News and notes on the latest from Google.
Back when Nougat was released, in August 2016, rovo89 said that a Nougat update for Xposed was coming in 2017. However, Nougat brought with it so many changes that it has taken quite a bit of time. The good news is that we can finally use Xposed on Nougat, as a dev has managed to port it. The bad news? It’s not what you think it is.
Once again, Apple is last to the party. Fashionably late maybe, but late, nonetheless. Silicon Valley’s finest introduces a brand new device: A voice-controlled home assistant speaker. Just like everyone else.
As with most parties, it’s hard to appreciate a fashionably late arrival when the perpetrator hasn’t helped send out invitations, set up decorations, plan activities, or even bring a side dish. Pretty socially un-cool. So did Apple bring something new to the table, or did it just copy everyone else (again)? Continue reading “HomePod on the range”
It seems that everyone wants to make more messaging apps instead of making the current ones better (looking at you, Google). Now Amazon has jumped on-board too, with rumors that it’s working on a messaging app called Amazon Anytime.
Continue reading “Amazon Anytime is a rumored chat app by Amazon”
Google Duo has certainly received less criticism than that of its sister-app, Allo. Of course, it’s not battling issues like “SMS fallback” and whatnot, and it’s still not perfect, but more or less, it’s definitely a solid app, and today, Google’s video calling application has crossed another milestone today—100 million downloads on the Play Store.
Continue reading “Google Duo reaches 100 million downloads on the Play Store”
Fall is coming and several smartphone flagships have yet to be revealed. Of course, there has been rumor after rumor, but today, I wanted to ask you what would be your top choice for an upcoming smartphone? Also, feel free to comment what price point you think they should be set at and what features you feel it should include. The poll is embedded below.
Continue reading “Poll: Which upcoming smartphone are you most likely to buy?”
Recently, Samsung pushed an update to the Sprint as well as T-Mobile versions of its software, which blocked the current key remapping applications on the Play Store from changing the default action of the Bixby button present on the Galaxy S8.
With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S8, we got to try out Samsung’s newest attempt at trying to become what Google does best—a provider of all possible services that you would want to use.
The presence of an extra hardware button is a boon to many. It can be used to launch any application that you want. In fact, Sony devices have had a button to launch the camera or any other application of your choice for a while now. Naturally, many wanted the ability to change the button on the S8 to launch Google Assistant or even Google Now.
Continue reading “Samsung’s Bixby remap block is bypassed yet again”
Courtesy of the folks over at Android Police, the image you see above is what is believed to be a highly accurate representation of Google’s next-generation flagship smartphone, the 2017 Pixel “XL.” This will be the codenamed “taimen” device.
In case you missed it, the hotly anticipated Amazon Prime Day is today (July 11), and for the first year ever, I’m a bit impressed. Some of the deals had me checking my wallet to see if I could shell out a little consumer impulse. This year, it doesn’t feel as if the retailer wants to just discount overstock items, especially after the barrage of negative feedback it received last year. Go check it out for yourself.
Continue reading “Amazon Prime Day is today, but I bought from eBay”
A few months ago, I wrote a piece on why I would not be buying the Samsung Galaxy S8 this year. My reasons were entirely related to software. It was the pesky TouchWiz (now Grace UX) makeover and bloatware apps that prevented me from shelling out the greenbacks for the 2017 model Korean flagship. And yet, my daily driver is now a Galaxy S8. How did this happen?
Android co-founder Andy Rubin’s heavily-hyped phone, the Essential Phone, is now officially delayed. When it launched, Rubin said that it would ship to customers within 30 days, and it seems that hasn’t happened.
Continue reading “Essential Phone buyers will have to wait indefinitely now”
