Google is discontinuing yet another app, opting to integrate its features into another platform instead. Last September, users were notified via email about the impending shift, and a recent follow-up email offers options to migrate subscriptions to YouTube Music or export them to compatible formats for other apps. The Google Podcasts app will cease to function after June 23, 2024. 

Google Podcasts used to be my go-to choice. Its simplicity and user-friendly interface made it my comfortable podcasting companion. Now, I'm left searching for a replacement. Although Google Podcasts is going away, making way for YouTube Music.  As Google podcast is going away, consider giving one of these alternatives a try. 

YouTube Music

YouTube Music, as will be an official alternative to Google Podcasts, it is a natural alternative I would first try. It will not only provide access to a wide array of podcasts, it is also primarily a perfect music app. With its integration with YouTube's vast content library and features like personalized recommendations, YouTube Music provides an alternative platform for discovering and enjoying podcasts.

Pocket Casts

 Known for its intuitive interface and robust features, Pocket Casts offers a seamless podcast listening experience with features like variable playback speed and automatic episode downloads.

Spotify

While primarily a music streaming platform, Spotify has expanded its offerings to include podcasts. With a vast library of podcasts, personalized recommendations, and the ability to create playlists that mix music and podcasts, Spotify is a popular choice for podcast enthusiasts.

Overcast

Overcast is another popular podcast app known for its clean design and advanced features such as Smart Speed, Voice Boost, and the ability to create custom playlists. It also offers features like recommendations based on your listening habits.

Stitcher

Despite being shut down by SiriusXM, Stitcher continues to exist as a podcast app. With a diverse selection of podcasts, curated playlists, and personalized recommendations, Stitcher remains a viable alternative for podcast listeners.

As I embark on this journey to find the perfect alternative to Google Podcasts, I remain open-minded and eager to explore other podcast apps. While I may not have found my ideal replacement just yet, I'm optimistic that with time and experimentation, I'll discover a new favorite that perfectly suits my listening preferences. So, here's to embracing change and the excitement of discovering new possibilities in the world of podcasting. Who knows? Perhaps in a few months, I'll have stumbled upon the perfect alternative that exceeds all expectations.

Google finally revealed Android N, which is Android Nougat, not Nutella, the name predicted by most of Android lovers before. 

Google revealed Android Nougat on June 30th , 2016, Google asked for suggestion for the name during Google IO in May. As we already know Android Nougat will have cool features like Multi-Window Support, The Notification Shade, Improvement in Doze Mode,  Better Data Saving, and new settings menu.

Introducing #AndroidNougat. Thank you, world, for all your sweet name ideas! #AndroidNReveal pic.twitter.com/7lIfDBwyBE

— Android (@Android) June 30, 2016

Android Nougat which will be available later this summer, can be downloaded as beta from google developer website. Android Nougat preview is available for Nexus5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, and Nexus Player.

Google announced today that name of new Android M is Marshmallow. Next version is believed to be released this fall. With the announcement of Android M Developer Preview in May at Google IO, the guessing started for the name of next version of Android. However Android M was called Android Macadamia Nut Cookie (or MNC in short) internally as seen during Android 6.0 SDK update, Google officially announced that it’s Android Marshmallow.

New android version will have several enhancements over the Lollipop version. Besides new exciting features include, better permission management, Android Pay and USB Type-C support.

Android Marshmallow will be released soon with new Nexus Devices form LG and Huawei. 

Introducing #AndroidMarshmallow. Learn more about our latest sweet http://t.co/eIwlgT7c6i pic.twitter.com/ytRwKLuCKT

— Android (@Android) August 17, 2015

In May, Google Announced new version of Android operating system ‘Android M’ which is now named Marshmallow. With the release of Android M Developer Preview during the Google IO earlier this year, we got a glimpse of what is being cooked as new Android version and after a couple of Developer Preview updates We finally have final Developer Preview version of System images available for Nexus devices. That means Android Marshmallow is coming soon. With the release of Android version, another exciting part is the Nexus device.There have been rumors that Huawei is manufacturing the next nexus device. But recently Business Korea wrote about LG releasing next Nexus phone in October. So, the chances are, we will have two nexus phones each form LG and Huawei.

