Android Weekly Tips: November 2017

Thursday 30 November 2017

A new leak for Sony’s bezel-less flagship reveal interesting specs

Back in September, Sony confirmed that a new design language for its Xperia lineup of devices was in the works, and now we have an idea of what specs may be found under the hood. The design language change is likely to be one that features a bezel-less design and moves away from the cookie-cutter design that Sony has released for the last few years.

While we don’t have an exact idea of what this device will look like, it seems that the specs for the device have leaked. The phone will feature a model number of “H8541” and will come with a 5.7-inch 4K HDR Display, with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 keeping things protected. Powering the H8541 will be the Snapdragon 835 and 4GB of RAM, along with 64GB of onboard storage.

Other specs include a rather large 3,420mAh battery which comes with Sony’s Qnovo Adaptive Charging, as well as Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0. Finally, the H8541 will come equipped with Android 8.0 Oreo, likely with some of Sony’s overlay placed on top of stock Android. It’s also possible that we’re going to be seeing a water-proof rating of either IP65 or IP68, but this also may be an indication of two different variants of the same device.

At first glance, the inclusion of the Snapdragon 835 SoC may leave you scratching your head a bit, but we saw something similar when specs were leaked ahead of the LG G6 launch. This new Sony device is expected to make its debut at Mobile World Congress 2018, and it’s unlikely that Snapdragon 845 will be readily available for everyone. Instead, this will leave OEM’s looking for the flagship SoC from the year prior, which happens to be the Snapdragon 835.

By opting for the SD835, this will make it so that Sony won’t have to alter its release schedule for this new device and will still be able to make a grand showcase at MWC. Nonetheless, these are still pretty ‘run of the mill’ specs, and not something that you would really see in the conversation for a game-changer.

We’ll just have to wait until MWC 2018 to see what Sony has been working on and if this new device actually features an all-new design from Sony.

MrMobile: The ZTE Axon M is a fun phone that you probably shouldn't buy

I have had more fun in my week with the Axon M than with almost any other phone of 2017. It's a crazy dual-screen clamshell, a half-phone-half-tablet that simultaneously evokes memories of the Nintendo DS, the ill-fated Microsoft Courier, and something you might see on an episode of The Expanse. But as far as Android has come since the oddball Kyocera Echo of 2011, it's still not flexible enough to make a "folding phone" that's not frustrating to use … at least, not one designed by ZTE.

Check out Android Central's first impressions, then come along as I share the surprising highs and not-so-surprising lows of the ZTE Axon M: a very fun phone that you probably shouldn't buy.

Stay social, my friends

Deal: YI Lite Action Camera for $48 w/ Code – 11/30/17

Amazon, currently is discounting the YI Lite Action Camera nearly 50%. This camera is typically $99.99. However the Amazon seller ‘Seeverything’ is offering 25% off of the YI Lite Action Camera already, bringing it down to about $75. But there is another promo code that you can use at checkout, that brings it down to just $48. That is the code YACTION3. That is an all-time low, and even lower than its Black Friday price. On top of that, you can pick up a second battery for this camera for just $17 right now.

The YI Lite Action Camera is a great alternative to the GoPro’s out there, and at a much lower price. Despite being a “Lite” model, it does still have a 16-megapixel sensor with a wide angle lens (about 150-degrees), thanks to the Sony IMX206 sensor on-board. This allows it to record in 4K resolution. In fact it can do 4K at 20fps and 1080p at 60fps. So you can get both high-resolution video as well as very smooth video from this camera. There is a 1200mAh battery inside which the company says should last you about 140 minutes of actual footage. It is also waterproof, up to 40-meters.

This is also eligible for Amazon Prime’s free shipping. Which includes free two-day shipping, and pretty cheap next-day shipping if you need it here extra fast. If you are not an Amazon Prime member yet, you can sign up for a free trial of Amazon Prime by hitting the link below. You’ll get 30 days free (if you’re a student, you get 6 months), and then it’s $99/year. Prime members do get a whole lot more than just free shipping though, so be sure to check out the full benefits.

The post Deal: YI Lite Action Camera for $48 w/ Code – 11/30/17 appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

T-Mobile’s Next 5G Step Involves 28,000 New Small Cells

T-Mobile is planning to deploy 28,000 new small cell stations throughout the United States in the immediate future, the company’s Vice President of Technology Development and Strategy Karri Kuoppamaki said earlier this week while speaking at the latest iteration of the Next-Gen Wireless Networks Summit in Dallas, Texas. T-Mobile’s latest push for additional small cell deployment is directly related to its 5G ambitions, with the company seeking to better prepare its infrastructure for the incoming commercialization of the fifth generation of mobile networks that promises higher speeds and lower latencies but requires significant investments from the telecom industry, many of which have already been made.

Small cell station deployment is T-Mobile’s primary tool for densifying its network and reduce its reliance on macro towers, especially as they alone won’t be enough to ensure reliable 5G connections, Mr. Kuoppamaki suggested, adding that the third largest mobile service provider in the country already managed to deploy “thousands” of small cell stations across the country but without elaborating on the matter. In regards to the company’s upcoming efforts, the 28,000 figure cited by its VP is only meant to pertain to stations that are planned for “short-term” deployment, which implies that the project will be completed by early 2018 and additional stations are likely to be planned for installation in the meantime. The Bellevue, Washington-based firm already enlisted the help of numerous fiber service providers in order to facilitate its small cell deployment efforts, Mr. Kuoppamaki said, adding that the company believes such partnerships are the best way to go about 5G preparations, especially since T-Mobile was specifically targeting entities that deal in both fiber and small cells.

T-Mobile VP also reflected on the wireless carrier’s ongoing 600MHz deployment efforts, reiterating that some of its stations already went live over the summer and adding that many more will do the same in the coming weeks. The company plans to conclude the year with a reliable 600MHz network spanning an area of 1.2 million square miles, with that number being expected to spike in 2018. T-Mobile is aiming to commercialize nationwide 5G by 2020 but should already start offering such services in select areas come 2019.

The post T-Mobile’s Next 5G Step Involves 28,000 New Small Cells appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

How to get Doom VFR for your headset

Here's how you can play Doom VFR on everything!

First-person shooters in VR are a dime a dozen, but Doom VFR is on an entirely different level. Combining the AAA scale of a Doom with the full immersion is truly epic, but currently only officially available for PlayStation VR and HTC Vive.

Got a different headset? You can still enjoy Doom VFR. Here's what you need to know!

Essential Phone gains portrait mode, 2nd gen model in the works, and more

The Essential team tells all in its latest Reddit AMA.

Every other Wednesday, the Essential team takes to Reddit to hold an AMA to answer any and all burning questions that people have about the company and its products. The most recent one was held on November 29, and as per usual, there's a lot to talk about.

