News

Google App Streaming to phones

Google is introducing a new way for you to use apps temporarily on your phone without having to permanently download and install the app. Search results from certain sites will give you streamed versions of their mobile apps that let you do everything you need without a permanent download. Google now has over 100 billion deep links into apps in their index - including some popular apps like Facebook, Instagram, Airbnb or Pinterest. The feature is still in beta testing with a handful of titles right now, but Google is promising to expand the selection over time. the benefit to the user - you only need to 'install' that app for that brief moment when you really need it.

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Google Updates Maps with Offline Capabilities and a New Open API

Last week, Google launched offline navigation capabilities for Maps. Available for everyone on Android and coming to iOS soon, the new offline capability allows users to download cities, counties or countries for turn-by-turn navigation and search functionality without an Internet connection. The company also unveiled a new open API, which grants third-party developers access to Google Maps' predictive travel times.

Facebook and Google Unveil Innovations in Artificial Intelligence

Facebook demonstrated its latest work in artificial intelligence - a mobile helper-tool called Visual Q&A. The technology allows users to ask questions about photos on Facebook using their voice and receive audible responses about the photo. While Facebook isn't releasing VQA to the public just yet, the technology could have a major impact down the road for blind or low-vision users (among other possibilities). VQA builds on Facebook's long-term investment in AI research and development.

Meanwhile, Google announced a new AI tool called Smart Reply, which provides automatic responses to emails. Gmail's new feature interprets emails and generates three responses, which users can choose from. And for messages that are more complex, Google's AI tool will get a response email started and let you do the rest.

Windows 10 for Mobile Coming to Lumia 950 and 950 XL

Microsoft's new smartphones, the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, are set to launch next month. They will be the only devices to run on the mobile version of Windows 10, at least for awhile. Windows 10 for mobile will begin rolling out to the new smartphones in December. The upgrade will only be available for devices running on Lumia Denim.

Google Increases the APK File Size Limit for Anroid Apps

In addition to the myriad of announcements from Google's Nexus event, the company also announced that it has increased the APK file size limit from 50MB to 100MB in order to allow developers to create richer apps. The increase went into effect last week, which means more powerful apps will likely be appearing in the Google Play Store soon.