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Google started a slow rollout of a revamped Google Calendar on the web some months ago. It recently threw the switch to make it the default interface for everyone, but as usual, some features from the old UI were missing. Today, the option to put dates in the title of events has returned.
It's time again for another update to Android, and it's rolling out to Google devices starting now. If you just can't wait for the OTA to reach you, there are some files you can download to skip the wait. It looks like most devices just have a single build this month, which will make things much easier.
Huawei's Mate 10 Pro is a good phone, but it's not one you'll be able to get from your carrier. Deals with AT&T and Verizon both collapsed in the face of government pressure, but it's launching in the US as an unlocked phone later this month. Massdrop has this phone today, and it's offering $100 off.
The Moto X4 is an okay phone, but it's tough to recommend at $400. However, Google's Project Fi just started selling the phone for much less. You can get the Moto X4 for a mere $249 on Fi right now, making this a smoking hot deal.
The 4G era has not been kind to Sprint. It went from a strong number three in the US wireless market to a distant fourth place behind T-Mobile. The company hopes that the move to 5G will help it regain market share and compete on network quality. CEO Marcelo Claure now says the carrier will begin its 5G rollout in the first half of 2019, putting it ahead of the other national carriers. However, that new network will likely come with higher plan prices.
Instagram Stories are getting a new feature today, and it's called Type mode. From the name, you might guess that it has something to do with text, and you'd be right. It's a way to add stylized text to your Story, and it doesn't require a photo or video.
Google doesn't pay much attention to the Google Now Launcher anymore, but that doesn't mean it's dead. The Google app powers this launcher, so small tweaks show up from time to time. Today, there's a noticeable and somewhat perplexing change in the Google Now Launcher. Some users have a new home button in the search box that launches the Google Feed.
Google launched YouTube Go late last year in India, and then it rolled the app out to a dozen or so other nations. Today, it's pushing YouTube Go to most of the world with support for more than 130 countries. No, the US still isn't included, but it wasn't really designed for the developed world. YouTube Go includes features to make the most of a limited mobile data package.
Amazon offers various cloud services to consumers as well as businesses. In fact, some makers of home security cameras use Amazon's web services to store video. It only makes sense for Amazon to get into this market as it increasingly pushes home automation with Alexa. The Cloud Cam is a 1080p indoor security camera with a competitive price point of $120 when it's not on sale. This camera has a lot going for it, but it's clear Amazon is still just getting started with home security—the Cloud Cam is missing just enough that other cameras might be better options, even if they're more expensive.
Google Flights is a good tool for looking up flight information, and it's about to get better thanks to machine learning. Using historical data, Google can estimate with reasonable accuracy when a flight will be delayed and by how much even before the airline knows. Google Flights is also going to begin surfacing more information about flights that come with additional restrictions.
LastPass is how many of us choose to store our passwords, and the Android app is usually fast to support new Android features. If you want even faster access, there's the LastPass beta release. That one has just been updated with more robust autofill support—both accessibility-based and the new Oreo implementation at the same time. You should also get fewer autofill prompts when you don't need them.
Google launched the Chromecast way, way back in 2013. Coming up on five years later, VLC is finally rolling out support for Google's streaming platform. The latest Play Store beta release (v2.9) includes experimental Chromecast streaming, and it (mostly) works.
A new browser aims to take on the likes of Chrome and Firefox, but only on your phone. Cake, which has picked up a big pile of venture capital, has just launched on Android today. The developers say it's a faster and more convenient browsing experience because it was conceived of and built entirely for mobile. Is it? You can find out now.
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Last May, Verizon thought it would be a good idea to start selling a $350 Android Wear smartwatch. Several months later, it discontinued the Wear24, and the leftovers have been popping up at a steep discount ever since. Today, the Wear24 has hit an all-time low price of just $50. That's $300 less than the original price.
Samsung Pay launched in South Korea back in 2015, then expanded into the US, China, and more for a total of 19 official markets before today. Now, Samsung adds number 20: Mexico. You may be thinking, "didn't that already happen?" Well, apparently the appearance of the landing page last November was not the full launch.
BeyondPod has been one of the top podcast managers on Android for ages thanks to its robust feature set. However, development seems to have hit something of a rough patch. Users have been complaining about a beta release that's hopelessly broken for months, and it's been well over a year since the Play Store version has been updated.
The Nest Secure has been out for a few months now, and it has yet to see much in the way of discounts. That changes now that Best Buy has dropped the price of the home monitoring system by $100. You can pick up the starter pack right now for $399, and there are even some slightly cheaper listings on eBay.
Google launched new Pixel phones a few months ago, but the 2016 Pixel phones are still solid devices. They're faster than many phones, and the camera performance is incredible. Google hasn't discounted the last-gen phones very much, but there are some cheap refurbished units available on Daily Steals. We've also got some coupon codes to make them even cheaper.
OnePlus can't catch a break lately. While it's made some legitimate mistakes (eg. the credit card hack), there have also been some incidents where hysteria took precedence over common sense. That was the case with the clipboard story a few weeks back, and now there's another clipboard-related accusation making the rounds. A Twitter post claims OnePlus is identifying and uploading clipboard data like bank account numbers to a Chinese server, but the company says this is incorrect. The file in question specifically stops the OS from monitoring certain types of data, and it's not even active in OxygenOS.
Samsung only just confirmed the Galaxy S9 unveiling for February 25th, and now some of the wind has been taken out of its sails thanks to Evan "evleaks" Blass. What appear to be press renders of the upcoming smartphones have leaked, and they look mostly as you'd expect. The phones have "Infinity Displays," but the bezels look a bit larger than last year's phones.