Google Play Store v5.0 might be roll out soon

Google might soon roll out a new version of the Google Play app (v5.0), guided by the company's Material Design concept, if the latest screenshots from a leaked early build are to be believed. The company seems set bring more a more vivid palette of colours to its already Material Design-inspired Google Play app, along with a richer visual feel.

The yet-to-be announced Google Play Store 5.0 might flaunt a reworked top bar that merges the section name (for example - Movies, Games and others) with the category tabs like Top Releases, New Releases, Home and others, as seen in the above screenshot. All the Google Play sections namely Apps, Games, Movies, Books, and Newsstand are also seen with the new colour palette combinations that are brighter and more vivid than the current version.

The Mountain View, California-based tech giant, focusing more on the card-based design, seems set to tweak the Google Play app design with the same colour treatment for accents and buttons (seen below), visibly different in the screenshots of the leaked early build sourced by Android Police.

Leaked Home Page Google Play Store v5.0

Android Police also notes that promo pages will receive a visual revamp in the store, with the example of Google's Antenna Sampler, a monthly sampler of free tracks from upcoming artists, has also been given a visual boost (seen below). Minor animations, for instance, 3-line icon changes to a 'back arrow' icon on interaction, might also see the light of the day.

While the changes are not a major overhaul over the current version of Google Play, they are completely in-line with the 'Material Design' philosophy of the upcoming Android L, which might be officially named as 'Lemon Meringue Pie'.

The website also discovered some new Material Design-inspired Google Play app icons for Music, Movies, Books, Newsstand along with a new Google Play Store icon (seen below), within the files of the app.

In addition, the per-device restoration feature, which was discovered previously by the website, was seen with some changes in the latest string files of the Google Play app. The string files hints a feature that would enable users to choose a device profile (smartphone or tablet) from where a predefined set of apps can be restored when setting up a new device.

While Google is yet to confirm any of the details mentioned above, the screenshots and the information gathered from the leaked early build cannot be completely ignored, and do indicate a direction the search giant is looking into. The release date of the Google Play Store 5.0 or the new restoration feature is still not known.

Thanks Gadgets.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-CM1 Android Smartphone With 1-Inch Camera Sensor

The Japanese giant has joined the league of Samsung (Galaxy S4 Zoom and Galaxy K zoom) with the launch of its first Android-powered camera-phone, the Lumix DMC-CM1. The company will be showcasing the device at Photokina show next week in Germany. It will be made available in France and Germany by Christmas, priced at EUR 899.

The Lumix DMC-CM1 camera-phone runs Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box. It is powered by a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor alongside 2GB of RAM. It features a 4.7-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display. For connectivity, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-CM1 supports 4G LTE networks. It comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable up to 128GB (via microSD card).

The new Panasonic Lumix DMC-CM1 sports a 20-megapixel sensor with an f/2.8 Leica DC Elmarit lens. It comes with a mechanical shutter and a manual control ring. Notably, the 20-megapixel sensor is of the 1-inch MOS-type, the highlight of the device, and which is also akin to the sensor size of the Sony RX10. The camera-phone further is backed by a Venus engine, usually seen on the company's Lumix cameras. The Lumix CM1 camera-phone also supports 4K video recording.

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Google driverless Cars

Google Inc., with its vision for a future where cars drive themselves, is putting itself at odds with an auto industry that shares its desire for safer, less- congested roads -- yet won't abide the "driverless" part.

The clash pits the Internet giant, public for barely a decade, against companies that spent a century building the machines that put people behind the wheel of autos. As Google works to perfect a system in research labs and road tests to minimize the involvement of drivers, automakers spend billions of dollars annually on ads to do the opposite. Think BMW and its claims to the Ultimate Driving Machine, or Volkswagen and its Drivers Wanted sales pitch.

The differences are more than philosophical.

Google is sweeping up top talent and research, powered by an almost $400 billion stock-market value that tops those of Toyota Motor Corp., Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. combined. It's also keeping a tight grip on its mapping data and potential marketing plans for cars while helping to create what many in the auto industry consider unrealistic expectations for how quickly cars can safely become wholly driverless.

