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Google has posted a new video, shot entirely with Google Glass, just in time for Mother's Day. The film was created by students at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, and is part of the Glass Creative Collection. Titled "Seeds," the video features a man taking a long journey home to India to surprise his mother.

Check it out, and let us know what you thought in the comments.

Source: YouTube

We just got word that Portal's headed to NVIDIA Shield on May 12. And judging from this bright green crowbar that just arrived at our office (we're gonna owe the receptionist a little something extra this month to explain that one), Half-Life 2 is headed to the portable gaming console as well.

No word on when it'll drop, or what it'll cost.

Because, ya know, crowbar.

Private Mode on the Samsung Galaxy S5 is a convenient way to hide files you don't want seen by others, without the need for any third-party apps. When you're in Private Mode, all your photos, videos, and other files will be viewable. Exit Private Mode and hand your phone to somebody else. You can rest assured they can't see any of your hidden files, unless they know your code or unlock pattern.

Here's how to set up Private Mode on the Galaxy S5 and get started with it:

How to enable Private Mode on the Samsung Galaxy S5

1. Swipe down from the top of any screen on your Samsung Galaxy S5 using two fingers.
2. Now tap on Private Mode from the list of icons.
3. The first time you enter Private Mode, you'll be given a short walkthrough as well as be asked to enter a pin code. This only happens the first time you enable Private Mode.

Keep in mind you'll need the pin you set up for Private Mode each time you enter it. Be sure you pick something you can easily remember.

How to disable Private Mode on the Samsung Galaxy S5

1. Swipe down from the top of any screen on your Samsung Galaxy S5 using two fingers.
2. Now tap on Private Mode again.
3. Your Galaxy S5 should now be in normal mode again. Be sure to do this before handing your device over to anyone you don't want accessing things labeled for Private Mode Only.

How to add and remove files from Private Mode on the Galaxy S5

Private Mode supports several different media types including photos and videos. Follow these steps to add supported files to Private Mode:

1. Turn Private Mode On.
2. Now navigate to the photo or file in question that you only want viewable while in Private Mode.
3. Select it or multiple files and then tap on the Overflow menu button in the upper right.
4. Tap on Move to Private.

That's it. Your Galaxy S5 will add those files to a private album or folder that is only viewable when in Private Mode.

I've noticed that Private Mode is a little glitchy for me and doesn't offer the option on all my photos, only some of them. I also have to select them and can't tap into them and see the Private Mode option. Anyone else seeing the same issues? Let me know in the comments!

Previously we've seen various close-ups or blurry shots of LG's upcoming G3, but today some new images have surfaced that give us a much better look at the new device. Now we can see the G3 in full and in gold and get we get a much better overall view of both the front and back that we've haven't seen before. Keep in mind that even though the G3 looks shiny and metallic here, it may very well still be plastic casing just like the LG G Flex.

These photos don't leave much else to the imagination showing off the full back camera and flash. On the other side of the lens is what we had assumed to be an IR blaster window as on the G Flex, but GSMArena is saying that it's a laser (presumably infrared) to help with focusing at night we'll believe it when we see it. It could be both, really. The front shows a slim bezel surrounding the 5.5" display, along with the speaker and LG branding. When all is said and done, we've seen the G3 in gold, white and grey.

In any case, we should find out plenty more at the end of the month.

Source: GSMArena

Kiloo has published an update for its popular Subway Surfers game on iOS, Android and Windows Phone. In this latest release, players are able to traverse through Vancouver, Canada. Not only is there a new adventure awaiting, but a new character is also available Olivia the spirited girl scout. Olivia comes bearing gifts in the form of new outfits and boards, just in case the current collection wasn't enough.

If you're not familiar with the game, Subway Surfers takes players down the subways of major cities around the world and is a highly addictive endless runner. As well as the new location, character and bonus items for personalization, players can also add a humorous new Moose board to their collection and locate hidden maple leaves in the new subway to win special prizes.

Subway Surfers is a free download from Google Play and is available now.

Ultra Strike weapons make the leap from Droid devices to all players

Niantic Labs the developer behind Google's "Ingress" game today announced a trio of significant updates to the game.

Probably the biggest is that the max of level a player can reach has been doubled from Level 8 to Level 16. Those at the upper levels will be able to recharge Portals from farther away, and they'll get extra XM storage, too.

The addition of Capsules will make it far easier for agents to share items with each other. (Finally!)

And Ultra Strike Weapons a rare kind of XMP Burster are no longer exclusive to Motorola Droid devices and can now be obtained by anyone.

A quick heads up for those of you sporting the HTC One S on T-Mobile, or EVO 4G LTE on Sprint. Be on the lookout for a system update that'll patch the OpenSSL "Heartbleed" bug. It's a small update and takes just a minute or two to install. But it's one you don't want to skip.

More: HTC One S forums, EVO 4G LTE forums

We can't believe we finally added this feature we've said we were adding!

