Category: Android

Today’s deal is on the compact, 4.6″ display Sony Xperia X Compact.  The 2016 phone packs a lot of punch and is down to $319 today on Amazon.  This is $180 less than the cost of the new-for-2017 Xperia XZ1 Compact and you will still be getting Android Oreo at some point in early 2018.  The price on the Xperia X Compact is for the phone in black, blue or white colors and all versions are sold unlocked.

I reviewed the Xperia X Compact in November of last year and it remains one of my favorite phones of the past year.  It’s compact size is great but the overall performance and camera quality is excellent.

The Xperia X Compact is powered by the Snapdragon 650 hexa-core processor.  It has four 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 cores &  two 1.8 GHz Cortex-A72 cores.  The processor is coupled with the Adreno 510 GPU which provides good graphics performance.  The X Compact has 3GB of RAM onboard and has 32GB of built-in storage.  That storage can be expanded up to an additional 256GB thanks to the Micro SD slot that is built into the SIM tray of the phone.  With the smaller screen size, as you would expect, the X Compact is a pretty small device.  It measures 129 x 65 x 9.5 mm or 5.08 x 2.56 x 0.37″ in old money.  Weight wise it is 136g or 4.76 ounces.  The phone is comfortable to hold and very easy to slip into any pocket.

For readers who have their Samsung Galaxy S8 or S8 Plus in the company’s Android Oreo beta program, you have a second beta build coming your way.  The new beta is build R16NW.G955FXXU1ZQLE and is just over 600MB in size.  The updated beta has been released but it could take a few days before all beta testers see it on their phone.

This new build contains a significant number of bug fixes and performance improvements over the first beta and seemingly nothing on the device was left untouched.  The new beta addresses issues with Bluetooth connectivity, smart device connectivity, Bixby issues, profile issues… it goes on.  This update should also address general unresponsiveness of the device in all situations and uses.  It isn’t uncommon for manufactures to offer a lot of updates to things in their 2nd beta builds and this one certainly is no exception.

The Microsoft OneDrive app for Android has a new update rolling out that those who are running Android Oreo will appreciate.  The update, version 5.2 for those keeping score at home, brings improve support for the latest version of Android including support for Notification Channels.

For those who aren’t familiar with Notification Channels, it allows you to set the priority of notifications for apps that support it so that you are constantly alerted to anything related to the app or, the opposite, no notifications at all.  The team over at Android Central put together a great primer on Notification Channels in Oreo that I highly recommend reading.

Google Photos has been quietly rolling out a new AI-driven movie to many users over the past few days.  The new video will show up in your Assistant tab in the app and it titled “Smiles of 2017”.  With the hint in the name, you’ve probably guessed that this short video consists of photos of people smiling, be it selfies or other people that you have photographed over the past year.

The video falls under what is commonly referred to as the “auto awesome” features of Google Photos.  That is, the app which is driven by Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, will scour your photos to create photos or videos based on the content of your photos.

The Android Oreo update for the Android One version of the Moto X4 is now rolling out.  This is the version of the mid-level phone that launched on Project Fi earlier this year.  Google, at the time of the launch, stated that they would have the Oreo update out on the phone by the end of the year.  With 8 days to spare, they fulfilled that promise.

The Oreo update comes with firmware build OPW27.1 and it comes with everything that comes in Android 8. The new build also brings the December Android Security Update to the device.  The update is just over 1GB in size so it will need to be downloaded via WiFi and you’ll need to have 80% battery to install it or be plugged into AC.

As for the non-Android One variant of the X4 getting the Android Oreo update, it doesn’t appear to be happening yet.

Verizon has become the first US carrier to update the Moto Z2 Force to Android Oreo.  The carrier has released build ODX27.109-34 for the Z2 Force, bringing Oreo and all of its goodness to the July 2017 flagship device from Moto.

As you would expect, the update is sizable at around 900MB, making it one that you will want to download while you are WiFi and have at least 80% battery life.  Installation should take 10-15 minutes and a reboot is required.