19 de junio de 2013

OfficeSuite And OfficeSuite Pro Updated To v7.2: Additional PDF Export Options, HP ePrint Support, And More


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One of Android's most popular productivity suites, OfficeSuite, received an update to version 7.2, adding a host of new features, though most are specific to the Pro version of the app (considering how many times it's been on sale at this point, you should have it).

The gist of it is that Word docs and slides now can use shapes, spreadsheets and PowerPoint docs can be exported to PDF, and support for HP's ePrint tech has been added. All in all, these features just add to the arsenal OfficeSuite already commands, and continue to make it one of Android's most powerful document creation and editing tools.




from Android News, Reviews, Applications, Games, Phones, Devices, Tips, Hacks, Videos, Podcasts - Android Police 

Google Now wallpapers available to download to your computer, smartphone or tablet


google now wallpapers

Many people love the beautiful simplicity of Google Now backgrounds, which makes them perfect to use as a wallpapers.

If you’ve always wanted to have Google Now wallpapers as background images on your phone, your wish is now granted. That’s because a Reddit user has tracked down the Flickr account of the artist responsible for creating them. Brent Couchman is a San Francisco graphic designer, who did work for the likes of Coca Cola, Target, Microsoft, and, of course, Google.

Google Now wallpapers

But back to the Google Now background images. Couchman has posted four wallpapers to his Flickr account (link available in the Sources box below) – Forest Night, Mountains Day, Plains Day, and Beach Night. They’re all available in sizes of up to 1680 x 1050, so they should look pretty good on any device.

To download any of them to your computer, just click the one you want, and then, when you get to its page, right-click it and select the size you want – “Original” will get you to 1680 x 1050. Then, proceed to save the image on your computer.



from Android Authority 

18 de junio de 2013

Programa y ahorra tiempo con el Editor de HootSuite


espanol-social-media-coach-blog-header-ESP
This post is also available in English here.

Hay mucho contenido valioso que deseas compartir, y las opciones de programación de HootSuite te ayudan a que no sobrecargues a tu audiencia con demasiada información. Con la opción de programación, puedes compartir contenido ahora o guardarlo para más tarde.

Si tienes algo de tiempo extra, puedes programar algunos de tus mensajes para publicarlos más adelante. Esto es útil para esos momentos en los que estás fuera de la oficina u ocupado.

Voy a centrarme en las opciones que tienes disponibles para publicar mensajes desde tu Panel de control de HootSuite. Tras redactar tu mensaje, tienes 3 opciones: enviarlo ahora, programarlo o programarlo automáticamente.

social media coach

¿Por qué programar?

Con el Editor de HootSuite puedes mantener tu presencia online de manera constante y donde quiera que vayas. Programa tus mensajes con tiempo y sigue la conversación cuando vuelvas a estar disponible. Si no estás seguro de cuándo programar tus publicaciones, usa la programación automática para que lo haga por ti. Sigue teniendo el máximo alcance sin perder originalidad en tus mensajes.

Cuándo usar la programación

Programación manual

ScheduleSpanish

Ejemplo: Si eres agente inmobiliario y organizas una “open house” el fin de semana y tienes tiempo limitado, saca partido de la función de programación. Puedes programar todos tus mensajes con antelación para que tus actualizaciones se publiquen mientras estás ocupado. Puedes compartir un enlace con un mapa al lugar donde es tu eventos, fotos de la casa, etc.

Programación en lote (funcionalidad Pro)

Ejemplo: Formas parte del Departamento de Eventos de una empresa, y antes de salir para un evento, podéis trabajar en conjunto para redactar una serie de mensajes programados para ser publicados en lote (hasta 350 mensajes cada vez). De este modo, los mensajes y contenidos pueden seguir publicándose en tus redes mientras el equipo está en el evento. Esto te deja libertad para centrarte en el evento y no tener que estar pendiente de enviar mensajes mientras estás presente en el evento.

Programación automática

Deja que la función de programación automática haga el trabajo por ti. La programación automática asegura que tus mensajes se envíen en el momento idóneo. Puedes encontrarla en el Panel de control y en Hootlet. Con ella puedes poner automáticamente en cola mensajes durante todo el día y, así, mantener una presencia coherente en las redes sociales.


Hootlet (con programación automática)

La llamamos nuestra “arma secreta” porque permite compartir contenido muy fácilmente. Como extensión en los navegadores de Google Chrome y Firefox, Hootlet recoge automáticamente contenido que quieras compartir y lo incluye en un mensaje listo para publicar. Con un solo clic, podrás tener las mismas opciones de programación en tu Panel de control. Descarga Hootlet con Programación automática.


Gestionar y editar

Editor

Una vez que hayas programado tu contenido, gestiona y edita los mensajes que hayas programado de manera normal y automática desde tu Editor. En el siguiente vídeo de HootSuite University podrás aprender más cosas del Editor.

