Google is following through on its promise of new Android emoji, and its doing so soon.

Google’s Hiroshi Lockheimer just Tweeted that new emoji are coming to Nexus devices starting next week. They’ll be included as part of a new system image since they’ll come with a new keyboard, font, and new code. Lockheimer also confirmed that the new emoji and font will be shared with OEMs so that they can update their own devices with the new characters.

Look! New emoji coming to #Nexus next week. Fonts and tech details shared with OEMs to include in their updates too. http://pic.twitter.com/GwvKw2d67p

— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) December 3, 2015

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Emoji are nothing new, but they’ve experienced a surge in popularity recently. As a result, Android’s emoji have caught a lot of criticism lately, especially as iOS users have gotten new characters like a taco and middle finger. The good news is that Google is listening to its customers and bringing some fresh emoji to their own platform. And while only Nexus devices will get the new emoji next week, we imagine that most OEMs will include the new characters in upcoming software updates.

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We haven’t heard much from Andy Rubin ever since he left Google more than one year ago, but that’s changing today thanks to a new report that claims that Rubin may want to get back into the smartphone game.

According to a report from The Information, Rubin is interested in starting up “an Android phone company.” He’s currently working to recruit employees for the effort, this rumor claims, and it’s said that he’s probably doing so through his Playground Fund investment group. Playground Fund has raised around $300 million to date.

Because Rubin is held in such high regard in the mobile world — he’s often referred to as “the father of Android” — any company that he helps to start would immediately garner quite a bit of attention. Unfortunately, there’s not much else known about Rubin’s new phone ambitions right now. For example, it’s not clear if he would actually lead this new Android phone company or if he simply wants to start it up and then step aside, or if he’d make a premium smartphone to take on the likes of the Nexus 6P and Galaxy S6 or if his device would target the more affordable market. Considering Rubin’s history with Android, though, you can color us intrigued by today’s report.

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After a long transition period, Songza has announced that it will be shutting down on January 31, 2016, as it completes its merger with Google Play Music. Google purchased Songza in July 2014 and said that no immediate changes were planned for the service. Since that time, Songza’s features have slowly been added to Google Play Music until complete parity of features was reached in June 2015.

Now that all of Songza’s services have been rolled into Google Play Music, the service will shut down for cohesiveness. Songza’s founders are urging users to make the switch and they’ve spoken about the work that they put into getting the transition just right, making sure that no features were lost in the switch.

As of today, Songza is notifying users of the shutdown by email and notifications within the app and website. If you head to the app, you’ll be prompted to migrate your Songza account to Google Play Music, which will save your favorite playlists, recent stations and thumbs-upped songs, making it a seamless transition.

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It hasn’t been too long since Android 6.0 Marshmallow was released, and now manufacturers are beginning to push out updates for Marshmallow. HTC is now sending out an update to Marshmallow for (surprisingly!) the HTC One M8. The One M8 is HTC’s flagship from last year, which is why we’re more than a little surprised that its HTC’s first device to be updated to Marshmallow.

HTC One M9 owners don’t need to fear too much. HTC’s own Mo Versi confirmed that the Marshmallow update for the One M9 is coming soon, and they’ll let customers know when it’s ready. HTC likely just ran into a few more bugs with the One M9 during testing, causing it to take a bit longer.

The Marshmallow update is now being pushed to the unlocked HTC One M8 and should be sent out to all unlocked devices within the next 24 hours. Versi also mentioned that things are going well in regards to the carrier versions, and that HTC is working closely with the carriers to ensure timely updates.

If you get the update, drop a comment and let us know!

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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.

ASUS Router

Description: ASUS Router is a revolution app to make it very easy to manage your home network. AP mode is supported now!!! And more router models, and DSL series would be supported in the future!

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ES File Explorer Pro

Description: Manage your files just like you do on your desktop or laptop using Multiple Select, Cut/Copy/Paste, Move, Create, Delete, Rename, Search, Share, Send, Hide, Create Shortcut, and Bookmark.

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Storehouse

Description: Storehouse is a fast and easy way to share a collection of photos from your Android phone. It’s a great way to create a collage, album or tell a story and share all of the moments that made the memory.

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Arts & Culture

Description: Explore artworks, artifacts, and more from over 850 museums, archives, and organizations worldwide that have partnered with Google Cultural Institute to bring their collections and stories online.

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Squarespace Commerce

Description: The Squarespace Commerce App lets you fulfill orders, manage product inventory, and resolve customer issues from your Android device.

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Fan TV

Description: Browse over one million movies and shows. Find where to watch them across Google Play, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Amazon, Comedy Central, NBC and 40 other premium services.

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PAUSE

Description: Based on the ancient principles of Tai Chi and mindfulness practice, PAUSE brings the act of focused attention to your mobile device. Using a patent-pending technique and a unique approach to modern technology, you can easily start the journey to relaxation – anywhere and anytime.