For starters, Essential confirmed that a portrait mode is now available for its phone as an update for the camera app through the Play Store. In addition to this highly-requested feature, the update also includes better compression of JPEG shots and other general bug fixes and stability tweaks.

Speaking of software, an update to the existing 8.0 Oreo beta should be rolling out next week with improvements to Bluetooth performance, battery, and touch latency/choppy scrolling through the UI. Android 8.1 is also in the works, but Essential says it'll likely just push this out as a regular update without first running it through a beta.

Moving on to the hardware side of things –

The Stellar Gray version of the Essential Phone should be available at some point before 2017 is over, but there's still no ETA for the Ocean Depth variant
Essential is still working on the charging dock accessory, and along with sharing a couple hands-on photos of it, the company says that the final build was recently completed and that the price will be under $100
When talking about reparability concerns that popped up for the Essential Phone, we got confirmation that a 2nd gen version of the device is in the works ("We are focusing on reparability for the next generation phone)

Photos of the Essential Phone's charging dock.

Lastly, while Essential didn't exactly address the recent allegations against Founder and CEO Andy Rubin, it did confirm that support for the existing PH-1 would continue on as per usual –

We absolutely will be continuing to support the PH-1 device including security patches, more camera features and additional worldwide carrier support throughout the lifecycle of the PH-1 device. We still have plenty of work, continued release milestones on the roadmap, and new features we want to deliver from the great feedback we get in these AMAs. We are looking forward to supporting you guys for a long time.

Those are the biggest highlights from this last AMA, but if you want to read the full thing for yourself, you can check it out here.

Essential Phone

Amazon Best Buy Sprint Telus

Tip: Turn on your Christmas tree with Google Home and a smart plug

Two years ago, when I started getting into smart home stuff, I had a small epiphany when I heard a podcaster say they set up their Christmas tree to turn on and off with their iPhone. Until then, I had considered smart plugs completely useless for me, since we use recessed ceiling lights a lot here in Lebanon and rarely have floor or desk lamps. But a Christmas tree and one you can turn on and off without kneeling, ruffling half the tree, and dropping several decorations in order to unplug and replug the lights?!

Tip: Turn on your Christmas tree with Google Home and a smart plug was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

The Essential Phone won’t be forgotten just because of Rubin’s absence

Yesterday, it was announced that Andy Rubin would be taking a leave of absence from his post at Essential amidst claims of “inappropriate” musings while he was at Google. It seems that Rubin is being accused entering into a relationship with a subordinate – which is against Google’s rules – before the relationship itself took a turn for the worst.

Without skipping a beat, Essential’s Bi-weekly AMA on Reddit took place, where Rubin was understandably the center of many conversations. While some were asking questions regarding the next Oreo beta update for the Essential Phone, there were plenty of questions asked about the future of the company itself, as well as what lies ahead for device support.

There you have it. If there was any concern about whether Essential would be “lost” without Rubin at the helm, it seems that everything will continue to be business as usual. In fact, not only did the company confirm that the next Oreo beta would be dropping next week, it was also announced that a new portrait mode is making its way to owners of the PH-1.

So it seems that there is plenty of work left to be done while Rubin has taken his leave of absence, but it would definitely be a more comfortable situation of there was some type of statement from Rubin himself. Nonetheless, if you want to check out the full thread of comments, questions, and answers, you can hit the link here to see what Essential had to say in its latest AMA.

Be sure to let us know what you make of this whole situation in the comments below.

Samsung has begun production of its 2nd generation 10nm FinFET CPU technology

CPUs are a vital part of any technology, especially in our smartphones where efficiency is a must. Samsung is remaining committed to producing more efficient chips, announcing it has begun production of its 2nd generation 10-nanometer FinFET technology.

Samsung’s 2nd generation technology is built on what they call 10LPP (Low Power Plus). This new process will allow for more efficient mobile chips than the ones that we already have.

10LPP technology will allow up to “10-percent higher performance or 15-percent lower power consumption compared to its first generation 10nm process,” according to Samsung’s press release. Since this new technology is based on the company’s existing process, this should reduce production time—and have higher initial yields.

Beyond 7nm – the race to 4nm is Samsung’s to lose

7nm manufacturing lines from TSMC, Samsung, and GlobalFoundries are all expected to be up and running next year, ready to roll out more efficient processors and other ICs for next generation products. Intel is running …

Products using this technology should be available early next year, and become more widely available as the year goes on. In other words, this is good news for anyone who plans on buying a 2018 smartphone. Samsung’s foundries not only produce its own Exynos chips but also produce 10nm Qualcomm products.

Samsung is committed to improving its 10nm technology, continuing this trend with 8LPP, which is promised to be even more power efficient than the 10LPP process.

In addition, the company also announced its latest manufacturing plant, named “S3,” which will produce 10nm products, as well as, future 7nm EUV (Extreme Ultra Violet) chips.

What this means is that new mobile CPUs built on this process will, in theory, consume even less power, while still performing faster than existing products. Not a surprise, given that there has been a focus on efficiency—especially from competitors like Apple, whose A11 Bionic has four low power cores. CPUs are growing more powerful every year, but chip makers realize that there has to be a balance between power consumption and performance. It’s good to see that Samsung is keeping efficiency a priority.

Results: life on beta builds is exciting!

Device manufacturers have slowly begun to embrace the benefits of running a public beta for their future OS updates. They get tons of free testing done, gather more data than they could in private tests, and keep their devoted fans happy and loyal. That's a 3 for 1! Apple has a running beta program for iOS releases, Sony has had it for the Xperia flagships and their Android builds, and Samsung currently has one running for the Galaxy S8 and Android 8 Oreo, to name a few.

Now, it's always a good idea to backup your phone and be mentally ready that something might go terribly wrong and you ...

Snapdragon 845 tipped to use older 10nm production, bummer for the US-bound Galaxy S9

It's been a familiar refrain for years now - the US gets a Snapdragon-equipped Galaxy S line flagship, because... Qualcomm patents, but also Verizon and Sprint's legacy CDMA voice networks. The rest of the world, however, usually basks in the battery life efficiency coming with Samsung's homebrew Exynos line of processors, and often the added benefit of a better audio processor.

Next year, with the introduction of the eventual Galaxy S9 and S9+, we thought that the roles may get reversed. Samsung just announced that its second-generation 10nm LPP processors are entering mass production, ...

These premium Android icon packs are free for a limited time, grab them while you can!

If you love to customize your Android phone, you might be pleased to hear that several icon packs that are usually paid are now available for free on Google Play. Typically, the price of these icon packs is $1 or more, but now it's possible to download them free of charge.

This assortment should give you some ideas for your next custom home screen masterpiece, just make sure you pick a nice wallpaper to match. Keep in mind that the freebie period on some of these ends soon, so act swiftly!

You can get a preview of each icon pack in the gallery above. ...

