Following the launch of Gboard yesterday, Google has released a version of the I/O 2016 conference app for iOS. With the dedicated app, attendees who use iPhone won’t have to rely on I/O’s mobile site.
Thread, the low-power mesh network protocol that Alphabet-owned Nest built in tandem with Samsung, ARM, and other companies, is now going open-source. Since it opened membership in October of 2014, the not-completely-open “Thread Group” has grown to have over 30 products. But this OpenThread release takes things a step further in the name of openness…
LG announced its new G5 flagship late last month, and now a couple of the “friends” that the Korean company announced alongside the device are now available for pre-order. Specifically, you can now slap down a full $200 for either the LG 360 CAM spherical camera or the LG 360 VR headset…
After being all the rage when it launched on iOS last month, social network Peach has finally made its way to Android. Peach is basically another status sharing app, but its novelty comes in its heavy use of GIFs, multiple ways to ‘poke’ a person, and the use of “Magic Words” to send information and communicate in fun ways.
Huawei recently announced the Mate 8 for intenernational markets and brought its low-end Honor 5X to the United States, but the company apparently isn’t stopping there. Today, the Chinese company began selling another smartphone in the United States. As per its Amazon listing the US version of the Huawei GX8 is available for $350…
It wasn’t until just recently that the ZenFone Zoom, which ASUS showed off at CES more than a year ago, finally went up for pre-order. Now, you can buy the phone outright in all its leather-backed glory over at B&H for $399 shipped. The main feature that sets this phone apart is its camera with optical zoom, allowing the lenses within to actually move forward and backward physically to offer up to 3x zoom without losing any image quality.
According to a tweet from renowned smartphone leaker Evan Blass, Samsung is targeting Friday, March 11th as the release date for the Samsung Galaxy S7. The phone’s announcement will almost surely be happening during a press conference before the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, giving the South Korean company just a couple of weeks to get the phone pushed out to retail after it’s shown off on stage…
Microsoft is back with another Garage Project (cute and novel apps made for iOS and Android phones), and this time it’s an alarm clock called Mimicker Alarm. At first glance, the style of this app looks eerily similar to that of the stock Android Clock app, but a deeper dive shows us that there’s a little more to it. Microsoft wants you to actually wake up when your alarm goes off, and to help you do that the company makes you play mini games powered by its Project Oxford machine learning APIs…
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…
It’s been a long time coming for owners of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, but Samsung is now rolling out a beta of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Samsung recently started looking for testers of the new software, and now it appears that owners of Samsung’s latest flagship S-series phones in the UK (but only those that opted in to the program, of course), are now getting the beta firmware…
When we first exclusively leaked the 2nd generation Chromecast, we were dumbfounded by its design. Ditching the dongle-like look of its predecessor (that many other streaming sticks have come to mimic), the new Chromecast is more like a miniature hockey puck with a long HDMI cord attached, and comes in three bright colors. Many asked why a streaming device that sits behind the TV would need three colors, and Google has come out to answer this question and many others in a new interview…
The Huawei Watch is without a doubt one of the hottest wearables of 2015. The watch made waves this year as one of Huawei’s big breakout product launches in the United States, paired with the Nexus 6P — which is also a hit, widely regarded as the best Nexus phone ever. Now, people familiar with the matter have told 9to5Google that the Chinese company is planning to launch a made-for-women version(s) of the watch at CES 2016, and has already begun development of a second generation watch scheduled for the second half of next year…
If you’re a developer and you use Android Studio in any capacity, you might be happy to hear that Google has today launched Android Studio 1.5 in beta. Google says that the beta release isn’t that much different than Preview 2 (except a few bug fixes, of course), and it’s worth mentioning that Preview 2 wasn’t all that different than Preview 1.
You can update your current 1.4 installation to 1.5 beta by using the built-in patch mechanism, Google says, but you may not want to do that as it will completely replace your stable installation with a potentially less-reliable beta version. If you download from the Preview 2 page, you can keep 1.4 and 1.5 installed side by side — which might be best option regardless.
A new feature in Facebook Messenger is now rolling out that scans photos added to your camera roll in search of your Facebook friends, and suggests that you send them to the people it finds. It’s a pretty nifty feature, if you feel comfortable with Facebook looking at every single photo you take on your device and constantly processing data on the friends you’re hanging out with…
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The Android Wear companion app received an update to version 1.4 over the weekend, and these 1.x updates to the phone app are usually a sign that a new update is coming to the watch(es) as well. Tomorrow will see the introduction of Tag Heuer’s long-awaited luxury entry, so the stars might be aligning for more than just hardware announcements in the morning…
Google’s OnHub launched a few months ago, and now the expensive router is getting its first software update. It’s not clear at this point if the update is also rolling out to the newer ASUS model quite yet, but the original TP-LINK router is definitely getting it as has been confirmed by one owner on Google+.
There doesn’t seem to be anything groundbreaking here, as many of the things listed on the change log are just improvements to what’s already there. There is “improved client device naming,” optimizations for the antenna, “expanded use of 5GHz channels,” and more.
