Author: Clinton

Project Fi, Google’s MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) service is starting to come into is own. With a line up of three devices that fully take advantage of the service (Nexus 6, Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X), more users of the service are coming on board daily with Google significantly cutting the time from when you request an invite to when you receive it (it is a matter of a week or two versus 6-8 weeks earlier this year). As I posted shortly after the Nexus event where we saw the 6P and 5X launched, Google is serious about Project Fi and based on my experience so far, the service is exceptional.  The service uses a combination of Wi-Fi, T-Mobile and Sprint to provide you low cost data and voice on your device.  I’ll have a full review of Project Fi in a few weeks but today I want to focus on the activation process when you receive your Google Fi SIM.

To be clear, I’m assuming in this How To that you already have ordered and receive your SIM. If you haven’t, you can continue to read but I’d recommend bookmarking this post until you get your SIM. If you have your SIM then after the break I’ll show you step-by-step how to activate your new Project Fi service.  If you have not ordered your Project Fi SIM, go to http://fi.google.com to order it.

Keep track of the amount of data you consume on your mobile plan is something that the majority of us have to do.  While there are some unlimited data plans that meet the need for power users, the rest of us usually have a limited amount each month or top up of our mobile accounts. To aid in this, there are several apps out in the Google Play Store to help you get a reasonable grasp of the amount of data you are using for a specific period of time.  My personal favorite has been My Data Manager as I’ve been using it on Android and iOS and it is reasonably good at tracking not only your mobile data usage but your Wi-Fi usage at the same time.

With the release of Android Lollipop, Google added a data manager into the platform directly.  Designed to give you information on your cellular usage as well as Wi-Fi, the Data usage feature in Android Marshmallow is nearly identical to that which we found in Lollipop.  In this How To I will show you where to find this on your Android Phone and how to configure it to set thresholds so you will know if you are approaching your data allotment for your billing period.

For those of you who use Google Photos, there are some big updates coming your way both in the Android app and on the services website.  In a post on his Google+, Google’s John Elstone posted about the changes which are going to be released this week, likely today or tomorrow.  The first two updates have to do with the Android based Google Photos app and focus on being able to delete backed up photos from your devices and SD cards to save space.  The third update is on the Google Photos website that brings a much wanted downgrade feature for photos from “Original Quality” to “High Quality”.

Google Photos for Android – Free – Download Now

In a post in their customer forums yesterday, Asus cleared up any doubt on which of their devices would see the Android Marshmallow update.  Asus is one of the few manufactures who had not publicly stated (clearly at least) which devices would see the latest version of Android which certainly was causing some consternation amongst owners.  While the list isn’t extensive, it does cover the major devices from Asus. The concern of course is that no timeline was mentioned in the post.

Today over at the HTC store, they have a great promotion for those looking to pick up the HTC One M9.  Today only (November 17th) you can pick up an unlocked M9 for $649.99 and with it you will get an unlocked HTC Desire 626.  That’s a $179.99 value for two phones that are solid performers and remember that the One M9 is expected to receive the Android Marshmallow update by the end of this year.

HTC Hot Deal – HTC One M9 with a Free HTC Desire 626

If you are a Samsung device Android phone user, there is a bit of good news thanks to a leak over at Times News in the UK.  According to a post they have made today, it looks like several Samsung devices are going to see Android Marshmallow soon – like as soon as next month.  According to the post, The Galaxy Note 5 and the Galaxy S6 Edge+ will both be seeing the Marshmallow update in December while other devices will be seeing the update in January.  The good news is that it is a pretty comprehensive list of devices.