The majority of announcements that T-Mobile has revolve around wireless subscribers in the United States, but the magenta carrier’s latest announcement is tuned more towards the folks who will be visiting the country from other regions of the globe.
It’s called the Tourist Plan, and it launches on June 12. The carrier says it’ll be a super-easy way for visitors of the United States to use their phone without having to worry about a ton of overages or other charges. The Tourist Plan will cost $30 per month and will work for three weeks once activated. It will give the customer 1000 minutes of domestic calling, unlimited texting to U.S.-based numbers and to 140 other countries and destinations, and unlimited data with access to 2GB of high-speed data. The plan also supports a Wi-Fi hotspot.
T-Mobile says international travelers just need to visit an official T-Mobile store or one of the many T-Mobile prepaid dealers. Customers won’t need to pay for a SIM card, and they won’t need to pay an activation fee, either. However, it’s worth noting that the plan doesn’t include Binge On or Music Freedom.
Back in February, Sony officially launched a brand new X series of devices, but word on a U.S.-based launch were nonexistent at the time. That’s finally changing, though, as Sony has officially announced that its new X series is coming to the U.S. soon and that pre-orders begin today.
Specifically, the Xperia X will be available to order from B&H Photo Video, Best Buy, Amazon, and Reagan Wireless for $549.99. There will be a 128GB microSD card thrown in for good measure as well, which will bolster the 32GB of built-in storage. The Xperia X will officially go on sale on June 26.
Sony’s Xperia X features a 5-inch 1080p HD display, with a hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor under the hood and 3GB of RAM. The battery measures in at 2620mAh, and there’s a 23-megapixel camera on the back and a 13-megapixel front-facing camera. It’s running Android 6.0 out of the box.
The Xperia X Performance, Xperia XA, and the Xperia XA Ultra are set to arrive in the U.S. soon as well, with pre-orders for those devices starting on June 19. You’ll be able to get the X Performance for $699.99, the XA Ultra for $369.99, and the XA for $279.99. Release dates go like this: The X Performance and XA on July 17, and the XA Ultra on July 24.
LG has never made much of an impression on the tablet market. While the company may take risks with its smartphones, it plays it very safe with its tablets, and LG has just announced another tablet that carries this same trend onward. LG’s G Pad III 8.0 is a standard, normal and ultimately uninteresting 8-inch tablet. Let’s take a look at what LG is banking on with this device.
8-inch 1920×1200 IPS display
1.5GHz octa-core processor
2GB of RAM
32GB of storage plus microSD card slot
5-megapixel rear camera
8-megapixel front-facing camera
4800mAh battery
Bluetooth 4.1
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
All in all, the G Pad III 8.0 is uninspiring. An LTE version is also available, currently being offered on Canadian carriers Rogers and Fido. While this version has LTE, it drops the storage to 16GB and the front-facing camera is lowered to 5 megapixels. That being said, the LTE version also has Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and Bluetooth 4.2.
While the tablet may not grab your interest with specs, it is fairly inexpensive. Korean pricing for the Wi-Fi model is ₩330,000, or about $278 USD. Both Canadian carriers are offering the LTE model for CAD 240 when it’s paired with a monthly plan. That price point may just be enough to cause consumers to take a second look at the G Pad III 8.0.
Every week we cover new Android apps with Fresh Meat on Wednesday, followed by Android Gaming on Thursday and Top 10 App Updates on Friday. When Monday rolls around, we look back to see which apps were the most appealing to our audience. Read on for the five most popular Android apps from last week. These apps are ones that are most likely new and haven’t appeared in the top five list more than three times.
1. Lens Launcher
App info:Lens Launcher is a unique, efficient way to browse and launch your apps.
App info:The most crazy, addictive & FUN physics based racing game ever made. Upgrade your truck and own the leaderboard. Race your friends, let them know who’s the best. A Truckload of tracks and courses
App info:Budget Eye is a Budget Management and Expense tracking app that is designed to help you efficiently and effortlessly manage your own as well as your family’s finances all in one easy view.
