Author

Avatar for Stephen Hall

Stephen Hall

stephenjhall

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.

Connect with Stephen Hall

stephenjhall

3 months in: LG’s G Watch R does hardware right, but Android Wear holds it back (for now)

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 23 2015 - 10:49 am PT
0 Comments

IMG_0764

We’re still in the relatively early days of Android Wear, but I think those who have tried the platform have spent enough time with it by now to know whether or not it’s essential to their lives in its current form. I hate to spoil this review in the first two lines, but I know already that, for me, Android Wear is not something I really need. Put simply, it’s just not useful enough yet. From the available Android Wear devices I’ve tried, there are a couple that I think do hardware very well — the LG G Watch R is one of them. I like it so much that I want it to be a necessary part of my day, but it just isn’t there yet… here’s why.
Expand
Expanding
Close

Nexus Player shows up on Amazon UK for March 26 launch

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 23 2015 - 7:51 am PT
0 Comments

player-overview-1600

The Nexus Player has been available in the US for quite some time, but now we have a bit of an idea of when the device will be launching in the UK. As spotted by Engadget, the Nexus Player has shown up on the UK Amazon website with a launch date of March 26th and a price of £80. Sadly, that page seems to have been taken down already and the only listing for the device is currently via a third-party reseller (at a pretty decent markup).

In January, Google revealed that the Nexus Player would be coming to Japan by the end of February, its first market outside the US. More recently, Google posted the Android 5.1 factory image for the Nexus Player. If you’d like to, you can head over to read our full review that we published all the way back in November. We found it to be a useful new platform for Android, but a lot of its features can feel a bit half-baked.

Talking Schmidt: Google Glass is a long-term project, too important to scrap

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 23 2015 - 6:53 am PT
2 Comments

Eric Schmidt

If you’ve been following the facts behind the situation with Glass, you know that the project is not seen as even close to being dead within the Mountain View company. Despite the Explorer Program being shut down earlier this year, Google clearly sees potential in the platform. And according to comments recently made by Google’s Eric Schmidt, Glass is just far too important to scrap…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Site default logo image

First teardown of the Samsung Galaxy S6 posted, looks difficult (Video)

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 20 2015 - 12:04 pm PT
1 Comment

INxSX11Gm5cXX6Pl

The Samsung Galaxy S6 was only recently announced at the beginning of this month, but at least one person seems to have already gotten their hands on the device and given it the teardown treatment. Smartphone teardowns have definitely gotten more difficult as components continue shrinking and device designs have gotten sleeker, and based on this video, the Galaxy S6 is no exception…

You can find the full teardown over at iFixit (a site well-known for their comprehensive device disassemblies), but this one is a community contribution. It supposedly only takes 12 steps to take apart, but the guide is definitely an over-simplification if you have no experience tearing these devices down. Just removing the back of the S6 would probably be a challenge for the faint of heart.

You can check out the full teardown video below:

9to5Toys Last Call: HTC RE camera $100, Moto G (unlocked) $160, Chromecast freebies, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 20 2015 - 11:11 am PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

9619108_sd

HTC RE 16-megapixel waterproof digital camera: $99.99 shipped (Reg. $199)

Moto G

Moto G 4G LTE unlocked 8GB (black or white): $159.99 shipped (Reg. $219.99)

chromecast-deals

Latest Chromecast freebie mix worth $80: Play gift cards, Qello HD concerts, more

612Aagkz+BL._SL1500_

Jawbone UP24 Fitness Tracker: $55 shipped (Reg. $129)

$_12-1

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 32 GB factory unlocked: $295 shipped (Reg. $500)

galaxy-alpha

Samsung Galaxy ALPHA SM-G850A 32GB 4G LTE: $279 shipped (Reg. $400)

 

81ag9n-ynel-_sl1050_

HDTVs: LG 50″ WebOS 4K UHDTV $1,299 (Reg. $1,499), Haier 58″ 1080p 120Hz $629 (Reg. $749), more

