New apps need lovin’ too, right? Every day there are thousands of additions to the Google Play store, but many go unnoticed and never receive the attention they deserve. We’ve shown in the past that this community can discover great apps and propel them to new heights. Our weekly Fresh Meat column highlights new apps with fewer than 100,000 installs. Browse our new Android app picks below and let us know which ones you enjoy.

iLectric Piano

Description: iLectric Piano FREE is the ultimate electric piano instrument that puts an extraordinary collection of authentic electric pianos and vintage keyboards at your fingertips!

Robinhood

Description: Robinhood for Android is a free download that allows people to buy and sell stocks for free! View market data in real-time, build a personalized watchlist, and place trades with a few taps.

Webmaker

Description: Mozilla Webmaker transforms Web users into Web makers. You can build original content like scrapbooks, photo galleries, memes, comic strips and more.

Ink Space

Description: The project itself it fairly straight forward you can draw, move the phone by tilting in different directions, adjust line that you are drawing, create an animated line which pulses and re-draws itself and record an animated gif of whatever you make.

Ninja Jamm

Description: Build your own tunes from Samplepacks, and remix Tunespacks from Ninja artists. Touch to mix and mash clips in the clip matrix, trigger and scratch one shots, tilt and shake to apply radical FX, and record and share your jamms.

Govberg OnTime: Watch Toolbox

Description: Govberg OnTime is your one stop digital toolbox that allows luxury watch collectors to manage and build their luxury wristwatch collections. You can only wear one watch at a time, but with Govberg OnTime, you can have all of your watches at your finger tips!

iGrand Piano

Description: iGrand Piano FREE is the ultimate grand piano instrument that puts an extraordinary collection of ultra-realistic acoustic pianos at your fingertips.

Wear GBC

Description: Wear GBC lets you play retro games right from your wrist. Use the companion app to sync games to the wearable app and then play them any time.

Wear Inactivity Coach

Description: Lip Swap is an experiment that lets you switch parts of your face with other parts of your face. Talk through your eyes and look through your mouth. Create hilarious videos to share with friends.

 MSTY – The Music Messenger

Description: MSTY (My Song To You) is a music messaging app that allows you to communicate with friends by combining the World’s greatest songs with your own words and photos.

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Android Auto has the advantage of being easily updated because the software resides mostly on the smartphone rather than the car or head unit. The latest update to Android Auto has popped up on Google Play and while there aren’t many changes, it’s still a pretty important one.

The biggest change is to the home screen. The navigation card now shows your next turn and the music card shows a play/pause button, meaning you and see and do more without pressing buttons. In a car, not being distracted with a screen is a big matter of safety.

There is also bigger cards, a small change to the color scheme, and a new background. While it’s not a huge update, I think it’s an important one. If you’re using Android Auto, update the app through the Play Store!

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Project Ara is still well underway despite the delay, and the team is still working hard on the device. The previous plan was to hold the modules in place with electropermanent magnets, which require energy to become magnetic, but no energy to stay magnetic. But unfortunately, that idea is out the window.

No more electropermanent magnets. #ProjectAra #FailedTheDropTest

— Project Ara (@ProjectAra) August 19, 2015

Project Ara Tweeted that electropermanent magnets will not be used after failing the drop test. It’s likely that they are not strong enough to hold modules in place during a strong impact, so a tougher system will have to be used. You definitely don’t want your camera module flying off and getting lost.

The developers of the project still have plenty of time to get it right, as it should be launching in 2016, barring further delays. But it’s a shame, the electropermanent magnet idea was really cool.

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Digital security and privacy are a buzzing topic these days, particularly in light of the fact that user information from Ashley Madison was just dumped online. Silent Circle is a company that aims to protect your privacy, and that’s why they created the Blackphone, an Android-based smartphone focused on privacy. Now, the second iteration, the Blackphone 2, is nearing release and has just been opened up for pre-orders.

Pricing hasn’t been made public, as pre-orders are being done through a system requiring you to contact sales to put in a pre-order request. The original Blackphone sold for $629, so we’d expect the Blackphone 2 to be somewhere in that ball park. For specs, it has a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 1.7GHz octa-core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage plus a microSD card slot, 13-megapixel camera and the selling feature of the phone, Silent OS. As you might guess, Silent OS is a modified version of Android that includes loads of security features including encrypted voice calls, encrypted text messages and the ability to create Spaces, which are separate, virtual phones on the same device, allowing work and personal data to remain entirely separate.

Follow the source link below if you’d like to learn more about the Blackphone 2.

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If you are prone to losing things, Tile is exactly what you need in your life. Tile is a small, Bluetooth-enabled square that connects to your smartphone or tablet and serves as a beacon whenever pinged. It’s incredibly simple, which is exactly what makes it so good. And now, with the announcement of a second generation Tile, it’s getting even better.

Here’s how Tile works: You take a Tile unit, attach it to something like your keys, wallet, coat, bike, camera, etc. and connect that Tile to the Tile app. If you happen to lose one of those items, you can ping the Tile, which will make it play a loud noise helping you find it.

This week, Tile has announced the newest iteration of its hardware that features a few key improvements over first generation models. It’s now louder, so when you ping Tile you’ll be able to hear it better, and it can now help your find your lost phone. By tapping the “e” on the new Tile, your phone will play a noise helping you find it. If it’s out of Bluetooth range, you can check on another phone or online and see where the last place your phone was seen.

Use cases for Tile are plentiful, with people inventing new and creative ways to use Tile everyday. To get your own Tile, head on over to the website to pick one up for $25. If you buy multiple units, they will go down in price. T-Mobile is also giving away some new Tiles in celebration of the second generation Tile going on sale at Magenta. Be on the lookout for an Android and Me review coming in the future.

