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The Nextbit Robin isn't a perfect phone, but it's surprisingly good for a Kickstarter project. Also, it actually exists. So there's that. Nextbit has announced a big update is coming next month that will address some of my issues with the phone, and there's a small bug fix rolling out this very day.
OnePlus launched the OnePlus 2 last year with Lollipop, and there it has stayed all through the launch of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Some of the more established OEMs have already gotten 6.0 updates out the door (even those that have to go through carriers). Now it's almost OP's turn to update devices to Marshmallow. There's a beta for OxygenOS 3.0, which is based on Marshmallow. You can install it right now, if you like.
Google Maps is the de facto navigation option for most Android users, but there are some popular alternatives. INRIX Traffic might soon be among them following its big v6.0 update. It has turn-by-turn navigation, but also some smart learning features with traffic prediction not unlike Google.
Googler Benson Leung has a new ally in his fight against bad Type-C cables on Amazon, and it's none other than Amazon itself. Leung reports that Amazon has added a new line to its prohibited listing guidelines that bans cables that aren't completely compliant with the Type-C specification. It's not the end of the fight, but the tide may have turned in our favor.
The design of Samsung's system UI hasn't changed much in the last few years, except when it comes to cosmetic things like icons and colors. There's a whole theme store that can alter that stuff. In the Galaxy Apps store, there's a new app called Good Lock that goes further by enabling an "advanced system UI" on the Galaxy S7. It's really bonkers.
Your phone has been able to talk to you for years, but it started out sounding like a computerized toaster with laryngitis. Google has improved its text to speech (TTS) voice over the years, and a new version is rolling out now. The change is fairly dramatic, with the new voice sounding much more natural and pleasant.
How many bullets do you like to see in your top-down shooters? If you answered "a reasonable number," then Operation Dracula is not for you. The latest game published by Crescent Moon Games contains lots of snappy chiptune music, multiple characters, and a totally unreasonably number of bullets. Thus, a "bullet hell" shooter.
Google is constantly beefing up its library of Street View imagery, but rarely does that warrant a blog post. Not so with a new batch of locations form Thailand. Google has uploaded more than 150 locations from Thailand, including the most beautiful historical sites in the country.
AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon have already graciously started taking your money for the new LG flagship, and now it's T-Mobile's turn. Online G5 orders are live on the uncarrier today, and it appears to be a standard "order" not a "pre-order." We're only a few days away from the April 1st release, so that's not surprising.
It's time for some real talk about Android Wear. If I'm being completely honest, I wasn't sold on the idea of a smart watch when Wear was announced. Even after using the original G Watch I wasn't sure I'd find value in having Android on my wrist. It took a few updates for Wear to find a place in my life, but through it all there have been bugs. Some of that is to be expected, but here we are nearly two years after Android Wear launched and connectivity is still bad for a lot of users. While I quite like Wear now, you have to wonder why this is still a problem.
Last June, dbrand released bamboo device skins, but they sold out in less than two days. Since then, the company has been getting everything in place to bring back bamboo without the supply issues. Bamboo is back starting today, and that's not all. To celebrate, dbrand is discounting everything by 30% for the next 48 hours.
You might have missed it in all the CES madness this year, but Huawei announced a few new versions of the Huawei watch intended for ladies. At the time, we saw two styles (still shown on the worldwide site), but Huawei's Chinese website now shows four of them with a mix of bands. Of course, none have actually gone on sale anyplace we're aware of.
You might have heard about that new Batman vs. Superman movie over the weekend. The word is that it's not very good, but the new Batcave designed for the film is really impressive. You can now explore Batman's lair in Google Maps Street View, and in 3D with Google Cardboard.
You may have heard the name "Anker" a few times, but haven't really paid attention to what they make. Today is your chance to get acquainted because just about everything Anker makes is on sale via Amazon's gold box deal. There are external batteries, cables, car chargers, earbuds—allthethings.jpg, basically.Amazon says the discounts are 25% off or greater. That's based on the MSRP, of course, but some of these deals are still pretty solid. The Astro E5 16,000mAh battery is usually $35-40, but it's $24.74 today. Anker's Bluetooth earbuds are $19.49 instead of around $30. You can also get a Quick Charge 2.0 car charger for $15.
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- Also available on Amazon (red), REI (black/orange), and Casio store (black/orange)
The Casio Smart Outdoor Watch popped up on the Google Store just yesterday listed as "coming soon." They weren't kidding—it's available now for $499.99. That's a lot of cash, but this watch has a few things you won't find in other Android Wear devices.It has a round (flat tire) LCD display with a monochrome LCD layer for outdoor visibility. The design is a bit more bulky in appearance than other watches, but it's also water-resistant to 50 meters and meets MIL-STD-810G standards for drops and shocks. The internals look pretty standard for Android Wear, but Google doesn't list the full specs.As this is a rugged outdoor watch, it comes with some rugged outdoor apps like ViewRanger, MyRadar, and Runkeeper. The Casio Smart Outdoor Watch comes in either orange or olive, which is much nicer looking and exclusive to the Google Store.
So you didn't win a ticket to Google I/O in this year's raffle? If you're a developer, you've got a chance to be invited by Google personally to I/O this year. All you have to do is create a particularly cool Android Experiment and upload it to the challenge website.
The Chromecast was just the start of Google's growing list of Cast-enabled devices, so it came as little surprise when Google announced the Chromecast app would be taking on a more inclusive name. It's now Google Cast in v1.14, and you can grab it from APK Mirror. It also looks like the app shows your other Cast devices, which would make sense given the name change.
Somewhere on the Apple campus—presumably in a dark, musty basement—there are several Android developers who are tasked with supporting the Apple Music Android app. I bet the other Apple employees call them names and throw things at them in the halls. These brave souls have completed work on a new version of the app, and it's in the Play Store right now. It adds a playback widget, gift card support, better playlists, and more.
In case you missed the news, LG's Watch Urbane 2nd Edition has started popping up for pre-order after being abruptly cancelled late last year. That means Google can finally let the nearly year-old first-gen Watch Urbane die the death LG would probably prefer it died several months ago. Yes, the Urbane is no longer for sale on the Google Store.
The recent Google spin-off Niantic Labs is cooking up what might be the first worthwhile Pokémon experience on a mobile device with Pokémon GO. A bit of footage was shown off at SXSW last weekend, but now Niantic has posted some proper details and screenshots. Get your Pokéballs ready.