Firechat Enables Cross-Platform, Off-The-Grid Chat Between iOS And Android

Open Garden’s Firechat was one of the first — if not the first — application to make use of Apple’s new multi-peer mesh networking capabilities. This enabled its users to anonymously chat with each other, even when there was no Internet connection available. Because Android doesn’t offer this feature, Open Garden then used its own networking tech to enable this same feature on Google’s operating system a few weeks later, but at the time, there was no way for Android and iOS phones to talk to each other.

With today’s update to Firechat — which the team decided to brand Firechat <3 — that’s changing. Android and iOS users can now chat on the same off-the-grid mesh network. This will make Firechat, which has seen some pretty nice growth since its launch, significantly more interesting.

The obvious question here is how the team managed to create a bridge between its own Android mesh network and Apple’s multi-peer technology. Sadly, that’s exactly what the team doesn’t want to talk about, except for saying that the service uses peer-to-peer Wi-Fi and the Bluetooth personal area network. Open Garden has developed quite a bit of in-house knowledge about mesh networking over the last two years, so if anybody could build this, it was probably this team.

Open Garden’s sales and marketing vice president Christophe Daligault was able to share that the team is working on an SDK that will soon bring its Firechat and Open Garden technology for third-party apps.

The idea here would be to give third-party apps a third on-ramp to the Internet in addition to Wi-Fi and the cellular network. So even when there is no network available, users may be able to either get online through other Open Garden users or connect to other users off-the-grid. It’s unclear how exactly the company will charge for this service, but Daligault tells me it will likely price the events that come through the SDK.

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Fleksy Builds A Texting App For The Samsung Gear 2 Smartwatch

Virtual keyboard startup Fleksy is pumped about iOS 8 and working on a beta of its software now that Apple has relaxed the platform restrictions on third-party keyboards. But that hasn’t stopped it from giving love to other platforms, too. Today, Fleksy is unveiling a full-fledged SMS messaging app for the Samsung Gear 2 smartwatch, which runs on Tizen and syncs with a user’s Android phone to facilitate back-and-forth sending, composing and receiving of SMS texts.

This marks a departure from Fleksy’s usual focus on dedicated keyboard software; the app uses Fleksy’s unique keyboard design, of course, which uses algorithmic prediction to make it so that a user theoretically doesn’t even have to look at their wrist. The app goes beyond that, however, giving users a way to see how they might be able to take advantage of Fleksy’s tech to do real work and actually input text even on small wrist-mounted screens that seem best designed for reading off brief snippets of information.

“When the first smartphones came out, many thought typing on glass would be impossible,” Fleksy co-founder and COO Ioannis Verdelis explained via email. “Fleksy’s next generation technology is now redefining the use case and capabilities of wearable technology, and we are hugely excited to be doing this with Samsung Gear 2.”

Fleksy isn’t the only virtual keyboard company targeting devices beyond smartphones and tablets, of course; Toronto startup Minuum has released a smartwatch version of its own minimal keyboard software, too. Arguably it’s a bigger opportunity than traditional mobile devices. Interfaces for wearables and other connected gadgets don’t necessarily have default input methods yet, meaning a startup like Fleksy could win the lion’s share of consumer attention, whereas it’ll always be an uphill battle on platforms like iOS and Android where the default is often good enough for most.

The Fleksy Messenger app is available to Samsung Gear 2 owners via the Samsung Apps marketplace as a free download, and requires a Gear 2-compatible smartphone to work.

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OnLive Is Now Streaming Top-Tier Games To The Wikipad Gaming Tablet

Remember OnLive? Despite a messy sale to escape a dark and stormy financial picture, the company lives on, and in March it launched its new CloudLift subscription gaming service. Today, it’s partnering with Wikipad, maker of the dedicated Android gaming tablet, to deliver full AAA PC gaming to the tablet. OnLive already offers this to any Android device with access to Google Play via its app, but the version for Wikipad is optimized, with special support for its dedicated built-in gaming controller.

The Wikipad 7 will be the first to get the OnLive treatment, but support will also be extended to Wikipad’s forthcoming Gamevice hardware, which adds a detachable gamepad to any tablet that wants one. The game streaming from OnLive can be paired with the CloudLift subscription service which makes it possible for players to pick up right where they left off on their home gaming rigs thanks to cloud-based save states and metadata.

