Tag: Android

Remember back in September when I posted about the fact that the Check for Update button on Google Pixel and Nexus devices actually worked?  Like, it actually looked at the cloud where phone images live, did a stare-and-compare of what was there versus what was on your phone, and would immediately download it to your phone.  It was cool for the few minutes it worked.

No, it is not your imagination.  It is broken.

Googler Elliott Hughes has taken to his Google+ account to update everyone that the feature is broken due to an API incompatibility.  It will get fixed but it won’t be until 2018.

Microsoft has released a new update to their SwiftKey keyboard app for Android.  The new build brings a handful of new features including a new Quick Paste feature.  This new feature allows you to copy text from your screen and it will be available to you in your prediction bar at the top of the keyboard.  This makes pasting that copied text quick and easy.

Along with the new Quick Paste feature, support for seven new languages are in this update.  Those languages are Chamorro, Ju|’hoan, Lisu, Palauan, Piedmontese, Sardinian & Scots.  Related to this, there are also new layouts available for Naratgul and VEGA

Today’s Deal is a great bundle on the Samsung Galaxy S8+.  Right now at Amazon you can pick up the 6.2″ phone along with the Samsung wireless charging station and a $100 Amazon gift card for $724.99.   It is a savings of just over $200 if you were to buy everything seperately.

The  Galaxy S8+ is powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 835 processor running four cores at 2.3GHz and the other four running at 1.9GHz.  It is coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage which is expandable up to an additional 256GB thanks to the MicroSD card.  The display renders at 2960 x 1440 QuadHD with an impressive 571 PPI.  Powering all of it is a 3000mAh battery which is charged with inductive charging.  Remember, the wireless charging dock from Samsung is included in this deal.

As we close out 2017, the odds are better that your bank or financial institution supports Android Pay rather than it not.  That’s because the tap-to-pay service for Android devices added another 59 banks and credit unions to the support list today, bringing the total to 1,131 supported here in the United States.

I remind you that in January of this year, fewer than 400 banks were supported.

As has largely been the case over the past six months, most of the additions to the supported list are smaller, regional or local financial institutions.  Thanks to the team over at Android Police, after the break you can read the full list of new banks supported.

Last month I wrote about the changing of the default search engine from Yahoo to Google in the latest Mozilla browser.  At the time, Yahoo had just been purchased by Verizon and had been assimilated into the new Oath business of the company.  The agreement between then Yahoo and Mozilla was for some $750 million but Mozilla, based on the purchase of Yahoo, felt they had a way out of the agreement and still get paid.

My quote at the time:  Right, so pay attention on this one because this is going to get interesting.

Well, it just got interesting.

Yahoo filed a lawsuit on December 1st claiming that Mozilla was in breach of contract for changing the default search engine.  Mozilla then counter sued on December 5th stating that Yahoo owed them the remainder of the contract fees and that they were within their contractural rights to cancel the agreement.

For the first time in several months, the team over at LineageOS have released an update on their recent work and updates as well as a progress report on their Build 15 train for Android Oreo.

The bulk of the work that has been going on since their last update, which was way back in September, has been on maintenance and security updates for the Build 14.1 train (Android Nougat) and 13.0 (Android Marshmallow).  These have included fixes for the KRACK vulnerability, updating to the October & November security updates, new touchscreen gestures, and support for extended NFC.  There have also been updates to the Recorder and Gallery as well as an update to the battery icon in that time too.