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Samsung has a new smartwatch on the way called the Gear S2, and it sports a round face with a unique-looking interface. The company has been teasing it for a bit of time now, and now it’s adding a teaser video to the mix.

The video is focused primarily on the UI, showcasing different aspects of what future owners will be interacting with on a regular basis. That includes the heart rate monitor, the weather, menu and, unsurprisingly, the clock. It’s a short video, but it ends with another tease, “Berlin 09.03.2015,” which would seem to be an obvious suggestion that Samsung plans on talking more about the Gear S2 at IFA in Berlin on September 3.

As it stands right now, only rumors have tried to confirm what the Gear S2 packs under the hood, including a dual-core Exynos 3472 processor, 768MB of RAM, and 4GB of built-in storage. The battery is said to measure in at 250mAh. The display is said to be a Super AMOLED panel, but just how big it is remains unknown. And, finally, the Gear S2 is more than likely running Samsung’s Tizen operating system, not Android Wear.

Are you looking forward to hearing more about Samsung’s Gear S2?

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Blackberry is a company that many, myself included, didn’t think would last this long. But it has clung to life with a loyal fan base. That base isn’t enough to sustain BlackBerry, though, so it’s turning to a different tactic. Blackberry is going to become a manufacturer of Android devices. Its first device is codenamed the BlackBerry Venice, and according to a new leak, it’s arriving in November with a launch on all four major US carriers.

Famed leaker @evleaks has leaked a couple photos of the device with the above information. The biggest news is that the BlackBerry Venice will indeed have a physical, sliding keyboard. Simply slide the phone up to access a full physical QWERTY keyboard, which should be a welcome addition for the loyal BlackBerry customers who will be looking to switch over.

In case there was any doubt… http://pic.twitter.com/yfFfyqEg5v

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) August 19, 2015

A second collage of images also shows two software additions from BlackBerry. The first is a content transfer system that looks like it’ll be available for existing BlackBerrys as well as the new BlackBerry Android devices. It’ll allow customers to back up everything on their old device and have it automatically restore onto their new BlackBerry. The other addition is that of BlackBerry Hub, which we expected to be on the Venice. For those unfamiliar, BlackBerry Hub is a one-stop shop for managing email, texts and social media.

As of now, we’ll just have to wait until November for official word on the BlackBerry Venice. We’ll be sure to keep you posted on further leaks and rumors.

Source: @evleaks, (2)

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Samsung is no stranger to wireless charging, though for a long time it was an optional backing plate you could buy for some of the flagships. But now that its major flagships feature built-in wireless charging, the race for the best accessories is on.

Samsung has put up a product page for its new Fast Charge wireless charging pad, though the device is not yet released. This Qi charging pad will work with any Qi-enabled device, but it will feature fast charging for the Galaxy Note 5 and S6 edge+. Fast charging will cut 0-100 percent charging time by up to 50 minutes, being 1.4x as fast as regular wireless charging. For all other devices, it’s a basic Qi wireless charger.

It’s pricey at $69.99, but for Galaxy Note 5 and S6 edge+ users it’ll likely be worth it. Plus it comes with a multi-color LED halo to tell you the charging status of your device, which is cool. Would you be willing to buy one of these when it launches?

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When Google officially debuted Android Wear to the world back in March 2014, Fossil was named as one of the wearable initiative’s partners. However, it’s taken a bit of time for the company known for its watches (and much more now) to show off its first attempt at an Android Wear-based smartwatch.

Now the time has come, and Fossil has officially shown off its first Android Wear smartwatch at this year’s Intel Developers Conference. Unfortunately, that’s about all that Fossil did. The company wasn’t ready to talk about what the smartwatch will feature, other than Android Wear, or even what powers the device under that round hood.

The unnamed smartwatch features a round face much like Motorola’s Moto 360, and even features the “flat tire” at the bottom of the screen. Indeed, the new watch looks much like Motorola’s first attempt, for better or worse.

As for when the device will see the light of day, Fossil wasn’t ready to talk about that, either. How much it will cost, too, is unknown at this point.

What do you think of the Fossil smartwatch?

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Google isn’t all about Android, and that’s why when the company unveils a brand new router for “the new way to Wi-Fi,” it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

And that’s exactly what the company has done. Thanks to a partnership with TP-Link, Google has launched the OnHub, a new router that’s not just a router, with a price tag of $199 attached to it. As of this writing, though, it should probably be noted right up front that both the blue and black models are sold out, according to Google.

The OnHub is supports 802.11 b/g/n/ac at 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and when it comes to wired connections there’s only a single Ethernet (gigabit) port on the back, which just goes to show that Google is apparently serious about that Wi-Fi focus. There are 13 antennas inside of the OnHub, which is meant to ensure the best possible signal. The device will scan every five minutes in an effort to find the least congested wireless signal, too.

The OnHub will also remember your favorite devices and track how much data they consume, to better manage the bandwidth that each device gets. There’s a new app, “Google On,” which will let owners control the router, too.

The router supports Bluetooth Smart, Google Weave and Zigbee. There’s a USB 3.0 port on the back as well, just for good measure. Google is also promising relatively routine software updates that will improve the OnHub over time.

The OnHub also sports a speaker, for those wondering what else Google could include in it.

The OnHub is available from the Google Store, and it’s available to pre-order from Amazon right now. The retailer says the OnHub will begin shipping on August 31, and it costs $199.99 for the blue or black model.

What do you think of the OnHub?

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