Google’s I/O conference isn’t set to begin until May 18, but there has to be time to register, and so Google has launched a dedicated I/O 2016 website for the event more than two months in advance.

On the site, you’ll find a dedicated countdown to the I/O 2016′s start date, May 18, which is showcased in wireframe numbers. Perhaps most important to those who want to attend the event, though, is that registration begins Tuesday, March 8, at 9:00 AM PT/12:00 PM ET, and runs until Thursday, March 10, at 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET. Once registration closes, Google will randomly choose applicants and give them the option to buy a ticket.

Ticket prices that cover the three-day event start at $900. Google will also have a limited amount of tickets for $300 for full-time students, faculty, and professors that wish to attend.

Are you planning on trying to attend this year?

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Vivo is back with another “Xplay” device, this one the Xplay5, and it’s managed to shove in a bunch of hardware specs into its “Flagship Edition” device to please spec lovers.

First and foremost, the Xplay5 Flagship Edition boasts a whopping 6GB of RAM, the first mobile device to offer that much. It also has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor under the hood, 128GB of built-in storage, and a built-in battery that measures 3600mAh that supports rapid charging. The device also features a “HiFi 3.0″ package, which Vivo says means the handset has three amplifiers for a boost to sound quality as well as a pair of SABRE Mobile DAC chips.

Then there’s the regular version of the Xplay5, which features 4GB of RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor. It also includes 128GB of built-in storage and the same 3600mAh built-in battery as the Flagship Edition.

The rest of the features are the same between the handsets. They both offer a 5.4-inch QHD Super AMOLED display and a fingerprint reader on the back. The camera on the back is a 16-megapixel shooter from Sony, featuring phase-detection autofocus and a dual-tone LED flash. There’s an 8-megapixel front-facing camera on both phones. Interestingly enough, the Xplay5 is running Android 5.1 under Vivo’s proprietary interface.

The regular edition of the Vivo Xplay5 is available to pre-order right now, and it costs 3,698 yuan (about $560). The Flagship Edition will cost 4,288 yuan (about $650), but there’s no word on when it will launch.

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This week is just full of good deals. Yesterday brought in the introduction of a great price on the Moto G (3rd Gen), and today is bringing us yet another deal, though on products from another manufacturer. The Alcatel Idol 3 is having a great sale on Amazon today, and even better is that both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models are on sale. Amazon has the 4.7-inch Idol 3 listed for $30 off regular price, down to $169.99. The 5.5-inch Idol 3 has an even larger price cut, with $100 knocked off to bring the price down to $179.99.

Alacatel’s 4.7-inch Idol 3 brings in a 720p IPS display, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of storage plus microSD card slot, 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front-facing camera, 2000mAh battery, 4G LTE support for GSM networks and Android Lollipop.

The larger 5.5-inch model packs a 1080p display, 1.5GHz + 1GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage plus microSD card, 13-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front-facing camera, 2910mAh battery, 4G LTE support for GSM networks and Android Lollipop.

Both size options also feature dual front-facing stereo speakers that are designed by JBL. Additionally, the design of the front of the phone is essentially symmetrical, and Alcatel has designed it so that it can be used in any orientation, even while making calls.

While the Alcatel Idol 4 was just announced, the Idol 3 is still a great device and packs in serious bang for your buck, especially at this incredibly low price. As long as you’re not looking for top-of-the-line flagship specs, you should be very happy with the Idol 3.

Buy the 4.7-inch Idol 3 here.

Buy the 5.5-inch Idol 3 here.

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We’re likely still a ways out from seeing Android N officially announced, but leaks are slowly trickling in. Tonight’s leak is another one from Android Police, which has received a look at Android N’s notification shade and created mock-ups based on what it saw (the original screenshots can’t be released). From what it looks like, Android N is bringing some changes to the notification shade and accompanying Quick Settings panel.

Notifications now extend the full width of the display and don’t feature a separated space between them. They contain slightly more information, such as a line revealing which app produced the notification. There also appears to be some capability for colored text now, though it’s unclear how far it extends.

Quick Settings have also seen a change. Above the notifications, there now lies a bar of Quick Settings toggles for the most common Quick Settings, such as Wi-Fi and Do Not Disturb. Opening the full Quick Settings menu reveals that it has also become full-width and features two pages to allow you to move less important toggles to the second page. There’s also an edit button, which is likely an expanded version of UI tuner options. Android Police also reports that the expandable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth menus were not in the version that it tested.

It should be noted that this is likely an early version and everything in it is subject to change until an official launch by Google. That being said, it’s interesting to see how Google may be changing Android. We’re looking forward to learning more in the coming weeks and months.

Check out the source link for a couple more mock-ups.

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It’s true that amazing things happen in the dark and water is pretty much everywhere. These facts are highlighted in two new Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge commercials which were recently published to Samsung’s YouTube channel. Fortunately, the commercials take a lighthearted approach to both subjects and giving us a reason why we should care that the new phones have improved low light camera capabilities while being protected from minor incursions with water.

My favorite line from the ads is “if you’re well below average looking, your only chance of kissing an attractive person is… yep, in the dark.” Since that describes me, I’m definitely putting the Galaxy S7 at the top of my “must have” list so that I can take a picture of that moment if it even happens.

What’s your take on Samsung’s promotional approach to its two new flagship phones?

