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Google is working on a fix for poor Netflix quality on Pixel phones caused by Widevine bug
The issue may also affect other manufacturers
Some Pixel owners have noticed over the last couple of monthly updates that their phones have lost Widevine L1 status, falling to L3 and rendering them incapable of playing back some DRM-protected content at high quality. More simply, that means they can't play HD content in apps and services like Netflix. By far the majority of devices are not affected and the cause isn't immediately clear. Google tells us it's aware of these reports and working on a fix, and devices from other manufactures may also be affected.
Netflix confirms official HD support for ASUS ROG II, ZenFone 6, and new TCL phones
Official HDR10 support for ROG II and TCL 10L, too
Not all Android devices can stream from Netflix at the same quality, the company is actually a little bit picky about it, certifying individual devices for different features. While the list sometimes lags a bit behind reality, Netflix now says that TCL's latest phones (the 10 Pro and 10L) are now HD-compatible, together with the Asus ROG II and ZenFone 6.
We're not sure if this is a bug or a sign of things to come, but if you've purchased a movie on Google Play Movies in HD that has a 4K version available now and you open your purchases in the YouTube app on Android TV, you might spot a 4K sign below it. However, when you start playing it, the highest resolution available is 1080p.
OnePlus' phones are a great value, but they've each individually had a few drawbacks. One negative they all had in common, though, was a DRM deficiency. None of the company's handsets supported the correct Widevine level required for HD playback in Netflix. Distress on the subject came to a head late last year, and OnePlus surprisingly announced that it would add the feature in the future. In a comment on OnePlus' forums today the company confirmed that it was now able to update handsets to support it, but the process will require that you physically send the phone back to OnePlus for the update.
The OnePlus 5T is one of our favorite phones at AP. It's a fantastic value, improving on its predecessor without costing a whole lot more. But there is still one unfortunate disadvantage to using one. Like OnePlus' older phones, it doesn't support the correct DRM level for HD playback on services such as Netflix. But OnePlus has promised us that this will be corrected in the future for the OnePlus 5 and 5T.
Netflix customers now all have the option to stream their favorite television shows and movies in the highest quality bit rate that the company offers. HD? No, Super HD. It's 1080p, but with less compression. Netflix first rolled out this higher quality offering way back in January, but they only worked with ISPs with whom they have a direct connection. Now they're ready to stream Super HD to everyone. They're also hoping more ISPs will adopt Netflix Open Connect, their video content delivery network that tries to reduce internet congestion by storing content on servers as close to users as possible.
Hands-On (And Video) With The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 At IFA 2013
Getting Hands-On With The Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Besides taking a look at the Galaxy Gear here at IFA 2013, we also got the chance to play around with Samsung's new lineup of Note devices, namely the Note 3 and the Note 10.1 2014 edition.
Super ultra mega HD resolution support is coming to a robot-themed OS near you, but before we get into that, let's talk about Android and DPI.
If you've still not tried one of the best ambient "chill-out" games out there, Osmos HD, and you don't use the Amazon App Store, now's your chance. The game's developers at Hemisphere Games have put Osmos HD on sale for just $0.99 (that's two dollars less than its normal $2.99 price) in celebration of the vernal equinox today. The sale will last for an un-quantified "few days."
Last month, we saw Motorola's Droid Razr Maxx HD offered up for $99.99 on Amazon for new accounts only. If you're already a Verizon subscriber who's looking to instead upgrade to the Maxx HD, you're in luck – it looks like Amazon has extended the offer to upgrade customers as well. For reference, Amazon's price puts the phone a full $200 below Verizon's own price.
Claiming the title of the first MSM8660-packing devices to get CyanogenMod 10.1 nightlies, LG's Optimus LTE and Nitro HD (su640 and p930) joined the lineup today.
[CES 2013] ARCHOS Introduces Titanium Line, Including The 70, 80, 101, And Previously Seen 97 Titanium HD Tablets
ARCHOS Introduces Titanium Line, Including The 70, 80, 101, And Previously Seen 97 Titanium HD Tablets
ARCHOS is not messing around! After releasing the first in its iPad Titanium line of tablets, the 97 Titanium HD, sans price, the company is back for more with three new slates in the family: the 70 (a 7" tablet), the 80 (an 8" tablet), and the 101 (can you guess? can you? I bet you can. Yes, it's a 10.1" tablet!). The company isn't even being shy about its intent. The 70 specifically targets "competitors such as Amazon", the 80 goes after "the iPad mini, for a fraction of the price", and the 9.7 "aims to be an alternative to the new iPad." Well, yeah. David kinda picked up on that.
After revealing the "world's thinnest" smartphone earlier today with the One Touch Idol Ultra (at a svelte 6.45mm), Alcatel has let fly news about the rest of their planned CES 2013 lineup.
Bringing its already-popular (on iOS) reimagining of the Atari classic to Android, Activision released Pitfall! to the Play Store today. For those who haven't seen or played the newly conceptualized Pitfall, it shares very little with the original – you'll still be dodging snakes, swinging on ropes, and jump over impossible pitfalls, but this time you'll be playing an "endless-runner" a la Temple Run. Unlike Temple Run, however, Pitfall's protagonist (Pitfall Harry) uses a whip to defeat whatever wild foes happen to be in his way. Harry will also find himself riding various vehicles and running through plenty of dynamic environments.
One of the bigger mobile games that still somehow manages to disappear under the marketing behemoth of Angry Birds is Cut the Rope. Now, the company behind that title has released a new adventure: Pudding Monsters. The basic gist is, there is red, gelatinous pudding in the fridge, and man is the guy who owns that fridge a jerk. He keeps eating all of these clearly-sentient and terrified desert creatures. Help them!
Amazon's Gold Box deals are some of my favorite discounts to check out every morning. In fact, outside of the Gold Box, the only other deal destinations I regularly visit are Amazon-owned MyHabit and TouchOfModern, a site full of inspiration and ultramodernism.
Amazon, "in accordance with certain free and open source software licenses," released today the open source code files for their 8.9" Kindle Fire HD, one of the latest tablets to join their wildly successful e-reader lineup.
Just a week ago, I discovered that despite some flaws, the Motorola DROID RAZR HD is a great phone. With a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 CPU, a 4.7" 720p SAMOLED display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage (plus a microSD slot), and a 2530mAh battery, it packed solid performance and good battery life into a slim package.
As we all know by now, Google purchased Motorola in August of 2011 for a whopping $12.1 billion. Nerds rejoiced, analysts balked, and the general public didn't really notice or care. But Motorola's newest wave of handsets - the excellent Razr M and the new Razr HD/ Razr Maxx HD - aren't the result of Google ownership. They were already in the pipeline, so they're products of the old Motorola.
Well that was fast. Just after Motorola's DROID RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD launched at Verizon and Amazon, we've already got a great deal on both devices. Wirefly, another popular smartphone retailer, is offering the RAZR HD for $149.99 (about $50 off) on contract, and the RAZR MAXX HD for $199.99 (about a $100 discount).