Not a tremendous amount to go on here, but according to Evan Blass, a.k.a. @evleaks, the Galaxy S7 and presumably the Galaxy S7 edge will be arriving stateside March 11th.
Starting to look like a Friday, March 11th Galaxy release in the U.S.
This would be almost exactly one month ahead of the release of the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge last year, but would align well for an announcement of the smartphones at Mobile World Congress at the end of February. We haven’t seen anything from Samsung on an Unpacked event for MWC this year, but they often wait until early February to send out invitations.
We have covered the rumored specs on these devices a few times now, but here’s a quick refresher on the latest. The screens of course are the big point of differentiation between the two with a 5.1-inch flat screen on the S7 and a 5.5-inch curved display for the edge. Battery capacity will also differ between the two with 3000 mAh for the S7 and 3600 in the larger S7 edge.
The rest of the specs should match up for both phones:
Samsung Exynos 8 8890 overseas and Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 in the U.S.
4GB RAM
32/64GB ROM
12MP rear camera with f/1.7 aperture
We’ll be there at MWC next month assuming that is where Samsung decides to take the wraps off the newest Galaxy devices.
Have any of you been holding out for the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge? Is there anything in particular you are hoping to see out of them before you pull the trigger?
While OnePlus is a contentious subject at the best of times, most won’t argue that they offer an interesting value proposition for those that are willing to deal with some of the company’s idiosyncrasies.
However, that value proposition just got a little less interesting for those in the U.S. and Europe, with OnePlus deciding to cut the 16GB base model of the OnePlus 2 from its offerings in those regions. That means that prospective OnePlus 2 buyers are now looking at a $389 price tag for the lone remaining configuration of the OnePlus 2.
According to OnePlus, the interest in that base configuration in both regions simply didn’t warrant continuing to sell it there, but it will remain in India and other markets where it is performing well.
The OnePlus X, starting at $249, remains for those looking for a low-priced offering from OnePlus in the U.S. or Europe.
Do you think this change will make an appreciable difference in interest in the OnePlus 2?
Welcome back to our weekly Top 10 Android App Updates column, where we take a look at the most frequently upgraded apps for the week. We’ve found that one of the best ways to discover useful apps is to find the ones that are actually being updated by the developers rather than selecting the apps with the most installs. As in the past, we’re going to filter out minor updates for the super-popular apps that have over 10 million installs, but we’ll make exceptions for apps that have had significant updates. We hope you enjoy this weekly feature and that you discover some apps that end up being useful.
Pocket Casts – Version 5.3.0
What’s new in this version:
Date based filters! Now you can show things only released in the last week and have clean, amazing episode filters.
Marshmallow support. Delicious permissions. Squishy backup. Sticky fingers. Ok that last one isn’t Android.
Stats are now kept with your sync account, so you can accumulate them across phones and compete with your enemies!
Improved voice control, try out “Listen to PODCAST NAME in Pocket Casts”. Playlist names work too.
Create calendar events – Tap on a contact, then tap the menu on the upper right and select “Schedule a call.”
Open Microsoft Office files – Tap on a recieved Word document, Excel spreadsheet or PowerPoint presentation to open the file in its’ corresponding Office app.
Now, you can discover music playing in participating U.S. Starbucks stores*, save songs to a playlist on Spotify and take the music with you when you leave. Location services must be enabled to use this feature.
Tablet users – stream the AFC playoff games and Super Bowl 50 live! You can also stream directly to your TV, using Chromecast. Note: mobile phone users do not have access to the stream.
HTC may be looking to get its street cred (and profits, of course, don’t forget profits) back with a couple Nexus devices in 2016, but maintaining an impressive update schedule on its current hardware and delivering a winner with the rumored One M10 will certainly win it plenty of fans amongst the Android faithful, too.
As is so often the case, news of these updates is coming from Mo Versi, VP of Product Management at HTC. Seriously, if you want info on an update, this is the man to follow.