OK, folks. You want it, you got it. We've finally added the ability to post images to the Android Central forums right from our most popular app. (That'd be the Android Central app, of course!) That means you can get all your favorite news stories, reviews, editorials and deals, then hop over in the forums to see what everyone else is talking about, all in one app.

It's available now, so hit up Google Play and get your update on.

And don't forget that we've got Android companion apps for each of the Mobile Nations sites. Here's where to find them:

• Connectedly
• CrackBerry
• iMore
• WPCentral

And if you're so inclined, we'd love it if you left us a glowing review! Or if there are features you'd still like to see, that feedback is always appreciated, too. Thanks for taking the time to give our apps a go, and thanks for being loyal Android Central and Mobile Nations readers!

Despite what the "unlimited" plan might make you think, Sprint is exercising their right to throttle back on users they've deemed as using too much data. Heavy use contract customers on Sprint, as well as prepaid customers on Sprint-based MVNOs Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA, have been hit with warnings that starting next month Sprint will be engaging in "prioritization management" in congested areas.

FierceWireless has an example of the message being sent to customers:

"Beginning 6/1/14, to provide more customers with a high quality data experience during heavy usage times, Virgin Mobile USA may manage prioritization of access to network resources in congested areas for customers within the top 5 percent of data users."

Sprint has for the past several years been beating the drum of their unlimited data plans, touting their status as truly unlimited in the face of tiered plans from AT&T and Verizon, as well as an 'unlimited' data plan on T-Mobile that throttles user speed back if they blow past a soft cap on the service.

The prioritization management that Sprint will be engaging in will be throttling, but they've promised that it will only be in congested areas during congested times. If the Sprint customer that's in that top 5% either leaves the congested area or the congestion eases, their "speeds will return to normal."

As for where that 5% threshold lands, that's hard to say, though Sprint says that a user who uses over 5GB in a month is likely to be in that zone. Again, crossing into the top 5% doesn't mean you're automatically throttled it's only during peak traffic in high traffic areas, and the prioritization scheme isn't applied to the account until the following month.

Now that Sprint's unlimited plan now has an asterisk on it, does that change your perception of the carrier?

Source: FierceWireless

LG has sent out a press release detailing their upcoming QHD (that's 2K, or 2560 x 1440 pixels) display panel. The panel has received certification by NEMKO, a Norwegian testing and certification organization for electrical products. Now that the certification, which says the panel meets the 100 percent RGB color reproduction standard, is complete LG can begin mass-producing the displays. Just in time for the G3, which is all but confirmed to use a QHD panel.

The ultra-slim panel is just 1.2mm thick, with a 1.15mm bezel requirement. It's the narrowest (we assume this means thickness) panel available and is 0.05mm thinner than panels produced in 2013. Combined with the same level of brightness we're used to seeing in HD displays, this looks like a screen worth touting for LG. The full press release follows.

Reuters is reporting that Samsung's head of mobile design, Chang Dong-hoon, has resigned following criticism over the design of the Galaxy S5. The phone's textured plastic back, though an improvement on earlier Samsung designs, failed to impress some critics. Lee Min-hyouk, vice president for mobile design, will take over the role; Reuters reports that Chang will continue to head up the company's design center, which oversees its broader design strategy.

Update: Samsung has confirmed that Chang Dong-hoon has not resigned, but moved to a new role within the company. His new position tasks the executive with heading up the Design Strategy Team. Statement after break.

As in previous years, Samsung's 2014 flagship has been unfavorably compared to high-end competitors, with the phone's plastic chassis being one of the main points of contention. Here's how we broke things down in our Galaxy S5 review

In a world of HTC Ones and Xperia Z2s, the Galaxy S5 isn't the most visually awes-inspiring handset, nor does it break any new ground when it comes to materials or build quality. The GS5 looks like a plastic Samsung smartphone. It doesn't appear particularly exciting, but it is familiar, comfortable and ergonomic. [...]

But place the GS5 next to HTC or Sony's latest and Samsung's hardware doesn't exactly shine. Despite fixing the glaring quality issues with the GS4's back panel, the manufacturer doesn't seem to have challenged itself too much in the industrial design department. It does what it does well, sure. But if you're looking for sex appeal, you'll find it elsewhere.

While such a high-level departure could foretell significant design changes for the world's biggest phone maker, it's worth noting the sheer size of Samsung and its mobile product lineup. This means it could be some time before we see any new products directly influenced by the new design leadership.

Here is Samsung's statement on the position change for Dong-hoon:

"Vice President Min-hyouk Lee has recently been promoted to Head of Design Team within the Mobile Communications Business of Samsung Electronics. The realignment enables Executive Vice President Dong-hoon Chang to focus more on his role as Head of Design Strategy Team, the company's corporate design center which is responsible for long-term design strategy across all of Samsung Electronics' businesses, including Mobile Communications."

