Category: Android

Google has released the December 2017 Android Distribution Report this week.  The report reflects the version of Android on devices that visited the Google Play Store for the 7 day period ending January 8, 2018 and it shows that while Android Oreo was only one of two versions that saw growth for the reporting period, that growth is anemic.  And that is putting it nicely.

Oreo gained just .2% in this month’s report, with both 8.0 and 8.1 accounting for a total of just .7% of device share.  The only other gainer in the report, Android Nougat, gained 3% and now sits at 26.3% for device share.  That moves Nougat into second behind Android Marshmallow as the most widely used version of the platform.

Today at CES, Google announced that they are merging Android Pay and Google Wallet into a new app & service, Google Pay.  Google Pay will be the one-stop solution for making purchases online, at retailers, and through in-app purchases such as those found in Airbnb and Fandango.

The new solution has been in the works for the past year according to the Mountain View company and it will not only allow for you to make purchases but to also send funds to friends & family.  That’s the Google Wallet part of the equation for those who don’t recall.

The Essential Phone has a new update rolling out that owners will want to install as soon as it is available for their device.  The update is build NMJ88C and it brings fixes for both the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities as well as the January Android Security Update patch.  The update is small so you can download it via your mobile data connection but WiFi is always recommended.

The update means that the Essential Phone will be one of the first phones outside of Google’s own devices to have the January security update.

For those that haven’t kept up, the Spectre and Meltdown security flaws were announced last week and are a fundamental issue with Intel, AMD and ARM processors.  If exploited, these vulnerabilities would allow for sensitive data to be stolen from the phone via memory that is normally off limits to the kernel.  It is a big deal and software developers like Google, Microsoft and Apple are having to address it quickly.  Phone manufactures, like Essential, will need to build fixes into their particular Android builds too.

Sony’s mid-range of Android phones are getting a refresh.  At CES 2018, the company announced that the Sony Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra and they are expected to be available in February.  These two phones are fundamentally the same when it comes to their internals with the XA2 Ultra sporting a 6″ display over the XA2’s 5.2″ display.  Both will render at 1920 x 1080 FHD and both are powered by the Snapdragon 630 SoC and 4GB of RAM.  Storage wise, you will have the option of 32GB or 64GB and there is a MicroSD expansion slot.

Camera wise, both have the same 23MP rear camera and both have 8MP, 120° wide angle selfie camera.  The XA2 Ultra adds a second front facing camera that has OIS despite the fact that the rear camera on either phone doesn’t have image stabilization.  Powering the Utra is a 3580mAh battery while the standard XA2 will have a 3300mAh battery.

The Chromebook parade continues in the hours leading up to CES 2018.  Acer, a long time manufacture of Chromebooks, has announced an updated version of the popular Acer Chromebook 11.  The 11.6″ display device will be available in April and will sport two models:  A touchscreen version (CB311-8H) and a non-touchscreen version (CB311-8HT).  Starting price will be around $250.

The updated Chromebook 11 will have the latest Intel Celeron processors although which ones exactly was not disclosed.  It will come with 4GB of RAM and either 16GB or 32GB or storage built into it.  It will also have dual stereo speakers and a HDR camera.

For the first time in many years, Google will be at CES in Las Vegas this coming week.  It is the first time the company has had any real presence at the massive electronics show since 2015 but it has been a lot longer than that since they have had a booth.  Not only will they have a booth, a massive one in the Central Plaza, but it looks like they are going to be heavily focusing on Google Assistant during the show.

The company made a blog post yesterday, highlighting the growth of Google Assistant and Google home over the course of 2017.  Assistant is now available on 400 million devices and in a doze different countries.  But the takeaway from the post was the last paragraph.

No matter where you are, the Google Assistant is here to help you make the most of 2018. And next week, we have even more things in store for the Assistant at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. If you’re at CES, stop by the Google Assistant Playground (Central Plaza-21) to check out some of our new integrations, devices, and the newest ways you can use your Assistant

It would appear that next week, we are going to see some announcements about Assistant and, potentially, some new hardware.