Stephen is Growth Director at 9to5. You can find his current work at 9to5Mac, 9to5Google 9to5Toys, Electrek, and more. If you want to get in touch, follow me on Twitter. Or, email at stephen (at) 9to5mac (dot) com, or an encrypted email at hallstephenj (at) protonmail (dot) com.
Google has today updated the Google I/O 2015 website with a bunch of really useful information. As of right now, you can view the entire schedule of events and sessions for I/O 2015, set up your own personal schedule for the event, get reminders for when sessions are happening, and more…
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Sony has today announced a refresh of its Xperia C line with the introduction of the Xperia C4, featuring a Full HD display and a “best in class” 5-megapixel front camera. I’m not the target audience for a selfie phone, but there’s definitely some kind of target audience out there somewhere that buys these things…
Xiaomi introduced the Mi Note back in January, and mentioned at the time that a “Pro” version of the phone would be coming at some point in the future. Today is that point in the future and Xiaomi has finally officially unveiled the behemoth of a phone that this new handset is. Alongside some new information about the phone, Xiaomi has also announced an official release date…
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Moto 360 available for $180 (Reg. $250) for a limited time
Wearables are slowly but surely making their way into our daily lives, but one very critical aspect—health—is already helping to bring them mainstream. It’s something that every person is conscious of on a daily basis, and wearable device makers—as evidenced by the countless fitness trackers on the market—want to make it easier to stay on top of exercise, diet, and more. But another aspect of our health, chronic illness, is also big opportunity for wearables to make a difference—and they already are.
About half of all American adults have some kind of chronic illness, and diabetes is one of the most common. With the advent of smartwatches, we all now have quick access to at least one useful stat: our heart rate. But what if those with diabetes could just as easily monitor blood glucose levels? No mainstream smartwatch can monitor this alone, yet, but now one developer has released an app for Android Wear that will plug into a Dexcom CGM (continuous glucose monitor), providing glanceable updates every five minutes on blood glucose levels.
Update: The 5.0.2 factory images are for the Nexus 9 are now available.
The Nexus 9 is now receiving an OTA update, not to the most recent Android 5.1.1 build, but to the older Android 5.0.2. While most Nexus devices received 5.0.2 months ago and have been more recently receiving Android 5.1.1, the poor flagship Nexus 9 tablet from Google was still stuck on 5.0.1 until today.
The update to 5.1.1 is expected to coming any day now, and one Googler recently said that the team is doing everything they can to push it as soon as possible. While we can’t be certain, it seems that this relatively small 23.3 MB OTA update might just be preparation for the bigger 5.1(.1) release.
We’ll keep our eyes on the factory image download page (5.0.2 isn’t available there quite yet for the Nexus 9), but until then, feel free to click the link below the download the OTA update file.
Google released a video yesterday teasing all the exciting AdWords announcements it has in store, and today the livestream featuring them is about to be underway. Among the announcements that Google mentioned yesterday include new mobile-focused ad formats, tools to help automate and scale all the things you do in AdWords, and new measurement products to help you measure the impact of your ads across a variety of platforms.
According to a report this morning from The Information, Google is planning to introduce an interesting new feature for Play Store listings at this year’s Google I/O developers’ conference. A common practice within apps themselves, new “A/B testing” would allow developers to test multiple versions of their app listings to see which ones bring the most conversions…
The disassembly pros at iFixit are at it again, this time tearing down the LG Watch Urbane. LG’s latest entry into the Android Wear space is considered by many to be the fanciest and nicest smartwatch available, but now it looks like we have the authority on device teardowns confirming that it’s also going to be pretty easy to pull apart on the off chance you’ll need to fix it yourself.
According to a report this morning from the Korea Times, the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge are about to get an Avengers makeover. In partnership with Marvel, the Korean company supposedly said that it will release “Iron Man versions” of its two flagships, assumably to help promote (as if it needed help being promoted) the recently-released Avengers: Age of Ultron film…
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HTC has posted 4 new videos to its YouTube channel to promote its current-generation flagship, the HTC One M9. The clips feature a few important new features of the company’s new flagship, including HTC Sense Home, low-light photo capabilities, BoomSound, and HTC Connect. Check them out below:
Google+ Collections, a feature that has been widely rumored and speculated to be rolling out today, has started appearing on the Google+ web interface for some. Google has yet to officially announce the feature, but a new “Share” button has supposedly started appearing for some users that suggests that they “Use collections to group [their] posts.”