Kensington ClickSafe Keyed Laptop Lock (K64637WW-04

Kensington ClickSafe Keyed Laptop Lock $17 Prime shipped (orig. $40+)

lg-g3-fan

LG G3 w/ free $100 Amazon gift card for $0.01 w/ 2-yr contract or $479 w/o

More new gear from today:

Headphones: ATH-M50X Professional Over-Ears $129 (Reg. $169), Philips Over-Ears $63 (Reg. $75+)

  • New! Daily Deals: Motorola Moto G $160, Seagate Expansion 5TB External HDD $130, more
  • New! Games/Apps: The Order 1886 $40, Battlefield Hardline $54, Xbox One bundle $349, iOS freebies, more

More deals still alive:

wd-elements-1tb-hard-drive

WD Elements 1TB Portable USB 3.0 Hard Drive: $50 shipped (orig. $70)

New products & more:

bosch-reaxx-saw

Bosch’s new REAXX table saw uses advanced sensors to protect your hands and its blade

Site default logo image

Google posts Android 5.1 factory image for Nexus Player

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 20 2015 - 10:24 am PT
2 Comments

 

player-overview-1600Android 5.1 has slowly begun rolling out to Nexus devices over the last couple of weeks (and has been seen on Android One devices since February), but Google has today posted the factory image for the Nexus Player. Previously, Google updated the download page with links for the Nexus 5, 2012 WiFi Nexus 7, and the Nexus 10, and now you can manually update your new Nexus-branded Android TV set top box as well if you’d like.

Hit up Google’s developers site to find the Nexus Player’s Android 5.1 image, with build number LMY47D.

Magic Leap shows off augmented reality concept including futuristic Gmail experience (Video)

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 20 2015 - 9:19 am PT
1 Comment

Just another day in the office at Magic Leap - YouTube 2015-03-20 10-59-27

Google invested $542 million in virtual reality startup Magic Leap last year, and the group is reportedly working on putting together an augmented reality headset capable of displaying extremely realistic images directly onto the user’s retina. Now, Magic Leap has shared a video (which they were planning on sharing during a TED talk, but were unable to), and it gives us a little glimpse of what the group has been working on…
Expand
Expanding
Close

9to5Toys Last Call: $105 in free Android apps, HTC One (M8) $325, GoPro $100-$135 off, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 19 2015 - 12:12 pm PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

android-app-sale-amazon-marvel-kingdom-rush-01

Up to $105 in paid Android apps for free: Kingdom Rush, Guardians of the Galaxy, more

r

HTC One (M8) 32 GB Android phone unlocked: $325 shipped (Reg. $700)

GoPro HERO Black-4-sale-01

GoPro HERO4 Action Cameras: Silver w/ accessory bundle $400 ($535 value), Black 4K edition $400 (Reg. $500)

canon-d530-laser-copier

Amazon Gold Box – Canon imageCLASS D530 Monochrome Laser Printer/Scanner/Copier $69 shipped (Reg. $100)

google-play-50-gift-card-1

Free $50 Play Store gift card w/ purchase of Nexus 6, Nexus 9, or Android Wear device

81WLwLlTr7L

Amazon free app of the day: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (Reg. $3)

r

Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900A 16GB unlocked: $419.99 shipped (Reg. $499)

galaxy-alpha

Samsung Galaxy ALPHA SM-G850A 32GB 4G LTE: $279 shipped (Reg. $400)

ASUS Google Nexus 7 16GB 7%22 Android Tablet (2013 Version) | Groupon 2015-03-16 12-44-01

ASUS Google Nexus 7 (2013) 16GB 7-inch tablet: $149.99 shipped (Reg. $200)

lg-g3-fan

LG G3 w/ free $100 Amazon gift card for $0.01 w/ 2-yr contract or $479 w/o

More new gear from today:

wd-elements-1tb-hard-drive

WD Elements 1TB Portable USB 3.0 Hard Drive: $50 shipped (orig. $70)

More deals still alive:

samsung-850-evo

Samsung 850 EVO 500GB 2.5-inch Internal Solid State Drive $180 (Reg. $270)

New products & more:sony-playstation-vue-hdtv

Sony’s PlayStation Vue is now available, but how does it compare to Sling?

