Other execs who have left recently include:

• Jason Gordon, HTC’s Vice President of Global Communications
  
• Rebecca Rowland, HTC’s Global Retail Marketing Manager
• John Starkweather, HTC’s Director of Digital Marketing
• Eric Lin, HTC’s Product Strategy Manager

Lin even tweeted:

To all my friends still at @HTC – just quit. leave now. it’s tough to do, but you’ll be so much happier, I swear.

Speculation is currently running rampant as to why so many people are leaving HTC, but one thing is for sure: this is not a coordinated effort by the competition to try and break the company. Instead, these execs are heading to a variety of different companies like AT&T or Microsoft.

Some possibilities include:

• Lower morale due to the horrible failure of the HTC First (the Facebook Home phone)
• HTC exec Peter Chou apparently makes snap decisions without fully considering long term consequences.
• Supply shortages have plagued the launch of the HTC One.
• The writing could already be on the wall, considering Samsung has already sold 10 million units of the Galaxy S4 in its first month after release.

What is your speculation regarding this mass exodus of HTC’s leadership? It started to look like things may have been turning around for HTC, so it’s disconcerting to see this story, for sure. Is there any hope left?

[The Verge]

The post HTC hemorrhages top execs under uncertainty about the company’s future appeared first on Pocketables.

But before we get to my actual opinion of the microphone, though, let’s take a quick look at the specs.

• Microphone type: condenser electret
• Polar pattern: unidirectional/cardioid
• Frequency response: 100Hz – 15kHz, -3dB
• Maximum sound pressure: 110dB
• Distortion: 3% THD at 110dB, 1kHz
• Windscreen: built-in
• Size: 30mm/1.18-inches x 47mm/1.85-inches x 10mm/0.39-inches (W x L x H)
• Weight: ~15g/0.52-ounces

While it’s specifically designed for iOS devices (iPhone, iPod, or iPad), iRig says that it’s also compatible with most Android smartphones and tablets. It specifically lists the Google Nexus S, HTC Desire HD, Samsung  Galaxy S, Galaxy S II, Galaxy S III,  Galaxy W, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Tab 10.1, and Galaxy Tab 7+. In my own tests, it seems to work on the HTC EVO 4G LTE (without the “real time monitoring,” though), but it doesn’t seem to function at all on the ASUS Nexus 7.

iRig does note that the bumper-friendly mini-jack connector fits the majority of iPhone and iPod touch cases.

iRig also says that most Mac computers starting from late 2008 are compatible with the exception of the Mac Pro line. To check if your Mac is compatible, you can select About This Mac > More Info > System Report > Audio, and then check that “External Microphone / iPhone headset” is appearing on the list of included features.

I did get some weird behavior on my Chromebook Pixel, which is to be expected and could be due to any number of factors (Chromebooks aren’t officially supported by iRig, and I’m on the beta channel). When plugging it in to the headset jack by itself, it did not seem to function (I tested by recording a video directly to my private YouTube channel). However, when I plugged in a headset, the Chromebook started to record from the microphone, although again I did not hear the “real time monitoring” that iRig claims this device is capable of.

While using it to record audio on my EVO 4G LTE, I was generally impressed by the quality of the microphone, although it’s not the best I’ve ever experienced. My voice sounded much clearer than it did when using the built-in microphone in my phone, and the Hi/Lo settings seemed to work as intended. I am, however, a bit concerned about how well this microphone is able to pick up sounds at a distance. Even when using the Hi setting, recording quickly degraded as I moved further away from the microphone. To be fair, the included instructions do recommend that you always point the microphone directly toward the sound source for the best result, but it’s also advertised as “great for business applications like recording meetings,” along with lectures and speeches, when it’s not always possible to position the microphone ideally. I fear its performance would suffer in these instances.

It does, however, seem great for short podcasts, interviews, voice memos, or even simply enhancing the audio quality of a conference call over Skype or Google Hangouts. Again, you’re not going to get the absolute best possible audio quality from this microphone in all circumstances (why would you expect that, considering the price?), and for that reason, I’m not sure I would have used this full time back when I co-hosted the CrowdGadgets podcast. But still, for shorter voice recording needs – and even the quick podcast here and there – it will certainly get the job done.

A nice added touch that is definitely appreciated for those who are using for longer recordings is the included table stand. This can hold your phone or tablet in landscape or portrait mode, and it’s strong enough to sturdily hold even my heavier Nexus 7. (I might actually end up using this simply as a desk stand, without the microphone!)

iRig does provide free Android and iOS recording apps, although to unlock all features, you need to upgrade to the premium version, which is on sale now for $3.99. (I’m not sure what the normal price is.) To be honest, I didn’t mess around with the app much, because I think the premium version should be included with your purchase for free. It puts a sour taste in my mouth that iRig expects you to pay more for its software after shelling out a good chunk of change for the microphone already.

Speaking of the price, I feel it’s a bit expensive for what is offered here. iRig charges $40 for the microphone and the stand. The latter is just a piece of plastic that probably cost less than $1 to manufacture, and the microphone is on par with those that cost around $20. It’s not a bad microphone by any means, and the form factor is nice, but for $40 it should blow me away just a little more than it does right now.

So, in conclusion, I give iRig MIC Cast credit for its small, pocketable design, the inclusion of a headphone jack for real time monitoring (even though that didn’t really work on my devices), and a sturdy table stand. I’m knocking some points off for its price and the fact that premium versions of its apps aren’t included with your purchase.

Would I spend $40 on this myself? Probably not. I think you can find better microphones at this price point. However, you might not be able to find microphones with the same portability and convenience this one offers, so it’s up to you whether or not you’re willing to shell out the cash for that or not.

The iRig MIC Cast is available for $39.99 from IK Multimedia.

The post iRig MIC Cast review appeared first on Pocketables.

Lots of people are sick of Microsoft’s “scroogled” campaign, which attempts to demonize Google’s long-standing practice of using automated machines to serve you targeted advertising based on your email. That’s why some Google fans have created the MicroShafted website that details some of Microsoft’s shadier practices, but perhaps most disconcerting is the news that Microsoft appears to be looking at private Skype messages that are supposed to be encrypted.

Ars Technica has confirmed that Microsoft regularly scans Skype messages, allegedly for signs of fraud, and the company logs its results indefinitely. Although Skype is supposed to be encrypted from end-to-end, Microsoft can only scan these messages if it converts them into a human-readable form.

Even worse, Ars Technica confirmed that several links sent through Skype were being visited by people or machines that originate with a Microsoft IP address. Apparently, “security” does not necessarily equal “privacy,” at least as far as Microsoft is concerned. Additionally, Microsoft does confirm that human beings are allowed to look at Skype messages that have been decrypted, and Microsoft has not confirmed or denied whether or not it gave the FBI backdoor access to communications over Skype when it requested that about a year ago.

So much for Microsoft’s privacy campaign against Google.

[Ars Technica via Venture Beat] Thanks, Paul!

The post Microsoft ends up “scroogling” itself by reading Skype messages appeared first on Pocketables.

The RHA SA950i headphones are designed to deliver professional audio in a compact and lightweight form factor. Featuring 40mm titanium-coated mylar drivers, a detachable 1.5 meter fabric braided cable, adjustable chrome sliders for a better fit, and gold plated connections, it certainly seems like a lot of thought went into the design of this headset. And since RHA offers a three year warranty – a lot longer than is standard in the industry – it’s obvious that RHA believes in its product and is willing to stand behind it.

