The Nexus 5X is a great device (though a bit overshadowed by the more expensive Nexus 6P at launch), but it seems LG wants to take a break from making Nexus devices to focus on its own brand. We heard similar news two years ago, halfway through the two-year gap between the Nexus 5 and the Nexus 5X.

With the LG G5 officially announced, LG wants to use its resources to promote the new device and other upcoming hardware instead of diverting resources to a Nexus device that does very little for them. We don’t know how well the Nexus 5X has sold, and it’s said manufacturers don’t earn much from Nexus sales. Plus, the brand gets less recognition for a Nexus device than its own.

The G5 seems like a genuinely good competitor to the Galaxy S7, including interesting features that may actually attract more buyers than the previous LG flagships. It makes sense for LG to use its time to push the G5 and further the brand and the company. We may see another LG Nexus device next year, if previous patterns hold up. Thankfully, LG says it is “totally happy” with its relationship with Google’s Nexus program.

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Battery drain has plagued many Android devices for years. While it is certainly getting better with each version of the OS, even today tons of users champion devices with removable (and therefore swap out-able) batteries or fast charging technologies that help us get through the day.

It’s possible to monitor your battery usage, optimize your settings and shut down power hungry apps, but for the majority of users, this tweaking and managing is a hassle. Battery Time, from developers Liquidum, hopes to make battery life optimization as easy as pressing one button.

Battery Time Saver & Optimizer — as it is so called in Google Play, where it is available for free — is an incredibly simple utility to use. When you open the app, you are first presented with the battery time remaining on your device. An arrow below this opens up a summary view that shows you approximately how much call time, Wi-Fi use, video, audio and gaming time this will get you.

In the center of the screen lies a large ‘Extend Time’ button. Hit this and the app closes down any power zapping apps, optimizes your display settings, toggles bluetooth and wifi off if you want it to and turns off auto-sync. The beauty of Battery Time is this one-tap functionality that makes it really easy to gain extra minutes of use — and in some cases hours. This makes it really easy for anyone to quickly see how much battery they have left, and squeeze out some extra time.

Below the main Extend Time button lie a number of icons for manually managing the above settings to your liking, and you’ll see the impact on your battery life reflected immediately on the reading at the top of the screen as you make changes.

Should Battery Time’s optimization not be enough for you, you can find further tips in the app’s Message Center. There are some handy tips — especially for the layman — in here that could help to maintain a longer battery life each day.

Key to the usefulness of an app of this kind is how accurate the remaining battery life indicator actually is. If I’m going to rely on the app to let me know roughly how much juice I have left, I need to know it going to be reliably correct. From my testing, I found Battery Time’s readings to be correct within a margin of error of about 30 mins. For a third-party app, I think this is admirable.

Battery Time is certainly focused on the general consumer and would perhaps be lacking feature-wise for the power user. While you can tweak some of the settings manually, overall control is sacrificed for ease of use. The User Interface is straightforward, plain and modern

If you find your battery drains quicker than expected and want a simple way to get more out of your device, Battery Time is worth taking a look at. It’s simplicity makes it easy to download and use immediately, and it can help your device last longer if you allow it to manage your settings for you.

Check out Battery Time on Google Play where it is available to download for free.

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Sony announced its new Xperia X series of devices at this year’s Mobile World Congress, but today we find out that it is meant to replace the Z line of devices we’ve known for so long. Yes, the Xperia Z series of devices is dead.

Sony Mobile released an official statement on what will happen to the Z series:

The Xperia Z line has reached its culmination – Xperia X series represents a new chapter and evolution of our product strategy. Whilst the Xperia Z series was all about bringing the best of Sony’s advanced technologies to smartphones, Xperia X series is based on bringing smart, adaptive Sony user experiences across camera, battery performance and hardware / software design.Sony

While it’s good to see Sony changing things up (let’s be fair, the Z series has never been that successful) and we hope the company will see new success with the new Xperia X series, it’s a bit sad to see the Z series go. They have historically been solid phones that just didn’t sell that well. What do you think of Sony’s change to a new line of phones?