OnePlus is teasing something gaming-related for its next product

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 19 2015 - 10:35 am PT
1 Comment

start_Forum

OnePlus’ Carl Pei came out to say earlier this month at the Mobile World Congress that the smartphone maker is about to enter a new product category, but the company has reiterated multiple times that the product will not a tablet nor a smartwatch. It wasn’t until just today that we had any idea what kind of product it would be, and based on the latest teaser images, it looks like OnePlus has plans on entering the gaming market.

“Start a new game,” one of the teasers says. OnePlus has taken to its forum to push the #OneGameChanger hashtag, but we’re otherwise left pretty empty handed in trying to guess what could be up the company’s sleeve. “It’s not a tablet, and it’s not a smartwatch. But it is a game changer,” the post says. The most logical guess in my mind seems to be an Android TV device of some kind, along the lines of the Nexus Player.

Personally, I just hope that I don’t have to stand in line for months before I can get the opportunity to order one. Here are a couple more images:

fun_Forum

control_Forum

HTC says only Google Play Edition One (M7) devices will be getting Android 5.1

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 19 2015 - 9:55 am PT
0 Comments

HTC One M7 32GB 4G LTE Smartphone (GSM Unlocked) (Refurbished) | Groupon 2015-02-10 11-21-47

If you’re one of the unlucky few who’s still dependent on an old non-Google Play Edition HTC One (M7), a new Tweet today from HTC’s Mo Versi is not going to be the best news you’ve heard. According to the VP of Product Management, the One (M7) has received its last official software upgrade with the first version of Lollipop and won’t be getting Android 5.1.

That said, if you do have the Google Play Edition of the One (M7), this is great news. Not only will you be getting the update, but Versi says that it should be rolling out in early April.

In case you missed it, Wednesday was a huge HTC news day. The Taiwanese company came out to announce its Uh Oh protection plan, revealed that its M9 flagship will be hitting stores in the United States from April 10th, and Upleaks says the HTC One “M9+” should be coming out sometime in the next month or two.

Update: Mo Versi says to “Stay tuned.”

Device Manager gets Android Wear support, now lets you find your phone from your wrist (Updated)

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 19 2015 - 9:21 am PT
0 Comments

Find your phone with Android Wear

Google first introduced Android Device Manager a couple of years ago, but today the company announced that the service—made for finding your Android phone—has gotten even better. Rolling out over the “coming weeks,” those with an Android Wear device will soon be able to use quick voice command from their watch to the find their phone.

Today we’re making Android Device Manager even more useful by introducing support for Android Wear to help you find your lost device. Misplaced your Android phone? No problem! Android Wear connects your phone to your wrist, and together with Android Device Manager, you can make sure it stays that way.

To use the feature, simply say “Ok, Google. Start. Find my phone,” or, alternatively, simply scroll to the “Find my phone” option within the Android Wear menu. You’ll see a green screen telling you that your phone is ringing (assuming you’ve maintained a connection to it), and you should be moments away from being reunited.

Keep an eye out for this feature to roll out soon (and keep your eyes peeled for other Android Wear announcements, too).

Update: Brian Buquoi on Google+ says the feature has already hit his ZenWatch, and one @iLoganRussel has let us know on Twitter that it has hit his LG G Watch:

Lenovo’s CEO may have just leaked the 2nd generation Moto 360

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 19 2015 - 8:55 am PT
3 Comments

moto-360-2nd-gen-lenovo-1An image was supposedly posted today by Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing on Chinese microblogging site Weibo (via MyDrivers), showing what looks to be an unreleased prototype of the Moto 360 smartwatch. It’s not clear whether or not this is indeed an upcoming version of the device (it’s almost surely a prototype), but it definitely looks to be a bit different than what’s currently available…
Expand
Expanding
Close

App Roundup: Google updates Maps, YouTube, Inbox, Play Music, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 19 2015 - 7:55 am PT
0 Comments

Google Inc. - Android Apps on Google Play 2015-03-19 09-29-00

Google tends to push several updates to its apps in the middle of the week, and this week has been a particularly eventful one. Updates have landed over the last 24 hours for several apps in Google’s Android inventory, including Inbox, Google Docs (Sheets and Slides, too), YouTube, Quickoffice, Google Maps, and Google Play Music.