Owners of the HTC One A9 should be on the look out for their January security update via OTA this morning.
HTC One (A9) unlocked owners! The Jan security updates and bug fixes is being updated via OTA this morning! Thanks.
In somewhat more surprising news, the Sprint HTC One M8 is on the cusp of receiving its Android 6.0 Marshmallow update via OTA sometime later today, not too far behind its European brethren.
Finally, we have a slew of Canadian carriers (Sasktel, Rogers, Wind and Videotron) releasing Marshmallow updates for the HTC One M9 on Monday.
This means that you get to take advantage of the always entertaining Moto Maker to customize the phone to your heart’s content. Just remember that you are likely going to want to stick with the Moto X Pure Edition, because it remains the only variant of the 2014 Moto X in the US that is guaranteed to get an update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
While there are plenty of mid-range contenders to consider in this price range now, I still like a lot of the little features that Motorola packed into this Moto X. If you start to cross over into the mid-$300s while customizing it, then I would recommend sitting back and thinking this through a bit more, but if you can get by on the base 16GB and stay in that $249-$279 range, I absolutely think the 2014 Moto X is still worthy of consideration.
You have until January 26th (Tuesday) at 10:59 a.m. Central to take advantage of this offer, so if you’re interested, hit the source link and get to Moto making.
The hits keep on coming from the Oracle court hearings. After disclosing that Google has possibly generated $31 billion from Android since its launch, further review of the transcripts revealed that Apple took in $1 billion from the revenue sharing agreement with Google that keeps Google the default search option on iOS.
After strenuous objections by both Google and Apple to this disclosure, which was never intended to be public and is potentially damaging to future negotiations for both companies, the transcript has since been removed from the court records, but the damage is already done.
While that $1 billion number was thrown out, it isn’t exactly clear what the revenue split is between the two companies. A Google witness indicated that at one time the split was 34%, but an attorney for Google objected before any further clarification could be made regarding that figure.
With Oracle spoiling to cause problems for Google, it is a safe bet that we haven’t heard the last of these proceedings.
Five years have passed and yet the legal war between Google and Oracle continues to rage on. But now, we’ve learned an interesting fact thanks to the ongoing dispute. According to Oracle’s attorney, Google has made $31 billion in revenue and $22 billion in profit from Android, numbers that Google is saying should never have been disclosed.
Oracle’s attorney, Annette Hurst, was speaking in court hearings to a federal magistrate judge and disclosed the numbers. Google is quite upset about the matter, saying that the information was extremely sensitive and part of a report that was classified as for “Attorney’s Eyes Only”. The company is now pushing to have those parts of the transcript redacted and sealed, as Hurst improperly disclosed private information about Google.
Google has always kept the financial matters of Android under wraps, and it’s easy to see why. The company clearly doesn’t want the public to know just how much revenue Android generates through advertisements and the Google Play Store. It’s unclear as to how much the improper disclosure of information will affect the case, but it’s probably safe to say that this case isn’t disappearing anytime soon. After five years of duking it out, the companies are still far from reaching an agreement.
Deals, promotions and limited-time offers are pretty common, even from wireless carriers, but Verizon doesn’t have any plans to match all of them whenever a new one crops up, even when an offer like unlimited data from its biggest rival pops up on the scene.
In an interview with CNET, Verizon Wireless CFO Fran Shammo confirmed that the Big Red carrier doesn’t have any plans to bring back unlimited data in the foreseeable future. While Verizon is aware that AT&T has its own limited-time promotion to offer the almost extinct feature, it’s just not having any of it.
“At this point, we are not going to entertain unlimited.”
Recently, AT&T launched a promotion that sees U-verse and DirecTV subscribers have access to a special plan under AT&T’s umbrella with unlimited data. The plan doesn’t extend to any customers already using AT&T that aren’t U-verse or DirecTV subscribers, though, so the pool of potential candidates is already limited.
Verizon doesn’t want to react to a limited-time promotion, it seems, and indeed confirmed that it won’t launch its own promotions and deals just because another carrier launches one.
