Category: Android

Happy Birthday Android!

Back on September 23, 2008, Android 1.0 made its debut with T-Mobile G1, also known as the HTC Dream, making it commercially available for the first time.  As we who love the platform know, it has grown exponentially in features, performance and functionality over the past 9 years and it is exciting to think of what the next 9 years hold in store for it.

When Android 1.0 was released, it did not have a confectionary codename.  In fact, it wasn’t until version 1.5, released on April 27, 2009, that we start seeing these names.  That release, of course, was cupcake.  It has come to light however that version 1.1 did have an internal codename, Petit Four.

So here’s a concept:  A button that actually does something.  For years, the “Check for update” button in Android pretty much did nothing.  Sure you could hit it but the odds of you getting an update were pretty slim.  Why?  Because manufactures like Google, Samsung and others as well as carriers phase updates out to their customers.  The result?  The “Check for update” button was, by-and-large, useless.

That’s changing under Android Oreo, specifically for the Google Nexus and Pixel devices.  Now when you tap that button in Settings>System>System Updates, it actually, really goes out to Google’s servers and download the latest OTA update.  No waiting on phasing.

T-Mobile has released an update for the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge on their network that is aimed at improving roaming on the devices.  Build G930TUVU4BQH7  for the S7 and build G935TUVU4BQH7 for the S7 Edge are the updates you are looking for on these respective devices and they should be hitting your device over the course of the next few days.

The biggest change in this smallish 200MB update is improved IMS Roaming.  What is IMS Roaming you ask?  Essentially it is an interconnect between T-Mobile and other carriers to allow you to make VoLTE calls, video calls and media sessions to someone on another carrier in another country.  It isn’t super sexy and unless you do international travel, it isn’t a big deal frankly.  But it is good to see T-Mobile improving support for it (and Samsung for that matter).

Today’s Deal is on the powerful and ultra thin Lenovo Yoga Book Android tablet.  The 10″ 2-in-1 tablet is on sale right now at Amazon for $299.94 in Gunmetal Gray.  That’s a savings of $200.

The Yoga Book has a 10.1″ display that gives Full HD resolution of 1200 x 1920.  It is powered by the Intel Atom x5-Z8550 processor, a quad-core processor that is clocked at 2.4GHz.  That is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.  That internal storage can be expanded up to an additional 256GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  Also, the Lenovo Yoga Book can take advantage of Adaptive Storage in Android Nougat so once you have a MicroSD card installed, it can act as part of the main storage on the device.

What really makes the Yoga Book stand out is its size.  It measure just 6.72 x 10.1 x 0.38 in and weighs 1.52lbs.  That’s 256.00 x 170.80 x 9.60mm and 690 grams in new money.  When you open it up, it is 4mm thin.  It has a beautiful hinge that allows the keyboard to rotate completely around to the back of the tablet to use it in tablet mode.  Camera wise, there is an 8MP main camera and 2MP front camera for selfies and video calls.  All of this is powered by a whopping 8500mAh battery that gets you 15 hours of use between charges.  Charging is done via a MicroUSB connector and it supports Quick Charge 3.0 technology for fast charging.

Good news this afternoon for those of you who, like me, have the Lenovo Yoga Book.  The long awaited update to Android Nougat is now available.  The 1.39GB update is build YB1-X90F_17902 for those keeping score at home and brings a lot of updates and changes beyond the Nougat update.  The OTA is rolling out now and should be hitting devices over the course of the next few days.

The Nougat update for the Yoga Book was planned by Lenovo but it was not slated to hit until October.

First, Android Nougat.  The Yoga Book update takes it to Nougat 7.1.1 so you have all of the benefits that it brings.  It is also updated to the June 2017 Android Security Patch.  That’s not so great but hopefully it’ll get updated soon.

Google’s continuing effort to “Google Assist all the things” continues with an announcement from Bose this morning on a new wireless headphone that is available today.  The new QuietComfort 35 II brings all the greatness of the original QuiteComfort 35, but with an added Action button that allows you to access Google Assistant.

The new Action button is located on the left earpiece and by pressing it, you activate Google Assistant.  The headphones have a built-in microphone which has noise reduction for improved accuracy.