Tag Archives: android app

Google’s Pixel Buds translation will change the world

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Google's Pixel 2 event in San Francisco on Wednesday had a lot of stuff to show off and most of it was more of the same: the next iteration of the flagship smartphone, new Home speakers and various ways of entwining them more deeply into your smart h...

Formlabs makes high-quality, automated 3D printing more affordable

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Your basic hobbyist 3D printer (technically known as Fused Deposition Modeling or FDM) is great for rapid prototyping because, while the objects it prints are a bit rough, the system and its associated printing costs are relatively inexpensive. Howev...

Kickstarter Gets Its Own Android App

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Kickstarter Android App

The world’s most popular crowdfunding platform has been around for almost 7 years, so you’d think that an Android app for it would have been launched by now. In fact, Kickstarter has announced the launch of their Android app earlier this week.

Considering the business Kickstarter is in, it’s quite unbelievable that they haven’t had an Android app until now. And that’s coming from a company that has hosted hundreds, if not thousands of projects that were somehow based on Google’s mobile OS. More than that, both people who are seeking funding for their projects, as well as the ones who are bringing these projects to life by pledging a certain amount of money, could use a way to stay in touch with the projects they’re interested in.

Here’s what the company had to say about it on the Play Store page of the app:

“Explore thousands of creative projects all on the Kickstarter app!
Kickstarter is home to a community of people working to bring creative projects to life. Together, they’ve pledged over $2 billion to support everything from art, to games, innovative technologies, Oscar-winning documentaries, and much, much more.

Use the app to:

• Discover and pledge to projects
• Get updates on projects you’ve backed
• See what your friends are backing”

Once you install the app and open it, you are invited to either sign up or log in using an existent Kickstarter account. You have the option to sign up or log in using a Facebook account, as well, so you won’t have to spend time on filling up forms and such. By default, you’ll see the Staff Picked projects, but you can opt to have other ones displayed, such as Starred, Friends Backed, or Everything. The menu also includes the complete list of categories, so that you can filter out the projects you care the most about.

The Settings menu features a comprehensive Help section that’s filled with everything that you might want to know about this crowdfunding platform, but were afraid to Google. Besides that, you can set to receive social notifications, either in as an e-mail or as a Push Notification, so each time you get a new follower or a friend backs a project, you’ll be the first to know. On top of that, there are two settings for notifications related to the projects you’re currently backing. Not at last, you can choose the type of newsletters to receive, including Projects We Love, Kickstarter News and Events, and Happening Now.

And now to the downsides… You can search for a specific project, but only by using keywords, so you can’t filter the projects by region. As a matter of fact, the entire search function is rather limited. The interface is clean, but I do think that it could use some improvements, as there is a lot of tapping involved in order to get to a project’s latest updates. Quite a few users are feeling insulted by the fact that the Kickstarter app for Android has been in development for so long, while the iOS out has been around since February 2013.

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Aznog VoIP App Offers Free Direct Calls to Mobile and Landlines

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Aznog provides free calls to anyone, anywhere. (PRNewsFoto/Aznog Technologies)

VoIP apps and services have really picked up some speed in the past decade, and while all of them enable you to call mobile phones and landlines for a fee, Aznog does that for free.

Skype and WhatsApp are only two of the big names that come to mind when speaking about VoIP services, but when it gets to calling mobile phones, the other party has to run the same app on their smartphone, or the caller gets charged a fee, or at least that’s how it works in the case of Microsoft’s service. It is possible to call landlines using Skype or similar VoIP services, but only after purchasing some credits. Aznog Technologies Ltd., a London-based telecommunications company, has developed an Android app that enables its users to call anyone in 20 different countries for free. All that is required is an Internet connection, be it Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G or LTE.

“Aznog users can make unlimited calls around the world,” explained Amogh Meshram, CEO and Founder of Aznog. “By using the app, people can literally reduce their monthly phone bills to zero. This is a big gamechanger for the telecommunications industry and a big win for consumers who are tired of outrageous bills, frustrating service contracts or the hassle of having to reload minutes to their phone frequently.”

Among other permissions, the app requires access to the contacts list stored in the user’s phone, so that it can provide one-touch calls. Skype and WhatsApp tackle that in a similar way, so you shouldn’t worry about that. Another permission is access to your location, so that the app knows where you are when creating a profile. However, there’s more to that than what Aznog would like you to believe.