"Clearly there's some sort of tension there," said Richard Wallace, director of transportation systems analysis at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Google's splashy displays of technology "lead to expectations creep that's probably unrealistic in some ways," he said.

Google's aloofness was on display at last week's Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress in Detroit. The search giant had minimal presence at the annual event where automakers hash out standards for the technology that would keep, at the center of it all, the driver.

The 'G-Word'

Within the industry, Google is sometimes the unmentionable presence in the room -- the "G-word," as Wallace jokingly called it at a conference last month in Traverse City, Michigan.

Among the advancements automakers announced at last week's conference in Detroit was GM's "Super Cruise" system for 2017 Cadillacs, which will let drivers take their hands off the steering wheel and feet from the pedals for periods of highway driving. Like technology being developed by Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and other companies, GM's system hands control back and forth between driver and vehicle.

The approach that Mountain View, California-based Google is taking is, literally, much more hands-off. In May it unveiled plans to deploy at least 100 fully autonomous, two-seat, egg- shaped test cars with a top speed of 25 miles (40 kilometers) per hour and no steering wheel. Google has since said it will include one, as well as brake and gas pedals, as California requires.

Google Talent

Aided by early staffing with top Stanford and Carnegie Mellon University scientists who won a U.S.-backed driverless vehicle challenge in 2005, Google recruited dozens of robotics and artificial-intelligence researchers, and is adding more.

Google has won or applied for 96 autonomous-driving patents since 2011 and has hired talent from Toyota, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and even Silicon Valley upstart Tesla Motors Inc., according to LinkedIn profiles. For high-level advice, Google can turn to former Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, now a board member.

It's also backed by more than $60 billion in cash, more than any individual automaker can muster.

"When you're at Google's scale you do plenty of things that disrupt or change the environment," said Frank Gillett, analyst with Forrester Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "We now have a race for who's going to build the software and services platform that operates driverless cars."

Societal Benefits

While the effort is still in an early phase, executives including co-founder Sergey Brin have committed Google to making driverless cars a reality. They tout societal benefits of robotic cars, such as a transportation option for the blind and elderly.

To traditional manufacturers, anything that makes human drivers superfluous is automotive heresy.

"Driving is essentially very fun," Ken Koibuchi, general manager of intelligent vehicle development for Toyota, said in an interview in Detroit this month. For that and reasons including liability issues in the case of an accident and yet- to-be-set regulations, the world's largest carmaker isn't planning a driverless car even as it adds automated features.

"Rather than making it seem like the driver can simply take a nap while sitting at the wheel, we need drivers to understand that there will be task-sharing involved, handing controls back and forth, and that overconfidence must be avoided," Koibuchi said.

Nissan Motor Co., Mercedes and Tesla are among those that have said they'll add self-driving features by end of the decade. None has said how much it's spending to do that.

More Investment

"They've kind of shamed the automakers into investing more money into this," said Egil Juliussen, research director for advanced driving systems for IHS Automotive. "R&D budgets for all major auto companies have jumped a lot since this started. They're literally being forced by Google to invest more to show they aren't falling too far behind."

While Google's cash pile tops that of individual automakers, Toyota's $41 billion, Volkswagen's $44 billion and GM's $29 billion ensure they can fund technology advances.

That gives manufacturers the resources to provide a counterbalance to Google, said William "Red" Whittaker, director of the Field Robotics Center at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh.

"No one has a monopoly on this technology," Whittaker said. "The big global OEMs, they run deep, they run strong, and they aren't fooling around."

Accelerated Efforts

To speed its efforts, Toyota in January created an intelligent-vehicle system group that Koibuchi manages to bring automated driving features to market as quickly as possible.

Toyota is also among the automakers and suppliers funding the University of Michigan's Mobility Transformation Center in Ann Arbor, intended to be the largest research center in North America for automated driving systems.

GM, Ford, Honda and Nissan are also MTC backers, as are parts-makers Delphi Automotive Plc, Denso Corp. and Robert Bosch LLC, Verizon Communications Inc. and Xerox Corp.

