Concerns about monopolies, net neutrality and competition be damned: Time Warner and Comcast will no longer attempt to close a deal that would merge the two cable giants under Comcast’s banner. The internal desire — according to the two companies, anyway — was to bring more of their “great” product to more people in more cities. Says Comcast CEO and Chairman Brian L. Roberts:
Today, we move on. Of course, we would have liked to bring our great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn’t agree, we could walk away.
Comcast NBCUniversal is a unique company with strong momentum. Throughout this entire process, our employees have kept their eye on the ball and we have had fantastic operating results. I want to thank them and the employees of Time Warner Cable for their tireless efforts.
But it didn’t take long for red flags to pop up all over the place. The department of justice was the biggest opponent from the get-go, and much like AT&T’s proposed buyout of T-Mobile it was hard for them to believe that this merger could do anything good for the state of the US cable and broadband market.
The landscape of competition in said market is already severely flawed, with many areas only able to choose between just one or two services. Yours truly literally had no choice other than Time Warner Cable up until a few years ago when AT&T finally rolled out DSL. You’ll find similar situations in many areas of the country where Time Warner, Cox and Comcast enjoy the fruits of being the only cable provider in town for miles on end.
Thankfully the powers that be which blocked this deal realized that this monopoly would hurt an already lopsided industry. If not for the likes of Google Fiber and Verizon FiOS, we might not have seen these companies scrambling to upgrade their customers to Gigabit speeds.
Take Time Warner Cable, for instance. They kept their Charlotte, North Carolina customers on 50 megabit packages for years at what most of them would consider “fair” prices, but it only took them weeks to upgrade those customers to 300 megabit packages after they heard Google Fiber was on the way. Comcast did the same in Atlanta, Georgia when Google confirmed plans to expand to that particular market.
It’s clear these companies weren’t (and likely still aren’t) willing to do anything to improve service and value for their customers unless they had true competition. Allowing them to merge would have done nothing to change that (and would most likely have worsened the situation beyond repair). Good on everyone to see fit to block the deal and nip it in the bud in this instance just as they did to protect the spirit of competition in the wireless industry.
T-Mobile Product Manger Des Smith revealed on Twitter today that Android 5.0.1 Lollipop for the Note 4 (N910) has officially been green lit by T-Mobile, and that a rollout should commence sometime next week. Keep in mind that the update does not include the all new, super streamlined TouchWiz that appeared on the Samsung Galaxy S6 or Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge. It likely never will. We also hope all those bugs Lollipop brought to other Galaxy devices have all been ironed out.
As always, you can check the status of software updates via T-Mobile’s Software Updates page here. You excited?
We’ve been wondering how long it would take for Sony to officially unwrap their flagship for 2015, but the company did so this morning as they announced the Sony Xperia Z4 in their home territory of Japan. So what’s on tap?
Nothing out of the ordinary, really. This is Sony as we’ve come to know and love them, with a familiar design that has graced many-a phone in the Xperia lineup over the past couple of years.
It isn’t identical to any previous designs, mind you, but the subtle tweaks to things like the outside corners of the chassis and speaker placement are sure to be under-appreciated by all but the most hardcore Sony fans. The Sony Xperia Z4 features a metal frame and doesn’t do anything to compromise its ability to be dust and water resistant, something that has become an important point of emphasis for Sony in recent times.
Under the hood is a different story: this phone is an absolute beast, and no Sony phone has yet to boast such an impressive set of specs. Take a look at what will have its motors running:
5.2-inch 1920 × 1080 display
Snapdragon 810 chipset (64-bit)
20.7MP Exmor RS camera with 4K video recording
5.1-megapixel wide-angle selfie cam
3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage w/ microSD slot
2930mAh battery
146 x 72 x 6.9mm, 144g
Android 5.0 Lollipop
So when can you get it? That question is a bit more tricky to answer. Sony has only given a Summer release expectation as it pertains to Japan’s launch, and didn’t even mention plans to launch in other countries.
We’re sure they will bring it to other markets eventually — their previous flagships have launched for international markets — but there’s no official word or any further details right now. Let us know if you’ll be looking to grab Xperia Z4 should the opportunity to purchase one eventually arrive.
