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For T-Mobile customers who have been patiently waiting for the Nougat update to come to their Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 edge, that light at the end of the tunnel is fast approaching. The carrier's gadget guy, Des, announced on Twitter that Android 7.0 will be rolling out to both devices in the coming days.
Samsung's entry in the home automation, monitoring and security space is SmartThings. It consists of a connected hub (that you can pick up for around a 0 at present) and various additional sensors and accessories you can hook up to it, depending on your needs. It's all controlled by the SmartThings Mobile app, which has mostly mixed reviews on the Play Store but is now getting what appears to be a significant update.Chief among the changes in version 2.4.0 is a brand new dashboard. Commendably, it seems Samsung consulted heavily with the user community to source ideas for improvements to the dashboard specifically, so this will hopefully have led to a much better experience. As well as the UI changes, we're also treated to tablet compatibility for the first time, handy for anyone who uses one about the house and doesn't want to keep getting their phone out to change the temperature, for example.
Favorite things and routines can also be added to your dashboard, which should make for fewer taps and faster navigation all round. You can see the full changelog provided by Samsung below:
Ever wanted to hang out with friends and watch some silly YouTube videos without actually having to hang out with friends watching silly YouTube videos? Well, you're in luck, as Yahoo-owned Tumblr has just released Cabana for Android. First launched on iOS in April, the app allows you to video call your mates and watch the same videos together at the same time.
While Microsoft is undoubtedly better known for its productivity suite, the remit of in-house development studio The Garage is is a little broader and more playful. Not unlike the "20% time" projects at Google, Microsoft Garage is responsible for experiments that may or may not end up becoming fully-fledged products. The latest to see a full release after a few years of testing is Face Swap, an app that will automatically swap your face into any scene.
Spigen accuses Andy Rubin's company Essential Products of trademark infringement, Essential responds with 🖕(ಠ_ಠ)🖕
Spigen accuses Andy Rubin's company Essential Products of trademark infringement, Essential responds with 🖕(ಠ_ಠ)🖕
Andy Rubin has only just announced his much-anticipated new smartphone, but his company may already be in legal hot water over the infringement of intellectual property. It's been brought to our attention that Spigen, the US case and accessory maker, already has a trademark for the term "Essential" and has written to Rubin's organization to contest its use. The letter firmly compels Rubin's fledgling company to "cease and desist from any and all uses of marks including the term "Essential"."
Major League Baseball (MLB) is no stranger to VR experiences. Now, in what it's calling the "first-ever complete live-game virtual-reality sports experience," you can stream live games through Daydream with the new At Bat VR app. The app aims to combine the experience of watching live on MLB TV while keeping an eye on stats through Gameday on a phone, tablet or laptop.
As early as October 2014, Sony began beta testing the Xperia Home app, a special launcher exclusive to the company's high-end smartphone devices. In what must be one of the longest beta tests in history, the app still hasn't seen a final version. Until now, it was only possible to get the app from Sony in the Google+ community or sideload it from somewhere like APKMirror. It's still in beta, but Sony is finally making it available to download through the Play Store.
After what was a pretty slow start, support for new regions by Android Pay is starting to gather pace. A couple of weeks ago, Google pointed to the next 5 countries on the list. After the recent launches in Canada and Russia, Taiwan has now reached the front of the checkout queue – Android Pay is available in the country from today.
Home security has become incredibly popular in recent years. As competition increases and prices come down, it's never been more affordable to set up your own system. One such option comes from Canary, an all-in-one camera and home health tracker you can pick up for as little as 0. We reviewed it last year, and since then it's added support for Android Wear and tablets. Canary has just updated its Android app to version 2.5.0, introducing image masking which should reduce unnecessary notifications.The new masking feature allows you to filter out motion activity in your home that occurs naturally and shouldn't arouse suspicion – things like TVs, windows, or even pets. Once you've set up a mask to exclude sections of the image, the device will no longer record movement in that area or trigger notifications. This should lead to fewer false alarms. Canary has created a handy video to explain the new feature, which you can check out below.[EMBED_YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiDxYvi0LDU[/EMBED_YT]Aside from masking there's one other addition of note. It's now possible to delete locations with no devices from within the app. Previously this was only possible on the website, so now it's that little bit easier. The update also includes the customary bug fixes and stability improvements, as you would expect.In a blog post announcing the new update, Canary also takes some time to outline the various notification controls. It's possible some users have suffered from an overabundance of alerts and the company felt the need to clarify a few things. A combination of the new masking features and a check of the notifications settings should have things running smoothly.The update is available now from the Play Store, see the link below.[EMBED_APP]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=is.yranac.canary[/EMBED_APP]Source: Canary
It's hard to believe, but Google's Street View is officially 10 years old. What started out as a goofy little side project (like many of Google's most interesting products) has now managed to image numerous countries in every continent on the planet. The Google Maps add-on has even managed to gain a new lease of life with respect to virtual reality, and has proven popular as an educational tool taking learners all around the world on tours to places they might never get to see with their own eyes.
