
Google today made available a new version of Google+ to devices running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The focus of today’s update is to improve the app’s photo features. According to Google, the app is now better at automatically uploading photos from Android smartphones to Google+ for safekeeping. Once uploaded, new tools automatically sort the images [...]

Google today sought to provide more information about its new Google Hangouts tool and the evolution of its messaging and voice products. Hangouts was announced last week, and encompasses instant messaging (old Google Talk) and video chats on the web, and Android and iOS devices. According to Google, the current version of Hangouts does not [...]

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group announced that a future version of Android will support Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart devices. To-date, Android has not included a built-in Bluetooth stack, which means device makers have been on their own to add Bluetooth. By adding support for Bluetooth Smart Ready (Bluetooth 4.0 on a dual-mode chip) [...]

Google employee Dori Storbeck, Community Manager for Hangouts and Chat, confirmed on her Google+ page that the new Google Hangouts application will soon support SMS messages, as well as IM. In addition to text messages, Google Hangouts will also eventually be able to make outbound calls. Storbeck didn’t provide a timeframe on when these features [...]

AT&T customers who install the new Google Hangouts application on their Android devices cannot use one of the main features: video chats. When they attempt to start a video chat, a message appears prompting them to connect to a Wi-Fi network; the feature won’t work on AT&T’s cellular network. When reached for comment, AT&T explained [...]

Google has launched a new streaming music service with a discovery engine for finding new music, to compete with Rdio and Spotify. Google Play Music All Access lets you start with any song and automatically build a custom streaming radio station of similar songs. Unwanted songs can be dismissed and re-ordered. The service is integrated into [...]

1Password — a management utility for logins, passwords, and other secure data — has been updated to v4.2. Enhancements to it concentrate mainly on 1Browser, which now supports Go and Fill bookmarks and the Strong Password Generator on the iPad, plus the option to auto-submit after filling in a login. A Copy to Clipboard option [...]
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PayPal has launched a new software development kit for Android. Following on from the iOS version launched in March, the Android SDK will allow developers to integrate PayPal payments into their apps, providing them with an alternative payment processing system to Google Play, and the option to pay for in-app items or services by credit [...]

Google today announced new Google Play Services for location-based services that Android developers can integrate into their apps during Google I/O, . A new Geofencing API allows apps to be notified and take action when the user enters or leaves specified areas. An Activity Recognition API automatically recognizes certain activities such as walking, running, and [...]

Microsoft today announced that it plans to push a system update to devices running Windows Phone 8 this summer. The update brings back support for FM radios, expands the availability of Data Sense to more carriers around the world, and makes it easier to interact with XBox Music, including pinning tunes to the Start screen. [...]