Android

While FCC filings last week confirmed that the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge would be coming to all four major US carriers, today’s reveals that the S7 Edge will have a hefty 3600mAh battery. This confirms a previous rumor detailing the 1000mAh battery bump from last year’s model.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S7 is set to be announced later this month, but it looks like by the time that happens there won’t be anything new to learn about the phone. We just saw actual photos of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge yesterday, and thanks to several previous leaks, we know a lot about the phones’ specs. Now, via a forum poster over at SamMobile, we have our hands on the official set of wallpapers for the unannounced phone…

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Wired has an excellent profile on Andy Rubin and his latest ventures post-Google. As creator of the original Android operating system that Google would eventually acquire and later a long-time Google employee on various Internet efforts at the company, a lot of people are waiting to see what Rubin does next since leaving Google over a year ago. 

In 2013, Rubin discussed his restlessness with Larry Page, and—as Rubin recounts it—the two men agreed it was time for a change. That March, Rubin stepped down from Android… For a year, Rubin spun up Google’s new robotics division, but he quickly realized that Google’s goals, which reportedly involve creating humanoid assistants, would take a decade of basic research.

We already knew that Rubin’s new company, Playground Global, would provide support and hands-on engineering assistance to hardware tech startups it’s investing in, but Rubin elaborated on the company’s plans, including describing what he hopes will eventually become an open platform for all companies building AI into their products:

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A couple of months back, it was rumored that Samsung was going to launch a number of new official first party cases for its upcoming flagship smartphones. That list of Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge accessories included a keyboard cover and the usual S View cover, as well as a ‘Glitter’ cover and a ‘Clear’ cover. If a recent leaked list is anything to go by, however, there could be many more to add to that list…

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Back in early 2013, HTC surprised the smartphone world when the original One (codenamed M7) was revealed in all its shiny aluminum unibody glory. It wasn’t just a well-built and incredibly nicely designed phone: it had the invaluable pro of coming at the right time.

Save for Sony, whose Xperia Z lineup was maturing into an interesting — albeit already a tad repetitive — concept, all the major Android manufacturers were struggling to deliver a compelling product that ticked the aesthetics box as well as those regarding functionality.

Samsung, perhaps too focussed on cramming the latest and greatest specs into its devices, was often heavily dispraised for its poor use of plastic, a criticism that would endure for another two years, while LG’s G line of flagship smartphones certainly couldn’t raise a flag of uniqueness either, more or less tumbling in the same mud…

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More often than not, when a manufacturer decides to mess with software, adding its own ‘valuable’ take on what we should have on our phones, it ends up being a laggy mess of unused features. Whether its LG with its inefficient launcher, or Samsung with its TouchWiz, no Android OEM gets it right. With BlackBerry’s PRIV, although there are undoubtedly a couple of things I’d change, most of the custom software is very useful and is — dare I say it — better than stock Android…

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Update: Another image has popped up, this time of the front.

Samsug is preparing to show off its newest generation of smartphones at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain later this month, but now it appears we might have our first picture of what might be the Galaxy S7 in the flesh (via ReviewDao.vn). We’ve seen several leaked renders (most notably some very official-looking ones that popped up last week via Evan Blass), and today’s image seems to line up perfectly with what the phone is likely going to look like…

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Not wanting Facebook to have a monopoly on virtual reality, Google has lately been doubling down on the platform. Their new VR division is overseen by a longtime Google exec and is staffed with talent from around the company. The Financial Times is now reporting that Google is working on more than just a Gear VR-like headset, but rather Android VR.

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While HTC won’t be announcing anything at this year’s Mobile World Congress, there have already been leaks about their upcoming successor to the One M9, codenamed the HTC Perfume. Confirming a previous rumor that the phone will look similar to the One A9 is the first leaked picture of it via Evleaks.

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With Marshmallow only on 1.2% of phones, the latest and greatest version of Android has a long way to go. Luckily, the OTA update for the LG G4 on T-Mobile started rolling out yesterday.

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I’ve almost lost count of the number of Android phones I’ve used over the past few years. Some are more memorable than others, but the one that really sticks in my mind is the original. The very first Android phone, the HTC-made T-Mobile G1.

There was something very unusual about it. It didn’t look like the Windows Mobile PDA-phone crossovers, it was nothing like a BlackBerry or an iPhone. It was that unique quirky factor that gave it its edge. Having a touchscreen which flicked out to reveal a full QWERTY keypad was something we’d only really seen on the Sidekick series.

Fast forward nearly 8 years later, and virtually every Android phone looks like every other smartphone. Of all the devices released over the past 12 months, I’d hazard a guess that 99.9% of them were the standard rectangle, touchscreen and no-keyboard affairs. Some might have curved dual-screen designs, but they’re still all-screen. Until the PRIV, we haven’t seen anything remotely decent with a physical QWERTY keyboard since the days of the G2…

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Voxer is a relatively popular messaging app for Android and iOS, and has long been considered one of the best solutions available for those looking for a great PPT (push-to-talk) experience on mobile. It received a ton of funding a few years ago, and while it never really took off in the mainstream, it’s still being updated even today with new fixes and features for its dedicated group of users. It has somewhere between 10 and 50 million Play Store installs.

George Kola, a software engineer that was most recently Chief Technology Officer of the company for more than a year, has now joined Google according to his LinkedIn profile. While it’s of course possible that Kola could have joined Google on his engineering merit alone and could be working in just about any department within the Mountain View company, it’s still worth asking: Could Google possibly have its eyes on bringing some walkie talkie features to Hangouts?..

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