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Like the Nexus 6, the Nexus 9 LTE didn't receive Nougat when most other Google devices did; however, since the Nexus 9 LTE sold significantly fewer units than the Nexus 6, there wasn't much outcry. Not too long after that, Google told us that updates for both devices would be arriving "in the coming weeks." Two days ago, the Nexus 6 finally got the update to Android 7.0 Nougat, and now, the LTE-equipped Nexus 9 is also receiving it.
Yesterday was a frenzy-filled day, what with the new Pixel phones, Google Home, and more being announced; however, not every day can be as exciting. Today, Google's Opinion Rewards application for Android has been updated with a new icon, a blue color scheme, and a new notification icon. Fun stuff.
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- The listings are now live; however, it appears that Best Buy is only selling the 32GB models, and the Really Blue option isn't available. In addition, the store has renamed Quite Black to Slate, and Very Silver to Silver.
The Pixels were announced today, and there's no other way to put it - they're pretty expensive. The line starts at $649.99 for the smaller, 32GB Pixel and maxes out at $869.99 for the 128GB XL. That's iPhone-esque pricing (the devices literally cost exactly the same as comparable iPhone 7s do). However, if you're a Verizon customer, you have an option to ease the pain; Best Buy is offering customers who pre-order and activate the Pixel and Pixel XL a $100 gift card and a free Chromecast.
If you're a tech enthusiast (hint: you probably are if you're reading this site), I can personally guarantee that you either love HBO's Silicon Valley already or will love it when you watch it. Evidently, the peeps at Google had the same thought as me, given that they worked together with two of the show's actors to produce this little short that they played at the start of the event.
Android 7.1 Nougat was unveiled earlier today alongside the Pixel and Pixel XL, but there's still a fair bit we don't know about it. Now, thanks to a source from Google, we've got a list of both Pixel-exclusive and non-exclusive changes. (It's unclear which category the Pixel C falls under.)
For those of you who were worried about Google's current Android devices not receiving Android 7.1 Nougat, don't be; Google has confirmed that the Pixel phones' current software version will be arriving on Nexus devices and the Pixel C before the end of the year. However, these devices won't be receiving some Pixel-exclusive (Pixelsclusive?) features.
In recent years, WiFi calling has become increasingly prevalent on various carriers and devices; the recently-announced Pixel and Pixel XL back up this fact. Google has confirmed that the Pixel smartphones will support WiFi calling for both T-Mobile and Verizon upon launch.
Thought that Verizon was warming up to the idea of less carrier intrusion because there aren't any obnoxious Verizon logos on the device? Well, you thought wrong. Just minutes before the event, @evleaks tweeted that the Verizon Pixels' bootloaders would not be able to be unlocked; that information has now been affirmed by a Google representative at the San Francisco event.
Considering the Pixel's score of 89 by DxOMark, Google is clearly pushing the camera as a major selling point. However, contrary to what was rumored and what was stated on Carphone Warehouse's spec sheets, Google's latest phones, the Pixel and Pixel XL, do not have optical image stabilization (OIS) built into their main cameras.
Well, it's official - Verizon is the only carrier in the United States that will be carrying the Pixel phones. If the rumors from two months ago didn't convince you, the leak from late last night surely did. Verizon will also give free Daydream View VR headsets to Pixel buyers.
Apparently, Google couldn't wait a few more hours for their own event (9am PDT in California, by the way) and decided to leak their own phones via an advertisement in Canada. The ad is a minute long and doesn't show us much that we didn't know, save for an interesting URL at the end.
We know, we know, there are only a few more hours until the Google event, but details about the Pixel phones just keep on spilling. Our latest peeks come courtesy of Verizon Enterprises, which, as you can probably tell from the name, sells smartphones and plans to businesses, and prolific tech leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks). On Verizon's site, both Pixel and Pixel XL listings showed up on the "SmartPhones" page, but they didn't lead to any live listings; however, there's still some info we've gleaned.
