Author: Clinton

Over on the Chrome Releases Blog, the announcement has come that an updated version of the browser is coming to Android.  The update should be hitting the Google Play Store over the course of the next few hours which means it will start coming to devices via an OTA update soon thereafter. The updated version is 47.0.2526.27 for those keeping score at home and it falls in line with the announcement on Monday of version 47 for the desktop version of Chrome and Tuesday of ChromeOS.

As for what has been updated or changed in this update, it is as Google describes “a barge load of performance and stability fixes”.  If you really want to dig into the GIT information you can see all the fixes in the release but it is a long, long list.

Chrome for Android – Free – Download Now

For those of us in the United States, we have had Google Play Music ad-supported streaming music for months.  Unfortunately for our friends north of the border in Canada, that has not been the case.  While the app has been available, it has not allowed you to stream audio content other than what you have uploaded to the service unless you subscribed to the unlimited service.  That changes today.  Now Canadians can stream music in Google Play Music on their Android phones and tablets free without having to subscribe.

Samsung has announced the launch of the new Galaxy A3, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7, the 2016 lineup of their premium but less-than-flagship devices.  The three devices range in size from a 4.7″ screen on the A3 up to a 5.5″ display on the A7.  All three feature aluminum and glass designs to give you that premium feel.  On the A5 and the A7, you also can take advantage of Samsung Pay for contactless payments while all three devices have a 13MP rear facing camera (with OIS for the A5 and A7) for taking photos and a 5MP front facing camera for selfies.

While there was no price lineup provided by Samsung on these new devices, based on previous years, we can likely expect them to top out at $400.

If you have a blog that you run on WordPress (Clinton raises his hand), then you probably already know about the WordPress app for Android.  There is a new update out for that app, version 4.7 for those keeping score at home, that brings a handy new home screen widget to your phone or tablet.  Now instead of having to go into the app itself to see how your site(s) are performing on the day, you can have this new widget to give you that information at a glance.  It’s quick and simple and when you combine it with other site centric content like AdSense, you have one page on your home screen that lets you know how things are going.

To use the new widget you will have to have a WordPress account and if you are self hosting your site, you will have to log in to that site through the app if you want to be able to edit on-the-fly through the app.  The idea of course is that you can add quick posts and other content to your site without having to actually touch a PC, Mac or Chromebook to do so.  While the app isn’t as flexible as the WordPress admin pages, it will get the job done, especially if you need to make a quick post.

WordPress for Android (Free) – Download Now

T-Mobile has added 11 new streaming music services to their already impressive Music Freedom service.  In case you are not familiar with it, T-Mobile allows you to stream music over LTE without consuming any of your monthly data allotment.  If you remember, last month they added video stream in a similar package named Binge On.  Essentially, as long as you are streaming content from the providers listed by T-Mobile, you won’t be charged for your data usage.  It’s an awfully impressive program and certainly puts the pressure on the likes of AT&T, Verizon and Sprint here in the US who do not offer anything similar in size.  Whether you like them or not, T-Mobile is certainly causing a disruption.

When the carrier started Music Freedom there were only 7 services included.  With the addition of these new services added, it is up to 44.  The good news for Android users, Google Play Music is on that list so you can stream your library while you are on-the-go care free over your data usage.

Today the Chrome team has announced the release of Chrome 47 to the stable channel, the latest update to the browser on Windows, Mac and Linux.  The update brings with it some 41 security fixes that range from critical to low impact.  Ultimately if you are a user of the browser, you will want to get this update ASAP.  It should come to you OTA but you can always force the issue by going to Settings>About in Chrome and it will go look for the update for you.  For those who are curious or like to keep version score numbers at home, this build is 47.0.2526.73 m on PCs.

In all, the update addresses 1 Critical update, 13 High priority updates, 6 Medium priority updates and 3 Low priority updates.  Generally speaking, severity of a security flaw is determined by number of users impact, potential data exposure and other factors.