Google Wants To Make The One App To Rule Them All

So Google has this crazy idea where your smartphone would only need one, single app.....Google's. It used to be that when we wanted information we had to go to a library or read an encyclopedia. Then it transitioned into sitting in front of our computers and typing our queries into Google. Today, we simply open up our smartphone and verbally ask it questions and wait for it to find us the answers. In addition to that, other things aside from information have started getting their own apps. Looking for a good restaurant? There's an app for that. Looking for new clothes? There's an app for that. Trying to check out the latest in world news? App. However, Google wants to change all of that.

According to recent reports, Google wants to extend its domination in the search engine world to smartphones. Google wants to give you a way to use apps without having to actually download them onto your smartphone or tablet and they want to start this as early as next week. Sounds crazy right? I mean how am I supposed to use an app on my phone if the app isn't actually on my phone? Google's solution to this is actually very interesting.

If you search for something, like a cheap hotel, using Google's app on a smartphone running the Android operating system, you will receive search results from all over the internet, like normal. However, there will also be information from apps like Hotel Tonight or Kayak. If you tap a button, Google will open the app so that you can book a room on the app even if you don't have it installed on your device. This sounds like a ridiculous pipe dream to some and pure ecstasy to others, especially those people who don't download an app until the very moment they need it and then are in a time crunch waiting for it to download.

Google is using some shenanigans, though. The company is actually streaming a video to your phone from the internet while the app runs on a computer far, far away. In addition to that, there's also a catch. At the moment, Google can only achieve this feat with these nine apps: Hotel Tonight, Weather, New York Subway, My Horoscope, Daily Horoscope, Visual Anatomy Free, Useful Knots, Gormey (a restaurant finder), and Chimani (a national parks guide). According to Lead Engineer for Google's Mobile Search and App Indexing Team Rajan Patel, "We feel like it's our role to make sure we have answers. In mobile, oftentimes that's in apps."

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So what does this mean for consumers like me and you? Well for starters it means a decrease in the time and hassle it takes to download an app and install it on your phone or tablet. You will also have the ability to use an app without having it take up space on your device. For Google, this could be an attempt to make mobile apps less relevant while also keeping Google at the forefront of smartphone users' minds. Even though Google is basically untouchable on the desktop market, the same can't be said for its mobile counterpart.

This is but one of Google's attempts to make mobile search better. Back in April the company changes the way it organized all websites and prioritized those that come up better on smartphones. In addition to that, Google has also been working on making information from inside an app more searchable on Google, known as deep linking. Google said that it now has over 100 billion links to information from apps.

Google streams these apps with technology it got from a startup called Agawi last year. In reality, you aren't really getting access to these apps from Google. Sure it feels as if you are in the program, but Google is actually streaming you an HD video that you can tap and scroll through like a normal app, according to a company spokeswoman. The only real  difference here is that in the Google version a banner runs across the bottom fo the screen that says "App streamed by Google".

This technology is currently only available on Android devices though Google did say that it will eventually come to iPhones and other Apple iOS devices though a timeframe has yet to be established.

Content originally published here

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The 5 Best Apps You Don't Know About!

There are literally millions of apps on the market, and new ones come out every day. At this point, there are way too many to just gamble on them until you find the right ones for you. Hopefully, this list can help you find some super productive apps that will help you out in your everyday life!

Nintype: A super fast keyboard app

Nintype is an app that lets you type super fast by combining swiping motions and double tapping for double letters. It also has shortcuts for saved texts, emojis, hashtags, and any other shortcuts you set up. With this keyboard app, you can type more than 100 words per minute!

Cloe: Siri's smarter sister

Cloe is kind of like Siri. You can use it when you need to find an answer to just about any question. The main difference is that Cloe is actually powered by actual people. Sometimes Siri can steer you a little wrong, or give you something that isn't exactly what you were looking for. By interacting with a real human, the chances of that are slim. Also, you don't even need an app. It's not an app at all! You just have to sign up, and then you can text Cloe any time you'd like.

Workflow: Keeping  you from wasting time

Basically, Workflow is an app that can customize your phone to be more productive, in general. You can use it to completely skip tasks that waste time. You can tell your phone exactly what to do when it notices a certain action. You can schedule certain pictures to upload to social media, automatically call in to conference calls at the exact time they are scheduled, and pretty much anything else you can think of that will keep you productive.

Evernote Scannable: Grow your LinkedIn profile by scanning business cards

Basically, this app makes digital copies of business cards, receipts, and anything else. It pulls the information from these documents, finds the person on LinkedIn, and saves them to your contact list. Brilliant.

