Amazon updates Flow for Android with text recognition and group scanning

Amazon's augmented reality app for bargain hunters on-the-go, Flow, just got a bit handier with the recent addition of deeper search functionality. Released initially on iOS in November of 2011 and subsequently made available to Android usersthis past July, the app allows users to browse and compare prices in Amazon's inventory by scanning items in brick-and-mortar shops. And now, with this latest Android-only update, users will also be able to incorporate text, URLs and phone numbers into their image queries, as well as scan and receive data on a slew of items in one pass. It's live now on Google Play, so hit up the source below to get your download started.

[Source: Engadget]

TomTom updates its Android app to make it, you know, work

We've journeyed with the TomTom Navigator app for Android and it's been great -- except for one brake-punching problem. Version 1.0 was only compatible with phones that happened to have a display width of 480 pixels (WVGA or FWVGA), which meant that our Galaxy S IIIs, Nexus 4s and other favorite handsets all had to be left at home. That issue has now been fixed in v1.1, along with some other, less fundamental niggles. In particular, you can now download the large offline maps to microSD rather than filling up internal storage, and TomTom also says map downloads can be completed with the app running in the background -- although there's no mention of downloads being resumable. One thing that certainly hasn't improved is the price -- if you want to travel across the USA and Canada, for example, you'll find that Navigator for Android is precisely $50 more costly than Google's offline offering or Nokia Drive for Windows Phones.

[Source: Engadget]

Xbox SmartGlass for Android updated with official 7-inch tablet support

Microsoft brought its SmartGlass Xbox 360 second screen app to Android last month, however official support was limited to smartphones. While many found that sideloading got the app running on their other devices, an update today has officially added support for tablets of the 7-inch variety. There's also fixes for specific crashes tied to the achievements and settings screens, but not much else. If you've been waiting to bring your Nexus 7 along as GPS in Forza Horizon or control tracks in Dance Central 3, hit the source link to install the app straight from Google Play.

[Source: Engadget]

Amazon brings Cloud Drive Photos app to Android, keeps your shots safe

Looks like releasing its first in-house-built mobile game for Android (and other platforms) wasn't quite enough for the online retail giant. Amazon announced earlier that its Cloud Drive Photos application is now available on Android for both handset and tablets, giving users of Google's OS a cloud-based hub to use for uploading, saving, sharing and viewing pictures -- of course this also includes the retailer's kind handout of 5G of free storage, though folks could easily upgrade to 20GB for a $10 per-year fee. The Cloud Drive Photos app is up for download now, so hit that Google Play link below if you're looking foryet another place to keep all those awesome shots you snap with your device.

[Source: Engadget]