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San Francisco is one of the biggest tech cities in the US, so it’s been a real surprise that Google Fiber has managed to avoid it for so long. But Google has officially announced that Fiber is coming to San Francisco, at least to a small extent.

Google Fiber will be coming to some buildings in SF, namely apartment buildings and condos. It’ll also appear in some public buildings and affordable housing properties for free.

If you want to find out if it’s coming to your building, hit the source link! And if you’re a property manager, there are resources for bringing Fiber to your building. Though it won’t happen for a while, it’s exciting to see Google Fiber finally hit San Francisco!

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The Xiaomi Mi 5 has officially been announced, and it looks promising. It features a 5.15-inch full HD display, a Snapdragon 820 processor, up to 4GB of RAM, up to 128GB of storage, a 16MP rear camera with OIS, a 4MP front-facing camera, a 3000mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 via a USB Type-C port, NFC, fingerprint sensor, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow with the MIUI skin.

The device has a metal frame and a glass back. If you opt for the highest-end model, though, you’ll get what Xiaomi calls a 3D ceramic back. It’s rated at up to 8H on the Mohs harness scale, so it should be very resistant to scratches and damage.

The storage used is UFS 2.0, rather than the eMMC traditionally used. This storage is 87% faster than eMMC, so your bog down when something is being actively written to storage.

The Mi 5 will come in three tiers. The RMB 1999 (about $306 USD) tier will have a 1.8GHz Snapdragon 820 and 32GB of storage with the glass back, and presumably under 4GB of RAM. The RMB 2299 (about $352 USD) tier will have a 2.15GHz Snapdragon 820 and 64GB of storage. The RMB 2699 (about $413 USD) tier is the PRO model, with a 2.15GHz Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and the 3D ceramic back.

The device definitely looks promising. Though the screen is only 1080p HD, the rest of the specs are pretty high end. Plus, the price is fairly low. It’s a shame we probably won’t see this device in the US. What do you guys think of the Xiaomi Mi 5? Leave a comment!

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Now that Samsung’s Galaxy S7 has been unveiled and LG has taken the wraps off the G5, HTC is waiting in the wings to garner some attention for its own upcoming flagship Android smartphone, which is expected to be called the One M10.

Leading up to that announcement, which HTC hasn’t even set a date for just yet, the manufacturer is taking to Twitter to start promoting a hashtag and teasing the upcoming device. In this case, we’ve got a silhouette of what is probably the One M10, but there’s not a lot to go on. It does look pretty sleek, though, for what it’s worth. Of course, it’s just a tease and there’s arguably not a lot to get excited about here, but at least HTC is starting to turn the gears.

The hashtag, “#powerof10″ will probably get bandied about quite a bit leading up to the announcement, and surely HTC has plenty more teases stored up in the days and weeks ahead.

Are you looking forward to seeing what the One M10 offers?

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In today’s age of wanting instant access to everything, webpages that load slowly can be a real drag. In fact, people tend to leave sites that haven’t loaded in less than three seconds. Google is aiming to fix this with the Accelerated Mobile Pages Project.

AMP is an initiative to make fast loading mobile webpages. Many sites have joined the AMP project, and Google is starting to show these AMP pages in Google Search marked with a small thunderbolt and AMP logo.

These pages will load very quickly, or even instantly. They’re supposed to use 10 times less data than other sites, both saving you data and time. And with AMP sites showing at the top of web searches, you can scroll between these sites in the search results to get exactly the info you need.

This project is really good for everyone. Users get a better web experience, sites that take the initiative get more traffic, and Google gets more use. Let us know when you start seeing AMP pages show up in your search results!

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The Gmail team wants to help you manage your inbox, and tools will help you do just that, which is why new features manage to find their way into the Gmail app on a regular basis. The latest additions will help you get your point across and make it easier to accept calendar invitations.

