Author

Avatar for Stephen Hall

Stephen Hall

stephenjhall

Stephen is Growth Director at 9to5. You can find his current work at 9to5Mac, 9to5Google 9to5ToysElectrek, 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

It’s incredibly easy to bypass Factory Reset Protection on a Samsung phone [Video]

How to bypass Factory Reset Protection on Samsung devices - YouTube 2015-11-03 12-26-12

Factory Reset Protection was introduced with Android Lollipop, and, like Apple’s iCloud Activation Lock, it’s supposed to make it really hard to resell a stolen Android phone. The gist is that when you use Android recovery menu to reset a phone to factory settings, the phone will require upon reboot that you sign in using a Google account you previously used on the device before resetting it. If someone steals your phone and wipes it, they need your Google account for it to be anything but a brick.

Well, it appears that a flaw in Samsung’s phones lets potential thieves around this security measure, and it looks like the workaround (via RootJunky) takes just about five minutes to pull off…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Latest Sling TV update lets you sling your favorite shows to your Chromecast

sling

Dish Network’s Sling TV has been around for a while, but one feature that was long been missing from its Android and iPhone apps was Chromecast support. Now, following Google’s announcement last month that the feature was on the way, watchers of live on-demand TV programming via Sling TV can finally sling that content onto their big screen…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Messaging app that Edward Snowden uses ‘every day’ now available for Android

justsignal-1

Edward Snowden, the famed leaker of many a confidential NSA document, clearly needs some kind of encrypted communication medium. Yesterday, he came out on Twitter to say that at least one of the apps he uses is called Signal every day. And it just so happens that the app, which has been available on the iPhone for quite a while, is now available for Android….
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google pushing November’s security update to Nexus devices, download factory images here

android_m_hero_1200

Earlier this year, Google promised that Nexus devices would begin receiving security updates on a monthly basis. The company has definitely followed through with this promise as of yet, pushing out a new factory image right around the beginning of the month for the last few months. Right on time, November’s security update is here, and you can find factory images below…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google’s self-driving car report for October reveals fewer cars on the road in Austin

google-self-driving-car

Google releases a report about its self-driving car project every month, and now the company has released October’s numbers. There’s not much new information this time around, but numbers like miles driven in both autonomous and manual modes have obviously increased. Interestingly, while the number of self-driving cars on the road has stayed the same, the number of cars on the road in Austin, TX has decreased…
Expand
Expanding
Close

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Nexus 6 $290, Pebble Time $150, 2nd gen. Moto X $200, more

9to5toys-header

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: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

motorola-nexus-6-unlocked-32gb-in-midnight-blue

Motorola Nexus 6 Unlocked 32GB in Midnight Blue (refurb): $290 shipped (Orig. $330)

hero-bdce3c07b84a79e40afc4278e3ca617c

Pebble Time Smartwatch in multiple colors: $150 shipped (Reg. $200)

motorola-moto-x-2nd-generation-amazon

Motorola Moto X (2nd Gen) 16 GB Unlocked: $199.99 shipped (Reg. $300)

s5

Samsung Galaxy S5 Unlocked: $300 shipped (Reg. $400+) | eBay

1121006_sd

LG G Pad V410 AT&T GSM Unlocked 7-Inch 4G LTE 16GB Tablet: $80 shipped (Reg. $150+)

beats-by-dr-dre-pill-2-0-portable-bluetooth-speaker-sale-01

Beats by Dr. Dre Pill 2.0 Portable Bluetooth Speaker (multiple colors) $120 shipped (Orig. $200)

amazon-prime-free-shipping

Amazon’s Black Friday Deals store is now open for business

Everything we know so far about this year’s best Black Friday deals and promotions

More new gear from today:

garmin-vivofit-2-activity-tracker

Daily Deals: Garmin vívofit 2 $70, Two Aukey MFi Lightning Cables $8, more

More deals still alive:

the-walking-dead-season-2-ps4

Free PS Plus Games for November: The Walking Dead Season 2, Mass Effect 2, Beyond Good & Evil, more

Free Xbox Live Gold Games for November: Pneuma Breath of Life, Dungeon Siege III, more