Duet: Use your iPad as a 2nd display for your Mac

If you have an extra iPad laying around, you can actually use it to be way more productive than you might have thought. Duet lets you connect your iPad to your Mac with the charging cable and actually use it as a second screen. This is especially awesome when you are doing photo editing, video editing, or music production. Nothing is cooler than having one screen dedicated to editing audio and another screen dedicated to an on-screen mixing board.

AT&T Has More iPhone Activations Than Verizon

Last week, AT&T and Verizon both posted their quarterly results as well as the number of iPhones that they have activated on each of their networks. Surprisingly, the mobile phone carrier with the most iPhone activations is AT&T.

AT&T reported that it has activated 3.6 million iPhones on its network this quarter, while Verizon has only activated 2.3 million. All in all, that adds up to 5.9 million new iPhones, which constitutes about 30 percent of the 20.3 million iPhones that Apple reported that it has sold during this past quarter.

So, are you surprised that AT&T has activated more iPhones than Verizon? I definitely was! So, how have they done it? Well, the advantage that AT&T has over Verizon is that it offers its customers both the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4. Verizon is only offering its customers the iPhone 4. AT&T is also offering the iPhone 3GS at a discounted price. Customers can get a new iPhone 3GS for $49.99 or pick up a refurbished device for $9 with a two year contract. That is one heck of a deal! Unfortunately, AT&T did not break down its quarterly numbers to show how many of each version has been activated. They just lumped the numbers all together.

Although Verizon does not have the most iPhone activations, the company did add more subscribers than its rival, AT&T. According to the company, they added more than 2.2 million people to their carrier, clearly beating AT&T who only added 1.1 million new users. Verizon now can boast 106.3 million subscribers, while AT&T sits behind them with 98.6 million users.

Breaking down the numbers even further, only 36 percent of Verizon’s subscriber base is made up of smartphone users. Although this is up from 32 percent last quarter, AT&T is way ahead. Almost 50 percent of the AT&T client base is made up of smartphone subscribers. So why does all of this matter? Well, smartphone subscribers tend to lead to more revenue for the company, due to data plans that users must take out when they choose a smartphone. So, although Verizon had more customers than AT&T, AT&T made $31.5 billion in total revenues, while Verizon came in at $27.5 billion.

Reports have said that when the next generation iPhone is made available, it will be offered by both mobile carriers. They have also reported that it will be a world phone, complete with the capability to run on GSM or CDMA networks. So, once the “iPhone 5” is released, the iPhone 4 will most likely be offered by both carriers at a discounted price. This could help to even the activation numbers, but who knows? Apple could decide to switch things up and offer the newest version of the iPhone through another phone carrier such as Sprint. That could really skew the numbers for both AT&T and Verizon. For now, we will just have to sit back and wait for Apple to release the new and improved iPhone. Hopefully, the wait will not be much longer.

Security Camera Solutions

Playstation Phone Released

On Friday, April 1 the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, which is also known as the Playstation Phone, launched in several different countries in Europe and Asia. There are also plans to launch the phone in six additional countries within the next two weeks.

The Xperia is an Android-based device and is currently on sale in the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In the next week or so it will also be available in Spain, France, Finland, Singapore, India and Portugal. The Xperia Play will unfortunately not be available in the United States until sometime later this spring. It will be launched on Verizon Wireless’ network.

According to the Inquirer, there were reports that some “freight issues” might delay the launch of the device in the UK. The paper stated that Orange and Carphone Warehouse will have the device available, but Vodafone has delayed the launch of the Xperia Play and O2 says they are still testing the device. The Inquirer stated that they will be on sale in the U.K., SIM-free for £479.99.

With the launch of the Play comes 60 different games from providers including Sony Computer Entertainment, Gameloft, Electronic Arts and Glu Mobile. There will be several free games that will come pre-installed on the device that will include "Asphalt 6" and the PS One classic "Crash Bandicoot." There will be five PlayStation original games that will be available at the launch including "Cool Boarders 2," "Destruction Derby," "Jumping Jack Flash," "MediEvil" and "Syphon Filter," and in France "Syphon Filter" will come pre-installed. There will also be other titles available including "Assassins Creed Altair's Chronicles HD," "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell," "Need for Speed," "Galaxy on Fire 2," and more. All games will be available to download via the Xperia Play launcher, which is an app that can be activated by merely sliding open the game pad.

