The tech world has been dominated by Apple Watch news this week, but we here in Android Land have been using smartwatches for a while. Long before Apple was selling overpriced watches we’ve been using some beautiful devices of our own. The Moto 360 was the first smartwatch that could pass as a fashionable “real” watch, and now it’s on sale for a great price.
Having a good speaker is not something you can find on every Android device. For most you will need an external feature in order to get loud and clear audio quality from your phone. Bluetooth speakers can be very pricey, but if you’re just looking for something small and easy to carry we’ve got a great deal for you.
The Icon Bluetooth Speaker is just 4-inches wide and 2-inches tall. With 4 hours of playback time, the Icon will keep your tunes rolling and calls streaming straight from your device. It’s easy to recharge, and it even has a built-in mic for taking speaker calls. The range for the Bluetooth is up to 30-feet, which should be more than enough. The Icon usually goes for 0, but for just a few more hours you can get it for only (with free shipping).
Grab this awesome deal while it lasts! Head over to AndroidArea.com to snag this speaker.
Just yesterday we told you of a decent deal to get 0 off the Moto 360 at Best Buy, but Google seems to be one-upping that one in a big way. The company has reduced the price of the Moto 360 to just 5 over at Google Play, which isn’t quite 0 off but also doesn’t require purchasing a smartphone to go along with it.
This comes shortly after Amazon lowered the smart watch’s price to just 9 on their online storefront. We’re not sure if these reductions are temporary sales or permanent price cuts, but the fact that we’re stumbling across so many of them at the same time suggests inventory is being moved to make way for a follow-up at some point very soon.
How soon? No one can say as of yet, though recent rumors have told of a possible follow-up in the works by the Lenovo-owned company based in Chicago. We’re almost 100% certain that they’re close to introducing a follow-up before the summer ends, so be sure to consider that when buying this first generation product. Either way, it’s a pretty steep discount that you should take advantage if you’ve been yearning for an Android Wear smart watch and can’t stand to wait any longer. Grab the deal right here.
iFixit has long been a fabulous resource for definitive smartphone teardowns. You guys may remember that not too long ago, they even launched Android dedicated section on their site where regular users, such as yourself, can snap pics of any repairs you do on your device to share with others.
Now we already got a look at a sort of rough HTC One M9 teardown last week. The video was a tad overexposed and out of focus, but it got the job done. Definitely not as comprehensive as iFixit’s usual step-by-step process. The one thing last week’s video and iFixit agree on: the HTC One M9’s display is hard as balls to fix.
According to iFixit, the One M9 gets a few points for ditching a lot of the sticky tape found on the One M8, but loses even more points for continuing to use “intense” adhesives that make removing components tough and even dangerous in some cases. When it comes to replacing the display — the most common smartphone component in need of repairs — you’ll have to tunnel through the entire phone just to replace it. Not cool.
In the end, iFixit was not at all amused with HTC’s infuriating internal design and even joked that HTC should be an acronym for “Has To Change,” The HTC One M9 received a repairability score of 2 out 10. Suddenly, it makes sense why the HTC offers that amazing Uh Oh protection because, let’s be honest, ain’t no way in hell any normal person is going to be repairing their One M9 should the screen break.
One of the biggest drawbacks of a modern smart watch is that they can’t quite live up to the battery expectations we demand. That’s why Pebble and their week-long battery is a big deal, and why people were likely disgusted at the Apple Watch’s 18-hour rating.
Oppo could change that with the smart watch they’re rumored to be working on. The company is supposedly making a smart watch that can go from 0 to 100% in just 5 minutes of charging. It might not make the battery last as long as we’d like, but to be able to top up in just 5 minutes gives us a lot more flexibility in when and how we choose to charge the thing.
The charging time will be made possible thanks to the company’s next-generation VOOC charger, a solution used for turbo charging their latest smartphones. Since smart watches naturally have much smaller batteries than smartphones then it’s not outside the realm of possibility that they can get such speedy charge times.
As much as we’re hoping this rumor is true, it is still just a rumor. For what it’s worth, we know OnePlus — a very close ally of Oppo’s — is at least thinking about the possibility of introducing a smart watch. The company sent consumer surveys asking folks what they think about wearables. OnePlus isn’t Oppo, of course, but the two share design and engineering facilities so it’s possible they could be bouncing ideas off each other.
