Daily News Courier

iOS 6 Alarm Feature Will Let You Wake Up With iTunes Music

AppleInsider reports today that the iOS alarm feature is set to be updated with one of the 200 new features that Apple is introducing with iOS 6, and I think this is going to be a particularly popular one. Currently, you can only select from a list of staple iOS ringtones, or buy and download a ringtone from the App Store, to wake you up, but iOS 6 will have an option for you to pick a song from your iTunes playlist to wake you up, instead of any of the above, via the Sound option, when you are setting a new alarm time or editing a time that you already have set. The Clock app, of which the alarm feature is just one part, is of course already very popular on the iPhone, and will soon be coming to the iPad for the first time, as part of the iOS 6 update. AppleInsider says that the in-house Apple iPad Clock app will have this new iTunes song alarm feature right out of the box.

Source: Apple’s new iPhone and iOS 6 will wake you up to your favorite song

LG rolls out software update offering QuickMemo feature to L series

Starting today, LG is pushing out a new software update to its L series of Android smartphones, which includes the L3, L5, and L7.

Facebook iOS App Gets Save Posts Feature in Update

iMore reports today that the Facebook iOS app has just been updated with a new feature that gives you the ability to save posts for later. As iMore explains, it turns out that the feature works in a similar way to ?favouriting? a post in other such services. When you find a post in the Facebook iOS app that you like and want to save, just touch and hold the post, and you will then be prompted by a pop-up message to ?Save? the post, which you can do by selecting the message. Once you have ?Saved? a post, you can then scroll through your saved posts later as they will have their own feed in your Favourites folder. If you want to remove the posts from the Saved folder because you don?t want to keep them anymore, you simply have to ?Unsave? them. And you can rest assured that all your Saved stories are private!

Source: Facebook for iPhone and iPad gains a new "save for later" feature | iMore.com

Verizon entices feature phone users with Pantech Marauder for $50 on contract

One of Verizon’s goals is to persuade feature phone owners to adopt smartphones, which will lead to increased revenue over the duration of a two year contract. However, most refrain from purchasing a smartphone because of how intimidating one can seem, but Pantech looks to change that with its latest Marauder for Verizon 4G LTE.

Running Android 4.0, the Pantech Marauder offers two options for its UI: Starter or Standard mode.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 gets unboxed, revealed to contain 2GB RAM and phone connection feature

The tale of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet is an interesting one.

Ouya, the $99 Android gaming console, doubles Kickstarter goal and starts taking feature requests

The folks behind Ouya just wanted to build a gaming console. They showed a flashy concept video, trotted out their experienced product designers, and then asked Kickstarter for $950,000 to make their dream a reality. Less than 24 hours later, the project had more than doubled it’s original funding request (more than $2.6 million has been pledged at the time of this post being published).

Ouya is naturally thrilled to have this level of success. Only 2,500 of the 20,000 backer slots at the $99 level remain, so head over to the Kickstarter page and see if you might want to throw a few bucks their way to get an Android-based console built to enhance mobile game developers’ efforts to put their wares on TV screens. While you’re there, think up some features you’d like to see because the developers want to know what you want to have. UPDATE: To deal with demand, Ouya has increased the total number of $99 Kickstarter slots to 80,000, of which 57,000 have already been selected.

An update to the Kickstarter page reveals that the Ouya team are already dreaming up what else they can do now that they’ve raised all of this additional money. In the meantime, they have encouraged backers to offer suggestions about the type of things they’d like to see happen. Ideas include earlier access to the SDK for developers and another person suggests using that cash to attract bigger name developers to support the console. I’d personally say it’s better to seed out some of that money to indie developers more likely to embrace Ouya, or perhaps invest more in developer relations. A SurveyMonkey page linked on the Kickstarter lets users list the games and styles they’d like to see supported, so you can specify which developers you think should be targeted.

[Ouya Kickstarter]

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Ouya, the $99 Android gaming console, doubles Kickstarter goal and starts taking feature requests

The folks behind Ouya just wanted to build a gaming console. They showed a flashy concept video, trotted out their experienced product designers, and then asked Kickstarter for $950,000 to make their dream a reality. Less than 24 hours later, the project had more than doubled it’s original funding request (more than $2.6 million has been pledged at the time of this post being published).

Ouya is naturally thrilled to have this level of success. Only 2,500 of the 20,000 backer slots at the $99 level remain, so head over to the Kickstarter page and see if you might want to throw a few bucks their way to get an Android-based console built to enhance mobile game developers’ efforts to put their wares on TV screens. While you’re there, think up some features you’d like to see because the developers want to know what you want to have. UPDATE: To deal with demand, Ouya has increased the total number of $99 Kickstarter slots to 80,000, of which 57,000 have already been selected.

