Create shipping labels & pay postage fees in eBay app for Android.

This is an update that will certainly please my American friends and readers. eBay today published an update to the store that lets its American customers create shipping labels and pay for postage within the app. While new to eBay, this type of service is common and well established in the United States - perhaps in other countries as well. Americans can easily buy U.S. stamps on the web and print them on labels designed for that purpose. It only make sense to have this service integrated in apps.

The update contains other features as listed below:

• Reminders list is available from the home page
• New checkout features in Germany and Australia
• Improved performance and speed
• Bug fixes.

Download the eBay app free in Google Play store.

Skype 5.0 for Android now uses your phone number to connect to and find friends.

In an update published to the Play store, Skype announces the option to connect Skype to your phone's address book in the coming weeks. I guess the update lays out the foundation for the deployment of the new feature.

Initially announced back in July, Skype admitted it can be a challenge to find your friends among the 300 million people who use Skype. The solution is for Skype to tap directly into your contacts on your phone. You will be prompted to verify your phone number after installing the update. When done, Skype will match contacts in your address book to your existing Skype contacts. The contacts will then show up in your list and will eventually grow as more people installs the update and register their phone numbers. Worried about privacy issues?

Skype says you do not have to worry about privacy, they will not spam you or your friends. In fact you are in control and can choose whether you want to be found by your phone number or not. It's all there in the settings for you to activate or deactivate. Plus your phone number is never made public. If you logon to Skype with a Microsoft account, the new feature will automatically connect to your Outlook.com and Windows 8 address list.

As written above, this new feature will be deployed to Android in the coming weeks. Skype is working to deliver the same feature to other mobile platforms.

Look into the Play store for the update or click here to download Skype 5.0.

Full offline Mauritius map now available in Nokia Here Maps for Android.

Google Maps is a great navigation tool on Android and so far competition has either been lame or inexistent. But that has changed with Nokia making its popular Here Maps available for Samsung devices first, and for other Android devices recently. Don't go look in the Play store, you won't find it there. Here Maps for Android is still in beta and can be downloaded on Nokia's official Here site.

Since you will be downloading a file outside the Play store, make sure "Unknown sources" is enabled in your phone settings. If it is not activated, your phone will offer to take you there after you tap the download link. Once the download is complete, go ahead and install the app.

Tap the Hamburger inside the app (that's the three horizontal lines stacked upon each other) and tap "Download maps". In order to download, you must sign in with a Facebook or Here account; A sign up link is also available. After you authenticate, the app will get a list of maps. Tap "Download new". Select Africa > Mauritius. The file is 126.4MB in size, double the size of the Windows Phone version.

I will compare how Here Maps work on Android and Windows Phone in another post.

Enjoy offline maps of Mauritius.

Searching and sharing gets easier on LinkedIn for Android.

The professional network, LinkedIn, has been updated today that makes it easier for its members to search and share in full screen mode. Users will thus be able to see more results. The change log also mentions a new location-based jobs search. Finally, it is now possible to share articles directly from the home screen.

An update that feels like LinkedIn is playing catchup. I have an account there but hardly use the app I have installed on my Android and Windows Phone. Do you use LinkedIn?

Download LinkedIn free on Google Play.

Amazon Kindle: Start playing narration before audiobook download completes.

The app that brings over a million books at your finger tips has been updated today with the ability to start playing narration before the audiobook download is complete. No need to wait for the book download to complete before you can enjoy your audiobooks.

Amazon also updated Kindle app with localized support for Dutch and the ability to tap on highlight to edit, plus the usual bug fixes. The app is available free in the Play store.

Google Play Newsstand gets material design and more.

Yesterday, Google blessed the Play Newsstand app with its material design which basically makes images bigger and transitions smoother. Make no mistake, material design is not just making Android and apps look flat. It is a completely different experience. In a blog post, Mussie Shore, group product manager for Google Play Newsstand, writes: "You can swipe left and right between topics, and swipe up and down to dive more deeply into a particular topic. Play Newsstand puts the news you care about front and center with big images that jump off the screen."

This update also adds topic cards in the Explore section that lets you easily subscribe to topics that are of interest to you. "Topics deliver a personalized and up to date reading experience on your passions and interests. And our new Android app is faster than ever."

Google Play Newsstand is available free on Google Play.

Source: Android Blog

Waze for Android introduces Waze Places.

Version 3.9 of Waze was published today and it introduces a new feature called Places. The largest community-based traffic and navigation app now gets even more social with the ability to make information about local places available for everyone. Members of the community can now share such info as the availability of parking lot or drive-thru. The addition of photos is also supported to add more details to the place being shared. 

Who hasn't ever been in the situation of not remembering where the car was parked? That changes with Waze which will automatically save the location where you parked your car. And there's more. Waze will even learn where to find parking and how much time to account. 

The update also includes the usual bug fixes and the search auto complete is now a worldwide feature. Waze is a multiple platform app available on Android, iOS, Blackberry and Windows Phone. Google has recently announced that they are stopping development of the app for Windows Phone.

Waze is available free in Google Play store.

TuneIn Radio updated with multiple bug fixes and improvements.

TuneIn Radio has around 50 million downloads in the Play store, so if you do not have it in your app list then head over to the store now as TuneIn Radio brings the world's largest collection of radio stations to your Android device, that's over 100,000 stations from around the world . Note that the app is multi-platform, therefore available on Windows Phone, iPhone, iPad, Windows etc. and also has a social touch in that you can share what you're listening with your followers.

TuneIn Radio has been updated with bugs fixes and improvements as listed below:

• Fixes a bug with Intel devices.
• Multiple bug fixes and improvements across the app to improve user experience.
• Improvements to social push notifications. See what friends are saying when they echo content.
• We are removing the explore feature from the menu and integrating that functionality elsewhere in the app.

TuneIn Radio is available free in Google Play Store.

Official F1 App updated with race-by-race purchase of premium features and more.

You will very likely have this app installed on your Android device if you're a big fan of Formula 1, especially now that the competition excitement is at its peak with Hamilton having finally claimed the lead last week over team mate Nico Rosberg in Singapore.
 
The Official F1 app for Android is a definite source that brings exclusive content such as team radio transmissions, DRS usage indicator, live tyre information and more. Besides live data, you also have access to before and after race stories and session commentary from Formula1.com.
 
To make the experience even more exciting, the app has been updated today with the following features:

• Event Store update to allow you to purchase Premium features race-by-race.
• App translated to Russian and Japanese.
• New permissions that allow 'at event' notifications for those attending a race.

The Official F1 App is available free for download in Google Play and includes in-app purchase.

See you in Japan.
 

Google Maps Navigation Beta available for most of Africa and Mauritius.

It's been a while since my last post. I had an exciting time working on and completing some projects that I cannot write about here. Now that those are behind me, I'm glad to be back and share with you the readers some great news about Android. The latest is about a new offering from Google.

Yesterday, Google announced the availability of their Navigation service in many African countries including Mauritius. The service is still in beta and offers turn-by-turn navigation. Google is not the first to offer similar service in Mauritius, the first being Waze, a community based traffic and navigation app, which has since been acquired by Google. I spent a few minutes with the app today and I recommend you treat it as a beta. However, for visitors, if you plan on using it, be careful as I found that some directions were inaccurate. I hope Google fixes that with the loads of information gathered by Waze.

How do I get Navigation Beta?
There is no app to download. Google Maps app is already installed on your Android phone. Activate your data connection and launch Maps and accept the use-with-caution note and you are good to go. It is that simple. Bear in mind though that Google Maps Navigation is a beta and all precautions should be taken while driving.

Source: Google