Resumen: Cómo programar un mensaje

1. Haz clic en Redactar mensaje
2. Escribe tu mensaje e incluye enlaces si tienes alguno.
3. Haz clic para seleccionar uno o varios perfiles del selector de perfiles.
 4. Haz clic en el icono del calendario.
5. Selecciona la fecha en la que quieres que se envíe el mensaje en el calendario.
6. Elige la hora en la que quieres que se envíe el mensaje.
7. Haz clic en Programar.
Reigster Here Button

A continuación te ofrecemos una serie de recursos útiles para que tengas más información acerca de la programación de HootSuite: HootTip sobre programación automáticaProgramación en lote, y Formato para programación en lote.




from HootSuite Social Media Management 

17 de junio de 2013

Google expands retail availability of Chromebooks to new store partners


Chrome

Walmart and Staples in the U.S. to carry various Chromebook models

With the somewhat quiet success of Chromebook sales through its original sales channels of Amazon and Best Buy continuing, Google announced today that it is expanding retail availability of the laptops to three times the number of stores. Starting today, Walmart will carry the lowest-end Chromebook model from Acer, which comes in at just $199. This weekend Staples will begin to carry Acer, HP and Samsung Chromebook models in every one of its U.S. stores, as well as online or through its Staples Advantage B2B program if buying for enterprise. Additionally, Office Depot, Office Max, Fry's and TigerDirect will all begin to carry Chromebooks.

Google is also expanding worldwide availability in the other 10 markets worldwide that have Chromebooks available, with new retail partners such as Dixons in the U.K. and new stores in the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Australia. New countries will be announced later this year also. In all, 6,600 stores will now be carrying Chromebooks worldwide.

If it wasn't apparent before, Google is taking the availability of Chromebooks seriously, and we'll be hearing even more about them in the coming months.





Source: Official Google Blog
from Android Central - Android Central 

Digg's Google Reader Replacement To Launch Next Week, Available To All By June 26


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Digg today announced that the first public beta of its Google Reader replacement Digg Reader will launch next week. Digg Reader will roll out in phases to allow the team to scale but the team promises that it will be available to everybody by June 26th.

Judging from the early screenshots the team just posted, we’re looking at a straight-up feed reader with a clean design and – at least for the time being – without any of the social media integrations the company hinted at earlier this year.

The Digg team says the service will ultimately become a “freemium” product. All of the features it is releasing now as part of this free beta will remain part of the free experience, however.

Digg Reader will feature a system for migrating feeds from Google Reader mobile apps “that sync with the web experience” and support for keyboard shortcuts (something Google Reader fans always loved about their favorite news reader).

Coming soon, Digg says, are an Android app (the Digg Reader will be rolled into the current Digg iOS app), as well as integration with third-party services like Buffer, Evernote and IFTTT. Digg Reader will get search and notifications in one of its next updates.

It also looks as if some of Digg’s old heritage will influence the design of Reader in the long run. Digg says it plans to add tools to “sort, filter and rank your reading lists and feeds, based on your networks, interests, likes, and so on.”

Google Reader is scheduled to shut down in two weeks. Digg Reader is clearly trying to position itself as an alternative to Feedly, Newsblur and other Reader alternatives. It remains to be seen, however, how many Google Reader users haven’t already found a new home and how many users who are new to RSS readers Digg Reader will be able to attract.

“While you’re at the beach and doing foliage cruises (or whatever people do in October), we’ll be spending the summer and fall building out a richer feature set, drawing heavily on users’ feedback, ideas, and requests,” the Digg team writes. “But first, we want to get the basics right, starting with a clean and uncluttered design and a powerful backend infrastructure than can operate well at scale.”



from TechCrunch 

Chromebooks: coming to Walmart and Staples near you

In Northern California where I live, summer is here, which means family vacations, kids’ camps, BBQs and hopefully some relaxation. But it also means back-to-school shopping is just around the corner. So in case you’re on the hunt for a laptop in addition to pens, paper, and stylish new outfits, your search just got a whole lot easier. Chromebooks—a fast, simple, secure laptop that won't break the bank—will now be carried in over 3 times more stores than before, or more than 6,600 stores around the world.



In addition to Best Buy and Amazon.com, we’re excited to welcome several new retailers to the family. Starting today, Walmart will be making the newest Acer Chromebook, which has a 16GB Solid State Drive (SSD), available in approximately 2,800 stores across the U.S., for just $199. Look for Chromebooks coming to the laptop sections of a Walmart near you this summer.



And beginning this weekend, Staples will bring a mix of Chromebooks from Acer, HP and Samsung to every store in the U.S.—more than 1,500 in total. You can also purchase via Staples online, while businesses can purchase through the Staples Advantage B2B program. In the coming months select Office Depot, Office Max, and regional chains Fry’s and TigerDirect locations will begin selling Chromebooks.



In the 10 other markets worldwide where Chromebooks are sold, availability in national retailers continues to expand. In addition to Dixons in the UK, now 116 Tesco stores are selling Chromebooks, as well as all Mediamarket and Saturn stores in the Netherlands, FNAC stores in France and Elgiganten stores in Sweden. In Australia, all JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman stores will be carrying Chromebooks for their customers as well. We’re working hard to bring Chromebooks to even more countries later this year.



Chromebooks make great computers for everyone in the family—and now you shouldn’t have to look very far to find one. Happy summer!



Posted by David Shapiro, Director of Chromebook Marketing

Report: Instagram to Announce Vine-like Video Support at Facebook Event


instagram logo onex (1)

With Facebook hosting a small press event on June 20, sources close to both Instagram and Facebook are stating that the social network has something big planned for the photo-sharing filter-happy network. According to TechCrunch, Facebook intends to announce video capabilities for Instagram, almost identical to what Twitter’s Vine application offers. Users can record up 5 or 10 second videos, then upload them for sharing.

With Vine’s success quite notable in terms of growth rate and popularity among users, this wouldn’t come as much of a shocker. With a user base already in place with Instagram, allowing for the sharing of videos either through the same app or releasing a separate app could spell major success for Facebook and the Instagram team respectively. Besides, we are still curious on how Zuck plans on making money off of his billion dollar investment with Instagram.