Source: Reuters

After shuttering its Reader Store in the US and Canada earlier this year, Sony has confirmed that it will be discontinuing the service in four other countries: UK, Germany, Austria and Australia. However, customers using the Sony Reader and select Xperia devices will be able to access Kobo's e-book store once the Sony Reader Store shuts down on June 16.

Sony provided tools for its existing consumer base to migrate to Kobo's platform when the storefront was shut down in the US and Canada, so it is likely that the manufacturer will do the same for its forthcoming closure. After June, Sony has mentioned that it will launch an update that will allow customers to directly connect to the Kobo Store for future purchases. Kobo has also provided answers to several questions regarding the migration process here.

Source: Kobo

Yahoo's News Digest app is now available for Android devices running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and above. The app debuted during the Consumer Electronics Show on iOS, and was available only in the U.S. With the rollout of the Android app, Yahoo has stated that both the iOS and Android versions will be available globally.

Global users will only be able to view the international edition, while users in the U.S. and U.K. can access curated local stories as well as the international edition. Yahoo is also rolling out a Canadian edition of News Digest that offers curated local content to Canadian users.

News Digest provides a twice-daily summary of top stories, once in the morning at 8 AM and once in the evening at 6 PM. News stories are aggregated from a wide variety of sources, and the app's curation algorithm is based on Summly, which Yahoo acquired in March 2013. The Android version of the app includes a news widget that you can place on your home screen.

If you're interested, grab the app from the Play Store link above.

Source: Yahoo

Japanese mobile operator KDDI has partnered with LG to launch a new Android smartphone, the Isai FL. This mobile device is special due to the 5.5-inch display being of 2K (QuadHD) quality with a resolution of 2560 x 1440, what we're expecting to see in the LG G3 when it eventually launches this year. If you're eagerly awaiting the G3, this could be a small insight to tease you further.

If the resolution didn't catch your eye and you want more technical specifications, how about the 538ppi? LG recently announced that the new panel tech has been certified and will be included in its flagship smartphone, the G3. Looking at what the KDDI smartphone sports in terms of components, we can draw up an idea as to how the G3 will perform when available.

Other specifications include a 13-megapixel camera, 3000mAh battery, 2GB of RAM and a quad-core Snapdragon 2.5GHz CPU. The Isai FL will be available in three colours. We'll hopefully have more details on the G3 soon.

Source: KDDI, via: Engadget

HTC may be preparing another "Butterfly" handset for Asian markets, if Twitter leaks from a usually reliable source are to be believed. @LlabTooFeR writes that a device codenamed "B2" will be the next phone in the Butterfly series, sporting similar hardware specs to the company's flagship One M8. Like previous Butterfly devices, it's said to have a glossy (likely plastic) chassis, and should be aimed primarily at Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

HTC B2 is new Butterfly device, specs are the same as M8. Glossy body. It will be sold only in HK/Taiwan/Japan and some other Asian markets.

LlabTooFeR (@LlabTooFeR) May 8, 2014

Given that it's been about a year since the launch of the Butterfly S, we're about due another Butterfly phone, though it's unclear how HTC might differentiate the "B2" from the M8, which is also sold in parts of Asia. The Butterfly S offered higher CPU clocks, a bigger screen and larger battery capacity than HTC's flagship of the time, the One M7, so it's possible the new Butterfly may deviant along similar lines.

To further complicate matters, HTC is also rumored to be producing a plastic-clad version of the One M8, dubbed the "M8 Ace".

Source: @LlabTooFeR

Sony has already made the Xperia Z2 available across major retailers in the UK and on its online store in the US. Today, the manufacturer has officially launched the device in India, stating that the handset will be available in stores starting May 15.

The Xperia Z2 is priced at Rs. 49,990 ($833), which is Rs. 6,300 ($104) more than what the Galaxy S5 is available for in the country. Samsung has already reduced the price of the Galaxy S5 in the country once, and a further reduction earlier this week sees the Galaxy S5 selling for Rs. 43,690 ($728) on Flipkart, one of India's biggest ecommerce stores.

However, the Xperia Z2 that will go on sale in India features Qualcomm's Snapdragon 801 (MSM8974-AB v3) SoC, whereas Samsung's offering in the country comes with an in-house Exynos 5 Octa 5422 octa-core SoC. Qualcomm licences ARM's instruction set and tweaks the design to create its own CPU cores, which are more energy efficient when compared to ARM's Cortex CPUs. The Snapdragon 801 features four such Krait 400 CPU cores that are clocked at 2.3 GHz. Meanwhile, the Exynos 5 Octa has eight cores in a quad-core 1.9 GHz Cortex A15 and quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex A7 configuration, but loses out to the Snapdragon 801 when it comes to performance. The Snapdragon 801 also comes with a Gobi 4G LTE modem, while the Exynos 5422 does not feature LTE connectivity.