Not only is the Xperia Play great for gaming but it also features a 4-inch screen, a 5-megapixel camera, 1-GHz CPU, 8GB of space (that can be expanded to 32GB), and it will be powered by Snapdragon and run on Google Gingerbread. As Bert Nordberg, the president of Sony Ericsson, said, it is the "first mobile device to deliver an immersive gaming experience."

Interested in all of the games that will be available during the first week of the device's release? Here is the complete list:

Bruce Lee Dragon Warrior from Digital Legends (pre-installed)
FIFA 2010 from EA Mobile (pre-installed)
Sims 3 from EA Mobile (pre-installed)
Star Battalion from Gameloft (pre-installed)
Tetris from EA mobile (pre-installed)
Asphalt 6 from Gameloft (free to download)
Dungeon Defenders: Second Wave from Trendy Entertainment
Galaxy on Fire 2 from Fishlabs
Assassins Creed from Gameloft
Need for Speed SHIFT from EA
Mobile Worms from EA
Mobile Nova 2 from Gameloft
Modern Combat Black Pegasus from Gameloft
Guns n Glory from Handygames
Reckless Racing from Polarbit
Real Football 2011 from Gameloft
Gun Bros from Glu
Mobile Racer Luma from Arcade/Unity
Cordy from SilverTree Media
Aporkalypse from Handygames
Brothers in Arms Global Front from Gameloft
Guerrilla Bob from Angry Mob Games/Unity
Let's Golf 2 from Gameloft
Zenonia 2 from Gamevil
Cyberlords from Handygames
Guitar Hero™ Warriors of Rock Mobile from Glu Mobile
Age of Zombies from Halfbrick Studios
Spectral Souls from HyperDevBox Japan
Splinter Cell Conviction from Gameloft
Air Attack from Art in Games/Unity
Armageddon Squadron from Polarbit
Uno from Gameloft
InfeCCt from Handygames
Spiderman total Mayhem from Gameloft
Millionaire City from Digital Chocolate
Avatar from Gameloft
Raging Thunder 2 from Polarbit
Homerun Battle 3D from Com2us Games
Aftermath XHD from Jakyl
I Must Run from GameLion
Baseball Superstars 2011 from Gamevil
Ground Effect Pro from Jakyl
ZeNonia from Gamevil
Super KO Boxing 2 from Glu Mobile
Farm Story from Team Lava
Wave Blazer from Polarbit
Soccer Superstars from Gamevil
Battle Bears from Skyvu
Tower Blocks New York from Digital Chocolate
Super Dynamite Fishing from Handygames
Iron Sight from Polarbit
Toonwarz from Polarbit
Restaurant Story from Team Lava
Escape from AMA
Raving Babies from AMA
Bakery Story from Team Lava
Denki Blocks! Deluxe from Jakyl
Rollercoaster Rush from Digital Chocolate

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Consumer Reports Continues to Wait to Recommend iPhone 4

Consumer Reports simply will not recommend Apple’s iPhone 4 to its readers. Why, you may ask? Well, they say that until Apple decides to offer customers a free, easily accessible case to solve the “death grip” issues that the iPhone 4 has been facing, they cannot endorse the smartphone.

The so-called “death grip” was noticed by iPhone 4 customers from the start. It occurs when a user grips the phone with a full or whole hand grip. Holding the device this way causes significant issues with the connection speed when uploading or downloading data and with the reception of the phone in general.

Due to all of the problems concerning the “death grip,” Apple decided in July to offer customers a free case or bumper to fix the issue. If you had already purchased a case, they even offered to refund you the money that you had spent on it. Unfortunately, Apple decided to only keep this offer up until September 30th.

Now, Apple is saying that they are going to discontinue this offer all together, instead of waiting until the 30th. They say that the antenna issue “is even smaller than we originally thought.” They feel that this justifies ending the free case or bumper offer.

Consumer Report feels that this is unacceptable. They have said, “Our tests found the Bumper successfully mitigates the iPhone 4's reception issue, which was a weak point in the phone’s otherwise-stellar performance in our tests. We agree with Apple that not all iPhone 4 owners will experience reception difficulties with the device, but putting the onus on any owners of a product to obtain a remedy to a design flaw is not acceptable to us. We therefore continue not to recommend the iPhone 4 and to call on Apple to provide a permanent fix for the phone's reception issues."

