Category: Android

If you are looking for a budget Android phone with great specs, the BLU Vivo Air LTE could be an option for you. Today over at Amazon, you can pick one up for only $149, a savings of $50 and you can still get it in time for Christmas with 2-day shipping. The US based company BLU has become known as company that offers Android and Windows Phones at a competitive price with reasonable specs.  The Vivo Air LTE is a great example of this and while the specifications aren’t going to set the world alight, they still aren’t anything to dismiss.

• Super AMOLED 4.8-inch HD Display;
• 8MP Camera with Sony IMX 219 Sensor + LED Flash with HD video recording (1080p), 5MP Wide angle Front Camera
• 16GB internal with 2GB RAM,
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 410, 64-Bit 1.2 GHz CPU
• 4G LTE: T-Mobile: Supported Nationwide with Bands 2/4 including MVNO’s on T-Mobile such as Metro PCS, Simple Mobile, Go Smart, Straight Talk, AT&T: Limited Support for markets where AT&T has rolled out Band 2 and 4.Does not support Band 17

Keep in mind that the 16GB of storage on board is what you will get – there is no MicroSD slot.  Again, for some this isn’t a deal breaker but you need to be aware of it if you are considering picking one up for yourself or a gift. And as you probably have sorted out for yourself, the phone is unlocked and will pretty much work with any GSM carrier.

You will also note that it will have Android Lollipop running on it.  What about Marshmallow?  More on that after the break.

BLU Vivo Air LTE – SALE $149- Amazon

Just in time for your holiday break, Angry Birds 2 has been updated with new levels and a new arena competition where you can play other players from around the world.  The team at Rovio who develop the game are saying that this is the biggest update to the game so far and based on the release notes and a bit of game play this morning, I believe it.  There are a huge number of improvements and changes to the app along with the new player vs player arena.

Like in the previous versions, when you tap on the arena you have your nest of birds and you try to clear as many levels as possible before you run out of birds.  It use to be that you would simply see your score and the scores of other players on the scoreboard but now you are pitted against another player to see if you can beat their score.  Add to that the ability to collect stars which allow you to level up your birds and other rewards, it has really changed how you play in the arena – and for the better in my opinion.

Part of this update in the area and throughout the game is a new Star Ranks where you earn starts in campaigns and tournaments.  This allows you to upgrade your birds and get other rewards in the game.

That’s really only the beginning of this update to Angry Birds 2

Good news from Sprint this morning for those of you who have an LG G4 on their network.  The Android Marshmallow update is rolling out to devices starting today and while it will be a phased, users should see the update in a matter of days.  The new build version from Sprint is LS991ZV9 and brings Marshmallow 6.0 to the G4 along with Sprint Global Roaming capabilities.

The good news is once again that the updates to Marshmallow appear to be taking far less time to roll out than Lollipop ever achieved and while some carriers are still dragging their feet on it (AT&T, I’m looking at you), they too are getting updates out much faster than before.  T-Mobile here in the US has probably been the best example of it.

There are some big benefits to for LG G4 owners who get the update including what I think is the killer feature of Marshmallow, Doze, along with some other nice new features.  You can read my review of Android Marshmallow to get the highlights of the release.

Google Now on Tap continues to evolve and the latest update to the contextual information feature has had a new feature added:  Screen sharing.  The update comes courtesy of an update to the Google Search app for Android, taking that app (and the engine behind Now on Tap) to version 5.7.14.19 for those keeping score at home.  That build and this feature is specifically designed for Android Marshmallow so if that hasn’t hit your phone or tablet yet, you won’t see the feature.

Essentially what this update does it take a screen capture of whatever you are viewing on your screen.  While you can capture your screen using the combination of the Power+Volume Down key, having this just a couple of screen taps away will make it easier and faster for many users.  It has been in beta for a week or so now and there have been several posts that it is coming but now it has rolled out to the Google Play Store and is widely available.

About a week ago Google released Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 for Nexus devices including the Nexus 6.  Today T-Mobile has begun rolling it out to customers with Nexus 6’s on their network via an OTA update.  There are a few notable changes in 6.0.1 which you can read about here but the bigger picture here is the speed at which T-Mobile got this update out to their customers.  I, along with countless others in the tech writing community, have harped on endlessly about how long it takes carriers to push out updates after Google releases them.  T-Mobile, for their part, is getting the job done and getting it done fast.  That will only benefit their customers who will have up-to-date software and the latest security fixes.  Contrast this with another major carrier here in the US, AT&T, who have still not pushed out Marshmallow 6.0 to their Nexus 6 customers.

But I digress…

Of particular importance to T-Mobile users, this update to Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 contains support for the carrier’s LTE Band 12, which will give better throughput in buildings and rural areas.  I have upgraded my unlocked Nexus 6 to 6.0.1 and can confirm through LTE Discovery that Band 12 is supported.

Today over at Amazon you can pick up a great deal on a great Android phone.  The Moto X Pure Edition is on sale, today only, with the 32GB unit down to just $349.99, $100 off the regular price.  That price makes the 32GB model $50 less than the 16GB model.  Amazon includes free standard shipping but you can of course pay extra for faster shipping if needed.  The model being sold by Amazon is unlocked and supports a wide range of cellular bands:

• LTE 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 25 / 26 / 41
• WCDMA 1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 8
• CDMA 800 / 850 / 1900
• GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

For you Verizon users, it also supports VoLTE.

The Moto X Pure Edition is powered by a Snapdragon 808 processor running at 1.8GHz, coupled with 3GB of RAM.  It comes with a 21MP rear facing camera and a 5MP front facing camera and has a 5.7″ 1440 x 2560 resolution display.  You can also augment the 32GB of built-in storage with up to a 128GB MicroSD card.  As the name suggests, the Moto X Pure Edition runs a slimmed down, very close to stock Android experience meaning that you won’t find a lot of replacement apps or bloatware pre-installed.  As one who has been running Nexus devices for a while now, there is something to be said for using Android the way Google intended and this phone will give you that experience (remember that Motorola built the Nexus 6 so they know how to do it right).

Moto X Pure Edition on Amazon – 32GB On Sale $349.99 – Today Only