Google has thrown out another nice little holiday treat for everyone. Now through January 4, 2016, you can save 50% off of any album in the Google Play Store when you use the link below. The really nice thing is that this promotion is really on any album. I checked out several this morning at various price levels and the coupon code worked on all of them. Keep in mind that you can only use the coupon one time per account so make it count!
The updates to devices with Android Marshmallow continues and the Moto X Pure Edition from 2014 is the latest to get it. The news is certainly welcome for those waiting for it but keep in mind that this is for the unlocked variant of the phone only. If you have one that is locked to a carrier, your wait will be a bit longer. The update is a hefty 800+MB so be prepared for a rather lengthy upgrade from Lollipop. As always, I recommend that you have a backup of any important files or photos prior to you starting the update. The update will come to owners as an OTA update and you should start seeing it anytime from today but it could take several days or even weeks for everyone to get it. Manufactures, like Google themselves, tend to stagger these updates to their devices.
The good news is once you do get the update, you will have all the benefits of Marshmallow at your fingertips.
Today over at Amazon you can pick up another amazing deal. Right now while supplies last they have the Samsung Galaxy S6 with 32GB of onboard storage for only $489.98. That is a saving of just over $400 off the regular price. There isn’t much you probably don’t know about this fantastic phone from Samsung but here are some of the highlights for you.
The unit that is on sale at Amazon at this price point is the white version while you can pick up the gold version for about $10 more. The phone is unlocked so you can use it on any GSM carrier.
Earlier this morning I posted on the BLU Vivo Air LTE being on sale at Amazon today and now there is another great deal on a BLU phone. The Studio Energy 2, sporting a massive 5000 mAh battery is down to $129.99 in grey. That is a savings of $50 and it is until supplies last. The phone is sold unlocked (specs are available after the break) so you should be able to get this working on any GSM carrier like AT&T, T-Mobile and Cricket.
The real selling point of the Studio Energy 2 is the battery. It is massive and BLU states you can get 4 days of “standard usage” with it. It is by far the biggest battery built into a device on the market so if you need something that’ll go a couple of days between charges, give this one a serious look.
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.