Google Launches Classroom Mobile Apps For Android And iOS

Google’s Classroom education initiative launched just about half a year ago, but it’s been a web-based affair until now. Today marks the release of Classroom apps for iOSand Android, however, which should help build on the existing 30 million assignments that have been submitted via the platform since its debut. The Classroom mobile app lets students take photos and attach them to their assignments directly, share images, PDFs and more from other apps to Classroom, and provides offline caching so that they can work without a connection.

The native apps are a big step for Classroom, since the use of mobile devices in actual classrooms is on the rise. The web-based version still acts as a great hub for tracking everything at once, especially given the introduction of a new Teacher Assignments Page for the web-based version of Classroom, but mobile clients will help drive greater engagement and make it easier for both students and teachers to interact with the platform on a continuous basis. Classes can now be archived once they’re through to keep them out of the active stream and declutter things overall.

Classroom is designed to help Google capitalize on the existing use of Google Apps in education, as well as drive further adoption of said tools in schools. It’s a natural complement to the company’s success in getting Chromebooks adopted in educational institutions, and a mobile push serves students where they already are, and could potentially feed back to higher Chromebook adoption if users like what they find.

For teachers and students, the Classroom mobile apps may lead to some new unique use cases for Google’s education tool – Google points out, for instance, that the ability to snap a photo could provide a way for students to actually back up claims that they “forgot their homework at home,” since they can have a parent or relative take an actual picture that they can then submit via the app. Photo-, video- and app-based assignments are also options that might a lot of sense given our growing reliance on mobile software and devices.

Google promises more features for both iOS and Android apps to come, but for now it’s probably worth a download for educators just to check out where the search giant is headed in terms of its plans for the education market.

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HTC One M9 Hima Specs Revealed In Leaked Benchmark, To Be Announced At CES 2015

Believe it or not, we’re staring down the barrel of yet another CES, with the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show set to kick off in just over a week. Rumors are always abound at this time of year with everyone trying to steal a march on what the biggest technology companies will be showing off at the event. It looks like HTC’s upcoming flagship phone may have leaked ahead of time, giving us at least a glimpse at one of the new products due to be outed next week.

Called ‘Hima’ during its development stage, the new phone initially started to crop up in the headlines when it started its carrier testing earlier this month. New leaks today appear to have pop up after the handset undertook some benchmark testing, giving us our first look at Hima’s specifications, otherwise known as the HTC One ‘M9’.

 Coming via Nowhereelse.fr, the specifications come alongside the news that the new handset is due to be outed towards the end of CES, earlier than previously believed.

The newly leaked specifications jive nicely with what was previously rumored, with a new Snapdragon 810 CPU at the heart of the new smartphone. 3GB of memory is also set to be included alongside a tasty 2,840mAh battery. Display-wise, expect a 5-inch 1080p panel up front with a 13-megapixel shooter sat around the back. Fans of selfies will have a 4-megapixel UltraPixel camera to work with on the front of the device. The device’s model, according to the benchmark is ‘HTC6536LVW’.

The new leak also points to Anadroid 5.0.1 Lollipop being the version of Google’s software that will keep this new HTC flagship ticking along.

Further to all this, HTC has started to send invites out for a press conference during the CES event, with invites said to feature what appears to be a white smartphone. It all makes just enough sense to suggest we’ll be seeing a new phone from HTC in a week or so time.
We’ll keep our eyes and ears peeled until then.
(via: Nowhereelse.fr)
You may also like to check out:

• First Look: HTC One M9 Screen Size Revealed In Leaked Photo

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Serious Privacy Vulnerability In Skype For Android Discovered, Here’s How It Works

Looks like Skype for the Android platform has a serious flaw – or vulnerability – waiting to be exploited. Apparently, this flaw can potentially allow anyone on any platform using Skype to tap into the Android user’s phone’s camera and mic. For more on this, read on after the jump.
There are a vast majority of Android smartphone users out there in the world today, and a lot of them count on Skype for video or just audio calling using their phones. Essentially, all these users are vulnerable to a rather serious flaw.

