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Google search can 'stream' apps to your Android phone
Ever found something on the web that would be better-served by an app, but didn't relish the thought of downloading the app to give it a shot? Google clearly has: as part of a broader mobile search revamp, it's introducing app streaming on Android phones. Search results from certain sites (such as Chimani or HotelTonight) will give you streamed versions of their mobile apps that let you do everything you need without a permanent download. Think of it as Nextbit's cloud-based app management taken to the next level -- you only need to 'install' that app for that brief moment when you really need it. The feature is still in beta testing with a handful of titles right now, but Google is promising to expand the selection over time.
Too good to survive: The rise and fall of Rdio
Spotify is probably how most Americans were introduced to streaming music over the last four years or so -- the service has grown by leaps and bounds since it launched in the US in July of 2011. But a relatively small group of music fans were enjoying pretty much all that Spotify had to offer months before it hit the US. That group was using Rdio, and we'll now have to find a new option: Rdio will be dead soon, sold off to Pandora in a bankruptcy deal. The service will remain a cautionary tale about the brutality of survival in the streaming music world. A great product is important, but it's clearly not enough.
Dunkin' Donuts takes aim at Starbucks with mobile ordering and delivery
You can already order your coffee from Starbucks before you get there, and soon you may be able to do the same from another popular purveyor of the brew. Dunkin' Donuts is testing mobile ordering through its app at locations in Portland, Maine. What's more, a few stores in Dallas are trying their hand at delivery and some in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington will begin coffee drop-offs soon. The move follows coffee giant Starbucks getting into both ordering ahead and delivery, so it's likely Dunkin' Donuts is looking to keep pace by offering its customers an easier way to get their caffeine and sugar fix. Of course, a number of other restaurants also offer similar services, including the likes of Chipotle and Taco Bell. As both ordering and delivery are in the trial phase, there's no word on when the services will expand nationwide in the US or to the company's limited footprint in the UK and other countries. [Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Bing for iPhone makes it easy to jump from search straight to your apps
As Windows Phone continues to struggle, Microsoft has turned its focus towards making its trademark services like Office, Outlook and Bing available on Android and iOS. Today, the Bing app for the iPhone is getting a major update to better reflect how users want to search when on their phones, something that's been an increasing priority for Google as well. Ryan Gavin, Microsoft's GM of search, says that when he thinks how about mobile search differs from the desktop, the traditional list of search results that can get you eventually to an answer to a query aren't useful. "I just want an answer," Gavin says, "and I want to take that answer into an action, typically with some sense of urgency." To that end, Bing for iPhone puts the data from Microsoft's Knowledge and Action Graph right up front, alongside deep links right into the apps on your phone that'll let you complete the desired action using the tools you're used to.
Google lowers minimum app prices in 17 countries
To many people around the globe, 99-cent apps might still be too expensive. In an effort to reach more people worldwide, Google has lowered the minimum app price in the Play Store for 17 countries, after a successful pilot in India earlier this year. Prices vary depending on location: Indians enjoy the lowest minimum price of 10 Indian Rupees (15 cents), while folks in Turkey and Ukraine will be able to buy the cheapest apps for 21 cents each. Poland is getting the smallest price cut of them all, but the minimum amount still costs less than half a dollar at 45 cents. You can find the full price list below the fold with their US dollar conversations. If you're a developer willing to sell at a lower price, you can adjust your apps' pricing scheme under "Pricing & Distribution" or "In-app Products" in Google Play's Developer Console.
Pushbullet's 'Pro' syncing service is stuff that used to be free
Pushbullet, the mighty app that lets you sync notifications, links, photos and SMS between your phone and computer, has just announced that it will be offering a Pro tier. But here's the kicker: paying $4.99 a month or $39.99 annually doesn't actually buy you anything new (other than supporting its developer's needs for things like food and shelter). A blog post announcing the changes tried to justify the move, but its explanations seem oddly close to threats. "We could have kept Pushbullet completely free, following the path of many free services by showing ads and selling data to make money. We don't want to do that." And we certainly hope they don't have to!
