New Leaked Screenshots Show Off Some Of Project Hera’s App UI Redesigns

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You may have been hearing a lot about Project Hera recently, and we reported a few days ago about some of the details that revealed some of what Google’s plans were for this rumored new project to take place within Android in the future. There have been a few leaked screenshots to support some of the rumors that have been floating around the web and social feeds, and there are some new ones that leaked out today as well. To clear some things up, Project Hera is not a goal to bring a major redesign to the UI of Android itself as a whole, but rather the better part of Google Core apps(the major ones at least)as part of a bigger goal to unify multi-tasking across android, chrome, and search.

So far we have seen some screenshots leaked for Google’s gmail and calendar app, giving us a look at the supposed new UI refresh that we’ll see come along with the launch of hera. So far with this new leaked screenshot for gmail, when you compare it to the first one we saw earlier in the week, there is one minor change to the overall design. What we noticed is that in the new screenshot the contact markers that display who a particular email is from are presented with the familiar square shape that we see inside of the gmail app now, while the first screenshot we saw had them displayed as circles or bubbles like what we see inside of G+. Other than that everything looks pretty much the same as the last screenshot, but it looks a little different from the current gmail app that we have installed, as the red bar up top, along with a new more rounded edge gmail envelope icon that is displayed in the top left corner differ from the light gray bar and the current white gmail envelope icon we see now.

Now for the screenshots that leaked for the new calendar UI redesign. These come courtesy of Geek, and as you can see things look completely different than they do now. When you look at things from a month view with this new UI design, days are displayed in circle as opposed to the current rectangular shape, there is also the presence of the red circle in the bottom right corner which we can assume is the new button to add events or calendar entries. Currently when you to add a new entry in your calendar, you long press on the chosen date. You can also add one by hitting the menu button in the top right corner of the app and tapping new event. These screenshots if legitimate, prove that Google has more planned with Hera than just modifying bits and pieces of the app UIs. More is sure to develop on Project Hera in the coming days and weeks, so as we learn more we’ll update you.

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Rumor: Fully Functioning Project Ara Prototype To Be Shown Off This Month

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The latest on the details surrounding Google Project Ara suggests that the search giant could have a working prototype device ready to show off this month. We have already seen plenty about Project Ara from behind the scenes footage of the team and what they were working on to what some of the pieces look like, to a full non working dummy device to give us an idea of what the modular smartphone will look like once all put together. The Project Ara device was something that Motorola was working on in the advanced technology division before they were sold off to Lenovo, and even though Motorola is leaving Google, the advanced technology group and the Project Ara device are there to stay.

The modular smartphone project seeks to provide users with a device that they can essentially put together and build themselves, by giving them the choices to build a phone with the hardware and specs that they want, much like building a desktop PC with your choice of screen, processor, motherboard, etc. When a piece needs to be upgraded and swapped out, or if one needs a replacement, you can simply do so by popping off that module and putting a new one in. The modules are easily removable by the consumer as they’re held to the back of the phone by weak electro-permanent magnets that allow the pieces to pop right off.

It might still be some time before we see these in full production and ready to fit into consumers hands, but the hope for Google is to get a $50 WiFi only variant of the device up and running for testing in an area where WiFi hot spots are everywhere. This particular model would presumably be tested in some places like South or Central America where wifi hot spots are extremely common, and would consist of basically the WiFi module itself, the screen, the battery, and a basic processor and memory setup. Keeping the device as minimal as possible would allow Google to test the device at little cost to them, and if things go smoothly we would suspect they would begin to test more powerful and compatible options down the road.

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Nokia X Gets Fully Working AOSP Jelly Be an ROM

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The Nokia X may have been running a forked version of Android from the get go, but anyone who has been around Android long enough knows that someone would be most likely working tirelessly to get the device onto something a little more familiar. The downside for many with the Nokia X was that it wasn’t running native Android, so that meant no play store, no Google Apps and services, and really, just no Android like they’re used to. Thanks to the lovely folks over at XDA though, the Nokia X has been officially hacked and tweaked and is now able to proudly wear a custom ROM that is pure Android with all the fixins’. If you or someone you know has purchased a Nokia X and were waiting for this exact opportunity, this particular forum thread on how to flash a custom ROM to the device is worth a look.