Holiday Gift Guide 2017 – 2018 Highlight: Xiaomi Mi 6

Finding the right gift is definitely not an easy task, and some of you are probably not willing to spend a whole ton of money on a smartphone, well, if you’re looking for a really powerful phone, and are planning to save some money along the way, the Xiaomi Mi 6 might be just the right choice for you. The Xiaomi Mi 6 is a flagship phone, no matter what way you look at it, and yet, it’s considerably more affordable than the competition, including the Galaxy S8, LG V30, iPhone 8, iPhone X, Pixel 2, and so on. The Xiaomi Mi 6 comes with a really powerful spec sheet, it’s worth noting that Xiaomi did not skimp on RAM power either, as we’re looking at LPDDR4X RAM here, which works in collaboration with the most powerful chipset Qualcomm has to offer. In any case, if you’d like to read more about the Xiaomi Mi 6 specs, follow this link.

The Xiaomi Mi 6 is a compact smartphone, and we all know how rare compact flagships are, which makes it rather unique as well. The design is definitely one of the main selling points of the Xiaomi Mi 6, as the phone’s frame is made out of metal, though you’ll find glass on top its front and back sides. This phone is really easy to use with one hand, which is a huge plus for some people, that’s for sure. The Xiaomi Mi 6 comes with the company’s MIUI 8 OS, which is Xiaomi’s very own skin, but it is based on Android, of course. MIUI 8 is somewhat different than stock Android, but there are many consumers out there that simply love this skin, mainly due to its speed and simplicity. The Xiaomi Mi 6 is capable of offering blazing fast performance thanks to its internals, and software, and that is yet another upside of this phone, as chances are that the Mi 6 will not slow down as far as some other Android-powered devices will, at least if Xiaomi’s previous phones were any indication.

The last two features of the phone that should be emphasized here are its display and battery life. Let’s start with the display, shall we. The Mi 6 has a really compact panel, and even though this fullHD panel is not exactly the sharpest out there, it’s one of the best fullHD displays in the market, it’s extremely bright and colors are spot on, you won’t be missing colors here, that’s for sure. Many people think that there’s no reason to include QHD displays in such compact phones, and that’s probably true, as there’s no chance that you’ll be able to see pixels here, or anything of the sort.

The Xiaomi Mi 6 has a rather large battery, having its display size in mind, and in collaboration with the phone’s software and the power efficiency of Qualcomm’s flagship processor, the Mi 6 is able to offer great battery life, which is certainly important to a lot of people out there. In addition to having such a large battery pack, the Mi 6 also offers Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging, which is capable of topping up this smartphone really fast, though chances are you won’t need to do that before the end of the day. The Xiaomi Mi 6 is certainly not flash as some other flagship out there are, but this phone has a lot to offer, and having its price point in mind, it’s certainly a great option.

The post Holiday Gift Guide 2017 – 2018 Highlight: Xiaomi Mi 6 appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Is A 10nm Chip With Adreno 630: Rumor

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip will still be manufactured using the 10nm process node technology like its direct predecessor, according to latest rumors from China. The high-end silicon is expected to be of the octa-core variety, with its CPU being divided into a quad-core Cortex-A75 cluster and an energy-efficient Cortex-A53 one, insiders claim. Whereas the processor found on the chip isn’t believed to be a massive upgrade on the one embedded into the Snapdragon 835, Qualcomm is expected to make a significant jump in terms of graphical performance with its next offering. According to recent reports and rumors that have been circulating the industry for the better part of this year, the Snapdragon 845 will feature the Adreno 630 GPU as opposed to the Adreno 540 chip found on the previous piece of silicon.

No operating frequencies have yet been attached to either the CPU or GPU of the Snapdragon 845, with insiders only hinting that the upcoming chip will not be a major upgrade in this regard. It’s still expected to be somewhat more energy-efficient, allowing manufacturers to deliver handsets that boast performance identical or slightly better to that of every 2017 flagship but with longer battery life. Qualcomm’s X20 modem supporting 1.2Gbps peak download speeds is also said to be embedded into the chip, as per information provided by Chinese IT Home earlier today, with this particular module being rumored as part of the Snapdragon 845 since the first half of the year. The San Diego, California-based semiconductor company will reportedly announce its next flagship silicon early next month and have it ready for commercialization by winter, with the chip being expected to feature in the vast majority of Android-powered flagships set to be released throughout 2018.

The Snapdragon 845 is said to ship with simultaneous support two dual-camera setups featuring four 25-megapixel sensors in total, suggesting Qualcomm expects more OEMs to start offering both front and rear-facing two-sensor imaging systems on their mobile products in the near future. Samsung‘s Galaxy S9 lineup is widely rumored to be the first to commercialize the Snapdragon 845 in late winter or early spring, whereas most other manufacturers will likely have to wait until at least May before they’re able to secure enough stock to start mass-producing devices with Qualcomm’s next premium silicon.

The post Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Is A 10nm Chip With Adreno 630: Rumor appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Xiaomi Redmi 5 And Redmi 5 Plus Are Coming With MIUI 9

Yesterday, Xiaomi had announced that the Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus smartphones will launch on December 7, and now the company confirmed that the two phones will ship with MIUI 9 out of the box. MIUI 9 is the newest version of the company’s Android-based skin, MIUI, and it comes with a number of enhancements over MIUI 8, though it still looks rather similar to MIUI 8. Xiaomi did its best to make MIUI 9 more battery friendly, while some improvements to the Quick Reply feature have been introduced as well, plus there are some design changes here as well. Those of you who have been waiting for the Split Screen functionality, that is available in MIUI 9 as well, as is Picture-in-Picture mode.

Now, if you take a look at the provided image, you will not only see the MIUI 9 confirmation, but you’ll also see the design of the Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus, as it seems like those two phones will look identical on to the other. The Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus will sport rather thin bezels, at least compared to their predecessors, and both phones will ship with a rounded display. The Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus will be made out of metal, while both phones will come with a rear-facing fingerprint scanner as well. Now, if rumors are to be believed, the Redmi 5 will sport a 5.7-inch HD+ (1440 x 720) display, while it will be fueled by the Snapdragon 450 processor. A 12-megapixel shooter will be included on the back of that handset, while a 5-megapixel front-facing snapper is also expected. The device will probably pack in 3GB of RAM and 16GB / 32GB of native storage.

The Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus, on the other hand, is expected to arrive with a 5.7 or 5.99-inch fullHD+ (2160 x 1080) panel, 3GB / 4GB of RAM and it will be fueled by the Snapdragon 625 64-bit octa-core SoC, is rumors are to be believed. It will arrive with the same cameras as the Redmi 5, and both devices are rumored to arrive with a 4,000mAh non-removable battery, though it’s possible that they will sport a somewhat smaller battery on the inside. Android Nougat is expected to come pre-installed on these two phones, and as already mentioned, MIUI 9 will be included on top of it. The Redmi 5’s pricing will start at 699 Yuan ($106), while the Redmi 5 Plus’ base model will be available for 999 Yuan ($151), according to rumors.

