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Google Play Pass more than doubles the number of countries it's available in
No need to pay for in-app transactions with a ton of apps
Google's Play Pass program, where customers trade a monthly or annual subscription fee for all-you-can-eat downloads, premium features, and in-app perks for certain apps, has expanded to 48 new countries.
Play Store opens up paid apps to 22 new countries across Africa, Oceania, and elsewhere
If I had a nickel for every country, I'd have enough for an app!
Developers in 22 countries are now able to set prices for their Android apps listed on the Play Store. The new batch of countries also features heavily from Africa, but includes some nations in the Caribbean, South America, east of Africa, and Oceania. Users in these countries previously only had access to free apps.
LG Velvet coming to North America and elsewhere in the coming weeks
The company told everyone pretty much everything about this phone well before launch
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As we're used to for the past several years now, LG leaves very few secrets on the table about the phones it's going to launch. Indeed, the new Velvet phone was teased quite early on as the successor to the longstanding G-series. Tomorrow, it goes on pre-sale in South Korea and we're now getting a clearer look at what we can expect out of the phone.
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- Opera has posted a response to the report on its investors site, stating it "contains numerous errors":
It's no secret that Opera isn't doing so well in the era of Chrome dominance. According to a report published by Hindenburg Research, the company's losses in browser revenue have apparently led it to create multiple loan apps with short payment windows and interest rates of ~365-876%, which are in violation of new Play Store rules Google enacted last year.
For a long time, Africa has been exploited for its rare earths and other indispensable resources that help build the technology products we all use. Thus, it's great to see that a company in Rwanda, a country once plagued by civil war and genocide, managed to become the first to develop and build a smartphone on the continent. The Mara X and Mara Z are two budget Android devices running Android One, fully engineered and manufactured in Rwanda.
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- Spotify is now live for everyone in the countries mentioned above. Some users received emails telling them they can now sign up, but even if you didn't, you'll find the app on the Play Store in your country. Both the free service with ads and the Premium subscription are rolled out, with the latter costing approx. $5 in all countries. You can get the app and register directly from it, or go to spotify.com to get started. Thanks, Eduardo Andrade!
Earlier this year, it was rumored that Spotify would arrive in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) sometime in Q4 2018. It seems the speculation was true, as Spotify has now launched in a handful of MENA countries — but only to those with invites.
It's not a secret that Sony's phones haven't exactly experienced the degree of success or sales that the company's competitors have seen. For years its design language was stuck firmly in the past, and the high prices associated with its products kept it from competing at the same level as other OEMs. And according to Evan Blass/@evleaks, the company may even be pulling out of the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa entirely.
Two months ago (after no small amount of leaking) HTC announced the One X9, a variant phone with elements of its One line, exclusively for the vast Chinese market. Today in Barcelona the company has announced that it will expand the availability of said phone, bringing it to "North Asia" and the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) zone later this month. Specific countries and prices haven't been released, but in China it launched for 2399 yuan, about $370 USD.
Nokia's HERE Maps application continues to be a popular alternative to Google's own maps, thanks to wide availability and an easy-to-use download feature. The latest update adds a few new bells and whistles in the name of accuracy, especially if you happen to live in sub-Saharan Africa: according to this blog post, the downloadable maps in the regions of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, and the Seychelles have all been considerably improved.
Before Chromebooks and Android, Google blew peoples' minds with its web services alone. Translate was one of them. Here was a website that took in whatever you typed and spat out something that at least kind of resembled the same words in a different language. Even now, translations aren't spot on, but it usually gets close enough to convey the message.
Google Translate Adds 9 New Languages From Africa, Asia, And New Zealand, Available On The Web And Mobile
Google Translate Adds 9 New Languages From Africa, Asia, And New Zealand, Available On The Web And Mobile
Google Translate is a pretty great tool, but it's only useful if it actually works where you need it. Today it works in even more places, as Google has updated both the web service and the Android app with nine new languages, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
These 184 Carriers And Major Retailers Across The Globe Will Carry The HTC One
These 184 Carriers And Major Retailers Across The Globe Will Carry The HTC One
HTC this morning officially unveiled its new flagship for 2013: the HTC One. So far, we've posted the full specs, our hands-on, and the list of carriers in the U.S. and Canada, but if you live outside those territories, you might be wondering exactly which carriers and major retailers to visit to pick up the One when it becomes available in March.