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Apple TV universal search now supports Apple Music, TBS and more
As Apple continues to improve the one-stop streaming experience of Apple TV and its standalone TV app, the much-hyped universal search has finally added enough partners to make it a robust and useful feature. With a few updates this week, universal search on the fourth generation Apple TV now supports over 50 different streaming apps and services in the US -- meaning you can search for shows and content across Netflix, Apple Music, Animal Planet, TNT, TBS and dozens more right from Siri or the Search app.
Atlas Recall is a cross-platform search with a big caveat
Imagine if you had a personal assistant that was constantly taking screenshots of everything you looked at on your computer and filing them away for future reference. Then imagine if you could call upon that assistant to pull up that obscure Wikipedia page you were looking at while you were working on your business proposal at 3 PM yesterday. That tool now exists, and it's called Atlas Recall.
FCC needs more time to make its set-top box rules a reality
Earlier this month, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler floated a plan to get cable companies to drop locked-down set-top boxes in favor of apps that customers could download to their device of choice. The proposed rules also included a much needed universal search function that would allow customers to browse programming options from their cable provider as well as streaming sources like Hulu and Netflix. While it seemed that both the FCC and cable companies were on board with Wheeler's compromise plan, today's scheduled vote on the new rules has been delayed indefinitely.
Google connects Netflix to Android TV's universal search
Nearly two years after we first got our hands on the platform, Android TV is integrating Netflix with its universal search. Just last year we were complaining about the search on NVIDIA's Shield TV because it could only show results from YouTube, Hulu or Google's Play Store, and now that's fixed. Also, it's available on every Android TV device, so you shouldn't have to wait for an update before it starts working.
New Apple TV reportedly starts at $149, packs universal search
No, the torrent of rumors surrounding the next Apple TV hasn't ended yet. Sources for both 9to5Mac and BuzzFeed News now believe that the media hub will start at $149 -- still much higher than Apple TV boxes from recent memory, but better than the $199 mentioned in the past. Whether or not that's your only option is up in the air, though. Apple has reportedly "considered" a two-tier lineup with both a base 8GB model and a 16GB option for those who want to run more apps. It may just as easily offer a lone 16GB version at that price, though, so don't count on anything just yet.
Apple adds Samsung's Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 10.1 to ongoing patent lawsuit
The Apple v. Samsung patent war that will seemingly never end has taken another turn today, as Apple is asking the court to add newer Samsung Galaxy hardware, including the Galaxy S III, Verizon Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 10.1 to its complaint against the Galaxy Nexus and other related devices. If you thought updated software and designs would keep these newer smartphones and tablets out of the fight -- you were wrong. Just to help you keep things straight, remember this is a separate case from the one that ended exactly a week ago with a decision in Apple's favor to the tune of more than $1 billion in damages. At issue here are eight of Apple's utility patents that it says Samsung has infringed upon. The headliner patents at issue are '721 which covers slide to unlock, and '604, which could apply to the universal search feature Samsung has been pulling from its phones recently. Another familiar entry is the '647 patent Apple slapped HTC with in 2010, which has a vague description but applies to clicking on a phone number in an email, for example, to call it. You can read the details on each and every one in the PDF linked below, we'll be doing... anything else.
T-Mobile's latest Galaxy S II update silently removed 'universal search' feature
As you may or may not know, there's been an issue related to the universal search feature inside a region-specific batch of Samsung Galaxy S IIIs; with the Korean company going as far as "inadvertently" removing it from some Euro handsets a while back, before eventually bringing it back to life. Now, thanks to great, thorough inspecting by the folks from Android Police, it appears T-Mobile's S II flavor is the latest galactic slab to have such searching trait completely wiped out from the device. Apparently, this took place during the T989UVLH1 update from T-Mo a couple of days ago, but much to everyone's surprise, mentions of any "universal search" tweaks were nowhere to be found on the changelog. More importantly, how's it looking on your end? Do let us know in the comments below.
Samsung Galaxy S III recovers universal search box in OTA update to European handsets
Samsung promised -- and it's already delivered. Galaxy S III-toting Brits should wake up to yet another OTA update for their smartphone, which throws in some stability improvements alongside the returning universal search feature that polls your phone's entire contents for results. Users can check their settings menu for the lightweight 5MB download now.
Samsung: Galaxy S III's universal search function 'inadvertently removed', will return to UK models in the next few days
After being unceremoniously stripped in a recent OTA update, Samsung has told TechRadar that the Galaxy S III's universal search function will return -- at least in the UK. A spokesperson for Samsung said that the "inadvertent removal" will be remedied in the "correct software upgrade" over the next few days. It sends a mixed message on why the feature was removed in the first place -- and makes us wonder whether the search box will ever return to the Sprint iteration any time soon. Still, it's good news for anyone that's having trouble keeping tabs on all those Angry Birds iterations. Gotta finish 'em all.
