OneNote for Android Update Brings Improved Sharing of Notes

Microsoft has released an update to their popular note taking app OneNote for Android.  The updated build is version 16.0.8067.1772 for those keeping score at home and the biggest new feature is the ability to share a page from the share panel built into Android Marshmallow or later.  This will make it far easier and fast to share thoughts and ideas with others.

The editing tools have also improved in this update.  The ability to cut, copy and past are there now along with other performance improvements to editing tools.  Couple this with the formatting tools being immediately available in the command bar, this overall makes the app easier to use, especially on a phone.

Google Pixel Lineup Security Support Ends in October 2019

Following the process set for the last Nexus lineup, Google has updated their Android software update page with information on the Google Pixel lineup.  Major version support for the devices will end next year, October 2018 while Android security updates will end a year later in October 2019.  While Google phrases this as “not guaranteed”, it is pretty much a lock that the devices won’t see updates after these dates.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to Pixel owners.  Google has said they will support phones for 3 years after release or 18 months from when the device was last sold in the Google Store, whichever is longer.  This is the cadence they setup on such updates with the release of the Nexus 6P and 5X although it had been somewhat implied prior to those devices. As an owner of a Pixel XL, I’d love to see support longer but the reality is, for Google, developing an Android build for a 3+ year old device is expensive with little incentive for them to do it.  Remember that they, just like any other manufacture, want you to upgrade at some point.

Microsoft Reports $23.6 Billion in Revenue Driven by Office and Azure

Microsoft has released their financial report for their fiscal year Q3 2017 that ended in March.  The company reported revenue of $23.6 billion for the quarter which was down slightly from what analysts had expected.  Their expectation was $23.62 billion and it has impacted their stock in after hours trading.  The positive however were around Microsoft’s cloud solutions and Office.  Cloud revenue, principally Azure, were up 11% to $6.8 billion year-over-year.  Productivity and Business Processes increased by 22% with Office products revenue increasing by 7%.  Office consumer products rose 15% and Dynamics saw a 10% for the quarter.

A bit of a surprise in the report was the falling Microsoft Surface revenue.  It fell 26% for the quarter despite the launch of the Surface Studio.  The lack of significant hardware upgrades in the lineup likely impacted this the most and there is only rumor and conjecture at this point when the Surface Pro will get a technology refresh.  Overall, personal technology numbers fell by 7% to $8.8 billion.

Alphabet Reports $24.75 Billion in Earnings for the First Quarter

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has just posted their first quarter 2017 results and they are nothing short of breathtaking.  The company’s revenue was $24.75 billion in the quarter, up 22% from the same period last year, and beat all expectations.  Operating income increased to $6.58 billion, up from the $5.3 billion for the previous year.  Netted out, the company made $5.4 billion in net income for the quarter.

Digging further, advertising revenues were up for the company in the quarter.  They rose to $21.4 billion while the Other Revenue for the company grew by $1 billion to $3.0 billion.  The Other Revenue section of the financial report as this is where hardware sales (Google Pixel, Google Home, Chromecast) are lumped together with things such as enterprise sales.  An increase here is a good reflection on how those business units are doing overall.

Blackberry KEYone Available May 31st in The United States

At Mobile World Congress back in February, Blackberry made a splash with their physical keyboard, Android powered KEYone.  It was expected that the Blackberry KEYone would ship in March or April but delays caused those dates to come and go.  Now it looks like May 31st is the release date.  The phone will be available unlocked here in the United States and will be priced at $549.  There will be both a CDMA and GSM variant of the phone so you can get one to work with any of the major carriers here in the US.

It is expected that there will be at least one carrier deal here in the US which would allow users to payout the phone if desired. That is likely to come via Sprint but is not confirmed.

For those that don’t recall, the KEYone is a 4.5″ device that is powered by the Snadragon 625 processor.  It has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.  It runs Android Nougat 7.1.1 out of the box and has the same cameras as you will find in the Google Pixel and Pixel XL.  It is powered by a 3505mAh battery and has a physical QUERTY keyboard.

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