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Say what you will about Microsoft, but they've never let a little thing like a platform war get in the way of profits. The Bing search app for Android has been around for years, long enough for it to accrue more than a million downloads, and today it gets an update to bring it in line with the fancy pants brand re-launch - note the swanky logo.
Nexus phones tend to be in extremely high demand just after release, but right now Google has one that's shipping in two days. If you order the white version of the Nexus 5 32GB at the moment, you can get it considerably faster than any of the other models... yes, perhaps even in time for Christmas. The Play Store shows it shipping in 1-2 days, meaning that UPS would be speeding it to you by Thursday at the latest.
Update: Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside posted an apology for the Cyber Monday failures on the Motorola company blog. The company is also extending extra savings on accessories for the affected days. Here's a snippet:
ROM news for the last month or so have been focused on KitKat, but if you prefer your customized Android software in a more reliable flavor, Cyanogen has you covered. CyanogenMod 10.2, the CM build of Jelly Bean 4.3, just landed on the download page. You can stroll over there right now and get your Android 4.3 on.
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
Google and Motorola don't seem particularly interested in MicroSD cards these days, but most of the other manufacturers have at least some phones and tablets that still offer expandable storage. If you'd like to pick up a capacious card for your Android device (or anything else), Amazon is offering SanDisk models at a significant discount. This isn't a Gold Box deal, but it is Cyber Monday, so the prices may be good for today only.
HP's efforts in the Android tablet space haven't been all that inspiring so far, but they're hoping to change that with the late 2013 line. If you've been waiting on the HP Slate 8 Pro or the Slate 7 Extreme, it looks like Best Buy is the first American retailer to get its hands on the new tablets. You can pick them up for 9.99 and 9.99, respectively.
We almost certainly won't have hoverboards or flying DeLoreans in 2015, but Amazon is aiming to give us the next best thing: crazy-fast package delivery via flying drones. Yes, people, welcome to the future. Though there are obvious hurdles to overcome before these autonomous delivery robots become a reality, Amazon hopes that one day, "Prime Air vehicles will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today."
White and black. Black and white. Every new flagship phone seems to offer these choices before anything else - you never get, for example, a phone launching exclusively in neon green. Today Samsung is officially expanding its offering of Galaxy Note 3 colors to bring the line a little bit of high-class luster. You'll soon be able to purchase the Note 3 in Rose Gold White, Rose Gold Black, and Merlot Red colors.
Welcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our bi-weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we've got the latest pixelated title from Noodlecake, a game that rides Olympic coattails, a game for insane pony enthusiasts, and a (possible) driving sequel. Without further ado:
Just in case you didn't see this in our enormous Black Friday deal roundup, we thought the discount on NVIDIA's SHIELD gaming device was worth highlighting all on its own. Today you can score the SHIELD for just $250, $50 off its retail price, plus some free goodies that shift based on which retailer you buy from.
Get those browsers warmed up, collectors: the fourth series of Dead Zebra's increasingly zany selection of Android figures is now on sale. You can pick up the new toys from the Dead Zebra web store, and hurry, since they tend to run out of initial stock in less than one day. There are 14 new figures, including ninjas, fishermen, a gold-plated Bugdroid, and more.
Maybe the black slabs of glass and Kevlar that are Verizon's 2013 DROID lineup aren't doing it for you. If that's the case (and you haven't already bought a customized Moto X), you can now pick up either the svelte DROID Ultra or the pint-sized DROID Mini in shades of white. The capacious DROID Maxx, surprisingly, is still only offered in black.
The free DuoLingo service already has an army of aspirational bilingual supporters, but that's no reason to rest on your laurels. Today the developers have updated the Android app with a few changes to the user interface. The basics of the app have only been tweaked slightly - a digital spit and polish, if you will - but extra screens added to the end of lessons and progression screens should help users get a feel for where they are in the program.
Take a gander around the more general tech blogs and you might spot the PowerUp 3.0. It's a recently-funded Kickstarter campaign for a gadget that adds powered flight and remote control to a paper airplane. It's not much more than some gears, a rudder, and a Bluetooth control module, but the simplicity is appealing enough that it reached its $50,000 funding goal in less than eight hours. Now the campaign has passed $150,000, the stretch funding goal for the creation of an Android app in addition to iOS.
Virgin Media TV customers in the UK, you can now watch your TiVo live television service or recorded programs on your Android device, anywhere! Anywhere with a WiFi connection, that is. Assuming that you've got a phone or tablet running Android 2.3 through 4.3, but not KitKat 4.4. Oh, and you can't be rooted. Have fun!
The Chromecast is already a pretty fantastic deal at $35, but less is always more when it comes to price. Both Best Buy and Amazon are offering the streaming dongle for $29.99. You still get the $6 credit for Google Play movie rentals from either retailer, so you won't be wanting for something to watch when you plug it in.
Motorola surprised us earlier this week with an early launch of the US version of their impressive Moto G budget phone. If you ordered one and want a little protection and/or flair for your new gadget, the accessories section of Motorola's official store has been expanded with shells (backplates) and flip shells for the Moto G. Like the phone itself, they'll ship out on December 2nd.
The Nexus 10 is getting a little long in the tooth, but it's still the only 10-inch tablet you can buy that runs the latest version of Android without any manufacturer extras. In addition to the double Nexus 7 deals from earlier this morning, eBay has a fantastic discount on a brand new Nexus 10 32GB. Not only do you get [ebay id="331075261358" text="a new (not refurbished) tablet for $399"], a hundred bucks off of retail, you also get a $100 prepaid Visa Gift Card.
We've heard more than a few laments from HTC fans about the lack of an expandable storage option for the flagship HTC One. If you still want a One with a MicroSD card slot (and you happen to live in the United Kingdom), HTC is about to make your dreams come true. The HTC One model 802w, with a removable back panel revealing dual SIM slots and a MicroSD card slot, is now being offered as a pre-order.