It’s time once again to check in on Android distribution numbers. Google has released the stats for this month. As expected, Android Lollipop is on slightly more devices. Last month Lollipop was on 3.3% of devices, and now it’s up to 5.4%. We should see this number increase a lot more next month after the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 have been available longer.
For those of you paying extra close attention you can see that Android 5.1 is only on 0.4% of devices. KitKat and Jelly Bean are still leading the way with over 80% of the pie. It’s no surprise that Android updates take a while to reach devices, but these charts don’t always tell the whole story. “Lollipop” is really Google’s own version of Android, just like TouchWiz or Sense. It’s not fair to expect other manufacturers to be on the same level as Nexus devices.
Hopefully next month we see more devices experiencing the sweet taste of Lollipop. Is your device running Lollipop yet?
Sony is once again struggling to sell handsets in the U.S. After just six months on store shelves T-Mobile has discontinued the Sony Xperia Z3. It was looking like the Z3 may have been leading a resurgence when Verizon got in on the action, but apparently that has not been the case. Despite releasing some of the most beautiful Android devices ever made there is just not a demand for Sony phones.
In the past Sony has been terrible with timely updates, and though they’ve improved in recent years, they’re running behind with Lollipop. Android users don’t trust Sony to provide the latest software on time. It’s really a shame, because Sony does make some of the most stunning devices, and their software is clean and lightweight.
The future for Sony phones is not looking bright. We’ve seen leaked renders and photos of the Sony Xperia Z4, and it’s almost identical to the Xperia Z3. If consumers aren’t interested in the Z3 they’re not even going to realize the Z4 is a different phone. How do you feel about Sony phones? Have you ever owned a Sony phone?
To say we’re over Lollipop and its shenanigans would be an understatement. Right now, we got our eyes locked on Android M and all the improvements and polish the future Android update looks to bring to the platform. There’s a lot of stuff being uncovered almost everyday — and we’ve shown you much of that already. — but if you’re wondering what Android M has in store for tablet user, it seems Google’s got your back.
Our friend Tim Schofield, better known around Android circles as Qbking77, uploaded a video showing off some much needed features heading to the Android M release. He discovered that the default Google keyboard actually features a split typing mode for use on tablets where your thumbs have trouble reaching all the keys. It doesn’t appear to be available for smartphones, even ones as big as the Nexus 6 but that could change in the future.
There was also an all new multi-window mode that actually isn’t available in any of the settings by default, but can be added only after tinkering around with the build.prop. Once the necessary changes have been made, the new setting can be toggled in the Developer options. It works pretty well even in this early state, with a button that appears in an app’s title bar whenever opening Android’s recents menu.
When pressed, a menu pops up asking you to specify the layout. It’s a little “hack-ie,” but we’re sure it’ll be polished up in time for M’s release later this year. We were actually surprised at how well everything worked. Even with 4 apps open at the same time, scrolling was smooth and everything loaded up quick.
Other small improvements like the notification shade the moves around the top depending on where you initiate the pull down gesture is also a nice touch. It’s surprising really. All these changes are somewhat small but when combined, make for an OS update that already has us drooling. Why these couldn’t have been included in Android Lollipop is anyone’s guess, but given Lollipop’s dramatic UI overhaul, I’m sure they just didn’t have time. We will admit, it’s nice seeing Google — who typically takes the bare bones approach with their apps — going this extra mile to add more user customizations like this. Choice is good. Check out Tim’s full video down below.
Well, you’re probably not going to find a better deal on a capable smartphone than what Best Buy has up today. They have put Verizon’s 1st Gen Moto G up for without a contract, which is an absolute steal of a price when you consider it’s a very capable smartphone that once cost a tad over 0.
There are just two downsides:
It’s Verizon only
There’s no 4G LTE
But even if you don’t have Verizon and even if you do need 4G LTE connectivity, why not take advantage? It’s , which you probably spend on half a week’s worth of lunch anyway. Use it as a development device, a dedicated MP3 player or just another phone to surround yourself with, because it’s just 20 freakin’ dollars. Best Buy has it for you right here.