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The newly announced Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge may be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip, but that doesn’t mean that Samsung has chosen to implement all the features that the chip offers. As it turns out, Samsung has chosen to pass on Qualcomm’s new Quick Charge 3.0 standard, opting for the older Quick Charge 2.0 standard instead. There are a few reasons why Samsung may have chosen to omit Quick Charge 3.0 from its new phones.

• Baseline charging for all models: As you may know, Samsung’s Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge will be using different chips in different markets. The Samsung Exynos 8890 is compatible with Quick Charge 2.0, but it has not been updated to take advantage of the latest 3.0 standard. If Samsung were to equip the Snapdragon 820-powered versions of the phone with Quick Charge 3.0, the Exynos 8890-powered devices would be perceived as inferior.
• Quick Charge 3.0 isn’t that much faster: Yes, we all want the latest and greatest technology, but Quick Charge 3.0 isn’t that much faster than Quick Charge 2.0. The main difference between the technologies comes down to power efficiency. Quick Charge 3.0 is more intelligent than its older counterpart and is able to dynamically adjust power output and deliver the exactly amount of energy that’s needed by the battery at all times. This means your electric bill will be slightly lower or you might be able to get a little more juice out of Quick Charge 3.0 power bank.
• Paying for new features costs money: By choosing to stick with Quick Charge 2.0, Samsung can save itself some cash. B y enabling Quick Charge 3.0, Samsung would need to pay Qualcomm a specific licensing fee, a fee which is more expensive than that of Quick Charge 2.0. The company would also need to manufacture new Quick Charge 3.0 plugs. This would also cost more in manufacturing and licensing fees.

For all we know, Samsung considered all three factors when the company chose more to include Quick Charge 3.0 in the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge. There are a lot of reasons why you should consider buying one of Samsung’s new phones, but the LG G5 is looking more appealing with each day that passes.

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McDonald’s is the latest company to jump aboard the Google Cardboard train with the introduction of its new Happy Goggles VR headset which is made from the company’s iconic Happy Meals box. Developed to celebrate Sweden’s “Sportlov” recreational holiday, McDonald’s will be putting 3,500 Happy Goggles headsets into circulation over the March 5 and March 12 weekends. If a VR headset with your Happy Meal wasn’t enough, McDonald’s has also contracted North Kingdom Stockholm to create a new VR game for Android – Slope Stars. The game can be enjoyed with any Android VR headset, but they developers have also created a standard mode so that Slope Stars can also be played without the use of a VR headset.

The Happy Goggles will likely not be making its way to markets outside of Sweden, but McDonald’s will likely be watching how its customers react to the new giveaway to see if they can leverage it in other markets in the future.

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As part of the company’s growing commitment to virtual reality, Google has now added a VR section to the Play Store. Google was one of the first entrants into the field of VR with Google Cardboard, its low-cost VR headset that utilized users’ phones to function as the display. Since then, Google has invested more into VR through partnerships and most recently, through a restructuring and the creation of a dedicated virtual reality department.

Google is now making it even easier for users to discover more about VR by creating a virtual reality section within the Google Play Store. This section highlights the capabilities of VR headsets that utilize Google Cardboard software. It also gives users a few different options to purchase Google Cardboard-compatible VR headsets.

All of this comes amidst recent rumors that Google will soon launch a successor to Google Cardboard, while also pushing further into virtual reality tech and looking for the next breakthrough. With all of its resources, Google may very well find the next big thing in VR, paving the way for a very different future.

Check out the new section for yourself by following the source link below.

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Samsung’s edge displays have been a differentiating factor in the smartphone game, not only offering a unique appearance but having some new features to go along with them. But that may soon change, as Samsung is reportedly going to be selling the edge displays to other manufacturers to use in their smartphones.

The companies allegedly in talks with Samsung are Huawei, Xiaomi, and Vivo (above is a leaked image of the Xplay5). The BlackBerry Priv apparently uses a Samsung edge display, and while it doesn’t serve any functional purpose, you have to admit that it looks pretty good.

In the end, it will result in more unique devices and that’s great for the customer. A budget Huawei or Xiaomi phone with curved screen edges sounds great, since the edge displays are only on flagships in the Samsung lineup. What do you think about Samsung giving up a differentiating factor like the curved edge displays? Leave a comment!

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ASUS has announced its plans for the Android 6.0 update we know a lot of people are waiting for. Though Marshmallow launched almost five months ago, many companies have still not released the update for their devices. We should be used to this by now, though, as it’s been a trend with Android devices since the OS came out.

ASUS will be updating a bunch of phones to Marshmallow in Q2 of 2016, so June at the latest. Here’s the list of devices to be updated:

• PadFone S (PF500KL)
• ZenFone 2 (ZE550ML, ZE551ML)
• ZenFone 2 Deluxe (ZE551ML)
• ZenFone 2 Deluxe Special Edition (ZE551ML)
• ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE500KG, ZE500KL, ZE550KL, ZE551KL, ZE600KL, ZE601KL)
• ZenFone Selfie (ZD551KL)
• ZenFone Max (ZC550KL)
• ZenFone Zoom (ZX551ML)

When these devices do receive the update, the messenger, mail, and calendar ZenUI apps will be replaced with the Google versions. If you’d like to keep the ASUS versions, they’ll be available on the Play Store. The updates are still a few months out, but at least the company isn’t abandoning these devices.

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