When I was a kid, my parents desperately wanted me to learn how to play the piano and electronic keyboard. I took classes for 7 years and got really good at it, until I realized that I loved listening to music but not playing it. I just didn't have the ear for it and I couldn't tell a re from a fa if my life depended on it. I do envy those who can play instruments though, mostly the guitar.
Even with things like Flipboard and Google Play Newsstand, RSS readers still remain popular. Since Google killed the popular Reader service in 2013, RSS readers seem to have grown in popularity and usage. Today one of the major RSS apps available on Android, Palabre, is getting a massive update to version 3.0.
WHAT'S NEW
Custom colors (premium)
Text to Speech
Mute and notify keywords
History
Widget settings
Roboto font option for the articles
Offline mode improvements
Fixes and UI improvements
Right: list of articles, arranged in a tile fashion. Left: article view.
Reddit apps are a hugely popular type of app in the Play Store - from Relay to Slide, reddit is fun to the official reddit app, there's one for every use-case. Today one of the most downloaded reddit apps, Sync for Reddit, is getting a huge update to version 11, bringing a full material redesign that has been written from the ground up. The update has been available in an alpha format since January, but this is the first release to anyone who uses the app.
Sunshine, a popular and unique weather app for iOS, is making its way to Android. The app specializes in providing useful, rather than detailed, information while crowdsourcing for more accurate weather data. While there hasn't been an official announcement from the developers, the app is now open for beta testing.
The creators of the app were inspired by their daily frustration of inaccurate forecasts at the local beach. Of course, beach weather is going to be more difficult to predict than your average place and will be quite likely to be experiencing different conditions than a sensor that is, say, 15 miles inland.
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.
Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.
Apps aren't just for phones anymore, now they're for your wrist. That's the focus of the Android Wear app and watch face roundup—apps that should go on your wrist. They might not all appeal to you personally, but these are all the best things that have come to Android Wear in the last few months. We've got timers, calendars, and oh so many watch faces.
ASUS has yet to make a large impact on the global smartphone market, but the manufacturer is back again with a new family of flagship smartphones that look to be some of the best yet. The ZenFone 3 family continues to refine and improve ASUS’s flagship line, bringing in three new smartphones aimed at a variety of markets. Let’s dive in and see what we’re working with.
ZenFone 3
The ZenFone 3 is the base model of the family. The device is svelte and features a fairly compact body, featuring a 77.3% screen-to-body ratio that highlights the lack of wasted space around the display. The display itself is a 5.5-inch 1080p Super IPS+ display that prides itself on offering high brightness, even in direct sunlight. That display is protected with 2.5D Gorilla Glass, which also encompasses the rear of the device. A metal accent band runs around the edge of the device, offering the ZenFone 3 a classy and refined design.
Internally, the ZenFone 3 is packed with power. ASUS has powered the device with a 2GHz octa-core Snapdragon 625 processor and up to 4GB of RAM, though the exact amount of RAM in the device coincides with the storage size option you choose. Storage comes in 32 or 64GB options and is augmented by a microSD card slot. The ZenFone 3 features a 3000mAh battery, rear fingerprint scanner, broad network support, USB-Type C charging and Android 6.0 Marshmallow with ZenUI 3.0 overtop.
ASUS has made a powerful point with mobile cameras and the ZenFone 3 continues to improve upon that tradition. The 16-megapixel rear camera features a 6-piece Largan lens, f/2.0 aperture and ASUS’s TriTech autofocus technology. TriTech combines laser, phase detection and continuous autofocus to achieve focus in as little as 0.03 seconds. The rear camera also includes optical image stabilization and a powerful HDR mode. On the front, users will find a fairly standard 8-megapixel camera that should snap sharp selfies.
No availability details have been released, but pricing begins at $249 for the model with 32GB of storage and 3GB of RAM. Three color options of Sapphire Black, Moonlight White and Shimmer Gold will be available.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe
ASUS has designed the ZenFone 3 with a full aluminum alloy unibody that’s free of plastic antenna lines on the rear. The device features a 5.7-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display that covers over 100% of the NTSC color gamut, offering vivid and life-like colors. The device also has a rear fingerprint scanner and features a USB-Type C charging port.