The first part of the new update is support for Rich Text Formatting. With RTF support, users will be able to not only italicize text, but also bold it, underline it, highlight it, and color it if they so desire. This should help emphasize words to really drive home what you’re getting at. For mobile users, it’s a long time coming.

The second part of the update is support for “Instant RSVP,” which will allow you to simply tap a button to see your calendar and find out if you’re able to make it to an event. The new feature supports both Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange.

The changes should be rolling out now, but could take some time to show up. What do you think of the new additions?

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In October of 2015, Facebook first debuted “Reactions,” a series of emoji that would help Facebook users express how they feel about a post on the social network beyond just clicking the “Like” button.

Ever since their debut, Facebook has been testing out Reactions in select markets, gauging how well the new emoji are adopted by those with access to the feature. Apparently it has gone well, because Facebook has announced in an official blog post that it is rolling out Reactions globally beginning today. That includes availability both on the web and on mobile devices with the Facebook app installed.

Reactions offer six ways to interact with a post, including the standard Like button. The other options include “Love,” “Wow,” “Sad,” “Haha,” or “Angry.” The Reactions are accessible by holding down the Like button while using the mobile app, or by hovering your mouse over the Like option while using the service’s website.

Reactions availability will expand beginning today. What do you think of the new feature?

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New apps need lovin’ too, right? Every day there are thousands of additions to the Google Play store, but many go unnoticed and never receive the attention they deserve. We’ve shown in the past that this community can discover great apps and propel them to new heights. Our weekly Fresh Meat column highlights new apps with fewer than 100,000 installs. Browse our new Android app picks below and let us know which ones you enjoy.

Kaizala

Description: Kaizala, a Microsoft Garage Project, helps you get your work done by tracking bills, jobs, location and much more – and, it’s as simple as chat.

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Ubox

Description: Find a ticket or follow your recent transactions all with a single tap. Switch off notifications for Promo SMS’s and use them when needed without the noise. More control: Manage notifications for your Bills, Bankings, Updates, Bookings and more. Introducing SMS subjects for frequent SMS’s so that you can zip through your Inbox.

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Flurry

Description: With the all-new Flurry app, you can access all your apps’ usage, track your favorites, and set alerts to to be notified about changes in app performance on-the-go. These are just some of the features that make it possible for you to see the metrics that matter the most as quickly as possible:

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Sprightly

Description: Sprightly, a Microsoft Garage project, enables you to create content for your business and personal needs. Describe your products in a catalog or share pricelists with your buyers. Send ecards to your family, friends & customers on festive occasions.

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Rewind: Reverse Voice Recorder

Description: Rewind allows you to passively record your surroundings. This app continuously runs in the background and records everything your phone hears, allowing you to save recent recording when you hear something you would like to keep.

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Speedify

Description: Speedify is a new kind of VPN that lets you use Wi-Fi and 3G/4G mobile data together for fast, unbreakable Internet no matter where you are. With Speedify, your phone or tablet just works better: intelligently giving you seamless Internet as you go about your day, and a speed boost when you really need it.

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VHS Camcorder

Description: With VHS Camcorder, you’ll make home movies that look and sound like video tapes pulled out of storage after 30 years. Remember that birthday when Dad pulled out the huge camcorder and chased everyone around with it? Or that Little League game when you struck out in front of all the girls?

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Json Genie (Editor)

Description: Json Genie is a JSON editor that was created by the need of a developer. Really, really fast. It is ridiculously fast, which was really important while creating the app. Our tests reveal that it opens a 2 MB json file in under a second. We even did tests with files over 50 MB and Json Genie handled them without a sweat.

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Hub Keyboard, Preview

Description: Hub Keyboard, a Microsoft Garage project, lets you stay in context by bringing information from different services to your fingertips and help complete your tasks faster. Sign in with your Office 365 work or school account to unlock access to more information.

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Peach

Description: Life is filled with words, pictures, places, and songs worth sharing. Sometimes, a GIF says it all. When you put these things together, expressing yourself is faster, easier, and more fun. Peach connects you with friends and gives you freedom, so you can keep up with each other in a real and personal way.

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