But is it right for you?

First, let’s talk specs: the frequency range is 16-22,000Hz, the impedance 32ohms, the rated maximum power is 300/100mW, and sensitivity 113dB. If you’re anything like me, these numbers don’t actually mean much. So let’s talk about my everyday experience with these headphones.

Arguably the most important question to ask when considering any headset is, “How does it sound?” While I’m not really an audiophile, these do sound great. I’ve been using them for several weeks now, and am continually impressed by the quality I’m hearing out of such a lightweight and inexpensive pair of headphones. It doesn’t really matter what I’m listening to, either – from podcasts to classical to Macklemore’s “Thift Shop,” it all sounds great. Bass is deep, high notes sound nice and crisp, and you can really crank these up without getting the distortion that some cheaper sets might give you. I’m told the great sound is due to the titanium-coated mylar drivers, but again, I’m not very technical when it comes to headphones, so I’ll just believe that.

It is worth noting that these aren’t as effective at noise cancellation as, say, my Jabra REVO wireless bluetooth headphones that Paul happened to review. However, at the same time, these are lighter and less bulky. I don’t think they’re really designed to be that effective at noise cancellation, so I’m not going to fault RHA on this.

It’s also worth pointing out that the detachable cable is the same type as the RHA MA450i earphones that I reviewed last month. In case you missed it, the fabric braided cable basically makes the headset a thousand times more valuable to me than other higher-priced earbuds. It doesn’t actually feel like a headset cable at all, but rather a very thin shoelace, or something similar. What this means for practical everyday use is that the cable really doesn’t get tangled up very much, and when it does, it’s extremely quick and easy to untangle. It straightens up quickly, even after several days of being wrapped around the headphones. Put simply, this feature alone is enough to make this headset really stand out from the competition, and I’m surprised to see that most other headphone manufacturers have not adopted this yet.

The included microphone hangs at just the right height, making this a great compliment to both my phone and my Chromebook, especially when I talk on Google Hangouts. It includes some basic multi-click controls for calls, music, and volume functions – these are designed by RHA to work with all iOS products, including the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Since I live my life in the Google ecosystem, not all of these functions worked for me, but again, I don’t fault RHA for that. As long as I can answer calls and pause what I’m listening to, I’m set – and that works great on my HTC EVO 4G LTE.

I’ve also got a big head, but these have no trouble fitting comfortably. That’s worth mentioning, because those of us with big heads often do have trouble finding headphones that we can comfortably wear over long periods of time. These stretch out and extend down far enough to fit me just right. They’re also extremely light weight, coming in at just 105 grams, which is less than a quarter of a pound. The cushions around the ear pieces are just icing on the cake – these were definitely designed with comfort in mind.

I should also say that so far I enjoy wearing these a bit more so far during the warmer times of the year, as they don’t make me feel as hot as some other, bulkier, heavier headphones. If you live in Antarctica, or you insist on keeping your air conditioning set to sub-zero temperatures, this might not be a big deal to you.

Overall, I’m impressed at the quality, design, sound reproduction, and even the warranty that’s provided for the RHA SA950i headphones. And at the price they’re sold for, they are a downright steal. If you don’t believe me, just read the Amazon reviews for yourself.

The RHA SA950i headphones can be purchased for $59.95 with free shipping from Amazon.

The post RHA SA950i headphones review appeared first on Pocketables.

Those of you who decided to opt for the GSM unlocked developer version of the HTC One should start hitting your update buttons. The device is receiving a small OTA update that weighs in at 17.14MB, bumping the software version up to 1.29.1540.16.

This is definitely not the much-anticipated update to Android 4.2.2, and the changelog lists only a single “system enhancement.” Since the actual update is so small, and there’s nothing else listed in the changelog, it’s safe to assume that the update does not bring any new features, and is instead just to fix a few bugs.

Of course, whenever a new update comes out, there could always be new bugs, so be sure to let us know if you notice any changes on your own device after applying this update. And, as always, if you’re rooted take this at your own risk. Luckily, since the bootloader is already unlocked, it’s really easy to regain root in case you accidentally lose it with this update.

[Droid Life]

The post HTC One US developer edition gets OTA update to 1.29.1540.16 appeared first on Pocketables.

Thanks for all of your feedback on last week’s Hangouts launch. I wanted to quickly talk about 1) making/receiving phone calls in Gmail, and 2) Google Voice support more generally.

1) Today’s version of Hangouts doesn’t yet support outbound calls on the web and in the Chrome extension, but we do support inbound calls to your Google Voice number. We’re working hard on supporting both, and outbound/inbound calls will soon be available. In the meantime, you can continue using Google Talk in Gmail.

2) Hangouts is designed to be the future of Google Voice, and making/receiving phone calls is just the beginning. Future versions of Hangouts will integrate Google Voice more seamlessly.

This is certainly great news, and it’s what many people were actually expecting already before Hangouts officially launched. However, while this specifically addresses many of the concerns I raised last week, I still would have preferred to see the new Hangouts app a bit more polished before launch.

It’s also still unclear whether or not Google will continue to support all of Voice’s extra features when the merge with Hangouts is complete, such as selective call forwarding, call screening, and call recording. Right now, none of this is available in Hangouts – you can only receive calls and add phone call to video Hangouts. All in all, it’s very clunky right now, but I’m confident Google will make everything much more seamless soon. I just hope that we don’t lose any more features in the process.

[Google+ via Google]

The post The future of Google Voice is Google Hangouts appeared first on Pocketables.

Longtime Pocketables reader and commenter Fifth313ment recently wrote in to tell us about a problem he’s noticed with his phone ever since the Google Play Services system app was updated during Google I/O. The problem seems to be linked to Google’s new location APIs, and it’s affecting mainly HTC users.

As Fifth313ment (a.k.a. Brandon) describes it:

Something happened with HTC phones and the recent Google Now and Google Play Services updates. I personally believe it’s the Google Play Services Location API that is having an issue. This causes all network location services to stop functioning on the affected phone.

In Google Now, it will persistently tell you that Google location services are off and need to be turned on, even if everything is already on. GPS will work with only GPS on, but if GPS is off, location will not function – even if you’re on WiFi. Apps like Flixster, HTC Weather, and Google Now won’t be able to find your location and will report errors. Many of the affected users are using mostly HTC phones, and it seems to have started Friday or Saturday night for most. Many have tried cleaning caches, uninstalling apps, etc., but mine was only fixed with a hard reset.

Some quick searches will reveal discussion threads around the internet about this very issue, including at Android Central and even Google’s own product forums. A Google employee has chimed in to say that the issue is “still on our radar,” but as usual there’s no estimated time frame for an official fix.

Right now, the only solution seems to be a hard reset, but if you’re willing to live with the problem for a little while, Google might be able to roll out a fix. In the meantime, let us know: are you affected? If so, what’s your device, and what ROM are you running?

The post New Google Play Services causes location errors on some HTC phones appeared first on Pocketables.

To those of you with an HTC EVO 3D, make sure you hit that update button! An OTA update started rolling out last week, bumping the software version up to 2.95.651.6. It’s a small update, with only one item in the changelog: “Swype functionality improvements.”

We first reported on this issue last March, and it’s since taken Sprint and HTC almost two months to resolve it. Apparently, in the area where Swype usually suggests a word, it would say simply, “Please Try Again.” A hard reset did not fix the issue, and one person even claimed that a Sprint rep simply advised him to upgrade to a new phone!