The device is powered by a 2.15Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor and 6GB of RAM. Users can choose from three different storage size options of 64GB, 128GB, or even 256GB, all of which are supplemented by a microSD card slot that supports Apps to SD. The device also features a 3000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 and a five-magnet speaker that’s accompanied by an NXP amplifier for loud, crisp sound.
The rear camera is a Sony IMX318 23-megapixel sensor that again features a 6-piece Largan lens, TriTech autofocus and an f/2.0 aperture. Additionally, the camera bring in OIS as well as three-axis electronic image stabilization when filming 4K video. The front camera is a wide-angle 8-megapixel shooter.
No availability details have been released, but the device pricing starts at $499 for the 64GB model. THree color options of Glacier Silver, Titanium Gray and Shimmer Gold will be available.
ZenFone 3 Ultra
The biggest of the bunch, the ZenFone 3 Ultra centers itself around an enormous 6.8-inch 1080p IPS display that’s covered in Gorilla Glass 4. The display also has a dedicated image processor that optimizes each pixel in every frame before it’s displayed. ASUS has given the ZenFone 3 Ultra an aluminum unibody with no rear antenna lines. Interestingly, this device features a physical home button that houses a fingerprint scanner within.
Powering the ZenFone 3 Ultra is a 1.8GHz quad-core Snapdragon 652 processor and up to 4GB of RAM. Storage options include 32, 64, or 128GB which are all accompanied by a microSD card slot. The device features a massive 4600mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 support and the ability to charge other devices. Additionally, the ZenFone 3 Ultra packs two five-magnet speakers, an NXP amplifier and DTS Headphone:X virtual 7.1 channel surround sound through certified headphones.
The camera specifications of the ZenFone 3 Ultra are identical to those of the Zenfone 3 Deluxe.
No availability details have been released, but pricing begins at $479 for the 64GB model. Three color options of Glacier Silver, Titanium Gray and Metallic Pink will be offered.
Nearly a year after the launch of ASUS’ most popular smartphone, the Taiwanese company has finally made the ZenFone 3 official at Computex 2016. This year, the company has launched not one, but a total of three ZenFone 3 variants each with their own respective specs and design.
First let’s talk about the original ZenFone 3. This model features the tried and tested 5.5-inch 1080p Super IPS display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC with up to 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage, 8MP front, 16MP rear camera with a Sony IMX298 sensor, 3000 mAh battery, USB Type C connector and available in Gold, Blue, Black and White colours.
As for the price, it will be available for $249 USD with Canadian pricing coming soon.
Next up we have the ZenFone 3 Deluxe, which sports a larger 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display, Snapdragon 820 SoC with up to 6GB of RAM, 256GB of internal storage, 8MP front, 23MP rear camera with a brand new Sony IMX318 sensor (Hybrid AF), 3000 mAh battery with QC 3.0 support, USB 3.0 Type C connector and available in only Gold, Silver an Grey colours.
This model also comes with 4-axis OIS and a fingerprint sensor and a price tag $499 USD.
Finally we have the ZenFone 3 Ultra, which you can tell by its name is definitely “ultra” as it features an almost tablet sized 6.8-inch 1080p IPS LCD display, a Snapdragon 652 SoC with up to 4GB of RAM, 128GB of internal storage, the same 8MP front, 23MP rear camera found in the Deluxe, a whopping 4,600 mAh battery with QC 3.0 support and a USB 3.0 Type C connector.
As for the colour options, it will come in Grey, Silver and Pink and it will be priced at $479 USD.
All in all, ASUS seems to be going all out in terms of size, specs and colours and hopefully we’ll see some reasonable Canadian prices when these phones go out to the market in Q3 of this year.
