New App Called Cast Store Makes it Easy to find new Apps for Chromecast

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Last month the Chromecast SDK was finally released, which was great to see and we started seeing a bunch of new apps with Chromecast support popping up on the Play Store. Google has even added a section on Google Play for Chromecast apps. Although not all Chromecast apps are in that section, which makes it a bit difficult to find, at times. However, there is a new app available called Cast Store, which aims to be an app store for Chromecast.

It’s a very slick looking app which allows you to find Chromecast appson the Play Store. Basically you can find an app, tap on it and it’ll take you into the Google Play Store for downloading. As Google wouldn’t allow the app in the Play Store if it could download apps onto your device. Which is why the Amazon App Store and the Samsung Gear Manager are not in the Play Store, and have to be sideloaded.

Some of the features of Cast Store include sorting apps by adding time, name and rating. As well as add apps to a favorite list, read short descriptions about the apps, see which app is already installed on your device, be up-to-date with the news feed, see how many apps have every category, and see the ratings for each app. Like i stated above, it’s a very nice looking app, complete with the Cards UI which we first saw in Google Now. I’m a huge fan of that UI, so I’m definitely liking this app. I’m excited to see what other kinds of apps we see gain Chromecast support, maybe some more games will support Chromecast? Now that would be pretty awesome.

For those of you that have not bought a Chromecast yet, you can buy it right here from Amazon. How many of you are going to take the Cast Store for a spin?

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PocketCasts Updates to Version 4.5 Bringing Chromecast Support and More

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Many will argue that PocketCasts is one of the best Podcast apps out there, and I’d definitely agree. It is one of the best, if not the best. The UI is amazing, the functionality is amazing as well. However, it’s not free. It does cost $4, which I definitely think is worth it. Last night, Shifty Jelly – the company that makes PocketCasts – released version 4.5 of PocketCasts with a pretty big changelog, the most important part of that changelog was Chromecast support. But let’s take a minute and go over the entire changelog.

PocketCasts have added Chromecast support so you can send your podcast to your TV to watch or listen too. There’s also a new Up Next Playlist which allows you to flick right on the now playing screen and see what’s up next. You can also re-arrange items to your hearts content and quickly skip between them as well. Colorful Awesomeness, many podcasts like our own have their own artwork, so PocketCasts can now automatically detect colors from the artwork and brighten the interface in subtle, but powerful ways. Modern Android interface, Since PocketCasts 4 has come out, Android has made some changes to the design guideline, so PocketCasts has updated to reflect those changes. They’ve also re-written many parts of the app to make it load faster, more robust and better than ever before. There’s over a million little details that have gone into this update they can’t wait for all of us to experience it.

With PocketCasts you can sync your podcasts across devices. That even works if you own a iPad or iPhone, because it’s cross platform. Additionally, it’s really easy to discover new podcasts, or listen to some of your favorites. But we all know your favorite is The Android Headlines Show, am I right? You can download it from the source link down below.

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Deal: ASUS MeMO Pad 8 16GB for $179

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The ASUS MeMO Pad 8 is definitely not a powerhouse like their Transformer Pad TF701, but it will still get the job done. It has a 8-inch 1280×800 IPS display, quad-core AMD Processor clocked at 1.6GHz, 5MP camera on the back and a 1.2MP front-facing camera. It also has Android 4.2.2 on board, which it should be getting upgraded to Android 4.4 soon, or at least we are hoping it does. It also has 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot. I reviewed the 7-inch version of the MeMO Pad and it was pretty nice, but it’s definitely not a high-end tablet.

The ASUS MeMO Pad 8 is on sale now for about $50 off, which isn’t a whole lot, but it’s something. If you’re looking for a nice 8-inch tablet, there’s not much to choose from. Just the MeMO Pad 8, Galaxy Note 8 and the LG G Pad 8.3. All of which are differently spec’d and were released at different times. The MeMO Pad 8 weighs about 0.8 pounds as well, making it pretty light weight.

Anyone out there planning on picking up the ASUS MeMO Pad 8 from Amazon? Be sure to let us know in the comments down below.

ASUS MeMO Pad 8 16GB Tablet (ME180A-A1-WH) White

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Samsung Releases the Gear 2 Tizen SDK

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As promised, Samsung has just released their Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo SDK, for those developers looking to develop some apps for the new wearables from Samsung, or just play around with the SDK. It is a Tizen SDK, so it’s a bit different than if it were running Android. You can also find it at the Tizen developer site, which is linked in the source down below. At Mobile World Congress last month, Samsung announced three new wearables. The Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit. Effectively removing “Galaxy” from their name. So you probably still hear a lot of people saying “Galaxy Gear 2″ out of force of habit. Which is understandable.

Samsung is calling this the Tizen SDK for Wearables. Samsung is also bragging about over 100 partnerships already, including apps like Atooma, Banjo, Dacadoo, EasilyDo, Feedly, Focus Trainer, Glympse, iHeartRadio, iwunta, Life360, Runtastic, Sleep Genius, Vivino, CNN, eBay, Flick Dat, Expedia, and many more.

The Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo and Gear Fit we’re expecting to be available alongside the Galaxy S5 next month. Which it will be available on 6 different carriers in the US. Including AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint, MetroPCS and US Cellular. And I’m sure a few more regional and prepaid carriers will jump on-board as the Galaxy S5 gets a bit older, and a bit cheaper. The only downside about all of Samsung’s wearables, is that they only are compatible with Samsung devices. So if you want to pick up the Gear Fit – Like myself – you’d also have to pick up a Galaxy S5 or another Samsung device, unfortunately.

