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Starting with the Galaxy S7 series, Samsung began offering gifts to customers who pre-ordered their phones. If you pre-ordered a Galaxy S7 or S7 edge, you got a free Gear VR. The South Korean tech giant offered a similar promotion, arguably even better, for the Galaxy Note7—you could choose to receive either a Gear Fit 2 or a 256GB microSD card. But a number of T-Mobile users are having issues claiming their gifts.
In recent years, people have commonly associated Jaybird with quality; their earbuds are widely considered some of the best available on the market. However, good stuff comes at higher prices—or so we thought. Now, as part of Best Buy's 50-year anniversary sale, you can pick the Jaybird X2 earbuds up for just .99.Last time AP reported on a Jaybird X2 deal, the price was $79.99, and you had to be an Amazon Prime member to get them at that price. This time around, anyone can drive straight to Best Buy (or order them online, whatever floats your boat) and pick them up.Jaybird's X2 originally retailed for $149.99. Despite having a light, secure design, they offer eight hours of battery life, a mic, and media buttons. They come in Midnight (black), Storm (white), Fire (red), Alpha (camo green), Charge (a greenish-yellow?), and Ice (teal). Unfortunately, if you really wanted one of those last two colors, Best Buy is listing them as out of stock.Amazon currently has the X2 listed at anywhere from $114 to $150, depending on color; Best Buy's $69.99 price is around half that and is almost a steal. If you want a pair for yourself, this deal will end on Saturday (8/20) at 11:59 PM CST/12:59 AM EST/9:59 PM PST.Source: Best Buy
Just two days after it first began to roll out, Google's Duo has already become the number one free app in the Play Store. The video chatting app, which received an icon redesign just before it went live, has proven to be extremely popular with Android users. In addition, it is now possible to use Duo in any country (well, any country that Google provides its services to).
If you have a phone that isn't so fortunate to have been blessed with a microSD slot (*ahem*, Nexus owners) or just want to be able to access your files from multiple devices at the same time, the SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick is a good option. As part of Amazon's Deal of the Day, you'll be able to snag a 128GB model for .79 and a 200GB model for .99. They usually go for around $70 and $100 on Amazon, respectively.Flash drives like the SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick are able to produce and share files through a Wi-Fi network they create. You will have to use the SanDisk Connect Drive app to access the files, though. The stick will allow you to share files to three devices simultaneously through Wi-Fi, or you can use it as a normal USB flash drive.SanDisk also touts the ability to automatically back up your photos and videos to the Connect Wireless Stick when connected, which could come in handy if you don't have any data or Wi-Fi to back them up through Google Photos.If you're interested, you'll need to have an Android device running 4.2 Jellybean or higher. The stick will also work with iOS 8+, Windows Vista+, and macOS 10.6+. You'll need to hurry; as of this article's publishing, there are 8.5 hours remaining on the deal.Source: Amazon
iFixit's been providing smartphone teardowns for a while, and now they've got one of Samsung's latest and greatest for us to look at. Considering the Galaxy Note7 is a water-resistant phone with curved glass on both sides, it's not unreasonable to think that it would fare poorly. That being said, it does do marginally better than the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge did.
If you're looking for a current flagship, desire a smaller phone, and don't want to spend an astronomical amount of moola, the Galaxy S7's a pretty decent choice. It may not be the top dog in Samsung's lineup, but it's equipped with a fantastic camera, a beautiful display, and water resistance. Now, you can pick one up for a penny under $430 from an eBay seller with 98.8% feedback spread over nearly 116k ratings.
Android Pay has been gaining support for a ton of banks and credit unions lately, and 44 more have just been added. Most of these banks and credit unions are local ones most of us haven't ever heard of, but hey, maybe your local bank is included. No, Chase isn't on here; I double-checked. There are a few Australian banks and credit unions on here as well.
Like most of you, I'd forgotten that the One (E8) even existed before today. In case you need a quick refresher, the One (E8) is pretty much a plastic-bodied, 16GB One (M8) that trades the M8's 4MP rear camera for a 13MP unit. It debuted on Sprint around two years ago, sporting the then-current Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Now, it's upgradable to 6.0 Marshmallow.