Here’s how it goes down. If you’re getting a call on Skype on your Android device and the line is dropped before connecting for reasons other than being rejected by the receiver or cancelled by the caller, Skype at the receiver’s end – that is the Android phone – will automatically dial back to the caller, activating the camera, and the mic. Bet Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell would have really found this cool.
Here’s a step-by-step run down to re-create this flaw and check it out yourself. It is important to note that even though the issue has been reported in from Android users only, not all have experienced this.

Step 1: Have two devices sign into different Skype IDs. One of the devices should be an Android.
Step 2: With Android being the target, make a call to the device with your desktop, another Android phone, iPhone, or iPad.
Step 3: Just when the target phone (Android) rings, disconnect the calling device from the Internet. In case you’re using a phone or tablet, make sure to enter into airplane mode, in case you have data enabled.
Step 4: You should now get a call back at any time from the Android phone, and once it does, accept it and well, don’t get any ideas.



You would think Skype is trying to connect a dropped call, but that would make sense had the call actually been connected. This flaw gives any random user to call any other random user and spy into their surroundings. I believe the mic activation is more of a serious concern than a camera with more of a chance of the phone or tablet of being in a pocket or a bag.
Apparently Microsoft is aware of this, and is busy patching this up as we speak. Well, Merry Christmas everyone!
(Source: Reddit)

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Christmas Deal: Download $220 Worth Of Paid Android Apps For Free, Here’s How

There’s a huge Android apps Christmas sale happening right now, and 40 titles – worth $220 in total – are up for grabs absolutely free. More details and how to avail this offer can be found right after the break.

Amazon Appstore, the Android app portal that offers one paid Android app for free every day to its users, has just put up a mammoth $220 worth of paid titles absolutely free.

The giant online retailer announced a few days back that free apps will be up for download starting from the 24th of December through to the 26th. While Amazon had not detailed the list of the apps back then, and teased us with information on inclusion of titles from developers such as Halfbrick Studios, Rovio Entertainment and Sega.

Well, the list is up, and as said by Amazon, the savings on these apps amount to $220 collectively. 40 apps in total, and we have them listed here in alphabetical order.

• Age of Zombies: Season 2
• Angry Birds Space (Ad-Free)
• Angry Birds Space HD (Fire Edition)
• Anomaly Warzone Earth HD
• Calculator Pro
• Cogs
• Color Splash FX
• Construction Simulator 2014
• djay 2
• ElectroDroid Pro
• Electronic Arts Inc.
• Endomondo Sports Tracker PRO
• Farming Simulator 14
• Five Nights at Freddy’s
• Fleksy Keyboard
• Fleksy, Inc
• InstaPlace
• InstaWeather PRO
• iReal Pro – Music Book & Play Along
• Jump Desktop (RDP & VNC)
• Just 6 Weeks
• Mirroring360 – AirPlay Receiver
• My Alarm Clock
• Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 8th edition
• Paper Train Reloaded – Ad Free
• Photo Transfer App
• PicShop – Photo Editor
• Plex
• Quell Reflect
• Root Explorer
• RPG Soul Historica
• ShutterFolio
• Sonic The Hedgehog 2
• Splashtop Remote Desktop
• Terraria
• TETRIS
• The Muscular System Manual: The Skeletal Muscles of the Human Body
• To-Fu Fury
• TuneIn Radio Pro
• Ultimate Guitar Tabs and Tools
• Wolfram|Alpha
• Worms 3

All of the above Android apps can be downloaded – as we mentioned before – directly from the Amazon Appstore.

We’re still waiting for the official Google Play Store to spread some Christmas magic as well, but there is no word or hint of any such plan, but maybe the search giant will quietly push out some paid apps for free real soon? We can only hope.

Amazon has also mentioned in its press release that the free Android apps are just a part of the bigger plan, with the online retailer offering discounts and deals for Amazon Instant Video, Amazon Music, Kindle Books, Amazon Device Deals, and more.
Make sure to check out our Android Apps gallery to explore more apps for your Android device.

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