New products & more:

panasonic-eneloop-solar-system (1)

Panasonic has a new line of solar powered products designed for those in need

Custom Quick Settings uses UI Tuner to add custom tiles to your quick settings pull-down

Screenshot_20151030-155956

An exciting new feature came with Android 6.0 Marshmallow in the form of UI Tuner, a hidden section of the Settings app that was practically useless unless you knew what you’re doing… until now. With a new app called Custom Quick Settings, you can quickly and easily create new custom tiles in the Quick Settings pull-down with just a few taps…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Developer manages to run Nintendo 64 and PSP games on his LG G Watch [Video]

Nintendo 64 on Android Wear - YouTube 2015-10-30 15-31-52

We’ve seen a slew of emulators — everything from Macintosh II to Game Boy Color — running on Android Wear devices before, but the latest entries from Hacking Jules might be the most absurd yet. In these videos, we can see that popular PSP emulator PPSSPP and an unnamed Nintendo 64 emulator are both — albeit barely — capable of running on the LG G Watch…

It goes without saying that this is definitely a case of “why not,” rather than any kind of practical use case. Both emulators are barely chugging along (despite how impressive it is that they’re working at all). As you can see, frame rates are definitely in the realm of unplayable, and a screen of this size just doesn’t really work as a controller either.

Here are the videos:

9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG G4 Stylus (unlocked) $235, ZTE Axon Pro (unlocked) $320, more

9to5toys-header

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: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

s-l1600

LG G4 Stylus brand new 8GB (unlocked): $235 shipped (Reg. $800) | eBay

81JavIVNqJL._SL1500_

ZTE Axon Pro factory unlocked in Phthalo Blue: $320 shipped (Reg. $400) | Amazon

Nexus 5

New LG/Google Nexus 5 (unlocked): $175 shipped (Reg. $400) | eBay

lg-g-watch

LG G Watch Android Wear refurb: $60 shipped (Reg. $200) | BuyDig

s-l500

Dell Venue 8 7000 Series 8.4″ Intel Atom 16GB Black: $280 shipped (Reg. $400) | eBay

polk-audio-s2-speaker

Giveaway: Polk Audio’s Omni Whole Home Music System – Soundbar w/ subwoofer and S2 Speaker ($880 value)

More new gear from today:

audio-technica-ath-ws99

Headphones: Audio-Technica Over-Ears $100 (Orig. $250), URGE Basics Bluetooth Earbuds $9 (Reg. $19), more

More deals still alive:

logitech-k480-white

Logitech K480 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard (refurb) $20 shipped (Orig. $50)

New products & more:

ge-c-led-bulbs

GE’s new smart LED lightbulbs tell your brain when it’s time for bed

r2-d2-fridge-robot

This life-size R2-D2 refrigerator carries your beer to you…for a price

Google’s new ‘Who’s Down’ app shows which of your friends are free to hang out

image

Google has just quietly released a new app on the Play Store, called “Who’s Down”. As you might be able to tell from its name, the app will apparently — once there are people who are actually using it — let you see which of your friends are free to hang out. Currently, the app is invite-only, so the only things we know about its functionality are from the app’s Play Store screenshots…
Expand
Expanding
Close

OnePlus releases ‘Reflexion’ photography app for Android and iOS

Reflexion - Capture unique reflections of your world - YouTube 2015-10-30 12-57-16

OnePlus doesn’t exactly have the best reputation in the Android community anymore, but that’s apparently not doing anything to slow the company down. Just yesterday the company made the OnePlus X official, and now they’re releasing a completely unrelated app (or maybe somewhat related, considering the photos form an “X” after they’re taken?). Reflexion is a neat take on an app that captures one image that shows both yourself and a glimpse of the world around you…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Google Photos brings face grouping features to more countries in 1.8 update

photos

Google has updated the Google Photos app this week, and it’s a fairly substantive update — at least in comparison to the almost-weekly bug fixer updates that Google pushes to many of its apps. The new version brings the face grouping features of the well-reviewed cloud storage service to more countries…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Amazon Music update brings offline storage on SD cards, Android Wear support, more

amazon prime music

The “Amazon Music with Prime Music” app has today been updated with some of its most oft-requested features. The big one, and the one that people have been wanting practically since Prime Music launched, is the ability to store offline music on a device’s SD card for offline playback. The update also brings Android Wear support, and other, more minor enhancements…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Report: Google is moving on from Chrome OS, folding it into Android

android-versions

This one has been a long time coming.