Buy the Xiaomi Redmi 4

The post Xiaomi Redmi 5 And Redmi 5 Plus Are Coming With MIUI 9 appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Deal: Save $150 on the SEGWAY miniLITE – Today Only

In Amazon’s Gold Box Deal of the Day, it has discounted the SEGWAY miniLITE. Bringing it down from $399.99, to just $249.99, that’s good for $150 off of its regular price, or 38% savings. This brings the SEGWAY miniLITE back down to its all-time lowest price.

The SEGWAY miniLITE is said to be a “self-balancing personal transporter” but it’s basically a hoverboard with a handle for you to hold onto. It’s actually really convenient to use in large cities, like New York. Or just around large buildings, like maybe your office. It has 700 Watts of Engine power, with 10.5-inch air filled pneumatic tires that provide some pretty smooth rides on the SEGWAY miniLITE. The range on the miniLITE is actually just around 11 miles, and it can hit a top speed of 10 miles-per-hour, but that will all depend on the riders weight and riding habits. So if you are a heavier or taller person, you’ll put more weight on the miniLITE and it’ll need more juice for each mile. It does, however, have a max payload of 175 pounds.

The post Deal: Save $150 on the SEGWAY miniLITE – Today Only appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Apple and Stanford team up to monitor irregular heart rhythms with the Apple Watch

Apple has been quite determined to make the Apple Watch more than just an accessory or iPhone companion — it wants its readings to be able to help with healthcare in any way they can. As part of that mission, the company has teamed up with Stanford scientists to observe and study irregular heart rhythms.

The study is open to anyone who wishes to participate — as long as they are at least 22 years of age and they own an Apple Watch Series 1 (not 1st generation) or above. The app Apple Heart Study is up on the App Store and available for download right now (link below).

The ...

Best photo editing apps for Android

Once you take the photo, what do you do with it before sharing? You edit it!

Choosing a phone with a great camera is only part of the equation, though. The apps you use with it — and after the fact, by enhancing your photos — are equally important.

But once you've taken the photo, how do you make it better? These are the best apps that help you get the most out of your photographs.

Google Photos
Instagram
VSCO Cam
Snapseed
PicsArt
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC

Google Photos

Google Photos is probably the best overall photo app on Android. You can automatically backup your photos and videos to Google's cloud, making them available on every device you own — including the web — and view highlights of each day, so you don't need to scroll through all your photos to find the best ones. This means that for folks who don't have a ton of storage on their phone, they can ensure that a photo is never lost or deleted accidentally. And because Photos has unlimited storage, you can feel safe deleting pics from your phone to free up that space.

Google Photos is full of great features to make storing and accessing your photos easier than ever

One of Google Photos' best features is Auto Awesome. Take a bunch of photos and it'll periodically "gift" you enhanced versions of them to sit alongside the originals in your collections — think animated GIFs if you've taken a burst shot, Instagram-style filters and contrast-boosted versions of washed-out shots. Take a series of images from different perspectives and you might even end up with an auto-generated Panorama based on these pics.

The Auto Awesome feature also lets you create video highlights reels based on a series of images and videos. And if you're going on vacation, Photos can sort your images and videos into a chronological story book of your trip, ideal for sharing on social networks. Photos even includes some of Snapseed's photo editing and filtering capabilities through its "edit" button, which is useful if you just want to tweak your shots or add filters without downloading a separate app.

Of course, Google makes editing photos a breeze — the app has a number of non-descructive (meaning you can undo them if you don't want them) tools so you can quickly and easily make changes and share them to various social networks.

Download: Google Photos

Instagram

Instagram is the original filtered photo-sharing app, now owned by Facebook and pretty much synonymous with smartphone photography. It's also come a long, long, long, way since it was first introduced to users. They've added some excellent features that make sharing photos, and videos, an easier and more enjoyable process.

Instagram is pretty much synonymous with mobile photography.

New filters are being added all the time, and for the most part they do a good job of giving photos character without stomping all over them. In addition to controlling lux and the level of filtering, you can tweak photos' color temperatures, adjust highlight and shadow brightness, add a vignette, sharpen and even introduce tilt-shift effects. There is also video integration, so that you can take and share videos with your followers, and if you have a particular photo or video you want all of your followers to see, you can add it to your story as a pinned post of sorts. Of course, there's also Stories, a Snapchat clone that has proven an extremely popular way to share snippets of your day — if you're into that.

Download: Instagram

VSCO Cam

Popular on iOS before making its way to Android, VSCO Cam aims to be your one-stop shop for photography and image editing on your Android phone. VSCO lets you capture images, tweak and tune them to your liking, sync them across devices and share them with the world. You can even discover the best original photography from other VSCO users through the Grid feature.

Like the rest of VSCO, the built-in camera app is relatively simple, offering basic controls including grid lines and flash toggles. When it comes time to enhance your photo, the app brings an assortment of filters to the table, along with the option to buy even more through in-app purchases. That's on top of the usual combination of dials to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation and other properties. There is also the ability to copy/paste batch photo editing as well.

VSCO has a fairly minimalist look when scrolling through photos that others have posted, showing you only the photo and the username of the photographer. This minimalism also translated over to the camera and editing functions. This makes it easier to concentrate on what you're working on without lots of extraneous things getting in your way.

Download: VSCO Cam

Snapseed

Google's Snapseed is one of the most accessible photo editing apps for Android, with a wide range of features for experienced users and newcomers alike. At its most basic level, Snapseed lets you scroll vertically through image enhancement options, then drag horizontally to control the intensity of the effect.

The range of features is pretty diverse: everything from basic automatic color and contrast enhancement to cropping and sharpening, to selectively adjusting color properties within a particular radius. And of course it wouldn't be a photo editing app without the obligatory filters and frames, which are controlled by swiping, just like Snapseed's image tuning features.

If you're after a photo editing app that's powerful yet simple to learn, Snapseed strikes a great balance between the two.

Download: Snapseed

PicsArt Photo Studio and Collage

PicsArt is its own tiny social media network that includes a robust photo editor. It includes the usual tools, allowing you to adjust white balance, tone, cropping, and more. PicsArt goes a big step further though. You can purchase sticker packs to adorn your photos, add adjustable lens flares, access to filters, and even use what it calls 'magic' to apply Prisma-like features to transform your photos.

While some of the cooler features do require in-app purchases in order to use them, you still get tons of fun stuff to edit and share your photos with friends. When you're done editing your app you can save the photo privately, or share it on PicsArt. You can also make the photo free to edit, if you want to let strangers tweak your photos into something strange and new.

