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Microsoft Defender for Android arrives on the Play Store
You have to be a company with a Microsoft 365 E5 license to use it
It was first reported in February that Microsoft was bringing its Defender anti-virus/anti-malware software to Linux and Android, and now the app has appeared on the Play Store as a software preview. It's only available to enterprise customers with a valid Microsoft 365 E5 license, but the app description gives a clear picture of what it's intended for.
Qualcomm revealed its new Snapdragon Wear 4100 and 4100+ chipsets back in June, promising improved battery life and more features for Wear OS. The company said that Mobvoi would be the first to produce a Wear OS smartwatch using the new SoC, and now the upcoming model has made an appearance on Amazon UK.
Microsoft Outlook adds option to customize buttons on notifications (APK Download)
Archive, mark as read, or flag emails without opening the app
Microsoft's Outlook email application has seen update after update over the past few months, adding features like photo annotation and audio playback of emails. Now the app has added another incredibly useful function: the ability to customize which actions appear on notifications for new emails.
Fairphone 3+ now available for pre-order, featuring 40% recycled plastic and upgraded cameras
Fairphone 3 owners can also upgrade their devices with new modules
Most current-day smartphones aren't very repairable (the Galaxy S20 Ultra received a 3/10 repair score from iFixit), and are often produced with materials that can be harmful to the environment. Fairphone has been attempting to address these issues over the past few years, and now the company has released an upgraded version of last year's Fairphone 3.
OnePlus Nord OxygenOS 10.5.5 update with camera and charging improvements available for download
Come get your bug fixes
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The OnePlus Nord hasn't been available for very long, but it has already received a slew of OxygenOS updates, mostly containing bug fixes. Now yet another OxygenOS update is coming to the Nord, with fixes for the system, camera, charging speed, and other core components.
Microsoft's wild new folding phone, the Surface Duo, is close to release. We already talked a bit about the device in our unboxing, but one question was brought up a few times — will the Surface Duo fit in the average pants pockets? The answer is probably, but it depends.
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It has been about a month since Chrome 85 appeared in the Beta Channel, and now Google is starting to roll it out to the stable branch. There aren't many easily-visible changes, but as the old Transformers theme says, there's more than meets the eye.
Google Fi ends 60-day late-payment grace period introduced after COVID-19
Google has apparently decided the pandemic is over
Many cell carriers around the world temporarily boosted speeds, forgave late fees, and/or delayed payments as millions of people lost their jobs at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though the global economy hasn't quite recovered yet, and some U.S. states have unemployment rates as high as 16%, Google Fi announced it is returning to pre-COVID payment due dates and data limits.
Judge rules Apple can block Fortnite on iOS, but not Epic's Unreal Engine
Microsoft says it needs Unreal Engine on iOS for Forza Street and other titles
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Last week, Fortnite released a new update that circumvented Apple and Google's rules on in-app payments, by allowing players to purchase V-Bucks without Apple and Google taking 30% of the revenue. The game was promptly removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and now Apple is further retaliating against Epic.
LineageOS is one of the most popular custom ROMs around, and certainly the one with the widest device support. The last time we covered the project, it started offering Android 10-based builds for the 6-year-old OnePlus One, and now the ROM is available on even more phones.
Android Studio Emulator updated with enhanced support for foldables
There are also new performance enhancements
Android Studio is the main SDK for developing Android applications and games, and it has a built-in device emulator for testing projects across a wide range of hardware setups. Google just released a massive update for the Android Emulator with improved support for foldable devices, performance enhancements, and a few bug fixes.
Google Analytics for Android now displays App+Web and Firebase properties (APK Download)
The first update following the Android app's redesign
A major update for the Analytics Android app was released last month, complete with Google's updated Material Theme and other interface changes. Now another update has been released, allowing you to finally access App+Web and Firebase properties on the go, in addition to data from regular websites.
