Google Duo Tops 5 Million Downloads in The First Week

Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai took to Twitter last night and provided an important update to everyone:  Google Duo has hit the 5 million download mark.  The new video calling app was released the same day as Android Nougat and frankly is a pretty refined experience versus other video calling solutions.  Duo gives you a preview of who is calling before you even accept the call.

While 5 million isn’t exactly huge when you compare it to the hundreds of millions of Android phones and iPhones out there, it is significant in that there is some excitement around this new video app.

HTC Refines Nougat Update Dates for Devices

HTC took to Twitter yesterday and clarified the target dates for the Android Nougat update to their devices.  The news is mixed in that it looks like there is still going to be another couple of months before we see the first device updated but, to their credit, the company is being upfront about things.  According to the Tweet, the HTC 10 will be the first of their devices updated and that will happen in Q4 of this year.

Probably more disappointing is that the One A9 will not be updated until after the older One M9.

Reminder – Nexus 5X 16GB in White Still $199 on eBay

Earlier this week I told you about a great deal running on eBay for the Nexus 5X.  That deal is still going and available in Quartz (white) for just $199.  That’s a savings of $150 off the regular price that you get from Google direct.  The phone is brand new, unlocked and is the 16GB model from a storage perspective.  While the price itself is outstanding, even better is that this device will see the Android Nougat update that was released earlier this week and is a bit future proof in that it will see Android O (yes, I went there) when it is released next year.

Today’s Deal – Asus C201 Chromebook for $160

Today’s deal over at Amazon is on a great little Chromebook.  The Asus C201 has an 11.6″ display, 4GB of RAM and 16GB of storage and is currently down to $159.99 for the Navy Blue model.  Equally as important, when the Chrome OS 53 build is made public, the C201 is going to be able to take full advantage of it and run Android apps.  That makes this deal a bit sweeter.

The C201 is powered by the Rockchip rk3288 processor that runs at 1.8GHz and the 11.6″ display renders at 1366×768 and is an LED display.  Like most other Chromebooks, you have 3 USB ports (2x USB 2.0 and 1 USB 3.0), an HDMI port, a SD Card Reader and a 3.5mm headphone jack.  Overall, a solid package.

Wi-Fi Assistant Coming To All Nexus Phones

Great news and yet another reason to pick up a Nexus phone.  The Nexus team at Google has announced that Wi-Fi Assistant is coming to all Nexus phones in the coming weeks.  Wi-Fi Assistant to this point has been exclusive to Project Fi users which allows their devices to automatically connect to Google approved Wi-Fi hotspots securely and without any user intervention.  It is a huge benefit to Fi frankly as it saves on data plan usage.  It will connect your phone to Wi-Fi without you even knowing it.  Now all Nexus owners will benefit from the feature.

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