June 20 is right around the corner, so we shall just have to wait and see what Facebook intends to do.
Would anyone switch off of Vine to use an Instagram-made video service?




Via:  TechCrunch
Report: Instagram to Announce Vine-like Video Support at Facebook Event is a post from: Droid Life

New Skype Video Messaging Feature Allows You to Send Video Postcards


skype video messaging

The video chatting giant, Skype, announced today that they are taking their new video messaging feature out of “preview” and making it available to all of their mobile and Windows applications. Sometimes people aren’t available for real-time video chatting, and that’s where this new feature comes in. Skype Video Messaging is the latest add-on to the popular chatting application that allows you to capture a moment in time through video that can then be sent to someone for later viewing. 

The new feature that is already available in the Google Play Store, now allows you to record up to 3 minutes of video to send through Skype to someone on your contact list. These videos can be viewed at a later time, so if the person isn’t online right when you record, there is no problem. Video Messaging, unlike real-time video chat, doesn’t require a WiFi connection to send, so don’t worry about whether or not your carrier will let you video call. If you are ready to start sharing video clips of your life, update your Skype app and get to recording. The service is free of charge.







Via: Skype
New Skype Video Messaging Feature Allows You to Send Video Postcards is a post from: Droid Life

Introducing Project Loon: Balloon-powered Internet access

The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem.

There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity—jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month’s income.


Solving these problems isn’t simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we’re unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access.





We believe that it might actually be possible to build a ring of balloons, flying around the globe on the stratospheric winds, that provides Internet access to the earth below. It’s very early days, but we’ve built a system that uses balloons, carried by the wind at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, to beam Internet access to the ground at speeds similar to today’s 3G networks or faster. As a result, we hope balloons could become an option for connecting rural, remote, and underserved areas, and for helping with communications after natural disasters. The idea may sound a bit crazy—and that’s part of the reason we’re calling it Project Loon—but there’s solid science behind it.





Balloons, with all their effortless elegance, present some challenges. Many projects have looked at high-altitude platforms to provide Internet access to fixed areas on the ground, but trying to stay in one place like this requires a system with major cost and complexity. So the idea we pursued was based on freeing the balloons and letting them sail freely on the winds. All we had to do was figure out how to control their path through the sky. We’ve now found a way to do that, using just wind and solar power: we can move the balloons up or down to catch the winds we want them to travel in. That solution then led us to a new problem: how to manage a fleet of balloons sailing around the world so that each balloon is in the area you want it right when you need it. We’re solving this with some complex algorithms and lots of computing power.


Now we need some help—this experiment is going to take way more than our team alone. This week we started a pilot program in the Canterbury area of New Zealand with 50 testers trying to connect to our balloons. This is the first time we’ve launched this many balloons (30 this week, in fact) and tried to connect to this many receivers on the ground, and we’re going to learn a lot that will help us improve our technology and balloon design.



Over time, we’d like to set up pilots in countries at the same latitude as New Zealand. We also want to find partners for the next phase of our project—we can’t wait to hear feedback and ideas from people who’ve been working for far longer than we have on this enormous problem of providing Internet access to rural and remote areas. We imagine someday you'll be able to use your cell phone with your existing service provider to connect to the balloons and get connectivity where there is none today.


This is still highly experimental technology and we have a long way to go—we’d love your support as we keep trying and keep flying! Follow our Google+ page to keep up with Project Loon’s progress.


Onward and upward.


Posted by Mike Cassidy, Project Lead










iOS 7 convierte el Centro de Notificaciones en un asistente al más puro estilo Google Now


iOS 7 Centro de Notificaciones

Una de las novedades de iOS 7 que puede pasar más desapercibida inicialmente para luego cobrar un protagonismo notable es el nuevo Centro de Notificaciones, rediseñado para dar más énfasis a la información más relevante con nuestra agenda en una primera pestaña y las notificaciones de las apps separadas en otras dos reduciendo considerablemente el ruido que pueden llegar a causar.

Lo interesante de esa primera pestaña denominada simplemente “Hoy” es que además de la fecha y el tiempo también nos informa de la próxima cita que tenemos anotada en nuestro calendario, un cálculo del tiempo estimado que tardaremos en llegar al lugar al que nos dirigimos teniendo en cuenta el tráfico actual, nuestros recordatorios o incluso un resumen de a lo que nos enfrentaremos mañana.

La función es completamente configurable a través de los ajustes del Centro de notificaciones, donde encontramos opciones para ocultar o mostrar la información con la pantalla bloqueada, o cada uno de los apartados que nos interesan de la visualización de hoy: resumen del día, calendario de hoy, recordatorios, bolsa y resumen de mañana.

iOS 7 Centro de notificaciones y sus ajustes

En mi opinión se trata de una gran mejora respecto al Centro de Notificaciones de iOS 6, aunque al menos en la beta carece de una de las funciones más útiles que ofrecía anteriormente para los más fans de las redes sociales: publicar directamente en Twitter o Facebook.

El motivo de esta desaparición probablemente se deba a uno de los objetivos de Apple con el nuevo diseño de iOS 7: hacer borrón y cuenta nueva para que todo encaje mejor, no solo las funciones introducidas a lo largo de las seis versiones anteriores sino también las que se puedan presentar en un futuro. Los botones de compartir en Twitter o Facebook admitían poca escalabilidad hacia otras redes sociales así que no os sorprendáis si tenemos alguna noticia al respecto de cara a la versión final.
¡Gracias a Diego J. Domínguez y todos quienes nos habéis dado el aviso!



from Applesfera 

Microsoft Office arrives on iOS – what about Android?


Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a premium business tool, there is no secret in that. Whenever you want a document nicely done, whether you’re referring to a spreadsheet, a slide presentation or a simple written piece, Office is the way to go. Here on Google’s field, we’ve waited for Microsoft’s service to arrive for a long time, but as it turns out, Apple was more fortunate and received it first.

The first reasonable question that comes in mind is when will Microsoft bring its best on Android? Well, considering the simplicity of the newly released application, it may take some time.

microsoft office ios

Available right now in the App Store, Office works only on iPhones and there’s no news of an iPad-compatible version. The mobile package can only be used by Office 365 subscribers, a service which costs $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year after a one-month free trial.

Also, there’s now word of a stand-alone application, which can be bought by paying a one-time fee. As BGR states, Microsoft has no plans for such a thing and views the package more as an extension to already existing services.

Besides the business-related tool, those signed in into the Office 365 program also benefit from 20GB of SkyDrive storage and the possibility of installing the entire and complete Office Suite on five different PCs.

What’s included in Microsoft Office for iOS?

microsoft-office-android-2

Office on iOS comes with three of the most well-known Microsoft applications: Word, Excel and PowerPoint. All three are rendered using a nice looking minimalistic interface and contain basic functionality. Each and every service can only function through the cloud-based SkyDrive service and there’s no support for local saving.

As we mentioned, functionality is pretty limited at this early stage. In Word for example, iOS users can only change colors, size and other styling options or add annotations for others. In Excel font styling and cell colors are included, as well as formulas, searching, chart creation, multiple pages and document sharing.

The most severely restricted service is PowerPoint, from where users can only view documents, edit text and add notes.

In all apps, there is no support for paragraph formatting, image inserting or even making use the iPhone’s native copy and paste function – even though it was mentioned by Microsoft in its product guide. Other than that some of the features discussed above encounter errors from time to time or simply refuse to work.

When will Android’s turn come?

Microsoft-Office-Android

Pretty soon we believe. Although there’s no official source and even though Microsoft’s package released for iOS is a very basic one, we have hopes of seeing an Android-compatible version in the upcoming future. The one thing that keeps our hopes alive is Microsoft’s need to make money.

Even though developers currently programming mobile software get more benefits from Apple’s platform than from Google’s (I guess this was also Microsoft’s strategy with Office), Android is still a major player. As soon as the Redmond-based giant will sort things out and develop a truly worthy version of Office, one that works on smartphones and tablets alike, Android will follow.

Also, past signs tend to strengthen our believes. In May last year, the same source claimed to have exclusive news about an Android and iOS version supposed to arrive last November. A month later another credible source claimed the same thing and even added a hard release date. In October 2012 there were mentions of a tablet-friendly release for this March.

From the looks of it, all the speculation was rather founded, but something might have intervened along the way. Maybe Microsoft was busy keeping its own mobile users happy instead of focusing on other mobile operating systems. It’s worth mentioning here that Office has been available on Windows Phone 8 since the launch of the platform, in October last year.

It’s only logical that Microsoft developed WP8, launched Office mobile alongside it and then expanded to other platforms. Cross-platform support is a thing well considered by Microsoft and as a recent report shows, the company is willing to bring even the Web Apps suite to Android tablets soon. It shouldn’t take long to see true Office Android app as well.

Until that happens, Android enthusiasts can rely on other applications to do the same job. OfficeSuite Pro and Google Drive are some good options.
Presently, Office for iOS is only available in the United States but Microsoft is reported to bring the app to 136 different markets in 29 different languages.



from Android Authority 

#HootTip: How to Add Vimeo to your HootSuite Dashboard

From Vines, GIFs and Snapchats to YouTube commercials and quality brand videos, consumers today are gravitating hard toward video. Brands are beginning to tap into rich media marketing with inspirational and high quality videos. While we can't help you tackle the making of premium videos, we can help simplify the sharing process.

Here's the trick, with HootSuite's integrated Vimeo App, you can easily upload all of your rich media videos, share them across any social network in a few simple clicks and monitor their progress, all within your dashboard. For a quick overview of your Vimeo account, create different streams next to one another for your Videos, Albums, Likes, Channels, Groups, and videos you've marked to "Watch Later".


Facebook to unveil a new product on June 20, could be an RSS reader


Facebook hosting 'biggest developer party yet' at Google I/O

The largest social media network on the planet is preparing for a rather mysterious event where an unknown new product will be launched. The Facebook invitation comes in the form of a simple, small letter, saying that a small team has been working on a big idea, which should be unveiled on June 20 at Menlo Park California.

Coming shortly after the company’s official introduction of clickable hashtags, which now allow users keep up with trending topics without actually following the news constantly, there are some speculations about what will actually be announced next week.

TechCrunch revealed that there appear to be signs of a new RSS feed reading service embedded right in Facebook’s Graph API code. The developer who made the breakthrough stated that when he tried to run the code, results appeared restricted only to whitelisted addresses. Moreover, the nature of the API code describes a connection from a Facebook user to an RSS feed, a feed which has multiple entries and subscribers.

Pairing this with fact that Google’s famous Reader service is going to be discontinued on July 1 makes this rumor quite plausible.

Facebook and RSS feeds

facebook letter
Facebook’s invitation letter for the upcoming event – Source: CBS Interactive

After Google announced it’ll kill its famous RSS feed reading service due to usage decline, various companies including Feedly, Digg and NewsBlur tried to seize the opportunity. Feedly, for example, got a massive rise of traffic with over three million new users creating an account after Google’s announcement. It’s hard to even think of why Google chose to close this product, as it looks like a worthy potential still exists for such services.

