The Android Crew by COOL BLIND TECH

The Nexus Root Toolkit is a very useful utility which can help you easily root your Google Nexus device. Despite its name however, this utility has much more to offer. It can lock or relock your bootloader, help you flash custom and stock roms, perform a backup and restore of your device among many other things. In this podcast, we walk you through the NRT interface and demonstrate a few of its features. Please keep in mind that NRT relies on ADB and Fastboot in order to work properly.

Let us know which features you find most useful!

Greg, Leo and Cory welcome a new crew member, Dan Mathis to the show to discuss what's new and up-coming with the world of Google and the latest from Google IO.

First up was the newest version of Android, Internally Code Named: Macadamia Nut Cookie, which is focusing on polish and quality

It was announced that Android M should be available for Q3 2015, September of this year.

The newest version of Android will initially be Launched on most of the flagship Devices: Nexus 5, 6, 9 and player, though the Nexus 7 likely will not be supported.

Not to be out-done, Google is launching Android Pay which is coming to any devices with NFC running KitKat or above.

Android pay will allow a user to just unlock and place the device on a compatible terminal. Additionally, Android M will allow Android Pay to work with third party apps.

Along with Google Pay, Fingerprint reader support will be globally be available in Android M.

As part of the shiny new polish, Android M introduces Doze, which is a state of deep sleep where the device senses whether it has been motionless for an extended period of time and manages it's power consumption accordingly.

Android M devices will be introducing USB-C support. USB-C connectors work regardless of which way the cable is connected and support USB 3. Additionally, USB-C connectors support higher levels of power transfer.

Continuing the new shine, Android M overhauls permissions. Apps will request permissions on an as-needed basis and are individually controllable. If needed, the possibility exists to revoke particular permissions.

Audio is not to be left out as well, with volume granularity being enhanced with extended customizability.

Chrome has been improved with site-customized tabs and tighter integration in to the OS for apps to display web content.

Last but certainly not least, On Tap, will now be hanging out in your Google Now on your home button. This feature will be an Opt-in option for privacy reasons. While we can only speculate at the possibilities as it is Not available yet in Android M betas. What is it? A feature which will automatically attempt to find information based on your current activity and the context of the content you are viewing.

Google certainly has some interesting new projects in the works:

* Project Jacquard: Conductive cloth for wearables.

* Project ARA: Building phones which have replaceable components

* Project Vault: SD card with its own OS and encrypted data store.

* Google Photos: Specific cloud service which is cross-platform for storing photos automatically. The new service supports facial recognition and has unlimited storage.

* New Version of Google Cardboard: Now compatible with iPhone and larger devices.

* Project Soli: A hand-motion tracking system that allows us to interact with our devices without even touching them. Gestures like volume control could be controlled with hand movement.

* Android Wear: Introducing low-power black and white viewing mode.

* Project Brillo: A stripped down version...

When you improve your app's accessibility, you improve your product for everyone, including the billion people worldwide who live with a disability. This talk will introduce you to Android accessibility services and show how they make your app work in new ways for a wide range of users. You will learn some accessibility best practices, and get introduced to new automated testing tools that bring accessibility into your existing app development workflow.

Let's talk about rooting Android devices. While previously we have discussed flashing a Nexus back to factory settings for tinkerers out there, we have not yet touched upon how most Galaxy devices are rooted. This podcast is applicable to non-newer Samsung's, anything S5 and below. For most of Samsung's flagships, the guide applies, although some might have different ways to boot into recovery or boot loader mode. This was tested personally to work on Galaxy S4 and S5 models, but the procedure is the same for Galaxy Note 3/4 as well.

Grab the proper zip for your device, inside which you will find Odin for flashing.

You will also need the ADB setup file This will provide you with the Samsung drivers you will need in order to access the boot loader and recovery modes.

If for some reason those don't work, Grab Samsung's official driver here.

We cannot stress this further, but doing this guide will forever void your manufacturer warranty. While you will still have insurance through your carrier if you have purchased it, Samsung's support centers will not be able to help you. Happy flashing!

In this podcast Hugo demonstrates some of the accessibility features of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

Samsung has developed their own version of TalkBack similar to Google TalkBack allowing you to navigate the screen with their own customized interface.

Dark screen allows you to dim the screen.

Turning the Accessibility shortcut on, enables you to long-press the power button, and then place two fingers on the screen for a few seconds to turn on TalkBack. permitting you to navigate the interface.

Voice Label works in conjunction with writable NFC tags allowing you to scan an NFC tag, and record a voice memo helping you to understand what you tapped your phone to.

Accessibility features for low vision users:

Magnification gestures allows you to do a triple tap on the screen to zoom the entire interface and also pinch in and out with two fingers to adjust the zoom level.

Magnifier window zooms in on areas of the screen with a permanent "window" that can be moved around.

Font size allows you to adjust the font size to various levels.

The Negative colors option changes the entire interface to a color palette that's easier to see. The interface switches to mostly white, with black text and red or pink elements.

Color adjustment enables the interface to align colors by order of shade and color to your preference.

Greyscale changes the interface to shades of black and grey.

For our second show, Greg Lopez, Leo Prazdnik, Tomi Geczy and Cory Martin meet to discuss the latest happenings in the

world of Android. The crew kicks off the show with a discussion on Google’s TalkBack user survey and it’s results in the

form of the

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Microsoft reveals plans

to expand further into the Android ecosystem with a partnership with Dell.Google expands Android's smart lock features with

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The crew discusses Google's

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It's been confirmed... You can uninstall

preinstalled-apps/" rel="noopener noreferrer">most preinstalled apps from the Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge.

Would you rather write then type? Google's got you covered with their new

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app.