Download: PicsArt

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC

Lightroom is the photo editing software from Adobe Creative Cloud, and now it's available on Android. If you don't already have a Creative Cloud account, you can try out the trial version of Lightroom for free, but if you already pay for the service, all you need to do is sign into your account and you'll be good to go. Using Lightroom Mobile can take a few minutes to get used to, but after you figure out where everything is, it's a breeze to edit your photos wherever you are.

Lightroom Mobile also lets you take photos using the app

You're able to add photos to Lightroom so long as it's a photo saved on your phone. Once you've imported the photo that needs adjusting, just tap on it an the editing menu will open up. At the bottom of the screen, you'll see a bar that has settings that can be applied with a tap. You just need to select the category of tool that you want to use from adjusting the look of the photo itself, to cropping it or adding a gradient. This includes white balance, auto tone, and black and white mode. You can also easily adjust the temperature, tint, contrast, and exposure.

Lightroom Mobile also lets you take photos using the app. You can shoot in Auto, Professional, or HDR modes. Select phones can also capture and edit in RAW. There are a ton of features packed into Lightroom's shooting mode from adjusting the ratio, to including a grid when shooting, to geotagging your photos, and plenty more to boot.

When you're done adjusting your photo, it's also easy to save your edits and share it, You can save to your gallery if it's a personal photo, or share to your social media network of choice without any further hassle.

Download Lightroom Mobile

What are your favorite apps for Android photography?

There are tons of great apps on Android that can help you take and tweak photos of the people, places, and things that you love. Did we miss an amazing app that deserves to be here? What is your favorite photography app? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!

November 2017: We've updated this post to reflect the best photography apps currently available on Android!

Top 4 Android OEMs Experience Growing Sales In Q3 2017: Data

U.S. research and advisory firm Gartner recently issued its latest smartphone market analysis for the third quarter of the year, revealing that global sales have increased by three percent compared to the same time frame in 2016. Furthermore, Samsung appears to have retained the top spot throughout Q3 2017 and as expected, the Korean OEM is followed by Apple at second, and three Chinese smartphone makers – Huawei, OPPO, and Xiaomi. According to Gartner, all top five OEMs with the exception of Apple have experienced double-digit growth in Q3 compared to a year ago, and among them, Xiaomi achieved the strongest growth of around 80 percent.

The Gartner-made report suggests that Samsung managed to sell a little over 85 million smartphones in the third quarter of the year, leading to an increased market share of 22.3 percent compared to 19.3 percent a year ago. Apple, which retained the second spot, reportedly sold 45.4 million devices in the same time frame, representing an insignificant 0.3 percent increase from Q3 2016 when its sales figures topped 43 million. The Cupertino tech giant now holds 11.9 percent of the smartphone market, up from 11.6 percent last year. The third place goes to Huawei who managed to sell 36.5 million smartphones up from 32.4 million last year, and the company’s handsets now account for 9.5 percent of the market, up from 8.7 percent a year ago. OPPO remains the fourth most successful smartphone brand in the world with nearly 30 million devices sold in Q3 2017, and now holding 7.7 percent of the market instead of 6.6 percent from a year ago. Lastly, while Xiaomi remained the fifth most popular smartphone brand in terms of global sales with 26.8 million devices sold, the OEM experienced the strongest growth increasing its market share from 4.0 percent of last year to 7.0 percent in Q3 2017.

As for what regions have bought the largest volume of smartphones in the third quarter of the year, Greater China continues to occupy the top spot with 107 million units sold, despite the fact that it lost some ground compared to a year ago when a little over 120 million devices have been distributed in the region. Meanwhile, Emerging Asia-Pacific experienced a growth from 19.1 percent to 21.3 percent as sales over Q3 2017 grew to 81.5 million. In North America, 47.5 million devices have been sold in the third quarter up from 42.7 million a year ago, and Western Europe also purchased 36 million devices up from 32.9 million last year. The number of devices sold in Latin America was slightly increased to 33.5 million up from 31.1 million in 2016. With the holiday season just around the corner and following the recent Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts, Gartner expects yearly smartphone sales to hit 1.57 billion before the end of 2017. Whether Samsung will retain its top spot or lose it to Apple in Q4 remains to be seen.

The post Top 4 Android OEMs Experience Growing Sales In Q3 2017: Data appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Amazon Launches New Echo Dot Bundle for the Holidays

Amazon has been launching bundles for its different Echo devices, left and right. With the Echo devices being most free, or just a few bucks, with the bundled product. And now, it has a new bundle. This time, Amazon is bundling the Echo Dot with the Light Rhapsody Indoor Holiday String Lights, which of course do work with Alexa, so that you can tell Alexa to turn on the lights or turn off the lights. These lights alone are normally around $45, but right now you can pick up the Light Rhapsody Christmas Lights along with the Echo Dot for just $49.99, which is a great price, and it’s actually the regular price of the Echo Dot (which is on sale for $29.99 right now).

The Light Rhapsody Holiday String Lights are a great set of lights to pick up for your Holiday decorations this year. They are available in regular and mini sizes – although this bundle uses the regular C9 sized lights. These lights do support up to 25 different colors, as well as 9 different themes and 4 different effects. So you can use these all year round, instead of just around Christmas and other holidays at the end of the year. These lights will connect to your Echo device using Bluetooth, and what’s interesting here is that the second-generation Echo and Echo Dot support up to 3 strands while the first generation Echo, Echo Show, Echo Spot and Echo Plus supports 4 strands. While other Echo devices are not supported right now. So if you have a third-party Echo device, it’s not going to work with these lights, unfortunately. There is an update coming soon that will allow the Light Rhapsody to blink when Amazon Music is playing on a connected Echo Device, which is going to be a nice touch.

This bundle will likely only be available through the holiday season, so if you are in need of some new Holiday lights this year, this is a great bundle to pick up, even if you already have an Echo, since you are getting an Echo Dot for about $5. And it’ll allow you to put Alexa into more areas of your home, which is definitely a good thing.

Buy the Amazon Echo Dot & Light Rhapsody Holiday String Light Bundle

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LG Mobile scores a new chief, hints that it wants to come on top by innovating

Effective from December 1, LG's mobile department will have a new head - Hwang Jeong-hwan, a former head of LG's Home Entertainment branch, is taking the reins from Juno Cho, who will continue working for the South Korean giant. This move is definitely hinting at an upcoming shift in LG Mobile's strategy and state of affairs.

Hwang Jeong-hwan has been rather involved with R&D in LG's Home Entertainment branch for years, but this seems to be a recurring theme for the executive, who seems to have a gusto for creativity and not so much for sales-oriented ...

DxO One camera for Android now available in early access program for $499

The $499 price includes the camera, a waterproof case, and DxO's own image editing software.

In mid-October, DxO announced that its DxO One camera would finally be coming to Android after having first launched for the iPhone in 2015. We knew that the camera would first be available through some sort of early access program, and we now have more exact details of how it'll work.

