Android Wear 2.0, Planet of the Apps, and more: Mobile buzz of the week

The lines between digital, mobile, technology and apps are blurring in today’s world. We at Robosoft are keen followers of developments in this arena. Here’s a quick summary of what’s buzzing:

Apple concludes filming ‘Planet of the Apps’

Last week Apple finished filming its ‘Planet of the Apps’ series. According to a source of MacRumors, the set was absolutely beautiful and no one would have seen something like it ever in any other competition show. Apple being well known for their design, it’s not too hard to believe the source. It’s also reported that more than 100,000 apps were submitted to the show but only about a hundred were selected for filming. Although the filming has finished, Apple hasn’t revealed the day the show would debut.

Android Wear 2.0 announced

Source: TechCrunch

After the initial Developer Previews, the much-awaited Android Wear 2.0 is now official. Here are the highlights of the new features that you would observe:

• Standalone apps – Now your Android wear can have its own fully functional app, so you don’t have to depend on your smartphone anymore to sync data.
• New UI – For a smoother experience, Google has also redesigned the UI, so now it sports a darker colour palette.
• Less intrusive notifications – In place of a large card, the new version of the Android Wear would now have a smaller notification icon that will display full notification when you raise your watch.
• Messaging – Google has ported its full Android input method framework into Wear 2.0, which means developers can create their own custom messaging inputs, as well as build on the default methods.
• Mobile payments – Android Wear 2.0 smart watches can now be used to make mobile payments using Android Pay in countries that support this technology.
• Google Assistant – With the upgrade, Android smartwatch users can now make use of Google Assistant.
• Watch face complications – Google has introduced a new API called Complication for the developers, which will make it easier for the users to add widgets on their watch faces.

Pinterest rolls out new features

Source: Pinterest

Pinterest, which boasts of more than 150 million monthly active users, has unveiled three new tools that includes ‘Lens’, ’Shop the Look’ and ‘Instant Ideas’, to improve visual discovery. Pointing the camera of your smartphone at an object, ‘Lens’ helps users generate ideas for room decor using similar object. A user can also take advantage of the ‘Shop the Look’ tool to buy things directly on Pinterest. Lastly, ‘Instant Ideas’ will suggest pin recommendations in real-time. While ‘Lens’ and ‘Instant Ideas’ would be available on both iOS and Android, ‘Shop the Look’ would be available at the web interface as well.

Image Courtesy: Planet of the Apps website