Over the last two days, we’ve had two of the US’s biggest mobile technology conglomerates announce new technologies and deals that aren’t exactly as they seem. These are AT&T’s announcement of “5G Evolution” and Verizon’s brand new $70 Fios gigabit plan. With each not being what they’re advertised, which do you think is more misleading?
Google introduced Jump almost two years ago at its annual developer conference as a 360-degree platform that combined a multi-camera rig and specialized software that stitches it all together. Since that time, Google has worked with GoPro and now Yi to create Jump rigs for the two company’s cameras. If you could, would you purchase a jump camera rig to capture 360-degree videos?
Last year, before its eventual recall and discontinuing, the Note 7 seemed like the phone to beat. It not only packed in everything that people loved about the Galaxy S7 but it also featured some neat new tricks thanks to its S-Pen. Unfortunately, it was discontinued but now we have the Galaxy S8. With the Note 7’s reputation of being one of the best phones of 2016 (minus the whole battery exploding situation), are you going to pick up the Galaxy S8 or wait for the presumably even better Note 8?
Whenever a company is purchased by another company, chances are they’ll one day be consumed by the new company. News today came out that Microsoft, who purchased the widely popular Wunderlist to-do list app in 2015, would soon be replacing the service with one of its own. So with Wunderlist going away, what to-do list application will you be switching to?
There is a new trend in which developers have started to move the placement of the navigation bar within their apps. Before, if an Android app had a navigation bar, it most likely would have been placed on the top of the screen. Recently, though, we have started to see more apps move it to the bottom of the screen, much like how apps are designed for iOS. Do you think apps look and work better with the navigation bar placed on the top or bottom of the screen?
Whenever new devices come out, there are companies like iFixIt that tear them apart and attempt to see how difficult it is to repair them. In these cases, though, they are only looking at how easy it is to repair broken screens, replace batteries, and fix other minor aspects of the device.
Today, we received a report of a Nexus 5X owner who was able to successfully double the amount of installed RAM from 2GB to 4GB. A while back, another user even upgraded his Nexus 5 with extra storage. If it was possible, would you manually swap out the preinstalled internal hardware for something newer and more powerful?
Android is all about customization and allowing users to change the operating system to fit their style. For this reason, custom builds of Android allow for users to enable dark themes throughout the operating system and some app developers have also built dark themes into their apps.
Although it isn’t live in the YouTube mobile app, today we did see the option pop up allowing for a dark theme on the desktop. Do you think Google should build dark themes into all of the company’s applications?
The biggest problem mobile payment platforms all share is the inability to get widespread user adoption. One way Android Pay is trying to change that up is by partnering with select banks to add some of its capabilities into the bank’s mobile applications. Would having Android Pay’s features built into your bank’s mobile app possibly get you to use the service more often?
With the launch of Android Wear 2.0, Google wanted smartwatches to become more than just smartphone companion devices. For the most part, this meant having built-in fitness and connectivity features. Unfortunately, more functionality typically means larger and thicker smartwatches. What features do you actually want in a smartwatch?
We published our full review of the LG G6 today and said that while it has fantastic hardware, the software experience knocks the phone down a peg (or two). With the phone going on sale this week, we want to know if you, decided to go ahead and purchase the LG G6 or wait for another device…
Currently, if you’re interested in an ad-free experience on YouTube without using an adblocker, you can sign up for YouTube Red. For $10 a month, you aren’t served any ads while still giving creators money for their work and given access to Google Play Music. But with YouTube TV, you don’t get any additional services. If YouTube Red and Play Music were bundled with YouTube TV, would you be more inclined to try out the service?
As the Google Home now works with most smart appliances, its role in people’s households is becoming more important. A report came out this morning suggesting that Google is working on a future device that merges the Google Home and a mesh Wifi router. Would you be interested in picking up a future Google Home device that could be used as an access point?
Mobile VR is one of the most accessible ways for people to use virtual reality thanks to the low cost of getting started with the platform. Instead of needing a high-performance computer, people can simply use their smartphones. The question, though, is if you have actually used mobile VR beyond a little playing around…
Although today isn’t actually the first day of April, it is the last official weekday before the makeshift holiday. As such, companies like Google took to the internet to “announce” several upcoming products that are too good (and funny) to be true. Which April Fool’s Day product announcement from Google was your favorite?
Last year at Google’s developer conference, the tech giant introduced two new messaging applications: Allo and Duo. While Duo offers a cross-platform and simplistic video conferencing app, Allo was meant to be the go-to messenger application. Due to its very limited nature, however, the app never took off.
What features do you want to have added before you would consider using Allo as your main messaging application?
After several dozen different rumors and leaks, we finally got our first official look at both the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ earlier today. While we really didn’t really learn anything new about the smartphones, we did get confirmation as far as specs and software functionality goes. Now that we know almost everything about the phones, do you plan to purchase either the Galaxy S8 or S8+?
Today we saw the addition of a dozen new smart home integrations that work with the Google Assistant and Google Home. The new compatible products come from companies such as Logitech, August, TP-Link, and many others. Are you going to be using any of these new integrations?
Each year we see design trends in the smartphone market. In the past, this meant changing to more premium materials such as glass and metal or adding a fingerprint sensor. This year, it appears that every company is attempting to make a near “bezel-less” smartphones. Are you a fan of this design change?
Update: We’ve now had a second day of Android Wear 2.0 watch announcements. The below poll now includes the new smartwatches. These include the Hugo Boss Touch, the Diesel On, the Tommy Hilfiger T24/7You, the Fossil Q Venture and Q Explorist, and lastly the Movado Connect.
Today essentially turned into smartwatch announcement day as we had four different Android Wear devices see announcements from three different companies. All of these watches have almost identical specs, so it is mainly their design that sets them apart. If you were to purchase one of these smartwatches, which would it be?
With Android, Google has pretty much nailed down a yearly release schedule. First, the company announces the upcoming version and releases a developer preview sometime near March. Then, it reveals more information about the update at I/O in the summer, and finally releases the stable build in the fall near October. Is this too small of a turnaround time for major Android updates?
Today marked a big day for Android users as Google officially unveiled Android O. While we still don’t know what tasty treat “O” will stand for yet, we have now seen a wide-range of new features that will come with the update (many that we heard rumors previously about) and improve the mobile operating system.
Were there any features that you wish had been added but weren’t introduced in Android O?
Today Google pushed out the second public beta of Android 7.1.2 to Nexus and Pixel devices. For the most part, this update brought with it performance improvements, but the Pixel C got a refreshed look and feel as well as the addition of a new grid-style multitasking menu. Do you like the look of the new menu and think it should be the default on tablets?
Between Hiroshi Lockheimer’s constant teasing of Oreos and today’s round of rumors, it would appear that Google is getting closer and closer to taking the wraps off of the upcoming Android O. Which of today’s rumored features are you most excited to see?
The internet was in an uproar today after finding out that Google had added a “Beauty and the Beast” segment to the “My Day” feature found within Assistant on the Google Home and Pixel. Although Google claims that this stunt wasn’t actually an advertisement, the negative public opinion was enough for the Beauty and the Beast piece to get removed.
Do you think Google should have ads read by the Assistant?