Press release:
ASUS Announces All-New ZenFone 3 Smartphones
Latest ZenFone 3 products feature beautifully crafted design, intelligent feature sets and superb performance all wrapped in an affordable package
Toronto, Ontario (May 30, 2016) — ASUS today announced the new ZenFone 3 lineup at Computex 2016. These new smartphones set a new standard in design and innovation while maintaining ASUS’ leadership in providing intelligent feature sets in an affordable package.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe — World’s First Full-Metal Smartphone with an Invisible Antenna
ZenFone 3 Deluxe is the flagship model of the ZenFone 3 family and the ultimate expression of ASUS smartphone design. It is constructed with a strong and light aluminum alloy unibody, and has a rear surface free of unsightly antenna lines and an ultra-thin 4.2mm edge.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe features a 5.7-inch Full HD (1920 by 1080) AMOLED display with a gamut of over 100% NTSC color space for rich, vibrant colors even in harsh, outdoor lighting. Inside, ZenFone 3 Deluxe has a powerful Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 820 Series processor and up to 6GB RAM to deliver the best performance for demanding apps, games, and media.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe raises the bar for mobile photography with its incredible 23MP camera featuring the latest Sony IMX318 image sensor, a large f/2.0 aperture lens, and 4-axis optical image stabilization for high-resolution, blur-free, and low-noise photos in almost any lighting condition. It also features electronic image stabilization for steady 4K UHD videos. Coupled with TriTech autofocus that provides accurate and nearly instant 0.03-second focusing and subject tracking, and exclusive PixelMaster 3.0 technology, ZenFone 3 Deluxe captures truly stunning photos and videos.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe has a built-in fingerprint sensor that’s perfectly positioned on the rear of the phone to sit underneath the user’s finger and unlocks the phone in just a fraction of a second. Quick Charge 3.0 technology reduces battery recharge times and a reversible USB Type-C port that makes connecting charging and accessory cables effortless.
ZenFone 3 Deluxe also excels at audio with its powerful five-magnet speakers and NXP smart amplifier that provides clear, defined sound and also protects the speakers from damage. When listening over 2 of 3 certified headphones, users can enjoy Hi-Res Audio (HRA) that provides up four-times-better sound quality than CDs.
ZenFone 3 — Agility, Beauty, and Clarity
ZenFone 3 is a feature-packed smartphone that brings premium design and empowering performance to everyone. Built around a gorgeous 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 by 1080) display with up to 500cd/m2 brightness, ZenFone 3 delivers an incredible visual experience that makes apps, videos, and games look their best. With a narrow bezel, ZenFone 3 provides a 77.3% screen-to-body ratio for a maximized viewing area in a slim and compact body. The front and rear of the phone are encased with scratch-resistant Corning® Gorilla® Glass that gently curves to make the edge of the phone completely smooth.
ZenFone 3 is equipped with a 16MP camera with ASUS TriTech autofocus that automatically selects laser, phase detection and continuous auto focus to achieve precise focus in just 0.03 seconds, resulting in sharp images in any condition.
ZenFone 3 is powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor with PC-grade graphics and 4GB RAM that together deliver outstanding mobile performance with improved efficiency and battery life. ZenFone 3 has a built-in fingerprint sensor that’s perfectly positioned on the rear of the phone to sit underneath the user’s finger and unlocks the phone in just a fraction of a second.