Expand
Expanding
Close

9to5Toys Last Call: 2nd gen Moto X $260, $50 Google Play gift card w/ device, HTC One (M8) $325, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 18 2015 - 11:37 am PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

r

Motorola Moto X (2nd gen) 16 GB unlocked: $260 shipped (Reg. $500)

google-play-50-gift-card-1

Free $50 Play Store gift card w/ purchase of Nexus 6, Nexus 9, or Android Wear device

r

HTC One (M8) 32 GB Android phone unlocked: $325 shipped (Reg. $700)

71XLU2Y+WrL

Amazon free app of the day: Knots 3D (Reg. $2)

r

Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900A 16GB unlocked: $419.99 shipped (Reg. $499)

galaxy-alpha

Samsung Galaxy ALPHA SM-G850A 32GB 4G LTE: $279 shipped (Reg. $400)

ASUS Google Nexus 7 16GB 7%22 Android Tablet (2013 Version) | Groupon 2015-03-16 12-44-01

ASUS Google Nexus 7 (2013) 16GB 7-inch tablet: $149.99 shipped (Reg. $200)

lg-g3-fan

LG G3 w/ free $100 Amazon gift card for $0.01 w/ 2-yr contract or $479 w/o

lg-4k-sale-deal

Amazon Gold Box: LG 40-inch 4K 60Hz Smart UHD HDTV/Monitor: $499 shipped

More new gear from today:

 

tpl-308e2k-trendnet-powerline-200-av-nano-adapter-kit-sale-01TRENDnet 200 AV Nano Powerline Adapter Kit $20 shipped (orig. $50)

More deals still alive:

samsung-d3-station-4tb

 

Samsung D3 Station 4TB Desktop External Hard Drive $100 shipped (Reg. $150)

New products & more:

sling-tv-xbox-trial

Sling TV hits Xbox One with free one month trial for Live users, additional channels announced

HTC reveals One M9 to be available in the US from April 10, more details

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 18 2015 - 9:40 am PT
0 Comments

HTC One M9 4G with 32GB Memory Cell Phone Gray HTC ONE M9 GREY - Best Buy 2015-03-01 08-42-43

HTC has announced today during its Uh Oh protection plan livestream that the HTC One M9 will be available at retail from early April in the United States. The answer came in reference to when the Uh Oh plan itself will be launching, which will be the same day that the HTC One M9 hits stores. Notably, this date will likely vary by carrier, but the first availability of the device will be April 10th.

The company also answered several other questions via viewers on Twitter:

The Uh Oh protection plan was “born out of a conference room in the US offices,” and HTC Americas president Jason Mackenzie says that it will indeed be limited to the United States for the time being. The Uh Oh plan will likely make it to other countries with time, however, after the company makes sure to “get it right.”

When asked about the Lollipop update for the HTC One M8 and M7, Mackenzie said that the update is “in certification” now, and that approval should be happening sometime around the end of this month or the beginning of next month.

Finally, HTC confirmed today, unsurprisingly, that there will not be a Google Play Edition for the HTC One M9. When asked about a Windows Phone version, Mackenzie left things open ended saying to “stay tuned.”

You can watch the stream in full if you’re interested.

