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The Skype app for Android isn't great - it's often slow, with somewhat-awful call quality and the occasional crash. Back in December, Microsoft released Skype Mingo in beta, a new lightweight Skype client designed as a hub for all your communications. Now the app is out of beta, and it's called Skype Lite.
Back in September of last year, Amazon released a new model of its Chromecast competitor, the Fire TV Stick. The $39.99 dongle is a major upgrade from the previous model, with better performance and Wi-Fi capabilities. Now Amazon is selling it in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan.As opposed to the Chromecast, which doesn't have any UI or controls of its own, the Fire TV stick has most of the functionality of a standard media set-top box. It's running Fire OS 5, a fork of Android 5.0 Lollipop, and can play content from all your standard online services. The major omission is any Google services, like YouTube or Google Play Movies (probably because of this).Still, if you're looking for a self-contained media box with Alexa built-in, the Fire TV Stick isn't a bad choice. You can get it from Amazon here, but customers in the UK, Germany, and Japan can only pre-order it for now. For those countries, you can expect it to ship starting in April.
Android Things is Google's simplified build of Android for Internet of Things devices (I still hate that term), first released last year as a developer preview. The previews only support a handful of developer boards - the Intel Edison and Joule, NXP Pico, and Raspberry Pi 3. Now Qualcomm has committed to supporting Android Things on its Snapdragon 210 SoC later this year.
The Moto Z Play was released by Motorola last year, as a slightly less-expensive alternative to the Moto Z. A combination of a less powerful CPU, a lower-resolution screen, and a massive 3,500mAh battery has earned it a reputation for being an endurance champ. Now Motorola has released the kernel source code for the recent Nougat update.
SSH clients are commonly used for connecting to remote Linux/Mac computers, and there are a few good choices for Android. While JuiceSSH is more feature-packed, ConnectBot has always been fast and functional enough for my needs. ConnectBot has just been updated for the first time since 2015, and it brings some much-needed changes.
One tradition with Sony smartphones is that they are nearly always overpriced at launch. Sony's latest flagship, the 2016 Xperia XZ, was no exception - it started at a whopping $699. Although the official MSRP has been marked down to $649 since then, you can now get it from Amazon for just $449.99.I would say that the Xperia XZ is definitely a good phone at this price - it has a Snapdragon 820 CPU, 5.2" 1080p display, 3GB of RAM, and expandable storage. It also has some features rare in flagships these days, like expandable storage and Dual SIM support. In addition, the XZ packs IP65/68 water resistance, but Sony warns that the phone's USB port should be completely dry before attempting to charge. The phone shipped with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, but has since been updated to 7.0 Nougat.As for customization, the XZ isn't a bad option. TWRP is available for it, as well as a few custom ROMs - but unfortunately not official LineageOS builds. If you want a gorgeous-looking phone, this isn't a bad choice at all. You can get it from the source link below, but at least for now, only the Blue color is discounted.Source: Amazon
Snap Inc., the company that owns Snapchat, unveiled the 'Spectacles' last year. The glasses, with a distinct toy-like design, can record 10-second clips that can be uploaded to Snapchat. Now you can actually order them online, instead of hunting down a kiosk or buying one second-hand from eBay.
We've seen several carriers update their HTC 10 models to Android 7.0 Nougat over the past few months, including T-Mobile and various European providers. Now Sprint has finally pushed the Nougat OTA to the HTC 10 on its network.
If you're on a budget and want an Android phone, you usually have two choices - buy one of the many low-end Android devices, or purchase an old flagship. For the latter case, you can now get a manufacturer-refurbished LG G4 for just $119.99 - about $130 less than the unlocked G4 on Amazon.Now before you jump to buy it, there are a few things you should know. Although these devices are manufacturer-refurbished, they do not include a warranty or the original packaging. In addition, the seller states that the devices are in "8 out of 10 condition," with small imperfections like scratches to be expected. Finally, this is the AT&T variant of the G4 (H810), and there do not appear to be any custom ROMs available.Still, if you're willing to accept those compromises, you can grab it from the link below. It's worth noting that this device can be updated to Android Marshmallow.Source: eBay
Back in January, we got our first look at the HTC One X10. Much like the One X9 before it, the X10 is a 5.5" budget phone designed for markets like India. Now we have a better look at it, courtesy of a post on Weibo.
One of the more annoying aspects of the Play Store is that you can't manually check for app updates. We already covered how Google is testing a new installed apps screen, but we didn't get a look at one of the best aspects of it - a refresh button.
At least since December, the Play Store on Android TV has had a particularly annoying issue. When selecting one of several app categories, including 'Action Games' and 'News,' the entire Play Store crashes. Now the issue appears to be finally fixed.
CyanogenMod has been the most widely-used custom ROM for years, with at least 10 million users at one point. After Cyanogen Inc kicked the bucket, the community-maintained LineageOS continued CM's efforts. The official statistics page for the project now shows 515,000 active installs (at the time of writing), a great achievement for the relatively-new ROM.
Google's Pixel and Pixel XL phones are sold in three colors - Very Silver, Quite Black, and Really Blue. While the last color is certainly the most eye-catching, it's only been available in the United States. Google originally stated that the model would only be a temporary US exclusive, and now we are seeing it arrive in other countries - first in Canada with Rogers, and now the UK with EE.
Have you always wanted to try Google's Inbox email application, but don't have or use a Gmail address? EasilyDo, developer of EasilyDo Assistant, has released the appropriately-named 'Email.' As you can imagine from the name, it's yet another email application trying to sort your messages intelligently.
One of the more common uses for the Amazon Echo (and other Alexa-compatible devices) is ordering items online. In this glorious future, you don't even need to touch your phone to order products online - just tell your smart speaker to buy it for you. Now Google has added 'smart shopping' to Assistant, including the Google Home.
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- Google has announced that the Really Blue Pixel and Pixel XL are now available to pre-order from Rogers. This limited edition color is only available in the 32GB versions. The smaller Pixel will run you $199 with the Pixel XL costing $349, both on a two-year Premium + Tab plan.
Google sells the Pixel and Pixel XL in three colors (with varying degrees of stock) - Very Silver, Quite Black, and Really Blue. When the Pixel was initially announced, Google said it would be a temporary US exclusive. Now the Really Blue Pixel is coming to Canada - but only sold through Rogers.
AccuWeather has supported Android Wear for a while now, but the companion app has always been somewhat feature-light. It only showed data for your default location, and only displayed predicted temperatures for a few hours into the future. Now AccuWeather has released a full standalone application for Android Wear 2.0 - no smartphone app required.
Back in April 2016, YouTube began testing a new look on the desktop site. This time, the web interface is heavily influenced by Material Design - something that has been in the works for other Google web apps recently. Now the redesign appears to be rolling out more widely.
The SmartWatch 3 was Sony's first - and last - attempt at making an Android Wear device. It was a good watch at the time, and still is, but it won't be getting the long-awaited Android Wear 2.0 update. The SW3 was already missing from the list of supported watches, and now Sony has confirmed it.