An update to the Kickstarter page reveals that the Ouya team are already dreaming up what else they can do now that they’ve raised all of this additional money. In the meantime, they have encouraged backers to offer suggestions about the type of things they’d like to see happen. Ideas include earlier access to the SDK for developers and another person suggests using that cash to attract bigger name developers to support the console. I’d personally say it’s better to seed out some of that money to indie developers more likely to embrace Ouya, or perhaps invest more in developer relations. A SurveyMonkey page linked on the Kickstarter lets users list the games and styles they’d like to see supported, so you can specify which developers you think should be targeted.

[Ouya Kickstarter]

Related Stories

• Dead Trigger brings FPS zombie action to Google Play for $0.99
• Temple Run: Brave puts a Disney Pixar twist on a popular running game
• Max Payne Android game finally Bullet Times into Google Play

Jelly Bean feature: A buttery new home screen launcher

Following its total re-vamp in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Google has spent the past six months fine-tuning the stock Android launcher in version 4.1, Jelly Bean. A couple of changes to the way icons and widgets are added and managed, in addition to some serious speed improvements, make for a much more usable launcher in the new version of Android.

Firstly, home screen elements now intelligently move and resize each other to fit into the allocated space on the home screen. For example, if there's a stray icon in the way of a large widget you want to place down, you're no longer required to move or delete it before doing so. Instead, the Jelly Bean launcher lets you bump existing elements out of the way as you drag new stuff onto the screen.  (You'll know if something's about to be moved, as it'll wiggle ever so slightly in its new position.) Similarly, you can also budge icons and widgets around when resizing existing stuff.

The second big launcher change in Jelly Bean is probably the most noticeable — the improvement in speed, as part of what Google's dubbed "Project Butter". This is the overarching name for all the different techniques that've been employed to improve perceived performance by cutting down on lag and stuttery transition animations, and the impact on the launcher is dramatic to say the least. The 3D app drawer animation, previously prone to lag in ICS, is silky smooth in Jelly Bean. And live wallpapers which slowed things to a crawl on Android 4.0 now glide along effortlessly.

For a complete walkthrough of the new and improved Android 4.1 Jelly Bean launcher on the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7, check out our hands-on video after the break. And be sure to check out our other Jelly Bean feature showcases if you haven't already.

read more

Jelly Bean feature: A buttery new home screen launcher

Following its total re-vamp in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Google has spent the past six months fine-tuning the stock Android launcher in version 4.1, Jelly Bean. A couple of changes to the way icons and widgets are added and managed, in addition to some serious speed improvements, make for a much more usable launcher in the new version of Android.

Firstly, home screen elements now intelligently move and resize each other to fit into the allocated space on the home screen. For example, if there's a stray icon in the way of a large widget you want to place down, you're no longer required to move or delete it before doing so. Instead, the Jelly Bean launcher lets you bump existing elements out of the way as you drag new stuff onto the screen.  (You'll know if something's about to be moved, as it'll wiggle ever so slightly in its new position.) Similarly, you can also budge icons and widgets around when resizing existing stuff.

The second big launcher change in Jelly Bean is probably the most noticeable — the improvement in speed, as part of what Google's dubbed "Project Butter". This is the overarching name for all the different techniques that've been employed to improve perceived performance by cutting down on lag and stuttery transition animations, and the impact on the launcher is dramatic to say the least. The 3D app drawer animation, previously prone to lag in ICS, is silky smooth in Jelly Bean. And live wallpapers which slowed things to a crawl on Android 4.0 now glide along effortlessly.

For a complete walkthrough of the new and improved Android 4.1 Jelly Bean launcher on the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7, check out our hands-on video after the break. And be sure to check out our other Jelly Bean feature showcases if you haven't already.

read more

New iOS 6 Maps Feature Packs Some Amazing Functionality; Includes Siri Integration

Apple’s new iOS 6 announcement came with a host of new features. One of the most intriguing ones is their new Maps functionality. As rumored previously, the new Maps functions in iOS 6 will include 3D maps and turn-by-turn navigation. However, that’s not all! There are a few more juicy tidbits included as well, including full Siri integration. That’s right. You will be able to ask Siri for directions and she will direct you where to go. The feature is voice-enabled through Siri, and includes location-based information for drivers with a real-time traffic service. This service will provide incident reports using anonymous location data from iOS users to keep information up to date. Impressive!

Probably the most stunning feature of this Maps service will be Flyover. This feature displays highly-detailed 3D models of famous cities around the world, and they will be accessed directly in the application. Way to take things to the next level literally Apple!