It’s a move that should add value to both Wikipad’s business and OnLive’s user base, but in the end it’s unlikely to prove truly game-changing to either. Especially as players like Nvidia are moving to create their own streaming game services like GRID, the system that works in the same way as OnLive but with the backing of one of the biggest mobile chip and graphics card makers in the world.

It has yet to prove itself a sizeable business for anyone involved, however, which could just be a case of the tech (especially on the user end) needing to play catch-up with the service.

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A Sneak Peek Into Android’s Future

Google is giving its apps and platforms, including Android, a big redesign, according to a recent report posted on Android Police, which backs up some things we had been hearing as well, but hadn’t fleshed out until now.

According to the new report, Google is working on a new design language focused on giving all Google apps a more unified look-and-feel across the web, Android and iOS.

But these visual changes are only the beginning of what’s in store for Android, we’ve learned.

You can see where Google is headed, design-wise, by looking at the card-style layout of something like Google Now, for example, or this leaked screenshot of a revamped Gmail app and mobile website.

The Android Police post indicates that this new design framework is code-named “Quantum Paper,” which they describe as “a hugely ambitious project, looking to unify and codify paradigms for visual, motion, and interaction design across all platforms, including web, Android, and iOS.”

We’ve also learned that Google is now starting to release Quantum to top developers and design firms, on a private one-on-one basis for testing purposes. (This could also explain how details are leaking out.)

If Quantum is an early version of Google’s new design guidelines, a related project called Polymer is a framework that can help developers to meet those guidelines.

Polymer offers a prototyping tool that lets you build responsive websites using predefined, customizable building blocks. (Google talked about Polymer at last year’s Google I/O. This video, around the 1:04:00 mark, has more.) Polymer is already here on GitHub, but it’s incomplete.

Internally, Quantum is being built with a different prototyping tool, which is used to make the user interface/user experience design for Android, but that tool will not be open-sourced like Polymer is.

We may hear more about Polymer at this year’s I/O conference, which we’ve heard will emphasize design. Sources say that Google is feeling the pressure of Apple getting better at infrastructure faster than it’s getting better at design.

The idea with Polymer is that developers could build reusable elements. For example, a  element would render whatever you’ve designated as a piechart whenever it’s called.

Already, Polymer can be seen influencing Google apps’ design, as in those screenshots of the Gmail makeover leaked earlier. The leaks show new iconography and design choices, some of which are already found in the Polymer designer tool.

Of course, to what extent or when any of this will come to Android, the platform itself, is still unknown.

But AndroidPolice pegs the arrival of the Quantum framework for Android when the “L” release debuts (we’re on K, or “KitKat,” now). At that point, there will be a new series of guidelines for developers called the “Quantum Paper Spec,” which will speak to overall approach and best uses for the various elements, they report.

We’ve also heard that unifying the design language across platforms is just the first step when it comes to the future of Android.

That part is about getting one universal look and feel for all Google platforms and services – and even those built by third-party developers, with the arrival of the new design guidelines. (And, as AndroidPolice points out, the framework will include interface, motion and interaction, as well.)

Much further down the road, though, the idea is to make over Android not only to resemble something like Google Now with a card-like design, but also to make Android itself more like Google Now.

This mobile assistant technology for Android and iOS today brings users information just when they need it, including things like weather, stock changes, sports scores, birthday reminders, traffic reports and more, as well as information gleaned from Google’s own services like Gmail and Google Calendar, such as meeting reminders, shipment notifications for packages, details about restaurant reservations or upcoming flights.

Google sees “Google Now” as having the potential to shape Android itself, potentially operating in a way that’s more visible to end users than it is today, where it’s typically activated with a swipe gesture, launched after a user taps on one of the Google Now notifications, or discovered via the Google Search app.

In a future version of Android, third-party apps will plug themselves into a Google Now-like architecture in order to surface the data they contain in Google Now’s eerily predictive way. Google Now works with Google’s own services and other data it can extract from your Gmail, like OpenTable reservations, for example.

