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Google Currents adds support for audio playback in app

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by Jeff Causey on
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With many people looking for replacement news readers after Google announced the demise of Google Reader, Google has struck while the iron is hot with another one of their products. They have added audio playback support to their Google Currents app for Android devices. According to Google’s list of new features in the news reader, audio playback will work with publications that enable audio. Control can be achieved both in app and via the status bar with audio easily launched using icons in a story. Along with the new audio features, Google Currents can now sync read state between devices and some bug fixes were included in this release.

If you haven’t tried Google Currents or want to update, use the download link below.

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Google Play Download Link

[App Review] AudioManager Pro is a useful, powerful volume management tool

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by Jared Peters on
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Have you ever wanted to adjust your phone’s alarm volume while listening to music, but didn’t want to dig through settings to change it? Have you ever had your phone go off at school, work, or in any other inappropriate situation? Pretty sure that’s happened to everyone at least once. Want an app to fix all those problems? You’ll want to try AudioManager Pro ASAP, but first you’ll want to get a complete breakdown of why you should try it once you hit the break. » Read the rest

Jelly Bean brings USB Audio support to Android devices

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by Jeff Causey on
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Digging into the new features and capabilities present in Jelly Bean, one item we have discovered is the addition of USB Audio. Support for USB Audio means audio from a Jelly Bean based device can be accessed via the USB port. This presents an alternative to streaming audio through the external speaker jack or a Bluetooth connection.

Using USB Audio, hardware makers will be able to build audio dock devices to interface with Android powered phones and tablets. A good example of this was an Android.Connect dock on display from Gear4 during Google I/O.  Check out the video after the break showing how this will work. » Read the rest

Dolby And Huawei To Team Up To Bring Premium Audio Experience To Smartphones

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by Roy Alugbue on
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Huawei is already on its way to bringing some sweet devices to the limelight, but it wants to further itself apart from the competition even more. Dolby Labs has announced a collaboration with Huawei by incorporating Dolby Digital Plus into future Huawei devices. This means that we’ll soon be able to enjoy that rich, crisp and superior surround sound on premium Huawei tablets and smartphones. The manufacturer plans to utilize Dolby Digital Plus by optimizing the technology for the overall mobile experience by including virtual surround sound over headphones, bass and high-frequency enhancements, a sound level controller, mono-to-stereo creator and sound space expander. Oh and don’t forget that these Dolby-powered devices will have the full capability to connect the devices to HD-ready TVs, A/V receivers and home theater systems in order allow consumers to enjoy quality surround sound as well.

Huawei is just giving us yet another reason to drool over its ever-impressive brand. Hit the break to see the full press release from Dolby. » Read the rest

Your next smartphone or tablet could be THX certified

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by Robert Nazarian on
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If you like the finest in audio quality, than you will be happy to know that the THX badge could be slapped on your next smartphone or tablet. THX is best known for certifying high end audio equipment, including speakers.

THX senior vice president Rick Dean says that smartphone and tablets are becoming more important for content delivery, and he is looking for ways his company could improve the experiences of users. “We are actively going down that path right now,” he said in a Pocket-lint interview.

“Five years ago, I said that we should really get into the mobile audio world, but they said, ‘You can’t get a theatrical experience out of that, you’re listening to it with earbuds.’

“But look at the way that music is consumed today,” he added. “And it’s got to the point where I know I can work with a company who makes phones like these here. Maybe produce an app that will improve the user experience.

» Read the rest

First “Beats By Dre” Phone To Be The HTC Vigor?

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by Joe Sirianni on
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Chock this one up as a rumor for now folks, at least until we get further confirmation.  However, according to a source over at Droid-Life, the HTC Vigor could be the initial launch device sporting Beats by Dre’s audio mechanics.  Droid Life states in their coverage of the rumor:
And if you were wondering, this will be a Beats by Dre device.  We’re hearing that it has a Beats logo as part of the bootup sequence, but other than that, it was tough to tell what else HTC had done to integrate their audio technology.

