Android M features: Hidden tips and tricks. BGR has uncovered several more features in Android M of use to everyone.#
Android Pay hands-on: buying soda with a phone - Android Community. Android Pay looks cool, it is going to be all about merchant adoption. It needs to work on all current Android phones (at least) and at nearly all places where people shop. #
Of what I have read about the Google I/O keynote, I am most interested in Google Now On Tap, Android Pay, and improvements in battery life (Android Doze)#
If I were at Google I/O and had the opportunity to sit down with Sundar Pichai I would tell him that "good enough" is no longer good enough. Google must commit to improving the quality of Android. I've used every version of Android that has existed and I can say Lollipop has been the absolute worst release of Android ever! #
For nearly a year I have had to endure memory leaks causing apps, including the Google App (the home screens) to randomly shut down on my Nexus 9. (The Nexus 9 was one of the first devices to get Lollipop.) Often I have had to reboot the tablet. A normal user would have long given up and traded the Nexus 9 in for an iPad.#
Can a news site be reborn? Gigaom readers are about to find out - Fortune.#
Construction Cam - 14 Mile / Orchard Lake Roundabout The construction of this roundabout has made driving around our house an adventure.#
Android phone: Encryption and factory reset secures data before sale.#
Android Wear watch faces: my digital favorites. I really wish that Android Wear watch face reviews would talk about battery life impact. In my experience, most watch faces, particularly those that display extra things like remaining battery life and the weather, have a huge impact on battery life. #
Battery life is the single biggest problem that I have with my Moto 360. According to Wear Battery Stats, I am getting 8% drain per hour and I have no idea what is "normal." #
In fact, the more I think about it, the battery life on my Moto 360 sucks and I expect that to be the case for all Android Wear watches. Today is a good case in point. Right now there is severe weather where I live and therefore I am getting a multitude of notifications on my smartphone and watch. You want severe weather notifications to come through to the watch but yet the frequency of those notifications is draining the battery. #
I could turn off these notifications to increase battery life but that eliminates the main reason why one would want to wear a watch in the first place. Besides, one shouldn't have to fiddle so much just to get a watch to survive a 16 hour day. #
Is the Contacts preview at http://contacts.google.com new? Apparently Google started to make it available in the March/April time frame.#
I think that lost in the disappointment over Windows 8.1 as a desktop operating system UI is the fact that it is a tablet UI optimized for landscape operation. For tablets larger than 8.9", landscape operation may be more comfortable than portrait because there is better weight distribution. iOS and Android are optimized for portrait operation.#
Some day we may look back at Microsoft's modern UI and consider it the best tablet UI made, but that never gained market acceptance, much like OS/2 is considered by many to have been much better than Windows.#
Gigaom.com Acquired by Knowingly Corp. It will be interesting to see whether the new Gigaom.com will survive. #
Microsoft: Cortana for iOS and Android is a smart strategic move. Good to see Microsoft embrace it's true identity as a software company. For too long it's prime directive was to grow Windows rather than to grow the company.#
Typing on the Surface 3 Type Cover is like typing on cardboard, particularly if you use it elevated rather than lying flat on a table. It rattles and makes a noise when I type. Ok for brief typing, but gets old quickly while writing long articles.#
Android Auto: The First Great In-Car Infotainment System. So far the reviews I have read for Android Auto have been positive.#
Google Tracker 2015 (I/O edition): Android M, Chromecast 2, and lots more.#
This is an interesting article about Google's possible strategy for Chrome OS and Android. It makes sense to me that Google would take some of the more "desktop like" features of Android and merge them with Chrome OS.#
I am not entirely sold, however, on the porting of Android apps to Chrome OS. Take for example Evernote. With the Evernote web app, which had been the only way to access Evernote on Chrome OS, all your notes are instantly available just as soon as you log in. In the Evernote Android app running on Chrome OS, however, notes don't start synchronizing to the app to be available until after you start the app and I have found that synchronization to be much slower than on my Android tablet. Part of the reason for this may be that I don't frequently run the Android app on Chrome as I do on my tablet. Still, the end result is that for me the Android version of Evernote on Chrome OS is much slower than on Android, and therefore less useful.#
Willie Horton returns to the site of Tiger Stadium for the first time since its final game in 1999.#
Reading American cities: books about Detroit.#
A Baseball’s Exit Velocity Is Five Parts Hitter, One Part Pitcher. Here is a fascinating article about how MLB pitchers affect the velocity of the ball leaving the bat when it is hit. I think it highlights a difference between pitchers and throwers.#
Iconic Uniroyal tire turns 50.#
Microsoft Surface 3 has 4GB RAM, 64GB storage. Of course Microsoft would add a new Surface 3 model that has the memory I required, with less storage and therefore a cheaper price. Praise Murphy!#
I can't believe that Microsoft still hasn't found a way to get their Windows 8 Calendar to work with Google Calendar. #
I bought a Surface 3 and I am currently setting it up. If you are confused about whether the Surface 3 is a tablet or computer, the setup process is sure to set you straight. The last step is to install Windows updates, which I am currently doing and for which there appears to be 100s. I don't recall any other tablet that I have bought being so far behind the current operating system at the time it was delivered. #
You know, the #glossary has to be one of the most useful features in Fargo. #
Android vs. Windows Phone: Updates coming more quickly to Windows. Note to BGR: believe it when you see it. Microsoft has made claims in the past that they were taking over the update process from carriers, only to back peddle after learning that there was no way carriers are going to give up control. Just because Microsoft says it is going to do something, doesn't make it so.#
The Android 5.1.1 update was pushed to my Nexus 9 this afternoon. I am now still waiting on updates for my Moto X and Moto 360. #
Deflate Gate gains more attention that it deserves because it's cheating in the NFL, but we seem to pay little attention to the out of control political campaign financing that is cheating our Democracy.#
Washington Post on the current "change of heart" on the Iraq War: "Rather, the better question is: Are you willing to admit that we shouldn’t have gone into Iraq based on what was known at the time?"#
Do Note - IFTTT. I need to research this, at first blush it looks a lot like the "agent" functions that were intended for Apple Newton OS. #
Entrepreneurs help revive Detroit with heart and grit.#
Detroit music entrepreneurs rock to ignite learning while bringing people together.#
All Android Wear watches have Wi-Fi chips, but some won’t get Wi-Fi support. Glad to find that the Moto 360 will support Wi-Fi connections. I believe Wi-Fi support comes with Android Wear 5.1, my Moto 360 is currently running 5.0.2.#
I am waiting on Android upgrades for my Moto X (original), Nexus 9, and Moto 360. #
Mossberg has published his review of the Apple Watch after having worn it for a month. I have a Moto 360 rather than an Apple Watch and a recent experience has shown me why I think smartwatches have less value. I've had some health issues causing me to be on disability and consequently I've been at home. During this time my Moto 360 either sat un-charged or in the charger, but not on my wrist. It just didn't seem necessary for me to put it on. During the same time my smartphone and tablet were always within arm's reach. #
Last year I wrote about my wish for an Android app that could read and write to the OPML files that Fargo creates. Android Outliner does this, so meets much on my wish list, but it doesn't appear to support Fargo's encryption.#
Outliner does appear to work with Android file managers, so I may be able to use it with files stored in a secure site like BoxCryptor. I need to investigate this further.#