Tag: Android

Google Photos has been updated for Android and with it comes a long requested feature of the app.  Version 2.0 is out now in the Play Store and if you have the app already installed, you will get an OTA update for it over the course of the next few days.  The new feature?  The ability to permanently organize photos in albums.

Prior to this release, photos in an album could be moved around but they could not be sorted automatically (say oldest to newest).  This update to Google Photos brings that feature.

Google’s new video app, Google Duo, has been out about a month now and while the 10 million downloads are okay, it isn’t exactly setting the world alight.  If you haven’t tried it out, it is a great video experience.  To help get awareness of the app up and to show it in action, Google released a series of 10 adverts for the app and some of them are really good.  My favorite, which you can find after the break, is something we can all related to:  A lost sock in the laundry.

The range of videos are centered around things that go together.  Like a pair of socks.  Or salt and pepper.  Or Peanut Butter and Jelly.  You get the idea.  Duos

There is another new update to Skype for Android, the second such update in as many weeks.  The latest build, version 7.16 for those keeping score at home, brings some fixes and improvements to the messaging app but more importantly, brings Accessibility support to Bot cards.  As you might remember from the last update, Microsoft and their partners added a new Bots feature where you could get automated information and even place orders with some companies.  Now the company has enabled those Bots to work with the accessibility features of your phone.  If you have those features enabled, Skype will now support it and allow you to interact with the Bot properly.

Android Marshmallow continues to see incremental growth in the install base according to the latest figures from Google.  In the platform version dashboard report released today, Marshmallow’s install base grew from 15.2% last month to 18.7% this month.  The growth was certainly expected given that a number of devices were updated to Marshmallow this past month from a wide range of manufactures.  Still, Marshmallow remains well behind the leading release, Lollipop, which stands at 35% of the install base.

As a reminder, these figures are derived by Google from devices that visited the Google Play Store for a 7 day period that ended on September 5, 2016.  While it is by no means exhaustive, it does give a good indicator of the varieties of Android that are out there and still in use today.

Budget friendly phone manufacture BLU has announced their latest phone, the VIVO 5R, which is well appointed for a phone that is $199.  The new 5R will be available starting September 21st in either grey or gold and will be available through Amazon or Best Buy.

Feature wise, the 5R is not too shabby.  It has a 5.5″ Full HD display that renders 1080 x 1920 for just over 400 ppi.  It is powered by the MediaTek 6753 1.3GHz Octa Core processor and is coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.  That storage can be expanded an additional 64GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  The VIVO 5R also has a fingerprint scanner for additional device security and is powered by a 3150 mAh battery.

Samsung is working hard to try to sort out the battery situation with the Galaxy Note 7 and in their homeland, are taking an extrodinary step.  Starting today, the Associate Press is reporting that  Koreans who have a Galaxy Note 7 that has been recalled but is still out in the market, will receive an OTA update that will limit the battery charging to 60%.  The idea, of course, is to not over charge the batteries (which is a leading theory on the battery exploding issue) and make it painful enough for users to return the phone for an updated and safe unit.

Unfortunately, for now, this is only going to happen in Korea.