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If you are a new Project Fi users, chances are you are a bit confused.  That confusion surrounds SMS and which app you can use for getting your text messages on your Nexus phone using Fi.  On the surface, it looks like you are required to use Google Hangouts, the voice, video and yes, text messaging integrated app.  But that not necessarily true and in fact, even Google suggests that you use Google Messenger, the default SMS app on Nexus devices, for texting.

So what gives?  What’s the truth and what is the plus or minus of using Google Hangouts or Google Messenger?  Essentially it comes down to where you want messages to appear and on which devices and how you plan to communicate to friends and family.

I am an unapologetic fan of Google+.  It is a great source of information, tips, new ideas and communicating with other Android users who share a passion for the platform. But, as we all know, Google+ hasn’t exactly gained huge grounds in terms of users (the joke is that only Googlers use Google+) but that doesn’t mean it is completely dead in the eyes of Mountain View.  Today the company announced a wide range of changes that are coming to the social platform including a completely revamped user experience that focuses more on communities and collections.  If you remember back to my first post on how I use Google+, I pointed out that Communities was one of the key draws to the platform.  It would seem that I’m not alone.

Google+ for Android – Free – Download Now

Keep track of the amount of data you consume on your mobile plan is something that the majority of us have to do.  While there are some unlimited data plans that meet the need for power users, the rest of us usually have a limited amount each month or top up of our mobile accounts. To aid in this, there are several apps out in the Google Play Store to help you get a reasonable grasp of the amount of data you are using for a specific period of time.  My personal favorite has been My Data Manager as I’ve been using it on Android and iOS and it is reasonably good at tracking not only your mobile data usage but your Wi-Fi usage at the same time.

With the release of Android Lollipop, Google added a data manager into the platform directly.  Designed to give you information on your cellular usage as well as Wi-Fi, the Data usage feature in Android Marshmallow is nearly identical to that which we found in Lollipop.  In this How To I will show you where to find this on your Android Phone and how to configure it to set thresholds so you will know if you are approaching your data allotment for your billing period.

Today Asus and Google announced that the all new Asus Chromebit is now available for purchase from a wide range or retailers around the globe.  It is the fulfillment of a product that the companies announced back in March.  You can now pick one up for $85.  But what is it exactly?

The Chromebit is a Chrome OS computer that is roughly the size of your favorite granola bar that plugs into an HDMI port on any monitor or television.  Plug it in and bada-bing, you have a Chrome OS computer.  It is powered by the Rockchip ARM processor, has 2GB or RAM and 16GB of storage built in plus it has a USB 2.0 port, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.  No it is not going to set any land speed records when it comes to processing power but given that it is running a full version of Chrome OS, you can do just about anything on the Chromebit that you can do on a Chromebook.

For $85.  Not bad.