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The battle against Android malware is ongoing, but it's a big world and Android is everywhere. It presents a tempting target for criminals, and the Gooligan malware is just the latest attempt to make a buck off the trusting nature of smartphone users. This attack has compromised more than a million phones in the last few months, and as many as 13,000 new infections are occurring each day. The goal is not to steal your data (although that can still happen), but to make you download apps in an advertising fraud scheme.
Remember back in the early days of Android when it had copy and paste, and the iPhone didn't? Those were strange times. Copy and paste is just something you expect to be able to do now, but there are plenty of places in Android where the text isn't accessible. Microsoft's Clip Layer app aims to change that by binding a universal copy option to the home button.
Ridesharing service Lyft has long had a disadvantage compared to Uber; it wouldn't show you an estimate of your ride total ahead of time. Now, the company is testing that feature in select cities across the US. The total isn't set in stone, but it should be accurate barring any unforeseen circumstances.
The LG G5 was not what you'd call a success for the company. Still, for those who demand a removable battery, it was one of the only viable options in the first half of the year. If you picked up a G5 on T-Mobile (there must be dozens of you!), you're about to get an update to Nougat. Triggering the update is a little weird, though.
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Fossil is still cranking out Android Wear devices, but they're a little too costly in my estimation. That's no problem today—you can get 25% off any Fossil Q Android Wear watch if you act fast. This promo only runs through today. If you don't need the latest hardware, you can grab a Fossil smartwatch even cheaper too.Just head to the Fossil website and use the promo code GIFT25 at checkout. This works on almost anything Fossil sells, but we're obviously most interested in its Android Wear offerings. There's the new Q Marshal and Q Wander, of course. However, Fossil also has a gen 2 variant of the original Q Founder. It's the same body as the first gen, but the hardware has been upgraded to a Snapdragon Wear 2100.
You may recall way, way back in June SwiftKey added a neat clipboard manager to the beta version of the app. Now, that feature is coming to the main release along with a redesigned hub interface. That's not all; SwiftKey is getting several new language features too.
The Lenovo Phab2 Pro is not the first device to have Google's Tango augmented reality platform, but it's the first one to be aimed at consumers. It's also the first Lenovo-branded smartphone to launch in the US. With the Phab2 Pro, you can see virtual items overlaid in the real world, or explore virtual worlds by moving around in the real one. But let's not forget, this is a phone too. People will presumably buy this product to carry around with them on a daily basis, but it's only available as a $500 unlocked device. So, it's up to Lenovo to make a good pitch to US phone buyers who have more choices than ever before. Although, I think the company might have taken the cliché "go big or go home" a bit too literally.
Dead Zebra is the online distributor of those wonderful Android mini collectibles designed by Andrew Bell, but that's not all it sells. There are rugs, pins, and more. Some of it isn't even Android-related. Dead Zebra is rolling out a new series of Android minis today, and there are discounts to be had on everything.
It's not all phones around here—we're also happy to tell you about deals on Chromebooks, provided they run Android apps (them's the rules). All the Chromebooks on discount at Best Buy right now either have support for Android apps or are expected to get it soon. You can get as much as $75 off these machines if you act fast.
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Google Home usually retails for $129, but this is the holiday season, AKA the season of sales. Best Buy and other retailers currently have Google Home listed for $30 off, but you can get an additional $24.75 off Google Home ($74.25 final price) when you pay using Visa Checkout.
It's getting to be the time of year when retailers lower their prices in hopes of luring in consumers to splurge for the holidays. It's not just physical items on sale, though. Apps and games are on sale for Black Friday as well. This roundup is your one-stop-shop for all the discounted apps and games fit for purchase. We'll keep this post updated throughout the holiday weekend, so check back on occasion.
Motorola's recent high-end phones have been a bit disappointing, but the budget-friendly Moto G4 is a solid device thanks to its clean software, unlocked support for GSM and CDMA, and long battery life. Even when it's not on sale, this phone is a good deal. You don't even have to pay full price today, though. Amazon is selling all the Moto G4 and G4 Plus variants for as much as $70 off the usual price.The cheapest Moto G4 you can get from Amazon is the "with offers" variant. That means you get Amazon's lock screen ads, and there are more Amazon apps pre-loaded. The 16GB version of that phone is $129.99, and $10 more gets you 32GB of storage. Those would usually be $150 and $180. The regular Moto G4 without ads is $179.99 for 16GB and $174.99 for 32GB—yes, the 32GB is cheaper right now. Regular prices are $200 and $230.
The G4 Plus adds a fingerprint sensor, a better camera, and higher storage options. This phone does not come in a "with offers" version. The 32GB/2GB RAM G4 Plus is on sale for $199.99 and the 64GB/4GB is $229.99. Those are usually $250 and $300 phones. If you need a good cheap phone (or just a spare phone) these are good ones to pick up.Source: Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus
Telegram updated to v3.14 with 'Instant View' links, interface improvements, faster camera, and more
Telegram updates are always fun. Not only do the developers tend to release substantial new features, but the changelogs and blog posts are amusing. Such is the case with v3.14, which is rolling out now in the Play Store. The Android version is getting some wide-ranging updates to bring it closer in functionality to the iOS app, and there are some all new features like Instant View links. It's like viewing links, but you know... instant.
T-Mobile was not content with a single round of Black Friday deals. That's what regular carriers do, and as we are constantly reminded, T-Mobile is an un-carrier. Tmo is giving away free in-flight WiFi, $200 for switched lines, and more (sort of) free phones.
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We got some hints earlier that the second Android 7.1.1 developer preview was on the verge of rolling out today, and sure enough, here it is. System images are live for manual installation (build NPF26F and NPF26H). There won't be any OTAs at this time, though. Just like last time, the list of supported devices is small—smaller than we were expecting, in fact.
The SD Association is the trade group which oversees the specification for (you guessed it) SD cards. SD Specification 5.1 is about to roll out, and there's something of particular interest for Android users in there—a new app performance class for cards that have been certified to be fast enough to run apps on your phone.
We've been hearing about Chase Pay for about a year, which is also when Chase announced it wouldn't support Android Pay until "sometime in 2016." Well, we just got Android Pay a few months ago, and here comes Chase Pay too. It was previously in beta testing, but now it's open to all Chase customers in the US. Do you need another mobile payment platform? Probably not, but Chase is giving it a shot anyway.
Jade Empire started its life on the original Xbox back in 2005, then it came to PC two years later. Both times it got very positive reviews. Now, almost a decade later it's coming to Android. This is a "special edition" remastering with updated controls for mobile and new content—it's the same game you can get on Steam, but it's $5 cheaper on Android.
Humble Bundle offers some excellent deals on maybe eight or nine games at a time. The new bundle being offered in cooperation with HandyGames is even more impressive. If you unlock all the tiers, this bundle includes 15 games with more to be added soon.
OnePlus started its existence by hyping up the Android community to a completely irresponsible degree in advance of the release of the OnePlus One. Lucky for them the OPO was a pretty good phone. However, the breakdown of OnePlus' relationship with Cyanogen Inc. made the OnePlus 2 a less appealing device. It was lacking in a few hardware areas and the software was very barebones. The OnePlus 3 was a clear improvement, but just a few months later OnePlus has given it the boot in favor of the OnePlus 3T.