Google currently works with third parties who markup their emails to users to be indexable by Google Now. But opening it up to third-party mobile app makers could make the assistant a better competitor to Apple’s Siri, which is also just now working on more third-party integrations for its own assistant, including, most recently, integration with Shazam for identifying songs.

If Google Now became more integrated into Android, the OS might function more like one of those contextual homescreen/launchers, like Aviate (acquired by Yahoo) or Cover, which place relevant apps on Android’s lockscreen.

The difference is that Google Now would not be just a layer on top of the OS, but a deeper part of the OS that’s capable of gathering data from the apps that run upon it and using that data to provide users with relevant, timely information and intelligent suggestions.

Step one, magical, creepy assistance; step two, magical, creepy ads?

There’s also some speculation out there that Polymer (the framework)’s role in this Google Now-ish version of Android could be to help Google better index mobile applications.

Today, mobile app indexing is just getting off the ground. Google initially introduced mobile deep linking this past fall, which allows Google search results to point directly to pages within an application. In April, it then expanded its lineup of supported apps.

It’s rumored that with Polymer, Google will be able to better index apps, as well, as its crawler technology would be trained to identify and understand the various Polymer elements. For example, if it saw a list element, it would know how to surface the list’s values in an indexable way. If this rumor is true, it could possibly hint at Google doing something in Android with hybrid apps, those that take advantage of web components (HTML5/JS/CSS). If they were more indexable by Google search engines, that would make sense.

This smarter, more “Google Now”-ish version of Android is not something that’s arriving any time soon from what we’ve heard. But one day, it could tie into and incorporate data and information from more than just your Google apps and your phone.

With Google’s smartwatch platform, and presence in your home (thanks to Nest), Google’s potential data sources — and therefore, its personalization capabilities — expand.

Image credits: AndroidPolice.com; Geek.com; Polymer-project.org, Geek.com again

IMAGE BY Bryce Durbin

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Hands On With The Galaxy Tab S, Coming To The U.S. June 27

Samsung has a new tablet, and the company is framing this as their new flagship slate line. The Galaxy Tab S was unveiled at an event last week, and brings an ultra-thin design and a super high-resolution display to Samsung’s Android-powered tablets. In both 8.4 and 10.5-inch flavors, these tablets promise dynamic screens that change their settings depending on content types. The Tab S hits the U.S. starting June 27, with a retail price of $399.99 and $499.99 for Wi-Fi versions of the 8.4 and 10.5 respectively.

We’ll have full reviews forthcoming for the new tablets, but for now I got to spend a limited amount of hands-on time with the Tab S 8.4. Samsung is making a lot of marketing claims around this device, suggesting it’s something that injects some genuine fresh energy into its tablet lineup, but does it live up to those claims? We’ll require more time with the gadget, but initial impressions reveal that Samsung’s highlight features on this tablet are indeed highlights.

The screen on the Galaxy Tab S really is amazing in person. It has a 2560 x 1600 screen that uses SuperAMOLED tech to delivery crazy contrast and color – but at times this can go too far, depending on your tastes. Oversaturation is an issue, with colors that are exaggerated over what you can actually find in real life. Some people love this, though, and the demo videos included on the slate really do pop on that screen. Detail is crisp and clear, but for most standard 1080 videos you might not get as impressive results. It should still be an extremely solid media playback device, however you slice it.

The weight and thinness of the device is also very impressive on first encounter, despite the fact that the construction is still plastic and shares the somewhat blah design chops of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy S5. It’s better looking than either of these somehow (might be the solid edging) and the portability is tremendous.

OS and software are still going to be important factors in the overall picture, and we haven’t had time to give those a full run-through yet, but Samsung has made some decidedly impressive technical improvements to its Tabs based on first impressions.

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Nike+ FuelBand App Now Available On Android

Nike has made the companion app for its FuelBand and FuelBand SE activity tracking wristbands available to Android users finally, two years after it first introduced the hardware and its apps for iOS devices. The companion app provides access to NikeFuel score information and history, and makes it so that your Android device can connect to your FuelBand as long as it has Bluetooth LE capabilities.

The app is compatible with Android Jelly Bean 4.3 and higher, and supports only a few handsets at launch, including the Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4, and Galaxy S5, as well as the HTC One, Nexus 5 and the Moto X. It’s an English-only app, and is available in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany and Japan from the Play Store now.

