Category: Android

It took a bit longer than expected but Google has finally released the factory image and OTA image for Android Nougat for the Nexus 6P.  With the release of these images, it means that 6P owners can expect to start seeing Nougat drop onto their devices over the course of the next few days and weeks.  The update is a big one at over 900MB so you will want to make sure you phone is connected to Wi-Fi and fully charged before you start the update process.  All in, it will take about 30 minutes from download to install to reboot.

As for why it took this long to get the update out is a point of speculation.

If you are a heavy user of Hangouts and use Chrome or Chrome OS, there is a new extension and app for you to check out.  Last week Google announced that a new, Android-like Chrome extension for Hangouts would be coming out with the aim to improve performance and the overall look and feel of the UI.  Achievement unlocked as both the extension and the app look far better than the old style and both perform exceptionally well.

The new extension can be found in the Chrome Web Store which allows you to run Hangouts while you are using your Chrome browser regardless of platform.  This is what the majority of users will want, especially Chrome OS users, as the browser tends to stay open all the time.

A few weeks ago, Google announced that Wi-Fi Assistant would be coming to all Nexus phones over the course of the coming weeks.  That appears to have started happening.  Several Nexus owners are now seeing the option in their settings and are now able to take advantage of the data saving feature.   Wi-Fi Assistant to this point has been exclusive to Project Fi users which allows their devices to automatically connect to Google approved Wi-Fi hotspots securely and without any user intervention.  It is a huge benefit to Fi frankly as it saves on data plan usage.  It will connect your phone to Wi-Fi without you even knowing it.  Now all Nexus owners will benefit from the feature.  The good news is that it is all a back end change and there is no update required on your phone.

Just two days after their initial release, the Over-the-Air (OTA) updates for the September Android Security Update are starting to hit Nexus devices.  While they are sporadic at this early point, owners of Nexus devices should start looking for the updates to hit their devices over the course of the next week.  In my case, my Nexus 6 (running Marshmallow) was updated while my Nexus 9 (running Nougat) also received its update to the 09-06-2016 patch.

It should be noted that not all Nexus devices have received their Nougat update yet so it is possible that you could get a double OTA update over the course of the next week or two.

If you are a Pokemon Go player, congratulations!  You and the other players of the game have collectively walked the distance from Earth to Pluto.  For those that are curious, that is 4.6 billion kilometers.  The staggering number was released amongst other trinkets of information from Niantic, the developer of the game, as they announced it was coming to the Apple Watch yesterday at Apple’s event and on their blog.

Pokémon GO surpassed 500 million downloads around the world and players have collectively walked 4.6 billion kilometers, which is the distance from Earth to Pluto.

Even if you take out the distanced walked playing the game, the fact that is has 500 million downloads at this point is equally as staggering for a different reason.

Formula One fans have a lot to be excited about these days.  This year’s championship is a bit closer (amongst the Mercedes drivers at least), fat, 70s-style tires are coming next season, there are new owners of the sport and Codemasters is finally making their game available for mobile devices!  F1 2016, the outstanding F1 career and racing game that has been available for consoles, will be coming to iOS and Android later this year as a paid app.  The news came from the Apple event yesterday where the epic racing game will first be coming to iOS and later to Android.  How much later is unclear but it should be this year.

F1 2016 brings you the entire 2016 season, all 21 races, along with all the teams and drivers.  It is officially licensed from Formula One Management (FOM) so this is not a knock-off.  This is the real deal and if it is anything like the console games, it will be a real treat.