Category: Google

If you have been wanting to try Google’s Project Fi mobile service, now is a good time to give it a go.  Now through December 30th, you can sign up on the Fi website and there is no wait time for you to get your SIM.  The “instant invitation” program means that instead of having to wait in queue before your SIM was sent to you, you will now get it in about a week and can start using the service in your Nexus 6, Nexus 6P or Nexus 5X.

It is not a well kept secret that I am a Project Fi users and I am very pleased with the service.  You can read my full review of the service but also check out the many posts I have made on making Fi work a bit better for you and explanations of the intricacies of the service.  The bottom line is I’m happy and after 17 years of being an AT&T customer, I’m not looking back.

While I and many users of Fi are quite happy with the service, it is technically still in beta. That means that Google has been slowly feeding new subscribers into the system and if you applied for a SIM it could be a matter of weeks or even months before you got it to try in your phone.  While there are still some rough edges with Fi, it is solid for the vast majority of users and Google has run this “instant invitation” twice now in as many months.  To me, that indicates they are more confident in the service themselves and are wanting more subscribers to try it and use the service.

To sign up, just go to http://fi.google.com and sign in with your Google account to get started.

More details after the break.

One of the big benefits of Project Fi is the ability to place Wi-Fi calls.  What that means is that if I have a call come in to me or I place a call and my Wi-Fi signal is measured as being stable and fast enough by Fi, the call will be placed over my Wi-Fi connection instead of cellular.  So what is the advantage of this?  Think about a time where you had plenty of Wireless signal but no cellular signal.  But even in a scenario where you have ample cellular coverage and Wi-Fi coverage, Fi will chose the Wi-Fi first based on the principle of Least Cost Routing.  It costs Google less (remember, your talk minutes are free from Fi but Google still pays for any minutes you use) to place a call over wireless than cellular.

While I covered Wi-Fi calling in my review of Project Fi, on this particular subject I was a bit vague in showing exactly how this worked.  Hopefully this post will clear things up for you.  To be clear, I’m not talking about calls made via Hangouts.  That’s a whole different subject. No, I’m talking about calls placed with the Google Dialer app that is built into your Nexus device – just like you would if you were using cellular.

So how then can you tell if your Fi call has gone over Wi-Fi?  It’s pretty clear and I’ll show you after the break.

With Android Marshmallow being available now for a couple of months, there has been plenty written on its impressive list of highlight features. My review of the release covered most of those and I have also posted that I think Doze and App Sleep are the true killer features of the release.

But there is another feature that Android users have long wanted out of the platform that has come with Marshmallow: Native USB On-the-go (OTG) support. For those who aren’t familiar with OTG, it allows you to plug in a small adapter to your device and then read things like USB memory sticks, run a USB based keyboard or mouse as if your phone or tablet were a PC. It gives you the ability for example to transfer files from your Android tablet to a USB key to share with others.  In previous released of Android, OTG support was not inherently supported and effectively required that you have your device rooted even if your hardware technically supported it.  That, it seems for Nexus devices, has gone away.

That last phrase is key as I explore this with you.  Right now it appears that the only devices that this works on with Marshmallow are Nexus devices:  Nexus 5, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6, Nexus 6P, Nexus 7 (2013), Nexus 9 and Pixel C.  I can confirm that I was able to connect a USB drive and a mouse successfully to my Nexus 6 and Nexus 7 while I was equally able to connect both to a colleague who as the Nexus 6P and Nexus 9.  Based on information available, the Pixel C should have no problem supporting it either.  Technically the Nexus 5 does support it but there have been reports of challenges getting it to work.  At the end of the day, your mileage may vary so keep that in mind.  Importantly, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to try this out on your devices – especially if you have a non-Nexus device – to see if it work.

Over the weekend, Google released some more tweaks and enhancements to Google Plus. The updates are the second that the site has seen in as many weeks and were outlined once again by Google’s Luke Wroblewski on his Plus account.  The changes have all be based on user feedback of the new user experience on the social site which technically is still in beta but open to anyone.  The new experience is aimed at bringing communities together on the site, one of the key reasons I was drawn to the services and what keeps me there on a daily basis.  In his post, Luke outlines the range of updates that are available on the web, all of which have rolled out now.

• +1 comments with one click using the action that appears when you hover over each comment

• View precisely when posts were made with the full timestamp on post pages

• Provide additional details when reporting abuse on posts. (I recognize this adds an additional click or two but the added information we collect helps us ensure G+ remains a great place to connect around shared interests.)

Along with the description, he also posted an image of the changes which I have linked to after the break below.

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.

If you are an Android user then you probably already know about the Androidify app.  For those new to the platform or if you haven’t heard of it, the Androidify app allows you to build your own Android character that is befitting to you. Think of it as your Android avatar where you can change the character to a more fitting version of you to share with others.  To the right you can see mine

Clinton Androidify Character

it all its glory.

With the holiday season upon us, Google has released an update to the app that allows you to add some festive cheer to your character.  Through the additions of accessories and of course a very ugly holiday sweater, you can get your Android character ready for the holidays.

The update has brought several new things like sweaters, hockey skates, ski goggles, Google Cardboard, a new stocking hat, a new leave scarf, a hot cocoa accessory to hold and of course the new Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P and a Chromebook to hold.  This isn’t the whole list, there are a lot more, so get the app and explore it while having some fun.  So yes, you can make a very personal, it’s-like-me character or you can make your alter ego.  Either way, it’s a bit of fun.