Tag: Android

The LineageOS team has announced that starting tomorrow, their new 15.1 build will be released to select devices.  This build is an important milestone as it brings the Android variant up to Oreo 8.1 as the base.

We’ve been working hard these months to get this new version available; the changes that were done in upstream (AOSP) are huge: Project Treble changed the way hardware is managed in Android, so all the OEM-abandoned platforms that are supported by Lineage had to be adapted for the new platform. Moreover, we’ve taken the time to make the code future-proof by converting a lot of our hardware-related code to make use of the new Treble capabilities: things such as LiveDisplay and lights (leds) control are now up to date with the new Android standards, so we’re going to have an easier time forward-porting stuff whenever a new Android version comes out.

Along with the update to Oreo 8.1, there are also some new features that have come along in this build.  Styles allows you to change the accent color that will also change from a light to dark theme based on the time of day (if enabled).

ARCore, the Augmented Reality SDK that allows for Android phones to create AR experiences, looks set to be one of the many things that Google is going to be releasing at Mobile World Congress next week.  According to an exclusive report in Variety, the Mountain View company will release the first version of ARCore to the public and it will work on Android Nougat and Oreo devices.

Google is set to make a major push to bring augmented reality technology (AR) to Android at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, Variety has learned from sources familiar with the company’s plans. Central to these efforts will be the release of the company’s ARCore framework, which will allow third-party developers to bring AR apps to Android phones.

This is a significant step forward for the company’s AR plans as, to this point, ARCore has only been available on Google Pixel devices in a pre-release state.

With the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus slated to be announced in a couple of days at Mobile World Congress, one of the big questions was around the price points for each device.  Thanks to the awesomeness of Evan Blass, we know that both devices are going to top the eye watering $1000 mark.

Pricing. pic.twitter.com/wu4GlK1FCU

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) February 22, 2018

Doing some currency conversion, it means that the Galaxy S9 is going to be just over $1000 while the S9 Plus will be hella expensive at $1299.

After halting the rollout last week due to some boot looping issues, Samsung has re-released the Android Oreo update for the Samsung Galaxy S8.  The new build is version G950FXXU1CRB7 for the S8 and the S8+ is getting build G955XXU1CRB7.  Both builds are just over 500MB in size and it is currently rolling out in Europe.

The South Korean company ended up stopping the update rollout last week due to some users reporting that their phones were boot looping or randomly rebooting.  The company quickly reworked the build which early reports suggest that the issues have been resolved.

In a backwards kind of way, LG has announced that the LG V30 and the LG G6 will both be getting updated to Android Oreo 8.1 and soon.  Why?  Because the company announced that both devices will be a part of the Android Enterprise Recommended program once that update rolls out to them.

The press release from LG made it clear that acceptance of these V30 and the G6 was contingent on the Oreo 8.1 update rolling out to the devices.  While not in the press release, undoubtedly Google put timeframes on the contingency meaning that LG is going to have to get the updates out sooner rather than later.

Although BLU had a rough 2017, that hasn’t stopped the company from continually improving and continually releasing budget friendly devices.  The latest example is the new BLU VIVO X.  This 6″ phone has an 18:9 aspect ratio, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage at a price of $249.  Plus, the company has all-but made their UI stock Android (with the addition of some Amazon apps).

The new VIVO X is powered the MediaTek Helio P25 SoC, clocked at 2.6GHz and coupled with the Mali-T880MP2 GPU.  The 6″ display renders at 1440x 720, yielding a reasonable ~268ppi (Pixels Per Inch).