Google Search now displays restaurant menus, including tabs for different sections

The weekend is nearly here, and many folks will be taking the opportunity to take a night off from cooking and go out for dinner. Just in time for your eatery adventure,Google has rolled out a new search feature that'll make it easier to decide which restaurant you'll be gracing with your presence.

Google announced today that it's added support for viewing restaurant menus directly in its search results. Simply tell Google to show you the menu for a particular restaurant and it'll return with the menu at the top of the search results, including tabs for the different sections of the menu and even sometimes the prices of each item. The feature is available now, but unfortunately it's currently only available in the U.S.

As I'm sure just about any smartphone owner can tell you, searching restaurant websites from a smartphone can be hit or miss. Sometimes the place you're searching for will have a mobile-friendly site that's a cinch to navigate, but there are just as many instances in which you'll be greeted by a full-on site or something even less useful, like a Flash-filled mess. This new Google search feature aims to eliminate that problem altogether.

The new feature worked pretty well in my testing, bringing up the menus and prices of a few different local eateries. Go ahead and give it a shot on your mobile device now! Just be sure to stop by the comments below and let me know how it worked for you before you head out for a meal, ok?

Do you want iOS in your car ?

Taking a break from the traditional talk of smartphones and tablets that I normally do, I decided to write my article today regarding the speculation that a new type of technology will be emerging from a company that we are quite used to hearing about. Apple, as it turns out, allegedly has plans to roll out the new "iOS in the Car" operating system to certain car manufacturers starting as soon as next week. While technology in cars isn't anything new in itself, Apple making an operating system specifically for cars is. 

It seems like a fair idea given that a lot of modern cars already connect to phones and operate through screens in the cars via Bluetooth. However, it's debatable that the way cars connect to phones right now are as beneficial as they seem to be. Many systems are laggy, have trouble connecting with phones and sometimes don't respond the way we want them to. However, if a company like Apple comes along will that make car tech a more desirable feature in cars?

I've never really been interested in car tech. Most of my friends have some sort of screen in their car that hooks up to their phone via Bluetooth, but I've gotten to the point where I am so annoyed by distracted drivers almost hitting my car that if it's not the radio playing or a passenger in my car talking to me, whatever is going on is simply not happening until I am pulled over and parked somewhere. I have a better chance of surviving if at least one person is paying attention - somebody has to get out of the way, right? Too many people care more about what's going on in that screen rather than what's going on in the road in front of them. It's for that reason that I am somewhat concerned about the progression of technology in cars.

Now, I do realize that what Apple has planned for cars is probably (hopefully) not going to be that detailed. The images of iOS for the Car showed four options: calling, music, GPS and what looked to be an SMS bubble. Although I would like to think that SMS could have been left out, I suppose as long as each aspect is via voice dictation then I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it. The main problem with sending a text in cars now is that people are taking their eyes off the road, darting between road and phone and thinking they're safe, in order to send a short text. It doesn't matter if they're sending a "Lol" or a "See you soon", the problem is that they're taking their eyes off of the road to do so. Even dealing with phone calls and maps on a phone can be iffy because you're still taking your eyes off the road to hit specific buttons. 

But despite all of these issues that come with using your standard smartphone in cars, I'm not totally on board with something like iOS in the Car either. I guess part of me still feels that too much is going on in the car tech-wise that leads to increased distracted driving. I don't mind radios because it's a physical knob that I can feel without doing so much as looking away from the road ahead of me. I can adjust the volume with the same physical knob. If I absolutely need to make a phone call I usually pull over; the same goes for texts. As for GPS, that all gets worked on ahead of time. The GPS starts telling me where to go before I even get out of park. There is just too much at stake to make any room for careless driving, and as much as I love tech I am a firm believer that there are things tech can do to make our lives more complicated. Implementing them in cars, in many ways, can do this. 

I could be viewing this entirely wrong, though. Perhaps this new iOS in the Car will help people not to use their phones, which is, I admit, probably worse than dealing with an integrated system already in the car. At least then the driver wouldn't have to shift their focus or take a hand off of the wheel to accomplish any of the things that iOS in the Car will allow them to do. I am interested to see how it pans out for Apple as well, as shifting to creating software for cars would be something that no other smartphone platform has done before. I wonder if other platforms will follow?