According to a report this afternoon from The Wall Street Journal, Google is — finally? is this worth a finally? — planning to fold its Chrome desktop OS into Android. The new, single operating system will be unveiled sometime in 2017 according to people familiar with the matter, but the Mountain View company reportedly has plans to show off an “early version” as soon as next year…
Expand
Expanding
Close

9to5Toys Lunch Break: LG G Watch $60, Dell Venue 8 $280, Nexus 5 (unlocked) $175, more

9to5toys-header

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: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

lg-g-watch

LG G Watch Android Wear refurb: $60 shipped (Reg. $200) | BuyDig

s-l500

Dell Venue 8 7000 Series 8.4″ Intel Atom 16GB Black: $280 shipped (Reg. $400) | eBay

Nexus 5

New LG/Google Nexus 5 (unlocked): $175 shipped (Reg. $400) | eBay

scary-good-deals-android-sale-free-02

Amazon offers over $70 worth of Android apps for free

toshiba-canvio-connect-ii-3tb-external-usb-3-02-0-portable-hard-drive-blackToshiba Canvio Connect II 3TB Portable USB 3.0 Hard Drive $100 shipped (Orig. $170)

logitech-k480-white

Logitech K480 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard (refurb) $20 shipped (Orig. $50)

polk-audio-s2-speaker

Giveaway: Polk Audio’s Omni Whole Home Music System – Soundbar w/ subwoofer and S2 Speaker ($880 value)

More new gear from today:

adobe-photshop-elements-14-header

Adobe Photoshop Elements 14 (Mac/PC) is on sale for Prime members: $40 shipped (Reg. $70+)

More deals still alive:

monoprice-15-off-sitewide

Monoprice 15% off sitewide: MFi certified Lightning cables as low as $4more

a-dark-room-ios-free

A Dark Room — the best-selling iPhone/iPad RPG is now available for free (Reg. $1)

New products & more:

altwork-station

The Altwork Station cures the standing desk blues with its reclining design

kangaroo-windows-10-pc

Can a $99 Windows PC that connects to your iPad be any good?

Google’s Snapseed now has support for editing RAW photos on Android

snapseed-2-0-0-review-lofi-0415-01-main

Snapseed 2.1 is now rolling out on the Play Store, and there’s one big feature addition: support for editing photos in RAW. In case you didn’t know, RAW support was first brought to the platform with Android Lollipop’s release, and now Google’s own photo editing app is also supporting the format.

Here’s the word, straight from Google’s Anton Daubert:

Today is a big day for Snapseed users! Snapseed 2.1 brings RAW photo editing to your Android device.

Traditionally, shooting and editing RAW photos has been the domain of DSLR cameras and desktop software. But with the RAW capabilities that were added to Android 5 last year, RAW is now becoming important for mobile photography, too.

Snapseed now allows you to edit those RAW photos in the DNG file format right on your mobile device. You can also edit DNGs that were shot on cameras or converted from other RAW formats.

If you’re not exactly familiar with photography format terminology, RAW formats are traditionally associated with DSLR cameras, and they are the most pure form of a photo that preserves everything that the camera captured. This allows you to do more complex edits that would otherwise be impossible with other, more lossy formats.

Google says that in addition to RAW editing features, Snapseed also has “some slight polishes throughout the app” in this version to make navigating it just a bit easier. You can get the app on the Play Store for free.

