Plenty of rumors had already pegged the Galaxy View for all it’s worth, especially a pre-order page that detailed its specifications before Samsung could get around to officially announcing the giant tablet. But the company has finally decided the time is right, and now the Galaxy View tablet is officially official.

Here are the official specs: An 18.4-inch 1080p HD display, with an octa-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz. It’ll also have 2GB of RAM and come in 32GB and 64GB options. LTE connectivity is optional, and there’s a microSD card slot for expandable storage. The front-facing camera is a 2.1-megapixel shooter. It’s running Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box. The battery is measured in at 5700mAh, and Samsung says that means owners can play back video for up to eight hours.

Yes, the Galaxy View does indeed feature a carrying handle.

Unfortunately Samsung didn’t open up about pricing or availability, as is usually par for the course. However, previous rumors have suggested the tablet will start at $599 for the 32GB model.

What do you think of the Galaxy View? Your next tablet?

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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.

Pixolor

Description: Pixolor is a circle floating over your apps showing a zoomed view of the underlying pixels, including color information and coordinates of the central pixel.

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 Boomerang from Instagram

Description: Boomerang from Instagram makes everyday moments fun and unexpected. Create captivating mini videos that loop back and forth, then share them with your friends.

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Frontier Airlines

Description: Frontier’s mobile app makes travelling easier than ever before! Wanna skip the lines? Use our mobile boarding pass and go straight to the security checkpoint. Need to add a bag or select your seat? This app makes it easy.

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Track & Treat

Description: Keep track of your young goblins and ghosts as they trick-or-treat this Halloween. Let friends, family and neighbors know they are heading over or ready to meet up for Halloween fun.

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Data Perks

Description: With Data Perks, the equation is simple: Take surveys, shop, sign up for subscriptions and more from popular brands to earn data, measured in megabytes (MB). Your earned data is added to your Data Perks account.

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Samsung Smart View

Description: You can send videos, photos and music stored your mobile device to Samsung TV screen using this app. Quickly and easily send your photos, videos and music from your mobile to enjoy on your Samsung Smart TV.

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Disney Gif

Description: Express yourself in a whole new way with Disney Gif! Whether you’re feeling happy, sassy, villainous or magical, there’s no better way to show how you feel than with your favorite characters and moments. 

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Monster Time

Description: Get the monster out of you! 8 monsters collection designed to be customized. Don’t be afraid to take a different monster every day. People loves the variety! Monsters invade our wrists to surprise everyone. 

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Vacation Planner

Description: This app is designed to help you find nice places to visit on your next vacation or around your current location.

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easyHome

Description: With easyHome you don’t have to press your homebutton anymore! Just touch it slightly like on screen navigation buttons!! Experience your Galaxy in a completely new way!

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Alcatel OneTouch has seriously impressed us lately with this year’s mobile device releases, with their unlocked budget Idol 3 variants receiving great reviews. Alcatel OneTouch have figured out how to make budget devices sing and compete in some arenas with current generation flagships. Do they know something the other mobile device manufacturers don’t?

Recently, Alcatel OneTouch released the Conquest through Boost Mobile, the popular Sprint MVNO. If you’re not familiar with Boost Mobile or MVNOs — Mobile Virtual Network Operators — they are mobile service providers that don’t actually own the wireless networks they use. In the US, Boost Mobile is a subsidiary of Sprint, and it uses their network. With Boost Mobile, you buy your phones upfront and you are contract-free. Boost Mobile offers no-contract “unlimited” plans for as low as $35 a month.

As for the Alcatel OneTouch Conquest, this is a budget rugged device exclusively on Boost Mobile. Right now, Boost Mobile is offering a $50 credit deal if you switch to Boost Mobile with the Conquest. It’s got a 5-inch display, is running a skinned version of Android 5.0 Lollipop, and is waterproof for up to 30 minutes under a meter of water. Here are the specs:

• 5.64 x 2.89 x 0.36 in (143 x 73.3 x 9.2 mm)
• Weight 4.94 oz (140 g)
• 5.0-inch 1280×720 IPS display
• 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor
• 5-megapixel rear, 5-megapixel front cameras
• 8GB of storage, 32GB expandable microSD card slot
• 1GB of RAM
• 2500mAh non-removable battery
• 3G/4G LTE/Enhanced LTE connectivity
• Skinned Android 5.0 Lollipop
• IPx5 and IPx7 certified water and dust resistant

What I like

• Battery life is amazing. Idle drain is insanely good. I’ve left the phone for over 24 hours thinking it would be dead, but when I went to go pick it up, I find it ready to go for several more hours. My Nexus 6 could never do that.
• Android 5.0 Lollipop. I like Alcatel OneTouch’s lightly skinned version of Lollipop. It’s simple and it looks nice.
• Ruggedness. It just brings comfort knowing I don’t have to worry about water damage. When you unplug the device at any port, the phone reminds you to cover up the ports. I’m going to dunk in it water and take picture of it for the full review. Let’s see if this phone has what it takes.
• Cost. This is a really decent rugged phone for the price. I’m not sure if there’s really any competition at this price point for a device like this. I’ll be looking more into this.