Other hardware specs of the Xperia Z2 include a 5.2-inch full-HD LCD display, 3 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory, microSD card slot that can accommodate a further 128 GB storage, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, LTE Category 4 connectivity (150 Mbps downstream, 50 Mbps upstream), Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, microUSB v2.0, DLNA and a 3200 mAh battery (the Galaxy S5 features a 2800 mAh variant). There is also a 20.7 MP camera with a 1/2.3-inch sensor size that can record 4K video at 30 fps and a 2.2 MP front facing shooter. The device will be available in black, white and purple color variations. As far as the design is concerned, the Xperia Z2 looks identical to last year's Xperia Z1 and continues Sony's infatuation with an OmniBalance design. An IP58 certification means that the device is dust protected and waterproof.

To justify the high price of the Xperia Z2, Sony is bundling a lot of freebies. Customers purchasing an Xperia Z2 in India will receive Sony's fitness tracking SmartBand for free. The SmartBand when used in conjunction with the Lifelog app allows users to track and chronicle their physical, social and online activities straight from their wrists.

In addition to the hardware freebies, Sony is also going to give away $350 worth of digital services that include 50 GB Box online storage for life, Evernote premium, 6 free movies from a selected Sony catalogue and other utilities. To see the full list of services Sony is giving away, click here. Users can access the exclusive content via the Xperia Lounge app, which can be downloaded from the Play Store link above.

Source: Sony India

LG has sent out a press release detailing their upcoming QHD (that's 2K, or 2560 x 1440 pixels) display panel. The panel has received certification by NEMKO, a Norwegian testing and certification organization for electrical products. Now that the certification, which says the panel meets the 100 percent RGB color reproduction standard, is complete LG can begin mass-producing the displays. Just in time for the G3, which is all but confirmed to use a QHD panel.

The ultra-slim panel is just 1.2mm thick, with a 1.15mm bezel requirement. It's the narrowest (we assume this means thickness) panel available and is 0.05mm thinner than panels produced in 2013. Combined with the same level of brightness we're used to seeing in HD displays, this looks like a screen worth touting for LG. The full press release follows.

Reuters is reporting that Samsung's head of mobile design, Chang Dong-hoon, has resigned following criticism over the design of the Galaxy S5. The phone's textured plastic back, though an improvement on earlier Samsung designs, failed to impress some critics. Lee Min-hyouk, vice president for mobile design, will take over the role; Reuters reports that Chang will continue to head up the company's design center, which oversees its broader design strategy.

As in previous years, Samsung's 2014 flagship has been unfavorably compared to high-end competitors, with the phone's plastic chassis being one of the main points of contention. Here's how we broke things down in our Galaxy S5 review

In a world of HTC Ones and Xperia Z2s, the Galaxy S5 isn't the most visually awes-inspiring handset, nor does it break any new ground when it comes to materials or build quality. The GS5 looks like a plastic Samsung smartphone. It doesn't appear particularly exciting, but it is familiar, comfortable and ergonomic. [...]

But place the GS5 next to HTC or Sony's latest and Samsung's hardware doesn't exactly shine. Despite fixing the glaring quality issues with the GS4's back panel, the manufacturer doesn't seem to have challenged itself too much in the industrial design department. It does what it does well, sure. But if you're looking for sex appeal, you'll find it elsewhere.

While such a high-level departure could foretell significant design changes for the world's biggest phone maker, it's worth noting the sheer size of Samsung and its mobile product lineup. This means it could be some time before we see any new products directly influenced by the new design leadership.

Source: Reuters

The Moto X+1 hasn't exactly been the shiest smartphone around. The first time we picked up on the Moto X+1 was in early April when the branding leaked online. Later some rumors suggested we'd be seeing leather and wood backplates as option for the upcoming handset, among many others. And finally, the Moto X+1 now appeared on Motorola's own website before quickly being removed. Time for a little bit of dj vu as the Moto X+1 is back Motorola's site.

There's really not much to it. You're just looking at Motorola making a little slip up and letting us know the Moto X+1 is an actual thing. No specs are known at this point. Nor do we know what the device will look like. The only thing Motorola has said publicly is that a small hint that a Moto X refresh would be coming in summer.

What do you think the Moto X+1 should bring to the table to get you to buy one?

Source: Motorola Via: Droid-Life

LG has sent out a press release detailing their upcoming QHD (that's 2K, or 2560 x 1440 pixels) display panel. The panel has received certification by NEMKO, a Norwegian testing and certification organization for electrical products. Now that the certification, which says the panel meets the 100 percent RGB color reproduction standard, is complete LG can begin mass-producing the displays. Just in time for the G3, which is all but confirmed to use a QHD panel.

The ultra-slim panel is just 1.2mm thick, with a 1.15mm bezel requirement. It's the narrowest (we assume this means thickness) panel available and is 0.05mm thinner than panels produced in 2013. Combined with the same level of brightness we're used to seeing in HD displays, this looks like a screen worth touting for LG. The full press release follows.

