The day has finally come: Google has released Google Fit onto the Play Store. Google Fit is designed for Android Wear devices but it can also be used with any normal Android device. With Google Fit, you can monitor a number of health-related metrics. The app fully incorporates Google’s new Material Design UI aesthetics. It actually ends up looking a bit like the iPhone’s new HealthKit/Health app. In terms of features, HealthKit and Google Fit are virtually identical. Here’s what…
In September, Apple unveiled Apple Pay, an NFC payment system that lets you “tap to pay” at certain checkout counters. Android has had the same feature for over a year and has long supported NFC chips. Since the world’s two largest mobile operating systems both support NFC mobile payments, you’d think America’s biggest banks and retailers would jump on board, right? Wrong! Apple Pay debuted earlier this week, but select retailers have already started banning NFC payment…
In August, Nokia took a major decision to sell its once thriving handset business. It sold to Microsoft and that did cause a major flutter in the telecom industry. After all, it had been a leader in this business for a long time. However, the inability to quickly adjust to market requirements meant that it had to concede market share to some of the other top brands and that compelled it to sell off the business. But, it continued to roll out newer versions of its HERE mapping to Samsung…
The most ambitious update on Android made its bow last week. Yes, the Android Lollipop or Android 5.0 is now in the market on Nexus devices to start with. With more than 5000 APIs for developers to play around, the opportunities are huge and the excitement palpable. Google has made some dramatic and interesting changes to the interface, notifications and performance. These are already by now quite well known and do not warrant repeating. However, there are smaller features that are worth…
If you have been looking forward to the card game Hearthstone, you would have to wait longer, as it will not be available till early 2015. The much awaited collectible game was initially slated for a Android tablet release this year end but Blizzard Entertainment has confirmed that they would require more time to get the iPhone as well as the Android versions ready. However, the wait could be a blessing as a more compact version is sought to be developed and released early next…
If you are someone who eats, breathes, and sleeps video games aside from just playing them, I have a real treat for you this time, especially if you are someone who cannot stop boasting about your gaming skills and want a new challenger every time just to show them how good you are. If your dreams are filled with video games and your hands keep twitching even in your sleep, then you have to download OnLive – the Android app that allows you to instantly play hit games such as Batman®: Arkham…
As technology advances at a mighty pace, the things that used to leave us awe-struck have now lost their charm. Take laptops as an example. There was a time when we did not believe that the whole of desktop could fit into something so sleek and portable. And today, we find laptops bulky. They feel like a pain in the rear, and are way too heavy on the shoulders of the people who are always on the go. Then there were smart phones which were initially smarter than our regular phones but were…
Every day, smartphone users around the world make the switch to Android from iPhone or vice versa. On most days, nobody cares about that switch. But when you’re a writer for Forbes.com, making the switch – and writing about it – is a pretty big deal. That’s exactly what Forbes writer Patrick Moorhead recently did. Patrick has owned a number of iPhones and Androids over the years – so rest assured this is not a blind Apple fanboy talking about Android issues that don’t really…
Reddit has been one of the internet’s most popular websites for several years. It’s frequently in the top 50 most-visited sites on Alexa (when I just checked right now, it was number 37). In spite of those accomplishments, Reddit has never had an official app. That is, until now. Earlier this month, Reddit acquired Alien Blue, which was one of the most popular unofficial Reddit apps out there. Immediately after acquiring the app, Reddit turned around and launched it as an official…
Facebook Messenger was forced onto us earlier this year. Over the summer, Facebook made it impossible to send and receive messages over the default Facebook app. You had to download Messenger instead (or use a clever workaround). People were scared of Messenger. The app came with some frightening permissions – like the ability to call your contacts without your explicit permission. And now at least one security researcher has come out and said it: Facebook Messenger is spyware in…