The tiny set top box can now be picked up for a mere 80 quid, allowing you to infuse your television with Android TV smarts. If casual gaming is more your thing, you can also find the official gamepad — sold separately — for a £35.
If the Google Store isn’t your thing, you can also find the Nexus Player at Currys PC World, John Lewis, and, of course, Amazon. If you’re still on the fence, don’t forget to check out our full Nexus Player review right here.
For those that missed it, Lollipop is already available for T-Mobile’s LG G3 — but only through their PC updating tool. Which is odd, given these things are typically pushed out in the form of an over-the-air the update and downloaded straight to your device.
No matter, T-Mobile’s resident device guru Desmond Smith has shared with us the exact date we can expect Android 5.0.1 Lollipop to hit the phone over-the-air, no computer necessary.
According to Smith, T-Mobile will be pushing out the update on Tuesday, April 7th. So, if perhaps LG’s updater wasn’t working out for you, or you didn’t want to bother with manually flashing the OTA file, rest assured the update is less than a week away.
After initially launching in Taiwan last week, we learned of HTC’s plans to make available their new flagship — the HTC One M9 — on April 10th here in the states, coincidentally the same day the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge hit the market. While it’s true, April 10th is the day the One M9 will be available in carrier stores, you can actually pick up the phone a lot earlier than that if you’re willing to pay full price.
HTC announced today that they will begin selling the HTC One M9 directly from their site this Friday, March 27th. Sales will officially go live tonight at midnight 12:01 ET time but if paying 0 is too much right now, you’ll also have the option to finance the phone interest free for 12 months from HTC.
The HTC One M9 comes with HTC’s new “UH OH” Protection guarantee which allows you to replace the phone within 12 months after purchase date should any damage befall the device, or even if you decide to switch carriers down the road. If you don’t get a replacement during this time, you’ll receive a 0-off coupon for next year’s HTC One M10 just for being so careful.
For everyone else waiting around for carrier availability, you can pick up the HTC One M9 as scheduled on April 10th at T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T, or Verizon, and at retailers like Costco, Target, Amazon and Best Buy. HTC says carrier versions will also be available on their site if you’re looking to go that route, as well as new accessories for the M9 like their 2nd-gen HTC Dot View case or IP68 water resistant HTC Active Pro case. Head to HTC.com for more details.
If you’re still on the fence, you can check out our “Everything you need to know about the HTC One M9″ post here, or a handful of reviews we compiled from around the net (international model) right here. As always, you can join the HTC One M9 discussion over on AndroidForums.com.
After many weeks of leaks, rumors, and even official announcements from LG themselves, the LG G4 is finally official. After the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 were released the G4 is the last major flagship phone for 2015. Many people have been waiting to see what LG has to offer, and now we can finally put the official stamp on it.
The G4 has a 5.5-inch Quad HD display (2560×1440) with a very slight curve. LG says the IPS Quantum Display is very energy efficient and easily visible in sunlight. The Quantum Display combines colors to make more accurate colors. The display lets more light through, which increases brightness 25-percent from the LG G3, which is how they get the great outdoor visibility.
Camera
One of the best features of the LG G3 was the camera. LG has set out to improve upon that already great sensor for the G4. It has a 16MP camera with f/1.8 aperture, laser auto focus, and optical image stabilization 2.0. What does that mean? You’ll get higher resolution shots which capture 80-percent more light.
The LG G4 is the first smartphone with a color spectrum sensor, which recognizes ambient light and object recognition. You can launch the camera and take a photo in 0.6 seconds. In manual mode you can even save images in RAW format, which is great for people who edit photos with desktop applications. They’ve also improved the front-facing camera to 8MP and improved the gesture shot for better selfies.
Battery & Storage
LG and Samsung are bitter rivals. So when Samsung decided to go with a non-removable battery and eliminate expandable storage you could guess what LG would do. The G4 has a removable 3,000 mAh battery and a microSD card slot (internal storage is 32GB). Disgruntled Samsung fans may be interested in the G4. It also has wireless charging, but not for both standards like the Galaxy S6.