While I’m happy that it’s now resolved, I’m shocked it took this long. Then again, the EVO 3D has never received much love from Sprint – its Ice Cream Sandwich update was delayed more times than I care to remember, and its lifespan before it got “end of life” status from Sprint was also much shorter than the original EVO 4G. Well, you know what they say – only the good die young!

[Sprint] Thanks, Craig!

The post HTC EVO 3D gets OTA update to 2.95.651.6, fixes Swype appeared first on Pocketables.

This news comes just several weeks after we asked whether HTC’s most recent financial are finally starting to turn the company around. As we know, the HTC One had a rocky launch due to supply shortages, and there were even rumors that HTC’s suppliers weren’t taking the company seriously anymore. Obviously, this seems to be changing.

HTC’s still not even in the same ballpark as its largest Android competitor Samsung, but the HTC One has generally gotten very good reviews from critics and consumers alike, with many giving the HTC One a slight edge over Samsung’s new flagship, the Galaxy S4.

Of course, only time will tell if HTC is really headed toward a full recovery, or if this is all just a bunch of false hope. Personally, I’m rooting for HTC to keep it up, but we will see.

[Focus Taiwan via ZDNet]

The post HTC doubles production of the HTC One under increased demand appeared first on Pocketables.

Sprint announced today that it closed its transaction to acquire US Cellular’s spectrum and customers in select Midwest markets, including Chicago, Springfield, Champaign, and Effingham in Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Benton Harbor, South Bend, and Fort Wayne in Indiana. According to Sprint, “[t]he additional spectrum will significantly increase Sprint’s network capacity and further improve the customer experience in these markets.”

We first reported on this in November last year, and the acquisition will affect around 420,000 US Cellular customers. Sprint and US Cellular have already started the process of notifying affected customers, and the two companies are offering special incentives to get US Cellular customers to switch to Sprint devices and plans with little or no upfront costs. US Cellular will not charge early termination fees for anyone in these markets who cancels their service.

Sprint has set up a special site for affected customers at sprint.com/uscellular, where current US Cellular customers in the affected markets can receive a $50 bill credit and waived activation fees when moving to Sprint.

According to US Cellular, all US Cellular retail locations in the affected area will be closed soon, with five stores in the Chicago area remaining open for only 90 days in order to provide limited account support, such as making cash payments. However, current customers can continue to use their US Cellular service until notified by Sprint that they must transition their service to Sprint. The transition to Sprint’s network will not happen automatically – customers have to be proactive about this.

Personally, I have several opinions about this transaction: First, I live in the affected area, even though I am already a Sprint customer. However, data speeds, call quality, and general network conditions have steadily declined over the previous three years, to the point of being almost unusable at times. The Sprint’s acquisition of US Cellular does not include any network equipment like towers or backhaul – Sprint is just purchasing the rights to use spectrum, and US Cellular’s existing customers. In other words, an already struggling network is about to get almost half a million more customers, which could cripple it even further. I doubt Sprint will be able to duplicate all of US Cellular’s current coverage in this area on its own, in the time it has available now. To me, this spells disaster.

Additionally, Sprint and US Cellular both run on CDMA networks. US Cellular customers can seamlessly roam onto Sprint, and vice versa. Why is Sprint making all US Cellular customers be proactive about switching devices, when it could just as easily push a PRL update to all existing US Cellular customers that will cause them to use the new network? It doesn’t make any sense, and will only make existing US Cellular customers angry.

Are you in the affected markets? What do you think?

[Sprint | US Cellular]

The post Sprint finishes deal to acquire US Cellular spectrum and customers in the Midwest appeared first on Pocketables.

We’ve known for some time now that the HTC EVO 4G LTE would most likely receive the new Sense 5 UI in a future OTA update – HTC confirmed that the One X, One S, and a few other devices would be getting this update, and so far the EVO 4G LTE has followed an identical upgrade pattern to the One X. However, it was a bit unclear which features would actually make their way to these older HTC devices, as HTC specifically noted that “some features enabled by the new HTC One hardware will not be available in the software updates.”

But according to developer LlabTooFeR on Twitter, the One X will indeed receive Zoe and BlinkFeed in a future update, thus pretty much cementing a similar fate for the EVO 4G LTE, too. For you naysayers out there, this is also the same developer who tweeted about the One X receiving Jelly Bean, too, when it was still uncertain whether or not the phone would get that update.

We still don’t have a specific timeframe for when we can expect this update, but my personal guess is that it won’t appear until late summer at the absolute earliest. As we know all too well, Sprint can take its time approving these updates, and HTC also doesn’t want to potentially cannibalize new sales of the HTC One, either. Of course, we’ll let you know as soon as it is available for download.

[Twitter via Ubergizmo] Thanks, Bill!

The post HTC EVO 4G LTE most likely to receive Zoe and BlinkFeed in future OTA update appeared first on Pocketables.

Coming in at 23.89MB, the official changelog lists this:

• BlinkFeed improvements
• New Sprint Zone client
• Improved Back and Home key sensitivity

One Pocketables reader did confirm that the update fixes the capacitive button sensitivity issue, and others are reporting that this update does not give users the ability to turn off BlinkFeed. Other than that, we’re not hearing much.

If you receive this update, let us know if you can confirm that the capacitive sensitivity issue has been fixed, along with any other bug fixes and new features that may have been stuck in.  As always, if you’re rooted, accept this update at your own risk.

[Sprint | AndroidSPIN] Thanks, Bill!

The post HTC One on Sprint gets OTA update to 1.29.651.10 appeared first on Pocketables.

So, Google’s new attempt a messaging was unveiled at Google I/O 2013 yesterday and rolled out to the masses. It’s available to download on Google Play if you haven’t gotten it yet yourself, although your Google Chat Chrome extension should also update automatically. You can enable this in Gmail chat, too, and Google+ Messenger will disappear very soon. iOS users should check the iTunes App Store.

While I like the general direction that Google is going here (group messaging is awesome), there are quite a few things that Google got wrong with this first release. First of all:

Google Voice / Gmail calling on the desktop.

To me, this is the biggest and most glaring issue with the new Hangouts app. Previously, the old Google Chat Chrome extension allowed me to receive notifications for incoming phone calls to my Google Voice number, even when all browser windows were closed. I had the option to answer, ignore, or screen the calls, and I could also enable call recording when answering.

Now, I’ll get a notification that a phone number is attempting a “video call” with me, even though it’s clearly just a normal phone call. I am only shown the phone number, even if it’s a previously stored contact. Clicking the notification will sometimes give me the option to answer the call, and sometimes it will not. When I am able to answer the call, which is about 50% of the time so far, there is no option to screen the call or enable call recording. Additionally, when answering, it opens a full video Hangout, even though it’s just a single phone call (my webcam even turns on).

To make a call, I have to start a video Hangout by myself, and click the option to add a phone number. There is no dialing by name or auto-complete, so I either have to remember the full number myself, or copy and paste it from somewhere else.

To retain most of the functionality I had before, I have to keep a Gmail window open and use the old Gmail Chat. There’s no telling how long this will last, however. All in all, making and receiving phone calls with the new extension feels broken and half-baked, and there’s no way to revert to the old extension to get all of my previous functionality back. If you can’t tell, I’m kind of pissed about this.

Voice calling with other Google contacts.