Interestingly, as noted by Android Police, the update seems to have been able to install itself on the router without requiring a reboot. As those who own pretty much any desktop OS, a Chromecast, or an Android phone will know, this is a really nice feature to have.
Here’s the full change log, as can be found on Google’s website.
Some highlights of this software update include:
- Improved client device naming
- Antenna optimizations
- Expanded use of 5GHz channels
- Improved port forwarding performance
- General stability improvements
An exciting new feature came with Android 6.0 Marshmallow in the form of UI Tuner, a hidden section of the Settings app that was practically useless unless you knew what you’re doing… until now. With a new app called Custom Quick Settings, you can quickly and easily create new custom tiles in the Quick Settings pull-down with just a few taps…
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Google has just quietly released a new app on the Play Store, called “Who’s Down”. As you might be able to tell from its name, the app will apparently — once there are people who are actually using it — let you see which of your friends are free to hang out. Currently, the app is invite-only, so the only things we know about its functionality are from the app’s Play Store screenshots…
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Verizon and Motorola have today announced both the Droid Turbo 2 and the Droid Maxx 2, a pair of smartphones that give Verizon customers some really great flagship and sub-flagship options. The big announcement here is the shatterproof screen coming exclusively to the higher-end Droid Turbo 2, but that reveal is coupled with the announcement of a mid-range, all-around good phone, the Maxx 2. Here’s everything we know…
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As we exclusively reported earlier this month, Spotify is teaming up with Google to — finally — introduce support for the Chromecast. Now, as the event is nearing kickoff, some users are already noticing their Chromecast devices appearing in the Spotify Connect list, although the feature doesn’t seem to be working quit yet.
As you can see above, it looks like Spotify is going to include Google Cast devices in the same list as other Spotify Connect devices (via Reddit). However, as of right now at least, try to cast your stream to a Chromecast simple results in the following error message: “Spotify is not support on this device right now.”
Google is sure to make mention of Spotify’s new support for its platform at its event scheduled to kick off at 9 AM PT. If you want to keep in the loop on this as well as new Chromecast hardware, new Nexus devices, and more, be sure to head over and watch the livestream when it becomes available.
Update: A member of Moto Makers says that the phone will ship starting September 13th.
Update 2: Moto X Pure Edition pre-orders are now live!
Tomorrow, September 2nd, Motorola’s much-anticipated Moto X Pure Edition — also known as Moto X Style, also known as Moto X (3rd generation) — becomes available for pre-order. That’s the word from the official Motorola Google+ page, at least…
Clear your schedule tomorrow! Those of you in the US can finally pre-order the new #MotoX Pure Edition, the phone that loves you back. It’s got a top rated camera, water repellent coating and all-day battery life. Learn more at http://bit.ly/1Fg9CJi. US only.
Up to now, the Moto X Pure Edition web page has only offered potential buyers the chance to sign up for updates. If you did sign up for updates, this was probably the update you were waiting for. Sadly, this is only for US customers at the moment.
Head over to the Moto X Pure Edition page on Motorola’s website tomorrow to hand over your credit card information and get yourself set for the Pure Edition. The phone starts at just $400, and you can only buy it unlocked at the moment.
According to a post by an Android Developer Advocate on Google+, the Mountain View company has had to delay Android M Developer Preview 3 just a bit to make sure it’s closer to being a “near final’ build. Google never promised a release date, so most probably won’t be too disappointed, but the company says it just needs a “little more time.”
As per Wojtek Kaliciński:
A quick update on M Developer Preview 3.
We want this to be a near final release to test your apps on, but we need a little more time to get it out to you.
Please be patient and refrain from posting speculations about the release date. We will announce the Preview 3 availability in this community and on +Android Developers as soon as it’s ready.
We’ll of course let you know as soon as the new Developer Preview is out, and we’ll quickly be digging through it to find the latest additions and fixes. The first two previews went without any kind of Google Now on Tap support, so that’s likely part of what the company is scrambling to put together right now.
Motorola has officially unveiled the Moto X Style, its top-of-the-line offering for those looking for a good-looking powerhouse. The company also unveiled a second Moto X called the Moto X Play, which is more rugged and offers better battery, but is less powerful in terms of tech specs.
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Fallout Shelter, a mobile game companion to the much-anticipated Fallout 4, was brought to iOS last month with no word on when it would be arriving on Android. Today, the company behind the game, Bethesda, has come out on Twitter to announce that it should be hitting Android devices in less than a month — on August 13th.
The game was met with mixed reviews despite the hype, so Android users anticipating the game became much less excited with iOS players commented on its repetitive gameplay and stability issues. That said, Fallout 4 is definitely one of the most eagerly-awaited games of the year, and until it hits in November, players will have to take Shelter for what it is.
Attention overseers: learn what's new in #FalloutShelter arriving on Android on 8.13 pic.twitter.com/pTEKrNAH6d
— Fallout (@Fallout) July 24, 2015