Processor
The G4 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 with 3GB of RAM. Some may wonder why LG hasn’t gone with the newer Snapdragon 810, but the decision is likely due to battery life. The 808 is still a very capable processor.
Design
Last, but not least, is the new design of the G4. LG has introduced six leather options along with three traditional plastic back covers. The leather covers are “high grade” that take 12 weeks to manufacture. The plastic covers come in three colors: black, white, and gold. The leather and the slight curved display make for an elegant and beautiful device.
***
What do you think about the LG G4? Will you be getting one?
It was only a couple of short months ago that Cyanogen vowed to steal Android from Google, and only shortly after that was Microsoft revealed to be a potential partner in crime to make that happen through a lofty investment. Cyanogen would have you believe otherwise, but new evidence suggests Microsoft actually did invest in the company, and they’ve somehow pried Android from within the Googleplex and made it their own.
You’ll even find mentions of the code that adds Microsoft’s flair sprinkled throughout the source code of the latest builds. No formal details have been made available yet, but we imagine the two are gearing up to announce later today that they’ve joined forces and have successfully stolen Android from Google (whatever that means).
April Fools! Nothing you read above is real. That code does actually exist, though it’s only in the latest nightly and is obviously a joke, likely to be scrubbed away from nightlies built April 2nd and later.
It’s April 1st, the day tech companies like to come up with ridiculous and silly ideas to market as if they were real, and get fools like you and I to fall for them. We don’t, of course — we assume everything announced on April 1st is fake unless someone makes a really convincing argument (we’re looking at you, Amazon Dash Button).
But just because we have our guard up doesn’t mean we can’t laugh about a lot of this stuff anyway. We’ve had a blast around the digital Phandroid offices sharing and talking about some of the great April Fools pranks we’ve seen across the web so far, and we’re here to share the best ones we’ve seen aside from the charade narrated above.
We all hate mail, but it’s not because it’s usually boring, littered with bills you don’t want to pay, and filled with spammy coupon offers from low-grade local businesses. It’s because the contemporary mailbox is a pain to use and look at!
That’s why Google created the Smartbox. With automatic hand-warming technology, a smart filter system, spam-busting contraptions and a touchscreen for using Android apps for the 2 seconds you’re near a mailbox every day, this is literally the best mailbox ever imagined.
This is Smartbox. Which was made by the folks who made Inbox. Which was made by the folks who made Gmail. Which was made by the folks who created Google. Which started in a garage. That’s the real ‘murican dream.
Do you get tired of tech companies detailing the “beauty” of their devices in a way that makes you think Picasso himself was responsible for their creation? Sketches of early prototypes and hipster designer engineers be damned Motorola does too, so they parodied this growing trend by doing the same thing for a selfie stick.
We don’t know why a selfie stick would need to be “beautifully hand-crafted” and all that jazz, but we’re sure some company is actually going to pull that ridiculous, overplayed angle someday. Oh by the way, Motorola has a 0 off Moto X deal today only, and that’s not a joke. Check it out right here.
Smart socks. It’s happening, folks, and you’re going to freaking love it. No longer do you have to look to your phone or smart watch to be notified of new messages, emails and Tweets — they’ll go right to your ankle instead!
This is perfect for those moments where you have to bend over to, um, put socks on. Oh, and perhaps change and tie your shoes! Hard to use a phone or smart watch while doing all that so these smart socks are sure to be a big hit.
Other features include a sock hole warning system, GPS for making sure a pair of socks are never separated, and even has super SuperSlip Coating technology for making sure you get the best possible slides when running across your kitchen floor like a madman during a home alone karaoke session. You’re laughing right now, but I really wish these things existed. =(
OK, Google Panda
Forget smartphones, tablets, watches and glasses: the real future of connected technology is stuffed pandas. Google Panda is a cuddly companion that can wrap itself around your arm and answer any question you may have within 0.3 seconds. It does so in 50 different languages, and uses the power of Google’s Knowledge Graph to deliver only the most accurate information.
