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Updates are still a huge pain point for many Android OEMs, but Google's usually been okay with them. Historically, devices with the Nexus nameplate have received around two years' worth of updates; for instance, the LG-made Nexus 5, which was released in late 2013, is stuck (officially) on Marshmallow, which was released in late 2015. That trend seems to be continuing with the Pixel phones.
Android Pay now supports a ton of banks and credit unions, but most of them are small, local ones. That's not changing with these latest additions; I don't recognize a single name here. Hopefully, those of you who use smaller banks will have better luck.
The Android 7.1 Nougat Developer Preview 1 just came out for the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, and Pixel C, and we're already seeing quite a few improvements over 7.0 Nougat. Some of the most noticeable changes are in the notification panel; not only are there now six mini Quick Settings toggles, but Settings is easier to get to.
Google's Pixel smartphones have just begun shipping in most countries (some lucky Aussies got them last week), but Verizon, a carrier notorious for slow updates, will be pushing an update with build number NDE63P out to their Pixels tomorrow. Impressive.
The Android Pay landing site (android.com/pay) has just been revamped with some more eye-catching elements. I haven't heard anybody complain that Android Pay's landing site is too drab, but this new site definitely looks quite a bit nicer. (You can check out the old one here.)
The V20's a nice phone, but its 5.7-inch screen, combined with the secondary display up top, can make it a bit unwieldy to hold for those of you with smaller hands. Well, LG's got a solution for you - the oddly-named isai Beat (LGV34), a phone with most of the V20's features, a 5.2-inch display, and water resistance. However, if you don't live in Japan, you might have a hard time getting your hands on one of these.
The Pixel's review embargo just lifted earlier today, and reviewers have been very impressed with both the speed of the phone's 12.3MP shooter and the quality that its images capture. In his review of the Pixel, David said it has "the best smartphone camera on the market." Marc Levoy, the lead of a computational photography team at Google Research, discussed with The Verge just how much the software assists in making the Pixel's camera so damn good.
Qualcomm, one of the world's most renowned mobile chipset manufacturers, has just announced three new chipsets in its Snapdragon 600 and 400 tiers: the 653, 626, and 427. Sure, these aren't as exciting as a flagship 830 would be, but the mid-range market is huge for Qualcomm. The San Diego-based company has actually made some fairly interesting improvements with these new pieces of silicon.
Car chargers have been available for years now, but most take excruciatingly long to fill phone batteries to 100%. However, if you've got $15 to spare, you can now grab an Aukey car charger with two USB ports, both of which are equipped with Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 technology. (And just look at those orange accents!)As someone who uses a car charger with Quick Charge 2.0, I can personally vouch for the usefulness of these things. Even if you've got Google Maps navigation and Bluetooth streaming on, a fast car charger will keep your phone's battery topped up without an issue. Don't have a Quick Charge 3.0-equipped device? Don't worry, your phone will still charge much more rapidly than it would with a run-of-the-mill car charger; even devices without any sort of quick charge solution on board will charge at a decent 2A.If you'd like to snag one of these for $14.99, just use offer code QC3AUCAR at checkout. That code will shave $5 off the already-decent $19.99 price tag. Amazon Prime subscribers will also get free two-day shipping.Hit the source link below to see the listing. Happy charging!Source: Amazon
Samsung India is offering Galaxy Note7 pre-orderers some nice freebies with S7 and S7 edge purchases
While carriers in the United States and other countries have been dealing with returns and refunds of the now-discontinued Galaxy Note7, customers in India haven't had much to deal with, largely because their Note7 pre-orders hadn't even shipped. Now, to thank those who waited all this time for their pre-ordered Note7s, Samsung India has churned up a pretty sweet offer to customers who choose to grab a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge instead.
The Galaxy Note7 has been an absolute disaster for Samsung; although it was an excellent smartphone, its tendency to catch fire pretty much negates all of the praise that was heaped onto it. Case in point: Samsung's now estimating that the Note7's recalls and subsequent cancellation will cost them about $3.1 billion over the next two fiscal quarters.