After huge fame of Nexus 4 and Nexus 5, Nexus 6 couldn’t come at the same level of popularity. It was not because of the lack of good hardware though. Specs of Nexus 6 are sophisticated enough to be in the top of the line of Android high end devices. Only factor that made Nexus 6 from Motorola less popular was it’s size. Not all android users prefer phablets for daily use. Next Nexus devices are reported to be 5inch and 5.7inch form LG and Huawei respectively. Huawei having limited market penetration in the smartphone world LG nexus could be weigh more in the popularity scale. From the leaked photos of new LG Nexus 5 (2015), we can see Android Pay is one of the most promising feature of next LG flagship. 

Leaked photo said to be next Nexus from LG, dual tone flash LED, finger print sensor, and maybe laser focus :) pic.twitter.com/vpbyApJGft

— Android Community (@androids) August 17, 2015

At WWDC today, Apple announced new update to Siri, described as Proactive Assistant. It will be launched with iOS9. The proactive assistant is a personalized assistant app that will enhance the mobile experience through voice commands.

Proactive will be able to infer the commands based on your personal information on your device such as emails, calendar events, or your Passbook information. Proactive assistant seems to serve the same purpose as Google Now does but with focus on privacy. It will be anonymous, and the search will not be associated with Apple ID, hence maintaining the privacy.

Google announced Android M at Google IO 2015 in San Fransisco. Dave Burke, vice president of engineering at Google, outlined the features of Android M which will add more stability and usability.

App Permissions 
App permissions have been simplified in Android M. You won’t have to agree to the permissions when we install an app. The permissions will now be requested first time you try to use the feature. Permissions can be reviewed later and changed anytime.

Chrome Custom Tabs
Web experience has been enhanced by the new feature called Chrome Custom Tabs. This feature will allow developers to provide full chrome experience in an app. Chrome Custom Tabs will allow a customized Chrome tab on top of any app, instead of launching browser app for opening web pages.

Fingerprint support 
Fingerprint support is now “standardized” in Android M. Since fingerprint support will be available through Android framework, If the device has fingerprint hardware, it is no longer limited to unlocking to phone only.

Android Pay 
Android pay makes mobile payments much easier. It can be used for payment in more than 700,000 stores in US and is supported by American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Discover.

App Links 
App Links is one of the highly desired feature in Android. You might have noticed ‘Open With’ dialog when the system doesn’t know which app to use for the given link. Now developer can specify the apps that should open the link.

Power & Charging 
Google claims the new feature known as Doze will improve the standby time by reducing the background processes. And support for USB Type-C will allow charging one android device with another.

Besides these major features various other improvements have been added to Android M such as Auto Backup and restore for apps, New app drawer with a list of apps with alphabetical indexing. Enhanced Google Now and and Chrome will also make android better than before.

Android M Developer is available for download and the final version is due to launch in Q3, 2015.

Today Microsoft introduced new version of Windows and surprisingly named it Windows 10. After windows 7 and windows 8 there were rumors for windows 9 but Microsoft skipped the “9” and unveiled the next version as “Windows 10”. Windows 10 appears to be more closer to windows 7 with more windows-like user experience.  Microsoft finally does away with the Metro UI from the desktop keeping it as optional feature as it caused annoyance among the classical windows users familiar with the the original windows interface. With introduction of Metro UI in windows 8, Microsoft tried to keep the same user interface across all devices however this time Windows wants to keep the desktop and tablet user experience separate

The complaints about start menu made Microsoft ship Windows 8.1 last year with start menu but there were still many disappointments regarding the productivity issues due to the tiles-based home. This issue seems to have been addressed with Start menu along with resizable tiles attached with start menu this time.

Windows beta releases will be available from tomorrow through
Windows Insider Program. The early versions are said to be available for tablets and Desktops and later the same Windows 10 will be available for broad range of devices including handsets with customized user interface. With the slogan of “One product family. One platform. One store.” , Microsoft seems to be making single platform concept as adopted by Google and Apple.

