Category: Android

[Update 2] – T-Mobile and Verizon are now allowing customers to return their replacement Galaxy Note7’s.  That makes all four major carriers in the US.

[Update] – AT&T now allowing customers to return their replacement Galaxy Note7’s too

Sprint has taken a big forward step in the sage with the Galaxy Note7 from Samsung.  While they and other carriers have been offering replacement devices or returns, Sprint has now gone a step further and told their Note7 customers they can replace it with any device.  This change comes after what appears to have been an updated replacement Note7 catching fire on a Southwest Airlines flight this week.  While the FAA and Consumer Product Safety Commission investigate, Recode has talked to Sprint and they are replacing devices out of customer desires for safety.

“If a Sprint customer with a replacement Note 7 has any concerns regarding their device, we will exchange it for any other device at any Sprint retail store during the investigation window,” the Sprint representative said.

This comes after T-Mobile started selling the updated Note7 in their stores and online this week (Wednesday ironically).

Runtastic and Google Play Music have teamed up to provide you curated playlists to listen to within the app.  Now when you are within the Runstatic app and chose the music tab, you can chose different playlists to help keep you motivated during that exercise routine.

Keep pace with Today’s Running Hits featuring songs that are all over 130 beats per minute, embark on a Sweaty EDM Workout, or kick it up a notch with someHigh-Energy Hard Rock; the choice is yours. This new app feature is available in more than 60 countries around the world where Google Play Music is available.

This new feature means that you won’t have to leave Runtastic to start playing your music which saves time but also prevents accidental stops or pauses of your exercise tracking.

If you equate the power and performance of an Android phone based on the screen size and device size, you need to stop.  Now.  The reason is that the recently announced Sony Xperia X Compact destroys your paradigm.  This 4.6″ device is a powerhouse with a phenomenal display and dare I say unbelievable camera.  Seriously, it rivals a digital SLR in image quality and color correctness.  I’ve been using the X Compact the last few days as my main phone and while getting use to the smaller size compared to my Nexus 6P was a bit tricky at first, the performance and design of this phone is exceptional.  I’ll be doing a full review of the phone over the course of the next few weeks but here are my initial thoughts on the Xperia X Compact.

For the past few months, the Moto Z has been exclusively tied to Verizon here in the United States.  While the CDMA version is still tied to the, you can now pick up the GSM version of the phone from Motorola directly or on Amazon.  Starting at $699 for the phone with 64GB of storage, the phone is available in Luna Grey and you can use Moto Mods with this phone to turn it into a variety of other useful things (like a projector for example).  The phone has a 5.5” AMOLED Quad HD that renders at 2560 x 1440.  That gives you an impressive 535 ppi which makes view for long periods of time easy on the eyes.

Motorola has posted on their company blog a full list of devices that they plan to upgrade to Android Nougat.  The list is reasonably comprehensive although there are some notable devices missing, and should give those of you who have Motorola devices some hope for your phones.  The post states that the Moto Z and the 4th generation Moto G will be the first devices to see the update and that will happen in Q4 of this year.  As for the rest of the list, there isn’t a specific timeframe given.

After yesterday’s Google event, we know that the new Google Pixel and Pixel XL will be coming with Android Nougat 7.1.  Equally, we also know that some of the features of 7.1 will be exclusive to the Pixel lineup but for the Nexus devices and other devices, the water was left a bit murky.  Thanks to the team over at Android Police, we have a little clearer picture of what is exclusive and what is not to the Pixel lineup.  They have gotten hold of the 7.1 change long which details what is coming for each train.  For Pixel devices, the new Pixel Launcher and Google Assistant are exclusive to the Pixel lineup.  That is in line with what was expected and told to us yesterday at the event.  Customer support via the new chat/screen share function is also an exclusive as is an updated Smart Storage that backs up photos to Google Photos in full resolution to recover storage.  There are also improvements to the Pixel camera and the sensor software used in the Pixel devices.