ZenFone 3 Ultra — Unleashed, Unlimited, and Unrivaled
ZenFone 3 Ultra is a smartphone designed for multimedia lovers, featuring a 6.8-inch Full HD (1920 by 1080) display with up to 400cd/m2 brightness and a 95% NTSC color gamut for rich, vibrant images even outdoors in harsh lighting. ASUS-exclusive Tru2Life+ technology harnesses a high-end 4K UHD TV-grade video processor to optimize every pixel in each frame before it is displayed, resulting in superior contrast and clarity. ZenFone 3 Ultra also excels at audio with its two powerful five-magnet stereo speakers and NXP smart amplifier that provides clear, defined sound and also protects the speakers from damage. When listening over certified headphones, users can enjoy Hi-Res Audio (HRA) that provides up to four-times-better sound quality than CDs and virtual 7.1-channel surround sound with DTS Headphone:X.3 of 3
Like ZenFone 3 Deluxe, ZenFone 3 Ultra has an incredibly slim and elegant full-metal unibody chassis — the world’s first to have no antenna lines. An ultra slim bezel gives ZenFone 3 Ultra a 79% screen-to-body ratio, maximizing the viewing area while minimizing its overall size and weight. ZenFone 3 Ultra is equipped with the same high-resolution 23MP camera with ASUS TriTech autofocus system as ZenFone 3 Deluxe. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor, Adreno 510 graphics, and 4GB of RAM, ZenFone 3 Ultra delivers outstanding mobile performance. A built-in fingerprint sensor is perfectly positioned on the front of the phone beneath the user’s finger and unlocks the phone in just a fraction of a second.
ZenFone 3 Ultra also has a high-capacity 4600 mAh battery for long-lasting performance and Quick Charge 3.0 technology for rapid recharge times. ZenFone 3 Ultra even works as a power bank with 1.5A output for quickly charging other mobile devices.
AVAILABILITY & PRICING
The new Zenfone 3 products will be available at ASUS authorized resellers and distributors in Q3. Please check www.asus.com/ca for additional details.
At some point in the (hopefully near) future, OnePlus is going to get around to officially announcing the OnePlus 3, its latest flagship handset. We already know that that will include a virtual reality shopping experience in space, and now it looks like OnePlus wants to get feedback from its customer base as well.
OnePlus has announced “The Lab,” which will include peer reviews for the OnePlus 3 and perhaps future devices that OnePlus releases in the future as well. OnePlus says that they’ve been able to build the company with the help of its customers over the years, and they believe that customer feedback and participation is the guide that sets them on their path.
The Lab is just one of many results of that, and it will launch with the OnePlus 3, which the company aims to receive “fair, honest, crowd-sourced feedback” regarding the new handset, its features, and capabilities. The goal here, according to OnePlus, is a “comprehensive community review.” What that will actually look like in the end, with so many voices, will be interesting.
OnePlus says that anyone in any region can apply to get into the reviewers slots, but in the end they’ll only choose 30 people. Once the reviewers get their phones, which they’ll get before anyone else, they’ll have several days to put the handset through its paces.
At the time of this writing, there are five days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes remaining to apply for the reviewer position with OnePlus’s The Lab, and 419 people have applied so far.
What if virtual reality was just reality, with a small asterisk? What if you could strap on your VR headset, regardless of the brand or technology behind them, and see the same thing that's in front of you... but mirrored? Or upside down? Or delayed by 2 seconds? Ha, what a novel idea!
VR Party Game does just that. It's a Cardboard app/game that transmits your smartphone's rear camera view onto the screen, but applies one of three special effects to confuse you.
Google began rolling out an update to Maps v9.26.1 a few days ago, and it's sporting a handful of new features. Like so many versions of maps, there are quite a few well-hidden changes in this one, far more than the single item written in the official changelog. Most of the changes are subtle enough that you won't notice them if you're not comparing side-by-side, but they are improvements all the same.
Have you ever wished that your complex word processing software had a simple search function to let you know where the hell it put the word count? It does, and it's called Google. But say you don't want to pop out to another program to do so. That's the idea behind "Tell Me," a feature introduced into the latest versions of Microsoft's various Office programs. It's essentially just a search box with a few predictive tricks to help users find some of the less obvious features.
Devolver Digital has consistently brought some of its published titles to Android, so long as you're lucky enough to own a SHIELD-branded machine. Their latest port is Not A Hero, a 2D shooter that has very a old-school style of gameplay mixed with a somewhat modern approach to everything else. The game absolutely revels in its stylized, Guy Ritchie-esque British ultra-violence mixed with the kind of humor you might expect to see on any given Internet forum.
Square, the company that makes those little headphone jack credit card readers, would like you to use their services more. Of course they would - that's kind of the whole point of commerce. But at the moment merchants using Square are limited to the dedicated Square app, which by default is a sort of digital cash register. The company is hoping to expand itself a bit with its latest API, which allows developers to integrate Square payments into their independent Android apps.
