Android

Whether you’re trying to recover from some type of Thanksgiving food coma or you need a steady stream of entertainment to keep you sane while camping out in front of your favorite department store for Black Friday deals — don’t worry, Google has the medicine. The search giant is currently advertising a group of Cyber Week deals for movies, games, music and more. Some of these deals are already live and ready to be consumed and we’d like to take a minute to point out a few standout promotions.

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If you’ve been eyeing up the 2nd-gen Moto X but found it a little pricey, Motorola’s Cyber Monday deal may be just what you’ve been waiting for.

On 1st December, you’ll be able to pick up an off-contract model from just $359, a saving of $140. Upgrade or take out a new contract on Verizon, and you pay just one cent for the 16GB model or $50.01 for the 32GB.

Either way, you also get 30% off any accessory purchased with the phone. But you’ll only have a 6-hour window in which to register for the deal … 
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It seems that Amazon is finally throwing in the towel with its Fire Phone. After the hype leading up to its launch, Fire Phone has been struggling to stay afloat. It’s best to think of the Fire Phone as a smaller version of a Kindle Fire tablet, but with a few extra gimmicks and features thrown in along with a free year of Amazon Prime.

The Fire Phone may have been a disappointment to the market, but Amazon isn’t giving up on its attempt to push it into the hands of consumers this holiday season. The Fire Phone can now be purchased unlocked and off-contract for only $199 (32GB Version)…

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After going up for pre-order on Amazon in October, the Nexus 9 Keyboard Folio case is now available on the Play Store. The case costs a whopping $129, which for those doing the math, is only $71 less than what HTC was selling the tablet itself for a couple of weeks back.

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Sony’s diverse product portfolio is about to lose a little weight. Despite the company’s popularity and historical success the Japanese corporation is going to be cutting down its TV and mobile lineups to cut costs. Over the past few years Sony has steadily lost its wireless momentum to rival companies like Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi. The outfit’s new focus will be for its struggling TV and mobile divisions to simply turn a profit.

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Google has taken over Times Square with a new Android ad on a massive billboard in the iconic intersection, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The search company is using the largest digital screen in North America to promote its interactive campaign Androidify, which allows users to create and share their own Android mascot.
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Android 5.0 Lollipop for Verizon’s version of the 2014 Moto X is now live. The update is rolling out as an over-the-air software push that introduces a bevy of new features to Motorola’s flagship smartphone. For starters, your Moto X will be treated a new Material Design-themed layout loaded with Lollipop’s fluid animations, along with an updated notification setup that “intelligently” ranks alerts by type and who sent them. Software version 22.21.11 also introduces the ability to prioritize and set privacy notifications for each of your handset’s applications.

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Cyanogen on Monday introduced its upcoming Themes app that will serve as a one-stop storefront for Cyanogen OS smartphone users to download themes that customize everything from fonts and animations to wallpapers and icons. The company also launched the initial beta release of Themes Studio for designers to publish and distribute themes.
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Sony’s Backup & Restore Android application that comes pre-installed on its Xperia Z3 smartphone appears to have been compromised. A Google Play entry has been added for the app listing “Nirav Patel Kanudo” as its publisher, along with the software’s description claiming that it’s managed by the “HeArT HaCkEr Group.”

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T-Mobile announced today the addition of 14 music streaming services to its Music Freedom program including Google Play Music. First announced at its Uncarrier 5.0/6.0 event in June, T-Mobile’s Music Freedom program allows customers on the network to stream content from supported music services without it counting against a monthly data cap. T-Mobile promised the addition of Google Play Music by the end of the year in August when Google’s subscription streaming music service was voted most wanted by T-Mobile’s customers.
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Following its ritual teardown of the Google’s new HTC-made Nexus 9 tablet earlier this month, today our friends over at iFixit have torn apart Google’s new Nexus 6 smartphone made by Motorola. While the Nexus 6 scores a decent repairability score— 7 out of 10, which is on par w/ the new iPhone 6 Plus— it does have some shortcomings that you’ll want to be aware of before cracking into your phone for repairs.
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Anyone thinking they can use their smartwatch as a virtual copy of a well-known watch face is going to be disappointed, reports TorrentFreak: big-name watchmakers are issuing cease-and-desist notices to those creating smartwatch versions of their designs.
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While we knew last month that sales of the Samsung Galaxy S5 were down, the WSJ believes it has specific numbers.

In all, Samsung sold about 40% fewer Galaxy S5 smartphones than expected, with about 12 million units sold to consumers in the first three months since April compared with about 16 million units for the preceding flagship phone, the Galaxy S4, according to people familiar with the matter.

Samsung is said to be considering a major leadership shake-up in response to the numbers … 
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If there is one area where iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users can exercise their bragging rights, it is with the timely and consistent software updates received from Apple. Google’s rollout of Android Lollipop has been far less predictable, with only a portion of Nexus devices having received the update and owners of devices from other manufacturers like Samsung, LG and HTC still waiting.
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