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Target’s Black Friday Android Deals: Google Chromecast $24.99 (Reg. $35), Galaxy S5 1¢ (Reg. $199.99) and more

9to5 Staff Nov 10 2014 - 3:26 pm PT

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From 9to5Toys:

Screen Shot 2014-11-10 at 6.09.26 PM

As the leaked Black Friday ads continue to surface, today we got a look at what Target will be offering come the end of the month. The retailer says it will have hundreds of door busters and thousands of deals on everything from Google products and gaming consoles with gift cards attached along with deep discounts on home goods and more. Items on pages 2 and 3 of the ad are available today to order online with free in-store pickup. We’ve shared some of the standout deals we’ve spotted so far ahead, and keep checking back as we add more.

Android & Google Black Friday Deals:

Google Chromecast $24.99 (Reg. $35)
Kyocera Hydro Vibe 4G LTE Android phone with 4.5″ qHD display $29.99 with no contract (Reg. $149.99)
Samsung Galaxy S5 $0.01 with new two-year contract on Verizon, Sprint and AT&T (Reg. $199.99)
RCA Mercury 7″ Android 4.4 Tablet $39.99 (Reg. $89.99)
RCA Apollo 8″ Android 4.4 Tablet $69.99 (Reg. $119.99)

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Facebook Messenger mobile apps surpass 500 million monthly users

9to5 Staff Nov 10 2014 - 9:34 am PT

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FB-Messenger-01

Facebook announced this morning that over 500 million people are now using its Messenger app per month. The impressive milestone comes just days after Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg explained why Facebook Messenger was turned into a standalone app for Android and iOS, a move it made in July after disabling messaging in the main Facebook app.
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LG G3 to receive Android Lollipop update starting next week

9to5 Staff Nov 9 2014 - 8:30 am PT

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LG G3 Android Lollipop

LG announced this weekend that it will begin rolling out the highly-anticipated Android Lollipop update for its flagship LG G3 smartphone starting in Poland this upcoming week. The handset maker confirmed that other key markets will receive the update in the near future, with an upgrade schedule for other smartphones to follow at a later date.
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EFF files petition with U.S. Copyright Office to ensure that rooting an Android device remains legal

9to5 Staff Nov 8 2014 - 12:36 pm PT

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eff android

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) announced this week that it has filed a petition with the U.S. Librarian of Congress and the Copyright Office to extend and expand the exemption that makes rooting an Android device or jailbreaking an iOS device possible without violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United States.
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Uber could take on Amazon as it taps Google’s head of same-day delivery business

9to5 Staff Nov 7 2014 - 5:56 pm PT

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Uber Car

Uber has already disrupted taxi service in metropolitan areas like San Francisco, New York and Chicago with its affordable and convenient ride-sharing service, and now the multibillion dollar startup could be planning to use its massive fleet of vehicles and drivers to take on delivery services like Amazon Prime, Google Express, FedEx and UPS.
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Sprint appoints former Google executive Nikesh Arora to its board of directors

9to5 Staff Nov 7 2014 - 3:59 pm PT

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BL01_IT_NIKESH_ARO_1444099g

Sprint announced on Friday that it has appointed former Google executive Nikesh Arora to the company’s board of directors. Arora worked at Google for a decade, leaving his post as Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer in August to become Vice Chairman and CEO of Internet and Media at SoftBank, the parent company of Sprint.
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Google Drive’s new design is now enabled by default, but users can still revert back for now

9to5 Staff Nov 7 2014 - 1:17 pm PT

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Google announced on Friday that the new user interface for Google Drive, introduced in June as an opt-in experience, is now the default design for the cloud storage platform. Google Drive users can revert back to the old design through the Settings dropdown for the foreseeable future, although Google will eventually remove this option.

Following the change, users are now prompted with a “welcome to the new Google Drive” pop-up message upon loading the web-based service. The dismissible message provides a walkthrough of a number of Google Drive’s new features, including the ability to view and manage versions for non-Google file formats and add caption files or transcript files to videos.