It looks like Verizon Wireless is on track to add another Android-based tablet to its roster, based on newly leaked information regarding the upcoming device.
Evan Blass (@evleaks) has released information and an image of what is being called the ASUS ZenPad Z8. Thanks to prominent branding on the front of the device, it’s obvious that this is headed to Verizon Wireless at some point in the future.
According to the leaked specs, the ZenPad Z8 will feature an 8-inch display with a resolution of 1536×2048. There will be a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 processor making everything tick along, and it will have 2GB of RAM. It will offer 16GB of built-in storage, feature an 8-megepixel camera on the back, and a 1.8-megapixel front camera. It will also offer a microSD card slot for expandable storage.
That’s about all that’s known about the upcoming tablet for Verizon at this point. A launch date wasn’t teased, nor how much it will cost.
What do you think of the ASUS ZenPad Z8? A worthy tablet, depending on price?
Samsung is jumping into the metal smartphone pool and extending the design to more phones. That includes two brand new handsets, the Galaxy C5 and Galaxy C7.
Samsung has made the two devices officially official, showing off the Galaxy C5 and C7 which are heading to the Chinese market. First up is the Galaxy C5, which features a 5.2-inch 1920×1080 Super AMOLED display, which is set over an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor. The device also boasts 4GB of RAM, will be available in 32GB and 64GB variants, and will include a microSD card slot for expandable storage and a battery measured in at 2600mAh. There’s also an 16-megapixel camera on the back, an 8-megapixel front-facing camera, and a fingerprint sensor on the front below the display. It also has NFC support.
The other new handset is the slightly beefier Galaxy C7, which boasts 5.7-inch 1920×1080 Super AMOLED display. There’s an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, and the battery is measured in at 3300mAh. The other specs are similar to the C5: 16MP camera on the back and an 8MP front-facing shooter, 4GB of RAM, 32/64GB of built-in storage, microSD card slot, and NFC support. A fingerprint reader is included as well.
As mentioned earlier, Samsung is launching the devices in China and there’s no word on whether or not they’ll make it to any other markets. For those interested in the devices, the Galaxy C5 starts at 2,199 yuan ($335 USD), while the Galaxy C7 starts at 2,599 ($396 USD).
What do you think of Samsung’s newest Android devices?
The latest indie game to immigrate from the huddled masses of Steam is one that makes a lot of sense for mobile. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a 3D platformer, at least broadly: you control one brother with an analog stick on one side of the screen and the other brother with a second stick on the opposite side. If you ever tried to play both sides of The Adventures of Cookie and Cream (AKA Kuri Kuri Mix) by yourself, it's sort of like that, without the division.
HTC is hosting a Memorial Day sale and it’s a pretty good one. If you were looking to buy an HTC 10, now is a good time. The company is offering a free HTC RE camera with your purchase, regardless of the model you buy.
If you want the RE on its own, it’s 60% off, down to $80 from its $200 original price. There’s also a 40% sale on select accessories if you already own some HTC products.
If you want to take advantage of this sale, hit the source link and get buying. The sale ends on the 30th so you have the weekend to decide on what you want.
It’s not a soap or a ranch. No, the Acer Liquid Zest Plus is a budget smartphone that features some pretty respectable specs. It has a 5.5-inch 720p display, a quad core MediaTek MT6735 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 13MP camera, Android 6.0, and a huge 5,000 mAh battery.
The surprising thing is that the device is officially coming to the US! Despite advancements in how we buy phones, carrier payment plans are still really popular. Off contract devices are gaining in popularity, but Acer will have an uphill battle to fight. Thankfully, the device is only $199.
The Liquid Zest Plus will be launching in the US in July in Moroccan Blue and Andes White, and for a device that touts 3 day battery life, $199 really isn’t much. It’s also coming to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia for €199. Would you consider buying this device?