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Adobe Premiere Clip

Description: Premiere Clip is a free video editor that makes it fast and fun to create quality videos that can be easily shared – or easily opened in Adobe Premiere Pro CC for extra polish.

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NOGGIN Watch Kids TV Shows

Description: NOGGIN is a video service for preschoolers. Start your 7-day FREE trial today! Subscribe and your kids can watch an expanding library of hundreds of episodes of quality preschool TV shows, including Gullah Gullah Island, Little Bear, Franklin and Friends, and Oobi!

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AwSMS BETA

Description: AwSMS is an SMS/MMS replacement app that offers tons of customization options. Features: Unique Heads Up Quick Reply, Per Contact Avatar Color Options, Per Conversation Customization, Snooze Notifications, Night Mode and Android Wear Support.

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We’ve seen a lot of wearables hit the market in the past couple of years, but the majority have been watches and bands, with an occasional exception here and there. While the options have grown in variety, the market itself is still surprisingly homogenous. So how about wearables for your feet?

Enter ShiftWear, an extremely intriguing new pair of shoes that integrates technology directly into the shoe itself. In fact, the sidewalls of the shoes are actually e-ink displays. That likely sounds like a crazy concept, and it is, but it’s just crazy enough to be ridiculously cool.

Putting e-ink displays into the sidewalls of the shoes enables customization of the shoe design on a whim. The displays connect to an app on your phone that allows you to simply change the design as you please. ShiftWear sneakers even support animation, which means that you can put animations on the sides of your shoes, making it an incredibly cool feature. You can also use static images, which, because of the e-ink technology, won’t use any power until you change them.

ShiftWear have batteries that last for roughly 30 days, give or take a bit depending on your use of animations. The company behind ShiftWear also has some interesting plans if it reaches certain funding levels. For example, if $2 million in funding is reached, the company will integrate a technology that allows ShiftWear to charge as you walk, using the energy from your steps. In addition to that, ShiftWear will also feature wireless charging if this funding level is reached.

ShiftWear is currently in active funding on Indiegogo, with pricing starting at $150 for the low-end pair of shoes, and going up to $350 for the most elaborate pair. The minimum funding goal of $25,000 has already been reached, and as mentioned, there are several different pricing tiers that add perks when reached.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup seems to get all the attention, but you should definitely check out the company’s new Galaxy A lineup for 2016 if you’re in the market for a great mid-range smartphone. The new Samsung Galaxy A7, A5 and A3 are all built with aluminum and glass, but the internal specifications of the phones are all slightly different, diminishing along with their screen sizes.

The Samsung Galaxy A7 sports the best list of specs, with a 5.5-inch FHD (1920×1080) Super AMOLED display, 1.6GHz octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, microSD card slot, fingerprint scanner, 13-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization, 5-megapixel front-facing camera and 3,300mAh battery. The Galaxy A5′s specs get bumped down to a 5.2-inch FHD display with 2GB of RAM and a 2,900mAh battery, while the Galaxy A3 only has a 4.7-inch 720p display with 1.5GB of RAM and loses OIS and the fingerprint scanner.

Samsung is planning to release all three phones in China by the middle of this month, with global availability expected in early Q1 of 2016. Pricing for the three phones isn’t yet available, but we’re sure they will not be the cheapest mid-range smartphones once they do go on sale.

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)

• Network: LTE Cat.6
• Display: 5.5-inch FHD (1920×1080) Super AMOLED
• AP: 1.6GHz Octa Core
• OS: Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
• Camera: Rear: 13MP OIS (F1.9), Front: 5MP (F1.9)
• Video: MP4,M4V,3GP,3G2,WMV,ASF,AVI,FLV,MKV,WEBM
• Audio: MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
• Additional features: MST technology(Samsung Pay), Samsung KNOX, S-Voice, Dual SIM option
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth® v 4.1, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC (UICC, eSE)
• Sensor: Accelerometer, Proximity, Geomagnetic, RGB Light, Hall Fingerprint scanner
• Memor: 3GB RAM + 16GB Storage
• Micro SD slot (up to 128GB)
• Dimension: 151.5 x 74.1 x 7.3mm, 172g
• Battery: 3,300mAh, Fast Charging

Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)

• Network: LTE Cat.6
• Display: 5.2-inchFHD (1920×1080) Super AMOLED
• AP: 1.6GHz Octa Core
• OS: Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
• Camera: 13MP OIS(rear), 5MP (front)
• Video: MP4,M4V,3GP,3G2,WMV,ASF,AVI,FLV,MKV,WEBM
• Audio: MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
• Additional features: MST technology(Samsung Pay), Samsung KNOX, S-Voice, Dual SIM option
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth® v 4.1, ANT+, USB 2.0,
• NFC (UICC, eSE)
• Sensor: Accelerometer, Proximity, Geomagnetic, RGB Light, Hall Fingerprint scanner
• Memory: 2GB RAM + 16GB Storage
• Micro SD slot (up to 128GB)
• Dimension: 144.8 x 71.0 x 7.3mm , 155g
• Battery: 2,900mAh, Fast Charging