Nexus 6P teardown reveals that the attractive flagship is extremely difficult to repair

JwWa5bYsFBq2YJU3

There are plenty of different comparison points between this year’s Nexus phones, and in most of them the Nexus 6P is simply superior. The Nexus 6P has a larger screen, a more premium build, a better camera, and more powerful internals. But there’s one area that we now know that the Nexus 6P is clearly the loser. When it comes to repairability, the Nexus 6P is one of the worst phones ever, getting a score of just 2 out of 10 from iFixit…
Expand
Expanding
Close

BlackBerry details the features of its upcoming PRIV slider phone [Video]

PRIV Feature Overview - YouTube 2015-10-29 08-52-57

BlackBerry’s PRIV handset is getting a lot of attention, and there’s many reasons for that. The most obvious is that it’s a slider phone — something that we haven’t seen on Android for quite a while. BlackBerry was known for their sliders and holding onto the physical keyboard when the rest of the industry moved on, and now they’re bringing that back in a secure package that seems to be more than decent. Many won’t bat an eye, but there are others who might notice some of its unique features.

To highlight those features and hopefully catch those potential customers, BlackBerry has uploaded a video demonstrating what the PRIV has to offer: it’s physical keyboard, BlackBerry Hub, Pop-up widgets, its curved 5.4-inch screen, and more:

The PRIV is also bringing a lot to the table for those more interested in getting great specifications. The phone has a 5.4-inch, 2560 x 1440 resolution AMOLED display at 540ppi, a Snapdragon 808 hexa-core processor, 3 GB RAM, and 32 GB of expandable storage. You’ll find an 18-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front camera, dual-LED flash, and a 3,410 mAh battery. Sadly, though, it looks like the phone is going to launch with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.

You can pre-order the BlackBerry PRIV from the company’s website.

Google names Oklahoma City, Jacksonville and Tampa as potential Fiber cities

FiberExpansionMap_Oct2015

Google Fiber is slowly but surely gaining momentum, and the Mountain View company just last month announced that it began exploring Irvine, Louisville, and San Diego as potential cities for the service. Today, it looks like there are three more cities being added to the “maybe one day” list (which is definitely an upgrade from the “who knows” list most cities are still on): Oklahoma City, Oklahom, Jacksonville, Florida, and Tampa, Florida.

Google says these “growing tech hubs” have a “strong entrepreneurial spirit”:

That’s why today, we’re inviting Oklahoma City, OK, Jacksonville, FL and Tampa, FL, to explore bringing Google Fiber to their communities, as we did last month with three other cities. These growing tech-hubs have a strong entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to small business growth. Their list of accolades is long—from Jacksonville’s title as a top 10 city for tech jobs, to Tampa Bay’s #2 spot on the list of best cities for young entrepreneurs, to Oklahoma City’s recognition as the #1 city to launch a business. One of our goals is to make sure speed isn’t an accidental ceiling for how people and businesses use the Web, and these cities are the perfect places to show what’s possible with gigabit Internet.

There are currently 3 Fiber cities, and 6 that are definitely on the way. This announcement leaves us with 9 cities that Google has designated as potentials, with the other 6 being Portland, San Jose, Irving, San Diego, Louisville, and Phoenix. Now, Google is going to start the “joint planning process” in collaboration with the three new cities’ local leaders to study their respective communities. Now it’s just a waiting game for those lucky enough to reside in these cities.

Microsoft ‘Garage’ project Arrow Launcher for Android is now out of beta

Microsoft Arrow Launcher for Android - Quick Tour - YouTube 2015-10-28 16-04-59

Microsoft’s Arrow Launcher is definitely a new take at a home screen interface for Google’s OS, and if you’ve been waiting for it to exit beta before trying it out on your daily driver, today’s your day. I actually decided to give it a try for the first time today, and — as someone who is very loyal to Google’s Now Launcher — I was somewhat impressed…

The launcher takes a new approach to the home screen, giving you a few pages that all do different things. The main screen of course has your most used apps, but the app also gives you screens for contacts that you frequently interact with, a reminders screen, and another screen showing apps that you’ve used recently, as well as recent activity.

All of this comes together with a really interesting take an iOS Control Center-like experience. If you swipe up from the home screen, you’ll find your docked apps, some recnetly used apps, and then some quick toggles for things like WiFi and Bluetooth. Below that you’ll find quick access to the brightness settings, and quick links to change wallpaper and access the launcher’s settings.

We gave the app a detailed look earlier this year when it was in beta, and while some things have changed, you can check out the below video to get a quick idea of what the Arrow Launcher is all about. You can grab it on the Play Store for free.