Well, that potential will probably be picked-up by companies like Facebook. In order to keep its users even longer on the site, the social media network may add an alternative way for users to consume content. In my opinion, the introduction of a streamed timeline was the first step into this direction, users being able to view each and every entry in a chronological order.

Speculations claim that Facebook’s RSS reader could be implemented as a different section inside the website.

Facebook could also announce a massive update to its existing service, Notes, in order to steal some numbers from Tumblr. The interesting part is that an upgrade of this scale would require a feed reader to extract and provide content.

Facebook already has some experience with RSS services, introducing back in 2011 the “Subscribe via RSS” feature which was later replaced by the “Follow” feature. RSS still exists in the current release but the process of creating a unique RSS feed for one user implies several steps.

On the other hand, we know that reading feeds is not a mainstream habit and it’s something only used by vivid media content consumers. So, deploying such a service may cause confusion in Facebook’s camp – there are plenty who do not know what an RSS feed actually is, so why even bother? Also, Facebook may be already a bit late, as plenty of users switched to other feed serving engines once Google broke the news of discontinuing Reader. And that happened three months ago.

Do you read RSS feeds and if so, would you even consider Facebook for that in case this rumor turns out to be true?



from Android Authority 

Instagram dará el salto de las fotos a los vídeos

 Imagen: Wblg.co

  • Rumores de la llegada del vídeo a Instagram el 20 de junio
  • Duración de entre cinco y diez segundos
  • El evento de Facebook lo desvelará

El próximo 20 de junio, Facebook ha convocado a un evento sobre el que apenas ha dado detalles. Pero TechCrunch ha señalado que lo que será presentado es el desembarco de los vídeos en Instagram, aunque inicialmente se hablaba de su propio servicio de feeds RSS. No hay que pensar mucho para caer en que esto es una respuesta al efecto Vine. La plataforma por excelencia para compartir fotografías hechas desde el móvil se ha visto sobrepasada por Vine en el número de veces que fue compartida en Twitter. Sencillamente, hay más vídeos de Vine compartidos en Twitter que fotos de Instagram. Una de las posibles causas, el hecho de que las segundas ya no muestran la previsualización en miniatura en las cards de Twitter. Pero no hay que perder de vista que los micro-vídeos se han ganado el encanto de los usuarios.
Con esa premisa, Instagram estaría probando ya mismo de forma interna un nuevo servicio que integre vídeos en su plataforma, de una duración de entre cinco y diez segundos. Dando por sentado que esto finalmente ocurra, no se sabe nada más. Ni si tendrá filtros, ni si formará parte de la propia aplicación de Instagram o llegará como una aplicación complementaria. Pero el movimiento, viendo el siguiente gráfico, parece incluso necesario:
Vídeos en Instagram
Los vídeos en Instagram podrían suponer una revitalización en un servicio que ya no es quien fue. Si la compra por parte de Facebook ya le supuso una pequeña crisis por parte de muchos usuarios que no aprobaron dicha compra, el rediseño de Flickr y su altísima capacidad de almacenamiento gratuito, 1 Tb, le supusieron otro golpe a su reinado. Introducir vídeos le supondría la ventaja de su enorme base de usuarios, pero faltaría ver cómo reaccionan los muchos usuarios que ya utilizan Vine, que de momento no ha dado ningún motivo de descontento.



from Celularis

Debate sobre la privacidad vs. la seguridad

Un experto en seguridad y un abogado de derechos civiles debaten en Al Punto
Debate sobre la privacidad vs. la seguridad a raíz de las revelaciones de que la NSA ha estado espiando los récords telefónicos de celulares y de correos electrónicos.




Samsung to launch LTE-Advanced Galaxy S4


Galaxy S4

Qualcomm-powered LTE-Advance​d handset headed to Korea 'as early as this month'

Samsung is aiming to launch the first smartphone supporting the faster LTE-Advanced wireless data standard, company co-CEO JK Shin has revealed. Speaking to reporters at Samsung headquarters in Suwon, South Korea, Shin said the new, LTE-A-capable Galaxy S4 could go on sale as early as this month in Korea. Reuters reports that the new Galaxy S4 will use a Qualcomm chipset, as opposed to the Exynos 5 Octa used in the Galaxy S4 phones currently sold in Samsung's home country.
LTE-Advanced has the potential to deliver significantly faster 4G speeds than existing LTE networks, but it hasn't yet seen widespread implementation by carriers around the world. Wikipedia lists Russia's Yota Networks as the only commercial LTE-A network at present, currently marketed as supporting speeds of 300Mbps. Operators in most Western countries, including the U.S., are focused on growing their vanilla LTE networks, while UK operator EE has said it'll begin trialing some of the tech behind the new standard before the end of the year.
Shin says his company is in talks with several foreign carriers regarding the LTE-Advanced Galaxy S4. However with supporting networks expected to be few and far between, this new GS4 might end up being a niche variant for the foreseeable future.



from Android Central - Android Central 

10 de junio de 2013

DROID DNA and HTC One S-OFF Tools Available


DNA buttons

On Friday, both the HTC One and DROID DNA received tools that provided each device with S-OFF. Yes, finally after all these months, the DROID DNA has been conquered. There are a couple of tools available, one called Moonshine that requires Linux, and another called Revone that can be used on any operating system. Revone is still being pushed as a “developer early access preview,” so there are likely going to be bugs or issues along the way. If you don’t want to deal with potential issues, feel free to try Moonshine. If you don’t have Linux, know that we had a reader toss Ubuntu on a USB drive to use the tool and was able to finish the entire process in under 30 minutes. You can do it, young one.