APH has released

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Nearby Explorer with Open Street Map support.

Do you like using TeamTalk? It's

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the Play Store.

Want to try out Meerkat?

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in public beta and accepting signups.

Looking for your missing Android? Just type

In this podcast Leonid demonstrates a simple way to flash a stock Android rom on to a Google Nexus device.

The factory images can be downloaded here.

The following tools were used to flash the image:

Download the 7-zip utility to extract the compressed image here.

The ADB and Fastboot tools are used to flash the image on the Nexus device.

Download the Minimal ADB and Fastboot installer here.

Please be sure to back up any important data before proceeding!

Brandon Cross gives a short introduction to Podcast Addict which is a podcast aggregator app for the Android operating system. He gives a brief overview of how easy it is to add a podcast via search engine.

If you enjoyed this podcast and think this app might be something you will like, you can download it from the Google PlayStore.

More from developer

With Podcast Addict, manage all your audio & video Podcasts as well as your YouTube channels and RSS News feeds from your Android device.

Subscribe to your favorite podcasts using the embedded networks (5by5, ABC, AfterBuzz TV, BBC, CNN, Carolla Digital, ESPN, FrogPants, LibriVox, Nerdist, NPR, Revision3, Smodcast, Ted Talks, Twit and Cool Blind Tech…).

You can also import your podcasts subscriptions from an iTunes or Google Reader OPML file, or use the embedded search engine to browse Podcasts Addict (200K podcasts) or iTunes databases (250K podcasts).

Finally you can also copy and paste your podcasts RSS feeds in order to subscribe.

The app displays a small ad banner at the bottom of the screen.

If you want to support Podcast Addict and/or disable the ad banner, you can buy Podcast Addict - Donate app

Features:

• Android Wear notifications & controls (Android 4.3+ only)

• chromecast support

• minimal permission requirement

• manage Audio & Video podcasts, iTunes podcasts, Soundcloud url, Youtube Channels & RSS News feeds

• standalone player (MP3, local files, streaming)

• support both download & streaming

• automatic update

• automatic download

• advanced automatic deletion features (trash...)

• advanced Custom Settings per Podcast

• automatic podcasts Flattr

• podcast & episode search engine (use both Podcast Addict database & iTunes database)

• audio & video player with resume, shuffle, loop, ...

• variable playback speed, volume boost and skip silence (available for Android 4.1+)

• audio & video playlist

• customizable widgets

• full app backup / restore

• themes

• lock screen widgets (Android 4.0+ only)

• sleep timer

• both list & grid mode display (podcasts & episodes)

• authenticated feeds

• virtual podcasts (handle a folder content as a podcast)

• trending, new, TOP 250 most successful podcasts

• Browse podcasts by category

• OPML import (iTunes, Google Reader...)

• OPML export

• Full screen reading mode for RSS news feed

• Podcasts suggestions

• comments download feature

• episode & podcast sharing

• episode search engine

• pebble support (player notifications)

• support for Nova Launcher TeslaUnread plugin

• support for Tasker, AutomateIT, ...

For our first show, the Android Crew, Greg Lopez, Tomi Geczy, Brandon Cross and Cory Martin all meet to hash out the latest Android happenings, starting with new hardware announced at Mobile World Congress.

The crew starts out with the Samsung Galaxy S6 by discussing the pros and cons of the drastic new design.

Here are a few links to some of the items which they discussed:

Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge reportedly facing touchscreen issues - SamMobile https://is.gd/Y7hOc1

Here is a link to the new accessibility features for the galaxy S6 https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/eyes-free/bpaJIotS1kE

Here is a PDF for the Samsung S6 manual that talks about the accessibility features https://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/201503/20150303094626458/SM-G920F_UM_EU_Lollipop_Eng_Rev.1.0_150302.pdf

The new Loop Pay on the S6 looks possibly better than other NFC-based payment options, offering backward compatibility with existing point-of-sale hardware. Loop Pay on S6: https://www.nfcworld.com/2015/03/01/334371/samsung-unveils-galaxy-s6-with-nfc-and-looppay-mobile-payments/

S6/S6 Edge available via US and Canadian carriers on 4/10/2015, prices still unknown

https://mobilesyrup.com/2015/03/10/samsung-galaxy-s6-gold-canada/

Wireless charging and Fast Charge 2.0 technologies are contrasted, speed versus convenience?

It is suggested that wireless charging might be detrimental to battery-life. One of the sources of this information came from the Wikipedia article provided here. Wireless charging may generate additional heat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_charging

Finally, it was unanimously decided that the Samsung Galaxy S6 would make an excellent choice for those considering switching to Android from other platforms.

The S6 wasn't the only cool phone announced, with HTC and their M9 now boasting a 20 Megapixel camera and 2800 MA battery which might be important for another soon to be announced app: https://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/htc-one-m9-what-we-want-to-see-1266545

At finally long last, Blind Bargains brings us an interview from CSUN where it is suggested that the KNFB Reader app might soon be coming to Android: https://www.blindbargains.com/bargains.php?m=12451

Those monster megapixel cameras on these Android phones might soon be a very important tool for us who are blind or visually impaired.

For those of us who might need to conserve the cash, the new Motorola E now has LTE, 4.5 inch screen, 5 MP camera, yet has no flash according to All about Android

It is suggested that the phone may have a price-point of $150.00 US.

If you're in to unusual, you might enjoy the Alcatel One-Touch Idol-3

Handset with earpiece on front at top and bottom. Check out this article, Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 can take phone calls even when upside down https://www.engadget.com/2015/03/01/alcatel-onetouch-idol-3/

Finally, if you're a fan of the stock droid experience,