You can head to DxO's website to order the One camera starting today, and once you enter your email and model of your phone, you'll be able to purchase it for $499. Along with the camera itself, the early access program also includes a waterproof case for submerging the camera up to 45-meters, as well as DxO PhotoLab image editing software (each normally $59.90 and $199, respectively).

The DxO One connects to your phone via USB-C, and supported devices include the likes of the HTC U11, Huawei Mate 9, LG G6, Galaxy S8, Note 8, and others.

Full image and video capture capabilities will be available on the One out of the box, and DxO says that it'll be adding support for Facebook live streaming, time-lapses, manual focus, and more over the coming months.

See at DxO

Apple countersuit alleges Qualcomm infringed battery life patents for Snapdragon 820, 800

The bad blood and ongoing legal scuffle between Apple and Qualcomm is in the news again today after the iPhone-maker submitted a patent infringement suit targeting two of Qualcomm’s flagship processors.

According to a Reuters report, Apple has accused Qualcomm of infringing eight of its patents related to battery efficiency. The patents in question relate to technologies that regulate power usage by turning off parts of the processor when they are not in use.

The suit mainly focuses on the Snapdragon 800 and Snapdragon 820. The two processors have since been superseded by superior chipsets, but you only have to take a trip back to last year to find Snapdragon 820-powered flagship phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, LG V20, and HTC 10, to name but a small handful.

Qualcomm has yet to respond to the filing, but it’s already fairly clear where the San Diego company stands on the matter. In fact, this new legal battle is essentially a countersuit to Qualcomm’s own battery patent infringement case brought against Apple back in July.

Why are Apple’s chips faster than Qualcomm’s? – Gary explains

Generally whenever Apple announces a new iPhone it also announces a new System-on-a-Chip, and this year was no different. The newly launched iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the iPhone X all use Apple's in-house …

The bitter relationship between the two industry giants extends far beyond mere battery patents, however. It all kicked off in January when Apple levied a $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm accusing the company of price gouging and anti-competitive practices.

The chipmaker later countersued, sought injunctions to halt the sale of iPhones in multiple countries, and, most recently, alleged the Cupertino firm shared proprietary Qualcomm technologies with its market rival, Intel.

Something tells me this won’t be the last lawsuit we see the two companies throw at each other in the months (if not years) to come.

There are now 25M active business profiles on Instagram

Instagram announced this morning that it now has 25 million active business profiles, up from 15 million in July. The company throws out a lot of different statistics (back in September it said it had 800 million monthly active users, 500 million daily active users and 2 million advertisers), but this one’s significant as a measure of how many businesses see Instagram as an important way… Read More

2018 Nissan Kicks and Jeep Wrangler will support Android Auto

Android Auto and Apple Carplay keep making their way into more and more cars. The latest two to be announced with the smartphone connectivity integrated are the 2018 Nissan Kicks and the 2018 Jeep Wrangler.

The Kicks is a compact crossover and will have a centrally-mounted 7" display with Auto and Carplay support. It will come in three models: Kick S, Kick SV, and Kick SR, and will be available in spring of 2018.

2018 Nissan Kicks and Jeep Wrangler will support Android Auto was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

Google Removes Dangerous Android Spyware From The Play Store

Google recently discovered and disposed of a number of Android applications form the Play Store, all of which contained the so-called “Tizi” backdoor, allowing for spyware to be installed in order to steal sensitive data from popular social media apps. These malware-infested applications have now been removed from the Play Store and users of all known affected devices have been notified about the matter. In addition, Google suspended their developers’ accounts from the platform, while the Google Play Protect team used information and signals from the identified apps to update its own on-device security services designed to search for potentially harmful applications.

Tizi is a full-fledged backdoor that can lean on vulnerabilities and exploits within the Android operating system in order to gain root access to a device. Once Tizi gains root access, it usually contacts its command-and-control servers by sending an SMS containing the infected device’s GPS coordinates. The backdoor can then be used to intercept and steal sensitive data from popular social media applications including Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, Viber, LinedIn, and Telegram. It can also send and receive SMS, access call logs, on-device photos, calendar events, contact lists, and even Wi-Fi encryption keys. Furthermore, Tizi applications are capable of recording ambient audio and capture images using the device’s camera without displaying the photo on the screen.

The good news is that Tizi is actually an older backdoor originally discovered in 2015, and the Android OS vulnerabilities that can be exploited by it have already been fixed with the April 2016 security update. Having said that, smartphones running at least the aforementioned security patch should be safe but with the Android ecosystem being made up of older and newer devices alike, and not every Android smartphone in the wild is protected by the April 2016 security update. According to Google, the recent investigation led to identifying roughly 1,300 devices affected by Tizi, the vast majority of which are located in Kenya. A smaller number of devices have also been affected in Nigeria, Tanzania, as well as the United States. As for how to avoid the malware, Google recommends checking for suspicious permissions when installing new apps from the Play Store and advises Android smartphone users to enable a lock screen, as well as Play Protect, while ensuring their device is running the latest security patch possible.

The post Google Removes Dangerous Android Spyware From The Play Store appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Essential’s Camera App Updated With Portrait Mode, And More

Earlier today, we talked about Essential’s AMA session on Reddit, during which the company revealed quite a few info, including the fact that the portrait mode is coming to Essential’s camera today… well, the update has just landed. Essential has announced via its official Twitter page that the update is now rolling out to the Essential PH-1’s camera via the Google Play Store, though do keep in mind that it may not be immediately available to everyone, but if it’s not, it will be really soon.

Having said that, it’s worth noting that the Essential PH-1’s image taking capabilities were probably one of the worst things about that handset, well, its camera in general, but Essential has been pushing out updates intensively ever since the device dropped, and the company had managed to fix it up to a certain degree. Well, this new update should push the camera to new heights, not only is the portrait mode now available inside of the Essential PH-1’s camera app, and in addition to that, Essential has also included reduced compression in this update, along with some other goodies. Now, in addition to announcing this update, Essential also shared an image of a dog via Twitter, and that image has been taken using the Essential PH-1’s portrait mode, just to give you an idea as to what to expect from this update. Now, the reduced compression should help improve image quality in general, and it seems like exposure compensation is also present in all camera modes, and that should help the Essential PH-1 to avoid overexposing photos. On top of all that, Essential has also included some stability fixes along with this update, as the camera had a tendency to crash in previous versions, we hope that the company fixed that problem in this version.

If the Google Play Store does not update applications automatically on your handset, you’ll need to open the app and check whether the update is available for your Essential PH-1, same as with every other app. That is pretty much it, we’re yet to test this new camera update, but Essential hopefully managed to improve image quality in general, and reduce camera app crashes to a minimum, or fix that part of the app completely, only time will tell.