What I don’t like

• It’s a bit slow. Simple games like Granny Smith are absolutely fine, but I feel like I’m using my computer from 2007. Things just take a bit longer to open than I would hope. I wish Alcatel OneTouch upped the RAM even a little bit.
• There is nothing fancy about the look of this phone. This is generally on par with rugged phones, but special-looking it is not.

Overall this phone has been nice to work with so far. I’ve even been decently impressed with Boost Mobile coverage, which was lame the last time I worked with it. I was even in an area recently where my Verizon phone had no service and the Conquest was going strong.

How do you feel about the Alcatel OneTouch Conquest? Think it’s a good match with Boost Mobile? Are you in the market for a rugged budget phone? Let us know your thoughts and questions in the comments section below.

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Remember Google Listen? Google’s podcast app for Android was killed off years ago, but in 2015, it’ll finally get a successor.

Google has announced that Google Play Music will soon support podcasts. That means that you’ll be able to search for and browse podcasts, and Google will also be using the same tech that crafts its contextual music playlists to recommend podcasts to you based on what you’re doing, how you’re feeling, and what you’re interested in.

Google isn’t saying when Play Music will begin supporting podcasts, only teasing that it’ll have more info to share in the “coming months.” The good news is that Google is now letting podcasters upload episodes so that when the service goes live, we’ll actually have something to listen to.

Here are some of the podcasters and networks that are already uploading shows to Google Play Music:

• 5by5
• Dan Carlin
• Dave Ramsey
• Earwolf
• Feral Audio
• Gimlet Media
• HBO
• Head Gum
• HowStuffWorks
• Loud Speakers Network
• Nerdist/Legendary
• Public Radio International
• Radiotopia/PRX
• Sideshow Network
• Slate/Panoply
• StarTalk Radio
• This Week in Tech
• Tim Ferriss

Podcast support in Google Play Music is a big deal. There’s no shortage of podcast apps already available on Android, but some folks may not want to try and sort through all of the options to find a good one. Google Play Music will let them use a built-in, quality app from Google to browse podcasts and get recommendations for new ones, giving the podcast scene a boost in the process.

Do you listen to podcasts on your Android device right now? If so, what’s your preferred podcast app?

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In August of this year, Google unveiled a new router thanks to a partnership with TP-Link, called the OnHub. Now the company is back with another OnHub-branded router, but this time it’s built by ASUS and has a slightly more expensive price tag.

This is the ASUS OnHub router, and, as is immediately apparent, it offers a unique design. Google says the design is specifically meant to be plain so that owners can place it anywhere in their house and it should fit right in. That design also facilitates a unique feature addition, which is called Wave Control. With this, the owner can wave their hand over the top of the router, and this should “boost the Wi-Fi speed for a particular device.”

There’s a single USB 3.0 port on the OnHub from ASUS, and it supports speeds up to 1.9Gbps. There are seven dual-band antennas built inside the router, a single LAN port and one WAN port.

Google has confirmed that the ASUS OnHub will be available to pre-order from some retailers beginning this week, and it will be priced at $219.99.

What do you think of the ASUS OnHub? Better designed than the one offered by TP-Link?

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Hard to believe that we’re now on the precipice of the tenth Un-carrier event, but here we are. And if past events have been any indicator, this one could be yet another initiative that sends other carriers reeling to catch up in some capacity.

Via its official blog, the Magenta carrier has officially announced Un-carrier X and scheduled it for Tuesday, November 10. The tagline reads, “We never hit pause,” and the event take place in Los Angeles, Calif. As far as what could be announced at the event, that’s still up in the air. However, it should be noted that T-Mobile CEO John Legere recently teased that the next Un-carrier event would be coming “to a theater near you.” Couple that with the aforementioned tagline, and coming to the assumption that it could have something to do with movies doesn’t seem that far-off.

We're keeping the #Uncarrier revolution rolling; no reason to hit pause now: 11.10.15 #UncarrierX https://t.co/8gbhuOeZST

— T-Mobile (@TMobile) October 27, 2015

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Of course, it could be anything at this point. If T-Mobile has plans to enact something like Music Freedom, which allows its subscribers to stream music from some streaming music services without counting against their data allowance, but for movies? Would that win you over to the Magenta Side?

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Verizon Wireless had gone to Twitter to tease some upcoming smartphones, which were widely speculated to offer the Turbo and Maxx family names, and sure enough the pair of devices are now official.

