Category: Android Phone

Google has issued a minor update to their SMS app, Google Messenger.  The update, version 1.4.048 (2144942-38) for those keeping score at home and who love version number Bingo, is available now in the Google Play Store.  If you have not checked out Google Messenger, it is a solid SMS/MMS app that allows you to share things like stickers, your location and of course pictures.  I posted a review back in May of Google Messenger and it has been my main SMS/MMS app on my BLU VIVO IV and OnePlus One almost since the beginning.  It’s a solid app that’s feature rich for a SMS client.

Google Messenger for Android – Free – Download Now

Microsoft’s continued mobile app development on iOS and Android continues seemingly non-stop and today’s release of Microsoft Translator shows they are both serious about it and really good at it.  Microsoft Translator allows you via typing or speaking, translate between 50 different languages and it comes with out-of-the-box support for Android Wear, something that is not supported in Google Translate.  It also has far smoother audio playing of the translated text than Google Translate, sounding far less “robotic” than Google’s offering.  If you are looking for a translation app, this is one to seriously consider.  It’s free and in my testing of it today has performed flawlessly.

Microsoft Translator for Android – Free – Download Now

Angry Birds 2 by all accounts has been a success for developer Rovio Entertainment and today on their blog they have confirmed it.  In the first week since its launch, the sequel game to the original Angry Birds has seen 20 million downloads.  In that time it has also become the number one download in the for iOS while on both iOS and Android the game has been the most downloaded game on both platforms.

As the number one iPhone or iPad download in more than 100 countries – and the most downloaded game on both iOS and Android platforms virtually worldwide – in its first week Angry Birds 2’s fans have raised their slingshots more than 1.4 billion times, blasting their way through more than 300 million eye-popping levels and gloriously maxing out the Destruct-O-Meter more than 350 million times over.

If you haven’t been keeping up, Angry Birds 2 is the sequel to the enormously popular Angry Birds and it a far different game than the original.  Yes you are still slinging birds to pop pigs but the game play and puzzles of each level are vastly different and certainly a worthy challenge.  Angry Birds 2 requires not only the strategy of popping the pigs but you also have to determine which bird to use to be the most effective.  As a fan of the game series, I’m addicted.  I’m up to level 70. 🙂

Angry Birds 2 – Free (In-App Purchases) – Download Now

Last week Samsung announced during their earnings call that they would be dropping the price on the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge to more accurately reflect the market and prop up sliding sales.  It seems that those prices may be coming to market already.  T-Mobile has updated their site to reflect a $100 drop in price on Galaxy S6 and Galaxy 6 Edge 32GB and 64GB models while the 128GB models have dropped a full $200.  These are for non-contract full purchase of the phones and if you do the math, the higher memory devices are a really good deal right now.

Yesterday HTC announced that starting today the HTC One M9 would start receiving the Lollipop 5.1 update via an OTA (Over-the-air) update starting today.  It looks like they have kept to their word.  Users across Europe, the Middle East and Africa have started receiving the update to their devices and all the benefits of the latest version of Android.  It’s good news for owners of the device as it brings them inline with the North America which has already seen the Lollipop rollout start.

Following weeks of rumors and speculation, Sony has announced today the new Xperia M5 Android phone.  The newest offering from Sony sports an impressive set of specifications including a 21MP rear camera and a 13MP front camera.  The 5″ display device will be powered by the 64-bit MediaTek Helio X10 Octa-core processor running at 2.0 GHz and will have 3GB of RAM which should make this phone quite snappy. It will also be running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) and interestingly, is waterproof.

While no firm release date was provided, we can expect to see the Xperia M5 hit select markets this month.