Richard Gao
Contributing since August, 2016
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1932articles
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About Richard Gao
Richard loves technology, namely Android flagships, as well as depreciated German cars that can be picked up for next to nothing on Craigslist. In other words, he enjoys throwing money away. Send him some electronic mail at richard@androidpolice.com.
Latest Articles
Ultimate Ears announces $150 BOOM 3 and $200 MEGABOOM 3 Bluetooth speakers with new 'Magic Button'
Ultimate Ears' BOOM speakers have always been their bread and butter. The company introduced the BLAST line earlier this year, though it hasn't been particularly successful. A 4-month old speaker that launched at $230 shouldn't be selling for $65, but I digress. UE is going back to basics with the BOOM 3 and MEGABOOM 3, which are priced at $149.99 and $199.99, respectively.
This might come as a surprise to some of you, but Google's Home products aren't available in very many countries. In fact, availability is actually fairly restricted, especially on the Home Max. Until May, the biggest Home speaker was only available in the US, though Canada and Australia have since joined the list. Now, the Home Max is arriving in the UK, France, and Germany.
Now that almost every major smartphone has a display with a ratio around 18:9, regular old 16:9 videos aren't looking too hot with their black bars. To combat this, YouTube added a helpful zoom-to-fill feature to its Android app, but that functionality only works on select, more mainstream devices. The Essential Phone is finally getting support for it, months after both its and the feature's release.
The Google Phone redesign from earlier this month was met with some conflicting opinions. While many liked the more modern UI, others couldn't stand all of the white that was added. Some hoped that Phone might soon get a dark mode, and it looks like those prayers have been answered. Google has just confirmed that Phone will indeed be getting a dark mode.
The Pocophone F1 was revealed a few days ago, quickly taking the Android world by storm. With its Snapdragon 845, dual rear cameras, and 4,000mAh battery, it looked set to take on the flagships of the world, but at a much less eye-watering price of around just $300 USD. We already knew the pricing for India, but the figures for the rest of the world were revealed earlier today.
Google first demoed its Digital Wellbeing initiative back in May at I/O, but it took until this month for it to officially debut with Android 9 Pie. We've already checked it out and given our thoughts on it, but it's no surprise that Google is still working on it. 'Time watched' statistics have just been added to the YouTube app, allowing for better control over your watching habits.
The Nokia 2.1 was announced back in late May, and it's HMD's new budget offering. With pricing starting at around $115 for an Android Go phone with a 4.000mAh battery, it sounds like a decent deal. HMD has just released the source code for the 2.1, nearly a month after it did so for the 5.1.
Google announced its Photos photo books back in 2017, but the service was initially only available in the US. Canada was added later in the year, and no other countries joined the list for about nine months. Earlier this week, photo books arrived in Germany, and today they're hitting the UK and France as well.
A soundbar, an Android TV box, and a Google Assistant speaker. A soundbar, an Android TV box... are you getting it? These are not three separate devices; this is one device, and JBL is calling it 'Link Bar.' We first heard about the Link Bar right before I/O kicked off earlier this year, and we got an in-person demo at the event. This fancy sound bar is now available for pre-order at B&H for $399.95, which isn't a bad price at all for what you get.
Huawei tries passing off DSLR shots as Nova 3 camera samples, gets caught in the most amusing way imaginable
Huawei's not very good at honest advertising. Remember when it photoshopped the bezels out of its P8 and P8max marketing photos? Or when it used a $4,500 DSLR to take P9 "camera samples"? The company has gotten caught in yet another act of deception, this time in an impossibly hilarious manner thanks to a slip-up from an actress involved.
Aside from its incredible build and lightning-quick updates, I'd argue that the most interesting thing about the Essential Phone is how low its price dropped in such a short time; this once-$700 phone hit an all-time low of just $249.99 on Amazon last month for Prime Day. Today's deal on the Halo Gray Essential Phone can't quite beat that, but at $279.99, it comes close.The Essential Phone comes with a 5.7" 1440p LCD, a Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, dual 13MP rear cameras, an 8MP selfie-shooter, and a 3,040mAh battery. The beautiful edge-to-edge display is accompanied by a very premium-feeling ceramic back, and the phone already has Android 9 Pie. It's worth noting that some have complained from issues on T-Mobile, so be wary of that.This discount only applies to the Halo Gray model, which was released in February as an Amazon exclusive. It has Alexa on board, but you can still use Assistant. One-day shipping is free with Amazon Prime. Hit the source link below to snag one.Source: AmazonVia: /u/halflife_3 (reddit)
Last-generation phones are expected to depreciate, but Samsung phones typically retain their value better than many of their competitors. It's pretty surprising, then, that Samsung is currently offering the T-Mobile Galaxy S8 for only $350, around $400 off the launch price and $250 off the current MSRP. If you don't mind not having the latest and greatest thing and you're on Team Magenta, you may want to look into this.
About a month has passed since our last TWRP installment, and several more Android devices have joined the ranks since then. This time around, new entrants include the HTC U12+, Xiaomi's Mi Max 3, the minuscule Unihertz Jelly Pro, as well as some Samsung and ZTE Nubia phones.
Back in November of last year, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel announced that a new Android app was being built from the ground up. It's been almost a year since then, but we're finally seeing some movement. In fact, the new Snapchat Alpha can actually be enabled right now, so long as your device has root access.
[Update: Back in v3.5.052] Android Messages v3.5 adds new Material UI with dark mode [APK Download]
Both Google Phone and Google Contacts had Material redesigns earlier this month. As such, people began speculating that Android Messages would also soon be revamped, and now it's happened. On top of the redesign, version 3.5 of Android Messages also brings a long-awaited dark mode.
NVIDIA's SHIELD TV hasn't been getting any younger, but it's still the Android TV box to have. It was available for $139 last month, but for one day only. Best Buy currently has the same deal (okay, it's an extra 99 cents), and you can get a controller for an extra $40 on top of that.
[Free Alert] Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, the Pretty Little Liars soundtrack, and more albums are gratis on Google Play Music
If you've been looking for some more music to add to your library, Google Play Music is once again offering free albums. Chances are that not all will be to your tastes, but we've got a wide variety to choose from this time around.
Google is adding subtopics to comparison queries for quicker access to common questions
Anyone who's used Google search recently will know how many different cards that have been implemented as of late. Google is now taking this a step further by including automatically generated expandable tabs that elaborate on different aspects of searches with comparisons, such as "quartz vs granite."
About two years ago, Huawei tried passing a photo from a $4,500 camera off as one from the then-new P9. Samsung Brazil's just done the same thing, but with a lot less justification, by attempting to pass a stock photo off as a sample from the Galaxy A8's front-facing camera - twice.