Windows 10 appears to be the combination of both desktop and tablet like user interfaces making classical windows users make feel at home once again. Skipping number 9 alone will however keep 'Windows 8 nightmare' far away,  the familiar user interface will definitely make millions of windows 7 users happy to upgrade to windows 10

NVidia has sued their rival chipmakers Qualcomm and Samsung Electronics and accused both the companies of invading the company’s patent on graphics processing technology.  The U.S chipmaker company competes with the Qualcomm in the business of providing chips to smartphones and tablets. It is revealed  that Qualcomm and Samsung has been using NVidia patented technologies without a license in Samsung’s various mobile devices including their new smartphone Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Edge.   NVidia said that Samsung Company is making devices with graphics technology from Qualcomm, Britain’s ARM holding that are infringed on its patents. NVidia Chief Executive Jen Hsun Huang said on a conference call that the Samsung Company is using their technology for free in their devices today and they are now selling numerous smartphones around the world. Samsung Company on this remark told in a statement that they will take all the necessary actions against NVIDIA’s claims. NVidia Company is asking the US International Trade Commission to prevent shipments of Samsung devices which contains ARM’s Mali or Qualcomm’s graphics technology. NVidia is a famous name in leading graphics technology for high end computers but has struggled a lot to expand into smartphones. The company before taking legal action against Samsung discussed its patents with Samsung for couple of years. 

Apple stock price took a four percent dive on Wednesday and their downward movement continues as a bad news which comes before the release of the iPhone 6.  The Apple’s stock dropped from $103 to 98$ today.  Apple would be launching their new smartphone on September 9th 2014 but the Samsung launched their smartphone which includes many new features like flexible display.  This could be the reason for Apple’s stock market slash down. Apple Company has not released the details of the new smartphone which may include new wearable technology.  The nude celebrity photo leak incident which happened can be one of the reasons which cloud have affected the stock market.  But the company has declared that this incident in which a hacker broke the iPhone accounts for various celebrities did not happened due to a flaw in the iCloud. The company is mainly focused on their new feature iCloud, which is an internet based storage system that helps users to access their data and other things from any device rather than their location.  Security is a most important point for the entire tech world.  Apple’s security systems earlier which were quite robust will be under deep inspection.

Blackberry has sent invitations to media for launch event on 24th September where the company will be launching their new smartphone Passport. Apple on the other hand is also going for a same type of event where the company will be launching their new Apple iPhone 6. But blackberry has also lined up an event not only in one city but in three cities simultaneously. The company titled the invitation as “See the big picture” teases the smartphone Passport’s oddly large design. This new smartphone has 4.5 inch LCD display with 1440x1440 pixel resolution and gorilla glass 3 protection. The phone will run on 2.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad core processor with 3GB of RAM. The smartphone also have 32 GB of internal storage which can be further extended. The device features 13 megapixel rear camera and 2 megapixel front camera.
The company is also expecting to launch a new software Blackberry blend, that looks to narrow the gap between Blackberry phones and other devices on the same event. The feature of the new software will allow the users to access the files and contents on their blackberry smartphone that supports BBM, calendar, SMS, files and more. The new smartphone Passport is likely to come with this software.

Nokia is likely to challenge Apple and Google by introducing its own free map application for android and iOS operating systems.  Nokia will launch this application before the end of this year. The important point in Nokia’s app is that they don’t require any internet connection for generating of directions during driving.  The application will be for individual customers rather than Nokia’s usual business customers.  Nokia already introduced a map application known as Here Maps which is only available for Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone.  The application also supported iPhone and iPad but Nokia pulled back the application last year due to some issues with iOS 7. Currently Apple and Google are ruling the market with their application in both iOS and Android. The objective of Nokia is to hit the market with their rival app and introduce supporting features which are not offered by Apple or Google like offline use. Nokia’s application will help users to download maps and search directions in offline mode, with the help of satellites. This navigation through satellites doesn’t require any internet connection to work. Users of Google Maps have to trigger an offline mode to use the downloaded maps, but the application is not designed to use in offline mode.