YouTube Red, Google's premium video service, can now be subscribed to by our friends in Mexico. Prior to today, YouTube Red was only available in Australia, New Zealand, and obviously the US. With the addition of Mexico, Red is now purchasable in a whopping four countries.
For those Barnes & Noble customers who thought the Galaxy Tab S2 NOOK 8" and the Galaxy Tab E NOOK 9.6" were too large or too expensive, there's now a smaller, cheaper Samsung NOOK tablet - the Galaxy Tab A NOOK 7".
Although the Honor 8 was revealed more than a month ago in China, it's just now been introduced to the US. Honor is calling this its first flagship for America, so it had better impress. The company is specifically toting the 8's 12MP dual camera system (no Leica branding?), the snappy fingerprint sensor, and the performance.
Before today, only Google devices, the Sony Xperia Z3, and the Sony Xperia X Performance had Android 7.0 previews built for them. Now, another Android has joined the Nougat ranks—the LG G5. Whether you like the G5 or not (David sure didn't), it's getting a Nougat preview right now, albeit with more than a few catches.
Google Photos' advertising team has been on fire lately. First, there was that ad about how you won't miss important moments with Photos' "Free up space" feature. Then, there was the one about how even if you jump into a pool, your photos will be safe thanks to auto backup. Now, there's one called "Photos. For Life." that talks about the features the previous two discussed, and more.
It's been reported that this year's Nexus devices will be built by HTC for quite a while now. We've had recreations, we've had photos, and now we've got FCC certifications. These applications were granted earlier today for both Sailfish and Marlin.
About a week ago, Google released an advertisement about how Google Photos would prevent us from missing the important moments with its "Free up space" feature. The commercial was a big hit - it had to be, considering it was played before videos on YouTube and it aired during the Olympics. For some extra Photos publicity, Google's official Instagram page also released a short video with a generic slab of a phone (with an iOS prompt, mind you) that some crazies thought was an unreleased HTC Nexus. Now, Google has released another ad for Google Photos.
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Evan Blass (@evleaks), who was supposed to have retired a little over two years ago, is still one of the best in the leaking game. His latest reveals, the HTC Desire 10 Lifestyle and Desire 10 Pro, are a bit strange in that while the Pro model is pictured, it's the Lifestyle model that is detailed thoroughly. Blass says that his source is someone who was briefed on HTC's plans, so the information should be fairly reliable.
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- Samsung has sent another invite for another event in Berlin, this time confirming the Gear S3's announcement. The presentation is set to take place at the Tempodrom in Berlin, on the 31st of August at 6pm CET, so less than a day before the official IFA press conference. We'll have to wait to see if both conferences will announce the same thing or if there'll be different products on show.
For the past two years, Samsung has unveiled its Tizen-powered Gear smartwatches at IFA Berlin; the Gear S was shown off for the first time at IFA 2014, and the Gear S2 and S2 Classic were released at IFA 2015. Judging from the watch hands on the press invite the company sent us, it intends to continue this trend.
Many were surprised when Sony began offering an Android N Developer Preview build for the Xperia Z3. Nobody expected a two-generation old Sony flagship to join a beta program that only Google devices were included in. Sony is now following up by offering up an Android N beta build for the Xperia X Performance, a phone that we didn't especially like.The beta, which Sony is calling the Xperia Beta Program, is currently only available to Xperia X Performance users in European countries (specifically Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands). Sony has not commented on whether it plans to expand the beta's reach.If you're in one of the countries above and you'd like to try out Android 7.0 Nougat on your Xperia X Performance, you'll have to download the Xperia Beta Program app on the Google Play Store. You should also act quickly, as availability is limited.The Sony Xperia X Performance is Sony's latest flagship. It's equipped with a 5-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 820, 3GB of RAM, a 23MP camera, and dual front-facing speakers. In the US, the phone originally launched with a monstrous $699 price tag, but Best Buy, B&H, and Amazon have all lowered their prices to $649.Via: XperiaBlog
Google's TalkBack is something many of us have no use for, but it can be a critical tool for those who do need it. Google first released TalkBack 5.0.2 back in June with Android N Developer Preview 4, but it wasn't covered by AP. That version brought a new, more Material icon, and a menu for Text-to-speech settings. 5.0.4 is the first version available for non-N Preview devices that brings the new icon, Text-to-speech menu, and one new change.