Verizon yesterday officially announced that the Nexus 6 would be available for purchase online today. That’s true — you can head right here and order one for 0 on a two-year contract or .08 per month on Edge (9.99 outright if you have the dough to spend).
There’s just one problem, though — it won’t actually ship until March 18th, which is one-day shy of its in-store availability. We’re not sure why Verizon failed to mention this “gotcha” when they announced the device, but if you were hoping to throw your money at them today for the biggest Nexus phone in history and get it in time for the weekend then you’ll be quite disappointed.
Whether you should still pre-order the device is up to you. There’s a slight chance it could ship ahead of March 18th, but Verizon’s backorder dates typically don’t change. For what it’s worth the Nexus 6 is one of the few devices worth waiting for. We gave it a glowing review, and although there were some performance issues early on we’re expecting Android 5.1 (which it’s shipping with) to clear most of that up.
Don’t forget that Verizon’s Nexus 6 will also come with support for HD Voice / VoLTE / Advanced Calling 1.0 / whatever else you want to call it out of the box. If that’s important to you then there is almost no better phone to get right now (you can check the full lot of them out here). Let us know if you’ll still be looking to buy one or if Verizon’s being a bit too slow for your taste.
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!
The partner is BLU, a budding maker of budget smartphones that actually aren’t bad for their low cost. The details are thin right now, but the smartphone is said to be on tap later this year and will use a variety of apps and services to replace what Google’s suite provides. Here are just a few examples of which apps BLU’s CEO thinks can be used to replace the popular ones Google provides:
Amazon’s app store for downloading new apps and games
Opera’s web browser
Nokia Here for maps and navigation
Dropbox and Microsoft’s OneDrive for cloud storage
Spotify for music.
Bing for search
Microsoft’s Cortana as a replacement for Google Now
But the big question remains: will this be successful? If so, how? And — more importantly — why do they even want to do this? Kirt McMaster’s promise to “take Android from Google” was recently reiterated by stating he believed his company was going to put “a bullet through Google’s head.”
At this point, Cyanogen’s motives don’t seem all that clear. If we’re to draw examples from a high school social setting, their behavior (or that of the mouthy CEO’s, anyway) is akin to taking the ball from the 10 other kids enjoying a fun game of kickball for no reason than to be heady and rebellious.
Perhaps the reason isn’t clear to someone not involved with the day-to-day workings of the company, but our idea of making a new OS with a new ecosystem and new services isn’t “we’re going to dump everything Google, and replace them with offerings from other random companies.” One might assume this play is simply about money, and Cyanogen’s only gravy train is to strike deals with developers and companies to get their apps preloaded on these devices.
With no apparent rhyme or reason Cyanogen wants to be as far away from Google as possible, and we still have no idea why. It’d be nice to know, though, so we’re hoping those questions are answered as we inch closer to the release of this smartphone (and we’re hoping they’re answered in a far more tolerable tone than McMaster’s latest blurts).
We’ve typically come to expect miniature variations of flagship handsets shortly after they launch, but one report suggests HTC won’t be looking to further that trend for the HTC One M9. Focus Taiwan credits the president of HTC North Asia for making that apparent.
HTC says the market is no longer ripe for that category of products, with folks demanding phones with bigger displays. To that end, HTC already has a few devices to offer up, including the flagship HTC One M9 and M9+, the slightly more affordable HTC One E9++, and the budget Desire devices they’ve seeded into the market as of late. It also doesn’t help that the “mini” devices were nearly as big as the normal-sized variants.
The decision to ditch the Mini line might have come at just the right time as few are likely to trust HTC’s willingness to support the devices with ample updates. They recently confirmed that neither the HTC One Mini or HTC One Mini 2 would be seeing Android 5.0 Lollipop.
It’s understandable for the original HTC One Mini as it launched about two years ago, but we’d say the one-year lifespan of the HTC One Mini 2 was far too short. Regardless, the line is dead so moot point is moot — if you’ve been waiting for a smaller version to launch we’d say it’s safe to start exploring other options.
