I’m a writer for 9to5Google with a background in IT and Android development. While I have a soft spot for stock Android, I’m typically juggling two to three devices at once running both Android and iOS. My previous work can be seen on Phandroid, Android Central, and AndroidMeter. Email me at justin@jaduino.com. Tips are always welcome.
Google Tango brings augmented reality to the masses by putting all required cameras and sensors to make the experience possible directly into a smartphone. This mobility then allows for organizations to incorporate AR into the world around us. The Detroit Institute of Arts is now using Tango to bring new life to their exhibits…
One thing that the Google Assistant has that puts other voice assistants to shame is the fact that you can have a contextual conversation with it. With information from previous questions or commands, Assistant can make the conversation feel more natural, but it’s not perfect, especially on certain devices. It looks like the Nvidia Shield will have a leg up on some other Assistant-supported devices, however.
Google is currently rolling out an update to Google’s beta application which hints at several new features to come in the future. One of these is the ability to input text when talking directly to the Assistant on the Google Pixel. Other changes include further work to get Assistant working on Android Wear plus something new called “Search gestures”…
ZTE took to the stage at CES 2017 to announce two new devices coming to the US market. The first is a phone we’ve seen previously released in Asia, Europe, and Mexico and that is the Blade V8 Pro. The second is a device that ZTE crowdsourced called the Hawkeye. Both devices are fairly inexpensive and come unlocked — but are either of them worth your time?
Last summer, when Lenovo announced the Moto Z and the Moto Mods, the company also announced they would be releasing a developer kit so that anyone could produce their own Mods. To help entice developers, Lenovo Capital stated that they had $1 million to help fund future Moto Mods. While Moto has been accepting Mod ideas since November, the company is also hosting hackathons to help kickstart even more creations…
T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere took the stage at CES 2017 today to share the latest Uncarrier news. T-Mobile has announced they are going “All in” on their T-Mobile ONE plans. This means that starting on January 22, new customers will only be able to choose the ONE plan. Additionally, the carrier will be including all fees and taxes into the price of your T-Mobile ONE plan.
At CES 2017 Honor announced the 6X which is the company’s budget device that features mid-tier specs and a $249 price tag. Unfortunately, though, the public’s first reaction to the phone was rather negative mainly because of several aspects of the handset that are a bit outdated. The biggest of which is the fact that Honor is shipping the 6X to customers still running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Thankfully, Honor does promise to update the phone to Nougat (EMUI 5.0) sometime in the second quarter…
At CES 2017, Honor announced its latest budget-friendly device — the Honor 6X. This phone is the successor to last year’s 5X and brings with it some features like a dual-camera setup as seen previously on the Honor 8. While it does share some similarities, the Honor 6X is lacking in specs, software, and hardware…
Three months ago Blackberry announced that it would be no longer making their own hardware. This meant that TCL Communications would be producing future Blackberry handsets. A month later, the company’s CEO went on the record to state that they had one more device coming out “soon” that would feature a keyboard.
Images of this upcoming device codenamed “Mercury” leaked several weeks ago and now Blackberry is teasing us with a 4-second video of the phone ahead of its announcement at CES 2017…
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One basic feature that all Huawei Mate 9 users should know is how to take a screenshot. Just like almost any other Android device currently available on the market, the Mate 9 allows you to take a screenshot using the hardware power and volume keys. With EMUI 5.0, Huawei’s latest device allows you to take scrolling screenshots and features the ability to take partial screenshots with the use of your knuckle…
Earlier this year, we received word from OnePlus that they planned to get Nougat onto the OnePlus 3 and 3T before the end of the year. As we quickly approached the New Year, many became skeptical that this deadline would be met. Now, on the last day of 2016, Carl Pei, Co-founder of OnePlus, has announced that they will begin rolling out a stable build of OxygenOS 4.0 (Nougat) later tonight…
In November, Samsung opened the Galaxy Beta Program so that users of the Galaxy S7 or S7 edge could beta test and provide feedback on the upcoming release of Nougat. After rolling out the fourth major update last week, Samsung has announced that they will release the final and official build of Android 7.1.1 Nougat to their flagship devices in January…
By strapping on a Daydream headset, you are immersing yourself into a virtual world which also naturally isolates you from your surroundings. As you could potentially be enjoying content for hours at a time, Google has made it so that you can still receive limited types of notifications so that you don’t miss anything important…
We are in the midst of the holiday season which means that many of you are getting brand new devices. If you happen to have received or picked up one of Google’s brand new Pixel phones, you might be considering a case to protect your new handset. If so, look no further than the five cases that we’ve handpicked below.
In the past, one of the biggest complaints about EMUI — Huawei’s skinned version of Android — is the fact that it didn’t have an application drawer and would litter homescreens with app shortcuts. The only way to gain an app drawer was by installing a third-party launcher. Thankfully, with the release of EMUI 5.0 on Huawei’s Mate 9, there is a setting that can enable a native app drawer without requiring you to download anything…
If you happened to just get a new Android phone, there are a couple of things that you should do to get the most out of it. While some of these tips are pretty simple and straightforward, some will help you make sure everything is backed up and protected against the worst…
In early November, Samsung announced the Galaxy Beta Program which allowed customers with the Galaxy S7 or S7 edge to beta test the upcoming release of Nougat. Over the last month, we have seen several updates roll out to the handsets which fixed bugs and brought more Nougat features to the phones. We are now receiving reports that a 4th major update is now showing up for those in the beta program…
Sony has announced that it is rolling out a firmware update to its line of 4K HDR Android TVs and Chromecast built-in speakers, allowing them to be controlled by Google Home. Up to this point, you had to use a phone or tablet to individually cast content to your Sony devices but now you can simply talk to your Home and say, “Ok Google, play some Christmas music on my Sony speaker.”
Software often handles delicate and private information, requiring some level of encryption to help protect information from attacks. Unfortunately, no matter how good cryptography is, new vulnerabilities are found almost daily, requiring constant patching. Project Wycheproof hopes to make it easier for software engineers to find bugs by letting them test their software libraries against previously identified vulnerabilities and then fix them before they might be exploited…
The holiday season is upon us, and to celebrate, Google wanted to share some joy with the help of their video chat application, Duo. In the video, unsuspecting kids visiting the Made by Google pop-up store in NYC receive a video call from good ol’ Saint Nick…
With VR experiences like Google’s Daydream, you get to immerse yourself into a virtual world by strapping a phone onto your face. As elegant as that may sound, there’s still a chance that you might want to share everything that you’re seeing with those around you — especially during the holiday season. Thankfully, if you have a Chromecast or Android TV in your home, you can easily mirror your display on the big screen…
Facebook messenger’s newest feature is called Group Video Chat. With it, you can now start a video conference with up to 50 of your closest friends. As fun as it would be to try to communicate with 50 people over video, though, only six of the people in the call will be able to display their video feed…
Update: Google has made these updates official on its blog.
Google is currently trying to sell people on the idea of a world in which everything can be controlled by their voice. To do this, though, they have to convince customers to purchase their $130 Google Home with built-in Assistant. Just three days ago, Google launched Actions which will allow third-party developers to start integrating their services into Google Assistant.
Based on what we’re seeing now, it would appear that Netflix and Google Photos are the first to take full advantage of this opportunity…