Plenty of links below for each, so get to unlocking.

Moonshine Links:  Moonshine | XDA [2]
Revone Links:  XDA (DNA) | XDA (One)




Cheers Ben, Owen, Max, Freddie, and Greggles!
DROID DNA and HTC One S-OFF Tools Available is a post from: Droid Life

VLC 2.0.7 released with improvements


VLC is a free open-source multimedia player that features built-in support for almost all existent codecs (MPEG-2, DivX, H.264, MKV, WebM, WMV, MP3, etc), while rooted into a clean user-friendly interface.

VLC has been updated to version 2.0.7, release presenting itself as a bug-fixes version, continuing to strengthen the 2.x series.

Among the introduced changes and fixes, there are fixed audio decoding for various audio file formats, fixed audio encoding for MP3 and AAC, as well as removed certain security issues and minor enhancements.



How do we install VLC 2.0.7?

Add the following official PPA (Quantal, Raring)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/stable-daily


sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install vlc
VLC 2.0.7 has already landed in Ubuntu 13.10.

Launchbar 5.5 With Added Snippets And Added Awesomeness




Launchbar users can enjoy a brand new feature in v5.5 of the find-everything Mac app. Launchbar – if you’re not familiar with it – is an app that you trigger with a shortcut (I use ⌘-Space) and then type into the pop-up window. Launchbar instantly presents results, letting you launch apps, send emails, play music, browse your iPhoto library and a whole lot more. And now it has snippets.


Snippets are a lot like what you’ll find in apps like TextExpander, letting you quickly add oft-used chunks of text with just a few keystrokes. The trick that Launchbar Brings is that you don’t even have to remember the shortcuts you set to trigger the snippets – you can just instantly search on them in the same way you’d find anything in Launchbar.

This means that you could uses TextExpander for most of your regular snippets (plus the ones you want synced to TextExpander Touch on iOS) and keep the rarely-used ones in Launchbar. You can even use placeholders to insert variable text, like the date and time, or the contents of your clipboard.
I switched to Alfred on the MacBook Air, but still use Launchbar on my iMac. I’m thinking of switching back for both Macs: not just for the snippets, but because I have been using Launchbar for so long that it’s almost impossible to retrain my hands to use Alfred’s methods.




Source: Obdev
Via: Launchbar Blog

The post Launchbar 5.5 With Added Snippets And Added Awesomeness appeared first on Cult of Mac.


Adobe Releases Photoshop Lightroom 5 With New Healing Brush, Radial Gradient, and Straightening Tools

Following the release of a public beta nearly two months ago, Adobe today announced immediate availability of the official release of Photoshop Lightroom 5, the company's professional photo management and manipulation software.

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Lightroom 5 Advanced Healing Brush (Click for larger)

Adobe highlights six major new and improved features found in Lightroom 5, as well as a number of other smaller features designed to make the software more powerful and efficient than ever.
- Advanced Healing Brush: Remove distracting elements with a single brush stroke. Adjust the size of the brush and move it in precise paths. Unwanted objects and flaws—even those with irregular shapes like threads—just disappear.

- Upright tool: Straighten tilted images with a single click. The new Upright tool analyzes images and detects skewed horizontal and vertical lines, even straightening shots where the horizon is hidden.

- Radial Gradient tool: Emphasize important parts of your image with more flexibility and control. The Radial Gradient tool lets you create off-center vignette effects, or multiple vignetted areas within a single image.

- Smart Previews: Easily work with images without bringing your entire catalog of original images with you. Just generate smaller stand-in files called Smart Previews. Make adjustments or metadata additions to the Smart Previews and apply your changes to the full-size originals later.

- Improved photo book creation: Create beautiful photo books from your images. Lightroom includes a variety of easy-to-use book templates, and now you can edit them to create a customized look. Upload your book for printing with just a few clicks.

- Video slideshows: Easily share your work in elegant video slideshows. Combine still images, video clips, and music in creative HD videos that can be viewed on almost any computer or device.

Lightroom 5 is priced at $149 as a standalone purchase, with upgrading pricing of $79 available to current Lightroom users. Subscribers to Adobe's Creative Cloud service will also receive access to Lightroom 5 with their memberships.

Lightroom competes with Apple's Aperture software, which is available on the Mac App Store for $79.99. Each successive version of Aperture has seen Apple reduce pricing, moves that drove Adobe to slash the price of Lightroom in half to $149 with the release of Lightroom 4 last year. But with no sign of a new version of Aperture and Apple continuing to price Aperture 3 at $79.99, Adobe apparently remains comfortable with its $149 standard pricing on Lightroom while it also seeks to transition users to its Creative Cloud subscription services.



from Mac Rumors: Apple Mac iOS Rumors and News You Care About 

Open Source Tool Moves Spotify Playlists To Google Music Using Unofficial APIs


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Google Music has probably lured a few Spotify users away with its tight Android integration and low introductory price. But what about all those meticulously constructed Spotify playlists? There is no official way to bring them along for the ride, but a developer has worked out a quick and dirty way to make it happen.

portify_1 portify_2 portify_3
portify_4 portify_5 portify_6

Portify is a neat little tool that logs into both Spotify and Google Music, and manages to move your playlists over. The program asks for your Google and Spotify passwords, which will probably make some people a bit nervous. However, the dev has made the source code available for examination to alleviate those fears.




from Android News, Reviews, Applications, Games, Phones, Devices, Tips, Hacks, Videos, Podcasts - Android Police 

BBC Weather app now available for Android


BBC Weather

Simple UI, Holo design language and ease of use make the BBC Weather app worth checking out

The BBC has released its BBC Weather application on Google Play -- and it's actually one of the better weather apps available for Android. The BBC Weather app keeps things simple, while paying attention to Google's application design guidelines. By default, the app shows you weather conditions wherever you are, based on telemetry from the UK's Met Office, and you can view more places by searching for them. A new-style slide-out menu bar allows you to view conditions everywhere you've searched, and individual entries are easy to re-order and delete.