Last summer, Microsoft launched Planner as part of its Office 365 suite of productivity apps for businesses and schools. It could readily be described as a Trello style kanban board with the collaborative functionality of a tool like Basecamp rolled in as well. After the launch of the iOS app last week, Microsoft is now bringing Planner to Android.
Android co-founder Andy Rubin finally unveiled Essential's much-anticipated new phone today, the almost bezel-less PH-1. In an industry besieged by leaks, it's rare for any device to be launched these days without knowing exactly what it'll look like. Not only did Essential manage to keep the PH-1 pretty much a secret, except for the teaser images they released themselves, they also manage to complete conceal the fact that they would be announcing another full-fledged product at the same time. Much to everyone's surprise, we've now been introduced to Essential Home, the company's smart assistant competitor.
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- Andy Rubin was interviewed by Walt Mossberg for Recode as part of Code 2017 yesterday, and he gave us a short demo of the Essential phone plus shared some new details. Skip to around 14:30 in the video to take a look at the PH-1 in the flesh and also see that that nifty 360-camera in action. I must say the way the camera so easily snaps on to the back of the phone using the magnetic connectors is really satisfying.
As early as January, we learned that Android co-founder Andy Rubin's new hardware company was preparing to release a bezel-less smartphone sometime soon, and the anticipation has been building ever since. The new device was further teased with a mostly-concealed image, followed by a Twitter account just a few days ago, through which it was announced that May 30th would be the reveal date. That day has finally come, and it appears to have been well worth the wait as Essential is not only launching the expected phone, the PH-1, but also the world's smallest 360-degree camera attachment and a standalone smart home device.
It's no secret that Google has had some serious supply issues with its flagship Pixel phone. That goes for pretty much any combination of size, color, or storage. Rumors even began to surface alleging that Google had stopped production of the devices altogether. That wasn't the case, but nonetheless, you will still struggle to actually find the Pixel if you wish to buy it. A 32GB Pixel (international version) on eBay for off the list price could be the answer to that problem.
If a developer wants to give some paid content away, usually the best way for them to do this is with a Google Play promo code. This has always been dependent on where you live, as they're supported in some regions but not others. Now, Google has added 8 further countries to the list of those that support the codes. They are as follows: Belgium, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, and South Africa.
Those of you in the UK will probably pass on the deal alerts we cover, as they're usually US specific and don't apply to you. Well, your time has come. We've spotted a brand new, unlocked Moto Z for just £299. That's a whopping £200 off the retail price, and it's offered by John Lewis, too, so you know it's a deal you can trust.
Back in March, Samsung announced the successor to its popular Gear 360 action camera. The GoPro competitor won many fans with its ability to record video in 360 degrees via two fisheye lenses. The 2nd generation version promises more of the same, but with 4K video recording plus a smaller, lighter frame. Samsung has now released the device in the US and it's available for $229.The original Gear 360 was hamstrung somewhat by the fact that it could only be used in conjunction with a Samsung Galaxy phone, and this new model seems to carry mostly the same limitations. Curiously, the camera will be compatible with some iOS devices, but it still won't work with any other Android phones. The new companion app surfaced last month, for anyone who wants to download it in advance. It will allow you to operate the camera remotely, as well as edit and share the videos it creates.Samsung also brought attention to an interesting deal for Galaxy S8 and S8+ owners. Anyone who purchased either phone between May 25 and June 19 will be able to grab a new Gear 360 for a special price of $49. Considering the list price of $229, that's an impressive $180 saving. It will be a limited time offer while stocks last so you'll need to get in quick.As of today, you'll be able to pick up the Gear 360 from the following stores and sites: Best Buy and BestBuy.com, Amazon.com, Adorama, B&H, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and U.S. Cellular, Samsung.com and through the ShopSamsung app.[EMBED_YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXAZLLnmF5U[/EMBED_YT]Source: Samsung
Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank, has made no secret of his plans to become "the biggest investor in technology over the next decade". Last year the Japanese corporation acquired ARM Holdings, and it already had a controlling stake in the US carrier Sprint. Son has even set up a special Billion Vision Fund, which aims to raise $100 billion for the purpose of making strategic technology investments. It's now come to light that SoftBank has used some of the capital to amass a roughly $4 billion stake in the chipmaker Nvidia.
After some time spent testing out different bottom navigation styles, the latest incarnation in the Android YouTube app is something very similar to what you'll find in the iOS version. It's still being a/b tested as far as we know, so some users will see it and others won't. It now appears that the YouTube Music app is following suit with a bottom navigation UI of its own.
John Legere has a well-deserved reputation for being an eccentric CEO. After spells at AT&T and Dell, he's now the top dog at America's third largest carrier, T-Mobile. His latest crazy scheme to pull US customers away from other networks is wonderfully simple: His company will pay off your smartphone in its entirety if you switch over from Verizon.