Simply put, you can’t do this anymore. There is no option to initiate a voice call; instead, you have to start a video Hangout, and then turn off your web cam. This is clunky, cumbersome, and adds extra unnecessary clicks.

Online and offline status.

There is no longer a single list of all your contacts who are online. On the desktop, online contacts have a barely noticeable green bar underneath them, but only some of your online contacts are displayed; you’ll have to search to find others. On mobile, offline contacts are very slightly greyed out, but it’s so slight you can hardly tell. There is no indication of whether or not your contacts are idle or on a mobile device, and custom status messages are completely gone.

Some of these changes aren’t as big of a deal as some others. I can live without custom status messages or mobile indicators, for example. But I’d still like one complete list of everyone who’s online.

Upgrade issues.

The rollout has been anything but smooth. For some reason, when opening the Play Store on my household’s Samsung Galaxy Nexus, it showed that Google Talk had already been upgraded to Hangouts. However, when I opened it, it was still the old Google Talk. We ended up having to install the new Hangouts through the Play Store desktop website.

The Play Store also said that my ASUS Nexus 7 was not compatible with the Hangouts app. That’s odd – it’s a Google-branded Nexus device, running the latest version of Android. It doesn’t even run a custom ROM. I ended up having to pull the apk from the Galaxy Nexus, and then install it on the Nexus 7.

For what it’s worth, my HTC EVO 4G LTE was updated seamlessly. I simply opened up the Play Store, searched for Hangouts, and pressed the install button. I’m not sure why my Nexus devices were having so many issues, while my EVO running HTC’s Sense UI was able to upgrade without any problems. Something about that seems really wrong.

Text integration

Everyone was expecting this, and everyone has been asking for it. Why didn’t Google make sure that this would be ready in time for Google I/O?

Granted, several Googlers have confirmed that SMS integration is on the way very soon. When using Hangouts on your phone the first time, you’ll also notice that you have to verify your phone number (there doesn’t seem to be any reason for this, other than SMS integration). Finally, some of the new permissions of the app include “send SMS messages,” “read your text messages (SMS or MMS),” and “receive text messages (SMS).” Again, these permissions don’t seem necessary unless Google is planning on adding this functionality soon.

However, this brings me to my final point:

This is quite obviously a beta product.

Before almost every other major product release, Google has first released its new products as limited betas, many times by invitation only. This is how Gmail, Google Voice, Chrome OS, Google Music, and Google+ all started. This allowed Google to beta test the products with real, everyday users, most of whom are tech enthusiasts and power users who don’t mind finding bugs and reporting them. This allowed Google to fine tune its products before releasing them to the greater public.

In this case, Google radically redesigned some of its core messaging services, and forced the change on everyone. This wouldn’t have necessarily been a bad thing, if everything just worked at release. But so far, one of the most requested features – SMS integration – is missing at launch. Voice calling is completely broken and/or missing. People are having problems upgrading.

Put simply, this is a disaster – and there’s no way people can opt out of this, except in Gmail for the moment. (Android users will constantly get notification reminders from Google Play, while Chrome users are upgraded transparently in the background with no way to prevent this or revert.)

This is clearly a beta product that Google should have allowed enthusiasts and power users to opt in to – instead, it’s giving everyone a headache. I know Google is watching and listening, so I hope all of these issues get resolved very soon; otherwise, Google might have just shot itself in the foot.

The post What Google got wrong in the new Google Hangouts (so far) appeared first on Pocketables.

When accessing the updated Google Play Books Android app on your smartphone or tablet, you’ll notice there’s a new feature that allows you to view uploaded books. Selecting this gives you the following message:

You can now read personal documents such as PDFs or ePub files using Google Play Books.

To get started, go to play.google.com from your computer and click My Books.

Doing so will bring you to a page with the menu shown on the right. You can then upload files from your local storage, or directly from Google Drive.

Previously on Pocketables, we told you about apps like Fabrik and Moon+ Reader - until today, these were the best options for users who wanted to sync books you already own and reading progress across various devices from the cloud. Now, Google offers this ability itself – you can upload books you’ve obtained from any source, and sync your progress across literally any device you have seamlessly.

This is a great feature that I’ll definitely make use of myself. How about you?

The post Google Play Books now allows users to upload their own books appeared first on Pocketables.

At the end of the Google Maps overview earlier today at the Google I/O preview, Brian McClendon stated that everyone could sign up for a preview at maps.google.com/preview. Unfortunately, this isn’t working right now, but users who want in on the fun can actually go to google.com/maps/preview.

This page is live right now, and users can sign in using their Google accounts to request an invite. According to McClendon, I/O attendees have immediate access to try out the new Google Maps, while invites for everyone else will go out tomorrow.

Some features of the new Google Maps include individual custom maps that are drawn around your interests and preferences. Google Now-style cards pop up on the left-hand side of the full-screen map with user reviews, Zagat reviews, and StreetView images of both inside and outside the venue. (Inside StreetViews are made by cropping together multiple user photos that have been uploaded to Google).

The maps will change and develop as you use them over time, multiple driving routes will now be displayed at the same time, and flights have even been integrated into the new Google Maps. Visually, you can expect a tight integration with Google Earth, including 3D buildings made from StreetView images and satellite imagery. Keep zooming out, and you’ll eventually get an image of a globe with real-time cloud images, correct constellations in their proper places, and even real time light/dark imaging in relation to the earth’s rotation and the sun.

This looks fantastic, and I can’t wait to try it out myself. To get your invite, just go to google.com/maps/preview since the URL given in the keynote was incorrect.

Thanks, TonyD!

The post How to preview the new Google Maps announced at Google I/O appeared first on Pocketables.

Google has finally started selling extra power adapters for the Chromebook Pixel, in the third month after the premium Chrome laptop first went on sale. It’s currently retailing for $54.00, with one-two day shipping to my zip code running me $9.99. With tax, the total price comes close to $70, although this may be a bit higher or lower depending on where you live.

It’s somewhat striking that it took Google this long to start selling the power adapter, considering how long the Pixel has been out. Given the enormous price tag, and merely adequate battery life, if something had happened to your power adapter, you could have had a $1.5k brick on your hands.

However, to Google’s credit, reports have cropped up about people receiving free chargers when contacting the Chrome Ninjas to inquire about the possibility of obtaining an extra. This even happened to me – when I had talked to a Ninja about an unrelated issue, I casually brought up my desire to own an extra charger, just to be safe. I was told that my issue would be escalated, and I’d have a response soon. Several days later, a free charger appeared on my doorstep – I was very pleased, to say the least.

In any case, now that these are available for purchase on Google Play, I doubt that Google will be sending any more of them to people for free. But it’s still quite obvious that Google is taking care of the early adopters who purchased a Chromebook Pixel, and the company is listening to our feedback.

[Google Play via Google+]

The post Google finally starts selling power adapter for the Chromebook Pixel appeared first on Pocketables.

After the keynote, be sure to check out the rest of our I/O coverage at pocketables.com/io!

Live blog transcript

2:30 PM

Smartphones are the keys for these places.

2:30 PM

Google’s plan for bringing the developing world online?

2:30 PM

Nothing to announce at the time.

2:29 PM

Will you do DNA sequencing? Image analysis with surgical imaging?

2:29 PM

It would have been bad if our company had ended up all male. We need to start early to get young girls excited about technology

2:28 PM

Women in the development community – what can we do to encourage women to be here?

