VEVO, Plex, Songza highlight list of 10 additions

Google this morning announced a new cadre of apps for its Chromecast streaming appliance — as well as the ability to cast local content to your TV.

The new apps include the likes of VEVO, Red Bull.TV, Songza, PostTV, Viki, Revision 3 and BeyondPod. And you'll be able to stream local media from your phone or tablet over Plex, Avia or RealPlayer Cloud.

Google says the new apps will be available "over the next few days."

Source: Google

$599 or €449 for oversized phone with rotating camera and CM support

As expected, the Oppo N1 has today gone on sale in the United States and Europe, where prices for the 16GB model start at $599 and €449 respectively — rising to $649 and €479 for the 32GB version. The latest high-end handset from the Chinese manufacturer, the N1 sports a 5.9-inch 1080p display, a rotating 13-megapixel camera for all your high-res selfie needs, and a 1.7GHz Snapdragon 600 processor with 2GB of RAM. Powering the phone is a capacious 3,610mAh battery.

Connectivity-wise, the N1 includes pentaband HSPA+ support up to 42Mbps as well as Bluetooth, NFC and Wifi Direct — though you'll be missing out on LTE support, putting the device at a significant disadvantage for Western buyers.

The Oppo N1 ships with the manufacturer's ColorOS software, based on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, but buyers will be easily switch to officially-supported CyanogenMod as an alternative OS — that's currently marked as "coming soon" on Oppo's site. (It's not to be confused with the limited run of "CM edition" N1s that run the community firmware out of the box.)

So it's fairly expensive and lacking in connectivity options compared to the competition, but there's no doubt that the N1 is a unique piece of technology. If you're picking one up today, shout out in the comments.

Source: Oppo Style

Google Glass actually is a decent little music player. OK, insofar as $1,500 face-mounted wearables go. The official Google Play Music Glassware app was made available on Dec. 2, along with $85 stereo earbuds that plug into Glass' USB port. 

Do the math, and that's damned near $1,600 to do what your phone and a $100 pair of headphones could accomplish. But that's not really the point. This is The Future we're talking about here.

So, we strap on and plug in.

Chipmaker Qualcomm has announced a new addition to its mid-to-entry-level chipset lineup, the Snapdragon 410. The new SoC supports 64-bit processing (a technology debuted in mobile on the iPhone 5s) and "world mode" 4G LTE capable of supporting "all major modes and frequency bands." It's targeted at devices around the $150 price point shipping in the second half of 2014 — so think the next generation of affordable Moto G-like handsets.

The Snapdragon 410 features an Adreno 306 GPU with support for 1080p video playback and up to a 13-megapixel camera. Other major bullet points include Qualcomm's RF360 solution for multi-band and multimode operation, as well as Wifi, Bluetooth, NFC and FM radio, in addition to GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou location support.

The announcement follows the first news of Qualcomm's new 4K-capable high-end chip, the Snapdragon 805, a couple of weeks back.

While the introduction of 64-bit processing and "world mode" LTE capabilities in a mid-level chip are exciting, it'll be up to manufacturers to use them to their fullest potential in future products. Nevertheless, it sounds like a solid platform for the next generation of low-cost handsets.

Samsung's latest Note inducted into '10 million seller' club

Not long after the company announced it had shipped 5 million Galaxy Note 3s worldwide, Samsung has revealed that the device has now passed the 10 million sold mark. The milestone earns the Galaxy Note 3 in the "10 million club," Samsung says, alongside recent successes like the earlier Galaxy S and Galaxy Note phones, and popular clamshell phones from the last decade. 

It's unclear whether this means 10 million Note 3 devices are in the hands of end-users around the world, or whether Samsung has sold this number of handsets to retailers and carrier partners. Either way, that's a lot of Note 3s in a relatively short space of time. By comparison, the Galaxy Note 2 had shifted 5 million units shortly before the end of its second month on sale.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 also earned the title of "best oversized phone" in our recent roundup of the best Android phones on the market.

Source: Samsung Tomorrow

Promises no connection fees and significantly lower per-minute charges than Skype

Viber, the popular cross-platform messaging and VOIP calling application, is rolling out their Viber Out service worldwide. The service uses credit purchased through in-app purchases, or via credit card for desktop users. Purchased minutes can be used on Android, iOS or the desktop client.

In addition, Viber is also adding more stickers to their paid Viber Sticker Market, and will continue to add more content.

The most interesting part — the rates — are detailed after the break along with the full press release.

Update to version SM-N900V brings bug fixes and enhancements, as well as new pre-installed applications

Details of the upcoming update for Verizon's Galaxy Note 3 have been posted. This happens when the update has been approved, and a general rollout to devices usually follows soon after. We expect this one to play out the same way.

The update is chock full of software fixes, including resolving the Bluetooth audio and email sync issues, as well as bringing improvements to sound quality and connectivity. In addition, Verizon has included some new applications for your pleasure. Hit the break for your full list.

Source: Verizon

Google Glass, still in its infancy, lends itself to unique experiences from all walks of life

Sometimes, there are no cut-and-dried answers. Or, if you prefer another cliche, the journey is what what's important, not the destination. Perhaps that's the point when it comes to Google Glass — the Borg-esque wearable computing accessory that can be described a million ways, but must be worn to truly experience.

Glass — aka Project Glass — was announced in typical Google fanfare at the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco in the summer of 2012. The Explorers program began in the spring of 2013, but Glass remained a pretty rare gadget. Part of that was the $1,500 price tag, but Google was limiting the number of folks in the Explorers program as well. Fast forward a year, and the number of Explorers has increased significantly. Early Explorers were allowed to invite friends. Those with Google Developer accounts came on board. More invites were served. Google Glass remains a pretty exclusive club, but one whose numbers are growing.

As unique as the Explorers themselves are the stories we have to tell. No two of us use Glass the same way. No two of us have the same experiences. We find similarities, sure. But for each one of us in the Explorers program, what we put into Glass — and what we get out of it — is what makes this endeavor so special.

These are our stories.

Turn your own uploaded photo spheres into an interactive map you can share with anyone

There is no Street View of Sleepy Creek Lake in eastern West Virginia. Shame, because it's really a beautiful place. Up until today, I could say it was because Google just hasn't made it 30 miles into the back country along Jeep trails and dirt roads to get the imagery. If you've been there, you wouldn't blame them.

But with today's news, the onus is on me to make some Street Views for my old fishing hole, as well as any other place I like to go — all using my own pictures and photo spheres. It's a new feature in Google's mapping Views community, where users have been able to upload and share their own photo spheres for a while.

Today's update brings a new tool that allows you to stitch your photo spheres together, and build your own interactive map. It really is just like Street View — the same drag handles and panning gestures are there, and clicking that far off point at the edge of the view zooms you right over. It impressed me, and it will probably impress you.

The full instructions to get started, post your photo spheres, publish them and share them are listed at the source link. The next time you're visiting somewhere that needs to be shared, think about using this method to share it.

Source: Google