Motorola Droid Maxx review

Motorola Droid Maxx review: Superb battery life for a high price

 

Nokia X+

Nokia X+ and XL to ship with bundled 4GB microSD card
 

Nokia has revealed the inclusion of 4GB microSD cards for two of its recently announced Nokia X series smartphones, the Nokia X+ and Nokia XL.

The news comes from thr Nokia Conversation blog, where a Nokia fan, @Juan Martinez, asked "What storage do the phones come with?" to which the firm replied "All devices in the Nokia X family can support up to 32GB microSD cards. The Nokia X+ and Nokia XL come with a 4GB card included."

While this doesn't eliminate the user worry of low inbuilt storage (the three Nokia X series phones feature 4GB of inbuilt storage), the inclusion of a bundled microSD card for two models should help placate users slightly.

Google unveils Android Wear project; LG, Motorola to make first smartwatches

Google unveils Android Wear project; LG, Motorola to make first smartwatches

 

Voice-controlled smartwatches that track heart rates and connect to phones and tablets will debut later this year as Google Inc partners with electronics, technology and fashion companies to take consumers to the next promised frontier in computing.

Google on Tuesday unveiled plans to help develop the watches and other wearable computers based on its Android mobile operating system, which already runs more than three out of four smartphones sold worldwide.

Flappy Bird will fly again

Flappy Bird will fly again, but it's going to take a while













After a meteoric rise in popularity, the casual game Flappy Bird was taken down from the iTunes and Google Play app stores by its developer Dong Nguyen. In a tweet on Wednesday, Nguyen confirmed that the app will be back to the stores, but added, "but not soon". 

Samsung Galaxy S3

Samsung Galaxy S3 Slim with quad-core CPU listed on company's site
 
 

Samsung has quietly listed its latest Galaxy S3 Slim smartphone on its Brazil site without pricing and availability details.

As of now, there is no word whether the Samsung Galaxy S3 Slim will be available in other countries or not.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Slim seems to be a 'lite' variant of the company's 2012 flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S III. However, it's worth pointing out that the specifications of the Galaxy S3 Slim are much more basic than the former flagship.

Google Search quick voice commands app for Android gets,camera

Google Search quick voice commands app for Android gets,camera
 
Google is rolling out an update for its Google Search app for Android, adding voice commands for actions like clicking images or taking videos. These commands can be activated by saying 'Ok Google'.

With the latest update, Android device users will need to tap the microphone icon on the Search app, or say 'Ok Google' on the home screen, and then, be able to launch the default camera app with voice commands like 'take a picture' for launching the camera app in camera mode, and 'record a video' for opening the app in video mode. The interesting bit is that users now don't need to touch the phone for launching the camera app.

Google announced the new update on its Google+ page and said, "Now with the Google Search App on Android, you can just tap the microphone or say "Ok Google," then "take a photo" or "take a video." Google will launch your camera app in the preferred mode."

Notably, the Google Search update has not reached Play Store India yet and the listing is showing 14 March 2014 as the last update for the app.

Skype update for Android app brings battery savings

Skype update for Android app brings battery savings

According to Skype, the new Skype app for Android (version 4.7) will loosen its grip on the device's battery life.

"With Skype 4.7 for Android, we are introducing aggressive battery savings that will allow most of our users to leave Skype running without noticeably affecting battery life," states the Skype blog.

In order to let Skype users on Android achieve "amazing battery savings" on their device, the update turns off the group message notification as the feature drains a considerable amount of battery. This however, is a temporary process as the Skype team has promised that, "In the near future, you will be able to receive group chat messages instantly without additional battery impact."