The funniest thing is we aren’t even excited about this technological advancement for its practical uses: we’re geeked up about the fact that we can officially say that a panda bear is more smart than Siri ever will be.
OK, so dogs and cats can’t use smartphones and tablets, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need connected devices (smart collars, anyone?). That’s why T-Mobile’s Pet Freedom plan is perfect — per month to your existing lines for your pet to have their own pool of data.
A joke, obviously, but T-Mobile’s joke actually rewards pets for everyone who visits this fun page: they’re donating per visit (up to ,000) to the Humane Society to help endangered animals and pets who have found themselves in tough situations. Kudos, Magenta!
No, that backwards URL wasn’t an error. Click it — Google is mirrored! Alongside a flip-flopped search engine that hurts our head more than makes us laugh, this cool April Fools prank showcases one of the new top-level domains Google was able to get approved in the latest ICANN expansion. You can find a full list of other TLD extensions they filed for below.
Ah, AOKP. Your misunderstood (and perhaps inaccurate) history as a ROM with code borrowed from top ROMs such as CyanogenMod and Paranoid Android makes room for a lot of jokes, so why not make it the star of a good ol’ April Fools joke?
Their schtick is that they have been tapped by Xiaomi to make MIUI 7, and will internally call it MiKangy (not to be refused with the porn marketplace app MiKandi). They’ll shamelessly copy the best features from many of the top ROMs, and look to create a user experience that “evolves” over time based on your usage so no two ROMs are the same (likely a parody of the trend of software engineers always claiming their apps and ROMs have a life of their own and learns so much about you that they know what you want even before you do).
Share some you’ve seen!
Those are just a few of the cool and funny April Fools pranks from around the web. You can’t forget yesterday’s introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Blade Edge that transforms into a butcher’s knife, Google Chrome’s new #SelfieReaction feature, Pacman on Google Maps and the innovative Party Horn text input device from Google Japan.
Any others you’ve seen that we don’t have here? Feel free to share them in the comments section below, and we’ll be adding to this list throughout the day as more pranks and jokes potentially roll in. Keep your guard up and have a happy April Fools!
Yesterday news broke about the Huawei Watch, a beautiful Android Wear device from an unlikely manufacturer. Today it has been officially unveiled at MWC, along with a new tablet. The Watch is aluminum, has thin bezels, and no “flat tire.” These things alone would make most Android fans happy, but it gets better.
The Huawei Watch has a 1.4-inch 400×400 AMOLED sapphire crystal display that is scratch-resistant and can be used with gloves or wet hands. It’s 316L corrosive-resistent, and has a beautiful cold-forged stainless steel body. The watch also has a heart-rate montior, barometer, and 6-axis sensor to track fitness activities. It will launch “mid-2014″ in gold, stainless, and black.
The Huawei MediaPad X2 is a 7-inch tablet with cellular data connectivity. It looks like a stretched out version of something from HTC. The 7-inch display is 1080p, and it has a 2GHz Kirin ultra-octa chipset, 13MP camera, 5,000 mAh battery, and Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box. It will be available in 2GB and 3GB of RAM versions later this year.
What do you think of these great devices by Huawei? Do they have enough to compete with the likes of Samsung, HTC, and LG here in the U.S.?
Not so much surprising, as it simply is just nice to know. Android fans — who are also fans of rooting — looking to buy the Samsung Galaxy S6 or Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge can sleep well tonight. Chainfire announced via his Google+ profile that root for the T-Mobile Galaxy S6 (SM-G920T) and Galaxy S6 Edge (SM-G925T) has now been achieved via CF Auto-Root.
Really, he didn’t have to modify much, only the existing CFAR script and voila: root. He also notes that rooting will probably kill Samsung KNOX’s mobile payments on the device (there’s still Google Wallet). That being said, the phone’s aren’t even available, but you can rest assured that when they are, root is now officially waiting for you.
It’s all thanks to Hulu that I’m now the #1 fan of Bob’s Burgers. The video on-demand service is an integral part of my daily watching habits, helping me to discover shows — like the aforementioned Bob’s Burgers — I might have otherwise passed up on regular broadcast television.
