Motorola is getting ready to launch a new experiential boutique in Chicago this holiday season called Moto Shop.

According to Motorola, nothing is more personal than a smartphone or smartwatch. So it’s opening up Moto Shop to give customers a chance to truly experience Motorola’s new line of products in person before committing to a purchase. From the blog post announcing Moto Shop:

Looking at products online can be fun, but nothing compares to experiencing them in person, especially when it comes to your smartphone or smartwatch. But don’t expect phones on display outlining technical specs — Moto Shop is a hands-on, interactive environment with dedicated areas that bring to life our marquee products and device features.Motorolaon Moto Shop

Included in the Moto Shop is an area to try on watches, an area to look at phones and see the different materials and colors you can choose from, a photo shoot set to see Moto’s new cameras in action, and a drop zone to test the Droid Turbo 2‘s shatterproof display.

Moto Shop will open on November 7 at 108 N. State St. (Suite 140 at Block 37) in Chicago, and will be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

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Not all USB Type-C cables are created equal. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Some run hot, some don’t provide as much charge as they should or say they do, and some are just plain dangerous. Thankfully, Google employee Benson Leung has taken it upon himself to sort out a bit of the mess in finding reliable, up to spec USB Type-C cables.

Benson has set up an Amazon reviews profile where he will be reviewing and detailing USB Type-C cables over time. So far, he has reviewed 7 cables and adapters, and only 2 have made the cut. He gives Belkin and iOrange-E nods for making quality cables that perform as they should. Judging by their review scores, it appears the rest of Amazon agrees with him.

To check out Benson’s review profile, check out the Amazon link below. It might be wise to do before buying an extra USB Type-C cable.

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The HTC One A9 may look nearly identical the Apple iPhone 6, but HTC seems to think it’s the perfect alternative for those who love the looks of the iPhone but the freedom offered by Android. This message is in plain view in the new HTC One A9 commercial which is now available on YouTube. During the ad, HTC highlights the One A9′s all-metal design, 24-bit BoomSound audio experience, OIS and RAW image capture and the fact that the phone is running Android Marshmallow.

Android fans may dismiss the HTC One A9 as just another iPhone clone, but we know that there are quite a few people who stick with Apple simply because they love the look of its phones. Do you think that market segment is big enough to make the HTC One A9 a success?

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AT&T currently has quite an impressive Android smartphone spread. While they may have invented monthly payment plans, AT&T is making its Next plans more attractive by throwing in a $50 Visa card when you buy any Android phone with a Next payment plan.

As always, there is quite a bit of fine print to go along with the promotion. The major hurdle is that the promo requires a new voice and data plan or the addition of a new line to an existing plan. This shouldn’t be an issue if you are planning to switch to AT&T anyways, but you’ll have to get a little creative if you’re already an AT&T customer and want to take advantage. Either way, we recommend taking a close look at the fine print before making your purchase.

With so many new Android phones currently available at AT&T, which phone will you be spending your hard earned cash on if you take advantage of AT&T’s Next promotion?

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The previously announced AT&T NumberSync will allow you to use multiple devices with one phone number. This means multiple phones or even wearables can be used as your phone, with your original phone number.

AT&T has now announced the first two devices capable of using the NumberSync service: the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE and the Samsung Gear S2. The two devices can connect to AT&T’s network and do much of what your phone can do, including make calls using your phone’s number. Your phone won’t even have to be on to do this.

The LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE is the one Android Wear-powered device of the two. It features LTE connectivity and will launch November 13 for $199.99 with a two-year contract or $15 per month for 20 months.

The Samsung Gear S2 may not feature Android Wear, but it’s still a pretty cool device. While it does not have LTE, it can use the 4G HSPA+ network. It’ll be launching on November 20 for the same price.

Both devices will need to be added to the account for $10 a month like you would any phone. Are you interested in this service? Leave a comment!

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Security is a huge deal these days, with all of our personal info online and on our mobile devices. Getting a smartphone stolen is not only a big financial burden, but the information on it could do far worse damage than an extra $800 out of your bank account for a new phone. And when getting rid of a device, just wiping it isn’t enough.

Thankfully, Google is taking security very seriously. With the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Google is now requiring OEMs to include an option for a secure wipe. This will not only perform a logical wipe (which will allow deleted files to be recovered), but also a physical wipe. This will help keep your data safe.

This is now required to use Android 6.0 and Google Play Services, though manufacturers generally offer this feature as it is. But it shows that Google is serious about security, which we can all take comfort in.

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Favoriting something with a star is a big commitment, you know? We just don’t know if we can commit to making something our favorite. And the smiley faces for Vine? It’s just too much And that’s what we’ve had to do with Twitter and Vine, which featured star symbols as a “favorite” and smileys for “likes.”

Twitter felt that the star was a strange symbol to newcomers, and the heart would be a more recognizable symbol for liking something. That’s fair, though it seems like a very insignificant change. Either way, you’ll start seeing it across all applications on all platforms, including Twitter for Android, Vine on Android, and the web.

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As of late, OnePlus has been venturing into markets other than smartphones. The company also released a standalone USB Type-C cable that will work with any phone that supports Type-C. It’s definitely a nice cable at a low price. And now, OnePlus has released an app.

This app is called Reflexion, and it allows you to take a photo with your front-facing camera and one with the rear camera. The app then combines the two images into this divided and mirrored image. It’s artsy, though I don’t know how many times you’ll use it before getting bored.

If you want to give it a shot, head over to the Play Store (or iTunes, if you roll that way) and let us know what you think!

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While Google has Gmail, its mainstay email app, available for mobile devices, it also has another option called Inbox, which the company hopes will become even more functionally worthwhile for users with the addition of a new feature called Smart Reply.

Google officially announced the new feature on Tuesday, November 3, and it works by guessing how you’d like to respond to a particular email in your inbox. The function will see three options for the user to select, which will then be used as the reply and sent to the recipient. If you wish to edit the Smart Reply option, you can do that, so if you need to add a bit more content you can. You can also choose to simply ignore the options offered up by Smart Reply and tap in your own reply as you normally would.

There’s some impressive machine learning happening with Smart Reply, and Google says it will get better over time as it learns which emails you’re typically more inclined to reply to and build natural language replies to hopefully not only save time, but also make it look like you’re not just automating the reply process. The feature will learn over time, based on the Smart Reply options you decide to go with or ultimately opt to skip.

As far as release goes, Google says the Smart Reply function will roll out to Inbox users for both Android and iOS beginning at the end of this week.

What do you think of the idea?

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Apparently it’s Nexus discount day. In addition to HTC’s Hot Deal on the Nexus 9, you can also score a $50 discount if you buy the Nexus 6P and pair it with the Huawei Watch. The promotion is only available through Huawei’s website in the US for now, and we do not know if Huawei plans on offering the same to in other countries across the globe.

The base Nexus 6P and Huawei Watch will set you back $800 after the $50 discount, but you can spend nearly $1450 if you opt for the 128GB Nexus 6P and Rose Gold Plated Stainless Steel Huawei Watch. If you do decide to take advantage of Huawei’s promotion, you will need to wait until “early to mid-December” for the Nexus 6P to show up at your door step. Fortunately, the Huawei Watch is ready to ship immediately, giving you the most attractive Android Wear timepiece to keep track of each passing hour until your Nexus arrives.

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