Google’s latest Project Ara update was a huge one, met with just as many jeers as cheers. The modular device is actually going to be released next year! But you can swap out far fewer components than originally planned, which kind of ruins much of what made Ara exciting in the first place. Phonebloks creator Dave Hakkens has taken to his website to speak out on this, voicing his concerns.
Hakkens is essentially disappointed with two major aspects of Ara: the lack of modular components and Google’s complete control over the platform. From his website:
... the Ara skeleton is a fully equipped phone with things like CPU, antennas, sensors, battery and display. The 6 little blocky modules on the back of the phone are just add-ons like better camera’s, speakers, scanners etc. Things to customise your phone, for fun.
It means your phone still gets obsolete after a while. What if your screen breaks? Well you still need to replace the entire phone. And after a couple of years it gets slow and you need to replace your entire skeleton.
...
Originally their goal was to 'create a phone for the entire world', we loved this.
Ara is build on open standards, and developers can develop their own modules. Which is great. It creates and ecosystem of modules. However it isn’t truly open. Everything happens under the umbrella of Google. They are in charge, they make the rules. They can decided to suddenly change the connectors, or design. Making all previous modules you have obsolete. It’s a powerful ecosystem which shouldn’t be in the hands of one organisation.Dave HakkensPhonebloks
Hakkens’ concerns are valid and most certainly shared. How will Ara help reduce environmental waste? How is it really different than the LG G5 or upcoming Moto Z? While we’re still excited to see how Ara will turn out next year and how it will evolve, the first generation device sounds like it won’t be the modular phone we’ve been waiting for.
The BlackBerry Priv may be a bit slow to get OS updates, but the flexibility of the Play Store allowing companies to update apps rather than the entire operating system has made adding features much easier. BlackBerry has just released a few app updates for the Android-powered device and the additional features are great.
The camera app has been updated with manual controls, a big deal for anyone who loves photography. You don’t have to have an amazing camera as long as you have some control over your photos. You’ll now be able to control shutter speed, ISO, and white balance. You’ll also get keyboard shortcuts, like space to take photos, swiping the keyboard to adjust settings, and hitting “A” to revert to auto.
The keyboard has also been updated with new shortcuts, many of which computer users are used to. Cut, copy, past, undo, redo, italic, underline, and bold were added. There’s also support for Korean Hangul and Vietnamese for both the virtual and physical keyboards.
To get these new features, head to the Play Store and update your apps. By default, your BlackBerry may have already done so automatically. Let us know how you like it!
Smartphones, and Android phones in particular, are seeing a resurgence in innovation. Just a year ago, manufacturers seemed to be doing little to differentiate their handsets, with specs reaching a satisfying ceiling.
This year, things are different. We’re seeing interesting new trends in hardware, software and accessories. And we want to hear from you.
What mobile trend are you most excited about? Advances in AI? Virtual Reality? Something else? Check out the poll below, and let us know how you answered and why in the comments below.
If it wasn’t clear before, it is now: Samsung is taking virtual reality very seriously. How seriously? 5.5-inch, 3840 x 2160, 4K, 806ppi seriously.
Yes, Samsung has just unveiled a new 5.5-inch 4K display that will be destined for use in VR systems as a phone display. The display is currently being shown off as a demo, but could be appear in a phone anytime now, maybe even the Galaxy Note 6 7 we’re anticipating with bated breath.
Alongside the 4K display, Samsung also showed off a Bio Blue display with better image quality and less blue light.
In VR quality, perhaps nothing matter more than display quality. Of course you need the hardware to push the display, but that’s not an issue. With a fast enough refresh rate, Samsung’s 4K display could be a game changer.
A recent Google Photos update may have appeared to include little more than bug fixes, but according to code found within the app, much more interesting features are coming soon, including unlimited original quality photo storage for Nexus devices, album sorting and more.