Watch HTC’s ‘Uh-Oh’ protection plan announcement here (Livestream)

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 18 2015 - 8:38 am PT
1 Comment

HTC One M9_Silver_Right

After plans of a beefed up protection plan leaked yesterday afternoon, HTC this morning came out to officially announce its “Uh Oh” free replacement service for the HTC One M9. But the announcement livestream that the company planned is still happening at 9 AM PST, and you can find the video embedded below for your viewing pleasure…
Expand
Expanding
Close

HTC Dot View case gets games, scrolling messages, more in latest app update

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 18 2015 - 8:06 am PT
0 Comments

htc-dot-view-multi-color-slide-01HTC updated the hardware of its Dot View case for the recently announced HTC One M9, but the app that powers the case has also now been updated—meaning that users of the HTC One (M8) Dot View case will also be able take advantage of some sweet new features.

The update packs the ability to play games on Dot View, notably one called “Dot Breaker” that looks a lot like the brick breaker games of old. You can also use Dot Message, which will display a message made of dots scrolling across the screen. Finally, the update packs new animated themes, a “special surprise” on your birthday, and a few practical enhancements to make the overall Dot View experience better: You can now control the flashlight and voice recorder, snooze alarms, and more.

Here’s the full changelog:

More interesting:
– Play games on Dot View
– Display a scrolling message on Dot View
More appealing:
– Try the new animated themes
– Receive a special surprise from Dot View on your birthday
More practical:
– Turn on your speaker during a phone call
– Control the flashlight and voice recorder
– Snooze alarms
– Enjoy more notification icons
You can get the HTC Dot View app on the Play Store for free.

Upleaks says HTC One ‘M9+’ coming ‘end of Q1 or early Q2’

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 18 2015 - 7:21 am PT
0 Comments

HTC One M9_Silver_Back

Upleaks has been the source of many accurate leaks this year, and today the anonymous person behind the account has come out on Twitter to “confirm” that the assumably plus-size HTC One M9 will indeed be called the “M9+” rather than the “M9 Plus”. Furthermore, correcting information that was shared previously, Upleaks now says that the device will be coming to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia as well.

As for a release timeline, Upleaks seems fairly confident that the HTC One M9+ will be coming at some point at the end of Q1 (which would mean late this month) or early Q2 (likely sometime in April). That seems like a pretty fast release considering HTC hasn’t mentioned this device at all yet. A larger-screened device to compete with Apple’s higher-end iPhone 6 Plus would be a pretty big deal.

HTC has a special event happening today at 9 AM PST, but it’s widely speculated to be focusing on the company’s new “Uh oh” protection plan for the HTC One M9. HTC has said that the announcement coming today is “BIG,” so maybe there’s more for us in store?

https://twitter.com/upleaks/status/578089434924511232

https://twitter.com/upleaks/status/578092047652925440

Astro Teller: Google ‘encouraged too much attention’ for Glass, more from SXSW

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 17 2015 - 1:31 pm PT
0 Comments

astro teller

Google’s head of Google[x] Astro Teller took the stage today at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, to talk about the Mountain View company’s secretive experimental lab and the things that the team has learned over years of showing its ambitious projects to the world (via The Verge). Teller spent a lot of time talking about Google Glass—which is definitely one the better known projects to come out of Google[x]—and how this fame was actually part of where Google failed…


Expand
Expanding
Close

9to5Toys Last Call: Free Moto E (2nd gen), Free $50 Play Store gift card, Samsung Galaxy S5 (unlocked) $420, more

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 17 2015 - 11:08 am PT
0 Comments

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

moto e 2nd gen

Free Moto E (2nd generation) w/ purchase of “Pure Edition” Moto X (Reg. $119)

google-play-50-gift-card-1

Free $50 Play Store gift card w/ purchase of Nexus 6, Nexus 9, or Android Wear device

r

Samsung Galaxy S5 SM-G900A 16GB unlocked: $419.99 shipped (Reg. $499)

galaxy-alpha

Samsung Galaxy ALPHA SM-G850A 32GB 4G LTE: $279 shipped (Reg. $400)

ASUS Google Nexus 7 16GB 7%22 Android Tablet (2013 Version) | Groupon 2015-03-16 12-44-01

