Today’s Deal – SanDisk Ultra Fit 64GB USB 3.0 Drive for $16

Today’s Deal is on the low profile USB Flash Drives from SanDisk.  Over at Amazon you can pick up the SanDisk Ultra Fit 64GB drive for $16 with other sizes available.  The Ultra Fit series are designed to fit into the USB 3.0 port of your PC, Mac or Chromebook and not protrude like a normal Flash Drive.  Indeed, the idea is that you can leave it in your computer without ever having to take it out when you slip it into a bag or backpack.

The sale is on the 32GB, 64GB and 128GB versions of the Ultra Fit.  All three are have a zippy read speed of 150MB/s so while they are too slow to run apps from, they are perfect for data, photos and videos.  The drives also come with SanDisk’s SecureAccess software to encrypt the drives should they ever be lost or stolen (although you can use MacOS and BitLocker encryption should you choose to do so instead).

Regardless of the size of drive you pick up, they are all eligible for Amazon Prime free shipping.

Head on over to Amazon to check out the details on these great drives from SanDisk.

SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB 3.0:$10.72

SanDisk Ultra Fit 64GB USB 3.0: $16.81

SanDisk Ultra Fit 128GB USB 3.0: $28.95

 

Minor Update Comes to Chrome OS

A small security update has been released by the Chrome OS team for all devices running the platform.  The update is 55.0.2883.105 (Platform version: 8872.76.0) for those keeping score at home.  There are not many details in the release notes about the update other than the customary bug and security fixes that come with all updates to the platform.  Still, if you are running a Chromebook or Chromebox, get the update so you have the latest and greatest (and safest) version.

All devices will have the update pushed to them over the course of the next few days but if you want to force the issue now, you can do so by going to chrome://help on your Chromebook and tapping the Check for update button.  This will download the update and after a reboot you will be running the new build.

Android Install Base Report Sees Froyo Disappear

Let’s all have a moment of silence for a dearly departed friend, Android Froyo.

(silence)

Google has just released the latest Android Platform Report and the nearly 6 year old Froyo is no longer on the report.  The report is based on devices that came to the Google Play Store for the week ending January 9, 2017.  While certainly not a definitive resource when it comes to the Android install base, it is a solid resource that gives some great insights to just what versions of Android are out there and in use.  The news for Nougat is that installs still remain low.  The latest version of Android only accounted for .7% of the devices hitting the store, miles behind Marshmallow at 29.6% and even further behind leader Lollipop, which sits at 33.4% of visitors.  Still, that Nougat number is a .3% increase over last month but equally, Marshmallow jumped up 3.3% for the report.  For the rest of the versions, numbers declined.

Android Lollipop dropped .6% to 33.4% while KitKat had the biggest drop of 1.4% to 22.6%.  Jelly Bean dropped to 11.6%, down from 12.8%, Ice Cream Sandwich dropped .1% to 1.1% and finally, the now quite crusty Gingerbread release dropped to 1%.

Google Play Store Now Allows You To See Installed Top Apps

There has been a minor behind-the-scenes update to the Google Play Store that some users are seeing.  If you go to the Top Charts in the Store, some users are now seeing a “Show installed apps” toggle at the top of each page.  Enabling this allows you to either display or hide the apps from that chart that you already have installed.  The idea is to speed things up a bit by not having to wade through apps you already have installed.  You can simply hide them and see the other top apps you don’t have installed.

There is nothing that you need to do necessarily to get the update.  It will just appear for you once it hits your account.

Microsoft Teams Update Brings Voice Call Capabilities

Microsoft has rolled out a sizable update to their intracompany, Slack competitor, Microsoft Teams.  The update, version 1416 for those keeping score at home, brings a lot of improvements to the collaboration app, the most notable of which is the ability to have voice conversations through the app.  Now if you are collaborating with a colleague, you can elevate that chat to a voice conversation with a push of a button.  No longer do you have to leave the app for that voice interaction to happen, making this sweet and simple.  All indications are that this new feature is leveraging the existing Skype for Business infrastructure on the backend.

Another nice update to the app is the ability to delete messages.  Now you can delete a message within 24 hours of it being sent.

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