I believe that Consumer Reports is definitely right. I feel that it is ridiculous that Apple is discontinuing their offer to provide a case or bumper for the iPhone 4. They made the mistake, so they should be the ones taking full responsibility for it. It doesn’t matter if not everyone experiences these reception issues. Apple’s goal should be to satisfy all of their customers, especially when it comes to something as important as reception and uploading and downloading data.

I feel that Apple is making a huge mistake by discontinuing their free case program, but will it affect sales of the iPhone 4? I’m guessing that most likely it won’t. Although I wouldn’t want to deal with the issues, the iPhone has a prestigious enough reputation to keep the sales coming in. If you’re considering a new smartphone, the “death grip” is something that you should definitely consider before settling on the iPhone 4.

Not interested in the iPhone? Check out some other great smartphones like the Motorola's Droid X or the HTC EVO 4G.

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New Sniper Stand Makes Smartphone Entertainment Hands-Free

These days, smartphones offer users endless entertainment options. We can view photos, videos, and even full movies and TV shows. The issue is that it can get really annoying to hold your smartphone in your hand the whole time. Well now you no longer have to worry about that. The new Sniper Stand is exactly what you need if you utilize your phone for entertainment purposes.

The Sniper Stand is simply a small plastic disk that has two slits that intersect at a right angle. It has an adhesive on the back that is extremely strong while still being removable. All you have to do is stick the Sniper Stand on the back of your phone, stick a credit card in the slits of the stand, and your smartphone is ready to stand hands-free and cater to your entertainment needs.

Now the Sniper Stand is not yet in production, but there are a limited number of sample prototypes. They are available in black from the Sniper Stand Web site for $9.99 including shipping.

If you’re looking for a new and up-to-date smartphone, check out the Motorola Droid X or the HTC EVO 4G.

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The Motorola Droid X from Verizon

Verizon’s newest smartphone, the Motorola Droid X, can be described simply as fantastic. It is one of few phones to run Adobe Flash and has everything anyone could possibly need or want from their phone.

In terms of surface space, the Droid X is the largest phone that is currently available in the United States. It measures 5 x 2.6 x 0.4 (HWD). It’s 4.3-inch screen features 854 x 480 resolution. Below the screen are four hardware buttons.

Obviously, like most smartphones available these days, the Droid X features a touch keyboard. I personally find that touch keyboards are very difficult to get used to, but with as big as the Droid X’s screen is, this is one of the easiest touch keyboards to utilize. Your typing experience is enhanced by the Swype text-entry mode that allows you to quickly write words without even picking up your finger.

Call quality on the Droid X is excellent. Motorola designed the Droid X with three different microphones, two of which are utilized for noise cancellation. Reception is also great.

When it comes to downloading data, the Droid X uses Verizon’s EV-DO Rev A network. This means that you should be very satisfied with the downloading speed. It does cost an extra $20 a month to make your phone a Wi-Fi hotspot, but that’s expected with phones like the X.

The battery on the Droid X is pretty good. In preliminary testing, the battery has shown to have about 8 hours of continuous talk time. Due to the large screen, the X does use up a lot of battery life. It will most likely need to be charged every night, but with all of the features that the X has the battery life isn’t really a deal breaker in my opinion. There will be a 1930 mAh extended battery that will be offered as an add on accessory for an extended battery life.

The X runs on the Android 2.1 OS with Motorola’s MotoBlur extensions. There is a single interface that allows users to sign into many different accounts including: Google, Facebook, Yahoo! Mail, Microsoft Exchange, Twitter, Myspace, and various mail and photo sharing services. Blur’s inbox treats any Facebook or Myspace messages and Twitter DMs simply as regular emails. The Droid X’s 1-GHz TI OMAP 3630 processor makes the smartphone incredibly fast. It beats out every other Android phone available in performance ratings.

The Droid X works great for music purposes. It plays AAC, MP3, WMA, and WAV music files. It has 8GB of built-in memory and comes standard with a 16GB microSD card. This allows for plenty of room for media storage. There is also an FM radio. The X features an 8-megapixel camera with built-in flash. It takes really great pictures. The Droid captures 720p video at 24 frames per second. Its also fantastic for watching videos.

Overall, the Droid X is a wonderful smartphone with every feature you could ever want. The phone isn’t exactly for everyone due to the fact that it is very large, but when considering performance, the X is great. It will go on sale July 15th for $199.99 with a two year contract and $100 mail-in rebate.

Click here to check out one of the Droid X's predecessors, the HTC Droid Eris.

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Looking for help with travel and technology? Then call a Tech Travel Agent at 800-736-8772. Or see this link for a Laptop Rental on your next trip.