We’ve watched as Google has consistently updated their app in recent weeks, adding features like 3rd party voice actions, and even Star Wars trivia. Today, Google announced yet another feature making its way to the search/do everything engine: the ability to order food directly from their search results.
Getting food delivered to your door is easy for the most part. Simply open the app (or go on Google.com from your web browser) and search for nearby restaurant. If they perform deliveries, you’ll see an option under the restaurants listing to “Place an order.” From there, you’ll be able to pick from one of 6 different delivery services: Seamless, Grubhub, Eat24, Delivery.com, BeyondMenu or MyPizza.com.
Once selected, you simply complete your order on their website and you’re on your way to a hot meal. Although the list may sound a bit skimpy at the moment, Google says they’re looking to add more service providers in the future, so keep a look out. And yes, this is US-only for now (sorry, rest of the world).
It’s not quite Chipotle delivery, but it’s the next best thing if peeling yourself off the couch to grab a meal sounds like too much work.
If you’re someone who likes to tinker with computers and mod your own devices you’ve probably heard about Arduino. Arduino is a company that designs and manufactures kits for building digital devices and interactive objects that can sense and control the physical world. The kits can be configured to do many different things, but that is up to your imagination.
Getting started with Arduino can be a little daunting. After all, there is a lot you can do with it. We’ve got a great deal that will get you the hardware you need, plus a lot of valuable help. For a limited time you can get over 0 worth of Arduino goodies for just from AndroidArea.com. Here’s what you’ll get:
Arduino Starter Kit ( value)
Arduino Step-by-Step ‘Your Guide to the Internet of Things’ Course (0 value)
Arduino ‘Make a Remote-Controlled Car’ Course (0 value)
Beginning Arduino ‘Make Your Own Environment Monitor System’ Course (0 value)
That’s a pretty insane deal. If you’re interested in getting started with Arduino this is a great time to do it. The deal ends in 6 days, so don’t wait too long to snag it.
If you’re looking for a cheap phone to add to your arsenal we’ve got a great deal for you. The Samsung Galaxy S III is available from Android Area for just 9. That alone is a pretty sweet deal, but it gets even sweeter. The phone comes with one full year of unlimited talk and text, 500MB of 4G/LTE data, visual voicemail, and tethering from FreedomPop. You can’t beat one year of free phone service.
The phone itself was once the top of the line, but now it’s a great mid-range device. The GS3 has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display, 8MP camera, quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 2100mAh battery. It’s not the flashiest phone ever made anymore, but for 9 off-contract it’s not a bad deal. Head on over toAndroidArea.com to snag this deal while it lasts. This is the perfect set-up for a back-up phone. Just pick it up and use it. No worries about swapping SIM cards or buying a plan.
Amazon has a pretty nice deal on the Nexus Player right now. You can grab it for just and change, which is a long way from its usual price tag of 0.
The Nexus Player was the first commercial Android TV device, and although it may not have all the bells and whistles you could dream of — like HDMI passthrough — it can definitely provide a very capable and competent smart TV experience in the absence of having smart TV features built-in.
It’s better than having to spend thousands on a whole new set of glass, anyway. Be sure to head to Amazon and order one before its price hikes back up. (PS: consider picking up the optional gamepad if you’re looking to do some gaming on the thing, too.)
If you’re looking for a cheap phone to add to your arsenal we’ve got a great deal for you. The HTC Desire is available from Android Area for just 9. That alone is a pretty sweet deal, but it gets even sweeter. The phone comes with one full year of unlimited talk and text, 500MB of 4G/LTE data, visual voicemail, and tethering from FreedomPop. You can’t beat one year of free phone service.
The phone itself is a nice mid-range device. The Desire has a 4.7-inch display, 5MP camera, Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 2100mAh battery. It’s not the flashiest phone ever made, but for 9 off-contract it’s not a bad deal. Head on over to AndroidArea.com to snag this deal while it lasts. This is the perfect set-up for a back-up phone. Just pick it up and use it. No worries about swapping SIM cards or buying a plan.