Samsung Galaxy S III update sheds universal search feature on international model
The Sprint flavor of Samsung's latest flagship isn't the only one to feel the gentle tug of patent warfare. According to Android Central (and several XDA Developers forum members), the latest OTA update for the international (i9300) version also does away with the universal search function, which browses your phone's contacts and apps for results -- and drew Apple's ire. The new search box now offers web-only results, with the 27MB update also tinkering with the default browser layout. You may also find yourself back using Samsung's homemade keyboard UI after resetting -- though this can be quickly remedied in settings. Reduced functionality aside, if you like your smartphones legally sound, the update can be grabbed through the phone or Samsung's Kies software.
Samsung drops universal search from Sprint's Galaxy S III
Sprint's latest OTA update to its new flagship jewel, the Galaxy S III, addressed some security niggles, but the download remained otherwise fuzzy on the details. It now appears the update also nixes the universal search function, meaning the handy box now directs to the web upon entry. It's likely a response to recent legal hairpulling between Apple and the Samsung-made Galaxy Nexus -- a phone which has the very same search capabilities. As Android Central notes, those looking to return the search option can hit up a download of the previous version in their forums. Visit the source to grab it while you can.
Comcast 'Xcalibur' test program brings web video, unified search to cable boxes
There's not a lot of details available yet, but according to the Wall Street Journal, Comcast has begun testing features that rival what Google TV and TiVo are doing in the living room by letting cable set-top boxes access streaming video from the internet. Known to participants in Augusta, Georgia as Spectrum and within the company as Xcalibur it combines a DVR with unified search across cable VOD and the internet, plus social media tie-ins, but does not include a full web browser. So far the available content is described only as "limited," so we're going to guess that Netflix isn't on the menu but with rumors indicating it could launch to other areas in 2011 it could very soon be taking its place as the next Xfinity branded tie-in next to current efforts bringing TV content to iOS , Android and other platforms.
Google TV demo shows off Dish Network integration, universal search (video)
For those still wavering over the possibility of dropping a few Ben Franklins on something rocking the Google TV logo this fall, maybe the best idea is to get to know this new flavor of Android a bit better. StuffWeLike grabbed video of a Comic-Con 2010 demo that showed off its universal search in a level of detail we hadn't previously seen. Our earlier hands-on with Google TV partner Logitech (also included after the break) focused mostly on its ability to control other devices, but this has a decided emphasis on the user interface and what Google brings to HDTVs, particularly when fully tied in to Dish Network's DVR, and its ability to shift seamlessly from internet to live or recorded TV and back. The second half of the video shifts the focus to the Google Queue, a single menu for DVR recordings and podcasts (video or audio.) The camera's a bit jerky, but there's plenty of info in those menus flashing by including icons for previously announced apps from Netflix and Pandora and an inadvertent cameo from vlogger RayWJ about two and a half minutes in.
Palm enabling webOS apps to interact with Universal Search, dock mode?
When our own esteemed Paul Miller cracked the mystery that allows the Motorola Droid to behave differently when docked than when in the hand, it took a little of the magic out the switch. However, that doesn't diminish from its utility, and it's a feature that could be coming to webOS. PreCentral.net received a screenshot from a developer highlighting two new options for webOS apps: Universal Search-enabled and Dock-enabled. The first surely means that apps can provide content based on Universal Search queries, and we're going to go ahead and guess that the second enables an app to look and behave differently when docked. The question is: what's the dock? Is it just the Touchstone, or are there more docks coming? Here's to hoping.
iPhone OS 4.0 spotlight lets you directly search web, Wikipedia
Apple did quite a bit today bringing its iPhone OS up to feature parity (and sometimes beyond) when compared with other modern smartphone platforms, and here's one piece not discussed today that we've been long wanting: web and Wikipedia search directly from Spotlight. WebOS and Windows Phone 7 have had it since inception, and Android's had it since Donut, and we're pretty happy to say that our OS 4.0-equipped iPhone is now also among the ranks, just 13 months after it first got a search bar. There you have it, folks, iPhone Spotlight is now useful. [Thanks, Randy]
More Palm Pre emulator videos emerge: universal search, calendar, and email (oh my)
Oh look, another set of Palm Pre / webOS emulator videos care of TheInvisibleMan of PalmPreForum.org. This time we get a new two-part Q&A session and a glance at the calendar, PDF viewer, phone, e-mail, and universal search, which as the name suggests not only searches locally on the phone but also lets you run that query through Google, Google Maps, Wikipedia, and Twitter -- something iPhone OS 3.0's local-only spotlight frustratingly lacks. That said, we can see ourselves being bothered by the apparent inability to open PDFs directly from the browser, and it looks like the email client might not group threads together. A major bummer if that's the case, but this is an early emulator, so we're holding onto the tiniest bit of hope that changes somewhere down the line. Like before, we've gone ahead and grouped all the new videos in a playlist after the break.
