Category: Android

Last week, Motorola announced which of their devices would be getting updated to Android Oreo.  Notably, the entire G4 lineup of phones were missing and that created a bit of a raging storm for the company.  The problem was that the G4 lineup is well within the 2-year window for upgrades indicated by Google themselves and Moto themselves had indicated that the G4 lineup would get updated to the next version of Android.

Now Lenovo, the parent company of Motorola, has come back around and clarified that at least one of the G4 phones will get updated to Android Oreo.  That phone is the G4 Plus.

Google is rolling out an update to Gmail and Inbox for both Android and the web that will create links for physical addresses, email addresses and phone numbers that are found in your email messages.  The update is on the fast track which means it should roll out to all users over the course of the next few days.

How it works is pretty straightforward and should save time for users.  If there is a physical address in an email message, the link will take you to Google Maps.  If there is an email address found, the link will open up your default email client and set you up to compose a new email to that address.  Finally, when you are on your Android phone, if there is phone number found, clicking the link will open up your default phone app to place a call to the number.

Samsung has finally started allowing the Bixby button on the S8 lineup and the new Note8 to be disabled… well, partially at least.  Bixby is Samsung’s assistant built into these phones and one of the biggest complaints about the Galaxy S8 lineup when it was released this summer was the fact that the dedicated hardware button for the assistant could not be disabled or remapped (to say Google Assistant).  Samsung stood by their decision and despite numerous hacks to get around this (which Samsung subsequently closed with software updates), pretty much forced the issue with users.  Until this past weekend.

A small software update for the Galaxy S8, S8 Plus and Note8 is allowing the button to be partially disabled.  In the Bixby settings, you can disable to button although it will still fire up if you long press the button.  The software update does not allow for remapping of the button.

A few weeks back, HMD’s Juho Sarvikas tweeted that the entire Nokia lineup would be getting updated to Android Oreo in late 2017 through early 2018.  Now Mr. Sarvikas, the Chief Product Officer for the company, has tweeted a couple of images of the Nokia 8 being updated to Oreo.

We are on it @nokiamobile . @Android #Oreo maturing nicely on #Nokia8 , will release when perfect. Stay tuned! pic.twitter.com/wPxEGA4rJn

— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) September 16, 2017

While it would be great to see this update out for everyone, it is quite encouraging to see Nokia being transparent about their update process and the fact they actually have a running beta for their flagship device.

After weeks of pre-orders from carriers and Samsung themselves, the Galaxy Note8 is finally available for purchase.  The new phablet, which has been receiving rave reviews and has set a record for pre-orders, can now be purchased directly from Samsung, carriers and Amazon.  It is also available in 42 markets globally with more coming in the next few weeks.

For those that don’t recall, the Galaxy Note8 is a  6.3″ device that renders at 1440 x 2560 resolution with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio.  Physically it is 162.5 x 74.6 x 8.6mm and weighs 195g.  In old money, that’s 6.39 x 2.9 x .34 inches and a weight of 6.87 ounces.   It is powered by the Snapdragon 835 processor here in the US while the international version will be powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 8895 processor.  Regardless of which version you get, it will have an eye watering 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage.  That storage can be expanded up to 2TB thanks to the MicroSD slot.

Another key manufacture of Android devices, Motorola, has confirmed that a wide swath of their phones over the past year and a bit will be receiving the Android Oreo update.  The news came through the company’s blog and it has a nice list of devices from late 2016 through today that are going to eventually be upgraded to the latest version of Android.  The question, as always, is when.  The announcement indicated “this Fall” but for the majority of the devices, it will likely be 2018.

Here is the list of devices that will be upgraded to Android Oreo

• moto z
• moto z Droid
• moto z Force Droid
• moto z Play
• moto z Play Droid
• moto z² Play
• moto z² Force Edition
• moto x⁴
• moto g⁵
• moto g⁵ Plus
• moto g^5S
• moto g^5S Plus

Interestingly, the Moto G4 and G4 Plus are not going to be upgraded.