If you were planning on rooting the Nokia X and flashing a custom ROM onto it from the day you decided to buy one, then we’ll go ahead and assume that you know already what the process of flashing custom ROMs entails, but just to be thorough, flashing a custom ROM onto a phone like this one for the Nokia X requires root access, and to do that you should have all the details you need from the same page where you can find the steps for the custom ROM. The ROM for the Nokia X was put together by an individual over at XDA who goes by the name of dhacker29, and the ROM was built using some of the source code from Aurora, which is AOSP.(android open source project)The ROM is stable enough to use as a daily driver so if you’re worried about all kinds of bugs and most things not working you can lay those fears to rest.

The ROM is based off of Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, so it’s older software but there should be no complaints considering what software you’re coming from. Network connectivity, multi SIM support, the FM radio, the camera, Bluetooth and GPS all seem to be working just fine says the developer, and that there are no known issues at this time. That doesn’t mean that something can’t pop up. Other inclusions here are obviously the Play Store, Google apps, and really the best parts of having stock android. If you’re wanting to give this a try head over to the XDA thread to get started.

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ATT Galaxy S 5 Pre-Orders Ship Without Download Booster Feature

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If you’re an ATT subscriber who pre-ordered a Galaxy S5, you may be met with some disappointment upon receiving your phone shipment through the mail if you were looking forward to the Download Booster feature. The feature, which Samsung openly praised and talked up during the MWC event in February is apparently completely absent on ATT models of the device. This was discovered by some customers who were already beginning to receive their phones and found the feature to be missing. While this may not be a problem for some, there will likely be some users who were actually excited to have this feature built into their device.

For those who are unaware, the Download Booster feature takes your LTE and WiFi connections and utilizes both of them to download files when you are downloading anything that amounts to over 30MB in size, provided you have the feature turned on of course. If you do, then essentially downloading an app that is a couple hundred megabytes in size would cause the Download Booster to kick in, and portions of the app files would be downloaded on each connection type, resulting in a largely faster download due to each connection picking up some of the slack. This takes all of the work off either connection. Customers would rightfully be more than a little upset about not having a certain feature that was advertised to them, but whether ATT had anything to do with their carrier model of the phone not having the feature or not, an update will probably come down the line that allows for it to be introduced.

It’s worth noting that carrier models of the HTC One M8 were also missing one of their big features, which was the Ultra Power Saving mode, however the Sprint variant of the device had received it during an OTA update this week, so there’s a really good chance that the ATT Galaxy S5 will end up with it’s own update pretty soon that brings along Download Booster for the ride. If you were looking forward to picking this up on ATT’s network specifically for this feature, it seems like you might have to be patient and wait for the update. If you really want the quicker download experience though you could resort to downloading an app like Super Download Fast, or Advanced Download Manager Pro, both which offer similar functions to Samsung’s download booster feature.

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Rick Osterloh Named President and COO of Motorola

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Back in February it was announced that the current CEO of Motorola, Dennis Woodside, was leaving the company and heading over to Dropbox in due time. Which we all thought was due to Lenovo buying Motorola. And it still could be. Today, Motorola announced that Rick Osterloh is now the President and COO at Motorola Mobility. Osterloh had been the Senior Vice President of Product for Motorola, that was until today. What this means is that Rick Osterloh was the one that helped reinvent Motorola with the Moto X and the Moto G. Rick Osterloh has been with the company for over seven years, so he definitely knows what he’s doing. We’ve got the full press release down below, since Motorola did pull it for some reason.

Here’s to a new COO at Motorola that can hopefully keep them on track with the next Moto X, Moto 360 and whatever other devices the company will be announcing later this year. We’re also expecting a new Moto G and a phablet from the company. It’ll be interesting to see if Osterloh is still COO when the deal with Lenovo goes through.