2:27 PM

Why are people so focused on keeping medical history private? Probably insurance. People are afraid of not getting insured, but that makes no sense since we changed the rules to ensure insurance. I wish I would have admitted my medical problem sooner (vocal chord issues)

2:25 PM

How can Google help improve healthcare?

2:24 PM

Maybe some of us need to branch out into other areas like law and help things improve. We also need to build mechanisms to encourage experimentation

2:23 PM

Law can’t be right if it’s 50 years old!

2:23 PM

People are concerned about change, and not all change is good. We have adapted mechanisms to deal with that. Old institutions like the law aren’t keeping up with the rate of change.

2:22 PM

How can we reduce the negativity surrounding technology and focus on changing the world?

2:21 PM

Hopefully we can fix it quickly

2:21 PM

Why can’t people buy things from Google Play all over the world?

2:15 PM

Accessibility

2:15 PM

Keeping costs down.

2:14 PM

What advice would you give to rising generation of technologists? How to keep tech moving at the same pace as the past 5-10 years – and how to do that responsibly?

2:12 PM

Glass could also be used for hands free navigation

2:12 PM

I’ll have to ask Sergey … part of the answer is we don’t know. Photography is a good use case.

2:11 PM

Where are the greatest opportunities for Google Glass developers?

2:10 PM

(didn’t answer with specific projects – said that new projects are often based on existing products)

2:07 PM

What are some future projects Google will get into for the physical world?

2:05 PM

It’s a shame that the connections between computers are so tiny and slow

2:05 PM

Improved networking and data center management

2:05 PM

What do you see are the possibilities from Google Fiber?

2:04 PM

Transparency about government requests for information is a major focus

2:04 PM

We work to protect private information, make computing school, and protect freedom of speech

2:04 PM

This is a strong desire of Google – freedom of speech and free flow of information. We translate this into practice by talking to government leaders around the world. Eric Schmidt has traveled around the world to talk about this.

2:03 PM

How will Google help protect freedom of speech?

2:02 PM

Developers shouldn’t have to worry about platform differences – software should run everywhere

2:02 PM

The web isn’t evolving fast enough – but that’s what this conference is about

2:02 PM

Microsoft now supports Google messaging in Outlook, but Microsoft didn’t reciprocate

2:02 PM

It’s a shame how Microsoft approached Skype/Google Talk integration

2:00 PM

Are we ever going to see web be the center of mobile OSes?

1:59 PM

So much stuff out of the way on Google Maps – that will happen with all your devices, too

1:59 PM

Focusing on getting computers out of the way is where Google is heading

1:57 PM

Larry is taking questions!!

1:56 PM

Computer science has a marketing problem

1:55 PM

Mentions automated cars and how they will change our lives – more green space, fewer parking lots, more freedom, fewer hours wasted, less accidents

1:53 PM

Being negative is not how we make progress (referring to “us vs them” reporting in tech media)

1:52 PM

Larry’s speech can’t be done justice by a live blog – best to read a transcript

1:49 PM

Reflections on smartphones

1:47 PM

Larry Page on stage now

1:47 PM

Technical glitch prevented us from live-blogging the maps portion, but we’ll get back to that

1:47 PM

And we’re back!

1:28 PM

Direction and Navigation – real time traffic incident alerts

1:25 PM

Zagat badges now integrated into Maps

1:25 PM

Get through map results with horizontal swipes

1:24 PM

Preview of the new Maps for mobile, available on both Android AND iOS

1:23 PM

Last year Maps launched on iPhone

1:22 PM

Daniel Graf now on stage to talk about Maps for mobile

1:21 PM

Over 1 million websites now use Google Maps, with over 1 billion monthly users

1:20 PM

local data + imagery + street view + terrain data + pre-existing maps

1:20 PM

Covering tons of places with 3D buildings – generating data from other data. This creativity launched Google Earth

1:18 PM

50 countries now in Street View

1:18 PM

Actually, North Korea was just published, too, making it 200 countries

1:17 PM

199 Countries launched on Google Maps

1:16 PM

Brian McClendon on stage to talk about the future of Google Maps

Gary Lindeen1:29 PM

How does one present an idea to Google that incorporates Google Maps and Google Glass?

1:14 PM

Amit – This tech is rapidly developing, so it will take some time before this becomes the predominant search experience. But we are investing in this so it will come sooner rather than later

1:11 PM

Demonstrating reminders – they work on times, dates, and locations

1:07 PM

(This is totally awesome!)

1:07 PM

Demonstrates new voice search and voice answer

1:05 PM

Johanna Wright on stage now

1:05 PM

Set reminders for yourself in Google Now with new cards. Public Transit commute time cards, TV shows, Music, Books, and Video Game cards, too.

1:04 PM

Anticipate: This is Google Now

1:03 PM

You don’t even need to click the mic to search – just say, “OK Google”

1:02 PM

Today, conversational search is coming to desktop Chrome too

1:02 PM

Converse – getting the answers in the most natural way possible. Speech.

1:02 PM

Gmail search field trial users are already enjoying this experience

1:01 PM

You should find answers from your own world without searching through your email or calendar. Google should know this for you.

1:01 PM

Knowledge graph now available in Polish, Turkish, simplified and traditional Chinese, in addition to 8 current languages

1:00 PM

Starting today, knowledge graph will anticipate your future questions, too

12:59 PM

Talking about answers and knowledge graphs

12:57 PM

Search is changing before our eyes – how and why…

12:57 PM

Amid now on stage – “The end of search as we know it”

12:56 PM

We just put the Google into Google+

12:55 PM

Five auto-awesome effects: motion, collage, HDR, smile, and pano

12:54 PM

Auto-awesome creates a new image from one that did not exist. If you take several pictures in burst mode, you can have a motion animated GIF prepared

12:53 PM

These auto enhancements can be applied to all your uploaded photos for you – while still giving you full control. Original and enhanced always available. Can turn on or off globally or on an individual photo.

12:52 PM

…structure, sharpening, red eye removal…

12:50 PM

It does this by considering tonal distribution, skin softening, noise reduction…

12:48 PM (edited)

Google introduces auto enhance – an “easy button” to make your pictures look better

12:47 PM

Will roll out this evening

12:47 PM

Sees people, aesthetics, affinity

12:46 PM

Google will be able to see which aren’t the greatest exposure, which are duplicates, which are blurry, if there are important landmarks – that’s how it finds Highlights

12:45 PM

Google will pick the best pictures for you from all that are stored in the cloud

12:44 PM

Increasing cloud storage to 15GB free for full resolution, or standard size for free (this isn’t new)

12:44 PM

New photos: Backup + Highlight + enhancement + awesome

12:43 PM

Combining camera and cloud. Google’s datacenter is now your darkroom

12:42 PM

Now talking about Photos

12:42 PM

Group video at no charge

12:41 PM

Web, Android, and iOS Hangouts – all available today

12:40 PM

Animations as people enter and leave, or type

12:40 PM

Still have the ability to delete or turn off history – or you can save them, too. Photos are stored in albums.

12:39 PM

Hangouts on Android – a new app. Opens with a list of conversations – not contacts. Contacts are still one tap away, ranking important people for you

12:38 PM

“Conversations that last with people you love”

12:38 PM

What makes people the happiest? Just hanging out.

12:38 PM

No solution does everything great right now. Even Google has been fragmented and confused at time. Now, Google wants to fix this.

12:38 PM

Why should OSes matter? People matter!

