Google Now Launcher brings Material Design to Jelly Bean, KitKat

If you want to try out Android Lollipop’s Material Design but still have a Jelly Bean or KitKat machine, you can get a taste of Google’s new mobile UI via Google Now Launcher. It can bring you the almost exact home screen experience without the stock icons though. But other than that, when Google rolls out improvements to the launcher, you get access to those, too. You just have to be running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean or above.

The Now Launcher has new animations, white Google Search bar, app drawer button, and new folder design. You can now also swipe right to customize the digital assistant, add reminders, and switch between your Google accounts.

Source: Cult of Android | Download: Google Play Store (Free)

Project Ara pilot tests to be done in Puerto Rico later this year

Google’s modular phone project is making headway with its marketing pilot scheduled for later this year. Google has selected Puerto Rico to be the location for the pilot because of research opportunities in the area. They are just as likely to use feature phones as smartphones and there are different carriers to choose from such as big US carriers to smaller local options. And since it is a US territory, it still has to abide by FCC regulations. Google even released a trailer for the project. Are you as excited as we are for Project Ara?

Source: Android Police

Oppo creates midrange device with sapphire back

Chinese tech company Oppo has beaten out Apple to introduce a smartphone with sapphire glass integrated. The company’s new RC1 smartphone features a 5-inch display and a sapphire back panel. This helps keep the device thin yet sturdy. You can see Apple’s influence on the brand though with this new smartphone. But they have managed to keep the price down at midrange at around US$400, even with the flagship-level design.

Oppo calls the sapphire back Diamond Mirror because of its high reflectivity and the patterned layer underneath it. It runs on a 64-bit Qualcomm octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, microSD card slot, and a 13-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX214 as well as a 5-megapixel front camera. The RC1 is also a dual SIM device with LTE support and 2,420mAh battery. It runs on Android 4.4 KitKat. We’re not sure if it’ll make it to our shores but it is available for pre-order in India at the moment.

Source: Cult of Android

Toyota and Oculus partner for VR driving simulator for teens

Hoping to make driving safer for the next generation, Toyota partners with Oculus to create a Toyota-branded driving simulator that will be used for Toyota’s TeenDrive365 program. It puts the teens inside a real yet stationary car and uses virtual reality technology to simulate actual driving. They will have to use the pedals properly and face distractions such as traffic noise, passengers, text messages, and radio noise.

It uses 360-degree head tracking for a more immersive experience and the Rift has a 100-degree field of view, which is beyond ones peripheral vision. It will also make use of RealSpace 3D audio to add depth to sound. They hope to make teens more comfortable with driving before they head out to the streets.

Source: Toyota | Via: SlashGear