Almost two years ago, evidence of a custom Moto Maker-like service for creating custom cases for Nexus phones surfaced supposedly called “Google Workshop”. Today, Google has finally made the long-awaited custom case product official. You can now order a customized “Live Case,” which is notably the same moniker Google used for the special lineup of Skrillex cases launched last year…
Traditionally, when it comes to Android developer previews, Google only makes the pre-release software available to the Nexus smartphone and tablet lineup. This year, it’s already broken with tradition by releasing the first developer preview of Android N earlier than usual, and it could throw another curve ball by making a version available to non-Nexus owners.
While we do know that LG will likely not be joining Google to build the very next Nexus, which is expected to come towards the end of the year, a sketchy rumor coming from Chinese website MyDrivers suggests that HTC might have been given the green light for a three-year long partnership with Mountain View. Directed towards bringing Nexus devices to the market, the deeply troubled Taiwanese phone maker could be part of Google’s plan to take more control over its hardware offerings…
Display technologies have experienced numerous improvements over the years, from mere augmentations in terms of resolution to more advanced processes dedicated to lamination of the panels getting closer to the actual glass, enhancements in color reproduction and all sorts of works devoted to power efficiency, brightness and the likes. Most recently, a few companies, namely Samsung and now Xiaomi, have worked on ‘2.5D’ screens that curve around the edges, but the general operating principles in regards to software have remained largely unchanged.
With the introduction of the iPhone 6s last fall, however, Apple decided to borrow the ‘Force Touch‘ technology from its own Watch and bring it to the iPhone under the name “3D Touch”, thus introducing an entirely new dimension with the Z-axis effectively becoming part of the UX; a bold move that other manufacturers, primarily in China, may see as an opportunity, and something they are apparently already working on.
A somewhat sketchy report from an industry insider on Weibo, in fact, claims that Xiaomi, Meizu, OPPO and Vivo – as well as HTC – are all hard at work to bring their pressure-sensitive panels to life…
CRNreported over the weekend that Google is quietly shuttering its Google Play for Education program, and now we have confirmation of the plans via a statement made to TechCrunch. According to this statement, Google will no longer be selling Google Play for Education licenses effective March 31st of this year. That said, existing customers should not be seeing an interruption of services…
HTC is today offering 40% off all variants of the Nexus 9 tablet, bringing its price down to $239.40 shipped (Reg. $399) for the lowest-end 16GB WiFi model. The Taiwanese company is also offering the highest-end 32GB LTE model for $359.40 shipped (Reg. $599), while also throwing in a free Logitech keyboard for the first 200 buyers…
One of Google’s latest slogans created to showcase the essence of Android in a nutshell spells: “Be together, not the same.” It is both a testament to the company’s general embracement of diversity and arguably one of the most precise ways to describe the OS as a whole. Fans, however, have long had trouble trying to identify the ‘ultimate’ Android device, despite the sea of devices whose supposed heterogeneity should guarantee a perfect match for everyone.
In an endless fight among the various OEMs to come out at the top of the critics’ — as well as the fans’ — rankings, one trend has notoriously stood out. People love Android devices because of the software (specifically its flexibility), and in spite of the countless efforts made by manufacturers to tweak and enhance the OS in order to make it better, the pure, unadulterated experience offered by Google has long been preferred by virtually every enthusiast.
Be it because of its simplicity and cleanliness, dedication to Google’s brand, or the sheer fact that updates are not hampered by carriers and other third parties, stock Android has always had the upper hand over UXs such as Samsung’s TouchWiz or HTC’s Sense — at least to those who even know what “TouchWiz” is. To this day, the problem with Google’s vanilla OS still resides almost solely in the hardware it runs on.
Google has just posted the new factory images with February’s security patch for Nexus devices. The images are still based on Android 6.0.1, so don’t expect anything besides security fixes. There’s also a new factory image for the Pixel C…
A report today is saying that Google wants to become more like Apple in its Nexus lineup of phones and tablets – that is to say it wants more control over the marketing and building of its products. But can Google build up its hardware engineering at the same time without alienating its hardware/carrier partners and even Apple? … Expand Expanding Close
Two weeks ago, Google permanently lowered the price of the Nexus 5X by $30 to $349. Today, alongside a Valentines promotion, the smaller Nexus device is getting what appears to be another price drop, this time to $299. “Was starting at $349, now starting at $299,” the wording says on the Nexus 5X Google Store listing…
Earlier this week, Gmail for Android version 5.10 shipped with a fix for a sync issue involving Hotmail accounts. However, Google is still working on a bug that prevents Nexus devices in particular from getting notified about incoming Gmail messages.
The Nexus 6 may not be the latest Nexus phone on the block, but it’s still widely used. Amazon was just last week selling the device new from $250 (one 32GB model is still available with delivery around January 28th), and at that price it’s one of the best Android phones for the money. If you already own a Nexus 6—or you were one of the many that picked up Amazon’s deal from last week—there’s never a better time than right now to get some protection.
Spigen via Amazon is offering some Neo Hybrid cases for the Nexus 6 from $11.99, but if you use one of the codes below, the price drops down to $4. The company is also offering some inexpensive bumper-style cases that are down to $3.50 w/ code. Free shipping is available for Prime members, or you can get free shipping by ordering through the Spigen listing that ships from CA and is not fulfilled by Amazon.
LlabTooFeR on Twitter, an account known for reliably leaking many HTC handset details, has come out to give a little smidgen of confirmation to the super-sketchy rumors we saw about HTC-made Nexus devices earlier this week. While it’s not surprising for HTC to be making some Nexus devices in one sense (they were Google’s first Nexus partner, after all), it’s interesting considering Google’s new buddy-buddy relationship with Huawei…
Update: Amazon’s price has now dropped to $349.99 shipped, down from $375. Best Buy still has the phone listed at $379.99.
You may recall on Black Friday, the Nexus 5X got a rather generous $80 price cut, lowering the cheapest model to $299. Then up until Christmas, it was $50 off from numerous retailers. It now appears that the less powerful Nexus smartphone is getting a permanent much needed $30 discount from the Google Store.
Besides their flagship Mate 8, Huawei also announced at its CES event that the Nexus 6P’s gold variant is coming to the US. We reported last month that the 6P would be coming to Best Buy as an exclusive. The gold model was initially only available as a Japanese exclusive, before launching in India last month. Expand Expanding Close
Google has been following through with its promise of providing monthly security patches for Nexus devices. Last month’s was bundled with Android 6.0.1 and the January security updates are arriving today. The updates are based on Android 6.0.1, so don’t expect any new user facing features or even other tweaks.
While the Nexus 6P has been listed on Amazon for quite some time, it was only available through third-party sellers until today. The phone’s availability is currently rolling out now as sold by Amazon itself, and while the 32 GB and 128 GB models are not yet available (at the time of this writing, at least), the 64 GB model is currently listed at $499, which matches the current price on the Google Store.
The Nexus 6P’s availability has been broadening as of late, most recently becoming available at Best Buy as we told you would happen. The gold “Special Edition” model has also become available in India through FlipKart, and we expect that availability of that version will spread to the United States soon. In other related news, you would be foolish not to pick up the 32GB Nexus 6 at $250 via Amazon.
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