12:37 PM

Computers are still in the way

12:37 PM

Circles more accurately reflect real relationships (instead of “friends and not friends”)

12:36 PM

Computers should get out of the way and let people do what they do best – live, learn, love

12:36 PM

New Google+ will roll out this afternoon. Now let’s talk about Hangouts.

12:36 PM

You will always have the option to turn this feature off globally or on individual posts. Can also edit the hashtags if Google gets it wrong.

12:35 PM

Google will also look at your images and compare pictures with important landmarks to add appropriate hashtags and related images

12:34 PM

Google will also ranks and search entire universe of Google+ content for you individually

12:34 PM

Introducing related hashtags … Google will analyze the content of your posts, and Google will add appropriate hashtags for you!

12:34 PM

(This really looks nice, folks)

12:33 PM

“Delightful” animations throughout the product

12:33 PM

Can change to single column if that’s what you prefer. Photos and videos can span multiple columns

12:33 PM

Mobile’s multi-column design is coming to desktop

12:32 PM

New stream will roll out on mobile and web. Problem is, today’s feed is flat. It’s impossible to go deeper, and Google will fix that. It’s about design and depth.

12:31 PM

Newly designed stream, new photos experience, new Hangouts app

12:31 PM

What’s next with Google+ … 41 new features

12:29 PM

Vic Gundotra to talk about Google+ after an intro video

12:29 PM

Now we will talk about the “Best of Google” for both Chrome and Android

12:27 PM

Playing video about Google in Malaysia

12:26 PM

Chromebooks are becoming mainstream in schools now, just like Google Apps already is

12:26 PM

Sundar back on stage

12:26 PM

Google Play for Education will launch this fall, but devs can start submitting apps for it this summer

12:24 PM

Google Play for Ed + Google Apps for Ed = easier app management for groups of children. Can charge purchases against a balance paid for by a school purchase order.

12:24 PM

NASA and PBS are partners, and recommendations from other teachers are available.

12:23 PM

Apps organized by subject matter and grade level.

12:23 PM

Google is making it easier and affordable to put Android tablets in students’ hands. Announcing Google Play for Education

12:22 PM

Why is there so much talk about tech in schools, but so little impact? Teachers say there’s a gap between what’s possible and what’s practical. It’s Google’s job to fix this – make it more affordable, easier to use, and easier to manage.

12:21 PM

Chris is back on stage to talk more about this

12:21 PM

7/8 Ivy League schools use Google Apps. Lots of public schools, too. Want to take this further – bring Android into education, too

12:20 PM

Talking about education – Google is passionate about and is investing a lot in education. This starts with Google Apps

12:19 PM

Sundar has one on screen and is holding one in his hand – giving all attendees a brand new Pixel!

12:19 PM

Talking about the Chromebook Pixel again

12:17 PM

Showing video that demonstrates evolution of the mobile web

12:15 PM

Watching a new game demo now

12:11 PM

For the first time, web components will allow you to build your own HTML tags

12:10 PM

Built a new tool to sync payment information across all devices that will make mobile checkouts much much easier

12:09 PM

All of this will help people save money on mobile data plans

12:09 PM

Data compression proxy on Chrome for Mobile can also help you save data

12:08 PM

YouTube will roll out support for VP9 later this year

12:08 PM

VP9 much smaller at same quality – 63% smaller in the example video shown on stage

12:08 PM

H.264 vs VP9 (webp’s next generation video codec)

12:07 PM

Can replace animated GIFs, JPEGs, and PNGs with WEBP

12:06 PM

Developed WebP – open source royalty free image format – 31% smaller than jpeg of same quality. Helps reduce bandwidth usage, epsecially on mobile

12:06 PM

2.4x speed boost in the last month alone

12:05 PM

JavaScript speed improvements on desktop and mobile – performance has improved more than 50% on mobile

12:03 PM

Linus Upson on stage now to talk about new Chrome mobile APIs

12:03 PM

We can create powerful experiences on the web, and run them on phones and tablets.

12:02 PM

This is thanks to WebGL

12:01 PM

Showing Chrome on Pixel AND on Nexus 10 – same capabilities of Chrome on desktop coming to mobile, too

12:01 PM

We need to take mobile web forward

12:00 PM

Chromebook Pixel – the goal was to create the best laptop possible. Best screen out there. Goal was to get it in the hands of devs to develop great things. We will have more to unveil with Chrome later this year.

11:59 AM

Many more partners jumping on board, expanding retail partners.

11:59 AM

#1 on AMazon laptops for 190 days

11:58 AM

Chrome is foundation for Chrome OS – Samsung Chromebook is the perfect additional computer for everyone

11:58 AM

INcreasingly being used on mobile

11:57 AM

750 million active users of Chrome right now

11:57 AM

Time to talk about our other important open platform – Chrome

11:56 AM

Sundar comes back on stage … time for Chrome

11:55 AM

Unlocked with 16GB, LTE, AT&T/T-Mobile, bootloader unlocked, will receive system updates promptly with every Android update, sold on Google Play June 26 for $649

11:54 AM

Samsung Galaxy S4 running PURE Jelly Bean – last night’s rumors were true!

11:54 AM

Talking about Nexus now

11:52 AM

Start a trial by June 30, and you’ll pay only $7.99/month

11:52 AM

Launches today in the US and will roll out other places soon

11:52 AM

How to try this yourself: $9.99/month. Everyone gets 30-day free trial.

11:51 AM

It works great on phones, tablets, and web

11:50 AM

Listen Now is a new feature that always changes depending on what you listen to… radio stations, your own music, etc.

11:50 AM

My Library includes my personal music I uploaded, along with whatever I want to add from All Access

11:49 AM

Of course, you can search too.

11:49 AM (edited)

Swipe left to see what’s coming up… can swipe away tracks you don’t want to hear in the playlist, can reorder tracks. “Radio without rules.”

11:48 AM

Includes a radio station functionality, too!

11:47 AM

Includes recommended, featured content. Genres, new releases, etc.

11:47 AM

It starts with “Explore” to browse millions of tracks.

11:47 AM

What if we gave you access to millions of other tracks, in addition to your own? Introducing Google Music All Access

11:46 AM

13 million users enjoy Google Play Music now

11:46 AM

We want to not only give you access to music, but guide you through it.

11:45 AM

When we discuss the next generation of our music service – the reality is somewhat different. It wasn’t helping us discover music we love.

11:45 AM

Let’s hear about music. It unites us. It’s a constant.

11:45 AM

Will also bring the same experience to all the Play apps, too – Books, Magazines, Videos, Music, too!

11:44 AM

Google will bring the same great Play experience to the web interface, too (makes use of laptop screens)

11:43 AM

We know you’ve spent a lot of time developing great tablet apps. Rolling out a new view in Play Store that showcase apps designed for tablets

11:42 AM

New Play Store isn’t just about looks, but helps you improve discovery. It adapts to you.

11:41 AM

Recently launched redesigned version of Google Play Store

11:41 AM

Chris Yerga takes the stage

11:40 AM

We’re API-ed out at the moment. “Let’s move on to something more playful. Let’s introduce a man who always brings music to my ears.”

11:40 AM

Google Play Dev Console is now totally awesome!

11:39 AM

This will really help app devs make better apps, rather than making the public into their beta testers

11:38 AM

Launching beta testing and staged rollouts

11:38 AM

It’s obvious that Google has been listening to dev feedback

11:38 AM

Revenue graphs

11:37 AM

Usage metrics

11:36 AM

Shows where installs come from using Analytics

11:36 AM

Referral tracking is announced

11:35 AM

App translator gives devs professional translations!