In a trend to up the ante on personalization and marry fashion with wearables, Samsung has announced that it is launching a new Swarovski for Samsung series. Partnering with the famed crystal brand, Samsung is essentially bejeweling the rear perforated faux leather back battery cover of the Galaxy S5 with Swarovski crystals. Additionally, with the Gear Fit wearable exercise band, Samsung is adding clips that you can attach to the strap, essentially giving wearers their choice of bejeweled charm.

There are a number of different color options and patterns for the crystals. Additionally, users who choose to bedazzle their Gear Fit can also select from a number of different shapes for charms, such as a heart, skull, lips, or star.

"The collection of crystal-encrusted Galaxy S5 covers and Gear Fit charms is a distinctive union of Swarovski craftsmanship and Samsung technological expertise," the company states in its press release. "Using a special developed application process, Swarovski Crystal Fine Rocks are perfectly integrated into the back cover of the Galaxy S5, while two crystal effects are merged into one motif as an extra design feature."

The fashion accessories are available now in China and South Korea and will be coming to the UK soon. Samsung has not announced plans for launch of the Swarovski for Samsung collection elsewhere in the world.

"With technology and fashion so deeply intertwined, Samsung is more dedicated than ever to supporting self-expression through technological innovation and meaningful partnerships," said Younghee Lee, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing, IT & Mobile Division at Samsung.

Source: Samsung

In an open letter to the Federal Communications Commission, major Internet and technology companies are united in their fight to keep the Internet free and open. Companies that include Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Netflix among others, are standing together to fight the FCC's plans to split the Internet into faster and slower speed lanes as part of a new upcoming vote.

"According to recent news reports, the Commission intends to propose rules that would enable phone and cable Internet service providers to discriminate both technically and financially against internet companies and to impose new tolls on them," the letter reads. "If these reports are correct, this represents a grave threat to the Internet."

These technology companies are asking that the Commission should establish rules that protect users on mobile and fixed platforms against "blocking, discrimination, and paid prioritization, and should make the market for internet services more transparent."

Paid prioritization will become more important as users consume more video content over Internet-based services, often as a result of cord-cutting. Companies like Netflix and Amazon would have to pay ISPs more money to get more speed so that they can deliver videos at sufficient quality to viewers.

GigaOm reports that fifty tech firms are standing together to oppose the FCC proposal that will be voted on. In addition to Amazon, Netflix, and Google, other notable names include Tumblr (now a Yahoo! property), Reddit, Foursquare, Facebook, eBay, the National Association of Realtors, Lyft, Zynga, and more.

Though the letter opposes the proposal that stands before the Commission, it does not provide for an alternative solution. Instead, the technology firms are just calling for an "open Internet" as a vehicle for innovation and free speech, noting that "such rules are essential for the future of the Internet."

"The innovation we have seen to date happened in a world without discrimination," the letter states. "An open Internet has also been a platform for free speech and opportunity for billions of users."

Game developer Zoe Quinn recently implanted an NFC chip in the space between her thumb and index finger. Appropriately enough, she's since programmed the chip to send a link to her Humble Bundle page for Deus Ex, a popular shooter game about cyborgs. So, if you bump into her, you can tap your phone against the base of her thumb and get a free video game about human/robot hybrids. Here's a video of the operation, which starts at about the four-minute mark. It's not for the squeamish, and it certainly doesn't help that she had to inject it herself with a giant needle.

This isn't Zoe's first stop on the road to cyborgdom either. She's already implanted a tiny magnet in the tip of her finger, enabling her to feel nearby magnetic fields of all sorts. That's notably less practical than an NFC chip, but certainly an interesting exploration in our relationship with machines. Apparently both are too small to screw with airport security, MRIs, or debit cards. The two implants also don't interfere with one another. As for the pain level of getting the implant, Zoe says it barely hurt compared to the magnet.

The NFC chip in question is an NXP NTAG216 which offers 888 bytes of data transmission; easily enough to issue commands and share links on smartphones, though she's still exploring the possibilities. For the immediate future, she aims to make a game that plays with her implant. Here's a quick look at what she can do now.

Zoe's got a background in body modification, realized this whole thing was crazy, and went ahead and did it anyway. When asked if other should try this, she says "DON'T BE CRAZY. ... I am a dumb, dumb person." The funny thing is, Zoe's not the first person to get this sort of implant, and likely not the last.

A few years down the line, procedures and products for these operations may very well be ironed out and regulated. In that hypothetical future, would you be interested in getting an NFC implant? Why or why not? Would you have the cojones to inject one into yourself if it meant you could get one now? What would you use it for?

Source: Quinnspiracy

Image credit: Dangerous Things

Via: Kotaku

After seeing the success of our previous photo contest, "yellow," we're going to give it another whirl this week with a basic color-themed photo contest: "red." And when you think about it, it comes off last week's "bricks" contest quite well also. We're looking for the best pictures you can take that show off the color, idea or accent of red, and we can't wait to see what you do with it.

This week's entries are each in the running for an Android Central t-shirt, so you can show off your AC knowledge anywhere! We'll be picking three winners this week, so make those pictures great.