The first-generation Galaxy Tab S hails from a time when Samsung was still using swipe-based fingerprint scanners - yeah, it's that old. Just look at that stock wallpaper; Galaxy S5 flashbacks, anyone? Around three weeks ago, Verizon updated its 10.5" Tab S to Marshmallow, and now AT&T is doing the same. The Death Star is also throwing in support for NumberSync.
Google is no stranger to testing changes server-side before releasing them for public consumption; in fact, we reported on them testing multiple Play Store UI tweaks at the same time just a few days ago. For several weeks, we've been getting tips about this new extension for the Google search widget, but it seems to be rolling out more widely now.
The Moto 360 Sport is a strange product; while it sounds like a good smartwatch on paper, its price just keeps on plummeting. Just three days ago, we put out a [Deal Alert] for this watch at a price point of $140, but it's now dropped another $15 to $125. This time around, it's being sold by an eBay seller with 97.9% feedback on over 130k ratings.
Even though it's over a year old now, the second-gen Moto 360 is still a competitive Android Wear smartwatch, especially since Moto announced it won't be releasing any new smartwatches this year. We've seen a few deals for various models of the 360 in the past few weeks, but none that were new in box have been this cheap before. Now, you can get a new, 42mm Moto 360 2nd Gen in black for just $199.99 on Amazon.In case you've forgotten, this Moto 360 packs a 1.37-inch 325p display (with a flat tire), a Snapdragon 400, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, and IP67 water resistance. It's also equipped with Qi wireless charging, which is a lot better than the Huawei Watch's charging cradle (man, I hate that thing).This deal only applies to the smaller Moto 360 with the basic black body and black leather band combination, so if you want a metal band, you'll have to put one on yourself. Since the watch is shipped and sold by Amazon, you'll get free 2-day shipping if you're a Prime member. We don't know how long this deal will last for, so if you're interested, you may want to jump on it. Check the source link for the listing.Source: Amazon
It's no secret that BlackBerry isn't doing so well these days - the PRIV hasn't sold very well due to its high price point, and the DTEK50 is simply a more expensive, rebadged Alcatel Idol 4 with some BlackBerry software. Though the DTEK60 is also based on an (unreleased) Alcatel/TCL device, it seems like a pretty compelling offering.
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- USB Type-C guru Benson Leung has informed us that the Pixel phones don't work with the adapter because they lack VESA DisplayPort Alternate Mode that is on the Pixel C and Chromebook Pixel, which means that they aren't compatible with any adapters of this sort.
Even in a world with Chromecasts and other streaming devices, it's often just easier to plug your phone directly into your TV with an HDMI cable and an adapter. Some people depend on this functionality quite a bit, and for those of you that do, it might not please you to hear that Google's Pixel smartphones will not support the company's own USB Type-C to HDMI adapter.
The Play Store, like many other Google apps, is no stranger to server-side UI updates; however, it's pretty rare for Google to be testing multiple changes at once. Currently, Google is not only testing a renamed Entertainment section, but also a different look for the carousel, the removal of the search bar, and a new Google Play Store banner.
It's been a terrible year for Samsung's Galaxy Note line - ironic, considering how widely praised the Note7 has been. It's bad enough that around a hundred units of the phablet have caught on fire and nearly all of them were recalled, but the fact that a revised unit managed to make flames on an airplane made the whole situation even worse. Now, following all four major US carriers' promises to allow customers to swap their Note7s for any other phone they carry, there have been reports that AT&T wants to cancel sales of the flagship.
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- The Verge reports Verizon and T-Mobile are also now allowing customers to exchange their "safe" Note7 replacement devices. That means all four major carriers have elected to do so.
The Galaxy Note7's tendency to explode and its subsequent recall have been well-publicized, but it appears that the issue wasn't completely fixed. Following the explosion of a revised Galaxy Note7 on a (not yet in the air) Southwest Airlines flight, American carriers AT&T and Sprint are permitting any concerned customers to exchange their 'safe' replacement Galaxy Note7s for any other smartphones they have available.