Tag: Android

I’ve been reviewing mobile devices for the better part of 15 years now.  I’m often asked, “What is the best phone to get?”  My answer is always the same:  The phone that works best for you.  For some, that’s iPhones.  For some, that’s Android.  But when it comes to any phone, rarely do you find one that ticks all the boxes when it comes to performance, a solid camera, good battery life and user experience.  I’ve found one of these rare phones in the Huawei P10.  It’s not perfect, but it is close and this 5.1″ phone is once to seriously consider.

I’ve had the opportunity over the past few weeks to use the Huawei P10 as my daily driver and it has not disappointed.  It has the power to get me through the day and the performance to do anything I need it to do – from email, to streaming music and video, to playing a game or two.  It is a device that I have no reservation in recommending.  Yes there are some things to get use to with it, most notably the multi-function fingerprint scanner, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll really unlock this phone.

The growth of Android Pay continues at a torrid pace in 2017.  This weekend, another 13 banks were added to the service which pushes the total number of new banks added this year alone to over 100.  If you remember, 51 new financial institutions were added last month and given the heavy push that Google is making to get Android Pay used more and out there, the addition of so many banks big and small will help drive its adoption.

As with the additional banks last month, this month’s additions are generally smaller financial institutions.  Here is the rundown for this month’s additions:

• Bank of Stockton
• Boundary Waters Bank
• Citizens Bank of the South
• Country Bank for Savings
• Countryside Bank
• First Green Bank
• First State Bank of the Florida Keys
• Greenfield Cooperative Bank
• Infirmary Federal Credit Union
• Indiana University Credit Union
• Maquoketa State Bank
• McFarland State Bank
• The Conway National Bank

If you use one of these financial institutions, you should now be able to add your bank-backed credit or debit card to Android Pay.

When it comes to Bluetooth speakers, the vast majority of them are rectangles or maybe an elongated pill design regardless of manufacture.  That’s why the new iClever BTS09 Bluetooth speaker stands out in the crowd.  It is a striking, modern design that is dominated by the aluminum disk that covers the dual 10W speakers.  It is a far cry from your run-of-the-mill box style that will get anyone’s attention at first glance.  Looks are one thing but the expectation of a Bluetooth speaker is that it will have solid audio quality.  The BTS09 does not disappoint.  Its design allows sound to project, easily filling a room with music but in a distortion free, crisp way.  Plus, with the 4000mAh battery built into it, it can go for hours without charging.  That makes it great for get togethers, parties or just listening to some music as you work or relax.

A few weeks ago, the iClever team sent me the BTS09 to review.  I’ve been fortunate to review their Bluetooth speakers in the past and I’ve never been disappointed.  With the BTS09, I think it could arguably be their best yet.

The premium movie service Showtime has released an update for their Android app that gives users the ability to view movies and shows offline.  The new feature allows you to download content to your Android phone or tablet so you can view that content offline.  By default, the app will continue to stream content when you view it but now you have the option to download it and take it with you for situations like car trips or plane trips where you don’t have access to the Internet for streaming.

The new feature is simple to use.  Just find the title you want to view then tap the download button.  This will download that movie to your phone so you can view it later.  There is also a new downloads section in the Showtime app that shows you all of the content you have downloaded to your phone or tablet.  Keep in mind that downloading on your phone will give you a maximum resolution of 720p while on a tablet you can download in 1080p.  This is due to screen sizes and to save a bit on storage space on your phone.

After testing for several months, the new fact checking feature in Google Search has now been enabled for everyone.  The new feature is rolling out now and it could take a few days for everyone to receive it.  Just make sure you are running the latest version of the Google app on your Android phone.  The new feature is pretty straightforward in how it works.  Type in a search as you would normally do and if it is a search on a topic that has been fact checked, you will see a link below your search results with a source and if the fact is true, mostly true, mostly false or false.

If you want to check the validity of the facts, you can tap that link to go to the source and do your investigating on if it is really true or not.  For their part, Google is trying to bubble up this information quickly & easily so you don’t have to do a lot of tapping around to check the facts of a story.

Following up on the near doubling of the number of installed device, Android Nougat has once again made big gains this month according to the latest Android Distribution Report.  The report, published today, reflects the versions of Android that hit the Google Play Store between March 27-April 3 and it saw the latest build of the platform hit a 4.9% install base.  That is up 2.1% over the March report and, while still low, shows that Nougat is making steady inroads.  Many manufactures have released their Nougat updates for their devices so it is likely that this number will continue to increase at a reasonable clip over the course of the next several months.

Perhaps more telling, every other version of Android fell in install base when you compare the March and April reports.  Android Marshmallow saw a drop of .1% while Lollipop took the biggest hit with a drop of 2.5%.  Android KitKat fell by .8%, Jellybean by .5% and both Ice Cream Sandwich and Gingerbread fell by .1%.  The later to builds now sit at just .9% of the install base and this could well be the last time we see them on this report.