Furthermore, it’s stated that the device will strongly resemble the  look and feel of the HTC Thunderbolt, sporting a 4.3-inch capacitive touch display with 1280 x 720 resolution, a 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU, 1 Gig of RAM and Android 2.3.4 on board.  It’s also speculated the device will come with 16 GB’s of storage and an 8 mp camera.  There will also be a 2 mp front facing camera for your video chatting pleasure.  And to top it all off, it’ll have the latest version of Sense UI (3.5)  Here’s to hoping DL’s source is accurate, because if it is, we have high hopes for a device like this.  Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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[via droidlife by gizmodo]

Use DoggCatcher, BeyondPod or PodTrapper? Add Presto To Speed Up Playback

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by Joe Sirianni on
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I’m a huge fan of podcasting especially since my commute is about an hour and a half both ways to work.  I’ve chosen to make my commutes as productive as possible by listening to various tech shows, how to’s and anything Android related.  You’d think an hour and a half is a long time to get all my podcasts completed, but when you have a list of shows as big as mine that can be a difficult task.  One app I’ve recruited to help get the job done is Presto for Android.  Presto works in conjunction with your podcast or audio player and gives you the ability to speed up playback so you can complete it in no time.  However, different players allow for different speeds.

I currently use DoggCatcher as my primary podcast player and Presto works fantastic with it.  I’ve experienced no bugs during playback whatsoever.  With DoggCatcher you can listen up to 1.5 X the normal speed of the playback.  I was able to listen to an hour long podcast somewhere in the vicinity of 40-45 minutes.  Ready to give it a try?  The app will run you $4 bucks in the Android Market and you can also snag it from our apps database where you’ll find a QR code for your convenience.  However, if you heavily invest in podcasting like I do, you’ll agree it’s well worth that price.  That’s about the only con I found with the application, the rest are all pros.  Hit the break for some more developer info and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments below.   » Read the rest

Spotify has landed in the US – available now (video)

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by Jesse Bauer on
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It’s finally here folks! Spotify, Europe’s awesome music streaming service with over 15 million songs n their catalog has launched in the US and sign ups are available right now for the Unlimited $5 or Premium $10 memberships. If you decide you want to go with the the free service, you’ll only get in with an invite right now as the free service in the US is in beta stages.

Spotify will allow you to stream music to your smartphone or desktop, with on-demand access, offline mode and social media integration as well. See here why we think you should get Spotify, and head over to the source link to check them out and sign up.

Video and Presser below.

DoggCatcher Podcast Player Gets An Update, Version 1.2.219 Adds Playback Speed Altering And More

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by Axl Logan on
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DoggCatcher, everyone’s favorite podcasting application for Android has just received an update.  The new update adds features like altering the playback speed using the app Presto ($3.99) via a 1X toggle switch on the player.  Want to hear that one hour long podcast in a half an hour?  Now you can, thanks to this highly anticipated feature.  There is a new Auto Play toggle switch that has been added to the player as well.

The addition now allows you to listen to several podcasts in a row as defined in your audio play list.  Another nice feature is the “Now Playing” slide up tab loaded with all of the info of the podcast you’re listening to along with a list of RSS feeds with a scrollable page and click-able links to the site’s feed.  Hit the break for some more pics of the app and to check out the developers full list of specs.  The app will run you $6.99 in the market, but if you ask anyone who’s ever used it, they’ll tell you it’s worth every cent.  The link to our database and QR code is after the break.   » Read the rest

Popular Linux Media Player MPlayer Arrives on Android

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by Michael Murphy on
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Any of you who have much background with a Linus OS have probably used mPlayer. It’s a very versatile audio/video player that has had a lot of success in the open source community. Well, XDA-Developers member ajeet17181 has ported the popular media player over to the Android platform. While this may be a work in progress (it hasn’t been tested on every phone out there yet), it seems to be stable and functional, with a clean minimalistic interface.

Features -
1) Support all subtitle format.
2) Proper audio video sync.
3) Uses libfaad2 and libmad for aac and mp3 decoding.
4) Stream URL support

Those looking for a simple yet capable media player that does various audio and video formats, check it out at the source link.

[via XDA-Developers]

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