Other features for those new to the FuelBand world include the ability to track and receive progress updates for a daily NikeFuel goal, tracking by individual session, the new “Win the Hour” feature for FuelBand SE owners, leaderboard with friends, syncing in the background over Bluetooth LE and more.

Nike’s FuelBand has been the subject of a host of recent reports, including one involving layoffs in the company’s hardware department that led many to believe it would end the FuelBand program altogether. The new app for Android indicates that at the very least, the company is continuing to work on software to support existing devices. In fact, its arrival on Android runs somewhat counter to recent reports that Nike and Apple would be working closely together on upcoming fitness-tracking initiatives, with Nike focusing on software while Apple tackles hardware, presumably through an upcoming wearable.

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Xyo Debuts An Alternative To Google Play’s App Store, Focused On Discovery

A number of companies have tried their hand at introducing their own app-discovery services as alternatives to the default mobile app stores, like iTunes or Google Play. Some have been fortunate to find an exit (like Chomp or Hubbl), when all was said and done. But few have managed to establish significant user bases of their own. Today, a company called Xyo is giving app discovery another shot with its first consumer-facing app offering a better way to search Android applications, like those found on Google Play.

But this time, there’s a twist.

Though the Xyo app is live on Google Play, the app itself is really more of a showcase of the technology that Xyo has developed.

While certainly generating consumer interest in the new Xyo app search service would be nice, the company’s real business model involves licensing its technology to partners. In fact, Xyo already has several partners lined up who will pre-load this new app on their devices (though Xyo isn’t permitted to disclose names at this time). And, as a part of the pre-load deal, Xyo will promote other apps from the partners in the recommendations it serves.

The company also does revenue-sharing for its app advertising services, so its potential partners have an incentive to promote the app. In addition, says Xyo co-founder Matthaus Krzykowski, the plan is to roll out other incentivization schemes in the future that will give the partners even more reasons to promote the app after it’s pre-installed.

As for the app itself, Xyo offers a touch-centric way to browse an app store without having to type. Instead, a user flicks through the app suggestions Xyo provides, which are based on 400 different signals – far more than many competing app stores and discovery services offer today. Badges in the top-left will help end users to better understand why each app was recommended.

For example, a new game might be recommended to you because you play “Candy Crush,” while others might just be suggested because they’re just universally popular.

The early results are promising. Says Krzykowski, users who have been testing the app browse over 30 apps per session without having to type a search query.

One of the interesting things about the Xyo technology, now over three years in development, is its understanding of narrow and even niche app subcategories. Only in the recent iOS 8 update did Apple introduce a longer list of subcategories for the applications it showcases on the iTunes App Store. Meanwhile, Google Play hasn’t implemented subcategories in its top-level navigation outside of the “Games” category.

But Xyo offers over 1,000 subcategories, which its system is able to automatically detect. And as you browse through the app, you’re also able to tap on these subcategories to dive into their “stream” as well as bookmark them in order to save them on the app’s homepage.

Xyo’s technology is available to its partners in a variety of different integration points - phones, tablets, app stores, messaging apps, watches, browsers and cameras. The company has particular traction for these integrations in Asia, and by next month, Xyo will be able to announce it has a top five global carrier as a partner, too.

While testing the app myself, I found the experience of browsing through Xyo very fluid and fast, and because of the way Xyo groups the apps, it’s easy to actually find new applications and games you may like to try. That being said, I’m still interested in seeing the top-ranked apps in a given app store or category, and this isn’t something an app discovery service provides. I’d likely return to Google Play at some point, as opposed to using Xyo for everything but the final download. (The app redirects to Google Play for installs.)

I’m not alone in having a hard time giving up Google Play. It’s very difficult to get a consumer to switch from the default app store for an alternative, studies have shown. That’s one of the reasons why Appsfire exited the app-discovery business last year to focus on native ads, and why others in the space have business models that no longer rely on consumer adoption, like Xplode.

Sometimes they go deep on a particular niche, like Appolearning does for education. But rarely do you see a pitch for a pure consumer play in app discovery these days, and Xyo, despite the fact it has a new consumer-facing app, is no exception.

You can check out the Xyo app for yourself here.

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