 

9to5Toys Lunch Break: Samsung Galaxy S6 (unlocked) $430, Nexus 6 (unlocked) $290, more

9to5toys-header

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: TwitterRSS FeedFacebookGoogle+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

$_57

Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone 32GB (unlocked): $430 shipped (Reg. $600+) | eBay

nexus-6-midnight-blue

Motorola Nexus 6 Unlocked 32GB: $290 shipped (Orig. $650)

acer-cb3-111-c670

Acer Chromebook 2.6GHz.2GB/16GB SSD (refurb): $120 shipped (Orig. $170)

41Y3frrAsVL

Unlocked Motorola Moto G (2nd generation) 8GB white: $131.25 shipped (Reg. $180) | Amazon

polk-audio-s2-speaker

Giveaway: Polk Audio’s Omni Whole Home Music System – Soundbar w/ subwoofer and S2 Speaker ($880 value)

More new gear from today:

pioneer-7-2-channel-4k-ready-av-receiver-with-built-in-bluetooth-and-wi-fi

Daily Deals: Pioneer 7.2-Ch 4K ready AV Receiver $430, Lumsing 8,000mAh Ultrathin Portable Power Bank $10more

More deals still alive:

seagate-4tb-expansion-hard-drive

Storage: Seagate Expansion 4TB Desktop Hard Drive $100 shipped (Reg. $120), more

New products & more:

kangaroo-windows-10-pc

Can a $99 Windows PC that connects to your iPad be any good?

blue-lola-white-headphones

Blue’s new Lola headphones drop some weight but keep the retro look

PSA: YouTube Red is now live, and you can sign up for a free trial now

youtube-logo-background

Google introduced the world to its curiously-named YouTube Red service just last week, and mentioned that October 28th would be the day that it launched. Well, today is October 28th, and you can now head over to YouTube.com/red to sign up for the service. Google’s kicking off Red with a one month free trial for all users, after which you’ll be charged $9.99 per month…

With YouTube Red, you’ll get access to a completely ad-free YouTube experience (which alone is an enticing offer for those of us that still want to support content creators), you’ll be able to download videos for offline viewing on a variety of devices, and — one feature that has been much-requested since YouTube hit mobile devices — you’ll be able to keep the app running in the background when your screen is off.

The thing that’s confusing to me about this whole ordeal is that there’s so much convergence of content between Google Play Music and YouTube Red. A Google Play Music Unlimited subscription seems to get you a YouTube Red subscription and vice-versa, so now I have to decide which of the two platforms I will use for music streaming. But I guess that’s pretty typical for Google’s products.

I’m not complaining, so don’t get me wrong. I think it’s pretty nice that Google is making these two services just one monthly bill, and I doubt I ever be willing to pay for both. The reason for that is because there’s just so much content overlap, and I guess that’s the same thing that might make this confusing for the average customer. Either way, I get another free month of Google Play Music Unlimited out of this even if I don’t end up sticking with Red, and that’s fine by me.

https://youtu.be/YL9RetC0ook

Xiaomi’s Redmi 2 Pro hits the FCC as the Chinese phone maker continues eyeing the US

Redmi2Pro_1

Xiaomi has reiterated what feels like a half dozen times that the United States is in its long-term view, so that shouldn’t come as much surprise to those who have payed close attention to the words of VP of International Hugo Barra, and more recently, reports from The Wall Street Journal. But interestingly, we now have tangible evidence that the company might be doing just a bit more than just “thinking” about coming to the US. If new documents (via Lilliputing) are to be believed, the company is already seeking FCC approval to bring one of its phones, the Xiaomi Redmi 2 Pro, to the United States…
Expand
Expanding
Close

Huawei Watch gets extended warranty, goes on sale in German Google Store

huawei-watch

I already love the Huawei Watch (and so does Dom), and now I think I love it even more. Today, the Chinese OEM has announced that new buyers of company’s Android Wear smartwatch are getting an extended manufacturer’s warranty. Originally just 12 months, the Huawei Watch is now eligible for an additional 12 months of coverage if you buy direct from Huawei…
Expand
Expanding
Close