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Samsung has today kicked off its “Next is Now” campaign to promote the Galaxy S6 (and S6 Edge), and it’s happening in three parts. The first part has launched on YouTube today, featuring Jetman Yves Rossy, and the other two will be shared over the next two weeks.
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Android Lollipop is continuing its parade across the various flagship devices of yesteryear, and today it looks like T-Mobile is rolling out the update to its Samsung Galaxy Note Edge (via Android Police). As per the company’s support website:
Beginning May 4, the Samsung Samsung Galaxy Note Edge will receive a software update to Android version 5.0.2/baseband version N915TUVU1COD7. This update provides the Android 5.0 ‘Lollipop’ and enables Wi-Fi passport. This update is available to download over W-Fi or via Samsung Kies.
Rather than the more recent Android 5.1 and 5.1.1 builds that have been rolling out to Nexus devices lately, this update is based on Android 5.0.2. On top of bringing Android Lollipop (and all the goodies that it offers), T-Mobile also says that this update enables Wi-Fi passport.
The update is beginning its rollout today, but if you’re impatient you can use Samsung’s Kies software to get it right now. Otherwise, make sure your phone has at least 1100 MB of free space, a WiFi connection, and at least 50% battery life.
Dozens upon dozens of Android phones from the various OEMs have been updated to Lollipop over the last several months, but it looks like at least a couple of devices (one of which is barely a year old) won’t be getting any Material Design goodness. HTC has confirmed that both the HTC One Mini 2 and its predecessor the One Mini, won’t—at least officially—be getting the update to the latest version of Google’s mobile OS.
If you’re a developer, you’re probably very familiar with the ADB commands used to capture screenshots and screencast video footage from your Android device. If you’re an end-user, you’re probably very familiar with the key combinations used to grab screenshots, and have an app to make those screencasts. Whether you fall into one of these categories or somewhere in between, there’s now a better way to accomplish these tasks—using a brand new app called Android Tool…
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IKAWA’s coffee roaster brings the experience home w/ iOS connectivity and custom recipes
LG has uploaded a few LG G4 ads to its YouTube channel, showcasing some of the most important new features of the device. The first ad of course shows off the phone’s genuine leather backs (and it looks a lot like the Moto Selfie Stick April Fools’ video we saw a few weeks ago). Secondly, there’s a spot focused on the G4’s IPS Quantum display, and lastly there’s an ad showing off its F1.8 aperture lens.
Android 5.1.1 was first released for the Nexus Player more than a week ago, and just yesterday the update finally reached the the Nexus 7 (2012 & 2013 WiFi models) and the Nexus 10. But one device, the flagship Nexus 9 tablet, still hasn’t even received plain-old Android 5.1—which first started rolling out in early March. Now, a Google employee has come out on Google+ to say that 5.1.1 for the “N9 OTAs aren’t far out.”
Google has now released Android Studio 1.2 in the stable update channel. As has been the case since the software was first released in beta just about a month ago, the update features a distraction-free mode, inline debugger variables, simultaneous tag editing, better formatting, and more.
- a new debugger which shows variable values inline in the editor, can decompile libraries you don’t have source code for, and can generate a list of objects referring to a selected object
- distraction free mode
- simultaneous tag editing (where you can edit open and closing tags simultaneously)
- editor enhancements like multiple selections, smart backspace indent, and automatic indentation detection for the current file
- new and improved refactoring operations
- annotation inference, scratch files, improved Gradle support, improved diff view, high-density monitor support, and many more features
- See https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/whatsnew/ for more details.
You can grab Android Studio at the Google Developer website, and if you already have it installed, you’ll find that version 1.2 should be available right now.
HTC has today pushed an update to its Camera app, packing a plethora of great new features for owners of HTC’s current flagship and past flagships alike. Most notably is the addition of Raw Camera mode, which lets users take photos and save them in their original, unchanged —hence the name “raw”—state…
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Google today announced that it’s rolling out the first set of apps that support tie-ins to custom Google voice actions. This means that, yes, you’ll soon be able to say “Ok Google” followed by special commands that will let you interact with your apps in a variety of new ways…
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