chadwiki-blog

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Internet Cult Image Credits: Slawekgruca  

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Google Now Launcher - Review

Google's new launcher for Android is based around its popular intelligent personal assistant and context-aware service, Google Now. After installing an Android KitKat 4.4.2 ROM on my Samsung Galaxy S3, I was able to take a first-hand look at the new Google Now Launcher.

First Impressions

At first glance, the launcher appears no different than the standard stock launchers on Galaxy Devices, but without the extra widgets preloaded. A non-scrollable dock sits below the home screen and a Google Search box is positioned at the top.

Google Now

Google Now has become one of my favorite tools for finding information quickly. I could go on about how useful and effective Google Now can be for managing your life, however; I believe I'll save those descriptions for another post to do it justice.

The familiar Google Now interface, which replaced Google Search a while back when Google Apps were updated, can be accessed in a number of ways. Google Now can be accessed by swiping to the right on the home screen, tapping the Search box, pressing the hardware shortcut key (typically a long-press of the menu button) or via hot-word detection.

OK Google

The biggest feature of Google Now Launcher is its hot-word detection. Anytime you're viewing a home screen on the Google Now Launcher you can activate Google Now speech recognition by speaking the hot-word: "OK Google."

Considerations

With hot-word detection always on I can't help but wonder what impact this may have on my device's battery. I suspect many users may have privacy concerns about Google Now always listening through the device's microphone.

Google Now Launcher is very responsive, however; it lacks the customization options that Android users have come to expect from their home screens. I'll withhold my rating of Google Now Launcher until the next update. I'm hoping that Google with implement some the launcher's missing features with future releases.

-Chadwiki

Resources: Google Play: Google Now Launcher - Install https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.launcher

Image Credits: CC via Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nexus_4

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Here are the official stats for the Samsung Galaxy S5's most important features (via Samsung Galaxy S5 - Official Device Stats - News - Bubblews) Fingerprint scanner included!

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"After months of anticipation, Samsung has officially announced the Samsung Galaxy S5 at the Mobile World Congress event. Over the recent weeks many supposed "leaks" were found with information regarding the new GS5 device -- but now Samsung released official information on the new device..." READ MORE (via Samsung Galaxy S5 is Official - News - Bubblews)

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(via Mozilla to Release $25 Smartphone - News - Bubblews)

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"Official information about the Nokia X has finally been released during the Mobile World Congress on Monday. The new Nokia X will be an Android device -- yet the user interface will slightly resemble a Windows Phone 8 device..." Read More (via Nokia X will run on Android Operating System - News - Bubblews)

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Read More (via Microsoft Bigger than Blackberry -- Mobile World Congress - News - Bubblews)

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The Mobile World Conference in Barcelona will help set the state for the industries growth and development over 2014. The event will showcase initiatives that are important to the mobile industry. It will also highlight how mobile is playing a big role in other industries.

Mobile World Conference - Barcelona - News

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While 76% of Tumblr's data requests were responded to, the Tumblr Staff blog posted on Monday that "the remaining requests (24%) were illegal, vague, or inaccurate—so we refused to provide any data at all." (Read More via Tumblr Received 462 Requests for User Data in 2013 - News - Bubblews)

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SpringPad is a great resource for taking quick notes and capturing information on the go. Using the Getting Things Done vision by David Allen, SpringPad becomes an amazing productivity enhancement tool.

Read More via Getting Things Done with SpringPad

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The Incoming Items designation of David Allen's Getting Things Done vision involves the most organization and sorting. Quickly adding items to your tool or paper lists using "Incoming Items," "In" or "Quick Adds" helps you get the important information down without categorizing it yet... (Read More via Getting Things Done - Incoming Items - News - Bubblews)

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Getting Things Done is more than just an expression. According to the creator of GTD, David Allen, organizing the tasks of your daily life can significantly increase your productivity.... ( Read More via Getting Things Done - Productivity Enhancement - News - Bubblews)

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The Yelp app provides you with an amazing resource to find, discover and share restaurants and businesses in own community as well as when visiting new places. Yelp also features an Augmentedreality AR feature it calls 'Monocle'... Read More (via Yelp App -- The Social Network for Foodies - News - Bubblews)

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Just open the app and scan the barcode when checking out -- all by yourself! No more handing cards or cash to the cashiers!

Starbucks App - Gotta Love It - News - Bubblews

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Kodu is a video game that helps you develop your own games -- or as kids like to call it, the "video-game maker game." Developed by Microsoft's FUSE Labs, Kodu is available on Windows and Xbox and features an intuitive and fun experience to kids and adults alike...

Read More

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Live Chat Support

Offering live chat support on your company's website helps increase overall customer satisfaction and loyalty. If you're looking for a low-to-no cost solution for customer service, you may consider embedding a chat widget on your website. While you and your company may not have the resources to custom-code a live chat tool, there are many chat service providers available on the Web. After you've signed up with a chat service, you can easily generate the HTML code for a chat widget and embed it into your website...

Read More

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LinkedIn enables you to search for jobs using your iPhone or Android device. You can download the LinkedIn mobile app and sign into your account to get started today. One of the benefits of using LinkedIn to browse for job postings is the ability to automatically populate application form fields using your LinkedIn account information...

Read More: LinkedIn Mobile Job Applications