Focal Camera App Comes To Google Play As A Free Beta

the developer of CyanogenMod's Focal camera app decided to pull it from the open source ROM. Now Guillaume Lesniak (AKAxplodwild) has dropped Focal into Google Play for anyone to use. It is compatible with most newer devices, but it is a beta.

  

The app currently has support for multiple still and video modes including burst, timer, scenes, and shutter speed on some devices. It also has PicSphere, an open source replacement for PhotoSpheres. As for panoramas, that mode is a little broken right now – feel free to give it a shot, though. Focal can also do HDR and filters in still photo mode.

 

There are likely to be a few more small bugs in Focal right now, but it should be pretty stable on newer phones. Focal is open source, so you can grab the source code at Github, if that's your thing.

Play Link

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Nestle’s German Kit Kat Page Apparently Confirms Android 4.4 Release for October

We knew it was coming soon, but since we all know nothing is ever confirmed until posted by Google, release dates for phones and OS updates are always up in the air. Apparently, Nestle’s German-based Kit Kat page that hypes the upcoming Android release, outed that Android 4.4 will be available starting in October. No word on a date within that month, but this aligns with all the other reports and rumors that have been floating around. 

When translated from German, it reads as the following – “Android 4.4 KIT KAT is available in October.”

Given that the folks at Nestle are probably quite in tune with Google’s plan, considering the company will be hypebeasting the Google’s name choice for Android 4.4, we will stick with the month of October being the best time to look for its release. Now all we need is a specific date.

It’s likely Google will host some type of event to unveil and showcase Android 4.4 (and maybe even a new Nexus device or two to go with it), so it should be a pretty exciting month for Android lovers.

Via: German Kit Kat Facebook

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EA Game’s Madden 25 Hits Android Via Google Play, Free to Install

Football fans, it’s time to go grab Madden 25 from Google Play. EA Games launched the title for Android today, which is free to install for everyone running Android 2.0+. Although, if you want the full experience and a ton of added plays and features, you might be looking at some hefty in-app purchases. Keep that in mind if you plan on getting through a whole season. 

The game features everything you would imagine from a Madden title – full-licensed teams, player names, and all of that jazz. One of the great features of this title is that you can create and customize your own NFL team, taking any player you choose from today’s NFL roster. Finally, an All-Star lineup that will put on a better show than the Pro Bowl attempts to each year.

Play Link

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Here is the New Google Play Logo

Google updated the Google Play logo moments ago across the Play store, so we thought we’d share in case you didn’t notice. It’s a subtle change, but no longer says “Play” in it and is also much darker with a bigger “Google” font. Who knows if the removal of “Play” means anything or if they just want the triangle icon to mean “play,” but this is what we’re looking at.

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Google Music v5.2 Being Rolled Out, Brings Genre-based Radio Stations

A Google Play Music update v5.2 just popped up in the Play Store, though it's being slowly rolled out, as is the case with many big Google apps nowadays. The previous version is 5.1, and indeed I'm seeing quite a few changes inside that would warrant a point release.

Genre Radio

A detailed teardown may be coming in the future, but in the meantime, there is one big change that was immediately apparent: Google Play Music now supports Genre Radio in addition to the regular artist/song radio. You need All Access for this. Genre Radio appears as a new tab under Radio and looks like this:

 

Left: Play Music 5.1; Right: Play Music 5.2

The genre radio actually shows you sub-genres first, so you can start either the topmost genre or the sub-genre of your choosing:

  

Send Feedback

In addition to the genre radio, I've spotted a new Send feedback button:

 

These are all the major changes I'm ready to report right now, pending Google's own changelog and our full teardown. There is a lot of activity regarding downloading/pinning/removing music, but I'll have to dig into those deeper before figuring out what's new.

Download Queue UI

Yup, there is now a proper Download Queue UI for downloading/pinning music which finally supports a Pause/Resume button:

 

 

APK Download

Download Link

Via AndroidPolice

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Microsoft's Xbox Music App For Android Is Live

There's yet another streaming music option on Android, and it comes courtesy of Microsoft. An Xbox Music app is set to debut today in Google Play. It will provide access to unlimited streaming to Xbox Music Pass subscribers, but the initial release is a little light on features.

 

Users will have access to all the songs in Microsoft's library from the app, but there won't be any offline capability at launch. Microsoft plans to issue updates every 4-6 weeks, and says offline caching is going to be added in the coming months. The app meshes with the new Xbox One interface and provides access to all the usual music-type things like playlists, radio, and top charts.

 

The web version of Xbox Music is adding free ad-supported listening today, but only through desktop browsers. It sounds like the Android app will not allow ad-supported listening like Windows 8 or the new web player. An Xbox Music Pass subscription is $9.99 per month or $99.99 for a whole year, if you're interested. The app isn't live in Google Play yet, but we'll keep an eye out for it. The app is also coming to iPhone, but we don't like to talk about that around here.

Update: The app has appeared in Google Play. Check it out below with some more screens. Also, device support seems pretty lacking. No tablets right now, and even some phones like the HTC One are blocked.

 

 

 

Download XBOX MUSIC FROM HERE

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Android Distribution Chart Updated: Eclair and Donut Dismissed

With all of the world focused on Google’s unveiling of Android Kit Kat and Samsung’s big announcement, Google snuck out another update for the Android Distribution Charts. 

The biggest addition to this month’s update is actually what it subtracts. Donut and Eclair (versions 1.6 and 2.1 respectively) are no longer listed on the pie chart. According to Google, those versions of Android only accounted for about 1% of devices that checked in to Google server.

Froyo only dropped 1% from last month to 2.4% and Gingerbread is down to 30.7% from 33.1%. Ice Cream Sandwich went from 22.5% to 21.7%, a small drop. Of course, Jelly Bean continues to gain pie share, moving from 40.5% to a nice 45.1%.

The chart only shows percentages for versions 4.1.x and 4.2.x of Jelly Bean, so 4.3.x has not really taken a hold yet on Android devices. As manufacturers work on updating their devices, maybe we’ll see it make a debut next month. Of course, October is more than likely when we’ll hear more information about KitKat 4.4 thus making the 4.3.x version of Android old news.

Via: Android Developers

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Google™ Strikes Hard Licensing Deal With Nestlé® To Name Next Android Os Kit Kat®

Google announced Tuesday that the next iteration of its Android mobile operating system (4.4) will be called KitKat. Google has a history of naming versions of its Android OS after desserts — Cupcake, Froyo, Gingerbread and Jelly Bean have all made the rotation — but never has the company chosen a branded candy for its OS.

We don't know exactly how Google came to choose the Hershey-owned candy over a more general dessert, like Key Lime Pie, but rest assured Google hasn't violated any trademark restrictions. Google would only say, "KitKat has been a favorite candy on the team for some time, so for the K release, we asked if they’d be willing to lend their iconic candy bar to its name." A Google representative confirmed to Mashable that "no money was exchanged" in the deal.

The deal, rather, is cross-promotional: Android is naming version 4.4 KitKat, and Kit Kat is in turn marketing Android on its packaging. As you can see in the image above, a package of Kit Kat Crispy Wafers now features the green Android mascot on its front side and a prompt to "Win!." Purchasers will have the opportunity to win a Nexus 7 tablet or a Google Play gift card.

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