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Motorola briefly posted a tweet shortly ago that included a September 3rd release date for the new Moto X Pure in the US. It took the tweet down, and it's not clear why. It doesn't matter, though. The secret is out.
Most developers run regular beta tests via the Play Store, but not eBay. Oh no. The most recent eBay v4.0 beta is closed, and even the APK needs an authorized login to work. Luckily, there's a form you can fill out to get access.
You don't hear a lot about Google Creative Lab, but it's had a hand in some of Google's most memorable ads and products. Google's Creative Lab is an outfit that basically comes up with (presumably) innovative ideas the promote the Google brand. Along the way, they've also made a few apps. Today there are three new apps from the Creative Lab, all of which are appropriately offbeat.
Lenovo already has cell phone legend Motorola under its umbrella, but the company has also started a new Chinese brand called ZUK. This firm is intended to compete with the budget offerings of Xiaomi, Huawei, and others. Its first phone looks like a good start too. The Z1 has a massive battery and a USB 3.0 Type-C port.
Most remote access apps just beam your computer's screen to the phone, but Parallels does a bit more. It has a handy app launcher and full-screen rendering of desktop apps. It's not free, but maybe the latest update will entice you to pony up some cash.
You can't deny that Pushbullet is insanely useful, and it gets more so with each update. However, Pushbullet does see a lot of your data in plain text, and there's been growing demand for better security. As of today, Pushbullet supports end-to-end encryption for SMS, notification mirroring, and universal copy-paste.
According to a report from 9to5Google, an affiliate program for the Play Store is in the works that would allow individuals and companies to earn money by directing people to content in Google's ecosystem. This would start with music and movies, but could expand to cover just about everything that Google sells.
The current Humble Bundle is halfway through its run, and that means it's time for more games to be added. Although, this time it's just one game, Chainsaw Warrior. Don't be bummed, though. There were already nine games in the bundle before.
The OnePlus 2 announcement hasn't gone particularly smoothly for the Chinese company thanks to a handful of missing features, but OnePlus has still managed to attract a huge number of people to the invite waiting list. Now there's going to be a little more waiting completely separate from the invites. OnePlus has announced via its forums that North American shipments of the OnePlus 2 are delayed by 2-3 weeks.
The Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 has been a popular mid-range phone since it came out a few months ago, and now the company is making good on its promise to sell a smaller version as well. The 4.7-inch Idol 3 doesn't have the same specs as its bigger brother, but it's also much cheaper. You can pick one up from Alcatel's site this Friday too.
Qualcomm's high-end processors aren't exactly without their flaws right now, but the mid-range and entry level chips from the company are still seen as the best bang for the buck. The most popular budget SoCs from Qualcomm have gotten a little spec bump, but the company didn't think that was worth even a proper press release. No matter, we've got the details on the Snapdragon 212, 412, and 616.
SanDisk is rolling out new Ultra series microSD cards, and the pricing is pretty fantastic. The sweet spot is a new $59.99 128GB option, but the smaller cards are selling for good prices right now too. If you've got a card slot and need a lot of storage, this is kind of a no-brainer.The pricing is as follows.
Say goodbye to the era of the $200 on-contract smartphone. Verizon has just announced a new plan structure, and part of the change is an end to phone subsidies. From now on, you'll purchase phones from Verizon on a payment plan or at full price. The new plans aren't substantially cheaper, but they are a bit more straightforward.
Motorola just "gets" Android. Rather than cover Android with a custom interface and countless add-ons, it has developed a handful of really focused, useful features for its devices. One of these features is Moto Assist, and an update to the Moto app in the Play Store has made it even better with the addition of location triggers.
Microsoft continues to branch out to other platforms beyond its own Windows ecosystem. The latest app from Redmond to land on Android is Microsoft Translator. Not only can you talk to the phone to get translations, it has support for Android Wear as well.
HBO Now finally came to Android recently after a few months of Apple exclusivity, but it lacked Chromecast support. That's not a problem anymore as of the new v1.1 update. HBO Now can beam video direct to the Chromecast, and there are a few other tweaks too.
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The once proud Tomb Raider franchise has been somewhat exploited in recent years with releases like Lara Croft Relic Run. There's the classic Tomb Raider game on Android now, but in the near future you might have another option for not-terrible Tomb Raider gaming with Lara Croft GO.
You are probably familiar with the issues surrounding the Snapdragon 810 by now, but a new chip is right around the corner that could get Qualcomm back on track. I speak of course of the fabled Snapdragon 820 (MSM8996). Details of this chip have allegedly been leaked in China, and while we can't know for sure that they're accurate, the slides sure look legit.
Amazon has the market cornered when it comes to some services, but general consumer cloud storage is not one of them. The retailer is trying, though. The Cloud Drive app arrived in June and it's getting a big update today with some essential file management options.