Android's Material Design look hits Google Play Store with 5.0 update

The new look is flatter, but very bold (credit: Phandroid)

As Android L gets nearer and nearer Google has begun in earnest the process of updating its various core apps with the new Material Design aesthetic.

The latest beneficiary of this refresh is the Google Play Store app, which has just been updated to version 5.0.31.

The new Play Store app has the look, with a flatter yet bolder-colored aesthetic, and also comes with some UI changes.

Overall it seems to be a positive change, though naturally your mileage may vary.

The new Google Play Store app, for example, places the "what's new" section of each app right at the top, so you no longer need to scroll down to see recent changes and updates.

There are new icons as well, and a redesigned sidebar.

The Google Play 5.0 update is rolling out to Android devices now, although if you don't want to wait you can head to Phandroid to download the APK and sideload it manually.

Enjoy this test drive of Android L's design language before the newest Android update begins rolling out later this month.

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Apple iPhone 6 teardown: Design changes make device easier to repair

Bill Detwiler cracks open the iPhone 6, explores the internal hardware, and explains how Apple made the phone easier to repair.

With its larger screen and rounded edges, the iPhone 6 is a dramatic departure from the exterior design that Apple introduced with the iPhone 4. But along with the outside changes, Apple also made lots of tweaks on the inside, which make the iPhone 6 faster, able to store more data, and easier to open and repair.

Unlike the similar-looking iPhone 5 and 5S, there's no mistaking the iPhone 6 for one of Apple's previous handsets. Its 4.7-inch display is larger than anything Apple has released before, its case is much thinner, and the rounded edges give it a distinctive look.

Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic

For more information on the iPhone 6, including performance and battery life benchmark tests, check out Scott Stein's full CNET review.

Unfortunately, many of the iPhone 6's design changes are also hidden within the device and are only visible once you crack it open.

For more teardown images of the iPhone 6, check out the full Cracking Open gallery on TechRepublic.

Relocated Home button cable makes repairs easier: Cracking open the iPhone 6 is actually easier than opening previous iPhones. You'll still need to remove the two Pentalobe screws along the bottom edge with a special screwdriver, but Apple relocated the ribbon cable on the Home button, which means you no longer need to worry about tearing it when popping open the front panel.

Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic

Interior design very similar with lots of small changes: The overall hardware layout is the same as on the iPhone 5S. Inside the case, there's a speaker and Lightning connector assembly at the bottom, battery along the left side, main circuit board along the right, and the camera assembly at the top. Attached to the front panel are the display, front camera and sensors, earpiece speaker and the Home button. Despite these big similarities, there are lots of small changes. A new metal plate and attached cable sit behind the screen. The vibration motor was moved from the top of the device to the bottom. The power button has been relocated from the top to the right side. There's a small, removable component connected to the upper-left corner of the main logic board, which appears to be an antenna. And these are just some of the more noticeable changes.Redesigned system board: The main system board is similar in general shape to the boards in previous iPhones, but it has a larger section that runs horizontally across the top of the phone. Unfortunately, the shields that cover the iPhone 6's motherboard are soldered in place -- obscuring our view of the new A8 processor, M8 motion tracking chip and most of the other chips. As I wanted to put this phone back together in working order, I left the shields in place during our teardown.

Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic

Higher capacity battery: The iPhone 6 has a 3.82V, 1,810mAh, 6.91Wh battery, compared to the iPhone 5S' 3.8V, 5.92Wh, 1,560mAh battery and the iPhone 5's 3.8V, 5.45Wh, 1,440mAh unit. iSight camera covered with metal bracket: During our teardown of the iPhone 5S, we discovered that the rear-facing camera was covered with a thin, rubber flap. Apple replaced this flap with a metal cover on the iPhone 6.New vibration motor: On the iPhone 5S, Apple used a rotating-mass vibration motor. On the iPhone 6, the company switched to a linear-actuator vibration motor.More storage available: Although the entry-level iPhone 6 still comes with a measly 16GB of storage, the top-end model has twice the storage capacity (128GB) of the iPhone 5S (64GB).

Bill Detwiler/TechRepublic

There's nothing revolutionary about the iPhone 6, but Apple definitely took a big leap forward with its design and construction -- a bigger screen, new body and lots of new or relocated components. I'm also glad they made the phone easier to open and repair.

For more teardown images of the iPhone 6, check out the full Cracking Open gallery on TechRepublic.

Bill Detwiler Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop support specialist in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention. See full bio

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Industry voice: Apple Watch isn't about fashion design; it's about the fashion industry

Apple Watch smartwatch

The recent release of the Apple Watch has, unsurprisingly, sparked huge media interest and caused many to ask whether this is a new beginning for Apple, as it appears to be edging into the fashion accessories market.

Apple has recently appointed executives who have worked for major fashion brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Burberry, implying a conscious effort from the tech brand to woo fashion consumers into spending more on Apple products.

However, while Apple's new wearable tech product gives the impression that Apple is attempting to move into the accessories space, this may not actually be the case.