Welcome back to Android Gaming Weekly, our weekly recap of new game releases. We still plan to cover upcoming releases and games we’re playing, but this column is dedicated to new games that you can start playing right now. Check out our top picks and let us know in the comments section if you have any suggestions for next week’s post.
Star Trek Timelines
Description: Ready your crew to explore the final frontier in the ultimate sci-fi strategy RPG: Star Trek Timelines! Join Starfleet in a truly immersive mobile experience as you boldly go where no game has gone before – across the entire history of Star Trek.
Description: It’s Monday Night! It’s time for Monday Night Monsters Football. Welcome to one-of-a-kind sports game that combines both turn-based and real time live action arcade goodness.
Description: The Westport Independent is a censorship simulator taking place in a post-war country, governed by the recently elected Loyalist Party. As the editor of one of the last independent newspapers in the country, your job is to remove and edit the content of your paper, affecting the people’s opinion of both the rebels and the Loyalist government
Description: ULTRAFLOW 2 is an arcade puzzle game which combines the gameplay of air hockey and mini-golf, in a chill and minimalist experience. No score, no timer, the only challenge is your dexterity. Just fling the ball to the goal!
Description: SUPERMEGAQUEST presents ANCESTOR! A super fun puzzle action runner that will challenge your brain and dazzle your eyes. Venture across a dangerous landscape riddled with traps and enemies.
Description:Experience the next generation runner game with gorgeous 2D graphics! Choose your favorite Smurf and embark on an epic adventure to free your fellow Smurfs from Gargamel!
Description: Are you GRE aspirant? If learning new words is something that you have to do, then this is a perfect game for you. If you don’t enjoy learning new words, this game will help you enjoy the process. If you already enjoy the process of learning words, then you’ll simply love this game
Description: Become the greatest sea captain in history and use your little grey cells to find and destroy enemy ships! Play alone or clash with your friends in global leaderboards. If you love nonograms or battleship solitaire, you will feel right at home in Puzzle Fleet.
Description: The ultimate strategic RPG you’ve been waiting for! Pick and choose from over 250 Heroes to come up with the strongest formation! Test your limits in various Dungeons and PvP Systems for a whole new RPG experience!
Description: An epic tale of Adventure, Glory and Pizza! Take a trip to a time when battles were set atop tables and magic was limited only by your imagination! Collect powerful cards to crush your competition in an immersive cardboard universe!
Playful and fun-loving aren’t the terms that I would typically associate with Microsoft, but the Mimicker Alarm app comes from Microsoft Garage — they produce projects in small teams distributed throughout Microsoft, like Google Labs does inside of Google — which is perhaps where they keep all the zanier folk.
So what exactly is the Mimicker Alarm app? You will no doubt be shocked to hear that it is an app designed to wake you up in the morning. Setting up the alarm looks very much like any other alarm app, and it adheres well to Material Design principles for those that value that kind of thing. Where it departs from the run of the mill alarm app is when that alarm goes off. You can snooze for five minutes, but as soon as you dismiss the alarm you are given 30 seconds to complete a challenge.
In order to make sure that you not only wake up, but actually stay awake, the Mimicker Alarm app forces you to play a game with it in order to shut it off. “Game” is perhaps a strong term for what the app asks you to do; tasks can vary from making a specific expression at your camera, taking a picture of something that matches a specific color or repeating back a tongue twister. The point is that they require you to focus on a task and likely long enough that you will be forced out of your restful state and be ready to face the day.
The game relies on Microsoft’s Project Oxford, which you may have seen previously powering things like How-Old.net, which attempted to identify the users age from a photo, or the TwinsOrNot.net site that logically enough tried to compare two photos and identify whether they are of twins (or the same person).
The main intent of this app, as with previous projects leveraging Project Oxford, is to show off the capabilities of the APIs. It is entirely open source, with the code available on GitHub. This is a useful and clever app that you can download for free if you are looking to change up your morning wake up routine.
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