Readers, what are your thoughts on iOS in the Car? Would you want this new operating system in your car, and do you think it will help solve the issues that accompany people who use their phones in their cars? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Someone made machines that play music with pint glasses

Forget skimming the edge of your pint glass to make music -- how about some real alcohol-inspired instruments? Inventor Andy Cavatorta has built the Chalice Symphony, a quartet of devices that use Stella Artois' signature drinking glasses to produce some decidedly uncommon sounds. Each of the instruments is surprisingly technology-laden. The Star Harp can use robotics to play itself, while the Pyrophone you see here relies on software-controlled torches to create flute-like notes. The Hive (a keyboard-driven cluster of bells) and the Violina (a spinning string-like instrument) also use complex machinery. There are currently just a few teaser videos to hint at what the symphony can do, but you'll get an earful soon -- Cold War Kids will release a track in early March that was performed using the glass-based gadgets. We have a hunch that it's worth waiting for the song, even if you're not a fan of Belgian pilsners.

MWC 2014 wrap-up: the best of the biggest mobile event this year

We're on our way out of the MWC grounds. The biggest mobile tech event of the first half of teh year is over. While last year we left slightly disappointed, this year was full of excitement with several flagship launches, several new tablets and plenty of wearables, too.

Before we say goodbye, we have time slow down and review the highlights of the frantic week behind us.

Samsung

Samsung's announcement brought the hotly anticipated Galaxy S successor. The Galaxy S5 improves on the S4 on all counts, with water-resistance, big camera sensor with 4K video capture, fingerprint and heart rate sensors as the headlining features.

The slightly bigger screen (just 0.1") and faster processor were a bit less exciting (S4 Advance has Snapdragon 800 versus the 801 of the S5).

Samsung Galaxy S5

Samsung also brought out Tizen devices - three smartwatches - but the only Tizen phone was a prototype that will never see store shelves.

Sony

Sony was the other big player to unveil its flagship - the Xperia Z2 builds on its predecessor with 4K video capture, bigger screen (0.2" more) and lighter, but bigger, body. Sony has publicly adopted the two flagship updates per year, so this is really for Xperia Z owners. Z1 owners will probably have their upgrade later this year.

 
Sony Xperia Z2 • Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet LTE

Sony also revamped its tablet - the Xperia Z2 Tablet is the thinnest Android tablet around and it's so light and pretty, it's a serious rival to the iPad Air. As other Z devices, it's water resistant.

Nokia

Nokia had no flagship to show, but its event brought a big shift in strategy - the now Microsoft-owned phone division made Android-powered devices, three of them. Of course, former CEO and future Microsoft head of tech Stephen Elop made sure to stress that the Nokia X family uses Microsoft and Nokia services, not Google's.

  
Nokia X • Nokia X+ • Nokia XL

You can read our thoughts on Nokia's deviation from the Windows Phone-centric smartphone approachhere.

LG

LG unveiled the G2 sidekicks - the G Pro 2 phablet and the G2 mini compact phone - a couple of weeks before the MWC, but this was our first face to face meeting with the new gadgets. While the G Pro 2 is aserious challenger to the Galaxy Note 3, the G2 mini has some drawbacks - it's not much smaller than the G2 and its specs are thoroughly mid-range. And we thought that after the Xperia Z1 Compact, things were turning around for small flagships.

 
LG G Pro 2 • LG G2 mini

HTC

HTC didn't put too much effort into the MWC - the ailing manufacturer only brought the Desire 816 phablet and that was only a dummy. We guess HTC is saving its ace for the end of March when the HTC One successor will be unveiled.

The HTC One itself won the Best Smartphone award at the MWC.

HTC Desire 816

Huawei

Huawei brought a "don't call it a mini" compact version of its Ascend P6 phone, the G6. The company also threw down the glove, challenging the Nexus 7 (2013) with the LTE and voice call enabled MediaPad X1.

The company also showed an innovative wearable, the TalkBand B1. It's a Bluetooth headset that can be worn as a smartwatch thanks to a clever wrist band.

 
Huawei Ascend G6 • Huawei MediaPad X1

Lenovo

The Lenovo S850 smartphone and Toga Tablet 10 HD+ stand out on Lenovo's roster. The S850 is a mid-range 5" phone with a 13MP camera and a plastic finish meant to feel and look like glass, while the Yoga tablet updates its predecessor with a 1,920 x 1,200px screen.

