Google has kicked off the holiday shopping season with a great deal on the new Nexus 5X. For a limited time you can get $80 off of the latest Nexus in any color and any storage amount when you buy it through the Google Store. There are no coupon codes required. Just configure yours, add it to your cart and the discount is applied automatically. With this discount, the 16GB version of the Nexus 5X drops down to $299 while the 32GB version drops to $349.
When I posted my review of Google Fit several months ago, I pointed out that while it was a good app that had a nice, clean interface, it lacked some of the features that would make it a true must-have fitness app. The latest update to the app, which is rolling out to the Google Play Store now, closes a lot of those gaps by bringing a much tighter integration with other fitness and nutrition apps. The result is that Google Fit becomes a portal for all your nutrition and exercise information.
The update is version 1.55.44-000 for those keeping score at home and while it has been released to the Play Store, it could be a day or two before you see the OTA update if you have it installed. The first thing that is new in this build is the real-time tracking of exercises. If you go on walks, runs or bike rides, you can now have Google Fit track that exercise for you and it will integrate with Google Maps so you can see where you went on your activity. To do this, there is a new Start Activity option in the app’s menu.
The Google Play Music app has been updated today for Android devices and while it is mostly a bug fix release, there are a few new features that are worth a mention. This new build is verion 6.1.2115T for those keeping score at home and it is rolling out to the Google Play Store now. If you have the app installed then you should expect to see the OTA update for it anytime over the next couple of days.
As far as new features in this update, the first thing you will notice is a completely revamped Settings menu. Things are generally much more organized into sections with this update and it is a bit easier to see all of your settings without having to tap to change a particular setting in most cases. Functionally there isn’t much different other than the new Auto-offline feature which I will discuss after the break but I find the new Settings to be a bit easier to figure out what to adjust in Google Play Music.
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.
Project Fi, Google’s MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) service is starting to come into is own. With a line up of three devices that fully take advantage of the service (Nexus 6, Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X), more users of the service are coming on board daily with Google significantly cutting the time from when you request an invite to when you receive it (it is a matter of a week or two versus 6-8 weeks earlier this year). As I posted shortly after the Nexus event where we saw the 6P and 5X launched, Google is serious about Project Fi and based on my experience so far, the service is exceptional. The service uses a combination of Wi-Fi, T-Mobile and Sprint to provide you low cost data and voice on your device. I’ll have a full review of Project Fi in a few weeks but today I want to focus on the activation process when you receive your Google Fi SIM.
To be clear, I’m assuming in this How To that you already have ordered and receive your SIM. If you haven’t, you can continue to read but I’d recommend bookmarking this post until you get your SIM. If you have your SIM then after the break I’ll show you step-by-step how to activate your new Project Fi service. If you have not ordered your Project Fi SIM, go to http://fi.google.com to order it.
For those of you who use Google Photos, there are some big updates coming your way both in the Android app and on the services website. In a post on his Google+, Google’s John Elstone posted about the changes which are going to be released this week, likely today or tomorrow. The first two updates have to do with the Android based Google Photos app and focus on being able to delete backed up photos from your devices and SD cards to save space. The third update is on the Google Photos website that brings a much wanted downgrade feature for photos from “Original Quality” to “High Quality”.
If you are a frequent traveler on American Airlines (Clinton raises his hand) then you will want to make sure you have the latest update to their app for Android. The new version 4.3 build is in the Google Play Store for those keeping score at home and it comes with a streamlined and much improved user experience along interactive terminal maps for many of the airports where you can find the airline. The update is free of course and to take full advantage of it you will need to have an American AAdvantage frequent flyer account but it is not necessary to use a good percentage of the app.
Today over at the HTC store, they have a great promotion for those looking to pick up the HTC One M9. Today only (November 17th) you can pick up an unlocked M9 for $649.99 and with it you will get an unlocked HTC Desire 626. That’s a $179.99 value for two phones that are solid performers and remember that the One M9 is expected to receive the Android Marshmallow update by the end of this year.