HP and designer Michael Bastian prepping a luxury smart watch

HP is no stranger to collaborating with designers to create special edition notebooks. This time around, HP's going with designer Michael Bastian to create a luxury smart watch. The working outline for this device, which is an Android Wear compatible watch, goes as follows, " it will feature a circular, 44mm stainless steel case and three swappable bands: black rubber, brown leather, olive green nylon and a limited edition black."

Interesting to see HP, which doesn't do smartphones anymore, try and capture some of that sweet wearables market buzz. The design inspiration for this as of yet unnamed watch will be taken from automobile industrial design and interiors and HP  apparently differentiate the experience by adding to, "the watch's smart features, which will include notifications like email, text and calls, along with user controls for music and other apps." The HP smart watch is earmarked for a fall release.

Source: Engadget

Google I/O represents crossroads for Android's bevy of products

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Today's Google I/O Keynote felt very much like a bookend to Apple's own WWDC keynote earlier this month in the same venue. Just like Apple, Google focused on its two main operating systems and their surrounding ecosystems. Android, which is now being called Android "L" because even Google realizes calling an OS 'Lollypop' just sounds juvenile, and Chrome as well as it's huge array of cloud services.

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Nokia debuts launcher for Android

Introducing Z Launcher from Nokia Z Launcher on Vimeo.

Seems like Nokia wants to make its presence felt in the Android scene. Although, it comes in the form of a new launcher. It’s not that we need another Android home screen replacement but if you want a piece of Nokia on your Android, the Nokia Z launcher is an option. Like other home screen replacements, it shows you your frequently-used applications, sites, and contacts. It even lets you draw the first letter on the screen to draw up a set of results.

Nokia has only tested it first the Nexus 5 and Samsung Galaxy S models. The app is currently in limited pre-beta release and there are currently no downloads of the app available. You can watch this space for any announcements.

Source: Engadget

Microsoft releases Nokia X2, the second generation of Android powered smartphones

Microsoft is serious about targeting emerging markets and the entry level of the smartphone space. How serious? They just released the second generation of Nokia X smartphones which run a bespoke skin over an older version of rival Google's Android smartphone operating system. The Nokia X2 is expected to be available globally. Read more about it here.