 
Lenovo S850 • Lenovo Yoga 10+

Acer

Acer had no flagship to show, but the mid-range Liquid E3 and entry-level Liquid Z4 will have to do until the next Liquid S flagship comes out.

 
Acer Liquid E3 • Acer Liquid Z4

ZTE

ZTE showed the second generation Grand Memo tablet, now with LTE. The screen grew to 6", though the chipset was demoted from a Snapdragon 800 to a 400. ZTE also had a couple of Firefox OS phoneson display.

  
ZTE Grand Memo II LTE • ZTE Open II • ZTE Open C

Alcatel

Speaking of Firefox OS phones, Alcatel had a whole gaggle of them, there's even a 7" tablet. Alcatel had the most new devices in general, but the most interesting Android devices are the Idol 2 S and Idol 2 Mini / 2 Mini S.

The Pop Fit is an interesting device too - a tiny, entry-level Android phone that can come on a run with you thanks to the arm band (and its small size, of course).

  
Alcatel One Touch Idol 2 S • Alcatel One Touch Idol 2 Mini • Alcatel One Touch Idol 2 Mini S

Others

A few devices from lesser known makers also deserve a shout out. The Blackphone addresses hot issues of today - privacy and electronic security - while the New YotaPhone tries to revolutionize phone design with two screen (the second one being an e-paper display).

The Gionee Elife S5.5 is the thinnest smartphone yet, just 5.55mm thick.

 
Gionee Elife E7 • Gionee Elife S5.5

Other intersecting developments came from SanDisk, like the first 128GB microSD card (which the latest flagships support). This NAND storage progress was, of course, accompanied by bigger embeddable storage chips for phones and tablets.

SanDisk also unveiled external storage for your phone or tablet, the Dual Ultra USB Drive. It plugs into USB OTG enabled devices and provides between 16GB and 64GB of extra storage. It has a handy full size USB end for plugging into computers too.

While Apple wasn't at the MWC (it never is), the awards committee honored the Cupertino tech giant with the Best Tablet award for the iPad Air.

Third-party apps can use Samsung's fingerprint scanner

In a not so surprising move Samsung released its latest flagship with a fingerprint scanner just as rumors suggested. The home button on the Galaxy S5 does more than just unlocking the phone though.

Samsung is also providing its fingerprint scanner information for use with other apps so developers can, for example, replace passwords with biometric print data.

This is done with the Pass API, released as part of the Galaxy S5 development kit. PayPal is the first to utilize the open API and will allow confirming payments via fingerprint on the Galaxy S5.

Apple on the other side held its fingerprint scanning information under lock and key inside the A7 chip and only allows data to be shared (read used) with its own services (like iTunes, iBooks, etc.).

Some might argue the latter is a safer approach amid constant raiding of online-accessible personal information. On the other hand the fingerprint scanner opens a world of possibility and enhanced usability.

What say you, loyal readers? And while you're mulling it, here's our hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Nokia X gets rooted, runs Google apps with no fuss

The inevitable happened. Google apps got installed on the freshly announced Nokia X after a crafty member of XDA Developers rooted the Android handset.

The root was achieved via the Framaroot app. The bootloader of the device is unsurprisingly locked, so instead of flashing a single zip file, users need to copy the apk files for Google apps via a root explorer application.

Sony Xperia Z2 will only be the flagship for six months more

Speaking to Japanese K-Tai.Impress Sony Mobile's Creative Director, Director of Product Planning and UX General Manager, Yoshiro Kurozumi, addresses the early rise to the throne by the Xperia Z2 and why he thinks a half a year upgrade cycle is a better fit for this industry.

According to him, in order to maintain the flagship status of the product, you must upgrade it faster to keep it competitive. He went on to confirm that the Xperia Z2 will likely be Sony's flagship for only the first half of 2014.

He also commented about design, saying Sony doesn't want to rely on a single design, which could mean the company will perhaps move away from its OmniBalance design language, which has dominated the Xperia line so far (including Z, Z1 and Z2, compact and ultra included).

And while we can extrapolate from Mr. Kurozumi's words that Sony will be releasing its next flagship some time in Q3 or Q4 of 2014 and that it may feature a new design, we truly hope Sony will at least continue to update its Z and Z1 flagships for the sake of those users, who have purchased these devices for a handful amount of money (all of which are still waiting to receive Android 4.4 KitKat).