Tag: Android

Joining the ranks of several other retailers, the Microsoft Store is now offering the new Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ for pre-order.  The unlocked variants of both phones will start shipping on March 16th, like other retailers.  The S9 is priced at $719.99 while the S9+ is $839.99.

The addition of these new Samsung phones falls in line with what the company did with the S8 last year, offering it as a pre-order.  With the S7, they made a “Microsoft version” of the phone that came with several of the company’s apps pre-installed.

As to be expected, the dominant Android news this week has been the release of the first developer preview for Android P.  While the code is still considered alpha and not near completion, you can already pick out areas of important changes in the upcoming release.

One minor change that has surfaced is a slightly revamped Pixel Launcher.  The Pixel Launcher was introduced with the original Pixel phones and Android Nougat.  It was tweaked slightly on the Pixel 2 lineup and Oreo and appears again to be set for a minor tweak with Android P and, presumably, the Pixel 3 lineup.  But you can try it out today on any phone.

Today’s Deal is on the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact, the company’s 4.6″ Android phone that was launched in September of last year.  The XZ1 Compact is the follow up to the popular Xperia X Compact from 2016 and has some mighty impressive specs for its small size.  Right now on Amazon you can pick up the phone in any color for $449, a savings of $150 off the normal price.  This is the same price that Amazon listed the phone briefly for last month.

While the XZ1 Compact has been recently updated with the new XZ2 Compact, you are getting a lot of the same phone for a lot less money.  Oh, and yes you get Android Oreo as Sony has already released the update for the XZ1 series.

Two new commits in the Android AOSP (Android Open Source Project) code review suggest that native hiding of sensitive numbers is coming to the platform.  Most often these numbers are to report domestic violence where the victim would not want their perpetrator to find a call to such a number in their call log.

The two commits hand two specific elements of sensitive numbers.  First, the special numbers would not be logged at all by being masked.  The second commit refers to a new XML file that is required to assure that these numbers are not logged and that they comply with local laws as well as dealing with roaming and multiple SIM devices.  Essentially the two methods achieve the same goal, it is a matter of how AOSP wants to implement it into Android.

Google has released an update to the Google+ app for Android.  The new update, version 10.1.0.187555767 for those keeping score at home and who like to play version numbering BINGO! brings mostly minor cosmetic changes to the social and community network app.

The most noticeable change when you get the update will be the bottom navigation bar.  That bar had a dark theme to it in previous versions but now sports a light background.  Essentially it makes the UI of Google+ much more white.

There has been a lot of press today covering Android P and the first developer preview dropping.  That is certainly news worthy because, honestly, it came a week or two earlier than expected.  But what is not news is the fact that the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P and Pixel C tablet will not be getting Android P, officially at least.  Google has made it very clear and very public when support for these devices would end, both in major releases and security updates.

While we can debate all day long if two years of software support is too short, it is the number that Google settled on and has published for support of devices.  The only exception, and likely the way going forward, is the Pixel 2 lineup which gets three years of major updates.  For the Nexus 5X and 6P, major build support ended in September 2017.  That means Android Oreo was the last major build.