OnePlus finally releases OxygenOS

After all the hype, after the frustrating delays, even a couple of days after Verizon’s Galaxy Note 4 started to receive its official Lollipop OTA, OnePlus has finally released its first official Lollipop update for its 2014 flagship One. The widely-anticipated OxygenOS, built with the efforts of several Paranoid Android developers, was announced mere hours ago by OnePlus CEO Carl Pei.

Accompanying the announcement is a YouTube video showcasing the main features of OxygenOS. It appears to be basically stock Android with Paranoid Android’s well-known implementation of Quick Settings. Feel free to watch the video below and judge for yourselves…

There is, of course, a place for stock-plus ROMs in the development community, as they tend to be as popular as the full-featured ones. This is apparently the niche OnePlus is seeking to carve out for themselves in its own development-friendly ecosystem. Carl Pei sums it up as follows:

We want to be careful that we aren’t adding features simply for the sake of differentiation. We’ve implemented some important features thus far, but they are subtle and meaningful. That’s our philosophy behind OxygenOS: keep it light and essential.

OnePlus One owners are encouraged to download the ROM and provide feedback. In fact, Pei asserts that you can “begin taking a direct role in the future of Oxygen” by using their dedicated feedback app.

via OnePlus blog

Google releases their own watch face for Android Wear called “Street Art”

Back in December Google officially opened the doors for custom Android Wear watch faces. Since that day we’ve seen many creative and unique watch faces fill up the Play Store. Now, three months later, they have released their own watch face.

The watch face is called “Street Art,” and it brings artwork from dozens of artists within the Google Art Project. You won’t get a ton of customization options, but there are three different time modes: analog, digital, and minimal. With the different time modes and many backgrounds to choose from there are many configurations to choose from. There’s not a lot to say about this watch face. If you’re looking for something artsy and simple you can download Street Art below for free.

Street Art Watch Face | Google Play Store

Download: AdBlock Plus releases an ad-blocking browser app for Android

AdBlock has never been in the browser business beyond providing plugins to help you get rid of ads, but the company is breaking the mold with their latest app. They have released a beta version of AdBlock Browser for Android.

The premise and promise are simple: you browse the web, except you do so without any ads mucking up the experience. Early usage reports suggest it’s just as fast and capable at browsing the modern mobile web as Google Chrome and Firefox Mobile, so there shouldn’t be any qualms using it if you value it for its ability to block ads.

So how can you get it on your phone? AdBlock has provided a direct download to the app through their Google+ community while they await Google’s green light on putting it up in the Google Play Store as an opt-in beta app.

As such, all you’ll need to do is make sure you enable the ability to install third-party applications on your phone, and install the app like you would any other. They even have a handy QR code to take you straight to the download on your phone so you won’t have to deal with wonky file transfers. Be sure to give it a try!

T-Mobile releases 8 new ads attacking Verizon and offers their customers a risk-free trial [VIDEO]

The gloves just came off, folks. T-Mobile has a bone to pick with Verizon and they want the whole world to know about it. The company has just released new ad campaign called #NeverSettle (OnePlus, anyone?), and they kicked things off with a whopping 8 videos to server no other purpose than to show people what they do much better than Verizon ever has.

The talking points cover the usual areas of unlimited data, no contracts, early upgrades and other perks T-Mobile can tout. The company even swears they have the network to take Big Red on, noting that they deliver the fastest LTE speed of any of the nation’s major carriers. Of course, actual coverage of said network is a whole different issue that they took care not to harp on, though they reminded us they’re on track to cover 300 million Americans by the end of this year.

As part of the campaign the company is offering up a free no-risk test drive to any current Big Red customers. Here’s how it’s going to work:

• Port your phone number to T-Mobile and get a T-Mobile smartphone (all the while keeping your Verizon device)


• After the trial, if you decide to switch T-Mobile will pay any early termination fees or device payments up to 0


• If you decide you want to go back with Verizon, simply trade your T-Mobile phone within 14 days, and once you’re back they will even pay the costs associated with reactivation.

The trial starts May 13th, and signups will be taken through the end of the month. T-Mobile didn’t give us an idea on how long the trial would last once you’ve started, but we’ll do our darndest to find out. Be sure to take advantage if you’re truly on the fence, and look straight ahead of the rest of the advertisements T-Mobile dropped today if you’re interested.

[via T-Mobile]

Sony releases Android M Developer Preview for select Xperia devices, here’s the full list

While nowhere near final software, the Android M Developer Preview is a great way for devs to test drive the next version of Android before it’s officially released at the end of the year. That’s why Google introduced the program back when Android L (Lollipop) was first unveiled during last year’s Google I/O.

Normally, we don’t expect to see a developer preview running on much, not outside of officially supported Nexus devices or 3rd party custom ROMs. Today, the folks at Sony Mobile are now giving developers a shot at trying it on their Xperia devices as part of Sony’s Open Device program.

Willing developers can now create a test image for themselves and flash it onto their Xperia devices providing they have a knowledge in these things. There’s a fair amount of officially supported devices and Sony Mobile was even nice enough to provide a quick guide for those that needed a refresher. For those curious, here’s the full running list:

• Xperia Z3


• Xperia Z3 Compact


• Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact


• Xperia Z2


• Xperia Z2 Tablet


• Xperia Z1


• Xperia Z1 Compact


• Xperia Z Ultra


• Xperia E3


• Xperia M2


• Xperia T2 Ultra


• Xperia T3

We should note, Sony also cautioned users that the AOSP software isn’t certified or intended for daily use (modem and camera aren’t working), so you probably shouldn’t go flashing this on your daily driver. If that hasn’t scared you away yet, feel free to hit up the source link for more.

[Sony]

 

Adobe releases a slew of Android apps for Creative Cloud subscribers

Adobe has launched a slew of new Android apps today. In the past they have supported iOS with great apps like Photoshop, Lightroom, and more, but Android has taken a back seat. Now Creative Cloud members can use Photoshop Mix, Brush CC, Shape CC, and Color CC on Android.

It took so long for these apps to come to Android because Adobe had to port over the Creative SDK. They also noted that it’s simply harder to develop for Android based on the wide array of devices. But they’re here now, so none of that matters. What do the apps actually do?

• Photoshop Mix is basically a slimmed down version of Photoshop for mobile devices.


• Brush CC allows you to create brushes for Photoshop and Illustrator.


• Shape CC lets you create vector drawings from the photos stored on your phone.


• Color CC is a color picker app that allows you to get colors from photos and sync them back to the Creative Cloud.

CyanogenMod releases final CM11 and CM12 builds as they focus on CM12.1

Although we admit, we don’t ROM as hard as we used to, we know many of you are still rooting and flashing like it was 2009. Those of you who are fans of CyanogenMod’s custom ROM are in luck. The Android developers announced last night that final builds for both CM11 and CM12 have been released. Also known as a snapshot, these stable builds will officially conclude CyanogenMod’s work on 11.0 and 12.0 as they shift focus on CM12.1 (based on Android 5.1) and look ahead to Android M.

So, why did CyanogenMod release another CM11 build which is based on KitKat? Apparently, CyanogenMod found that a good amount of their users were still running these KitKat builds although they’re not exactly sure why. We know not everyone has been a fan of Lollipop or nightly builds, so perhaps these users were just waiting for a nice stable Lollipop build before moving forward. That, or they just like really enjoy KitKat.

In either case, you can find the snapshots on CyanogenMod’s download page here. As usual, CyanogenMod wouldn’t commit to a specific date users can expect a CM12.1 (Android 5.1.1) release build, so you’ll just have to hang in there a little while longer.

[CyanogenMod]