Despite a watch typically being viewed as a fashion accessory, we have recently seen the creation of several smart watches: none of which have managed to make any serious waves within the fashion crowd. This, coupled with a focus on health and wellbeing apps, rather than being marketed as a hip accessory, has left much to be desired from wearable devices in the eyes of the fashion crowd.

The same could be argued for Apple's new wearable product. Whilst fashion is a good fit for an aesthetically-driven company like Apple, it is more likely that they will be using fashion and trend cycles to align the watch with fashion trend cycles to boost revenue.

In doing so, Apple is borrowing the fashion business model, rather than edging into the fashion world itself. This is a smart move from Apple, as it has opened itself up to a world of marketing possibilities. By timing its product releases right, it will be able to take advantage of spring/summer or autumn/winter seasons and sales and ensure its products are released when consumers are already looking to spend.

That being said, it is not too late for Apple to enter the fashion space and this may be a tactic reserved for further down the line - once the watch itself and its technological capabilities have made an impact on consumers' lifestyles.

By teaming with a well-known fashion designer or brand in the future, Apple will be able to create a differentiated product that will more obviously appeal to the fashion conscious among us, and perhaps be more design than technology-led.

Currently, it seems Apple is concentrating more on the health-monitoring wearable trend that is gaining traction amongst consumers. As well as health, Apple is more interested in allowing consumers to receive all their information at a glance, so personalisation comes from the data within the watch, not from the watch's external style.

Although the borders between fashion and technology continue to blur, I believe more exciting things will come out of this space than the Apple Watch. I appreciate everything that Apple designs, but the Apple Watch does not excite me – no new ground is being broken here and I am just as happy to stick a device in my pocket, as I am to strap it to my wrist.

There is more to wearable tech than just gadgetry. Advances in conductive materials and integrated surface technologies mean we can weave technology directly into the fabric we wear.

Show me a jacket with the same functions as my mobile phone and I'm sold! Until then, fashion and technology will continue to collide and borrow from one another, but more in terms of business tactics rather than catwalk collections.

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Sennheiser tries to beat Beats with new design for CX headphones

Sennheiser is looking to beat Beats with new red headphones. Sennheiser

Sennheiser hasn't forgotten about Dre, taking a leaf out of the playbook of rival Beats by focusing on a more recognisable design for its new CX headphones.

German manufacturer Sennheiser is well-known among audiophiles for the audio quality of its kit, but in the last couple of years, like all headphone manufacturers, it's been left behind by Beats in terms of popularity and visibility.

Co-founded by rapper Dr Dre and recently snapped up by Apple for billions of dollars, Beats is derided by audiophiles, but has carved out an unbeatable brand identity thanks to its instantly recognisable design and the magic touch of celebrities from rappers to World Cup football stars.

Speaking exclusively to CNET last year about the challenge from Beats fashion 'phones, Sennheiser scion Daniel Sennheiser admitted the firm had been "complacent" -- but it's clear with the CX in-ears it's learned its lesson.

Following the example of Beats, Sennheiser has rethought its design -- specifically, to make sure that people wearing Sennheisers can be seen to be wearing Sennheisers. The new CX headphones have a new signature oblong design on the outside of the earbuds, and the cables come in white, black and red -- which just happen to be Beats' signature colours.

Perhaps that's a sort of audiophile honeytrap, so when the less-informed music lover says, "Cool, are they Beats?", the audiophile can sneer, "Ac-tually, they're Senn-heiser," before dropping the mic and high-fiving everyone in the organic record store.

The new Sennheiser CX series is made up of four slightly different models of ear-canal headphones: CX 1.00, CX 2.00, CX 3.00 and CX 5.00. Full prices and availability are yet to be confirmed, but Sennheiser has told us that the CX 3.00s will cost £45 in the UK. That converts to $75 or AU$80.

The CX 2.00 and CX 5.00 have an attached inline remote control for playing, pausing and skipping tracks, and a hands-free microphone for taking calls without taking out your headphones. The remotes are compatible with the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy devices, although Sennheiser hasn't confirmed it'll work with other makes of phone or tablet.

The CX 1.00 and CX 3.00 are just headphones without the hands-free or remote. The CX 3.00 and CX 5.00 headphones also come with a hard plastic carry case that you can wind your headphones into so they don't tangle.

All the headphones in the range come with four sizes of ear sleeve to fit lugholes of all shapes and sizes. The drivers have also been angled differently to direct sound into the ear better. They go deeper too, with 17KHz bass instead of the 19KHz of previous models.

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Sennheiser will also show off a wacky new device next week called Mogees. Mogees combines a vibration sensor and a mobile app to detect and analyse the acoustic properties of any physical object and turn it into a unique musical instrument.

We'll see this crazy-sounding musical marvel at next week's IFA trade show in Berlin, where the great and the good of the technology industry gather to show off their wares for the rest of the year. We'll be there to bring you photos, videos and hands-on first impressions of everything from the expected Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to the wackier stuff like this Mogees thingy -- so keep it CNET.

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