For owners of the Blackberry Priv, today is a good day. Starting today, the Android Marshmallow update for the device is rolling out with all of the goodness of the release itself along with improvements to Priv specific features and apps. The update is just now rolling out so it will take some time to reach everyone. For those who are on carrier locked devices like those on T-Mobile and AT&T, the roll out starts next Tuesday, May 3rd.
Google has finally rolled out an update to Gmail that brings support for Exchange to the masses. The update is rolling out to the Google Play Store now and you should see the update come to you via OTA update over the course of the next few days. Once you do, you will be able to add an Exchange server to the app, unifying your inbox with your Gmail and other mail services. Gmail to this point has only offered Exchange support on Nexus devices which mean that corporate users had to use multiple apps to deal with their email.
Today marks the first birthday of Project Fi, Google’s MVNO solution supported by T-Mobile and Sprint. A year ago today the company announced the carrier solution that at the time was only supported by the then new Nexus 6. Since then, the service has grown to support the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X and has added a data-only service for certain tablets.
One of the accessories that really makes the Nexus 9 a productivity powerhouse is the Folio Keyboard for the tablet. Priced at $60, nearly $100 less than what it was a debut, this magnetically attaching keyboard and cover gives you a great feeling and functional keyboard while providing protection for your tablet at the same time. I have been using the Folio Keyboard over the course of the last several weeks and I have to say that I am impressed with the performance and ease-of-use. While not everyone needs a keyboard for their tablet, if you have a Nexus 9 and need one, this is not a bad option to consider.
The Bank of America app for Android has been updated and with it comes support for fingerprint support for sign in. Now if you have an Android phone running Android Marshmallow that has a fingerprint scanner, you can now use it to sign into the app to get to your accounts. The update takes advantage of Marshmallow’s fingerprint API and adds to the app’s already support of Samsung’s fingerprint API.
With the highly anticipated 6th season of Game of Thrones kicking off this Sunday, you can get a great deal on all of the previous seasons right in the Google Movies & TV store. Seasons right now are down to just $14.99 or you can buy all of the seasons together for $79.99. Given that each season normally sells for $38.99, this is a huge discount on all five seasons together. The price is certainly temporary and there is no uplift for HD. $14.99 gets you each full season in HD.
Project Fi users, there is an update to the app for your Android phone that will bring you a long requested feature: A Home Screen widget. The updated version is rolling out to the Google Play Store now and you should have the update come to you via an OTA update over the course of the next few days. The widget, which is a dial that shows you how much you data you have used for your current billing cycle and will show you how may days you have left in the cycle.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has just released their financial reports for the first quarter of 2016 and they are impressive. Overall the company had $20.2 billion in revenue for the first three months of 2016 with an overall GAAP Income of $4.2 billion. While the company reports as a whole, the financial press release covers Google separately which is the real telling number. The bottom line is Alphabet is fundamentally Google when it comes to revenue and profits.