The main view consists of several scrollable areas that let you change location and view forecasts for hours or even days ahead. UV and pollen levels, if relevant, are shown too, as are sunrise and sunset times, and wind speeds and directions. On the whole, the app is able to shown a great deal of information without becoming cluttered. There's also an attractive 4x2 widget that shows you current conditions and a four-day forecast, along with lock screen widget support. NFC forecast transfers are supported too, and there's even a DashClock plug-in that'll bring the BBC's forecasts to the popular third-party clock widget.

You can find the BBC Weather app for Android at the Google Play link above; it's available for devices running Android 2.2 and above. (Update: Unfortunately for those outside the UK, it looks like this app is limited to British users only.)




from Android Central - Android Central 

Vine now more popular than Instagram in terms of total Twitter shares


Vine

Less than a week ago, Twitter officially announced the availability of the Vine for Android app on the Google Play store. It has since been downloaded more than 1 million times, and according to information from online analytics company Topsy, it has already surpassed Instagram in terms of popularity based on total number of media shares on the Internet — specifically, Twitter.

Data gathered during the last few days involving links to either Instagram and Vine that have been posted to Twitter reveal the truth. The newly-launched video sharing app, which was first an iOS exclusive, became more popular than Facebook’s billion-dollar photo sharing network a few days ago.
Looking closely at the details of the media shares, one will learn that the difference between the two now is only a couple hundred thousand shares. But Vine’s numbers still seem to be on the rise, while Instagram remains on seemingly slow and steady decline.

There is some speculation that perhaps Instagram’s refusal to integrate with Twitter cards is causing this recent slump in usage and total shares. But it’s also likely that a certain portion of Instagram’s userbase is currently getting the hang of Vine for Android, and have perhaps stopped using the former to spend more time with the latter.

In any case, it’s clear that Vine has greater mass appeal to have become so popular so quickly in a world where new mobile apps are being birthed every single day. As the app becomes even more popular, expect to see more and more creative stuff posted to it for your own viewing pleasure.



from Android Authority 

Vine now more popular than Instagram in terms of total Twitter shares


Vine

Less than a week ago, Twitter officially announced the availability of the Vine for Android app on the Google Play store. It has since been downloaded more than 1 million times, and according to information from online analytics company Topsy, it has already surpassed Instagram in terms of popularity based on total number of media shares on the Internet — specifically, Twitter.

Data gathered during the last few days involving links to either Instagram and Vine that have been posted to Twitter reveal the truth. The newly-launched video sharing app, which was first an iOS exclusive, became more popular than Facebook’s billion-dollar photo sharing network a few days ago.
Looking closely at the details of the media shares, one will learn that the difference between the two now is only a couple hundred thousand shares. But Vine’s numbers still seem to be on the rise, while Instagram remains on seemingly slow and steady decline.

There is some speculation that perhaps Instagram’s refusal to integrate with Twitter cards is causing this recent slump in usage and total shares. But it’s also likely that a certain portion of Instagram’s userbase is currently getting the hang of Vine for Android, and have perhaps stopped using the former to spend more time with the latter.

In any case, it’s clear that Vine has greater mass appeal to have become so popular so quickly in a world where new mobile apps are being birthed every single day. As the app becomes even more popular, expect to see more and more creative stuff posted to it for your own viewing pleasure.



from Android Authority 

CyanogenMod 10.1 Support Added To Galaxy S4 International LTE (i9505) And Cricket Models, Sony Xperia Tablet Z WiFi


cid

In their never-ending quest to bring CyanogenMod to every Android device on the face of the planet (or at least all of them with unlocked bootloaders, modern hardware, and a big user base - not all that many, in fact, forget I mentioned it) the CM team is expanding the 10.1 build to three new devices this weekend. The unlocked international LTE version of the Galaxy S4 (GT-i9505) and Cricket's branded variant both get new nightly builds of the ROM, as does the WiFi-only version of Sony's Xperia Tablet Z.
Screenshot_2013-06-09-13-41-16 Screenshot_2013-06-09-13-42-34




Galaxy S4 Cricket CM 10.1 screenshots credit: Stephen Proffitt at CricketUsers.com

5 de junio de 2013

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, terminal resistente al agua

 Samsung Galaxy S4 Active

  • Características muy similares al Samsung Galaxy S4
  • Resistente al agua, hasta 30 minutos a un metro de profundida
  • Disponible a partir del verano

¿Otro terminal de la familia Galaxy de Samsung? A estas alturas ya no debería sorprendernos, ya que la compañía es incapaz de controlar los rumores. Samsung acaba de anunciar un nuevo terminal de su familia de terminales con Android, el Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, una versión del terminal de referencia de los coreanos con resistencia al polvo y al agua.

