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One of the Pixel's more unique features is the ability to swipe on the fingerprint sensor to toggle the notification panel. When the gesture was revealed to be Pixel-exclusive, some Nexus owners were upset. In fact, there was so much outrage that Google finally said they would look into it.
It might be time to name this month "Play Store Month." In just November alone, a new trending section, a revamped UI, Netbanking support for India, and various tweaks to installing applications have all made appearances for some users. The latest change is to the Play Store's search results, which have the ironic reputation of being terrible - despite Google having a world-famous search engine.
The Moto 360 Sport has plummeted in price since it was released in January. The original $299 asking price was just a bit too high for most consumers, and just four months later, it was removed from the Google Store. The price has only dropped since then, with the watch currently going for $119 at DailySteals.
The Walmart-owned Vudu is one of several services that allow you to rent and buy movies online. Much like Google Play Movies, you can rent or buy content in either standard or high definition (albeit at around the price of a physical copy) and watch on any supported device. The company has had an Android application for some time now, but the 5.0 update brings a few much-needed improvements.
T-Mobile's Binge On program has become extremely popular, despite its disadvantages. If you're not familiar, Binge On doesn't charge you for data used by certain video and audio streaming sites, but with video quality capped to about 480p. AT&T today announced Stream Saver, which sounds like the company's response to Binge On.
Samsung has a tendency to throw stuff at the wall, and see what sticks. I don't mean that in a negative way - many of their seemingly-bizarre experiments became wildly popular (see: S7 edge). A patent application submitted by Samsung shows their concept of a foldable smartphone, and it's interesting to say the least.
Are you one of the hip kids that use Snapchat? Then you're in luck, because today Snapchat has brought a few changes to their application on Android and iOS. The most notable new feature is 'World Lenses,' which applies various augmented-reality effects to your back camera's view of the world. This is similar in functionality to the existing lenses, but is not limited to images of faces.
The long-rumored Moto M was released today on Motorola's Chinese site, with no indication of a North American release. Now Lenovo has announced that all future smartphones developed by the company will be branded as 'Moto' phones.
Motorola's latest phone, the Moto M, has finally materialized on the company's Chinese website after months of rumors. The phone has an all-metal body, a 5.5" 1080p display, a fingerprint sensor on the back, and splash/rain resistance. The specifications are nothing out of the ordinary, besides perhaps the Mediatek CPU in the place of a Qualcomm chip.
Right now Google is testing a new Trending section, a new app interface, Netbanking for Indian users, and other minor tweaks in the Play Store. Maybe one day Google will only test one new feature at once, but that day is not today. For some users, the Play Store now shows the install size of an application on the overflow menu, as well as next to the application's name on its own page.
High Dynamic Range, or HDR for short, is quickly gaining ground in the media industry. In a nutshell, HDR videos have a much higher contrast and color range than standard video content - essentially making the video more true to real life. Google's Chromecast Ultra, the PlayStation 4, Xbox One S, some Blu-ray players, and various other devices all support the playback of HDR video.
Car trips can turn from fun to annoying fast, especially if your little ones in the back can't get their fill of Disney Channel shows on Netflix. T-Mobile aims to solve this (and other predicaments caused by lack of Wi-Fi in your car) with the T-Mobile SyncUp DRIVE.
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If you're looking for a good phone under $150, Motorola's G4 Play is probably one of the best options. You get a Snapdragon 410 CPU, 2GB of RAM, expandable storage, a removable battery, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow (with Motorola promising Nougat soon). This is also one of the few phones in this price range that supports GSM and CDMA, meaning it works with all US carriers.Now you can snag a G4 Play on Amazon for $20 shy of the $150 MSRP. This is not the Prime Exclusive model with ads, this is a completely unmodified device. Only the black color is discounted, the white model is still $150. Both models have Prime shipping available.Keep in mind that this is a different product from the similarly-named G4 Plus and G4, which are both priced above the G4 Play. I wish Motorola would have stuck with making one phone for high-end, mid-range, and low-end - it was much simpler.Source: Amazon
We have received tips in the past day about a 'Netbanking' payment option appearing on the Play Store in India. This allows users to pay directly from their bank account, with numerous Indian banks supported. Prior to this addition, Indian users could only pay with debit/credit cards or Play Store gift cards.
Gameloft's latest racing game, Asphalt Xtreme, has finally left pre-registration and is now available for download on the Play Store. The latest entry in the Asphalt series is primarily composed of off-road races in canyons, mud, and sand dunes.
It feels like Google changes the Play Store UI every few weeks. A larger button here, adjusting the font size there, and so on. But the new 'Trending' section on the Play Store is absolutely new, and is both incredibly useful and well-designed. The new addition can be found in the entertainment section, just below the new movie releases.
The Chromecast Ultra was first revealed to the world at Google's October 4th event. With 4K playback, HDR, Dolby Vision, and Wi-Fi connection improvements, the Ultra is priced at $69. The Xiaomi Mi Box shares the Ultra's price tag, but some users might not want to deal with Android TV.
The ultimate goal of RCS is to completely replace SMS, but moving the millions of daily SMS users away is no small feat. Yesterday, we posted that RCS support was being rolled out to some Messenger users on Sprint and Project Fi. Now Google has made the feature official, and should be available to all Sprint customers starting today.
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Earlier this month, Google removed a number of products from the virtual shelves of the Google Store, most notably the Nexus 5X and 6P. Today the Google Store has begun selling a few new Android Wear wearables and the Philips Hue Color A19 Starter Kit.