Last year when Google unveiled it two smartphones, many criticized the company for giving the Pixel and Pixel XL a safe and boring design that resembled previous HTC devices. This year, Google is expected to introduce successors to both handsets, but will only make small changes to the Pixel 2 while the XL 2 will see changes made to its whole design.
Does the lack of a substantial redesign for the smaller Google Pixel make you less likely to purchase it?
Before it was purchased by Lenovo, Motorola had three distinct smartphone models that were each targeted at a particular type of consumer. There was the flagship X line, the G line for those on a budget but still wanted decent performance, and the E line for those who just needed a dirt cheap smartphone. Now, Moto makes so many different phones that it’s hard to differentiate them.
Do you plan on purchasing any of the phones that Motorola has released this year?
With Android 8.0, Google is implementing something called Adaptive Icons, which allow the end-user to decide the uniform shape they want all of their installed app icons to look like. Unfortunately, with this change, apps that have uniquely-designed icons like the old Slack app and Adsense will have to be changed to work with the new system.
Do you prefer the new round and uniform or old unique and personalized application icons?
For as long as Android has been around, the platform has struggled with Bluetooth. While Android O features a great deal of Bluetooth improvements, the competition is still far ahead in many aspects.
Is Android’s poor Bluetooth performance enough to get you to switch to a different platform?
While Android O doesn’t introduce much new to the user interface, there are a lot of new tools for developers to use that make notifications much better. On top of this, the upcoming OS also comes with new system-level features that give users better control over what notifications they see and where they see them.
Which of Android 8.0’s new notification features are you most excited for?
It was reported earlier today that Samsung is working to bring its contactless mobile payment solution to non-Samsung smartphones. While the NFC aspects of the app could easily be used by other devices, the company would need to find a way to feasibly bring its MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) technology to other handsets.
If Samsung found a way to bring Samsung Pay and all of its features to other smartphones, would you use it?
To help users find and use some of its web applications, Google has a launcher placed on the top right corner of its websites. When clicked, the launcher expands to show some of Google’s most popular web services. It’s in the news again because starting on August 1st, Google will be reorganizing its application layout within the launcher.
Do you ever use Google’s web app launcher?
Lenovo today officially unveiled the new Moto Z2 Force. As the successor to last year’s Z Force, the device has an identical footprint and is compatible with both old and new Moto Mods. Alongside the Z2 Force, Lenovo also showed off two new Mods: a gaming controller and a 360-degree camera.
Are Moto Mods enough to convince you to purchase the Moto Z2 Force?
After dropping the third O Developer Preview back in early June, Google today pushed out the final Developer Preview build before the official release of Android 8.0 later this summer. While Google has tweaked some of the designs within the OS, DP4 is mainly a close to finished build of Android O which means better performance and finalized APIs for developers.
Have you already installed it or do you plan to install Android O’s fourth Developer Preview?
The Android community became extremely excited when Andy Rubin, the founder of the Android operating system, announced that his latest startup, Essential, was building a phone. Even before anything was known about the device, there was an enormous amount of hype around the handset just because Rubin was a part of the company. Unfortunately, after announcing the device, Essential has missed its launch period with no exact release timeline.
After missing its deadline to release the handset, have you lost interest in the Essential Phone?
Since its inception, Google’s homepage has not changed much. On it, you will see the company’s logo and the search bar. Besides some links around the borders, Google.com is pretty sparse. Then, after Google unveiled a revamp of Feed, rumors started floating around that it would one day be added to the search giant’s homepage.
Do you think Google should place a news feed or something else on its homepage?
Today, several months after the Galaxy S8 and S8+ was debuted, Samsung finally released the full version of Bixby, which allows for voice interactions with the virtual assistant, in the United States. Along with it comes the ability to interact with some, but not all, of your favorite applications.
Currently, there are 13 third-party applications that work with Bixby. What others apps do you want to gain Bixby support?
