Android

Facebook has finally released the Android dialer that it was recently rumored to be working on. The “Hello” dialer displays Facebook-based information about who’s on the other end of an incoming call, such as their employer, birthday, and even the number of mutual friends you have on the social network.

The dialer only pulls data that you would normally have access to—info made public or set to be visible to friends of friends, for example—to protect the privacy of its users. A search bar lets users look up contact information for other Facebook users. Info about businesses is also available through the search function. You’ll be able to lookup hours of operation and location directly from the dialer.

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There’s no denying that 2015 will be filled with smartphone releases, but only a few will shine as the best in the budget category. We’ve seen a few major players make their mark in this area recently, but back at MWC 2015 Alcatel OneTouch announced a budget offering that may give the others a run for their money. The Idol 3 smartphone is in many ways a budget flagship smartphones. We’ve been pretty excited to get our hands on it and today, we’re doing just that…

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Screenshots via <a href="http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/04/21/android-wear-app-v1-1-rolls-out-with-an-updated-look-support-for-cloud-sync-over-wi-fi-and-calendars-for-multiple-accounts-apk-download/">Android Police</a>

After unveiling a handful of new features for Android Wear yesterday, Google this evening has started rolling out an updated version of the Android Wear companion app. The update prepares the app for many of the features revealed by Google yesterday, including WiFi support, wrist gestures, and always-on apps.

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Let’s face it: there are a lot of Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge cases out there. Even before Samsung’s latest devices hit stores, frontrunner case manufacturer Spigen had some cases ready to order. Now that the the phones are in stores, Spigen has a huge assortment of affordable cases to help you protect your shiny new smartphone.

Today we’re taking a look at Spigen’s best options for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge…

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Sony today has taken the wraps off of a handful of new products that will play nicely with Android devices. First off, the company has announced that its 4k Ultra HD televisions with support for Android TV and Google Cast will begin shipping in May. The TVs feature Sony’s X1 processor which lends itself to improved color, brightness, and upscaling. The TVs also feature the X-Reality PRO Picture Engine, which also contributes to improving those factors.

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Google this morning announced a huge update to its Android Wear wearable operating system, but we’ve noticed a few things that Google might have forgotten to touch on in its release notes. The company has of course confirmed that WiFi support, always-on screen support for apps, and more features that are on the way. But there are other features, including what looks to be an actual Google Maps app and pop-up notifications, that might be coming to Android Wear as well…
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Google announced today that it is beginning the retirement process of YouTube’s Data API v2, and that means that some older devices, including older Apple and Google TV set-top boxes, will no longer be able to access the video streaming site. The change is also going to affect users of older gaming consoles and iOS devices as the deprecated built-in YouTube apps will be unable to access the service…
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Samsung has announced the newest addition to its Galaxy Tab lineup, which will ship with two different display size choices at the beginning of next month. The Galaxy Tab A includes a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor; 5 MP and 2 MP cameras on the rear and front, respectively; 16 or 32 GB of storage; and 1.5 GB of RAM.

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AT&T has today announced that the ZTE Spro 2 smart projector will be available through the carrier on April 24th. Featuring a 5-inch touch screen that basically acts as a built-in smartphone, the device easily lets you project your content straight from the projector itself and can even double as a handy WiFi hotspot…
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bXq3V0wEgI

The Nokia Brand phone company that Microsoft subsumed may be on the verge of a comeback to phones if recent rumors prove true.  According to a recent report, the new/old Nokia will begin producing phones as soon as it is contractually able to do so and those phones unsurprisingly will run a flavor of Android.

Unlike other patent houses that do little more than license intellectual property, Nokia Technologies has designed new products and licensed them to other companies. So far, these ambitions have been small in scale. The division has released just two products — an Android program called Zlauncher and the N1, an Android tablet design it licensed to another manufacturer that is selling it under the Nokia name in China. Its return to the market is likely to employ a similar tactic.

But insiders said those two products are just the beginning.

“They have a lot of great stuff in development,” said Richard Kerris, a former Nokia executive who also consulted for the company until last year as part of his last startup.  “It gave me complete confidence that Nokia is a company that is not going away.”

While Kerris said he couldn’t go into specifics, he said people will be blown away if some of the stuff he saw comes to market.

If you consider Nokia’s N1 Android tablet, the first to use the newly popular USB-C type of interface, which apparently, it can release outside of its Microsoft agreement the rumor isn’t surprising. In fact, it is pretty obvious.

But this whole episode really stinks to me. Microsoft’s Stephen Elop moved to Nokia in 2010 from Microsoft. Within months, he wrote a frightening memo that the company had to shift courses and eventually move to Microsoft’s shifting phone OS which was as disastrous a decision as it could make. Then, as the value of the company was rapidly depleted based off of that poor decision, the smartphone part of the business with Elop in tow gets bought by Microsoft at a steep discount.

Now, a lifetime later in mobile phone years, Nokia is doing what it should have done a long time ago and move to Android. Perhaps there is still some life left in the company.  We’ll see.
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Update: Various reports have confirmed that certain Android Wear devices, including the LG G Watch and G Watch R as well as the Asus ZenWatch, will not be getting WiFi support.

Android Wear is getting a pretty big update. Over at the official Android blog, Google this morning showed off the latest version of its mobile OS, packing several useful new features including wrist gestures for flicking through cards hands-free, WiFi support to free your watch from needing to be directly connected to your phone, support for quickly drawing emoji replies to messages, always-on screen support in apps, and a lot more…

OnePlus has been teasing an announcement for a few days now, but like last month’s tease for a new gaming product that turned out to be a very early April Fool’s joke, this one also turned out to be rather an anti-climax.

Starting today, the One will be available without an invite. Forever.

That’s right. In our first big celebration of the One’s successful year, we are opening up sales globally for everyone, every day of the week.

The company said that it felt it had “matured” sufficiently to handle the increased demands of open sales … 
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The Xperia Z4 smartphone isn’t exactly a secret, but now Sony has come out to officially announce the device in Japan. It’s basically the smartphone version of the Xperia Z4 tablet that was announced in March, and like that device, it doesn’t seem to be much of a visual overhaul compared to its predecessor. It does pack some pretty hefty upgrades on the inside, though, including an upgraded SoC and front-facing camera…
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Most of the money transfer services that have popped up in Silicon Valley over the last several years don’t directly offer any federal-level insurance, and Google Wallet—until today—was a pretty good example. But now, according to a report from Yahoo Finance, Google is adding FDIC insurance to the money you keep in your Wallet Balance by storing your funds in various FDIC-insured banking institutions…
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTozuo5ocoM]

Virtual reality has consumer the smartphone market lately. It seems like every manufacturer is coming out with a smartphone compatible VR headsets. Recently, LG sent us its new VR for G3 headset to take a look at and we’ve been having a blast so far. Think of LG’s new VR headset as a premium version of Google Cardboard that’s tailored to fit the G3 in every way. It’s a very nice upgrade over Cardboard and the app selection for VR in Google Play is growing rapidly.

This whole VR movement is very cool, but it’s hard to explain in words what it’s actually like to use a VR headset. It’s just one of those things that you need to experience yourself. Well, thanks to the good people over at LG, we’re giving you a chance to win one of five LG G3 and VR headset packages…

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Google finalized a deal to acquire Surprise, Arizona startup Athena Wireless Communications in February of this year, according to reports. The company has been around for several years and has spent much of that time building wireless LTE and small cell technologies that can move data at gigabit Fiber-like speeds. The acquisition is an obvious one for a company such as Google that is continuing to build out its Google Fiber infrastructure and has plans to announce its own MVNO…
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