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- Fifth Third Bank also officially announced Android Pay support today (January 11th, 2017). We've added it to the list below, now comprised of 46 banks.
Just a year ago it was rare to have support for Android Pay at your bank, but things are much better now. It's getting to the point that even small banks have support for Android Pay. Case in point: 45 new banks have been added to the supported list for Android Pay, and you probably haven't heard of most of them.
Google was supposed to release Android Wear 2.0 last fall, but there were... issues. Specifically, feedback for the developer preview was quite negative. Google decided to reassess and pushed the release to early 2017. After a few more dev previews, here we are. Google has notified developers that Wear 2.0 is coming in a few weeks, so they had better get their apps ready.
Google finally brought Gboard to Android last month after releasing it on iOS a while back. Of course, it was technically an update to Google Keyboard, but it was a significant one. The Gboard transition was not without its problems. An update is rolling out now to address some of the bugs with that first release.
Google got in a habit of dumping all sorts of features and incomplete ideas into Google Now on Tap. With the move away from On Tap, Assistant focused more on voice control and connected services. However, some of the useful features of On Tap were left behind too. In the case of screenshots, it looks like Google is bringing it back in Assistant.
Consumer security cameras have become a huge product category in the last couple year with the likes of Google, FLIR, and Logitech taking a swing at home monitoring. Your options are greatly reduced if you need a camera that operates for long stretches on battery or in the great outdoors. This is something Netgear has attempted to address with its Arlo security cameras. The new Arlo Pro adds a few features to the lineup, bringing it to parity with standard wired cameras. However, the wireless aspect means you'll have to make some compromises.
Today is a big day for Android, nay, for all of us. After nearly seven years, Android 2.2 Froyo has finally dropped off the platform distribution numbers. Our Froyo Deathwatch has ended. That's not all that happened this month, but everything else is fairly routine.
HTC is looking for a hit after the mediocre performance of its 2016 lineup. It scored the contract to manufacture the Pixel, but that doesn't do much to help its flagging brand. The Ocean Note (a code name) looks to be HTC's next attempt to get people interested in its devices again. Photos of the device have leaked (from the depths of Weibo), and it has some traits you'll find very familiar.
So you've got a big wad of dough, but cash is so early 2000s. It's all about digital currency, NFC, and other fancy digital stuff. You could swing by the bank to deposit the cash... or you can dump it right into your PayPal using PayPal Cash. That process just got easier with the addition of 7-Eleven to the list of supported retailers in the latest app update.
Motorola has been doing well in the budget phone arena with its Moto G series, the fourth generation of which just launched last year. These phones are more important than ever now that the Moto X is dead (or on hiatus or whatever), but what does Moto have in store? Well, there's a guy in Romania who appears to have a Moto G5. He's (foolishly) trying to sell it online.
Atlassian and Trello might not be household names, but they're increasingly big players in the tech sector. Trello runs a popular project management platform, and Atlassian makes a variety of business/developement software and services. Now, Atlassian has bought Trello for a healthy $425 million. If you're keeping score, that's 0.425 Instagrams.
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- HTC's own support page for the T-Mobile 10 has been updated with Nougat info as well as the full ~2GB RUU.
While everyone is busy paying attention to the happenings at CES, T-Mobile has dropped a few big OTA updates. Android 7.0 Nougat is coming to the HTC 10 and LG G Pad X 8.0. If you have one of these devices, now is the time to start mashing the update button. Okay, don't actually do that, but an update will arrive soon.
Logitech has been making cameras of the web variety for years, and it recently got into the home security camera market with Logitech Circle. The initial reviews were alright, but Logitech was lacking some important features that other cameras had. I guess it took the criticism to heart because a series of app and firmware updates have added lots of new stuff to the existing hardware. It's actually gotten much more capable, and the pricing remains competitive. Taking another look at Logitech Circle, it's a great option for home video monitoring.
Just yesterday Ford announced that it was planning to bring Alexa support to its cars in the coming months, and now a second auto maker is apparently on-board. Amazon says that Volkswagen has decided to build Alexa into its vehicles and launch a new Alexa skill. There's no information about a timeline or supported models, but it's happening.
As an Android nerd, there are times you probably need ADB or fastboot to mess around with your phone. Maybe you're flashing an OTA or unlocking the bootloader. You used to need to grab a giant package of other junk from Google to get them, but no more! Google has started hosting platform tools downloads without the other stuff that are a mere 3.5MB.
For a while now, Google Calendar has let you add goals so you can keep track of your efforts at self-improvement. One of the most popular uses (especially this time of year) is exercise goals. In the latest version of Calendar, you can plug in Google Fit to automatically complete your goals.
Believe it or not, Polaroid does still exist. The company is no longer the entity it once was, living on now as a shell to license the brand and forge hardware partnerships. Still, Polaroid has something new at CES you might find interesting; a new line of 4K TVs with Google Chromecast built-in. They start at just $499.
Amazon has successfully turned Alexa into a capable home automation and assistant platform, but it's about to branch out from your home. Amazon and Ford are partnering to bring Alexa to the car. Not only can you control your car remotely, you can use Alexa commands while driving it.
The Nextbit Robin came out a little over a year ago, and it was a pretty good phone. It's actually amazing when you consider Nextbit had never made a phone before. It's also an undeniably funky device, so good on them for that. The price has been coming down as it gets older, and now the Robin has reached an all-time low price on Amazon—just $139 with Prime shipping.Both the mint and midnight colorways are included in the sale, but I'm personally partial to mint. This device has a 5.2-inch 1080p LCD, a hexa-core Snapdragon 808, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. There's also a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and front-facing speakers.The Robin runs Android 6.0 out of the box, and Nougat is in testing. Nextbit's claim to fame is a cloud backup system that stores your photos and apps as you run short on space, then restores them automatically. It's not a game changer, but yeah, it works. The current $250 default price is a little high, but $139 is hard to pass up if you're in need of a cheap phone.Source: Robin Mint, Robin Midnight
Asus is announcing two new smartphones at CES, and each of them is notable for different reasons. There's the ZenFone 3 Zoom (left), which as the name implies, has optical zoom. Then there's the ZenFone AR (right), which was leaked by Qualcomm's site a few days ago.
HTC is still looking for a path forward after the poor performance of the HTC 10. It got the nod to manufacture Google's Pixel phones, but that doesn't do anything to rehabilitate its flagging brand. While its flagship play for 2017 is still a mystery, VentureBeat reports that it will launch the HTC One X10 phablet in a few months. It won't be a high-end phone, but maybe this is what the company needs right now.