11:35 AM

Tips will analyze your app and how it’s doing in the Play Store, and give you tips on how to make it better (i.e. maybe a lot of users speak Russian, might need to optimize for tablets)

11:34 AM

Talking about optimization tips.

11:33 AM (edited)

Ellie Powers is on stage now!

11:33 AM

How to monetize your app and find new users

11:32 AM

Uh, oh – he lost his prompter!

11:32 AM

This is making me want to develop for Android!

11:31 AM

You can see your app on various screen sizes

11:30 AM

Lots of code gobbledygook… the devs seems impressed, though

11:29 AM

Goal is to make you faster and more productive as an Android dev

11:28 AM

Android Studio unveiled

11:28 AM

Shifting gears to developer tools for Android devs

11:28 AM

This update to Google Play services that enables these APIs is rolling out to ALL Android devices today, Froyo and up

11:28 AM

Lots of games launching today with many of these capabilities

11:27 AM

Blaming the bugs on the networking environment at IO – “not the most friendly”

11:27 AM

Problems with 3 players connecting…

11:26 AM

uh-oh… live demo showing some bugs and force closes!

11:25 AM

Riptide 2 demo is now playing

11:25 AM

Multiplayer allows for P2P connections, and Google+ integration for invites

11:24 AM

Multiplayer API is also announced

11:24 AM

These APIs also launching for iOS and web – this means cross platform gaming

11:23 AM

APIs also available for achievements and leaderboards

11:23 AM

Google Play game services – Cloud save, allows you to save game progress across different devices (phones and tablets)

11:22 AM

Major new service we’re adding today – GAMING

11:21 AM

HUGE round of applause for notification sync!

11:21 AM

GCM now a part of Google Play services. Three new features: supports persistent connections, upstream messaging, notification syncrhonization

11:22 AM (edited)

60% of top 100 app use GCM. Delivering 17 billion push messages everyday. Server to serve latency is 60ms

11:19 AM

Google Cloud Messaging introduced at last year’s IO

11:19 AM

Google+ sign in adding cross-platform integration. Ability to automatically install apps when signing in to sites on desktop computer

11:17 AM

Google+ sign in API launched a few months ago.

11:17 AM

Launching 3 new location-based APIs – fused location provider (very low power – uses less than 1% of battery per hour), geofencing (defines virtual fences around geographical areas that trigger when users enter or leave these areas), and activity recognition (helps users track their activities using accelerometer data)

11:15 AM

Example – build 3D maps directly into your apps

11:15 AM

Latest APIs will be updated by Google regardless of OS version.

11:14 AM

Google Play services – it’s a layer built and managed by Google on top of Android. Includes APIs used by Google, which are now available to devs too

11:14 AM

We’re listening to devs, and we want you to thrive.

11:13 AM

Google Play has just crossed 48 billion app installs. 2.5 million installs in the last month alone. Last month paid out more money to app devs than in all of 2012.

11:12 AM

Hugo Barra, VP product management for Android, comes on stage.

11:11 AM

Still most of the world has less than 10% (South America, Africa, Asia)

11:11 AM

Pichai is back on stage. Developers have helped Android become so successful. But journey is just getting started – long way to go still.

11:10 AM

900 million in 2013!

11:10 AM

Video shows how Android activations keep increasing month after month, year after year.

11:10 AM

Let’s talk about Android. 400 million activations of Android in 2012. Android video is playing now.

11:09 AM

What developers build on top of these platforms is what Google’s focus is.

11:09 AM (edited)

Both are designed for people to build amazing experiences and push computing forward.

11:08 AM

Android started with goal of bringing open standards to mobile space. It’s the most popular mobile OS in the world today. Chrome started as a  journey to make the web better for both developers and users. Today, it’s the most popular browser in the world.

11:07 AM

This is one of the most important moments in personal computing – Google is fortunate to have two large, open, scalable, fast-growing platforms – Android and Chrome!

11:07 AM

Displays are everywhere … Cars, thermostats, Google Glass!

11:06 AM

Shows how the world has changed dramatically in only 6-7 years by showing the differences in St. Peter’s in 2005 and 2013.

11:05 AM

Pichai talks about history of personal computing… fast forward to advent of the smartphone.

11:04 AM

Sundar Pichai on stage now

11:03 AM

“Here’s to what you build next.” Senior VP Vic Gundotra is on stage. Welcome to 6th annual I/O – over 1 million YouTubers watching live!

11:03 AM  -  HootSuite

Live  coverage of the Google I/O keynote starts NOW! http://www.pocketables.com/io

Live coverage of Google I/O 2013 on  Pocketables

Bookmark this page and come back Wednesday, May 15 for live coverage of Google I/O on , including a live stream of the keynote, and our exclusive live blog!

11:02 AM (edited)

Awesome geeky video intro… music is Alive by Empire of the Sun (thank you Google Sound Search!)

11:00 AM

The countdown has started! Less than a minute!

10:47 AM

In case you’re wondering who’s doing the live blog, it’s me… +John Freml! (Imagine me saying that in a Mario/Luigi voice.) After the keynote (maybe even during the keynote), you can expect a more coherent round up/summary of all Android announcements from +Paul King, and the same from me concerning all things Chrome.

10:41 AM

The second leak is about the new Google Maps desktop experience that we can expect to hear more about soon.

Google updates Play app, briefly leaks sign-up page for new Maps | Electronista »

Google has updated its Google Play app store, just before the first day of the company’s developer event, Google I/O. A new sign-up page for Google Maps also briefly appeared online before an expected reveal at the conference, which gave more informa

10:40 AM

With under 20 minutes to go until the keynote starts, I’ve got two last minute leaks to share with you… the first comes from CNET concerning some security enhancements we can expect in Android 4.3.

Android 4.3 pops up ahead of Google I/O »

A leak tips off security enhancements in the Android update expected to be unveiled at Google I/O. Read this article by Eric Mack on CNET.

8:47 AM (edited)

It looks like Google Now is coming to the Google homepage… click the microphone icon, ask it what the weather is, and see if it speaks a response for you!

8:17 AM

And last, has anyone else noticed that Google chats are appearing in the Gmail inbox as unread mail? Previously, they’d be archived as chats automatically. Could this be the start of the Babel/Hangouts rollout?

8:15 AM

Second, it looks like some people are seeing minor UI changes in a new version of the Play Store that rolled out overnight.

8:12 AM

I’ve noticed some subtle changes leading up to the I/O keynote in just a few hours – first, head to your sync settings in Android, and you’ll see two new sync options for your Google account: “app data” and “people details” (the latter is apparently different from “contacts”).

The post Live coverage of the Google I/O 2013 keynote [Video + Live blog] appeared first on Pocketables.

Google I/O starts tomorrow – we’ll be streaming and live-blogging the keynote tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. (Pacific) – and of course we’ve been hearing all kinds of last minute news and leaks leading up to Google’s biggest event of the year. Here are the most interesting recent developments that you should know about.

Google will launch a streaming music service ala Spotify this week.

According to both The Verge and the Wall Street Journal, Google will announce a streaming music service similar to Spotify tomorrow during the Google I/O keynote. This comes after Google finally completed separate licensing deals with both Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, the two largest record labels in the industry. Earlier this year, Google also signed another licensing deal with Warner Music Group, the third largest label. This will finally put Google on a level playing field with competing services, and also put Google one step ahead of Apple, who hasn’t been able to finalize agreements with the three big labels yet.