Android Lollipop unofficially ported to Nexus 4, 5, 7, 10 and Xperia Z

9to5 Staff Nov 6 2014 - 8:59 pm PT

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Android Lollipop Nexus

While the wait continues for Google to release Android Lollipop as an over-the-air software update and post official factory images of the latest operating system version, a number of developers over at XDA-Developers have taken it upon themselves to take the Lollipop source code and create builds for the Nexus 4, 5, 7, 10 and other devices.
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Samsung Galaxy Note 5 could have insane 5.9-inch 4K Ultra HD display

9to5 Staff Nov 6 2014 - 2:13 pm PT

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Galaxy Note 4

While only a small but growing number of users have even upgraded their desktop computer with a 4K monitor, a new report from PhoneArena claims that Samsung will start mass-producing a 5.9-inch 4K Ultra HD Super AMOLED display in August. Conveniently, that is around the time Samsung might begin manufacturing its Galaxy Note 5.
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OnePlus One sales numbers: 500,000 smartphones sold to date, stretch goal of 1 million by year’s end

9to5 Staff Nov 5 2014 - 6:32 pm PT

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181707-oneplusonefull

OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei confirmed to Forbes that OnePlus One smartphone sales have eclipsed the 500,000 mark to date, adding that the Chinese company has a lofty goal of selling 1 million units by the end of the year. “It’s going to be hard,” said Pei, speaking at the Dublin Web Summit taking place this week. “But I think it’s possible.”
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Samsung Gear Circle now available in United States at select T-Mobile stores

9to5 Staff Nov 5 2014 - 3:43 pm PT

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Samsung Gear Circle

Samsung on Wednesday announced that the Gear Circle is now available in the United States at select T-Mobile stores nationwide, with an expanded rollout of the device at AT&T, Amazon and Samsung’s online store to take place later this month. Samsung’s Gear Circle will also be available in white exclusively from Best Buy locations in the future.
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Google News & Weather for iOS updated with Notification Center news widget

9to5 Staff Nov 4 2014 - 3:32 pm PT

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Google has released an updated version of its News & Weather app on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with a news widget for Today view in Notification Center. Google News & Weather for iOS was released last month, providing users with a combination of local news, weather and a personalized view of headline stories.
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Nexus 9 teardown provides first look inside the HTC-made tablet

9to5 Staff Nov 4 2014 - 7:41 am PT

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Nexus 9 Teardown

Google’s all-new Nexus 9 announced last month has already been through an unboxing and overview video, hands-on review and head-to-head comparison with the iPad Air in the past few weeks, and now the HTC-made tablet has undergone a full hardware teardown courtesy of the team at iFixit. Take a closer look inside the Nexus 9 after the break.
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AT&T introduces longer Next 24 monthly installment program for paying off your Android smartphone

9to5 Staff Nov 4 2014 - 6:30 am PT

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Screen Shot 2014-11-04 at 9.27.07 AM

AT&T on Tuesday announced that it will be introducing a longer Next 24 monthly installment program on November 9th alongside its Next 12 and Next 18 plans for financing an Android smartphone. AT&T customers on Next 24 will pay $0 down and make 30 equal monthly payments between $10 – $50 depending on the device purchased.
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Start the countdown: HTC One (M8) and One (M7) to receive Android Lollipop in 90 days

9to5 Staff Nov 3 2014 - 4:15 pm PT

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HTC One Android Lollipop

It was reported last month that the HTC One (M8) and original HTC One (M7) would be receiving an update to Android Lollipop within 90 days of receiving the latest operating system build from Google. Consider that countdown started. HTC this afternoon tweeted that it has received the source code for Lollipop and will be releasing the update three months from today as expected.
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Xiaomi to seek funding round that could value smartphone maker at up to $50 billion (Update)

9to5 Staff Nov 3 2014 - 2:54 pm PT

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Xiaomi Smartphone

Update: Financial Times reports that Xiaomi has lined up $1.5 billion in venture funding as part of a valuation that could exceed $40 billion. Russian internet company DST, which also backed companies like Alibaba, Facebook and Airbnb, is one of the investors currently in negotiations with the Chinese handset maker.

Bloomberg on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter, reports that Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is in talks to hold a funding round that could value the smartphone maker at between $40 billion to $50 billion. The news arrives just days after it was reported that Xiaomi overtook LG to become the world’s third-largest smartphone maker.
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Android KitKat reaches 30.2% usage in November as Jelly Bean continues to decline

9to5 Staff Nov 3 2014 - 2:06 pm PT

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Android Distribution November 2014

The latest Android distribution numbers for a seven-day period ending November 3rd reveal that KitKat is installed on 30.2% of devices that accessed the Play Store during the last week. Meanwhile, the distribution of the over two-year-old Jelly Bean version continued to decline, but remains the leading platform, with a 50.1% share.
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Android called ‘unbeatable’ as it trumps iOS with 84% global market share in third quarter

9to5 Staff Oct 31 2014 - 12:29 pm PT

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iPhone 6 Nexus

The latest numbers from Strategy Analytics reveal that Android was installed on over 8 of 10 smartphones worldwide in the third quarter, as the mobile operating system captured 84% global market share for the three-month period ending September. That figure arrives just one day after the research firm reported that Chinese company Xiaomi has become the third-largest smartphone maker in the world.

