It's that time of the year again at which point the really funny folks come out to play. Google is always game for a joke or two on April 1st, and has begun the tomfoolery with a little adjustment to its famed Maps app. Essentially, it brings a Pokémon Challenge element to the revered navigation tool, and since it's now April Fools' day in many parts of the world already, the Big G has already delivered its prank to tech fans.
We've been hearing a lot of rumors pertaining to an Android 4.4.3 update, with the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 reportedly in line as the very first recipients of the supposedly imminent release. Even though much of the information thus far has been sketchy at best, we're led to believe that the forthcoming KitKat 4.4.3 update will contain nothing more than performance enhancements, and a newly-leaked 'change log' appears to corroborate this notion.
Currently, the latest version of Google's Android is 4.4.2 KitKat, but it looks now like an Android 4.4.3 update is on the horizon. There have been plenty of leaks to corroborate this, and having trawled through endless Chromium code, Android 4.4.3 running on both the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 have been discovered.
Yesterday, Google announced Android Wear, a modified version of its famed operating system tailored specifically for wearable devices. Having pushed out a Developer Preview of the Android Wear SDK, folks have already been checking out the beta Android Wear software therein, and one in particular - Android enthusiast Dom Esposito - has given us a video walkthrough of the smartwatch-ready OS. Check it out right after the leap!
Apple and Game Center has long since facilitated multiplayer gaming for those running iOS devices, and thanks to a recent update, Google Play Game Services will offer something similar to those rocking iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. What's more, as well as allowing gamers to compete against each other on iOS, developers integrating Google Play Game Services into their titles will enable players to compete cross-platform with users on Android, outlining the search giant's intention to expand and improve the online capabilities of the Play Store.
2014 is shaping up quite nicely as The Year of the Smartwatch, and with Samsung already having announced the Gear 2 and Gear Fit at last month's Mobile World Congress, we're expecting at least two of the mobile industry's other big names to follow suit in the coming months. As well as the Apple 'iWatch,' which has been referenced in numerous leaks and concepts running back a few years now, Google also rumored to be developing a smartwatch of its own. Today, for the first time, we've an insight into its purported specifications.
Google Now, the search giant's refined, context-based personal assistant is, a great way to keep up with the sports news, scores and fixtures wherever you are. Add your favorite NFL team, your favorite NBA team, or almost any soccer team from around the world, and Google Now will keep you up-to-date with scores as and when the matches are being played. While the service covers a wide range of sports, cricket fans have hitherto been left out in the cold, but now, the national sport of England as well as many West Indian countries, has finally been shown some love by Google Now.
The movie 'Big,' starring Tom Hanks, has just gone free over at the Google Play Store, and although it doesn't appear to be related to the Google Play Store's 2nd birthday celebrations earlier on in the week, it's great to see such a classic movie running as a free download.
If you're a fan of cheap notebooks running Google's bare-bones ChromeOS and enveloped in Samsung's famed faux-leather, then you might be in luck, for a duo of Twitter photos via Evleaks suggests that a new Samsung Chromebook is on the way, sporting that polarizing finish. The teaser photos, which doesn’t show anything more than the rear of the device, and a Chrome logo atop that Galaxy Note 3-like material, doesn't take Inspector Clouseau to piece the clues together, and with the Korean company having delivered some moderately attractive Chromebooks already, the Galaxy maker looks to be stepping things up a gear.
It seems that Google may have just fallen foul of one of the pitfalls of having engineers running the company rather than people that are more adept at giving a politician's answer to some tough questions. Google's head honcho of Android, Sundar Pichai, has been in attendance at this week's Mobile World Congress, and it seems he's given a very interesting answer to a mildly interesting question.