Today’s information comes courtesy of Android Police, who has torn down the latest Google Photos APK only to find some interesting change coming soon to the app inside:
Unlimited original quality storage for Nexus devices
Album sorting options
Device folders will appear as albums
New exposure and contrast controls
Album sorting options and more editing tools will be nice, but the big surprise here is unlimited original quality photo storage for Nexus devices for free. Right now, unlimited storage only applies to photos under 16 megapixels. And even for the photos under that limit, they are compressed a wee bit to help Google reduce data storage.
When, how or if these changes will be implemented remains to be seen, but there’s a good chance it will happen, and soon. Yet another reason to buy a Nexus phone. What do you think?
Those pesky humans, always encroaching on the wildness. You can't blame the animal characters of Crashing Season for getting upset and going on the warpath. This "arena runner" just launched on Android, and it seems like a solid game with lovely graphics.
Your goal in each stage of Crashing Season appears to be to take out as many humans as possible. You do this by running them down or knocking heavy objects into them (yay physics).
However, it sounds like the support department for devices to enjoy those VR experiences on will be pretty thin at launch later this year. According to a report from RoadToVR citing a confirmation from Google’s VR chief, Clay Bavor, current devices that are on the market won’t be “Daydream-ready” when the platform launches. That includes high-end flagship handsets like the HTC 10, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, and others.
It’s an interesting turn of events, considering Google has been telling developers to use the Nexus 6P, last year’s flagship, as the platform to work for. Based on this report, it doesn’t sound like the Nexus 6P will be a certified Daydream-ready device. For what it’s worth, the 6P does feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor under the hood, which might be an important distinction, because as Engadget points out, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 is a chipset that supports VR out of the box. Of course, devices like the HTC 10 feature a Snapdragon 820 under the hood, so it sounds like the finer details will really make the difference.
As it stands, it sounds like those who want to make sure they have a Daydream-ready device should wait to upgrade until late in the year, or maybe even early next just to be on the safe side.
LINE, a messaging app popular in Asia, and growing in popularity in Europe and America, has passed 500 million downloads on the Play Store, joining an exclusive club which currently includes Dropbox, Instagram and Skype.
LINE reportedly has 700 million users, according to estimates last year. Like many messaging apps, LINE can do voice calls and video chats, plus stickers and basic photo/video storage. Two of its key rivals, Messenger and WhatsApp, both owned by Facebook, have 900 million and 1 billion users (and bothhave over 1 billion downloads), so LINE still has a way to go until it achieves world domination, at least in the messaging space.
At roughly the start of every month, Google has enforced every OEM, including the BlackBerry, to deliver an OTA containing fixes to various security flaws. Now BlackBerry has announced the Priv is set to receive a maintenance release update in June next week aligning with the security update.
However, for now, they have released an update which brings a ton of improvements to the Priv’s camera and keyboard. The camera now has advanced shooting capabilities which let the user control various camera parameters such as shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, focus, white balance and exposure.
The update also brings shortcuts to the phone’s physical keyboard for camera controls with one example of using the spacebar to take a picture.
For a complete list of all the new changes and features, check out the source link below.
The updates to both apps are available to download from the Play Store.
Looks like Huawei won’t be the only Chinese smartphone maker with high end specs and premium materials as ZTE has officially announced its new full metal unibody AXON 7 smartphone.
Targeting other premium smartphones with similar designs, bezels and materials, the AXON 7 will feature a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display (sourced from Samsung), the Snapdragon 820 SoC with 4GB or even 6GB of RAM. This will be one of the first mass market 6GB RAM phones to be launched so that’s pretty cool. It will also come with 64GB and 128GB of internal storage options, 20MP f1.8 rear camera and an 8MP f2.2 front camera.
On top of that, ZTE has decided to use a DAC for the front facing speakers, a fingerprint sensor on the back, Quick Charge 3.0 for the 3250 mAh battery and NFC.
Google announced a new Android VR platform called Daydream during I/O last week and the ZTE VR headset is fully compatible as it features a 9-axis gyroscope, 96 degree FOV with a delay of up to 18 milliseconds.
It’s not clear when the phone will arrive in Canada or what the price point would be however expect it to be available in the $599 range given the $450 price in the US.
