Category: Android

A new and significant update to Microsoft Cortana for Android, Microsoft’s personal assistant for the platform, is now rolling out in the Google Play Store. The updated build is version 2.9.4 for those keeping score at home and brings handful of new features and improvements.

First, Microsoft has made it easier to sign in and to sign up to use Cortana in the app.  You can quickly sign up with your mobile number to get going in the app more quickly.  Second, you can now create a new list (think shopping list for example) and edit list items within the app.  This was a big miss for Windows 10 users as you had to create the list on your PC and then let it sync with Cortana.

Huawei continues to make huge strides in the smartphone market and their surge over the course of 2017 continues.  Counterpoint, a global technology research firm, has just released their latest Market Pulse for July 2017.  In that report, the Chinese manufacture has jumped over Apple to take the number two position in global smartphone sales percentage.  Perhaps even more impressive in this is the fact that they made this jump without a “hero” device like Apple’s iPhone 7 or Samsung’s Galaxy S8.

Samsung is by far the leader in smartphone sales percentage globally with just over 20%.

The July report from Counterpoint is the fifth consecutive month of gains in market share by Huawei and they have distanced themselves from others in the highly competitive Chinese manufacturing market.  Still, as the report points out, the risk to Huawei is their over dependence of their home market and expansion into Europe and North America will need to happen for them to hold on to that 2nd place solidly.

OnePlus 2 owners, the sun hasn’t quite set on your 2015 flagship.  Although OnePlus themselves have all-but dropped the phone, the developer community continues to bring out the best in the phone.  The latest is LineageOS who has released an Android Oreo based ROM for the phone.

LineageOS Build 15 is now out in the beta channel and while it is far from being ready for your daily driver, the takeaway here is that development is happening across a lot of devices, including the OnePlus 2.  There are a lot of things that don’t work, including the camera, in this alpha build.  So unless you are a developer willing to give feedback and test (or some sort of ROM masacist), I would recommend staying away from it for now.

Google has released the September 2017 Android Security Update for supported devices.  The update, as has been the norm for a while now, comes in the form of two updates.  The first update, dated September 1st, contains 33 specific updates for vulnerabilities all the way back to Android 4.4.  Of those 33, ten are marked as critical fixes.

The second patch, dated September 5th, contains a whooping 51 updates, three of which are marked as critical patches.  The second update is more driver or component specific fixes while the first patch is general Android system fixes that all devices will see.  All of the Google supported devices will receive the September 5th update.

Good news! HMD Global has confirmed that all of the Android running Nokia devices – the Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6 and Nokia 8 – will be receiving the Android Oreo update.

The new came from Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas via Twitter over the weekend.

All of our smartphones will upgrade to Oreo, Nokia 3 included. No comments yet on timing so that I don’t get into trouble 😊.

— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) September 2, 2017

This announcement is great new for every Nokia owner, especially those who have the lower priced Nokia 3.  Often, manufactures will not update their entry level devices to the next major version of Android in favor of focusing in on their midrange and flagship devices.

There is another great deal right now on Amazon and it is on the LG G6.  Right now you can pick up this 5.7″ flagship device for $449.99 on Amazon.  That is a whopping $250 off the regular price.  This price is on the unlocked version of the phone and it is black.

The LG G6 is a solid performer and until the LG V30 announced last week, was the top of the lineup for LG.  It has a 5.7″ QHD display that renders 1440 x 2880.  That gives a very comfortable 564PPI for easy viewing for hours.  It is powered by the Snapdrago 821 quad-core processor, has 4GB of RAM, 32GB of Storage is IP68 rated for water & dust resistance.  That storage, by-the-way, can be expanded up to an additional 2TB thanks to the MicroSD slot.