Category: Android

Nokia has announced several new phones today at Mobile World Congress including the company’s first Android Go edition phone, the Nokia 1.  Much like the Alcatel 1X announced earlier today, the Nokia 1 is a budget friendly phone with a MediaTek MT6737M SoC, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage.  It has a 4.5″ display with a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP selfie camera.

Nokia has indicated that the phone will be priced at a very budget friendly $85 in the markets it is made available in but, at this time, it is unclear which markets that will be just yet.  It is almost certainly emerging markets but it could make its way to established markets too.

The connectivity speed testing app, Speedtest by Ookla, has a new update rolling out that brings a completely revamped user experience.  The new update is version 4.0 for those keeping score at home and if you have the app installed, you can expect to see the update hit your phone over the course of the next few days.

Feature wise, there is nothing new in Speedtest.  It is all down to the new UI.  Gone is the speedometer style dial that you had when you tested your WiFi or 4G connectivity speed.  Instead, you now have a modern dial that has a Material Design feel to it.

If there was ever a proof point that LG’s mobile division is in trouble or at the very least in disarray, look no further than the LG V30S ThinQ.  The company announced this enhanced version of the LG V30 at Mobile World Congress and I use enhanced very liberally.  Basically it is a V30 with 6GB of RAM (instead of 4GB) and has a base storage of 128GB (up from 64GB).  Throw in a little Artificial Intelligence for improved photos and Android Oreo and badabing!  You have a LG V30S.

Spec wise, the V30S is identical to the V30 so you aren’t going to get any improvements as far as the SoC is concerned.  It is still running the Snapdragon 835.  It has the same display, same chassis design… same everything.  You get the idea.

The LineageOS team has announced that starting tomorrow, their new 15.1 build will be released to select devices.  This build is an important milestone as it brings the Android variant up to Oreo 8.1 as the base.

We’ve been working hard these months to get this new version available; the changes that were done in upstream (AOSP) are huge: Project Treble changed the way hardware is managed in Android, so all the OEM-abandoned platforms that are supported by Lineage had to be adapted for the new platform. Moreover, we’ve taken the time to make the code future-proof by converting a lot of our hardware-related code to make use of the new Treble capabilities: things such as LiveDisplay and lights (leds) control are now up to date with the new Android standards, so we’re going to have an easier time forward-porting stuff whenever a new Android version comes out.

Along with the update to Oreo 8.1, there are also some new features that have come along in this build.  Styles allows you to change the accent color that will also change from a light to dark theme based on the time of day (if enabled).

The Google Files Go app, part of the Android Go app series and a solid storage management tool for any device, has a small update rolling out that brings a nice new feature.  With version 1.0.185922376 of the app, you can no select files on your phone to back up to Google Drive.

The new feature is located off of the Files tab in the Files Go app and works on anything in your Downloads folder as well as images, videos, audio files, and documents.  All you have to do is use the down carrot to open the menu for a particular file and you will see an option to upload the file to your Google Drive account.

With the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus slated to be announced in a couple of days at Mobile World Congress, one of the big questions was around the price points for each device.  Thanks to the awesomeness of Evan Blass, we know that both devices are going to top the eye watering $1000 mark.

Pricing. pic.twitter.com/wu4GlK1FCU

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 22, 2018

Doing some currency conversion, it means that the Galaxy S9 is going to be just over $1000 while the S9 Plus will be hella expensive at $1299.