Tag: Android Oreo

Asus continues its slow but steady rollout of Android Oreo to their devices.  The latest to get the Oreo 8.0 treatment is the Asus ZenFone 4 Pro.  The 5.5″ displayed phone running the Snapdragon 835 SoC is receiving firmware update V15.0410.1802.34.  The update is for the unlocked ZS551KL variant of the the phone.  That is the model that was sold here in the US via Asus’ Amazon store front.

According to the release notes, you have all of the benefits of Oreo coming to the phone but also improved power consumption through software optimization and Oreo itself.  There is also a new “Long Screenshot” function for taking screenshots of an entire scrolling screen on your phone.

Verizon has released the Android Oreo update to the LG V30 on its network.  It follows the release of the update for the unlocked variant and is the first amongst carriers here in the United States to release the update.

The new build for the V30 on Verizon is VS99620a and it is a hefty 1.7GB in size.  You will need to download this update over Wi-Fi and will need to have at least 80% battery in order to install it.  You can expect a 10-15 minute install time once it is downloaded to your phone and you will need to reboot complete the install.  Once done, you will have all the goodies that Android Oreo brings.

While the Samsung Galaxy S9 is now available to pre-order, if you want to save yourself a bit of money, you can pick up a good deal on last years Galaxy S8.  Right now the Samsung Galaxy S8 is available in Midnight Black for $599 on Amazon.  That’s $125 off the regular price.  Given that the S8 has its Android Oreo update rolling out, complete with Samsung Experience 9 of the Galaxy S9, you really getting close to the same device for a lot less.

The 5.8″ Galaxy S8 is powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 835 processor running four cores at 2.3GHz and the other four running at 1.9GHz.  It is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage which is expandable up to an additional 256GB thanks to the MicroSD card.  The display renders at 2960 x 1440 QuadHD with an impressive 571 PPI.  Powering all of it is a 3000mAh battery which is charged with inductive charging.

When the new lineup of Nokia phones were announced this week at Mobile World Congress, one of the key questions was which one of the devices would make it to the United States.  Initially, the answer was none of them.  HMD Global, the parent company of Nokia, indicated that while the US market was on their roadmap, it wasn’t in the plans for this year.

That now has seemed to change slightly.  CNet, who originally published an article stating no phones were coming to the US, has updated their post after clarifying it with Nokia.  Now it appears that at least the revamped Nokia 6 will be coming to the country in May.

The latest Android Go series phone has been announced at Mobile World Congress, the ZTE Tempo GO.  The Tempo Go is a 5″ FWVGA display device that has all of the basics covered for one of these low cost devices running Android Oreo.  Better yet, ZTE has priced it at just $79.99.

As for specs, the display renders at 480×854 and the phone is powered by the Snapdragon 210 quad-core SoC.  It has 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage but that storage can be expanded by an additional 32GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  Powering all of this is a 2200mAh battery that is recharged via the MicroUSB port.

Today at Mobile World Congress, Sony announced the much anticipated Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact.  The two new devices mark a significant departure in Sony’s previous phone designs with far smaller bezels and 18:9 ratio displays.

Internally, the two devices are virtually identical.  They are powered by the Snapdragon 845 SoC, have 4GB of RAM and have 64GB of storage built-in.  That storage can be expanded up to 400GB thanks to the MicroSD card slot.  Both have a 19MP f/2.0 rear camera that can shoot an incredible 960 fps slow motion video, and a 5MP f/2.2 selfie camera on the front.