Since nothing is truly free in this world, the Aznog app had to use some monetization scheme. That comes in the form of ads that are served to the app users after finishing a call. To be more precise, ads will be displayed even if the other party hasn’t answered the call, so that’s something you need to get used to if you want to call mobiles and landlines without having to pay a fee. Now, it’s the nature of the ads that’s a bit disturbing. While other apps advertise mobile games and other such products, Aznog seems to have a thing for dating services. The app also needs to know your location in order to provide personalized ads, thus making you think that girls within walking distance (bearing English names, mind you!) are looking for someone like you.

While Aznog’s initiative is worth some appreciation, I wish they had served different ads to its users, as some of them are really embarrassing, especially if people decide to use the app at work and their superior glances in their direction right after finishing a call. If you’re still considering using it, head over to Google’s Play Store and install it on your Android devices.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the acquisition of Viber by Rakuten, or Facebook Messenger’s video chat capabilities.

Facebook Messenger Now Features Video Chat

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Facebook Messenger Video Chat

The social network’s mobile IM app is more like Skype now, as it also allows users to have video conversations, besides text-based ones.

The update announced on Monday for both the iOS and Android versions of the Messenger app carries video chat functionality, fact that puts Facebook’s app in direct competition with Skype and Viber. Currently, the update is only available for 18 markets including U.K., France, Greece, Ireland, Mexico, Portugal and the U.S., but there’s no doubt that Facebook will expand it to more countries in the near future.

“More and more of everything starts from a text conversation,” explained Stan Chudnovsky, Facebook Messenger’s Head of Product. “We think the same thing will happen with video.”

According to Chudnovsky, adding video chat capabilities to Facebook Messenger was the next logical step. In case you’re confused by the fact that the social network hasn’t added video calls to its other messaging app (WhatsApp), then you should know that this feature has been rumored for a while and it will be coming there soon, as well.

Starting a video call on Facebook Messenger is equally easy on Android and iOS. When initiating a text-based conversation with one of your Facebook contacts, you’ll see a camera in the upper right corner, provided that you’re in one of the countries where the update is currently available.

It’s becoming clear that Facebook Messenger goes well beyond just text-based messaging. Recently, the developers of this app have added peer-to-peer payments and even turned Messenger into an open platform others can build upon.

There has also been a major change in focus in terms of the devices targeted with each of Facebook’s messaging apps. Whereas WhatsApp was promoted as a perfect IM solution for emerging countries where Internet connection are not exactly top of the class, Facebook Messenger is also getting praised now for its compatibility with low-end devices and slow Internet connections.

It’ll be interesting to see what other type of functionality will Facebook add in the near future to its messaging apps. The good news is that their main app and Messenger are no longer the resource hogs they used to be not long ago. It also remains to be seen how the video call quality will stack against Skype’s or Viber’s.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the Facebook Hello social caller ID app for Android, or the trimmed-down Facebook Lite for Android.

Facebook’s Hello Is a Social Caller ID App for Android

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Facebook Hello 01

The social network has just started public testing for Hello, an Android-only app that can identify unknown number of both outgoing and incoming calls by matching them to Facebook profiles.

People are sharing an awful lot of information about themselves on Facebook, and with the help of Hello, some of that information will make its way to Hello, the caller ID app that tells on you. The new Android-only app (since iOS doesn’t allow apps to mess with phone calls) has some extra functionality besides displaying contextual data about the person who’s calling you. It can warn you if a certain number is spam, based on the reports of other people.

Xiaomi’s integrated caller ID could also prevent people from answering spammy phone calls, and Google has displayed names and profile pictures for quite a while now, provided that the name was bound to a G+ page, so it’s great to see that Facebook is jumping on this bandwagon, as well.

Assuming that people calling you have their phone number in their Facebook profile, and that their privacy settings don’t block others from seeing their info, you’ll get to see their name, their profile picture and even their city, employer, website, etc. More than that, Hello can remind you of any significant events the person at the other end of the phone call is celebrating.

Andrea Vaccari, Hello Product Manager, explained that “More than 1 billion phone calls are made in the US ever day,” and the main problem is that the “the experience of the phone call hasn’t evolved in a long time.” In order to change that, Facebook opened up public testing in the US, Brazil and Nigeria. What do these three countries have in common? Not much, besides being on the 3rd, 5th and 7th place, respectively, in the list of the most populous countries in the world.

“Anyone with your number can ring you day or night and interrupt you,” added Vaccari. “Calling is really big. It’s core to how people connect with each other, including family and close friends, but also businesses and colleagues.”

Supposing that the public tests go out well (and I really can’t imagine why they wouldn’t), more countries will be added to the list in the near future, so stay tuned for that! Also, there’s still time to hide your details or change your privacy settings.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about the trimmed-down Facebook Lite app for Android, or the Facebook stickers in comments.

