Android Nougat Developer Preview 5 Released – Likely The Final One

The Android development team at Google has rolled out what is likely the last Developer Preview for Android Nougat.  The update takes devices to build NPD90G and it is available for all of the Nexus devices that have been a part of the beta testing process.  Those devices include

  • Nexus 5X
  • Nexus 6
  • Nexus 6P
  • Nexus 9
  • Nexus Player
  • Pixel C
  • General Mobile 4G (Android One)

For those how have devices registered in the Android Beta program, the OTA update should be coming to you over the course of the next few hours.  If you want to manually flash your device to the newest build, the images are available already.

Google Makes Registering to Vote Easier

Here in the United States, we are in the throws of election season.  In November the Presidential election happens along with some House of Representatives seats, Senate seats and countless local elections.  A fundamental right in the United States is the right to vote and regardless of where you stand on a particular candidate or issue, exercising that right is key to making the country work. As my father always told me, “I don’t care who you vote for, but vote.”  But figuring out where and how to register to vote can be tricky.  That’s where Google comes in and helps simplify things.  Now you can simply type in “Register to vote” in Google Search on your phone and all of the details on how to register for your state will be displayed.

SoftBank Acquiring ARM for $31 Billion

Today, the Japanese firm SoftBank have announced that they have come to an agreement to acquire UK-based chip designer ARM Holdings for some $31 billion.  The acquisition will be an all cash transaction in which SoftBank will purchase 1,412 million shares of ARM.  The acquisition is a great one for SoftBank as ARM is unquestionably the dominant player in the mobile device chip market which continues to grow globally and with Internet of Things growth happening at the same time, the company is poised to be in an excellent position over the course of the next several years.

Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SBG, said: “We have long admired ARM as a world renowned and highly respected technology company that is by some distance the market-leader in its field. ARM will be an excellent strategic fit within the SoftBank group as we invest to capture the very significant opportunities provided by the “Internet of Things”.

Keep in mind that ARM does not itself produce chips.  Rather, they license the Intellectual Property of their designs to others to produce the chips.

Chrome OS Stable Channel Update Arrives for Most Devices

Chrome OS users, there is a new Stable Channel build of the OS available to the majority of devices.  The update is already rolling out to devices so you should see the update soon or you can do a manual check for it.  The updated build is version 51.0.2704.106 (Platform version: 8172.62.0) for those keeping score at home and it is available on a vast majority of devices.  However, if you have a Lenovo ThinkPad 11e Chromebook or a Samsung Chromebook Series 5 device, the update is not available for you.  Having specific devices listed as not receiving the update is nothing new.  Google and the Chrome OS team often call out a specific device or two that won’t see the update immediately.  Often these updates come later to these devices.

Android July Security Update OTAs Now Rolling To Nexus Devices

For those who have Nexus devices, the July Security Update for Android is now rolling out via an OTA update.  The update, 2 of them this month, were released last week on July 6th along with factory images and OTA images that users could flash to their devices manually.  With Google now pushing the updates out to Nexus devices, users will get the update as they usually do each month.  If you recall, this month’s update was split into two parts.  The first update, dated July 1st, was more a general fix for Android while the one dated July 6th was more driver specific updates for specific devices.  Google’s stated intent was to get the first update out so all of their partners could update their devices quickly without having to wade through driver tests for things their their devices just don’t use.

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