Let's Talk Tech
We’ve been playing with the preview builds of Android M, but of course one of the most important points of speculation is what dessert name that “M” will stand for.
Google HQ took the wraps off a new lawn statue, and now we have our answer. Android M will be Marshmallow.
Hopefully the update will be more solid than the treat it’s named after 😉
Here we go folks! Samsung is pushing up the timetable on their large screen phones, and we’re getting our phablet fix a little earlier than last year.
We now have proper confirmation on specs for these two handsets, and it looks like the rumor train was pretty spot on.
The Galaxy Note 5 is following in the footsteps of the Galaxy S6. We’ll be continuing the more iPhone inspired lines wrapping around the edges of the phone. This means no removable back plate, no swappable battery, and to support Samsung’s internal storage file system, there will not be any MicroSD card expansion. Focusing on “THIN” means we do have a subtle bulge coming from the camera module on the back of the phone.
The battery will also shrink down to 3,000mAh from the Note 4’s 3,220 cell. Samsung is betting on fast charging, and wireless “fast” charging, over including a larger battery capacity. Full charge over USB cable in 90 minutes. Full charge wirelessly over two hours.
We stay with a 5.7″ Quad HD AMOLED screen (resolution of 2560×1440) and these phones will be powered by an Exynos Octa-Core processor and 4GB of RAM. Built in storage options are limited to 32GB and 64GB, which might be a bit lean for a phone with such a monster camera on board. The 16MP, half inch sensor, shooter with OIS returns. Now including an f/1.9 aperture for better low light performance and depth of field. We imagine it will perform very similarly to the camera on the Galaxy S6 (full camera review, KumbaCam samples). Continue reading “Samsung Unveils the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+”
Google is celebrating some of the more experimental apps found in the Android ecosystem with their new Android Experiments site. Taking some of these projects, making them open source, and encouraging developers to continue pushing the boundaries on smartphone apps and services.
None of these seem to be fully featured programs, but pieces of design which could lead to some interesting apps. I’m already really impressed with InkSpace, which bends drawings around your phone’s orientation and then creates a gif based on your art. Check out Google’s teaser video below.
Google is a pretty diverse company. It’s easy to forget how many pies they have their fingers in. Off the top of my head, you’ve got search, Youtube, Social, Photos, medical research, Fiber, self driving cars, Glass, Nest, Calico, Android, and I’m sure I’m missing a good dozen other divisions.
Announced today, Alphabet will now represent the full umbrella of companies and services, while Google will become the name of a much more streamlined part of the greater whole. Co-Founder Larry Page will become the CEO of Alphabet, Sergey Page will become President of Alphabet, and Sundar Pichai (formerly in charge of Chrome OS and Android) will become the CEO of the leaner Google.
Google will now be comprised of the most successful business ventures of the whole organization. Search, Ads, Maps, Android, and Youtube are now “Google”. Alphabet includes Google, and every other division, program, and experiment.
This move makes each department a bit more accountable to the whole of the organization, and it should be easier to see which teams and companies are performing well.
Investors seemed bullish on the news, with around a 7% stock bumping following the announcement, though that has calmed back down in after hours trading.
Still, it’ll be curious to see future ventures from Larry and Sergei under the Alphabet banner, instead of seeing future Google “BETA” products.
Larry Page’s full announcement is below.
Continue reading “Google Announces Massive Reorganization, Becomes Alphabet”
It’s NEW Motorola time!
Rumors have been swirling about what the company will reveal now that they’re owned by Lenovo, and it’s not a single phone, but a trio of new gadgets.
The New Moto G
Gaining a water resistant build, Gorilla Glass, more color options in Moto Maker, this is the phone that bolstered Moto’s market share. It was an inexpensive, entry-level handset which brought a higher quality of performance to the budget crowd, one of the first Android’s to fight Nokia at “cheap” price points.
This Moto G will come in two flavors, 1GB RAM and 8GB of storage for $179, or 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage for $219. Both come with a 13MP camera, a 5″ 720p Screen, and an “all day” battery powered by a Qualcomm 410 series processor. Recently we’ve seen more companies like Asus and Alcatel’s Idol 3 delivering inexpensive options near this price, and Moto’s offering looks to be pushing the boundaries even further.
Moto X Style
This is our new flagship! Taking some of the lessons learned from building the Nexus 6, you can now get a similar phablet build with some of Motorola’s fun customizations.
Moto X Style has a 5.7″ QHD display. Happily they opted for the Qualcomm 808, the same processor powering the LG G4, instead of the more powerful, but hotter and slower Qualcomm 810. X Style will have 3GB of RAM, and if its build of Android 5.1 is anything like last year’s Moto X, it should smoke the Galaxy S6 in multi-tasking performance. Plus we’ll see the addition of a Micro SD card slot for storage expansion. The whole affair will be powered by a 3000mAh battery, which based on these specs, should be good for all day run time.
Continue reading “Motorola Announces Trio of Phones: Moto X Style, Moto X Play, New Moto G”
The quality of phone you can buy at the sub $300 price point is improving rapidly. Alcatel offers up a compelling option for folks wanting to shop an inexpensive Android handset. Let’s take a look!
Shop the Idol 3 on Amazon.
Idol 3 Speaker Test.
Idol 3 Camera Review.
Services like Lyft and Uber have been disrupting the market for traditional taxi and town car service in a number of cities, thanks to lower prices and timely notifications through apps.
Today Waze took the wraps off of their solution for ride sharing named “RideWith”. Focused on reducing business commuter traffic, RideWith seeks to pair up drivers and riders who are already traveling in the same direction at the same times. It’s a 21st century version of the bulletin board a company might use for coordinating an employee carpool.
This is not a spur of the moment service, as Waze recommends passengers book a trip at least a day in advance, and the app will help calculate and pay drivers for fuel costs per ride. As Google now owns Waze, it’s no surprise that the service is launching first on Android, with iOS “coming soon”.
If you were hoping to try this out, you might have a bit of a wait. RideWith is currently in very limited BETA, only servicing Israel at the time this article was posted. You can pull up more info and an FAQ by heading to the RideWith website.
Is this the solution for alleviating traffic congestion during rush hour? Leave a comment below.
Google continues to move forward with cardboard, bringing some really fun features to the low budget VR platform which uses your phone and an inexpensive cradle (often made out of cardboard) to surround you with immersive content.
The newest update to the Android Youtube app builds in native support for Google Cardboard. Now when you fire up a 360 degree video, a small cardboard icon will appear on the overlay. Tapping on that icon will split the screen automatically for stereo view through the VR headset of your choice.
Hitting the switch built into Cardboard viewers will pause the video, and moving your head along a timeline will let you fast forward or rewind the video. Very handy controls as you wont be able to touch the screen.
It’s a super fun feature to bring to the Android ecosystem, tying together the new Youtube 360 rollout and the improved developer tools for Cardboard. You can try it out with a video below, which we shot using the Kodak SP360, driving around Hollywood.
The Youtube app update should be rolling out to devices soon, or if you’re impatient you can grab it from APK Mirror and install it manually.