Category: Android

Microsoft Teams Update Bring HD Video Calling

Microsoft continues to develop their suite of apps for Android and the latest update to Microsoft Teams reflects that development.  The Slack-like app for enterprise Office 365 customers has been updated to version 1416/1.0.0.2017071901 for those keeping score at home and with it comes several key new features and improvements.

The big news is HD audio & video joining of meetings.  Audio meetings has been in Teams for sometime now but the audio was not HD quality and the option to join via video was not available.  Now when you join a meeting, you have the option to do so via video from your phone.

Android O Developer Preview 4 Easter Egg Features A Swimming Octopus

Ah yes, a fresh new Easter Egg!  If you have Developer Preview 4 of Android O on your device, you have a new Easter Egg to find in the Settings.  For the first three DPs there was a cat emoji but that is now replaced with an octopus that you can interact with on your phone.

For those who don’t know how to get to it, it is easy.  In Settings go to System>About Phone then tap on the Android Version 3-4 time really fast.  This will bring up an Android O logo.  Now tap on that 5 times real fast then hold it.  It will disappear and bada-bing, you have the octopus floating on your screen.

Developer Preview 4 of Android O Released as a Release Candidate

The final beta build of Android O has been released today by the Android team to those in the Android Beta Program.  Build OPP4.170623.014 is rolling out to devices now with it having the final API levels (API level 26) along with finishing touches on the platform overall.

In a post on the Android Developer blog, Vice President of Engineering David Burke indicated that this is being considered by Google as a Release Candidate.  That means that it is both very stable and very little, barring a major bug being found, will stop it from being released in short order.

Developer Preview 4 is a release candidate build of Android O that you can use to complete your development and testing in time for the upcoming official release. It includes the final system behaviors, the latest bug fixes and optimizations, and the final APIs (API level 26)

To be clear, the new APIs were introduced in Developer Preview 3 so this confirms that they are indeed final.

Galaxy Note 5 on T-Mobile Receives A Minor Update

If you are a T-Mobile subscriber and have a Samsung Galaxy Note 5, there is a minor update rolling out that should hit your phone this week.  The update is build N920TUVS4EQG1 for those keeping score and weighs in at only 25MB.  The hint of the type of update is in the size of the install package.  At 25MB, this is addressing minor bugs and issues with the phone and isn’t going to be uplifting big changes.

This is also backed up by the vague release notes from T-Mobile on the update.  They only list “various system improvements” in those notes.

June Android Security Update Arrives for The Galaxy S8 Lineup on Sprint

Sprint has released the June Android Security Update on their network for the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus.  The updates are 250MB in size and mostly consist of the security update but also have a few other minor performance improvements too.  For the S8, you are looking for build G950USQU1AQFJ while the S8 Plus will be getting version G955USQU1AQFJ.  The update is rollin g out now and should hit all devices over the course of the next week.

Along with the security updates, there are fixes for the Find My Mobile app as well as an LTE Roaming fix and a SMS fix for “(/5)OK”.

LG V10 on T-Mobile Seeing An Update to Android Nougat

For those of you who have the LG V10 on the T-Mobile network here in the US, today’s a good day.  The Android Nougat 7.0 update is finally rolling out to your device and it should be hitting everyone’s V10 over the course of the next week.  The update is build H90130b for those keeping score at home and it weighs in at 1.38GB in size.  You will have to download it via Wi-Fi and you need to have at least 50% battery remaining in order to install it.

The update brings Nougat to the phone and all of the goodness that the update brings to any Android phone.  Those features include things like improved Doze, split-screen viewing and a host of other visual and performance changes.  You can read my review of it to get all the details.  You can get all of the details on this particular software release from the T-Mobile site.

Google Engineer Confirms That Google Duo Consumes 8MB per Minute of Usage

When it comes to video calls on any app, the question for many is just how much data is this app consuming?  In the case of Google Duo, it isn’t much for what you are getting.  Google’s Justin Uberti, a principle engineer with the company and the technical lead on Duo, Tweeted that in the case of the video calling app, it consumes about 8MB per minute.

That means that a 5 minute call is going to consume roughly 40MB of your data plan while an hour long call would be roughly 480MB.  So is that a lot?  Well, not really for the quality of the calls that Duo produces.

Today’s Deal – Lamicall S1 Phone Stand for $9.99 on Amazon

Today’s Deal is on a great accessory for those who don’t like having your phone laying on your desk or nightstand.  The Lamicall S1 Phone Stand is made of aluminum, has cushioning to protect your phone and comes in four different colors for $9.99 today on Amazon.  The stand is designed to hold any Android device or iPhone as the padded cradle is 15mm in depth.  This means it will fit a Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy S6, S7 or S8 and an iPhone.  In fact, most of these devices will fit on the cradle in their cases.

The Lamicall stand is designed to give you a great viewing angle for your video calls or for watching streaming content.  It is also compact.  It stands only 3.35″ tall and has a base of 2.95″ x 3.94″ so it won’t take up a lot of space on your desk.  The bottom of the stand has four anti-skid pads on it to keep it from moving around and from scratching up your desk.

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