Google play

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YouTube Community Expands To More Creators, Adds ‘Stories’

YouTube has started rolling out its nascent Community feature with more updates and improvements to a wider array of creators whose number of subscribers tops 10,000. The YouTube Community expansion comes a few days after YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan confirmed that the feature was set to hit more YouTube content creators soon. Well, it appears that more creators other than those invited by YouTube last year will now be able to interact with their subscribers through GIFs, photos, polls, and texts, in addition to just videos.

The new update was developed based on feedback gathered from content creators, and one of the changes added to the feature is YouTube’s own version of the Stories format called “Reels.” The concept of Stories was first introduced by Snapchat and later adopted by many other online platforms including Facebook and Instagram, though YouTube Community’s own spin adds some slight variations to it. For instance, YouTube creators can choose to make multiple Reels that do not disappear after a given period, unlike Stories on Facebook that expire after 24 hours. Keep in mind, however, that the new feature is still in a beta phase of development, with YouTube promising to improve the tool before expanding it on a broader scale in the future, according to Roy Livne, the company’s Senior Product Manager. Additionally, YouTube Community also allows content creators to easily link to other videos and take advantage of various stickers.

The video sharing platform has also added a new feature that allows YouTube users to view Community posts by a particular content creator in their Home feed even if they have not subscribed to that creator. The goal of this update is to improve the discoverability of Community posts by letting the most engaged viewers see them once they open YouTube. As to the notifications about new Community posts, Livne said that YouTube made sure these won’t be annoying to fans by letting them receive notifications for groups of Community posts instead of individual posts. Creators can also turn to the Community tab to tease subscribers about an upcoming video so that they might build additional excitement for their offerings.

The post YouTube Community Expands To More Creators, Adds ‘Stories’ appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Electronics Deals – Nov. 30th, 2017: Dell XPS 13, Moto X4 & More

Today, you’ll find some pretty great prices on laptops over at B&H Photo as its Cyber Monday Week continues with all sorts of nice deals available. You’ll find some pretty steep discounts on the latest Macbooks from Apple, like the 15-inch Macbook Pro coming in for $600 off, dropping down to $1799. That’s a whole lot of power for that price as well. There are some other great deals on the Dell XPS 13, the Inspiron series and even some of ASUS’ laptops as well. This is definitely the time of year to pick up a new laptop if you are in need of one.

There’s plenty of other sales going on today as well. With the Moto X4 being on sale, coming in at just $329, which is a great price for this smartphone and it’s down from the $399 price tag. Even at $399, this was a great deal. There’s also some great sales on last year’s smartphones from Motorola, like the Moto G4 for $109 and the Moto G4 Plus for $199. So if you’re in need of a new phone, Motorola really has you covered here.

All of the deals listed in this post are good through midnight PT on the date noted, unless otherwise noted. So you’ll want to take advantage of them before they are sold out.

The post Electronics Deals – Nov. 30th, 2017: Dell XPS 13, Moto X4 & More appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp gets its first holiday special event

Nintendo's Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has had a strong first week on the App Store and Google Play store, hitting a cumulative 15 million downloads worldwide in under 7 days. In comparison, Super Mario Run reached 32 million downloads one week after launch, while Fire Emblem Heroes amassed only 7 million within its first six days of availability. However, the latter remains the most profitable mobile game launched by the Japanese company, as per Nintendo's statement.

But millions upon millions of downloads often mean nothing in the mobile ...

Eufy BodySense Smart Scale: Simply the best

If ease of use and value are your top considerations, the Eufy BodySense Smart Scale is all you need.

Stepping on the bathroom scale is one of the more mundane parts of life. For some, it's simply part of a daily ritual for maintaining good health while others may see it as a nothing more than a necessary evil as you pray for a lower number than last week.

Often the usefulness of the 'smart' version of a product is overstated, but that's not the case with smart scales. Smart scales use bioelectrical impedance to measure your body fat percentage, bone density, and much more. By sending the slightest electrical current up through your legs, a smart scale is able to tell the difference between the muscle, water, fat, and bone in your body. Knowing your body fat percentage and muscle mass gives you a much better insight into your overall health.

Amongst all the smart scales available options out there, the Eufy BodySense Smart Scale is your best buy. It's a Bluetooth connected health device that's fast, easy to use, syncs with your favorite health apps, and is extremely affordable.

Fast and accurate

In my mind, every "smart" product trying to improve on a trusted household item needs to function equally as well it's 'dumb' counterparts — smartphones need to reliably make and receive calls, smartwatches need to tell the time, and smart scales need to weigh you promptly when you step on.

Step onto the Eufy Smart Scale and the LED display comes to life and quickly displays your current weight. All the other smart calculations are made after the fact and only transferred to your phone if it's open to the EufyLife app with a Bluetooth connection. It looks and operates like a normal bathroom scale for any friend or relative looking to get a quick check-in after Thanksgiving dinner, and if not for the markings for the conductive pads for the biometric measurements, there would be no way for them to tell the Eufy smart scale from their scale at home.

The Eufy BodySense Smart Scale works just as well as a normal bathroom scale even without the EufyLife app connected.

While having a smart scale that's always trying to record the maximum amount of data sounds like a great idea in theory, in practice it's much more convenient to be in control of when your measurements are going to be recorded in your profile log. Some days you might not want to track everything when you step on the scale. A Bluetooth connection to the EufyLife app is required to record your body fat percentage, muscle mass, and the other five metrics measured almost instantaneously when you step onto the scale, so if you don't want to track your weight in one morning just don't bring your phone into the bathroom with you.

Depending on how you look at things, the Bluetooth connection is either a flaw or feature — I tend to look at it as a feature because I'll really only want to track my results once a day anyway, but might, for example, use the scale to figure out how much my cat weighs. I wouldn't want that measurement messing up my graphs.

The EufyLife app is a breeze to use

Speaking of graphs, the EufyLife app is, fortunately, an app that you'll actually enjoy using. That's pretty rare in my experience using different smart products — if your product doesn't integrate nicely into the health apps I'm already using, then I'm probably going to forget or get tired of using it for one specific piece of tech.

The EufyLife app has bucked that trend, offering clean design and ease of use. You can create multiple accounts on the same device, or have each member of your household download the app and set up accounts on their own phones. As you'd expect, you can set your target weight.

With your EufyLife profile set up, it's time to start tracking your stats. With the app open and Bluetooth on, all you need to do is step onto the Eufy with bare feet and you can watch your health stats populate in the app. The EufyLife app tracks seven health metrics — total body weight, body fat, BMI, water, muscle mass, bone mass, BMR and visceral fat. You can tap each metric to learn more about it and see how far off you are from your ideal stats based on your vitals.

You're also able to see your weight, body fat, and muscle mass trends presented as graphs. It can be encouraging to see how you've progressed over time or to track which workouts or diets offer the best results. The statistics can also be synced to Google Fit, Apple Health Kit, or Fitbit which is always good, although you'll still need to load up the EufyLife app to take the measurements.