El Samsung Galaxy S4 Active cuenta con unas características técnicas muy similares a la del buque insignia de los coreanos pero con modificaciones en el chasis que le han ganado la certificación IP67, lo que certifica su resistencia al polvo y agua. En concreto, el Samsung Galaxy S4 Active es capaz de superar inmersiones de hasta un metro de profundidad por un periodo de hasta 30 minutos.

El resto de características son muy similares, incluyendo procesador, pantalla y memoria, aunque la cámara trasera sufre una bajada de resolución. Las principales características del Samsung Galaxy S4 Active son:
  • Pantalla de 5 pulgadas FullHD, 443 ppp
  • Procesador de cuatro núcleos a 1,9 GHz
  • 2GB de RAM
  • 16 GB de almacenamiento, 11,25 GB libres para usuario
  • Cámara trasera de 8 MP, frontal de 2 MP
  • WiFi ac, WiFi Direct, NFC, USB 2.0, Bluetooth LE 4.0
  • Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
  • Dimensiones de 139.7 x 71.3 x 9.1 mm
  • Peso de 151g
  • Batería de 2600 mAh
El Samsung Galaxy S4 Active cuenta con los mismos servicios de software y prestaciones que su hermano mayor. Así, cuenta con la posibilidad de poder controlarlo con gestos en el aire y el resto de servicios como S Health.

El Samsung Galaxy S4 Active llegará al mercado en las próximas semanas, pero ya podremos verlo en acción durante el próximo evento del 20 de este mes en Londres. El terminal llegará en colores azul, gris y naranja a un precio todavía no especificado.

El nuevo terminal de la familia Galaxy es una buena opción para aquellos usuarios que desean un terminal de referencia pero que trabajan en la intemperie o que les gusta hacer deporte y utilizar la función S Health, ya que el terminal es resistente al sudor y las inclemencias del tiempo.



from Celularis

How to: Turn a Black Nexus 4 Into a White Nexus 4


DSC01165

With white Nexus 4 in hand and a quick hands-on video and comparison published, there was only one last task for us to complete to round out our coverage – back replacement surgery. You may recall our guide on how to turn the black Galaxy Nexus into a white Galaxy Nexus, and well, we decided to do the same thing with the Nexus 4. Since the white Nexus 4 is nothing more than a black Nexus 4 with a white back piece, we knew long ago when the white version first leaked that swapping out back pieces would be simple. We were right.

In the short guide below, we’ll walk you through the six steps to turning your black Nexus 4 into a white Nexus 4. Since many of you jumped on the black Nexus 4 early on and didn’t have a chance to even consider the white version, this should help you make the transition once (if) white replacement backs ever go up for sale.

Parts:

You obviously will need a black Nexus 4. You will also need either a white Nexus 4 or a back replacement white part (which haven’t been released yet). The replacement white back would be the much cheaper route to go, but we have no idea if or when those may be released to the public.

Tools:

This entire process was done with a T5 Torx screwdriver, two guitar picks, and a plastic opening tool. But actually, you could do this without the plastic opening tool and remove the entire back cover with the guitar picks alone, after removing the screws of course. A good smartphone starter toolkit to think about picking up is the Home Tech Toolkit from iFixit. I would also recommend picking up some of their guitar picks if you don’t have any laying around your house.

SONY DSC

Instructions:

1.  Remove any SIM cards and SIM card trays.

2.  Remove both T5 Torx screws from the bottoms of the devices.

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3.  Starting from the bottom by the microUSB port, using a guitar pick, slide between the metal rim and the bottom cover. As you work your way from the bottom around each side, you’ll hear slight popping noises, which are the plastic tabs that hold the back cover into place popping out. Be careful as to not break a tab. You’ll need to repeat this process around each phone to remove each back cover. I shimmied my way from the bottom and up the right side, then the left side. Once I had the bottom and both sides loose, I used my fingers to slowly lift the cover and pop it off of the top section of each phone
Note:  When I removed the black cover, I either broke a plastic holder that kept the Volume rocker in place or it wasn’t attached to the cover like it is on the white version. Either way, be careful and try not to lose either the Power switch or Volume rocket once you fully remove the back side in case they are loose. When you get to each button with the guitar pick, gently pop each tab away.

SONY DSC

4.  Once you have wiggled off the back casings from each phone, your next few steps are incredibly simple. But first, this is what your desk will look like. As you can see, the devices are identical underneath those back plates. I was unable to find any difference whatsoever – everything is in the exact same place. Make sure you know which device is which, so that you don’t accidentally replace backs to the wrong devices. I’d hate for you to go through that process once again.

SONY DSCSONY DSC

5.  With the white back cover in hand, grab your previously-black Nexus 4 and slowly start to pop it into place. I started with the top section and then slowly worked my way around the phone by popping each tab back into place. It won’t take long, but again, don’t be in a rush. You want to slowly pop each into place as to not break any of the tabs.

SONY DSC

6.  Once you have finished popping the back cover on, replace the T5 Torx screws and the SIM tray. Fire your phone up and enjoy your new white Nexus 4.

In total, this took me 25 minutes to do.

This process really is as simple as it sounds. You may struggle a bit removing the bottom corners with the guitar pick, but with a little patience and gentle wiggling, it doesn’t take long. For anyone who owns a black Nexus 4, but would rather have the white version, I’d recommend watching eBay shops that sell replacement parts. Before long, we are bound to see white back replacement covers popping up at prices well under the $299 it would cost should you purchase a white Nexus 4.



H/T to the folks at iFixt for getting me started with their teardown guide.
How to: Turn a Black Nexus 4 Into a White Nexus 4 is a post from: Droid Life