Google has been working on a voice assistant service similar to Apple’s Siri and last we heard it was going to be called Majel (named after the woman who provided the voice of the Federation Computer on Star Trek). According to the latest rumors, that name seems to have been dropped in favor of the simpler “Assistant.” This information comes via an unnamed source who spoke with TechCrunch about the project. The project, which is being led by the Android team along with the help of search engineer Amit Singhal, is expected to launch Q4 and includes three core layers to achieve its goals:
We have some good news for anyone interested in the world of app development. App Inventor has returned! For anyone who remembers, App Inventor was a way for your average person to learn about development while creating simple apps using a drag-and-drop concept. A year and many cat apps later, App Inventor was discontinued by Google and open-sourced for anyone looking to further its development. Being an educational tool, it wasn’t surprising when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) decided to scoop it up and continue the work Google started. Fast-forward to today, and the first beta-version of MIT App Inventor is ready for download to anyone with a Google account.
At this year’s Mobile World Congress, Google all but confirmed that Android’s next iteration would be named Jelly Bean. Of course it’s still unofficial, but even Benson Lin, Asus’ Corporate Vice President, is talking about it and has every intention of being the first on the upgrade list.
At this year’s Mobile World Congress, HTC unveiled their future One series lineup of smartphones boasting some impressive camera specs. HTC improved every part of the camera from lens to software, and even went as far as to integrate their own custom HTC ImageChip. With a new f/2.0 lens, HDR technology and their new ImageSense camera suite, HTC set out to create a smartphone camera that could quickly capture any moment, in any condition, with superb results. The claims were grand, the results… well, see for yourself.
The mid-range affordable myTouch series has passed hands a couple of times and it appears the next installment will be manufactured by Chinese company Huawei. Images of these future myTouch devices popped up over at PocketNow and are identical minus one having a physical keyboard. Dubbed the U8680 and U8730, these two T-Mobile bound devices are said to be rocking Gingerbread and a WVGA (480×800) resolution display. Other than that, not much is revealed.
