Google has revealed its Android numbers for the period ending 4 January 2016. The data, collected from the Google Play Store app includes adoption figures for Android's latest operating system, Marshmallow, and previous versions. Android Lollipop adoption is now present on 32.6 % Android devices, up from 29.5 % in December. Android Marshmallow on the other hand is performing dismally. The latest Android OS is present in only 0.7 % of Android devices, from 0.5 % last month. Even with its impressive features, users have not taken to Marshmallow in a big way. It is worth noting that...
Adobe Premiere, the popular video editor, has introduced its Premier Clip app to Android. The app has been available on iOS since last year but it is making its entry to Android only now. The advancement in smartphone cameras has made it possible for users to shoot high definition and some even 4K videos using their smartphones. What has not caught up is video-editing software for smartphones. The ones that are available are either atrociously bad, have terrible UI or they crash before completing the edit, making it impossible to complete an entire short film edit or music video,...
Google has opened its Google app to beta testers, bumping it from version 5.3 to 5.4. It is not clear yet what the plan is from Google, but one can speculate that it has something up its sleeve. The Google app is a significant part of the Android ecosystem. With the app, users can perform voice commands, and access Google Now, Now on Tap (if running Marshmallow), traffic updates, sport updates, news alerts, etc. There is no indication of a major overhaul of the current app, but a beta test usually hints at an ambition to introduce new capabilities for...
Welcome to Weekly Roundup, our podcast discussing the tech trends, innovation and news from the last few days. This week on BurnCast, Stuart Thomas, Jacques Coetzee, Graham van de Made and Andy Walker discuss the Google event, Takealot, Edward Snowden and the Tesla Model X. Earlier this week, Google laid out the red carpet and announced new devices. You can watch the event here. Amongst the exciting announcements Google made were new Nexus devices: the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, and its Google Pixel C. The team discusses the possibility of the Nexus devices coming to South Africa, the similarities of...
At last night’s Google Nexus event, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that Android now has more than 1.4-billion active users. That's 400-million up from the one-billion it had at the same time last year. Speaking at the event, Pichai said "The scale at which everything is working is pretty breath taking to see" Pichai also highlighted the growth of Android in developing markets like Indonesia and Vietman. The number of Android users in those two countries has doubled in a year, he said. Pichai suggested that increasingly affordable Android devices and the launch of Android One are at the heart of...
Google Maps has always been about giving users more than detailed directions, and now it seems to be heading into Zomato’s territory. The internet giant announced that Google Maps on Android is receiving an update to its explore feature that will give users curated restaurant recommendations. Google says that the update will allow Android users in the US and UK to enjoy curated restaurant recommendations from Google Maps. The recommendations have options like Lunch, Breakfast, Drinks, Dinner, Best spots for dinner with kids this weekend. Read more: Uber and Zomato tie-up to simplify booking taxis to restaurants, even...
First announced in May this year, Microsoft has finally launched Cortana for Android devices in public beta. Some of the digital assistant's features include searching the web by voice command, setting reminders and alarms, making calls by voice and voice texting. Similar to Apple's Siri and Google Now, Cortana also gets to know the user over time by keeping track of their interests and providing them with relevant content. Read more: Microsoft’s Cortana whips Apple’s Siri in this new Windows Phone ad Microsoft says that since it launched the closed beta, it has made several improvements. Some of these include the ability to...
Google has revealed that the latest version of its Android operating system is called Marshmallow. Set for release in the next few months, Google teased the new operating system -- code-named M -- some time ago. As it has done with the previous few Android releases though, Google kept the name under tight wraps. Along with the name, and an official lawn statue, Google also announced that the launch of the official Android 6.0 SDK and opened Google Play up for publishing apps that target the new API level 23 in Android Marshmallow. Read more: Google launches Android Experiments to...
If nothing else, it appears that apps are going to make us magicians who can flatten landscapes with a tap on our device screens. This is only seems like a far-fetched idea if you have not seen what the new Android Experiments launched by Google yesterday look like. The apps feature are not at all new but they are a blueprint of what apps can become. Android Experiments is a platform to celebrate the creative, experimental Android work of developers everywhere. It is also a way to inspire more developers to get creative with technology and code. Read more: Wits...
Google did not disclose Android adoption numbers for June. There was no explanation as to why that was, but now it has released new numbers for the period ending 3 August 2015. Since the last time these adoption numbers were released, there has bee a 5.7 % increase in Lollipop adoption. In June, Lollipop was sitting at 12.40 % and now it has jumped to 18.1 %. Android Lollipop 5.0 is present on 15.5 % devices whilst 5.1 is only present 2.6 %. Google’s Android Lollipop roll out was quite slow in the beginning and even though it has been...
Google has introduced an new feature to Google Now that makes it easier to send an instant message without actually having to type them on your mobile. Since released in 2012, the intelligent mobile assistant has been excellent at aggregating relevant content. Though it has been lacking in other areas. Sending quick emails, using Hangouts or text messages have not been very intuitive nor user friendly. The latest update of the Siri and Cortana contender allows users to dictate and send messages through multiple third party messaging apps. For now these include WhatsApp, Viber, NextPlus, Telegram and WeChat. Read more: Google revamps...
Truecaller, the Swedish company behind apps like Truecaller and Truedialler, has launched a new Android app called Truemessenger. The app is aimed at making SMS smarter and spam-free. Truemessenger utilises the company’s network of users to verify the identify of those who send text messages. The app, like Truecaller, identifies the sender of the SMS and detect, block or report spam, fraud, telemarketing, sales, and unknown phone numbers. Read more: Why ecommerce companies need to reassess the ‘traditional’ call centre If a user marks a number as a source of spam Truemessenger saves this contact as a spammer. It then uses this...
The race between Apple and Android continues and has been going on for a long time and still not a clear winner. This quarter the one OS wins, the next quarter the other one does. According to new research, Android appears to be edging Apple slightly, at least in the US. The research from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech looks at the last three months ending May 2015. The research shows that Android continues to reclaim market share in the US, increasing by 2.8 percentage points to 64.9%. The same research also point out that Android is not doing as well...
Buying a new smartphone can be difficult. Even if you buy something low-end, you're likely to be outlaying a fairly significant amount of capital. Google has attempted to take a little pain out of the process with the launch of Which Android, a tool which aims to help you decide which Android device you should buy. The site starts off by getting you to select a number of categories for what you're likely to use your phone for, including music, fitness, being productive, social media and gaming. From there, you're asked to get a little more specific around those...
Instagram has expanded its ad product offering as it looks become a financially viable entity. The Facebook-owned company announced on its blog that it is making advertising available to businesses of all shapes and sizes. Instagram’s announcement comes at a time of significant growth at the company. Instagram has expanded the offering to eight countries around the globe, and the social networking site is one of the most popular for brand marketing today. This system enables businesses to target marketing at their direct user base. This also means that users who want to get in touch with small, medium...
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