Tag: Android

After a couple of months of guessing and speculation, Samsung has pulled back the cover on the latest version of their phablet device, the Galaxy Note 7.  The Note 7 is, as you would expect, a well appointed device with more-or-less the same innards of the Galaxy S7 Edge.  That means you are going to get some top end performance in a 5.7″ displayed device that is waterproof and is the first device to hit the market with Gorilla Glass 5.

The Note 7 has a 5.7″ dual edge screen that supports a resolution of 2560×1440.  It is powered by a Quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor (in the United States.  International models will be powered by the Octa-core Exynos processor).  It comes standard with 64GB of storage but can be expanded up to an additional 256GB thanks to the MicroSD slot.  Coupled with the processor is 4GB of RAM so you have plenty of power under-the-hood.

Like clockwork, with the change of the calendar to August, the Android team has just released the Android Security update for the month.  The new update patches are going to be hitting the AOSP over the course of the next 48 hours with the OTA updates for Nexus devices likely coming at the end of the week or early next week.  Like the Android team did in July, the August security updates are coming in two patches.  The first is the August 1st patch which has 1 critical update and 4 high priority updates out of the 14 total updates in the patch.  This patch is more generic in nature and applies to Android in general.  The Google team is trying to get these high priority updates out to their manufacturing partners faster so updates are done faster by them.  Those well versed in Android lore know that patches and updates are, um, lacking in some cases.

With the Rio 2016 Olympic games starting on August 5th, this coming Friday, the need for information and results always goes up and Google Search could be your answer.  Google has announced that Google Search on your Android phone has been updated behind-the-scenes to provide a wealth of information about the games as they happen in Rio.  The good news is this is all done on Google’s end – you don’t have to update your app on your phone.

On Google, searching for information about your favorite athletes and sports, the medal race, or your country’s schedule has never been easier. Pro tip: if you search on the Google app on Android and iOS, you’ll also see an option to get automatic updates on top event and medal wins, so you’ll never miss a beat.

With these changes, Google Search could well be your one-stop to get news and information about what is going on in Rio 2016 and your country’s athletes at the games this year.

Today LG has announced that their upcoming flagship device, the LG V20, will be shipping starting in September.  Specifications around the new phone are virtually unknown.  Very few leaks have come out for the V20, a rarity these days, so nobody is 100% sure what the phone will have for a processor/memory combination.  Given it is a flagship, the V20 will likely have the upper end of the Snapdragon processor lineup (8xx) and 3GB of RAM but again, just speculation on my part.  What we do know however, based on this release from LG, is that the V20 will come with Android Nougat installed.

For readers who have the Samsung Galaxy S7 through AT&T, there is a new and important software update rolling your way today.  The new update brings several enhancements and new features including support for Wi-Fi calling.  The updated build number is MMB29M and is available for the S7 and S7 Edge.

Wi-Fi calling is probably the most noticeable addition in this update which AT&T has brought to several of the phones on their network already.  This feature is pretty self explanatory but it allows you to make calls over Wi-Fi (assuming the quality and strength of that Wi-Fi signal is acceptable).  Think of it as mobile Voice over IP (VoIP).

Nextbit has announced that a new “ember” red color option is available in limited quantities for their phone, the Nextbit Robin.  The new red option is at the same $299 price as the other two color options (Midnight and Mint) but it is in limited quantities.  If you want to pick one up, you need to get over to the Nextbit site and get one ordered.

The new ember model has red panels on the top and bottom of the Robin with a black back.  It is a pretty striking looking phone in my opinion and will make your Robin stand out from virtually any phone in the crowd.