How many of you are excited to see what kind of apps we see on these new Gear wearables from Samsung now that the SDK is available? I’d love to see things like Foursquare and Yelp available, it would be pretty awesome. Let us know in the comments below.

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Samsung Reportedly Having Issues Manufacturing the Galaxy S5 Camera

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Reportedly, Samsung is having issues manufacturing the Galaxy S5′s camera. Why? Well because Samsung decided to go from a 5-lens array which you see in just about every other smartphone, to a 6-lens array. Which we just learned this morning that OnePlus is doing with their phone. Which this required the Samsung engineers to make these lens all thinner so it could fit in the same space. However, as is probably very obvious, the thinner you go the more likely there are to be flaws, and right now the rumors and reports are informing us that yield rates are down around 20-30%.

The biggest feature on the Galaxy S5 is the camera, at least in my opinion. The other stuff like the heart rate sensor and the fingerprint reader are cool, but the camera on the Galaxy S5 is just plain amazing. Even if you head over to Samsung’s site and check out the Galaxy S5′s features, right at the top, you’ll see the camera and all it’s features. So Samsung is really touting this new camera, as they should. It’s a fantastic 16-megapixel camera with all kinds of amazing technology inside. And it’s definitely one area where they need to hit it out of the park, since they’ve been hyping it up so much and even saying that it’s the “best smartphone camera” on the market.

Sources are telling us that Samsung has been keeping employees staked-out at the facilities of its lens manufacturing partners, doing on-site quality control and trying to keep the Galaxy S5′s release on schedule. Samsung stated at Unpacked in Barcelona that the Galaxy S5 will be launching in 150 countries on April 11th, it’s still likely that they’ll be available by then. But I have a feeling that they were hoping to get a few regions the Galaxy S5 ahead of that launch, as we’ve already heard some countries will be getting it as soon as next month.

Hopefully Samsung won’t have to delay the Galaxy S5 launch. But in the worse case scenario and they do, we’ll be sure to keep you updated.

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HTC Releases Another Technical Translations Teasers – This Time it’s Zoe’s

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One of the more popular features of the HTC One was the highlights Zoe. It was actually pretty cool. I’ll admit when they first announced it I though it was a gimmick. But after I got some time with the device, I realized it was anything but a gimmick. Lately, HTC has been releasing these teaser videos in preparation of their HTC One 2014 event next Tuesday. They’ve already done a Technical Translation with Boomsound and the build quality of the HTC One. Now they’ve turned their attention over to Zoe.

The video from HTC tells us that the HTC One is “so smart it takes really, really smart people to make it.” You’ll also see the engineer offer his take on Zoe, which is then followed by the simplified version. This is the technical translation part of the video. HTC refers to the latter as being offered by an interpreter. HTC is showing the current version of the HTC One, the 2013 version. But around the 1:07 mark you can see the new HTC One which they are announcing next week, but as expected HTC has it blurred out so you can’t see it. They also introduce it as “The All New HTC One” so there’s that. There is also some beeping over the comments when referring to the new HTC One.

Between the beeps, a few things slip out like “allows for”, “as well as supporting” and “allowing for”. HTC ends the video by reminding us to stay tuned for March 25th. Which is their HTC One event in both London and New York City. Which we are definitely excited for, and can’t wait to get the new HTC One announced.

The new HTC One is going to be announced next week, and we basically already know there is a T-Mobile and AT&T version. But I’m pretty sure there will also be a Verizon, Sprint and probably a US Cellular version as well. Who’s excited?

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Vodafone UK to Sell Copper Gold Version of the Galaxy S5 Exclusively

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Samsung’s latest and greatest Android smartphone, the Galaxy S5, is inching closer and closer to store shelves all over the world. With that of course, comes the carrier exclusive deals and incentives that networks all over the globe will use to get people to choose them to purchase what is essentially, the exact same phone offered by everyone else. A few years ago, each US carrier had their own version of a smartphone, with the original Galaxy S being a poignant example. Now though, the same phone is available to practically anyone, which is the way it’s been in the UK forever, pretty much. That doesn’t mean that networks across the pond won’t be able to get a little bit of exclusivity, though.

The Copper Gold version of the Galaxy S5 is going to be exclusive to Vodafone in the UK, and our UK readers might be surprised to hear that the network will have all other colors in stock as well, if gold isn’t their cup of tea. Colors have been used as exclusives for some time in the UK, with Phones 4 U bagging the very good looking Red version of the HTC One last year and the Xperia Z2 will only be available in certain colors from certain networks. Realistically though, it all comes down to how good their network is, and how good their coverage is. As a UK resident myself, I can say that Vodafone would work relatively well for me, with decent coverage in the places that matter to me, but I wouldn’t sign on the dotted line simple for a gold version of the device.

The Galaxy S5 goes up for pre-order in the UK from March 28th and while there’s no word on pricing or anything just yet, we wouldn’t expect the Galaxy S5 to be what you’d call “affordable”, but then again no smartphone is these days at launch. We love to hear from our readers all over the globe, so if you’re in the UK, let us know which network you’re thinking of getting the Galaxy S5 on – if at all!

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