Google so far hasn't joined that effort. It also hasn't specified whether it will build and sell driverless cars; create a service using such vehicles; or supply its driverless technology to the auto industry.

'Low Margin'

Producing its own vehicles would "be silly," Juliussen said. "The car industry is a low-margin business. The best companies get 10 percent profit margin," he said. "Why would they want to enter the business even if the revenue may be tremendously high?"

Google declined to comment on industry criticism or how its driverless program will evolve. Brin said in May at the Re/code conference in Palos Verdes, California, that the company "will work with partners in the future, including automotive companies," without elaborating.

Google drew some criticism at the Automated Vehicles Symposium in San Francisco in July from audience members who said it's not sharing mapping data with carmakers designing their own systems and has made some academic research on driverless vehicles inaccessible.

Standardized maps are needed as robotic vehicles advance, Seigo Kuzumaki, Toyota's chief technology officer secretary, said in Detroit.

"It's better to have maps that are industrywide, rather than just individually owned and operated," Kuzumaki said.

Automakers' efforts to find software talent is also affected by Google's speed in hiring, Toyota's Koibuchi said.

"Computer vision or artificial intelligence are needed, and that kind of technology is not familiar to us for now so we need to hire new people," he said. "To hire new people in each area is more difficult."

--With assistance from Tim Higgins in San Francisco and Susan Decker in Washington.

Apple Watch

Apple Watch comes in two sizes, so the watch won't feel giant on smaller hands, as some competing watches do.

I also like that Apple will offer a variety of straps and materials, so fitness buffs can get a strap that's stronger and sweat-proof, while those seeking a fashion accessory can opt for an 18-karat gold edition.

Beyond looks, it's great that the Apple Watch isn't simply adopting the smartphone way of doing things. The operating system, Watch OS, was designed specifically for the watch, and its interface relies heavily on the dial to the right, known as the digital crown. Competing watches tend to emphasize the voice and touch controls found on phones.

Of course, it's premature to conclude that you need an Apple Watch. I had only about 45 minutes with the Apple Watch and other new products announced Tuesday. The watch I was allowed to try on was running in a demonstration mode. It'll take more time with the watch - beyond a controlled environment - to make a solid conclusion.

The home screen has all your apps, arranged in rows like a honeycomb. You use the dial to zoom in and choose one. The touch screen lets you slide the honeycomb around to see different portions of your app collection. I find this easier than swiping on a small screen to scroll through pages and pages of apps. With the Apple Watch, you can even rearrange apps so that your favorite ones are toward the middle.

App developers will be able to decide what types of notifications appear on the watch and let you take actions such as replying to messages. That's an improvement over existing smartwatches, which largely replicate the notifications sent to your phone. To be compelling, the watch shouldn't duplicate your phone. It should enhance it. Apple seems to get it.

As for using the dial to zoom in and out, Apple says that improves usability because you're not blocking maps and other content on the screen the way pinching in and out would. That makes sense, though I'll need more time with the watch to assess how well the dial works on its own. With your home screen, for instance, you still need the slide apps around.

Another question mark is what kinds of apps will be available for it.

Apple announced a few useful ones, including the ability to unlock your Starwood hotel room with a tap of your watch. That's easier than pulling out your room key from your wallet. BMW also promises one to help you find your parked car in a crowded lot. If it works, that beats walking around in circles.

Apple does have a good track record in getting software developers to make good apps for its systems. Many apps come to iPhones and iPads first, and some have bonus features unavailable on Android. If that trend continues with the Apple Watch, I have no doubt customers will find more useful things to do with it than the smartwatches already out.

Apple Watch will require an iPhone 5 or later and will have a starting price tag of $349, higher than rival watches. Expect to pay even more for the 18-karat gold edition and other premium models. You'll also have to wait until early next year, as Apple won't have Apple Watch available in time for the holidays.