Samsung  Galaxy A3 (2016)

• Network: LTE Cat.4
• Display: 4.7-inch HD (1280×720) Super AMOLED
• AP: 1.5 GHz Quad Core
• OS: Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
• Camera: Rear: 13MP (F1.9), Front: 5MP (F1.9)
• Video: MP4,M4V,3GP,3G2,WMV,ASF,AVI,FLV,MKV,WEBM
• Audio: MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MID, MIDI, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA
• Additional features: Samsung KNOX, S-Voice, Dual SIM option
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth® v 4.1, ANT+, USB 2.0, NFC (UICC)
• Sensor: Accelerometer, Proximity, Geomagnetic, RGB Light, Hall
• Memory: 1.5GB RAM + 16GB Storage
• Micro SD slot (up to 128GB)
• Dimension: 134.5 x 65.2 x 7.3mm, 132g
• Battery: 2,300mAh

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HTC has yet to announce when the re-worked HTC Grip will launch, but a new listing on the Bluetooth SIG product database shows that HTC and UnderArmour are working on a new fitness-focused device. Named the UA Scale, the new Bluetooth-enables smart scale will measure weight and body fat, likely transferring the data to UnderArmour’s UA Record app in your smartphone. The official product description reads: “HTC & UA provide a Bluetooth scale to measure weight and body fat.”

While smart scales are not a new concept, the few that are currently on the market are all basically the same. The Garmin Index Smart Scale and the FitBit Aria both measure weight, body mass index, body fat and muscle mass, keeping track of all the details in their respective apps while tracking your progress over time. If HTC and UnderArmour do get around to launching the HTC Grip, a Bluetooth connected smart scale seems to be the perfect companion product.

With the UnderArmour brand and marketing support, do you think HTC’s connected devices will be able to improve the company’s bottom line in 2016?

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The BlackBerry Priv finally launched last month, bringing an end to a seemingly endless stream of rumors and speculation. And if you picked up BlackBerry’s first Android phone, you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s now getting its first software update.

BlackBerry says that its now pushing its inaugural update to the Priv that includes improvements to the camera, performance, stability, and security. The update weighs in at 475MB and can be grabbed by going into Settings > About > System Updates on your Priv. Note that the update is currently only rolling out to units purchased from ShopBlackBerry. Carrier-branded models will get the update starting on December 7.

Here’s BlackBerry’s official changelog for the update:

• An improved camera: We’ve implemented a number of tweaks that improve the speed of our camera app, and re-tuned it for better low-light image quality.
• Better performance: We’ve also tweaked the PRIV’s software to improve overall system performance
• Improved stability: The update further includes a number of adjustments designed to improve device reliability and reduce instances of crashing and freezing.
• Enhanced security: Lastly, the release includes December’s security patches – rest easy knowing your device is protected against the latest Android security threats.

BlackBerry also says that it’ll update some of its custom Android apps starting December 14. Here’s what those updates will entail:

• Camera: Now supports 16:9 photos
• Keyboard: Increased language support and emojis added to predictive typing
• Hub & Contacts: Now includes WhatsApp
• DTEK by BlackBerry: More notification options to alert you when apps use your info

It’s nice to see BlackBerry pushing the Priv’s update out around one month after its release. It shows that the company is committed to keeping it up to date — including with the latest security updates — and that it’s taking its first Android phone seriously, which it should since there’s a lot riding on the Priv’s success or failure.

Have you tried a BlackBerry Priv yet? If so, what do you think of it?

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Google is constantly working to make using the Internet on our phone better, and it recently made two big updates that’ll do just that.

First up, Google Chrome is getting an improved Data Saver mode that’ll reduce data usage by up to 70 percent. It does this by blocking “most” images when you load a web page on a slow connection. If you’d like to load the images on a page, you can do so by tapping the individual images that you want to see or hitting a “Load Images” button to bring ‘em all up.

Google says that this expanded Data Saver will launch to Chrome users in India and Indonesia first, followed by rollouts in other countries in the coming months. The feature is targeted at folks that routinely find themselves on slow connections, as it’ll help to speed up the page loading process and conserve data for folks on limited data plans by blocking images that they don’t care about.

The other notable feature being rolled out by Google will help you to dig up images that you previously searched for and found interesting. Once you perform a Google image search while logged in, you can simply tap an image and hit the “Save” button that’ll pop up. You can then easily find these bookmarked images again later on, and you can even organize them into folders to make it easier to locate a particular image once you’ve amassed a large number of bookmarks.

Google says that this image bookmarking feature is currently available in the US and that it’ll work on all major browsers on both Android and iOS.

Sources: Google Chrome Blog, Inside Search Blog

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