Category: Android Phone

Today over at Amazon you can pick up a great deal on a great Android phone.  The Moto X Pure Edition is on sale, today only, with the 32GB unit down to just $349.99, $100 off the regular price.  That price makes the 32GB model $50 less than the 16GB model.  Amazon includes free standard shipping but you can of course pay extra for faster shipping if needed.  The model being sold by Amazon is unlocked and supports a wide range of cellular bands:

• LTE 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 25 / 26 / 41
• WCDMA 1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 8
• CDMA 800 / 850 / 1900
• GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

For you Verizon users, it also supports VoLTE.

The Moto X Pure Edition is powered by a Snapdragon 808 processor running at 1.8GHz, coupled with 3GB of RAM.  It comes with a 21MP rear facing camera and a 5MP front facing camera and has a 5.7″ 1440 x 2560 resolution display.  You can also augment the 32GB of built-in storage with up to a 128GB MicroSD card.  As the name suggests, the Moto X Pure Edition runs a slimmed down, very close to stock Android experience meaning that you won’t find a lot of replacement apps or bloatware pre-installed.  As one who has been running Nexus devices for a while now, there is something to be said for using Android the way Google intended and this phone will give you that experience (remember that Motorola built the Nexus 6 so they know how to do it right).

Moto X Pure Edition on Amazon – 32GB On Sale $349.99 – Today Only

I read a lot, especially at night, on my Nexus 7 tablet, so eye strain and fatigue is always a concern for me.  I’ve found ways around this to a large extent by enabling sepia tone mode in Google Play Books but it only goes so far.  Google seems to agree and with the latest update to the eBook reader app, they have created a Night Light mode.  Using information based on the amount of sunlight available, the app will gradually change the temperature and brightness based on that information.

When turned on, Night Light gradually filters blue light from your screen, replacing it with a warm, amber light as the sun sets. Night Light automatically adapts to the amount of natural sunlight outside based on the time of day, giving you just the right temperature and brightness. The color adjustment is more comfortable on your eyes and greatly improves low-light night reading.

Essentially, if you have been using the Sepia mode like I have in Google Play Books, this is an automatic version of making this change plus it adjusts the brightness.  It is a bit genius.

Google Play Books – Free (In-App Purchases) – Download Now

Google has rolled out another update to the Chromecast app for Android phones and tablets that brings a new Offers page off the menu.  The updated version is 1.13.13 for those keeping score at home and has been published to the Google Play Store.  That means that if you have the app already installed on one of your Android devices, you should see the OTA update at any point now.

Functionally you are not going to see much difference between this update and the previous version except this new Offers page.  As you may know, when you buy a Chromecast (and they are on sale – 2 for $55 & $20 in Google Play Store credits) you will receive various offers from Google and other companies that you can use with it.  These offers vary from time to time (generally every quarter they change a little bit) and range from free movies to trials of services (like Google Play Music).  Previously finding these offers was tricky and the fastest way I found was by going to the Offers website – not exactly handy while you are on-the-go.  Now all you do is tap the menu button in the upper left corner and tap on Offers.  There you will see all of the current offers available and you can tap on any one of them to get the details or to sign up.

If you are considering getting a Chromecast, take a look at my review.

One of the big additions to the Google Now launcher and Android Marshmallow has been Now on Tap.  With this new feature, you can tap and hold the home button on your Android phone or tablet and get contextual information about what it is you are reviewing on your device.  The idea and first implementation was around Google Chrome so if you were viewing a website, you could get more granular information about that site.

The good news is that Google is expanding Now on Tap and it works in the Google Play Store app on your phone or tablet. If you are in the Play Store app and looking at an app, tap and hold your home button to pull up the Now on Tap information.  The context you get will vary from app-to-app.  For games I generally found that you would get links to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.  On some developers I also got a link to the developer’s site to check out the app or others they may offer.

For subscribers to Project Fi, there is a new version of the app for Android available.  The update is version G.1.7.12 for those keeping score at home and while it brings some bug fixes and stability improvements, it also adds a key feature:  Notifications of service outages.

I have been using Project Fi on my Nexus 6 for a couple of months now and while I have not been impacted by an outage, there have been issues in the past like any other carrier (especially a new one like Fi).  To this point, in order to find out about an issue, you can to email, call or chat with the Fi team which can be a bit more time consuming.  Now that requirement is gone as you will get notifications of any outages right within the app.

If you are curious about Project Fi, you can read my review of the service to see what my experience has been like with it.

All good things must come to an end and it appears that day has come for the Nexus 6.  Google has quietly pulled the 2014 hero device from the Google Play Store, ending the 14 month reign of the Motorola built device.  Unveiled on October 15, 2014, the Nexus 6 sported a massive 5.96″ super high resolution (2560×1440) display, 3GB of RAM, a 13MP rear camera and powered by the Snapdragon 805 processor.  The device was met with glowing reviews overall with the two biggest sticking points being the price (started at $649 for the 32GB model) and the shear size of the device.  Google, it seems, listened to customers and critics as the Nexus 6P, the 2015 hero device, is considerably smaller and lighter weight while still sporting a 5.7″ display.

While Google has stopped selling the device, owners of the Nexus 6 still have a very viable phone in their hands.  Google released the device with Android Lollipop and has already rolled the update out to Marshmallow for it.  With the company’s commitment to a 2-year update cycle, that means that it should see Android N when it is released presumably in late 2016.