The new streaming music service will reportedly be available both on YouTube and Google Play.

Don’t expect any Nexus Q news this year.

At last year’s Google I/O, the Nexus Q was announced. Billed as “the first social streaming media player,” Google quickly realized it wasn’t quite ready for primetime yet, halted new orders, and sent early adopters the device for free with the promise that engineers and developers would work on it to make it better.

Now, a year has passed, and many people were hopeful about the product being reintroduced at this years Google I/O – perhaps even merged with Google TV somehow. Unfortunately, AllThingsD is reporting that there will be absolutely no news of the Nexus Q’s fate this year, according to “sources familiar with the matter.”

What this means is anyone’s guess. It’s possible that Google has completely abandoned development on the device all together, or it’s possible that it just needs another year to iron out all the kinks. After all, with so many resources being poured into products like Chrome OS, Google Glass, and Google+, engineers might not have all the time they need to focus on something like the Nexus Q. We’ll have to see.

Google Talk is coming to Outlook.com.

While not directly related to Google I/O, it’s very interesting that Outlook has announced that Google Talk will come to Outlook.com – especially since we’re expecting Google to announce a new chat service called Hangouts that will take the place of Google Talk, presumably with a new API.

Currently, only text chat is supported, so there’s no voice or video calling.

Some conspiracy theorists think that Microsoft has implemented this new feature in Outlook on the premise that it will break if and when Google announces the new service and the new APIs. How convenient it would be for Microsoft to claim that it’s been “scroogled” itself, when in reality it would just be a bad publicity stunt aimed at harming Google’s reputation.

I don’t think this is case, and even if it were, I think we’re all smarter than that. To be honest, I’m not sure what to make of it, but the timing sure does seem fishy. We’ll have to wait and see if anything else comes of this.

There are other items we’ve already talked about, too.

There’s the new Nexus 7. There’s the fact that it looks like Google’s main focus this year will be on software and development, rather than hardware (obviously, we’ll still see some new hardware). And then there are all my predictions, too (it seems several already look very possible).

I don’t know about you, but I’m so excited, I’m going to have a hard time sleeping tonight!

[The Verge: 1, 2 | The Wall Street Journal | AllThingsD | Google+]

Don’t forget to watch our live coverage of the keynote tomorrow (both streaming and a live blog) at pocketables.com/io!

The post Some interesting things to know on the eve of Google I/O appeared first on Pocketables.

While the Samsung Chromebook has a great form factor, and in general just looks awesome, it suffers from a problem that most other Chromebooks suffer from, as well (except the Chromebook Pixel). Namely, there just isn’t enough memory and processing power to do very intensive computing tasks. And while this isn’t a problem most of the time, and for most people, this issue can rear its ugly head in some of the most inopportune times, like when watching YouTube videos.

Luckily, there’s a really easy solution to the problem – simply navigate to youtube.com/feather_beta, and enable this experimental feature. According to Google:

The ‘Feather’ project is intended to serve YouTube video watch pages with the lowest latency possible. It achieves this by severely limiting the features available to the viewer and making use of advanced web techniques for reducing the total amount of bytes downloaded by the browser. It is a work in progress and may not work for all videos.

In other words, when this feature is enabled, only the most essential parts of the page will load, enabling a smoother playback of video on YouTube, hopefully eliminating some or all of issues you might experience when visiting YouTube from a somewhat less-than-powerful Chromebook.

Pocketables reader Tyler reminded me about this feature, writing, “I completely forgot about the test tube part of YouTube for years, decided to check it out again, opted-in for this, and the video loads much smoother now and faster.” Be sure to try this out for yourself, and see if it makes any difference.

Thanks, Tyler!

The post How to fix YouTube lag on your Chromebook appeared first on Pocketables.

Google I/O is only two days away, which means that soon we’ll finally know if a new Nexus 7 tablet is coming out, what the deal is with Android 4.3, and whether or not I’m any good at making predictions. In the meantime, two high-profile Google execs have decided to give some interesting media interviews, so here are the original sources, and a few highlights.

Eric Schmidt

Speaking to NPR last Saturday, Google’s chairman had this to say about privacy, Google Glass, and more:

• “We keep information about your searches for 12 to 18 months, and then we forget everything.”
• In response to the question of whether or not he can read anyone’s emails: “Yes, and I would lose my job, be fired, and be sued to death. Someone would find out, trust me.”
• Regarding the early days at Google: “We had to have two rules. The first rule – these are both rules I enacted. The first is that you had to wear clothes to work … the second rule is that you have to have fun. You can be serious without wearing a suit, and we wanted to invent the future.”
• On Google Glass: “Well, we don’t quite know yet. We have maybe 2,000 of these. We’ve shipped them out to developers, and we’re seeing what they develop.”
• On Don’t be evil: “Well, it was invented by Larry and Sergey. And the idea was that we don’t quite know what evil is, but if we have a rule that says don’t be evil, then employees can say, I think that’s evil … I’m sitting in this meeting, and we’re having this debate about an advertising product. And one of the engineers pounds his fists on the table and says, that’s evil. And then the whole conversation stops, everyone goes into conniptions, and eventually we stopped the project. So it did work.”

The full transcript is available at NPR.

Sundar Pichai

Here’s what the man in charge of both Chrome and Android had to say about both platforms, and more:

• On the co-existence of Chrome and Android: “Android and Chrome are both large, open platforms, growing very fast. I think that they will play a strong role, not merely exist. I see this as part of friendly innovation and choice for both users and developers … We embrace both and we are continuing to invest in both. So in the short run, nothing changes. In the long run, computing itself will dictate the changes.“
• On the biggest challenge for Android: “Here’s the challenge: without changing the open nature of Android, how do we help improve the whole world’s end-user experience? For all your users, no matter where they are, or what phone or tablet they are buying or what tablet they are buying.”
• On Facebook Home: “As for the specific product, my personal take on it is that time will tell. To Mark [Zuckerberg], people are the center of everything. I take a slightly different approach. I think life is multifaceted: people are a huge part of it, but not the center and be-all of everything.”
• On Facebook Home and the Amazon Kindle altering the Android user experience: “In general, we at Google would love everyone to work on one version of Android, because I think it benefits everyone better. But this is not the kind of stuff we’re trying to prevent. Our focus is not on Facebook Home or Kindle Fire.”
• On threats from Samsung: “I realize this gets played up in the press a lot. Samsung is a great partner to work with. We work with them on pretty much almost all our important products. Here’s my Samsung Galaxy S4. [Pichai holds up the phone.]“
• On future Google-branded hardware: “You will see a continuation of what we have tried to do with Nexus and Chromebooks. Any hardware projects we do will be to push the ecosystem forward.”
• Is Android making Google enough money? “We’re very comfortable with our business model.”
• On Android’s fragmentation: “We are thinking about how to make Android handle updates better. We see ways we can do this. It’s early days. We’re talking with our partners and working our way through it. We need time to figure out the mechanics, but it’s definitely an area of focus for me and for the team.”
• On what to expect at Google I/O this year: “It’s going to be different. It’s not a time when we have much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system. Both on Android and Chrome, we’re going to focus this I/O on all of the kinds of things we’re doing for developers, so that they can write better things. We will show how Google services are doing amazing things on top of these two platforms.”

The full transcript of this interview is available at Wired.

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