As you probably already know, the Galaxy Note7 hasn't exactly had a great launch, thanks to its tendency to explode. As a result, Samsung was forced to quickly redesign and produce millions of Note7s to send to owners with affected models. The Korean company prioritized replacements for owners with defective Note7s, and new sales were reported to restart on October 21st. However, things are moving more quickly than that; T-Mobile will resume sales on October 5th.
Ever since the Nougat update officially debuted for the Nexus 5X, Nexus 9 WiFi, and several other Google devices, Nexus 6 owners have been left hung out to dry with their mere Android N Developer Previews. A short while after that, Google informed us that the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 LTE Nougat updates would be rolling out "in the coming weeks." Well, it's been three weeks since that statement, and Android 7.0 Nougat is finally rolling out to Nexus 6 owners.
It's been a while since we covered specific features of Android 7.0, and it turns out there are a few new-to-Nougat features that people are forgetting about. One of those features is the ability to pin apps in the share menu; even the big boss Artem forgot about this one. If you share things frequently and only use a few options, this could come in handy.
Sony Mobile, despite its lackluster presence here for the past few years, is gradually re-entering the US market. The Japanese company's latest flagship, the Xperia XZ, went up for pre-order a little over a week ago, and it's now available for purchase. Unfortunately, at $700, I don't see the XZ helping Sony's dwindling smartphone business much.For your seven Benjamins, you'll get a handsome metal build, a Gorilla Glass 4-covered 5.2" 1080p display, a Snapdragon 820, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage with microSD expansion, a 23MP camera, USB Type-C, and IP65/68 water resistance. However, there's no fingerprint sensor on the US model, which is a big no-no for a late 2016 flagship.Oddly, the Forest Blue color that showed up during the pre-order phase is no longer available on Amazon. B&H, which still has the XZ in pre-order phase, still lists blue as being available. Maybe Sony decided to ax that option for us 'Muricans? That leaves Graphite Black and Platinum (Sony's naming, not mine), both of which still look pretty decent.As of the writing of this article, Amazon has 20 black and 6 silver XZs in stock. Is this because people are grabbing them up, or because Sony, knowing the phone wouldn't sell well, only allotted a few units? We may never know.Source: Amazon
It may have taken an extraordinarily long time, but OnePlus is finally sending out stable Marshmallow OTAs to the OnePlus X, the company's budget phone, in the form of OxygenOS 3.1.2 (and now 3.1.3). Although OnePlus did begin offering Marshmallow in the form of the OxygenOS 3.1.0 Community Build over a month ago, it had a few bugs that needed to be weeded out. At last, 6.0.1 is ready for prime time on the X.
Although the HTC 10 is quite a nice flagship, many laughed at the Taiwanese company for pricing it at $699. However, HTC's website is now offering the 10 in any carrier model and any color for $549. That's $150 off MSRP, and it makes the 10 a much more compelling buy.
Almost every Android flagship these days has a microSD slot (we're looking at you, Google), which means that for most people, storage is easily expandable. Not only are microSD cards simple to use, they're also getting more and more inexpensive. Case in point: this 128GB Samsung EVO microSD card retailed for $109.99 less than two years ago, and now you can pick one up for just $33 on Amazon.You could make the argument that microSD cards are less useful than they once were thanks to free services like Google Photos, but what if you live in an area with terrible mobile data and/or WiFi? What if you want to preserve the quality of high-resolution photos or 4K video? And with a whole 128 gigabytes, you'll be able to store around six hours of that lovely 4K video (48MB/s should be able to handle it on a mobile device).
If you're a student, you've probably used Google to look up information about colleges and universities. You've also likely noticed that most, if not all, schools have their own personalized cards with figures such as acceptance rate, tuition, total enrollment, and endowment. Now, Google is partnering with the US Department of Education to integrate statistics from the College Scorecard into Google Search.