The HTC One Mini and One Mini 2 appear to be lesser than their big brother counterparts in more ways than one. Not only are they smaller, they don’t offer the same class of specs. Add another shortcoming to the list — they won’t be enjoying any Lollipop goodness.
HTC has confirmed on Twitter that the devices will not be going past Android 4.4 KitKat. We can understand why the original HTC One Mini will not considering the phone is likely retired on HTC’s list of priorities, but the sequel is but a mere year old.
So what next? Well, you can start by voicing your displeasure to HTC on Twitter, Facebook or whichever other platforms you fancy. It might not be enough to change HTC’s mind, but if there’s a small chance they’ll budge on their stance facing widespread backlash you’ll want to make sure you try.
Failing that, rooting your device and going the custom ROM route (CyanogenMod 12 nightlies are right here) is always a great option. These ROMs will often have better support and more features than even HTC would bother to put in, and you’ll be on Lollipop — that’s the goal here, after all. Be sure to think about it if you aren’t confident HTC will change their minds.
Google made Android One to get phones into “the next 1 billion” people’s hands, but that plan seems to be a lot harder than it sounds on paper. The company’s vice president of product management Caesar Sengupta spoke with the Economic Times following reports that Android One smartphones have sold less than 1 million units in India combined since its September launch.
The number is alarming considering India was the biggest target market for Android One and there’s a wide variety of affordable options available. So what’s the issue?
Google believes they didn’t effectively hurdle the distribution obstacles, noting that the devices weren’t readily available in all mainstream channels. Whether that be featuring Android One prominently throughout electronics stores, making the devices available from an easy online source or making sure every carrier had Android One phones to offer, Google feels they have to tackle that problem if they really want the program to take off.
Another issue is increased competition. OEMs are starting to introduce powerful smartphones at very affordable price points, and people will just as soon spend the extra money to get a phone that could potentially go a lot further than an Android One phone could. Sengupta also pointed to a study that showed smartphone buyers going from their first to second phone are more inclined to go with something more expensive, likely due to the eventual realization that ultra-affordable smartphones are too limited for modern usage.
Despite the struggles, Google is reluctant to pull the plug on it. The company reiterates that Android One is now in 7 different countries with options from dozens of manufacturers, with more coming along the way (including some options from known names like ASUS and HTC).
They also mention Android One is less about volume and more about the idea of pushing affordable, yet capable smartphones. That’s not unlike the way they do business on the high-end side of the scale with the Nexus line, so Google would like to think they’re on their way to achieving their goal even without the gaudy numbers to back it up.
The Motorola Atrix HD — now that’s a name we’ve not heard in a long time. The Atrix HD launched back in July 2012 on AT&T, coming out of the box running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It wasn’t too long after that it received an update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with Motorola at some promising a future update to Android 4.4. KitKat. That’s a lot of software support.
Fast forward to today where — nearly 3 years after the phone launched — Motorola is finally ready to throw in the towel. Yes, folks. The sun setting on the ‘ol Atrix HD. According to Motorola, they, along with AT&T, just wont be able to fulfill their promise to update the device to KitKat, although they didn’t mention what exactly was the reasons behind the failed update.
But, in an effort to make amends, Motorola is offering Atrix HD owners a discount on a brand new Motorola Moto X 2014 (2nd Gen). Anyone who registers on Motorola’s page here will get a Pure Edition (AT&T and T-Mobile compatible) for 0 — that’s 0 off. If the Atrix HD is till suiting you just fine, they’re also offering up the Motorola Whisper for , regularly 0.
Motorola says your Atrix HD must have an active phone number in order to be eligible for the promotion. Keep in mind that the offer expires June 30th, so you have a few weeks to take advantage of this deal. Once the form has been filled out, you’ll need to use the promo code/coupon by July 15th. Seriously though, anyone out there still using this as their daily driver?