Tumblr gives you an easy way to make reaction GIFs on mobile
Tumblr made it easier to search for GIFs earlier this year, but if you're tired of seeing the same old stuff, you'll like this update a lot better. The social network has created a built-in GIF maker for its mobile apps that can process videos without having to fire up another app or a website. You simply have to compose a new Photo post and pick any video or photo burst (that iPhone 6s/6s Plus format that captures actions in the pictures you take) you want.
Galaxy Note 5 wrapper warns you to insert the pen the right way
You probably don't need someone to tell you to insert the Galaxy Note 5's pen the right way, but Samsung isn't about to take any chances. As evidenced in a recent unboxing, at least some newer Note 5 units come with a wrapper advising you against inserting the S Pen backwards lest it "damage the pen and your phone." Is this one of those obvious "coffee is hot" warnings meant more to avoid frivolous lawsuits than anything else? You bet. However, we can't exactly fault Samsung for including it. While most of the people who've shoved the pen in backwards knew what the consequences would be, there's bound to be someone, somewhere who's genuinely caught off guard.
Apple Pay goes live in Canada, but only for American Express customers
Apple Pay has been available in locales outside of the US already, and now our neighbors to the north are getting in on the action. Cupertino's mobile payments tech is now available in Canada, so iPhone and Apple Watch users can pay for goods with those two devices at a smattering of retail locations. There is a catch, though: Apple Pay in the land of poutine only supports American Express right now. If you have one of those cards in your physical wallet, you'll now be able to add it to the Wallet app on your iPhone in iOS 9.1 for use at places like McDonald's and Tim Hortons (mmm, doughnuts). Bank-issued AmEx cards won't work right now either, just the ones issued directly from the credit card company. This means that most debit cards and bank-issued credit cards won't be compatible as a lot of Canadian banks use Visa or MasterCard. As was the case in the States and other countries, we'd surmise you can expect the list of participating banks and cards to expand in the weeks to come. [Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Here's what our readers think of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus aren't going to wow you with a new design -- that's not the point of Apple's 's' phones. Instead, they offer a lot of under-the-hood updates, including a faster processor, better cameras and the addition of a pressure-sensitive 3D Touch, leading our reviewer Chris Velazco to call the two phones "more than just a modest refresh." Now that many of our readers have gotten their mitts on one, we've taken a look at the user reviews to find out if the 6s and 6s Plus truly constitute a "worthy upgrade."
NVIDIA's new Shield Tablet is just like the old one, but cheaper
NVIDIA's first Shield tablet was a device that got almost everything right: The 8-inch slate had a crisp display flanked by twin speakers, a surprisingly precise built-in stylus and a powerful 192-core Kepler K1 processor. At the time, it was easily the best Android gaming device on the market, and a pretty darn good media tablet to boot -- but NVIDIA quietly put the Shield to pasture earlier this year. Is the company preparing to launch a new, more powerful Shield tablet? Nope: It's putting the same slate back on the market, albeit with a lower, $199 price tag and fewer bells and whistles.
MetroPCS' new music streaming product doesn't use up your data
If you're a music-loving MetroPCS customer, you'll want to know about this. The prepaid provider has just launched a new streaming product called "Music Unlimited" that gives you a way to access your subscriptions without going over your data cap. It's pretty much a repackaged version of its parent company's (that is, T-Mobile's) Music Freedom and comes bundled with the provider's $40, $50 and $60 plans. The carrier says it supports over 30 streaming services, including Apple Music, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Rhapsody and Spotify. In addition, MetroPCS has introduced a new feature called Data Maximizer -- its T-Mobile counterpart is Binge On -- that optimizes or crunches videos from select services, so you can watch much more without obliterating your data allowance. When these features go live on November 19th, the carrier will also boost its $40 and $50 plans with an additional 1GB of data and up its mobile hotspot's tethering cap from 6GB to 8GB. [Image credit: JeepersMedia/Flickr]
Apple Pay now supports TSB and Tesco Bank in the UK
Apple Pay is now firmly established in the UK, but since the service went live in July, a handful of banks have bided their time and left customers waiting for smartphone payments. Luckily, two more can be ticked off the list today after TSB and Tesco Bank confirmed they have enabled Apple Pay support for their payment cards.
