Category: Android

Once again the Nexus 6, last year’s flagship Nexus device built by Motorola, is on sale at Amazon.  The 32GB model is available for only $249.99 while the 64GB model is $299.99. That is a savings of $400 from when the phone was first released last year and this phone is still got plenty of swagger when it is compared to phones that are being released today.

I personally use a Nexus 6 as my daily driver and love this phone.  It has outstanding specs and performance and with it being a Nexus device, it already has Android Marshmallow running on it and I can use Project Fi.

• Display: 5.96″ AMOLED, 1440×2560, 16:9 aspect ratio, 493 ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• Weight: 184 grams (6.49 ounces)
• Battery: 3220 mAh Mixed usage up to 24 hours*
• Processor: 2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 with quad-core CPU (APQ 8084-AB), Adreno 420 GPU
• Memory: 3GB
• Camera: 13MP IMX 214 Image Sensor

Nexus 6 32GB – $249.99 – Amazon

Nexus 6 64GB – $299.99 – Amazon

For T-Mobile and Project Fi subscribers, there has been a lot of discussion around T-Mobile’s LTE Band 12.  This coverage from the carrier is in the 700MHz frequency range and is really helpful for those in urban areas (gets through buildings a bit better) and rural regions (goes out from the tower a bit further).  While most of know that T-Mobile has the 700MHz range, there hasn’t been a huge amount of information on exactly where it is rolled out in the US.  Most of the time those of us on Fi or T-Mobile simply depend on other users who post “I have Band 12 in such-and-such city” to know if it is there or not.

Now your life just got a little easier.

Spectrum Gateway is a site that gives great insight into T-Mobile’s network coverage but they have a specific area that is dedicated to the 700MHz range to show you were it is available here in the United States.  Not only that, the map shows you where the carrier has applied for coverage but does not have it just yet. It is a wealth of information and can really help you as you plan a trip to know if you can expect Band 12 on your devices (assuming it supports it) as you travel.

Last summer I wrote a review of Google Fit and concluded that while it was a good start for a health & fitness app, it had a lot of growing up to do in order to compete with other apps and solutions out there.  That growing up process has been happening and happening quickly.  Over the course of the last couple of months, Google has added a significant amount of features and functionality to the app along with integrating with other apps like MyFitnessPal.  The latest update makes tracking your exercise easier by allowing you to do it from your smartwatch and not having to touch your phone.

The updated version of Google Fit is build 1.56.14 for those keeping score at home and it is available now in the Google Play Store.  When you update to this version, if you have a connected smartwatch, the app on it will be updated as well to allow you to start tracking activities.  The app is free of course and if you already have the app installed, the update will come to you via an OTA update.

Google Fit – Free – Download Now

As a Nexus owner, I know every month that Google is going to release a security and bug fix update for Android Marshmallow my Nexus 6 and Nexus 7.  The challenge of course is when that update will actually hit my device after it has been released.  Google, like other manufactures, stage these updates and it can sometimes take weeks for it to hit your device.

Don’t get me started on carrier locked versions. -.-

While you can always manually check to see if the latest version of Marshmallow on your device (Settings>About Phone (or Tablet)>System Update), the reality is that really doesn’t get you moved up in the queue any faster and some have suggested it makes no difference at all.

There is however a way to force an update to your device by manipulating the Google Services Framework on your device.  Indeed it is quite possible that this method will work on non-Nexus devices but I have not tested it.  The key thing for you to keep in mind as you try this is that it may take you several attempts to get this to work – and it may not work at all.  In my case, it took me 1 try to get my Nexus 7 (2013) to update to the January build of Marshmallow but it took me no less than 6 tries to get my Nexus 6 to update to the same release.  Patience is important but this could be a way to get an update a bit quicker other than a full-on flashing of the device.  Also, do this at your own risk as you are manipulating how Android operates on your device.  You may have to restart your device and worst case reset it.

In the flurry of updates that happened to not just Google apps but apps in general for Android at the end of last year, one big change came to Google Maps.  The app gained the ability to have offline maps available, something that competitor products had enjoyed for a long while yet for whatever reason, Google had not yet supported it.  That has changed now and in typical Google fashion, they have made it very easy to create offline maps.

Why would you want offline maps?  Simple really.  No matter which carrier you use for your mobile service, you will undoubtedly hit a dead zone where you have no coverage.  I experienced this over Thanksgiving when I drove from my home in Denver to ski in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  There is a good 50-odd miles stretch that has absolutely no mobile coverage.  I did not have it with Project Fi (which meant there was no T-Mobile or Sprint in the area) and my wife had no coverage on her iPhone with AT&T.  This scenario is exactly where offline maps become important, especially if you know you are going to have to make some road changes to get to your destination but aren’t exactly sure where those are going to happen.

For this How To I’ll show you how easy Google has made it to create offline maps in Google Maps and how the app works with them.

Chinese manufacture Huawei has become a dominant player in the global Android phone market but has struggled to gain traction here in the United States.  That has changed a little bit with the launch of the Huawei built Nexus 6P and the company is looking to capitalize on that success.  2016 the company is planning on making a significant push into the US market and it will be lead by their new 6″ phablet device, the Mate 8.

The Mate 8 was announced last month in China but yesterday at CES 2016 it was announced it was going global.  It mighty impressive specs that make it a true flagship device for the company.  While it won’t launch immediately here in the US – it will be in Europe, South America and Asia first before it hits the US and UK – it will be here by the end of the 1st quarter.  To start, it has a 6″ Full HD 1080p display, is powered by the Huawei Kirin 950 Octa-Core processor running at 2.3Ghz and has an ARM Cortex A72 co-processor running at 1.5Ghz.  It will come in two variants as far as RAM and storage are concerned.  The base model will come with 3GB or RAM and 32GB of storage while the upper end will have 4GB of RAM and 64GB of Storage.  Interestingly, the upper end model will also support dual SIMs while the base model will be single SIM.