The Galaxy Z Flip hasn't enjoyed the same success as Samsung's other 2020 flagship phones, largely due to its high price and niche form factor, but it's definitely not being ignored by the company. In fact, the original LTE version (not the newer 5G variant) is now receiving the One UI 2.5 update alongside Samsung's other phones.
Google Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G appear in new leak with alleged specs
Big batteries, fingerprint sensors, and up to 8GB RAM
The Google Pixel 4a was just released, and even though this year's other Pixel phones are only a few months away, there still isn't much public information about them. Google teased both phones on the Pixel 4a's release day, but now we have alleged real-life photos and specifications for the devices.
Civilization VI is my new favorite Android game, despite its flaws
The full Civilization experience in your pocket
Not long ago, 2K Games and Aspyr Media released a full port of Civilization VI for Android. While it took over two years longer to arrive than the iOS port, it was definitely worth the wait. Not only is Civ VI for Android fully functional, it's a rare PC to smartphone port that really, really works. And it's now one of my favorite smartphone games.
This smartphone has physical kill switches for its cameras, microphone, data, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi
And it runs Linux
Modern smartphones can feel like technological black boxes. The mobile operating systems that power them have become incredibly complex, with often hundreds or possible even thousands of various functions that can trigger things like your GPS, cellular modem, or Bluetooth radio. Even when you tell your phone to turn off certain things, like Wi-Fi, our phones don't always do as they're told. But it doesn't have to be that way, provided you're willing to dive very, very deep into the Linux end of the smartphone pool. The PinePhone is one of the few mobile devices with hardware kill switches for common features, giving you full control over your smartphone.
Samsung just released the Galaxy Note20 series, and it might be the most polarizing Note lineup yet. The Note20 Ultra is undoubtedly an excellent phone, but it’s incredibly overpriced at $1,299, and the base Note20 is missing a few important features (even compared to the S20 series). Samsung’s overlapping product lineups can make it difficult to determine which exact model is best for you, but that’s what we’re here for.In this article, we’ll go over the differences between the regular Galaxy Note20 and the most popular option in Samsung’s mainstream lineup, the $1,200 Galaxy S20+. They may be (roughly) the same physical size and share many of the same features, but there some subtle differences you should be aware of.
Plenty of prepaid carriers in the United States already support 5G connectivity, like Metro by T-Mobile, US Mobile, and AT&T Prepaid, but the AT&T-owned Cricket Wireless hasn't made the leap yet. That's finally changing, as Cricket today announced that it is enabling 5G support on some of its plans.
Amazon's Fire tablets rarely receive major OS updates, mostly because they are sold as simple media consumption devices, and Netflix or TikTok doesn't need Android 10 to function. However, the company has now surpassed everyone's low expectations by delivering Android 9 Pie to two of its older tablets.Amazon has now released Fire OS 7 for two of its older tablets, the Fire HD 8 2018 (8th Gen) and Fire 7 2019 (9th Gen). That's the same operating system that ships on the company's newest Fire HD 8 and 10, which uses Android 9 Pie as a base instead of Android 7.1 Nougat. That means you get Picture-in-Picture support for video, notification channels, more specific app permissions, improved battery life, and more.Most importantly, this doesn't appear to be a simple visual upgrade, like the Fire OS 6 update for the company's 2017 tablets was. Amazon didn't respond to our request for information on the updates, but we've installed the update on a Fire HD 8, and it is definitely based on Android 9 Pie.
Battle of the budget phones: Google Pixel 4a vs Samsung Galaxy A51
Two sub-$400 phones enter, only one leaves
The budget smartphone market in the United States is typically underwhelming, but 2020 has turned it (among many other things) upside down. Samsung released the Galaxy A51 earlier this year, packing decent hardware and a massive screen into a sub-$400 phone, and Google just started selling its best budget phone yet.There are plenty of options for a budget Android phone this year, but for this article, we'll be pitting the ~$400 Galaxy A51 and the $350 Pixel 4a against each other. Which phone is the best bang for your buck? Which offers the best software experience? We'll evaluate both devices and give you the pros and cons of each.