Microsoft's Cortana is invading iOS and Android devices this Fall

You gotta love Microsoft's new direction of making sure their best software is available to users on any device and any platform. It seems their voice assistant Cortana is being readied to transcend platforms and has been confirmed to be headed to iPhones, iPads and Android devices as well as Windows 10 PCs.

Cortana is expected to come as a standalone app to rival operating systems in the fall (sorry, no BlackBerry version is planned). This will give users on iOS and Android anoter option to Siri or Google Now.

Source: The Verge

Google's going retail with a new online store as well as a physical pop-up store

Google has taken the wraps off a new online store to sell its various wares as well as a store-within-a-store in the UK. The new online store seems to have replaced the Google Play Devices section and now features various Nexus products and accessories as well as some Nest connected home sensors and whatever recent Android Wear smartwatches are available. Google supposedly outed the store when it announced the new Chromebook Pixel 2 but as I went to the Buy Now link on the Pixel's page I got a 404 Error page.

As for the store within a store, it will be housed within London's Currys PC World and will allow guests to sample Android and Chrome products as well as various technologies. This is an interesting move by Google, perhaps one that will grow into more pop-up locations and eventually full-fledged retail destinations like what Apple and Microsoft now have, who knows. 

Free TomTom Go Android app offers real-time traffic information for Canadians

TomTom Go is a new navigation app with real-time traffic tracking in Canada. People can now experience TomTom’s premium navigation and real-time traffic information, driving up to 75km every month at no additional cost. Drivers can upgrade to unlimited driving with a simple in app purchase.

“The TomTom GO Mobile app for Android is made for drivers who want to experience the best of TomTom on their smartphone,” says Corinne Vigreux, Managing Director, TomTom Consumer. “We entirely rethought our Mobile solution so every driver has the chance to try navigation with TomTom Traffic. Now all android owners can avoid the traffic jams and get to their destinations faster, every day.”

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Review: Google Nexus Player

 By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The Nexus Player is really a container for software, in this case, Lollipop. While some of it feels half-baked right now, I think that we can expect updates to improve the experience and add more compelling functionality in the future.

Google launched Android OS 5.0 Lollipop with three devices. The Nexus 6 phablet, the Nexus 9 tablet and the Nexus Player, which is a streaming set-top box, which runs on Android's Material Design UI.

Nexus Player, made by ASUS, is the evolution of Google TV, which was an earlier attempt at cashing in on the success of rival devices like Apple TV, ROKU and others. The device is powered by a 1.8 GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor.

Since Google launched the versatile and affordable Chromecast, which is a real game changer in the streaming devices market, it seems that Nexus Player is something of a Chromecast Plus, but is it really?

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