You can't beat the price

The Eufy BodySense Smart Scale regularly sells for around $50, but it is frequently on sale for well below price as part of for holiday sales. Right now, you can get one in while for just $33 which is significantly cheaper than the Fitbit Aria 2 or Nokia+ Body Scale (formerly Withings). It's a great gift idea for someone who's into fitness or just a great thing to buy for your own household — especially if you're planning some New Years resolutions to shed a few pounds.

Should you buy one?

If you're in the market for a smart scale, the Eufy BodySense Smart Scale should be at the top of your list. It's easy to set up and use, works great as a normal bathroom scale for guests, and is inexpensive yet feels like a premium product.

See at Amazon

Verizon is launching 5G in five cities by the end of next year

The next buzz word you’re going to be hearing a lot from carriers is “5G.” AT&T has already started talking about it, but their “5G Evolution” network is not really true 5G. Verizon is planning to roll out their own 5G network. We don’t know all the details yet, but Verizon has named the first city to get it.

Verizon plans to bring 5G service to three to five cities in 2018. The first city will be Sacremento, California. We don’t know when in 2018 that will happen or the other cities on the list. Sacremento was one of the first cities Verizon used for testing earlier in 2017. The other cities were Ann Arbor, Atlanta, Bernardsville, Brockton, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami, Sacramento, Seattle, and Washington, DC.

Are you ready for 5G?

Supreme Court to rule on a landmark cell phone tracking and search privacy case

The Supreme Court just received a landmark citizen privacy case yesterday, and is deliberating on the rules that police and other authorities should follow when tracking and searching your cell phone. The "Carpenter vs United States" case is pivotal in terms of warrant regulations, as it was precisely grey area location pindowns and wiretaps (or, in this case, wireless taps) that led to the conviction of armed robber Timothy Carpenter in 2013.

FBI asked the carriers to track Carpenter's whereabouts, buoyed by a court order issued under the Stored Communications ...

LG assigns new CEO for its mobile division

LG's has had less than stellar sales for its mobile products in 2017, and the company is switching up its executive team to hopefully change this going into 2018.

Despite releasing quality phones like the G6 and V30 this year, LG's sales for its mobile division has left a lot to be desired. The company reported a massive loss of $117 million for the second quarter of the year, and likely as a result of these falling numbers, it's been announced that a new CEO will take charge of LG's mobile activities.

Per a press release that LG issued on November 30 –

Hwang Jeong-hwan has been named president and CEO of the LG Mobile Communications Company while current president Juno Cho takes on a new role within LG's parent company. Mr. Hwang, who has years of experience in R&D, was closely involved in developing one of LG's first smartphones in 2009 as head of the CTO's Multimedia R&D Lab.

LG is also appointing Dr. Park Il-pyung as the company's new CTO. Dr. Park was previously acting as the head of LG's Software Center, and prior to that, was the CTO at Harman International and leader of the Intelligent Computing Lab at Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology (that just recently announced impressive new battery tech using graphene).

All of the new appointments will go into effect starting December 1, with promotions following on January 1, 2018.

LG V30

[Still no Google Play Movies] Crackle is the newest video service partner for Google Home

It's getting ridiculous at this point. Google Home has been available for over a year and despite the slow initial rollout of video services, things have picked up with Netflix being joined by CBS, HBO NOW, YouTube TV, CW, and most recently Viki. Now there's another one joining the fold of video partners and, no, again, it is not Google Play Movies. It's Crackle.

Crackle is an online streaming service owned by Sony and, according to Wikipedia, it is available in 21 countries.

[Still no Google Play Movies] Crackle is the newest video service partner for Google Home was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

OnePlus 3 and 3T include face unlock feature with OxygenOS 5.0 update

The face unlock feature was limited to OnePlus' newest flagship, the 5T, at least that's what we thought until recently. However, as many of you probably know by now, OnePlus 3 and 3T recently received OxygenOS 5.0 update based on Android 8.0 Oreo.

Although OnePlus shared an official changelog when the update was released, it did not contain any mentions of a face unlock feature. Well, great news, as both OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T benefit from the security feature after the update.

If you want to use it, you can head over to “Security & fingerprint” menu, ...

This is the best widget for Android released in 2017

Not everyone uses widgets on their Android device, and for a reason: the regular user is either unaware that their phone can do that, or they simply don't care about these for one reason or another.

Admittedly, the majority of widgets available for download on the Play Store aren't exactly catwalk stars in appearance, there exist a ton of widgets that not only have the stunning appearance, but also match that one in terms of overall functionality. And with tools like KWGT, you can even hit reach the next level and create a full-blown bespoke widget for your ...

HTC U11 Life (unlocked) receiving Android 8.0 Oreo from today

The HTC U11 Life was introduced earlier this month, arriving on the Android One program in global markets, while those in the US received a variant with HTC’s Sense UI. The device launched with Android Oreo outside of the US, meaning those residing the states were left waiting for the latest Google software, but HTC assured that it wouldn’t be far off. Today, I bring good news as the US unlocked U11 Life is now said to be receiving Oreo.

HTC Vice President of Product Manager Mo Versi delivered the news via a Tweet published a couple of hours ago. Versi said that the update would be available “starting today,” but we don’t know how long it could take to hit individual devices.

HTC u11 life unlocked customers! You’re next with Oreo! It’s available to download starting today! Thank you!

— Mo Versi (@moversi) November 30, 2017

HTC has been on a roll with its rollouts this week, having upgraded the regular HTC U11 flagship to Oreo just a couple of days ago. Here’s hoping the speedy updates continue for the rest of its smartphone lineup.

Check out our full HTC U11 Life review at the link and visit our dedicated Android 8.0 Oreo update page to find out more about HTC’s schedule.

Google's new data-tracking app could save money on your mobile bill

Combine the Google Home Mini and Wemo Mini smart plug for $20 off the total

Mini devices. Huge savings.

Right now, if you individually add a Google Home Mini and a Wemo Mini smart plug to your cart, Target will give you a $20 discount automatically. The Google Home Mini is $29, and the Wemo Mini is $35, so you end up paying just $44 total.

Even when the Wemo Mini was down to $20 over the Black Friday weekend, that wasn't as much savings as this since the Google Home Mini never went below $29.

The WeMo Mini Smart Plug fits into any electrical outlet without obstructing others, allowing for two smart plugs to be placed into the same socket. The smart plug can be scheduled to turn on or off via the free WeMo app, allowing you to automate anything you plug into the device.

The WeMo app also features an "Away Mode" which will turn the lights on and off at random to give the illusion of someone still being home. No matter where you are, as long as you have access to the app, you can control your home's appliances and electronics straight from your phone. You'll never have to worry again about whether you left the iron on or not.

With the Google Home Mini you can complete Google searches, use voice commands to control your connected smart home gadgets, listen to music, cast videos to your Chromecast and much more.

See the Google Home Mini at Target See the Wemo Mini at Target