If you’re a fan of animation, Hulu just inked a deal with Turner Broadcasting which, aside from bringing TNT and TBS titles to its library, also adds shows from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. We’re officially freaking out now.
This means shows like Adventure Time, Clarence, Venture Bros., and Robot Chicken can all be streamed exclusively on Hulu, as well as other hit shows like The Last Ship or Murder in the First. Blah, blah… ADVENTURE FREAKIN TIME.
Another cool bit of news is shows from Cartoon Network will be found on the Hulu Kids environment and available to stream ad-free. The shows will officially make their way to Hulu on May 1st. Excited yet?
Tomb Raider has seen countless iterations since its debut on the OG PlayStation console back in 1996. It was a time when consoles could barely push polygons, but that didn’t stop young boys all over the world from fantasizing about what was under that turquoise colored tank top (and yes, there have been countless nude mods).
Since then, the game’s lead protagonist — Lara Croft — has grown into a sort of pop icon, appearing in films and landing herself on just about every home/mobile console out there. Chances are if you never played the original, you’ve no doubt controlled Lara in one of her many adventures spanning across the PC, Dreamcast, PS2, GameCube, or her more recent console forays.
Today, Lara Croft officially comes to Android devices in the original title that made her famous: Tomb Raider I. The game features the same third-person gameplay that made the original such a hit, with Lara traversing (not so) detailed 3D landscapes, shooting dangerous Lego shaped animals or humans, and of course solving puzzles all for the chance at scoring rare artifacts.
Square Enix is offering up the title for only 99 cents without any of that fremium crap, so it definitely wont break the bank. With slightly improved high-res graphics, Lara never looked this good. Well, not by 1996 standards anyway. The game weighs in at 320MB and supports both MOGA Ace Power and Logitech PowerShell gamepads.
Nine days after OnePlus released OxygenOS to give its phones their first official taste of Lollipop, Cyanogen Inc. has released its more feature-heavy Lollipop flavor for the device. Cyanogen OS 12 was announced late Monday night by way of Cyanogen’s official blog. Beyond the Material Design updates implemented throughout the OS and the underlying Android version bump (no, it’s not 5.1), a new Theme Engine feature is rolling out which allows you to apply themes on an app-by-app basis.
The new feature, called “App Themer” (shocking name, I know), allows you to choose which theme you want for each of your themed apps. For example, you might like a certain red theme but also want some of your apps to match a blue theme you also like. You could choose to apply the blue theme to G+ and the red theme to Inbox, just to switch things up. It’s a welcome new feature, one which I hope will soon make its way to CM12 community builds.
Aside from the new eye candy, Cyanogen has added its own email service, powered by Boxer. Cyanogen email provides native Exchange support, multiple accounts, and your choice of scripted quick replies to incoming messages. Beyond that, you can customize the LED notification color and the action taken when you swipe right or left on a message. Oh, by the way, if you have a YU Yureka instead of the OnePlus One, you’ll get your Cyanogen OS 12 fix “coming very soon”.
Are you excited to finally have Cyanogen OS 12 available OTA, or are you already on Oxygen OS or a custom ROM? If you’re on Cyanogen OS, do you plan to switch to their email service or do you plan to stay with Gmail/Inbox/your existing service? Feel free to let us know in the comments.
We now have an answer — the Nexus 5 is done. According to information received by The Verge, while Google still has a small inventory of Nexus 5 units remaining, their new focus is on selling the Nexus 6.
The device is being retired a bit sooner than we’re used to. It’s not a bad phone by today’s standards. In fact, it’s still top notch for its very affordable price tag of a minimum of 0 (and considering the Nexus 6 costs more than twice as much it was still a primary option for anyone looking for a new smartphone).
So what happens now? Well, if you want a Nexus 5 you are likely able to find them available from third-party retailers or second-hand sales sites. Those who still own one won’t see their device suddenly become useless. It’ll still receive the latest Android updates for as long as it is able to. In fact, it just started receiving Android 5.1 Lollipop. But getting one through Google is no longer an option, and we’re sad to have to admit it.