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A Moto insider to lead us forward

We’re excited to announce that Rick Osterloh has been named as President and COO of Motorola Mobility. Rick will assume the role today, reporting to the Motorola Operating Board at Google until the Lenovo acquisition is complete.

Rick is a Silicon Valley veteran and a familiar face across Motorola, where he has been leading all product management and helping to define the ‘go forward’ strategy for the past two years. Rick first joined the company 7 years ago when Motorola acquired Good, and he started Motorola down the Android path while managing product and engineering teams. Between stints here, Rick joined Skype, where he oversaw design and product for more than 250 million monthly users until it was acquired by Microsoft.

Since his return, Rick’s had a key role in the company’s reinvigoration. He’s been a guiding visionary on the entire product front and a passionate advocate for our philosophy to focus everything we do on the consumer experience.

I believe that Rick’s appointment provides the focused leadership and business continuity needed to steer the organization into the future, and I look forward to continuing in my role as Google liaison and advisor to Motorola through the transition period supporting Rick.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Rosenberg

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Chromecast’s Homescreen is about to get More Useful

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Chromecast, one of our favorite devices to come out in 2013. In fact it was named Gadget of the Year by many places. It’s a great little $35 HDMI dongle that works with most TV’s and allows you to stream content from your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. It’s also cross-platform, meaning that iOS users can use Chromecast as well. If you were to look at the Chromecast home screen right now, there wouldn’t be much information available. Mostly just the network it’s connected to and the time. Oh and the name of your Chromecast. But that’s about it. However that’s about to change soon.

According to a reddit user who was poking around in the source code for the Chromecast home screen, it looks like we’re getting more information on the home screen soon. There are some javascript references to icons in the source code, which lead to some weather icons, basically showing you the conditions outside. Rain, snow, sleet, etc. It also looks like we’re about to get some more choices in wallpapers for the home screen, but then again how much do you actually look at the home screen on the Chromecast? I know I don’t look at it that much.

While these new features aren’t exactly amazing, it’s still nice to have on the Chromecast. Although I really like the current home screen for the Chromecast since it is a very minimal home screen, only showing information you need to know. Like the fact that it is connected, and to which network it’s connected too. As well as the time. Chromecast is due to get some new features soon, and I can’t wait to see what else Google has planned for this device in the future as well. How many of you still haven’t picked up the Chromecast? Well what are you waiting on?

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T-Mobile announces new $40 Simple Starter Plan; Unlimited talk, text and 500MB of High-Speed Data

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Earlier this year, T-Mobile raised the data buckets on their $50 and $60 plans from 500MB and 1GB to 1GB and 3GB respectively. We all thought that was great, and well we still do. But now it makes even more sense as to why they did it. Today, T-Mobile announced a new plan that’s dubbed the “Simple Started Plan” which is priced at $40. And is essentially the old $50 Simple choice plan. For $40/month you’ll get unlimited talk and text, as well as 500MB of high-speed data. After you hit that 500MB limit, you will be throttled to 2G or EDGE speeds. Which aren’t ideal, but if you’re someone who is always on WiFi, then the $40 plan is a great choice. If you’re like me, and work from home, this new plan is amazing.

So now T-Mobile has four amazingly priced data plans. For $40 you get 500MB of data, $50 gets you 1GB, $60 gets you 3GB, $70 gets you 5GB, and $80 gets you unlimited data. All of these plans include unlimited talk and text as well. The $40, $50, $60, and $70 plan throttles you once you go over the specified limit, while the $80 unlimited does not throttle at all – well technically it throttles after around 10TB but good luck hitting that.

Don’t forget that the $40 is on top of the monthly price you are paying for your phone, unless you bought it unlocked or at full price. So for instance, if you were to buy the Galaxy S5 on “credit” you’d be paying $0 down for it and $27.50/month. Which would bring your total per month on the new plan to about $67.50 before taxes. Still not a bad price, and almost impossible to match with the other carriers.

T-Mobile continues to be aggressive with their pricing, and it won’t be long before we see their competitors get more aggressive as well. Which we’ve been seeing over the past few months. T-Mobile’s new $40 Simple Starter Plan will be available beginning on April 12th.

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