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OnePlus has made a lot of waves – some good and some not-so good – with their first phone, the “Flagship killer” OnePlus One.  For the price of $299 for the 16GB and $349 for the 64GB, they were already a good deal considering the specs of the device.  Now throughout this week at various times you can pick one up for $50 off.  I have been using a OnePlus One now for about a week and I will say it may be one of the best phones I’ve ever used in my 17 years of tech writing and reviewing.  Yeah, it’s that good.

A couple of weeks ago I did a quick overview of Microsoft’s preview of Word for Android Phone. Since that overview, Microsoft has already released another update to the preview, giving it more stability and improving some of the functionality.  Now it is time to look at PowerPoint for Android Phone. Like Word (and Excel), it is also in Preview (or as it use to be called, beta) so if you decide to download these apps you may run into the odd behavior or bug.

PowerPoint for Android Phone is impressive.  In my “day job” I use PowerPoint on a daily basis and regardless of platform – Windows Phone, Android or iOS – I have found Office for Mobile (the old Microsoft Office app for phones) to be very limiting and in some cases, useless. That is not the case with the new breed of Office apps and PowerPoint for Android phone is a prime example. It is feature rich and easy to navigate, a far cry from it’s predecessor.  In fact, if you were stuck with only your Android Phone and had to create a presentation, this app is more than powerful enough to allow you to do it including things like slide transitions and photo inserts.  It is as close to desktop PowerPoint as you can get on a phone and unless you have some very specific need, PowerPoint for Android Phone will do 99% of what the average user needs.

If you have followed my site for the last few weeks you will have noticed a lot more Android updates.  It’s partly because I have to use an Android device for my day job but also it is good to expand horizons.  I’ve never been a big fan of Android.  I don’t really like the UI although it is certainly better than the last time I really tried to use one, circa Ice Cream Sandwich.  But it’s still not may favorite.  That’s Windows Phone.  I love the personal experience of Windows Phone that despite Google’s best efforts – and Apple’s with iOS for that matter – just can’t replicate well.

One factor about Windows Phone that I and many other sites and users have moaned about however is the upgrade process.  While an update may be available, it could take months or never for that update to hit your phone depending on your country and if your phone is locked to a carrier.  Everyone’s favorite example is Verizon and the Lumia Cyan update which never came out.  Instead, owners of the Lumia ICON (Lumia 930 in the rest of the world) had to wait a full year before that got it and Lumia Denim at the same time.  A year.  It’s unacceptable and is something that Microsoft has said they are addressing with the release of Windows 10 Mobile.

If however you are thinking that the Android grass is greener, guess again.  The upgrading of Android devices to the next version of the OS, Lollipop, if fraught with problems, delays and phones that, while can run it, will never get the update.  Compounding this is the sheer number of devices that are out there and all the possible permutations of Android that have to be developed to support those devices.  By Gartner’s estimate, there are over 18,000 versions of Android out in the wild today.  18,000!  That makes a uniform, systematic upgrade virtually impossible.

The Skype for Android app has received an update today that brings several new user friendly features to it.  While none of the new features are overwhelming and indeed are present in many other Instant Messaging and video apps, this update bring Skype on par with them with simple things like an indicator when the other person is typing.  The update, version 5.4.0.3239, also brings the ability to send feedback on the app directly from within it amongst several other improvements and fixes.

Skype for Android – Free – Download Now