Oddly enough, HTC has introduced a new phone that’s supposed to be an upgraded version of another phone that doesn’t yet officially exist. It’s the HTC One E9++, a 5.5-inch device with 2560 x 1440 resolution. It also sports a 20 megapixel camera on the rear, an UltraPixel camera on the front, 3GB of RAM and MediaTek’s 64-bit 8-core MT6795M chipset.
Compare that to the regular version of this phone — the HTC One E9 — which we’re expecting to launch with just a 13 megapixel camera, 1080p resolution and 2GB of RAM. We’d assumed HTC would look to wait until their April 8th event in Beijing to reveal this device up alongside the HTC One M9+, but it appears HTC wants to give the M9+ a stage of its own.
The E9+ isn’t likely to travel far outside of China from the starting gate, though there’s a possibility we’ll see it or its lower grade sibling made available for other markets. As it stands HTC hasn’t yet mentioned anything in terms of availability so it’d be wise to wait for official word. In the meantime let us know if you wouldn’t mind this low-cost option up against something like the HTC One M9 for your 2015 smartphone.
It’s finally happened, folks — HTC has officially unveiled the HTC One M9. What you see here is what you’re going to get this year, which is a refined design based on the HTC One M7 and HTC One M8.
HTC One M9 Specs
The HTC One M9’s specs are as we’ve always known:
2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset
5-inch Super LCD3 1080p display
3GB of RAM
32GB of internal storage with microSD
20 megapixel rear camera, 4 megapixel (UltraPixel) front camera
GPS, WiFi AC, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, 4G LTE
5.68 x 2.73 x 0.38 inches, 4.96 ounces
Android 5.0 Lollipop with HTC Sense
Nothing crazy, nothing huge, but solid all around. The most significant jumps are in areas of camera, RAM and chipset — those were bumped from 4 megapixels (UltraPixel) to 20 megapixels, 2GB to 3GB, and a Snapdragon 801 Quad-Core to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 octa-core, respectively.
HTC One M9 features
BoomSound speakers on the HTC One M9 enjoy the same design, but a new partnership with Bose will bring “5.1 channel” surround sound. It likely isn’t true “surround” sound, but its stereo speakers should do well enough to emulate that unidirectional audio experience.
HTC didn’t have much to show on the software side of things, but they did reveal a new contextual home-screen experience that can attempt to predict which apps you need depending on location and time of day, and even suggest new ones that you haven’t downloaded.
HTC One M9 Dot View case
Making a return this year is the HTC Dot View case for the HTC One M9, and boy is it looking good. Alongside basic functionality of showing info about weather, time and incoming calls and notifications, you can customize Dot View with your own pictures and text, play games and do more great things that weren’t previously possible.
Many of these ideas were already made possible on the HTC One M8 thanks to the development community so it’s great to see HTC embrace that and bring a new level of customization for those who crave it.
HTC One M9 Pricing and Availability
The HTC One M9 will be available from mid-March in the EMEA, Asia Pacific, EU and North America, and will be available in Gun Metal Gray, Silver + Gold, and Pink. Expect it to cost 0 off contract here in the United States, with standard contract pricing likely to be in the 0 ballpark.
Without a doubt, Reddit News was my personal favorite Android app for browsing posts on Reddit. After a request from Reddit to change the name of the app (due to a change in Reddit’s licensing policy to access their APIs), the app’s developers threw together a poll to see what their user’s thought. After much deliberation, the app has officially been renamed to “Relay for reddit” starting today.
With a slick Material design and more features than you can shake a stick at Reddit NewsRelay for reddit is the perfect Reddit browsing app for your Android tablet or smartphone. You can find the free ad-supported version or a “Pro” version in the Play Store right linked down below. I’d strongly recommend everyone check it out if you haven’t already.
Looks like the rumors were true, folks — this is Project Fi, Google’s wireless carrier. The Mountain View company laid all the details out on a brand new landing page today.
