Android By Russell Holly Jan. 16, 2014 5:23 pm
It’s that time of the week again, where we step away from our brightly lit rectangles to talk about other brightly lit rectangles so that you can watch it with your brightly lit rectangles. Welcome back to Geekout with special guest Mr. Corey Herscu.
Google pushed significant updates to just about every version of Chrome that is currently available, including early Canary beta versions. The desktop version of Google’s immensely popular browser saw new audio tools that make it easy to tell which tab is guilty of making noise, while the mobile versions all got updates for data compression to help you use less data while you browse. The Canary version of Chrome saw the beginnings of Google Now implemented in Mac and Windows versions of the app, while the Windows RT version of the app saw an update to Chrome OS that was teased a couple of weeks ago. It’s a huge update all around, and a fantastic sign of where Google is headed next with Chrome.
This has been a curious week for Android devices. We’ve seen several announced, released, and teased that all seem to make very little sense. With Mobile World Congress right around the corner, these seem like eager attempts to make waves before everyone announces their next set of mobile devices.
Google started the week off by announcing the Moto G Google Play edition. Just like the others in this category, the phone is stripped of all manufacturer features and replaced with the Nexus style Google experience. For something like the HTC One or the Samsung Galaxy S4, this is a huge difference in usability. For the Moto G, there’s very little noticeable differences.
Samsung continued the week with the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite, a supposed budget tablet with mediocre specs that more closely resembles and update to the original 7-inch Galaxy Tab than anything else. Finally, it looks like Nokia is actually going to release an Android phone dubbed Normandy. The phone has a UI that looks more like Windows Phone than Android, and exists as a complete fork of Google’s OS with what appears to be no access to the Play Store. There’s no telling when this will be released, or if it changes before it is launched, but for now it is nothing short of confusing.
Our app of the week this time around is Rube Works, an app that allows you to build and test a Rube Goldberg machine in the palm of your hand. The app challenges you to solve basic problems with the same kind of complex arrays of simple machines you expect to see with these classic puzzles. The animated look to the app is almost cell shaded in parts, but the end result is a ton of fun and a fantastic time waster. Rube Works is $1.99 and works will for phones and tablets alike.
If you’ve got a topic you’d like us to discuss on our Geekout, or questions for us during a live broadcast, leave us a message here or on the Google+ page.
More...
Google pushed significant updates to just about every version of Chrome that is currently available, including early Canary beta versions. The desktop version of Google’s immensely popular browser saw new audio tools that make it easy to tell which tab is guilty of making noise, while the mobile versions all got updates for data compression to help you use less data while you browse. The Canary version of Chrome saw the beginnings of Google Now implemented in Mac and Windows versions of the app, while the Windows RT version of the app saw an update to Chrome OS that was teased a couple of weeks ago. It’s a huge update all around, and a fantastic sign of where Google is headed next with Chrome.
This has been a curious week for Android devices. We’ve seen several announced, released, and teased that all seem to make very little sense. With Mobile World Congress right around the corner, these seem like eager attempts to make waves before everyone announces their next set of mobile devices.
Google started the week off by announcing the Moto G Google Play edition. Just like the others in this category, the phone is stripped of all manufacturer features and replaced with the Nexus style Google experience. For something like the HTC One or the Samsung Galaxy S4, this is a huge difference in usability. For the Moto G, there’s very little noticeable differences.
Samsung continued the week with the Galaxy Tab 3 Lite, a supposed budget tablet with mediocre specs that more closely resembles and update to the original 7-inch Galaxy Tab than anything else. Finally, it looks like Nokia is actually going to release an Android phone dubbed Normandy. The phone has a UI that looks more like Windows Phone than Android, and exists as a complete fork of Google’s OS with what appears to be no access to the Play Store. There’s no telling when this will be released, or if it changes before it is launched, but for now it is nothing short of confusing.
Our app of the week this time around is Rube Works, an app that allows you to build and test a Rube Goldberg machine in the palm of your hand. The app challenges you to solve basic problems with the same kind of complex arrays of simple machines you expect to see with these classic puzzles. The animated look to the app is almost cell shaded in parts, but the end result is a ton of fun and a fantastic time waster. Rube Works is $1.99 and works will for phones and tablets alike.
If you’ve got a topic you’d like us to discuss on our Geekout, or questions for us during a live broadcast, leave us a message here or on the Google+ page.
More...