Android continued to be a dominant player in global smartphone operating system market share, increasing its lead over iOS by three percentage points compared to the year-ago quarter. Apple’s mobile operating system held 12.3% market share during the third quarter, trailed by Windows Phone (3.3%) and BlackBerry (0.7%). Other mobile platforms accounted for less than 0.1% market share.
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Google Play Movies & TV channel now available on Roku

9to5 Staff Oct 31 2014 - 11:22 am PT

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Google Play Roku

Just in time for the weekend and binge watching all of your favorite TV shows and movies, Roku announced on Friday that it has added Google Play Movies & TV to its Channel Store in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. The channel is available for current-generation Roku players, while Roku TV support is coming soon.
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Google provides Inbox for Gmail users with three additional invites

9to5 Staff Oct 30 2014 - 12:36 pm PT

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Inbox for Gmail

It has been just over one week since Inbox for Gmail was released as Google’s intuitive new emailing solution for Android, iOS and Chrome, and many users have been eager to get their hands on the exciting new product. For those still waiting, you’re in luck, as Google has just provided Inbox users with three additional invites to send out.
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Google to begin spreadsheet migration to new Sheets app starting next month

9to5 Staff Oct 30 2014 - 9:03 am PT

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Google announced on Thursday that, starting next week, it will begin notifying users of Google Apps domains on the Rapid release track about the upcoming migration of old spreadsheets to the new version of Google Sheets. Any spreadsheets created before December 2013, including subsequent changes, will be migrated to the new service.

Google claims that the migration process will begin in the next two to three weeks, with no action required by users. While no spreadsheet data is expected to be affected by this transition, Google notes that some formulas and features may be different in rare cases and advises users to read this Help Center article to understand the changes.
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PSA: Motorola DROID Turbo now available on Verizon for $199.99

9to5 Staff Oct 30 2014 - 8:41 am PT

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Verizon DROID Turbo

Verizon has officially made the Motorola DROID Turbo available on its website starting at $199.99 with a new two-year service agreement. The smartphone can also be purchased through the Verizon Edge program for 24 equal installments of $24.99 per month. The full retail price of the DROID Turbo starts at $599.99 without a contract.
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Sony SVP Hiroki Totoki to take over mobile division as smartphone sales decline

9to5 Staff Oct 30 2014 - 7:38 am PT

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Xperia Sony Sony Corporation announced on Thursday that it will appoint senior vice president Hiroki Totoki as the new president of its Sony Mobile division on November 16th. Totoki, who currently serves as corporate planning director at the Japanese company, will replace outgoing Sony executive Kunimasa Suzuki to run the smartphone business.

The corporate mixup is largely unsurprising given that Sony has been faced with declining Xperia smartphone sales due to tough competition from rivals Apple, Samsung, LG and others. The company has been forecasted to once again report slowing smartphone sales when it announces its latest quarterly earnings results on Friday.

As of November 16, 2014
Kunimasa Suzuki
(New)
Group Executive, Sony Corporation
Executive Vice President, Sony Entertainment Inc.
(Current)
Corporate Executive Officer, Executive Vice President,
Officer in charge of Mobile Business, Sony Corporation
President & CEO, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.

Hiroki Totoki
(New)
Group Executive, Sony Corporation
President & CEO, Sony Mobile Communications Inc.
(Current)
Corporate Executive, Senior Vice President,
In charge of Corporate Planning, Finance and New Business Creation Department, Sony Corporation

Samsung to launch 3G-connected Gear S smartwatch in United States next week

9to5 Staff Oct 30 2014 - 7:04 am PT

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Samsung Gear S Samsung on Thursday announced that it will be launching the Gear S smartwatch in the United States on next Friday, November 7th. The first 3G-connected smartwatch was originally announced in August and features a 2-inch curved Super AMOLED display, 1.0 GHz dual-core processor, network connectivity, 300 mAh battery and more.

The Gear S essentially doubles as a fitness tracker, with a myriad of sensors including an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, heart rate monitor, ambient light sensor, UV sensor and barometer. The smartwatch is based on Samsung’s own Tizen software platform, a clear differentiation over Samsung’s other smartwatches and Android Wear.
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