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Android at 15: Everything the T-Mobile G1 had that your phone doesn't
As the first Android phone turns 15, it turns out that newer maybe isn't always better
Consider it a consequence of Moore's law: technology keeps moving forward without missing a beat. Of course, just because your current phone is faster than your last doesn't mean every feature, tool, or ability survived generations. Think about how many devices — fax machines and beepers and MP3 players — that have been replaced or rendered obsolete as consumer electronics continued to evolve.
Google Duo turns five, and it might even turn six before Google kills it
It's the only video calling app I use
Google Duo turns five years old today, and in that time, it's become one of the best video calling apps around despite fierce competition. So to celebrate its anniversary, let's take a look at what makes Duo so special.
Google Play Books doesn't come up much in the news these days, but the service is still kicking, even offering the occasional hot deal every now and then. As of today, Play Books is 10 years old, marking a decade of bringing reading (and listening) pleasure to millions.
Did you know that Android has two birthdays, depending on when you count from? Of course, it was in development for years before the public ever saw it, but it was "born" on either the date of its first commercial release (September 23rd 2008) or the date of its first official introduction by Google on November 5th, 2007. Well, that last date just so happens to line up with today, so happy 13th(ish) birthday, Android.
Smile for the camera: Google Photos turns 5 today
Many iterative improvements made the excellent platform even better over the years
Five years ago today, Google separated its Photos service from Google+ and launched it as a standalone platform, complete with a redesign and a slew of new features. While the app did get a few facelifts over the years, it's become one of the most stable experiences at Google. The company never fundamentally changed the winning formula and has only ever iteratively improved Photos.
Nvidia's Shield TV hardware has been some of the longest-supported in the world of Android. With today officially marking our ten-year anniversary as a website, we thought that a giveaway in keeping with our site values and history would be in order. After five years covering the Shield TV and its consistent software support, there wasn't much of question in our minds, so we've teamed up with Nvidia to give one lucky reader one of Nvidia's new hotdog tube-style Shield TVs and a Shield Controller.
Nintendo's free-to-play collection game Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is currently celebrating its second anniversary with the launch of two optional subscription plans under the moniker Pocket Camp Club. As you would expect, this news has not been received well by fans, with many players worried that these changes will target children with even heavier monetization while taking advantage of a common anxiety known as the "fear of missing out."
All the way back on June 29th, 2009, a little company named Samsung released a phone just called Galaxy (with no "S") running Google's brand new Android operating system. The modern eye may scoff at both its dated specs and design, but the phone established a lineage second only in consumer recognition to the iPhone, kicking off ten years of Galaxy-series phones, and today is the anniversary.
When Google launched photos back in 2015, it probably didn't expect it would become one of people's most favorite apps around. All of us at Android Police really enjoy using it because it makes storing, finding, and sharing pictures so much easier.
On today's date in 1998, a little company named Google was formally incorporated. It was the nascent, literal garage effort of two Stanford grads as they worked on a search engine for the ol' World Wide Web. Twenty years later, Google is the third most valuable brand in the world — by at least one metric — and Android Police's raison d'être.
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Our own Stephen Schenck broke his first-gen Chromecast moving the TV. This is probably why Google switched to the puck design.
Allo was released on Google Play just over a year ago, on September 20th. It suffered a bit at the hands of hype between its early announcement at 2016's I/O and the actual release, which didn't come for months. But since then it has been a major part of the conversation when it comes to Android. Google made a big decision and faced a lot of criticism when it resolved to launch another messaging service. Now that it's been a year, how has it held up?
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Many happy returns, Google+, you are five today. Google's home-built social network was launched on June 28th, 2011, competing with the likes of Facebook and Twitter with a unique "circle" approach to contact management and deep integration with Google services. Many predicted it wouldn't last this long (rest in peace, Google Wave), but Google+ has proven surprisingly resilient.
Android has more birthdays than a cheapskate in an Applebees. November 5th, 2007 is often given as one option, because that's the day that Google announced the development of the platform itself. October 22nd, 2008 is another one, the day that the HTC's G1 phone was first released by T-Mobile. But for some reason, the Google Store team is choosing to pin down today, September 23rd as Android's "seventh birthday." On this day in 2008 Google and T-Mobile announced the availability of the G1 for the following month. That's also the day that the Android 1.0 SDK was first available for public download. T-Mobile still has the original press release up on its archive - you can read it here.
Happy birthday, Google. You didn't invent Android, but you made it awesome, for which we are sincerely grateful. Most of the other stuff that you do is pretty cool too. We'd tell you to watch a certain John Hughes movie, but you're too young to appreciate the reference.
Can you believe it's been three years since Google introduced its very own social network in private beta? We can - Android Police has published hundreds (Hell, maybe thousands) of articles about Google's social network, since it's been tightly integrated with the company's mobile, web, and search platforms. There have been a lot of big changes since then, and it still isn't the Facebook-stomping behemoth that some people hoped it might be. But the combination of innovative posting features and Google's sheer presence has boosted the service to more than 500 million users.
Full disclosure - Ting is my mobile provider of choice. I may write about the constant tug-of-war between the big four American carriers, but at the end of the day, I refuse to sign a two-year contract with anyone, and T-Mobile has precisely zero coverage in the drastically non-urban corner of the US that I'm from. Thankfully, I have options. Ting is celebrating its two-year anniversary this week, and it's doing so by slashing its data prices. As a Ting customer, this is my kind of party.
Yahoo Mail is turning sixteen (the service, not the company that runs it), and as we would tell any reckless teenager eager to get their hands on the wheel, it might want to slow down a bit. You see, the company has rolled out a slew of new features for the service that, on the whole, are positive, but the provided press photos makes me wonder if they expect anyone older than sixteen to use them.
Pocket Celebrates Its Name's One Year Anniversary With 'Send To Friend' And More In Version 4.5
Pocket, in an update to celebrate the one year anniversary of Read It Later's rebrand, has introduced (among other things) Send to Friend, a new feature
Pocket, in an update to celebrate the one year anniversary of Read It Later's rebrand, has introduced (among other things) Send to Friend, a new feature that allows for quick, easy sharing of content with friends. Users can accept shared content directly from the Pocket app, using the app's new Inbox. Those sharing can also highlight quotes or add their own comments before sharing, sending them along for friends to read.