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Securus Technologies is a Texas-based company, specializing in providing and monitoring calls to prison inmates. Securus came into the spotlight earlier this month, when a former Missouri sheriff was found using the company's service to repeatedly track people without a warrant. The New York Times reports that between 2014 and 2017, former sheriff Cory Hutcheson used the service at least 11 times, allegedly tracking a judge and members of the State Highway Patrol.
Late last month, Essential dropped the price of its flagship (and only) phone from $699 to $499 in the United States. While Essential said it lowered the price in order to help the company break into the smartphone market, it's also very likely that sales have been poor. A drop was also announced for Canada, but the new price wasn't revealed at the time.
It took a few months longer than expected, but the Essential Phone went up for pre-order in the US yesterday. Our friends north of the border didn't have any way to buy the phone at the time, but that changes today. The Essential Phone is now live on the Telus website... and that's all. Telus is the only place you can get the Essential Phone in Canada.
Andy Rubin's startup company, Essential, wants to get the new Essential phone into the hands of as many customers as possible. At least in the US and Canada, that means partnering with carriers. Earlier this week, Sprint announced that it would be the only US carrier to sell the phone. Now it seems Essential has struck a similar deal with Canadian telecom company Telus.
An alarming report was circulating the internet earlier today claiming that Google had stopped production of the Pixel and Pixel XL. Yeah, it didn't make a lot of sense, and indeed it appears to be incorrect. Google has confirmed the Pixel is still in production. You can put your pitchforks down now.
As expected, both the 5-inch Pixel and the 5.5-inch Pixel XL are compatible out of the box with Project Fi, Google's MVNO (it would be news if they weren't). Google also announced just over a dozen of other international partners around the world.
At this point we're just waiting for Google to release Android 7.0 (and the new Nexus devices that come with it) to the masses. The company never gives exact dates for this kind of thing, though a vague "fall" pattern generally leads us to expect new Android hardware and software sometime between August and October. According to the official support forum for Telus, an exclusively Canadian cell carrier, Nougat updates will be coming in less than a week.
Instead of one new Nexus device, this year we're getting two: the Nexus 5x and the Nexus 6p. But as usual, what's perhaps more exciting than the release of a new Nexus device is the software that comes with it. When Google shows off the devices, which we expect to happen on September 29th, they will show off the final version of Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
You've got a new billing option in Google Play if you're a customer of Canadian carrier Telus or O2 in the UK. Fire up the Play Store, and you'll see carrier billing pop up in the checkout screen. Yay, another way to give Google money.
Update: Official press images of the Nexus 5 fresh from Google's own servers have since appeared, confirming that the UI displayed below is legit.
Android 4.3 To Come To The HTC One Developer Edition This Week, Canadian HTC One Before End Of The Month
Android 4.3 To Come To The HTC One Developer Edition This Week, Canadian HTC One Before End Of The Month
According to HTC Americas President Jason Mackenzie, a bunch of HTC One owners across North America will soon receive an update to Android 4.3. He just sent out the following tweet.
Canada is clearly the best country that borders the US to the north, and it got a little bit better for GS3 owners today. It seems Canadian Galaxy S3s have started receiving updates that bring the fabled Multi-Window mode, among other things.
Samsung Begins Rolling Out Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean To Galaxy Note In Canada
Owners of the original Galaxy Note in the great white north are getting a little present today – a brand new (year old) version of Android is coming
Owners of the original Galaxy Note in the great white north are getting a little present today – a brand new (year old) version of Android is coming to their devices. Samsung has announced via Twitter that owners will be getting the update starting today on Bell, Telus, and Rogers.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Now Available On Canadian Carriers Rogers, Bell, TELUS, Virgin, And More
Greetings to our northern neighbors - you cam now buy Samsung's latest flagship device on a variety of Canadian carriers. The Galaxy S4 is available from
Greetings to our northern neighbors - you cam now buy Samsung's latest flagship device on a variety of Canadian carriers. The Galaxy S4 is available from the standard nationwide wireless providers, Rogers, Bell, Virgin, and TELUS, in addition to MVNOs and regional carriers like Fido, Videotron, Eastlink, and Koodo. Prices range from $199 Canadian with a three-year contract from the "big three" to just shy of $700 for an off-contract model, which is pretty standard for new premium models in Canada.
Telus, Bell, Virgin Mobile, And Videotron In Canada Announce Galaxy S4 Pre-Orders - Starting Today
Looks like every carrier in Canada (give or take a couple) decided to announce GS4 pre-orders at the same time. The good news, though, is that if you're
Looks like every carrier in Canada (give or take a couple) decided to announce GS4 pre-orders at the same time. The good news, though, is that if you're on Telus, Bell, Virgin, or Videotron, you're one step closer to landing yourself a shiny new phone. The device is available for pre-order on all four of the aforementioned carriers, with a shipping date of April 27th for the former three.
We have some good news to share with our neighbors to the north: the Optimus G is getting an update to Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Right now, this only includes customers on Bell, Rogers, and TELUS. LG says that SaskTel users will receive the OTA in "late March", which suggests it should begin shipping only a few days behind the other carriers. This version bump will bring support for Google Now, offline speech recognition, expandable notifications, and several other goodies. LG has also packaged a few of its own improvements, but seems to have left out an upgraded QSlide 2.0. Here is the full changelog, provided by MobileSyrup:
All the HTC One hubbub in New York and London is for naught if you can't get your hands on the phone. So AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint customers in the United States will be glad to hear that their carriers are already confirmed to get HTC's shiny new flagship. Both AT&T and T-Mobile have reached out to us directly with confirmation, and Sprint is listed in HTC's official press release along with regional carrier Cincinnati Bell. Sprint had a sign-up page available briefly, but it seems to have disappeared. Sorry, Verizon users, you'll just have to make do with the DROID DNA for the time being.
While Samsung may have made quite a splash with its new ad during "the big game" here in the States, its Canadian branch had a pretty big announcement of its own: an update that brings Multi-Window and Chinese language support will be coming to the Galaxy Note II on "national carriers" beginning this Wednesday. By "national carriers," we're assuming that means Canada's big three: Telus, Bell, and Rogers.
It's been a long time coming, hasn't it Canadian GSIII owners? You've sat back and watched Jelly Bean roll out to GSIIIs across the globe over the last several weeks, and there you were - forced to deal with ICS. It's a hard knock life.
The powerhouse Samsung Galaxy Note is certainly making the rounds as of late - first in Europe, then it was announced for AT&T's LTE network in the U.S., and, soon enough, our neighbors to the north will be able to enjoy the 5.3-inch beast as well.