ASUS Google Nexus 7 (2013) 16GB 7-inch tablet: $149.99 shipped (Reg. $200)

r

HTC One (M8) 32 GB Android phone unlocked: $325 shipped (Reg. $700)

$_12-1

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 32 GB factory unlocked: $295 shipped (Reg. $500)

lg-g3-fan

LG G3 w/ free $100 Amazon gift card for $0.01 w/ 2-yr contract or $479 w/o

pebble_watch_trio_group_04

Thinking Android Wear? Pebble’s original timepiece might still be a better buy

sling-tv-xbox-trial

Sling TV hits Xbox One with free one month trial for Live users, additional channels announced

More new gear from today:

motorola-sb6121-cable-modem

SurfBoard SB6121 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem (refurb): $45 shipped (orig. $70), more

  • New! Games/Apps: MacID for iOS goes free (Reg. $4), GuitarToolkit 50% off, freebies, more
  • New! Daily Deals: Onkyo 5.2-Ch. 4K Receiver $230, 3Doodler 3D Printing Pen $70, more
  • New! Klipsch Image X5 Noise-Isolating in-ear headphones $70 shipped (Reg. $90+), more

More deals still alive:

tile-ios-bluetooth-tracker

Get started with Tile Bluetooth iOS/Android item trackers for $20 Prime shipped (20% off)

New products & more:

sony-ps4-free-multiplayer-weekend

Sony announces free multiplayer weekend for all PS4 owners

New ‘LMY47E’ build of Android 5.1 for the Nexus 6 now available (Updated)

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 17 2015 - 10:30 am PT
0 Comments

nexus-6-product-photo

Update: It seems this is the image that shipped with the Verizon Nexus 6.

Android 5.1 factory images for Nexus devices have been hitting the Google developers’ website for a while now, but a new build of the Nexus 6 image titled “LMY47E” has now been released (via Android Police). It’s unclear exactly what this build is for, but it’s notably just one letter higher than the one we saw appear earlier this month.

Oddly, Google hasn’t decided which one they would like to keep available, and there’s no word on which users should be going with. Both are freely up for download over at the factory image download page right now. So if you’d like to try your hand at flashing the higher build to your device, there’s definitely nothing stopping you.

We’ll update this post when we have word on what’s new in this version.

Google is rolling out Hangouts messaging via Google Voice Search

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 17 2015 - 9:12 am PT
2 Comments
Site default logo image

NgznTuB

We’ve received a couple of tips this morning that Android users are now suddenly able to send Hangouts messages via Google Voice Search (a feature which is often mistakingly referred to broadly as “Google Now”). It’s not clear when this long-awaited feature began to roll out, but it seems to be a change that Google is making on the server side…


Expand
Expanding
Close

PSA: Samsung’s Galaxy S6 has been rooted by Chainfire

Avatar for Stephen Hall Mar 16 2015 - 2:45 pm PT
0 Comments

s6:edge

Chainfire has announced this afternoon that the first two models of the Samsung Galaxy S6 have been added to the CF-Auto-Root repository. Specifically, you’ll find that CF-Auto-Root for both the SM-G920T and SM-G925T are now available, otherwise known as the T-Mobile Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. CF-Auto-Roots for other devices in the S6 family are surely imminent…

As per Chainfire’s Google+ post:

Either way, the first CF-Auto-Root’s for the S6 family are up: SM-G920T and SM-G925T – the T-Mobile US S6 and S6 Edge.

Only very minor modifications were necessary [to the existing CFAR script]. The S6 CFAR has been tested on a real device, and root was achieved. Further information? I have none, I wasn’t there in person.

All completely expected, but perhaps nice to know regardless.

Before actually rooting though, consider that KNOX will likely be tripped, and there’s a good chance untripped KNOX will be required for phone based payments.

If you want to download the CF-Auto-Root, be sure to head over to the repository: http://autoroot.chainfire.eu/. It’s probably not going to be useful for many yet, because the Galaxy S6 hasn’t even shipped for most. And in the case that you don’t have any need for a root at all, you’re probably in the majority.