Author: Clinton

Today’s Deal over at Amazon is on the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua.  This 5″ Android phone is down to $149 over at Amazon, a savings of over $50.  The phone is unlocked and is compatible with GSM carriers here in the US (AT&T and T-Mobile), it has 16GB of storage which can be expanded thanks to the MicroSD slot and is water IP68 certified against dust and water.  That means this phone is dust and water proof up to 1.5 meters deep for up to 30 minutes.  Powering the Xperia M4 is the Snapdragon 6.15 processor clocked at 1.5GHz with 2GB of RAM installed.  Perhaps the deal clincher for some readers will be the fact that Android Marshmallow is available for this phone.

With Android Nougat now only weeks away from release, developers are starting to prepare their apps for support of the release.  Google is no exception and the latest update to their clock and alarm app, Google Clock, is squarely aimed at getting it ready for Nougat.  The update, which is in the Play Store now, also works on Lollipop and Marshmallow but a lot of the focus is on Nougat to be fair.  In fact, the first thing noted in the Release Notes is support for Nougat.  With that support comes support for multi-screen, the new feature that will come in the release that allows you to view more than one app at a time.  Google Clock will support that natively so you can setup timers or alarms while working on with another app.

The latest update to The Weather Channel app for Android brings a new forecast feature for those who like to run or walk.  The new GoRun forecast gives you current conditions as well as conditions later on in the day or the next day so you can plan your walk or run accordingly.  The forecast gives you a 1-10 scale with 10 being the best time to run based on the weather forecast that includes precipitation, humidity and air quality.  This new forecast is found by scrolling down to the bottom of the main forecast display on the app, just below the radar section.

Fans of Major League Soccer, there is an update of the MLS app waiting for you.  The updated app, version 7.3 for those keeping score at home, brings several new features and updates.  The biggest of those updates is information and details about the upcoming All-Star game in San Jose.  That match happens on July 28th and is against the English Premier League team, Arsenal.  Now the app provides you more details and information about the game including roster information.  When the match is ongoing, you’ll be able to get play-by-play details of the match on your phone just like you do normal MLS matches.

Readers who own the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 on the AT&T network have a nice surprise waiting for them this morning.  The carrier has rolled out the July 1st Android Security Update to the device in what must be record time.  The update, a 22.6MB sized download, will give your Note 5 all of the security fixes and improvements from the first security patch released this month by the Android team.  Remember that there were two patches this month, one dated July 1 and the other July 5.  In the Release Notes, according to the Kernel version, this patch was compiled on July 4 so it will not have any of the fixes or driver updates that were in the 2nd patch.  Those, likely, will be rolled up into an August update for the Galaxy Note 5 on the carrier’s network.

The Android development team at Google has rolled out what is likely the last Developer Preview for Android Nougat.  The update takes devices to build NPD90G and it is available for all of the Nexus devices that have been a part of the beta testing process.  Those devices include

• Nexus 5X
• Nexus 6
• Nexus 6P
• Nexus 9
• Nexus Player
• Pixel C
• General Mobile 4G (Android One)

For those how have devices registered in the Android Beta program, the OTA update should be coming to you over the course of the next few hours.  If you want to manually flash your device to the newest build, the images are available already.