Glass is one of the only products to come out of Alphabet’s X that has made it into the hands of developers and even consumers. The initial product was called the Explorer Edition, but the public-facing project itself was shelved while Google figured out what it wanted from its head-mounted wearable. Today, Alphabet officially announced that it has been working on the next-generation of Glass called the Enterprise Edition.
If Google were to relaunch the Explorer Program or produce a consumer version of Glass, what would you use it for?
Over the weekend, we noticed that the news articles that are served to users through Google Now are now Accelerated Mobile Pages. AMP links take users to a stripped down version of a publisher’s website that only includes the news story, advertisements, and some site specific styling. What these give users is a clean and easy to read website that doesn’t use their data to load an entire mobile site.
Do you ever find yourself in situations where you would be more likely to click an AMP link rather than a regular one?
Many believe that virtual reality (VR) will be the next big thing in the way that humans interact with computers and with each other. While adoption of VR has been relatively slow, it hasn’t stopped companies like Google from making its own platform called Daydream that features not only hardware that works with smartphones but also unique software experiences.
Since the launch of Daydream late last year, have you used it? If so, what do you use Daydream and/or any other VR platform for?
We published our full review of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium this morning (you can go check it out here) and one of the handset’s biggest flaws is the fact that the device, just like pretty much any Sony smartphone in the U.S., doesn’t come with the fingerprint sensor activated.
When it comes to purchasing a new smartphone, especially in 2017, do you expect it to come with a fingerprint sensor?
Back at CES in January, Honor announced their latest smartphone called the Honor 6X. To keep the mid-tier phone’s price low, the company unveiled that the handset would be sticking with the outgoing microUSB port instead of USB-C. This was met with complaints, mainly because almost every other phone being announced at the show was no longer using the “outdated” port.
Now that it’s 2017, would you ever purchase a smartphone or tablet that still used microUSB?
This morning images leaked that showed what were supposedly cases for the upcoming Google Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2. While it is possible that they are real, there were more than a few aspects that made it seem otherwise. Then, several hours later, a render of the Pixel XL 2 leaked, and with it, the confirmation of some the smartphone’s rumored details.
Now that we have seen the cases and the leaked render, what feature of the Pixel XL 2 are you most excited for?
When Google unveiled the Pixel and Pixel XL late last year, the company announced that the phone would, of course, be available in the typical black and silver colors. What surprised people was a bright blue variant that Google deemed “Really Blue.”
With the next generation of Pixel smartphones supposed to be announced in the coming months, what color do you really hope Google decides to ship the handsets in?
Android hit a milestone this past month as Nougat — versions 7.0 and 7.1 combined — finally made its way onto 11.5% of devices. Even though the next version of the operating system is set to go live in the next couple of months, this is sort of a big deal as a tenth of the market is now on the latest stable build of Android.
Has your Android phone and or tablet been updated to Nougat yet or are you still waiting for your OEM to upgrade your device?
When it comes to Android, customization is one the operating system’s key features. Something that isn’t quite unique to Android anymore but is still a core feature is the ability to change keyboards. One of the most popular, Google’s own Gboard, is now the subject of discussion on Reddit because some have been experiencing issues.
If you’re using Gboard on your Android devices, have you experienced the keyboard becoming less stable over the last couple of months?
Over the weekend, a new leak surfaced that reportedly sheds more light on the upcoming Walleye and Taimen devices. The leak hints at both of the devices’ specs, hardware design, and IO. Based off of these leaks, which of the two new upcoming Google smartphones are you most interested in?
Over the last several years, HTC has lost most of its Android market share, especially in the US. Even though the phones that the company produces have been high quality and have top of the line specs, many have just lost interest. This year, though, HTC is shaking things up with a new design and a new feature called Edge Sense.
Are you interested at all in the upcoming Edge Sense features? If so, which ones?
In this day and age, almost everyone has a smartphone. It’s easy to see this because no matter where you go, everyone has a small rectangular device in their hands. And no matter what smartphone you pick up, they almost all look identical. Thankfully, some companies like Samsung make flip phones from the good ol’ days that have been updated to be a bit smarter.
Would you ever replace your current smartphone for a smart flip phone?