A lot of the details brought to surface by recent leaks seem to have been spot on. Here’s what to expect from each facet of Google’s new wireless service:
The Network
Automatically identify and connect to the fastest and most reliable network, whether that’s a public or private WiFi hotspot, or a network of a carrier partner (Sprint or T-Mobile)
All transmissions over WiFi networks are automatically and fully encrypted
The Plan
Start with a basic plan of per month that includes unlimited domestic talk and text, unlimited international texts, low-cost international calls and WiFi tethering.
Add data by the gigabyte at a rate of per 1GB.
Don’t use all the data you added in a billing period? per 100 unused megabytes is refunded to you.
International data costs the same at home as it does in 120 other international destinations (though you may be limited to 2G and 3G when abroad).
The Experience
Calls and texts can be made over WiFi in case you don’t have cellular coverage.
Calls can be routed from WiFi to cellular networks and vice versa without interruption if you happen to drift away from a signal
You can also make calls and send texts using your phone number with any device that has Hangouts, including your tablet, a different phone or your computer.
There are a couple of caveats to note before you jump in head first. The first is that you’ll need to buy a Nexus 6 as it’s the only smartphone that supports the new technology Google is using to make this possible. The Nexus 6 you may already own from Motorola, Google Play or your carrier counts, or you can buy one when signing up for Fi service (Google will have an installment plan available if you can’t chalk up the full retail price at once).
You’ll also need to make sure Google’s carriers partners have sufficient service in your area, though this is no tall order as they’ll ask for your zip code before whisking you through the setup process. Google says you’ll hear from them within 30 days and that invites will be sent out in waves every week, so if you want in on Project Fi then that shouldn’t be an issue.
Those who ultimately decide to take the plunge will be able to port their existing phone number over if they so choose, though do note that this may come with a hefty early termination fee that Google is unsurprisingly unwilling to help you pay for.
So there’s only one question remaining — are you in? It all sounds very interesting, and if done right this move by Google could do a while lot to change the wireless industry as we know it. Let us know how you feel about Project Fi and whether you plan to give it a go by dropping a comment below!
Sony has announced that two of their best phones from 2014 is now receiving Android 5.0 Lollipop. We’re referring to the Sony Xperia Z3 and Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. The upgrade is headed out to Baltic and Nordic countries first, but Sony promises that expansions will reach more regions a couple of weeks after.
They also mention that other products in the extensive Z lineup will also be getting their upgrades some point after that. Remember that they’ve promised to bring the upgrade to every single device in the Xperia Z family, so you don’t have to wonder whether your older device is on the roadmap.
Here are the changes Sony decided to highlight for those of you eager to upgrade:
Fresh, streamlined looks – based on Google’s material design, but retaining our minimalistic approach to interface and application design
New look notifications and lock screen – with fully customizable settings, so you only get the information you really need
Multi user profiles and guest mode – making it easy for family and friends to use your device, or the creation of dual environments for work and play…
Android for Work – not only are business-ready Xperia smartphones and tablets unique devices for work – with waterproof form factors, great battery life and productivity features – they will now also be part of the Android for Work ecosystem
Better storage control and customisation – with the option to easily move applications from internal memory to SD card – giving you more control over your content, particularly useful for devices with slightly less space
Of course, it’s worth noting that specific rollout schedules depend on carrier and market, so if you’re not seeing the upgrade immediately you’ll have to wait for your wireless provider to put a bit more pep into their step. Let us know how things are if you are lucky enough to pull it down today!
The day has finally come — Google Code is dead. The service, a code repository for developers to host their open-source projects, simply wasn’t able to adapt to the growing needs of developers like GitHub has been able to. Google apparently wasn’t interested in trying to contend, either (in fact, they admitted they’d already moved a significant amount of their own projects to GitHub as they “wanted to be where the developers are”).
Here’s a quick timeline on what’s going down:
March 12, 2015 – New project creation disabled.
August 24, 2015 – The site goes read-only. You can still checkout/view project source, issues, and wikis.
January 25, 2016 – The project hosting service is closed. You will be able to download a tarball of project source, issues, and wikis. These tarballs will be available throughout the rest of 2016.
We suggest that you don’t wait until the final gong tolls — might as well start moving all your digital goods over to GitHub as soon as possible. Thankfully Google has a handy tool to make that as easy as a few clicks.