Thanks

Top 10 features of iPhone 6 & 6 Plus

1. Retina HD

Apple has outdone itself in the buzzwords game. The new Retina HD display is an ultra thin IPS display with 326ppi pixel density for iPhone 6, capable of wider viewing angles.

The iPhone 6 Plus gets a 1334x750 pixel display, and for the first time on the iPhone, a full-HD 1920 x 1080 display on the iPhone 6 Plus.

In terms of specs, this is not really mind-blowing when you consider Samsung, LG and Oppo’s Quad HD displays at 446 ppi. But logic-wise it makes sense, as it costs more CPU to push Quad HD images to a display that's as sharp as a 1080p display to the normal eye.

2. Ion strengthened screen

Is it Gorilla Glass? Is it a Sapphire screen as rumoured? No, it’s a brand new ion strengthened screen. While there are absolutely no details on this mysterious new screen technology, which curves neatly around the sides of the iPhone. 

We should have more details on this Ion technology when we get them. As long as it makes iPhone tougher to break, we are fine.

3. 2nd generation 64-Bit processors

While the Android world is still floundering in the dark for 64-bit processor, the only significant next step in mobile technology, Apple has bettered its superb A7 processor with the A8, using a 20nm manufacturing process. 

Not only that, Apple claims that it will perform better over a longer period of time.

4. Metal, 3D app and game engine

In a surprising move, Apple revealed the Metal API for game developers to take advantage of in pushing the graphical envelope of their games. Steve Jobs had never been big on gaming for years and Bungie story is the biggest example of that. 

However, it’s great to see Tim Cook making big strides into gaming territory, especially since the App Store has some of the best games on mobile devices to date.

5. M8, Motion co-processor health chip

Apple’s M8 health chip has gotten better, with the ability to measure relative distance and elevation, and can tell the difference between cycling and running. 

While elevation helps in tracking the amount of steps you climb, the Nike+ app was shown displaying relative elevation on hikes by using the barometer too.

6. Better battery

A feature that iPhone users have been screaming hoarse about and Samsung has taken the opportunity to jab at in their ads is the bad IPhone battery life. 

Finally, Apple has addressed this with the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Apple claims 14 hours for iPhone 6 and 24 hours of 3G Talktime for the iPhone 6 Plus. Of course, we cannot wait to put this to the test.

7. 3X faster Wi-Fi

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus support 802.11ac, the superfast new Wi-Fi band that’s all the rage. 

Apple claims the new iPhones can browse up to 3x faster on Wi-Fi which is good if you happened to have put down a lot of money on one of the first 802.11ac modems.

8. 8MP camera with True Tone flash 1.5 micron pixel sensor

Though Apple did not stuff more megapixels in the new iPhones, it’s 8 megapixel snapper has grown up. With True Tone Flash and with the 1.5 Micron pixel sensor, Apple seems to be taking a cue from HTC’s handbook with ultrapixels. Apple has also introduced Focus Pixels for faster auto-focus with phase detection, and an aperture of f/2.2. iSight camera can take a stunning 43MP panorama. 

It has an image signal processor to aid in all the image-heavy lifting. Both iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have auto (optical) image stabilisation: an absolute first for an iPhone. The camera can capture 1080p video at 30 or 60 fps and slow motion video at 240 fps. With Cinematic Video Stabilisation, and using Focus Pixels, you can get continuous autofocus in video.

9. Burst selfie front-facing camera

The selfie has bought the front-facing camera into the limelight. A Facetime HD camera with a yet unknown megapixel count. However, it’s capable of beautiful selfies, with improved face detection. 

The most important feature is burst selfies, which takes a bunch of pictures in one shot, allowing you to never miss a moment.

10. iOS 8

The cherry on top of the iPhone 6 cake is iOS 8. While we have seen several features already, it’s great to know that in just a few days, you’ll be updating your devices on September 17. 

What’s amazing is how Apple has managed the scaling so well. The iPhone 6 gets a scaled-up iPhone screen size whereas the iPhone 5.5 looks like it gets scaled-down iPad apps. Sharply handled and planned, so the user will hit the ground running with fantastic looking apps out of the box.

Thanks TOI.