Entering is easy. Just drop your entry in a forums post at the link below. Tell us what Android you used to get the picture, and any back story you want to add to it. We'll pick a winner Tuesday (May 13) night at 11:59 PM ET, and announce them on the blog with next Wednesday's contest.

Enter this week's photo contest

• Pictures must be taken with an Android device
• Pictures must be uploaded to the contest thread. I'm not running all over the Internet to track them down.
• You have to tell us what device you used to take the picture, and any special software you might have used. Editing your pictures is fine this is art.
• Feel free to add a little back story we want to know how the picture came to be.
• You must have used a valid email address to register here at AC, so I know how to contact the winner.
• Only one entry per week per person.

Good luck, everyone!

Google has released the 4.4 update for Google Play services, along with a list of new services and APIs. Features have been tweaked and added in the Maps API, new activity recognition features have been added, Games Services have been tweaked to allow multiple game gifts, Wallet fragments now allow an Instant Buy button inside an app, and a new way of displaying mobile ads will allow more targeted ads and direct purchase.

Some major notes:

The Google Maps API now allows embeded Street View into an activity, with methods to programmatically control zoom and orientation of the Street View camera. In addition, developers can now animate camera movement over duration. In addition, more features have been bundled into the Indoor Maps feature.

Activity recognition in the location API has been updated to add two new activity detectors running and walking. These will expand on the previous "on foot" activity, and open up ways for developers to interact with users in even better ways.

Google I/O is coming up shortly, and we expect to see even more of this sort of great news for developers.

You'll silently update Google Play services in the background on your Android device(s) when the gradual rollout decides it is your turn to play.

Source: Google

Falling in line with other recent Google app updates, Google Wallet is being updated today with a simple quick account switcher so you can access your various Wallet accounts easily. You'll now have the option to switch between active Google Accounts from the slide-in panel on the left of the app along with re-entering that account's PIN on the fly. A far cry from the previous version, which required you to wipe out the app entirely and start over with a new account.

The new interface also scrambles up the settings a bit, bringing a quick access button in that same slide-in panel directly to your list of cards and accounts. The actual app settings are a bit cleaner as a result, which is always a bonus. The app has received an overall redesign recently, so there's no need for another one, but these quick changes make a lot of sense considering the direction Google's design has been moving to integrate multiple accounts.

You can grab a download of the latest Google Wallet app from the Play Store link at the top of this post.

Here's a fun little addition to the Google Play developer console. You can now choose to filter out unpublished apps, or apps in draft status. That means we won't have to see our old Smartwatch Fans app anymore, now that we've unpublished it and replaced it with Connectedly. (Which you should totally download now!)

Nice.

An Amazon phone might make more sense than you think

Over the last month or so there have been enough informative leaks to say, almost with certainty, that Amazon will be releasing a phone. I say "almost" to leave the door open to a change in plans, however small that chance may be.

I recently learned that Amazon has hired several former BlackBerry designers. It sounds like they've brought smart people on board, and I can certainly understand why a good engineer would be tempted to go work for Amazon in light of what's happened to BlackBerry over the past few years. BlackBerry has almost entirely lost its consumer market share and is busy returning to its enterprise roots. On the other hand, Amazon is practically 100 percent focused on the consumer aside from its obvious leadership in cloud computing, which is enterprise and small-business focused.)

It's interesting to think about Amazon's intentions here. How will it make money selling phones if it doesn't plan to sell them at a profit? Jeff Bezos has repeatedly said he doesn't want to make money when you buy the phone, but instead when you use the phone.

The tablet argument

When it comes to modern mobile devices, Amazon got its start with the Kindle Fire tablet. If you look at the tablet market, obviously the first name that comes to mind is Apple. The iPad dominates the space. But who's next? Samsung is probably No. 2 and behind Samsung (or ASUS, perhaps?) there are probably dozens and dozens of other Android vendors who sell relatively small volume. And then there is Amazon, which has sold millions of Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD tablets that run a forked version of Android. It wouldn't surprise me if Amazon was the No. 3 player in the tablet market at this point.

So we have Apple, and we have two wildly varying Android-based brands. The first brand, Samsung, is working on trying into its own ecosystem, but not nearly to the same extent as Amazon, which is completely off the Google reservation. Amazon has Prime, Instant Video, music and, of course, online shopping.

Back to phones ...

Now let's turn our attention to phones. The smartphone market is much bigger than the tablet market, but the dynamics are similar. Apple has a very strong position, and so does Samsung. After Samsung the numbers really drop off with HTC, LG, and other Android vendors practically all losing money and fighting for profit on hardware without any platform tie-in benefit for the manufacturer.

Why shouldn't Amazon be able to translate its tablet strategy to smartphones?

In phones, Amazon should be able to make a pretty effective pitch. They don't need to make money on the hardware. Heck, why even bother trying if nobody else can make money competing with Samsung? So you give away the phones at cost, and you go after the dollars that people spend while using their devices. Tablets get used a lot, sure. But phones? We take them with us everywhere we go. We're more likely to take our phone than our wallet if we're running out for a quick coffee at Starbucks, for example.