Google's mobile app answers your complex questions
Google's mobile search app just got much better at handling the sort of detailed, nuanced questions you'd ask a real human. The Android and iOS software now does more to gauge the true intent of a question, including multi-layered questions that would previously have thrown it off -- ask for the population of a country in a specific year and you'll get the exact number you wanted. The app also understands superlatives like "biggest" or "smallest," and it knows how to deal with ordered items (say, the tallest buildings in the US). Google is quick to admit that its upgraded engine still makes mistakes, but it's good enough that you can expect useful results whether your requests are very specific or slightly fuzzy.
You get what you pay for with Walmart's $10 Android phone
Walmart is known for its heavily discounted goods, and in another display of price-slashing has just announced that it will sell two Android smartphones for $10 each. Prior to this offer, the cheapest smartphone on the market was the $35 Firefox OS phone. Wondering what you get for $10? Well, not a whole lot. Both TracFone LG handsets (the Sunrise L15G and Lucky LG16) offer low-grade specs and old software, running Android 4.4 KitKat, the version released two years ago. However for that price, you shouldn't expect them to run Marshmallow. You also get WiFi, but no 4G and no front-facing camera which means it's going to be a lot harder to take a selfie. On the plus side, the phones support a microSD card which means you can ramp up the measly 4GB of storage. With all that said, there's no clear difference between the two models as all the specs and software are the same. However, if you want a bare-bones yet functional smartphone for less than the price of dinner, we're sure you know where to find a Walmart. [Image credit: LG]
Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year is... an emoji
Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year is as much about capturing the cultural zeitgeist as it is reflecting the evolution of the English language, and that's truer than ever in 2015. For the first time ever, the institution chose emoji (the "tears of joy" icon you see above) to win the honor -- yes, actual words lost out. It's an odd decision, to put it mildly, but Oxford notes that the use of the word "emoji" more than tripled in the space of the past year, and the tears image was the most popular emoji worldwide.
Facebook truce with Google helps you find info on your phone
Facebook and Google are calling a partial truce in their longstanding feud, and that's good news if you've ever tried to track down a contact or status update. As of Friday, Facebook is letting Google index some of the public information within its mobile app, helping you search for that content on your phone. If you find someone's profile on Google, you'll now get a direct link to their page in the app instead of on the web. This won't help if you're looking for anything you'd only see while signed in (such as a privately shared post), but it'll make life a lot easier if you hate jumping back and forth between a browser and Facebook's native software.
Droid Turbo 2 review: What it lacks in style, it makes up for in power
Verizon's line of Droid phones just celebrated its sixth birthday, and what better way to celebrate than by releasing the best device to ever bear the Droid title? I jokingly called Motorola's Droid Turbo 2 "a Moto X Pure on steroids," but there's no denying it packs even more power than its predecessor into a body that's built to take a beating. Throw in a battery rated for 48 hours and we should be left with a phone that will make Moto X owners rue the day they whipped out their credit cards, right? Turns out, the answer's a little more complicated.
Microsoft's Lumia 950 is set for a November 20 launch on AT&T
The wait has been pretty agonizing (for some of you, anyway), but the first batch of Windows 10 phones is almost here. AT&T just announced that it'll be the first -- and possibly only -- carrier in the US to carry the new Lumia 950, which you'll be able order starting tomorrow ahead of a full-blown launch on November 20. Sadly, there's no word on whether AT&T will also carry the slightly bigger, slightly better Lumia 950XL; you might just have to get that thing unlocked straight from Microsoft.
Experts say phones need a 'bedtime mode' to fix our sleep
We've all done it: you've gone to bed early in order to catch up on some much needed sleep, only to lay there for hours staring at your phone until you're no longer tired. Some reports believe handsets shouldn't get all the blame for our poor sleep schedules, but we've known for some time that those glowing displays aren't helping. The best solution would be to turn devices off before going to bed, but leading sleep experts are also calling for device makers to include an automatic "bedtime mode" to help us drift off easier at night.
