Wired reports that the project started “a little under two years ago.” The project has apparently already launched in New Zealand with 50 testers and according the project’s blog post, Google launched 30 balloons just this week.

[Google]

Microsoft Office Launches on App Store

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 8:39 am

MS Office iPhone 1 MS Office iPhone 2

The long wait is over. Microsoft on Friday announced its highly-anticipated Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers app on the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch. Users with an Office 365 subscription will now be able to access, view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the go. The app is currently available in the United States only, and will be expanded to additional countries soon.

After signing in to an Office 365 account, you can access, view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from anywhere. And, you can count on Office Mobile to keep all your content and formatting intact so the document still looks great when you’re back on your PC or Mac.

Office Mobile features SkyDrive integration, allowing users to edit documents on the go and have those changes synced with Mac or PC. With support for charts, animations, SmartArt graphics and shapes, the formatting and layout remain the same across all platforms. Meanwhile, the wait continues for native Office support on iPad.

Rumor: Samsung Galaxy S5 Will Be First to Have Aluminum Design

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 8:54 am

iphone-5-vs-galaxy-s4

One of the main criticisms that the Samsung Galaxy S4 receives is its polycarbonate enclosure, especially when competitors like Apple and HTC use sleeker aluminum in the iPhone and HTC One respectively. Critics will often refer to the Galaxy S4 as a cheap-looking smartphone because of this plastic design, but that could all change in the near future.

Samsung will finally switch to an all-aluminum unibody when it releases its next-generation Galaxy S5 smartphone, according to a new rumor from Android Geeks. The move is allegedly part of Samsung’s new “Design 3.0″ direction, which sounds more like catching up with what other smartphone makers have been doing for years.

A downside to the switch in materials will be the lack of a removable battery in the Galaxy S5, a feature appreciated by those that are constantly traveling and require ample battery life at all times. What else to expect from the Galaxy S5 remains unknown at this point, but what is on your wish list?

[Android Geeks via AndroidGuys]

Google Purchases Waze, Bolsters Already-Great Maps

Posted by Jonathan Kizer at 5:40 pm

waze

Google has officially purchased Waze, an intelligent traffic routing program. While most mapping solutions, including both Google Maps and Apple Maps, simply provide directions, Waze is slightly different. Waze takes crowd-sourced information, such as potential roadblocks, speed traps, and other holdups, and then displays them on the map to users. The application also intelligently re-routes navigation based on such obstructions.

There are currently no specifics, but it seems that Waze will remain a separate application for the moment:

The Waze product development team will remain in Israel and operate separately for now. We’re excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and enhancing Waze with Google’s search capabilities.

It’s going to be incredibly difficult for Apple to compete with the combined might of Waze and Google Maps, if the two products are ever integrated in a meaningful way.

[Google]

HTC One Mini Leaks, 4.3″ 720p Display in Tow

Posted by Jonathan Kizer at 4:11 pm

htc-one-mini-lead

HTC’s One may be facing an uphill climb in the market, but perhaps a smaller version of the device will help the company’s bottom line. The device itself is literally just a smaller version of the One, complete with the front-facing speakers and premium design of its larger brother.

The specifications are also fairly high-end. While the 1080p panel has been switched out for a 4.3″ 720p display, the camera and display technology remain unchanged. Similarly, the build of the device appears to be identical — a very good thing, judging by how popular the design and build of the One are among consumers and reviewers alike.

Would you be interested in this smaller, presumably cheaper HTC device? Personally, yes — especially if the battery life is an improvement.

[Engadget]

ITC: Apple Guilty of Patent Infringement, Certain Devices Banned from Import

Posted by Jonathan Kizer at 3:11 pm

samsung-vs.-apple

The Samsung-Apple court wars are still raging, even if they haven’t received the same amount of attention. Regardless, the International Trade Commission today ruled against Apple, declaring that certain iOS devices infringed upon Samsung’s 3G patents. Models include the iPhone 4, iPad 3G, and iPad 2 3G.

What does this mean? For starters, people with affected devices can continue using these devices. In that regard, very little will change. This ruling does not go into effect for 60 days, during which the White House can veto the decision. If the White House upholds the ruling, then Apple can take the case further and contest this ruling, which would result in a postponement of this ban until another decision is made.

After all of these options are exhausted, Apple would be unable to sell the devices which were found to be infringing upon Samsung’s patent in the United States, and potentially elsewhere as similar cases would use this judgement in their consideration. (more…)

Android User’s Galaxy S III Explodes and Lights on Fire While He is Asleep

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 6:53 am

Exploded Galaxy S III

Talk about a nightmare.

Reddit user vizionx1208 details a scary situation in which his Galaxy S III exploded while he was sleeping, presumably as a result of the lithium-ion battery overcharging. The user claims that everything about the smartphone was stock, including its battery and charger, and that it was not rooted. This is how the events unfolded, edited for clarity. (more…)

May

HTC One Running Stock Android Announced

Posted by Joe Rossignol at 9:26 am

HTC One Stock Android

Android head Sundar Pichai, speaking at the annual All Things Digital conference, just announced that a new version of the flagship HTC One smartphone running stock Android software will be available on June 26th. The smartphone will launch in the United States initially, compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile, for $599 (32 GB) on the Google Play store.

The handset will ship SIM unlocked and with an unlockable bootloader, running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean out of the box. Parallel to Nexus devices, the stock HTC One will receive further Android software updates from Google. HTC will continue to sell the handset with its Sense operating system, for those that prefer that experience.

This is the second high profile Android smartphone to receive the Nexus treatment in just a few weeks, as Google recently confirmed that it will be releasing a stock Samsung Galaxy S4 model running Jelly Bean. With identical software, the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 can now be compared solely on hardware.

[HTC via AllThingsD]