Google Launches YouTube Kids App for the Younger Crowd

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YouTube Kids 01

As not all YouTube content is appropriate for kids and site-wide censorship is out of the question, Google launched a children-friendly version of its video sharing website called YouTube Kids.

A kids-only version of the website won’t be launched anytime soon, as Google thought that a mobile app would be more adequate. After all, there are Android tablets for toddlers out there, so we shouldn’t be surprised that the new kids on the block are familiar with mobile devices from a very early age. I don’t see Apple launching a tablet for children, so iPad owners will probably cringe while handing their precious device with the YouTube Kids app running to their offsprings.

The main focus here is on parental control and on ways to prevent youngsters from accessing the dark side of YouTube (if such a thing even exists). While the search giant didn’t launch the app with a specific age range in mind, it’s safe to assume that 3 and 4-year olds will be thrilled with the content available in the app. I mentioned content and not only videos because the ads have been tailored to suit the taste and needs of the little ones, as well.

The built-in timer included in the app enables parents to quantify the amount of time their kids spend watching videos on YouTube. With a range from 30 to 120 minutes, the timer measures the time the app is being open, so kids that will complain that they’ve only watched a video for five minutes should be taught to jump right into it when you give them your tablet. Future updates should stop the timer when the app is in the background, as that is definitely not the case with the current version.

Parents also have sound options at their disposal, in case their kids get a little bit too obsessed with a particular tune. Besides that, it’s great to see that the user interface has been redesigned to include bigger (and fewer) buttons, so that children can learn more easily how to use the app. Overall, Google has done a great job with YouTube for Kids, as the app packs content and functionality that are perfect for toddlers.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about how Google pulled the plug on YouTube, or Amazon’s acquisition of Twitch in a moment when Google was interested in attaching it to YouTube.

"I Am Alive" is a Call to Action

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How do you tell love ones “I Am Alive” in the middle of a global conflict or disaster?Sandra Hassan tells The Next Web's Lauren Maffeo that while living in Paris, and away from her homeland of...

Control Your Smartphone Using Head and Eye Gestures with Umoove

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Umoove Smartphone Gesture Control 2

There was a recent rumor about Galaxy S5 coming with head- and eye-gesture control, but it looks like an Israeli tech startup got ahead of Samsung in this aspect.

Umoove Experience, as the iPhone app (oh, the irony!) developed by the company is called, shows how face tracking technology can be used for playing games, even though the applications of this revolutionary control method go beyond that. As a proof that Umoove doesn’t intend to tease Samsung and the Android platform endlessly, the company promised that soon there would be a version of the app for Google’s mobile OS, as well. More than that, Umoove hopes that both Android and iOS developers will include this technology into their own apps and games.

Yitzi Kempinski, the CEO of Umoove, explained in an interview with Gizmag that “Umoove is not coming to replace touch, it is coming to add another layer and it opens an opportunity for new types of interfaces. A classic example is a first person shooter where you would shoot using touch and you could walk using a touch joystick, but you would aim and look around just by where you face.”

Some may be concerned about the accuracy of the motion capture, but Kempinski reminds them that “The tracking is both accurate and very sensitive, it senses movement as small as represented by one pixel of the image the camera captures. And we had to do it all at very low CPU, to not take over the device resources and leave room for the actual apps/games to run.” It’s great to know that the app and the technology itself is not power-hungry, especially considering today’s feeble smartphone batteries.

Kempinski also explained how the technology works: “Umoove is tracking the face and eyes. These body parts have been moving and involved in the user’s experiences even before technology began watching and tracking them – have you ever seen someone play a game such as a flight simulator with a frozen or still face and body? Users get involved in the experience and move their bodies even though it has no real effect on the game. So the key from a [user experience] perspective is to respond to movements users naturally do in the real world and not make the user start doing new types of movements.”

New technologies give birth to new types of content, and that’s exactly what Kempinski is expecting: “Think of an object or product on the 2D screen that acts as if it is 3D because it changes based on the angle you are looking at the screen. You can move around the object on screen as if you were looking at an object that is really in front of you.”

You can download the Umoove Experience from the iTunes Store. Flying Experience, the game used by the company to showcase the technology, is included in the app. An SDK enabling iOS developers to track head movements in 2D (3D head tracking is a work in progress) has been made available, while the one for Android will surely come soon.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories such as the gesture controlled hologram that opens the way for new user interfaces and the rumors surrounding the gesture control of Galaxy S5.