As the average person uses his or her phone more and more as a way to spend money, Amazon probably sees a way to profit from this. Given that Amazon tablets run Android and it's managed to score many of the major apps people care about in its own app store, so if the phones are good quality and the experience is as great as we're used to with Amazon already hey, why not make a smartphone?

How to make money 101 ...

Let's do a quick rundown of how Amazon can make money when people use their tablets and phones

• Revenue sharing on all app sales and in-app payments.
• Amazon can promote audio subscriptions that it owns such as Audible (audio books).
• They could create a mobile payment service that ties into the hundreds of millions of credit cards they have on file.
• They could use your (non personally identifying) data to create a mobile ad exchange that developers use in their applications.
• Maybe they can bundle services like Prime and Instant Video into the cost of the phone, or if they launch as an MVNO, into the cost of the monthly data plan.
• I'm sure there are more ideas that Amazon's team can think of. They're smarter than I am.

Notice that almost all of these money-getting techniques exist for Apple and Google, but not for a hardware vendor like Samsung, LG, HTC, etc. The only exception is Prime, Instant Video and the potential for Amazon to launch its own MVNO network who knows if this is happening?

I realize Amazon is not nearly as big as Apple or Google in the mobile game. But at least starting in the U.S. market, Amazon's got a big enough consumer footprint to have a go at it. I'd like to see them either launch on multiple carriers or simply launch an MVNO so they control the entire user experience.

Should Amazon do phones? If it can justify doing tablets, then it should absolutely be able to justify making a smartphone.

Disclosure: I own shares in Amazon, Google, Apple and yes sadly BlackBerry. too.

HTC is running a Mother's Day promotion where its flagship HTC One M8 will be offered for half off. The One M8 will be sold through HTC's online store for just $99, down from the usual $199 asking price, with a two-year contract through carrier partners AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.

The deal is good from 12:01 AM through 11:59 PM Central Time on May 8. The promotional price is good for both new and eligible upgrading customers.

Unfortunately, moms who subscribe to T-Mobile won't be able to get this deal, nor will the unlocked or developer editions of the One M8 be available for that reduced price.

First round of nightlies ready for flashing

If you're ready to rid yourself of HTC Sense 6 on your M8, you now have a chance to give CyanogenMod a spin. The free and open-source version of CM has hit nightly status for the metal-clad HTC flagship, and the builds are currently available at the CM downloads site.

Be warned, that as nightly versions there will be issues to work out. You are doing the community testing for the builds, and should be prepared to submit bug reports and do your part to make things better. Don't worry, though, usually these are pretty complete and alpha/beta testing is often a lot of fun.

Source: +CyanogenMod

We put out the request last week for all of your best "bricks" photos, and just as we've come to expect, you all delivered. We saw five whole pages of entries come into the forums for another successful photo contest, showing off a variety of styles and devices while still following the prompt.

We're glad we had the opportunity to pick more than one or two winners this week, and have four great photos that were found worthy of winning a prize.

Winner of a Bracketron NanoTek Stand, Joshua Tinkle!

This is a very simple picture that wouldn't normally catch the eye, but the bit of angle and the exposed faucet coming out of the wall just give it an interesting look. We like the close-up composition and the fact that it's not completely symmetrical. This was taken with an HTC One and edited with VSCO Cam.

Winner of a Bracketron NanoTek Stand, wndrrd!

On the other end of the spectrum, this picture isn't completely dominated by bricks, even though they fill most of the frame. The streaks of light and flowers give this shot an interesting look, and we like the use of shadows. Taken with an LG G2 and edited with Pixlr.

Winner of a Bracketron NanoTek Stand, tx_tuff!

Then we go zoomed out to a architectural shot, but you can see why it still fits the prompt of "bricks" just as well. Your eye gets drawn all the way down the corridor, making you notice even more of the intricacies of the room. Taken with an LG G2 also, edited in Pixlr Express and Snapseed.

Winner of a Bracketron NanoTek Stand, slcbtf!

We were drawn to this picture because of the uneven bricks and varying colors, along with the grey peeking through that gives it a very interesting look. Sure, it's just a brick pathway, but it's different from what you usually think of when that comes to mind. Taken with a Droid RAZR great picture.

Keep an eye out for the prizes, they're on the way!

Thanks again to everyone else who entered, and keep your eyes peeled for the next photo contest. We want the chance to give away more great prizes to everyone, so keep taking pictures and entering them!

• More: Photo Contests in the Android Central Forums

The 2014 MLB season is well underway. Teams like the Brewers, Athletics and Giants are out on top right now. If your team isn't doing so hot you can change that with R.B.I. Baseball 14 for Android. You can't actually help your team in real life, but you can take your team to the World Series in this virtual world.