Verizon and Motorola took the stage to announce two new Android-powered smartphones with the DROID Turbo 2 and DROID Maxx 2. The first of the pair is the high-end option, even as it offers a smaller display than the latter, but both are noteworthy devices for their own strengths. Of course, if you are someone who is always scared you might drop and break your handset and hate cases, the Turbo 2 might be the handset you take a second look at.

That’s because the DROID Turbo 2′s display, which offers a 2560×1440 resolution on a 5.4-inch AMOLED panel, is shatterproof thanks to Motorola’s ShatterShield technology. That protects the handset from shattering or even cracking for up to four years.

As far as the other specifications go, the DROID Turbo 2 features an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor clocked at 2.0GHz, 32GB or 64GB of built-in storage and a microSD card slot for expandable storage, and 3GB of RAM. There’s a 21-megapixel camera on the back and a 5-megapixel front-facing shooter on the other side. The battery is measured in at 3760mAh, and Motorola says that will offer you 48 hours of battery life on a single charge. It’s outfitted with TurboPower, which means you can charge the device for 15 minutes and get 13 hours of battery life.

Finally, the device is running Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box, but the companies say that an update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow is coming soon.

The Motorola DROID Turbo 2 features Moto Maker support, which means you can select different back covers (ballistic nylon, leather, or soft grip plastic), choose a variety of colors for accents, and even get a message laser-etched onto the back plate.

The other device to see the light of day today is the DROID Maxx 2, which features a 1080p HD display measuring in at 5.5 inches. It doesn’t offer Motorola’s ShatterShield technology, though. Under the hood there’s an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor, a 21-megapixel camera on the back, and a battery measured in at 3630mAh. It offers TurboCharge, too, which means you can get 8 hours of extra battery life for only 15 minutes of charging. It’s running Android 5.1 out of the box, but an update to Android 6.0 is coming.

Verizon was more than happy to go over launch dates, and even pricing. Both the DROID Turbo 2 and Maxx 2 will launch on Thursday, October 29, both in its physical retail stores and online. If you opt to get the Turbo 2, Verizon will accept the trade-in of your current device and give you up to $300 off the handset, even if your current phone’s screen is cracked.

Here’s how the pricing breaks down:

• DROID Turbo: 24 monthly payments of $20
• 32GB DROID Turbo 2: 24 monthly payments of $26
• 64GB DROID Turbo 2: 24 monthly payments of $30. This includes one design refresh, which will let you redesign your device in Moto Maker one time over the course of your 24 month plan.
• DROID Maxx 2: 24 monthly payments of $16

The handsets are almost here — which one do you think you’ll pick up?

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Today, October 27, there’s a special deal for HTC’s little RE Camera that might get any fence-sitters to finally take the plunge.

As part of its official Hot Deals program, HTC is now officially listing the RE Camera for only $50. That includes the choice of four different colors:  green, orange, blue and white. For anyone keeping track, that means the price drop sees the RE Camera at a 75% discount versus its original asking price. It’s available only for a limited time, though, and ends at 11:59 PM PT/2:59 AM ET (Wednesday).

As a refresher, the RE Camera features a 16MP sensor that can record HD video. It’s compatible with both Android and Apple’s iOS platform, as long as you’re running Android 4.3 and later or iOS 7 and up.

Do you plan on picking up a RE Camera for $50?

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Remember when the HTC One A9 was made official and HTC said that its $399.99 price as a “limited time offer”? Well now we know just how limited it is.

HTC says that the One A9’s price will go up to $499.99 at 12:01 am on November 7. That means that the company’s new Android phone will cost $100 more than it does right now.

The HTC One A9 isn’t the most high-end phone around, but at $399.99, it’s a solid unlocked option. It’s got a metal body, respectable features, and a promise from HTC that it’ll get Android OS updates within 15 days of Google pushing them to Nexus devices. At $499.99, though, the One A9 will face some new competition. The One A9 does still have some special features going for it, like Uh-Oh Protection and its smallish size, so HTC could focus on those features to push the A9.

What do you think of the HTC One A9? Will you be buying one before its price goes up on November 7?

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Google has finally released some (very vague) numbers on usage of its new payment app, Android Pay. Google’s senior vice president of ads and commerce, Sridhar Ramaswamy, says that “millions” of people linked their bank cards to Android Pay since its September launch and that 60% of those people had never used Google Wallet. Seems like releasing a new service instead of sticking with Wallet was a major win for Google.

He also announced that Android Pay will be getting loyalty rewards programs, the first of which will be Coca-Cola. Swiping your phone at Coca-Cola vending machines will earn you points for future soda purchases. More loyalty programs will come later.

Android Pay looks to be working out far better than Google Wallet ever did, so if you haven’t tried it before, check it out on the Play Store!

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