Google to enter smart home appliance market with Nest Labs acquisition

From left: Nest Labs co-founder Matt Rogers, Google CEO Larry Page, and Nest Labs co-founder Tony Fadell

Google aims to increase its presence in your home with the planned acquisition of Nest Labs for US$3.2 billion. Nest Labs develops smart thermostats and smoke detectors, signifying a move to enter the app-controlled household gadgets market internationally.

Google CEO Larry Page said in a statement, “They’re already delivering amazing products you can buy right now—thermostats that save energy and smoke/CO alarms that can help keep your family safe. We are excited to bring great experiences to more homes in more countries and fulfill their dreams!”

Nest CEO Tony Fadell said in a blog post the company will retain leadership and brand identity and will still support Apple users.

Source: The Guardian

Leaked image of Nokia’s Android-powered Normandy surfaces on Chinese social network

We reported earlier about the potential Android-powered device from Nokia called Normandy. And while we still stand by the idea that the concept won’t turn into an actual product. Someone on the Chinese social network leaked an engineering prototype image of Normandy. It is covered in a protective case but looks quite similar to the image leaked by @evleaks.  

Update on Monday, January 13, 2014 at 10:44PM by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Here's a leaked press shot of the Nokia Normandy Android phone. Looks legit and someone's got some 'splainin' to do. Image source @evleaksES

LittleBit app pushes you to create better habits

LittleBit Demo from Jayden Anderson on Vimeo.

If you are still keen on keeping your New Year’s resolutions or need the motivation to continue with them, LittleBit for iOS is the app you might consider trying out. The app pushes you to work on your goals through a point or “bits” system that awards you for consecutive wins and through taking photos that are meant to commemorate your progress.

The app has a game element to it with the bits system as it rewards continued use and deducts bits when you haven’t made progress with your goals for a few consecutive days. Once you’ve achieved 21 bits, the app will congratulate you for forming a new habit. The $1.99 app will only track one habit at a time to help you stay focused on your goal.

Source: Lifehacker

Google outs new version of Play Services

Google recently unveiled Google Play Services 4.1 version with new features designed to help users and developers. The major update is the promise of improved battery life when using location services. Another includes better integration of Google+ sharing with improved autocomplete and suggested contacts when sharing from a Play Services app to the social network.

Google also improved turn-based multiplayer support to allow developers to develop games that supports two to eight players. The turn data of the players will be uploaded to Play Services and shared with other players. The tech company also added an optional “Connecting to Play Games” animation when signing in to help contextualize the pop-up permission dialog that will appear after. There is also a new developer preview of Google Drive API that lets developers read and write files on Google Drive and access common UI components such as save dialog and file picker.