R.B.I. Baseball 14 brings all 30 MLB teams and over 480 current players to your Android device. The game features updated graphics and you get season, postseason and exhibition modes. Entire 9 inning games can be played in under 20 minutes in this baseball simulator. Player characteristics are based on real stats. So if your favorite MLB player is at the top of his game, he'll be just as hot in R.B.I Baseball 14.

R.B.I. Baseball will set you back $4.99. Though that's probably a small price to pay for baseball fans. Grab the app using the Google Play link above. Don't forget to give your favorite team a shout out in the comments below!

So you have one of the many older Samsung devices that are still stuck on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean or older, and you're wondering when you'll get that Android 4.4.2 KitKat update that Samsung promised back in February. A lot of devices have received their updates, like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and even the Galaxy S3, as well as the Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 edition tablet and Galaxy Note 3 phablet. But what about your phone? Well, according to an internal Samsung doc, we've at least got a timeframe we can give you.

The fine folks over at SamMobile got their hands on the document, which lists the projected update release for a number of devices. Coming in this month of May, updates are expected for the Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S3, and Galaxy Note 3 Neo. June will see the LTE variants of the S3 receiving KitKat, along with the Galaxy S4 Mini, Galaxy Grand 2, and both sizes of the Galaxy Mega.

Of course, as an internal status report these release dates are subject to change, but it's nice to know that Samsung expects to be releasing a good portion of their promised KitKat updates by the end of next month.

Source: SamMobile

Huawei improves upon earlier efforts with a glass-backed chassis, redesigned software and new camera tricks

At an event in Paris, France today, Huawei officially unveiled its new high-end flagship phone, the Ascend P7. It's the latest in the Chinese manufacturer's premium "P" range, building on last year's P6, which the company says sold 4 million units across the glove. The P7's design heritage is plain to see from the metal trim around the top and sides to the curved edge down below, this year's Huawei flagship looks an awful lot like last year's.

The biggest external change can be seen when you flip it over the back panel is now made of glass, and sports a reflective pattern not unlike LG's "crystal reflection process," seen on the Optimus G. This effect comes to life through a combination of seven layers, Huawei says, and if you look close enough you can make some of them out one forms concentric circles leading out from the "Huawei" logo, for instance, another is a checkered pattern. By any standard, the P7 is a good-looking phone. It's also extremely light, much less heavy than most 5-inch smartphones we've used.

By any standard, the P7 is a good-looking phone.

When it comes to internals, Huawei's taking aim at the big boys, flaunting comparisons with the iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy S5 in today's presentation. It's powered by a Kirin 910T from the Huawei-owned Hisilicon, a 1.8GHz quad-core part and a relatively unknown quantity. The device seems speedy enough most of the time, though there are unfortunate instances of scrolling lag in some apps like the Play Store, Twitter and the notification shade. We'll have to see how it holds up once we've had the chance to load it up with apps, especially since the Ascend P6 turned out to be somewhat sluggish. The P7's homegrown CPU is backed up by 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage (of which 11.39 is available out of the box).

One important area Huawei hasn't compromised is the display the P7's 1080p in-cell panel looks as good as any we've seen, delivering vivid colors and solid daylight visibility.

Both cameras are a big focus of the P7 the front-facer clocks in at a selfie-friendly 8 megapixels, and is backed up by a bevy of software features. These include a pretty neat panorama function for taking shots on the front-facing camera with more people, and an assortment of beautification options. The rear camera is an 13-megapixel unit powered by a Sony sensor and a surprisingly capable camera app. In our brief testing of the device in daylight it doesn't seem to match up to the quality of shots from the Xperia Z2 and Galaxy S5, but it's a capable shooter all the same, showing promise in low light.

Huawei's UI is more consistent than before, but elements of it remain somewhat of a hodgepodge.

On the software side, Huawei's loaded up Android 4.4.2 KitKat and its new Emotion UI 2.3. The interface is just as customizable as ever through the Themes app, with several official skins loaded out of the box, and many more available online. The default skin, characterized by rounded icons and soft gradients, seems more thoughtfully crafted than the previous version, though elements of the experience remain something of a hodgepodge, with a few conflicting visual styles presenting themselves in the phone's various menus. And the default home screen setup, with no separate app drawer, may be somewhat jarring to Western smartphone users unfamiliar with Huawei's way of doing things.

An assortment of software features are available besides the standard Android stuff a "phone manager" app allows you to keep track of which apps might be using too much memory or CPU juice. There's a "simple home" mode for those wanting a less complex experience, and an "Ultra Power Saving" mode, as we've seen from HTC and Samsung, which pares back the phone's higher functions to extend battery life.

So the P7 is a solid effort, particularly in terms of hardware, where its use of glass sets it apart from some of the plastic-based competition. But it's not as buttery-smooth as the high-end competition, and it remains to be seen whether the company's software experience, which seems more closely tied to MIUI than vanilla Android, will prove as usable as rivals' visions of the OS.

The Huawei Ascend P7 will launch globally starting in June, priced at 449 off-contract.