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Samsung is no stranger to scandal these days. The company's former vice chairman Jay Y. Lee ended up in prison recently after being caught up in the bribery scandal that brought down former South Korean President Park Geun-hye. There may be a controversy brewing in Samsung's US arm as well. Samsung Chief Marketing Officer Marc Mathieu has abruptly resigned following an investigation into kickbacks between Samsung employees and marketing partners.
Google Lens was a big unveiling at I/O a while back, but the feature isn't particularly discoverable on phones. It's become a bit more prominent with camera integrates on phones from Motorola, Google, and others. Now, you can add Xiaomi to the list.
The new Xperia 10 and 10 Plus might not be the most interesting phones out there, but Sony has made them a bit more appealing for certain buyers today. These phones are the latest additions to Sony's Open Devices program. So, you can unlock and flash software on your Xperia 10 and 10 Plus without any arduous workarounds.
Most phones that aren't Pixels are lucky to get one or two major updates. OnePlus has managed to offer better update support for its phones in spite of the lower prices. The OnePlus 3 and 3T launched in 2016 with Marshmallow, but they've gotten Nougat and Oreo updates. Now, OnePlus is preparing to offer a Pie update, and you can help test it.
Xiaomi has its own distinct style that can be a big adjustment for anyone used to a different version of Android. The company has moved closer to the Android mainstream as its international business has grown, launching phones like the Poco F1. That device sported a new launcher, and it looks like Xiaomi has decided to make it into a full-fledged app on the Play Store. The new Mint Launcher listing is up, but it won't install on any phones yet. Don't worry—we've got an APK for you.
TeamViewer has been on Android for years, but the feature set varies from one device to the next. Some device makers have add-ons that allow full remote control, but you're usually stuck with a more limited experience. The app can still be useful, though. TeamViewer just added support for Android TV, and even without full remote control, TeamViewer adds some handy features to your TV box.
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It's easy to get confused with all the decimal numbers phones coming out of HMD lately—the Nokia 7.1, 6.1, 3.2, 9, and so on. Even HMD might be getting a little turned around. Finnish media reports that some Nokia 7 Plus handsets in Europe have been beaming data to China even though they aren't Chinese phones. This could be a violation of Europe's GDPR legislation. Oops.
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Samsung is rolling out a new update to its Android browser today, and it's a big one. The latest Samsung Internet Beta (v9.2) is the first to adopt the company's OneUI design, which is hitting phones in the Pie update. That means you'll see various visual tweaks throughout the browser, but that's not all. Samsung also promises AI-powered privacy features.
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Google has been slowly but surely updating its apps to reflect the new Material Theming conventions, scorching many a retina in the process. The Google Drive app was already predominantly white, so the upcoming Drive revamp won't murder your eyes any worse. It will, however, add features like bottom navigation, an expanded search bar, and a new account switcher.
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- Opera's VPN is now officially out of beta and available in v51 of the browser, which you can grab from the Play Store below or APK Mirror.
ISPs are generally not trustworthy, so many internet users have turned to VPNs. Opera used to offer a popular free VPN on Android, but it retired the service last year. Now, the company has announced a new VPN, which is integrated with the Opera browser. It's starting out in the beta version, available to everyone in the Play Store.
You probably know Chainfire from his work on SuperSU, which he stepped away from last year. Chainfire's latest project isn't quite as complex, but it is pretty timely. The Galaxy S10 launch has spawned a community dedicated to making wallpapers that celebrate the hole punch display, and Chainfire's Hidey Hole app puts all those wallpapers in one place.
Smart speakers are big business these days, and Qualcomm wants to be at the heart of as many of those products as possible. The new QCS400 series systems-on-a-chip (SoC) could get it there. The QCS400 comes in several flavors for different levels of speaker power, and the more capable versions offer dedicated AI processing hardware.
Google just released the first Android Q developer preview earlier this month, and we're still digging around to discover all the new stuff. It's clear even from this first version that Google is taking privacy more seriously, and tightening control of the clipboard is part of that. One notable clipboard manager is already planning to retire features in anticipation of Android Q. On May 1st, 2019, Clipper Sync will go offline according to an email sent to users.
Google+ is not long for this world, but it will live on with the help of the Internet Archive. A project is already underway to save all public Google+ pages to the archive, ensuring that the content won't vanish on April 2nd when Google pulls the plug. If your profile is open, it may already be safe and sound.
Xiaomi is wasting no time with its gaming-focused Black Shark brand. It's announced three Black Shark phones in the last year, the most recent of which is the confusingly named Black Shark 2. It's the third phone after the original Black Shark and Black Shark Helo. Those phones were already plenty powerful, but the new phone sports the latest Snapdragon 855 and up to 12GB of RAM.
The HMD-backed resurgence of Nokia in the smartphone market has been a real treat to watch. After years of watching Microsoft bungle its Nokia acquisition, the Nokia name is again emblazoned on excellent smartphone products. However, most Nokia phones have been toward the budget end of the spectrum. They've been good for the money, but the Nokia 9 PureView is a true flagship with high-end specs, a wild five-camera setup, and an in-display fingerprint sensor. All that, and it's a few hundred dollars less than competing phones.
We were all a bit skeptical when Samsung started talking about the "Infinity-O" display tech last year. As expected, the Galaxy S10 family sports a hole in the display for the front-facing cameras. At first, Samsung sought to downplay the holes, but now it's getting with the trend of wallpapers that work with the cutout.
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Motorola announced a trio of new Moto G smartphones for the US a couple of weeks back, but only the most expensive of them has launched. Now we have details on the G7 Power and G7 Play. Pre-orders will begin with the G7 Power next week and the G7 Play later in March.
All but the earliest Android phones have had proximity sensors to turn the screen off when you're on a call or drop the device in your pocket. For all the fancy premium features in the new Samsung Galaxy S10 family, they don't seem to use the proximity sensor correctly. Owners across the internet are complaining of accidental touches while the phone is in a pocket, which shouldn't happen on a budget phone, let alone one that costs as much as $1,000.
Dropbox is one of the most popular cloud storage platforms. In fact, many on the AP team prefer Dropbox to Google Drive. If you're trying to make do with a free Dropbox account, there's a new restriction that'll be sure to cramp your style. As of this month, Dropbox limits you to just three connected devices on free accounts.