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Google is continuing its recent streak of updating core apps and services on Android today, rolling out updates to Chrome, Google Drive and Google Play Magazines. Following major updates to Talk (Hangouts), Google Play Music and Google Plus over the last week, a new batch of Android apps, including Chrome, Google Drive and Play Magazines, are getting the revamp treatment today. Major highlights include a card style UI for both Drive and Play Magazines, a full screen mode for Google Chrome, and bug fixes all around. The breakdown of exactly what each update contains is as follows: Chrome Fullscreen on phones – Scroll to hide the toolbar Simplified search – View and refine your query directly in the omnibox Tab history on tablets – Long press the browser’s back button to view your tab history Several stability improvements Google Drive New grid view makes it easier to find your files New quick preview lets you view photos and other files from within the app Scan documents, receipts and letters for safe keeping in Drive; then search by contents once uploaded Download a copy of files to your local device (Honeycomb+) Spreadsheet editor now supports changing fonts, colors and cell alignment View properties of files from within the editors Bug fixes and visual improvements Google Play Magazines Completely redone magazines library UI Bug fixes We’ve already discussed how Google used I/O to show off how their core services and apps are now separated from Android, allowing them to update your Android experience without updating the OS itself. Today’s round of updates further enforces this. Including these latest updates, Google has been able to update messaging, cloud storage, social networking, music and web browsing, all without updating Android itself. To grab the updated versions of Chrome, Drive and Play Magazines, hit up Google Play on your device now.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 on Verizon will finally arrive in stores tomorrow, but if you were looking to beat Big Red’s $199 on-contract price, Amazon is almost always a great place to look. And sure enough, Amazon is already offering the device for $179.99 with 2-year contract for both new customers and upgrades. In the [...] Amazon Selling Samsung Galaxy S4 on Verizon for $179 for New... Click the post title to continue through and join the conversation!

Anyone catch Verizon’s VivaMovil announcement earlier today? Do not worry if you missed it. It was kind of confusing on just what they were trying to do with that. For the good news that was talked about today, Verizon wants to improve their already dominant network coverage, with something called “Small Cells.” As you can see from the graphic above, these small cells are basically just smaller cell towers that will be placed in high traffic areas throughout cities. You will start seeing this small cells pop up in cities sometime in the second half of this year, and they will be implemented with Verizon’s Distributed Antenna System (DAS) to help penetrate those buildings that not even Superman can see through. With Verizon launching 6 more LTE markets this week, and now having 95% of their 3G covered by LTE, Big Red is just going to completely dominate the mobile world with their with their signal. Let us know what you guys think about this. Source: Verizon

The Google Glass Explorer program officially started last year at Google I/O where those in attendance were able to pre-order the next-gen wearable technology. However, for the rest of us[...]

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This week the folks from Google have been on a roll with software updates. After having a pretty mild Google I/O that was aimed at developers, we’re now seeing updates[...]

Samsung has reportedly made a major investment in rival South Korea-based smartphone maker Pantech. Yonhap News was first to report the news and it says Samsung spent roughly $50 million for 10% of the company. Samsung's motives are unclear, though the deal will reportedly "help further solidify bilateral cooperation in smartphone and other business areas." Pantech is currently the No.3 phone maker in South Korea behind Samsung and LG, and the new investment makes Samsung the company's third-largest shareholder behind Qualcomm and Korea Development Bank.

Podcast MP3 URL: http://traffic.libsyn.com/androidcentral/acpc136.mp3 Hi, everybody. This is where we normally would have show notes. This week, we leave you this witty paragraph instead. :)

Xbox One: Three-Way Software Solution Simplifies Interactions is a post by Travis Pope from Gotta Be Mobile.The operating system that powers Microsoft’s next-generation entertainment console, the Xbox One, is the device’s “game changer” according to Microsoft. The comment, which came by the way of an in-depth interview with Polygon, centered mostly on the operating system or rather “operating systems” that power the Xbox One’s various entertainment features. According to Bill Kilgore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business of which the Xbox is a part of inside Microsoft, it’s this combination of hardware and software that that will allow the company to innovate in the entertainment space for the “next decade”. “We have multiple operating systems that are able to co-exist to allow game developers  … to get exclusive access to a bunch of resources”, said Kilgore. During yesterday’s announcement of the Xbox One Microsoft revealed that the device would eschew what users had traditionally known as the Xbox Dashboard. Instead, the Xbox One uses three operating systems, Xbox OS, Windows 8 and a third operating system that acts as a middle-man in between the two. By doing this, Microsoft is able to hard limit the resources of each operating system and guarantee applications and games a consistent amount of processor capacity and RAM. This, and the system’s ability to allow users to switch between to each operating system easily means that users can open applications and games at the same time. That’s something that today’s Xbox doesn’t even come close to doing. Microsoft’s Phil Harrison calls this “fixed reservation” and says that it’ll provide users with an “absolute guarantee of performance”. Read: Xbox One 5 Exciting New Features This architecture is also what allows the Xbox One’s Kinect to function at all times. This Xbox and Kinect are able to interpret and constantly listen for commands thanks to the console’s dedicated processing power and low power state. That multitasking also extends to the way users save their progress, not only can users open applications whenever they choose, but changes to the way Microsoft saves games means that game saves will happen progressively. No matter what the user is doing, or when they stop playing, their game will be saved. Microsoft says that it will make the new Xbox One available to users sometime this year, however it has not disclosed when or home much it will cost.Xbox One: Three-Way Software Solution Simplifies Interactions is a post by Travis Pope from Gotta Be Mobile.

Verizon has been on a roll lately regarding their updates and continued improvements to their 4G LTE network, and today we have even more good news. Aside from the odd[...]