Google today announced Android M, the newest iteration of its mobile OS that'll replace Android Lollipop. While Android M is still under development, and won't be officially released before the third quarter of the year, many Android users are already wondering if their devices will be updated to the new OS. Well, if you own an HTC One M9 or One M9+, we have great news.
Jeff Gordon, Senior Global Online Communications Manager at HTC, can confirm that both the One M9 and One M9+ will be updated to Android M. There's no word on exactly when the update will be rolled out, but we should ...
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After talking a bit about Android M, Google dedicated some time time to Android Wear on its Google I/O conference. Android Wear was praised for the amount of choice it offers to customers – from the numerous different devices, made by Google's partners, to the 1,500 watch faces that are currently up on the Play Store. A new version of Wear should be hitting smartwatches in a few weeks, and it will bring a few user experience improvements.
Hugo Barra, International VP at Xiaomi, has indicated that the China-based firm does eventually intend to sell smartphones in the United States, but as yet, has no specific plan in place. Earlier this month, confirmation broke of the firm's intention to open an online 'Mi Store' in the States as well as France, Germany and the U.K. in early June. But while fans dared to dream that the company was planning a concerted invasion of these markets, the rather deflating truth is that Xiaomi is sticking with accessories, for now. But Barra, former leading member of Google's Android team, insists ...
Mobile payments are coming to Android! At the I/O 2015 keynote, Google announced Android Pay, a fully-featured payments system that takes advantage of NFC connectivity and fingerprint recognition to bring mobile payments to Android users. The system relies on a virtualized credit card which acts as a proxy for your actual card, thus your sensitive data isn't shared with merchants. Speaking of merchants, Android Pay will be working with over 700,000 stores in the US that have contactless payment terminals. Google is also partnering with almost every major financial instituion you can think of.
Global adoption rates for Android Lollipop may be just breaking the 10% barrier, but that doesn't mean that Google hasn't been hard at work since the last major update was made official at Google I/O 2014. All this effort has yielded Android M — announced just now at Google I/O 2015 — and that means that the industry at large will be spending most of its time disemboweling the code and making sense of all the new features it is set to bring to the table. 
An update to SwiftKey for Android is now available in the Google Play Store, and includes the SwiftKey Hub. This replaces all of the settings information that was previously accessed by long-pressing the "123" key. The Hub is where you will go to customize the keyboard, visit the SoftKey Store and change your various settings.
Marvel fans far and wide have been getting excited about the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge Iron Man edition in recent times, although it seems that only those in South Korea and other select Asian nations will be able to get their hands on it officially. As Avengers fanatics in the United States and other Western markets continue to hope and pray for a release of the special S6 edge outside of Asia, those with an iPhone 6 can also achieve that Iron Man look for the humble price of $25.
One of the common problems with personal smart devices is that, well, they're often not as personal as we'd like. Sure, one can set a password to obscure most private content, and even, as with many high-end devices, utilize the in-built fingerprint sensor. There's little to prevent someone's prying eye from peeking over your shoulder and seeing what you're up to, but Lenovo's very interesting concept smartwatch entertains new heights in delivering that truly personal experience.
Did you hear what the cool kids are doing with their iPhones now? Didn't you hear? Rebooting someone's smartphone and crashing their Messages app by sending an obscure line of symbols iOS can't interpret is all the rage nowadays! Lucky for all those affected, the workarounds are rather simple and will keep your iPhone going until Apple patches up the messy situation.
Are you ready for another gathering of developers from around the world who shape our very existence around Android, Chrome OS, and other Google services?
Yesterday, we told about an upcoming Asus smartphone which, according to Chinese media, could be called ZenFone Selfie. Now, Asus is confirming that "a new ZenFone family member" will be announced at Computex 2015, while also mentioning that the handset is indeed a selfie-centric one. "Illuminate the beauty that’s in You through the front camera of the ZenFone _ _ _ _ _ _" reads a Facebook post from earlier today.
Android devotees know that Google Play, in all its vastness, is just one planet in a huge galaxy full of smaller planets, where all kinds of exotic alien apps live. In addition to the numerous third-party app stores from the likes of f-droid and SlideMe, there are wild Pokemon apps left to roam in the open world after being rejected from Google's family-friendly paradise mall.
The recently released Yu Yuphoria was offered today by Amazon India via a flash sale, and quickly sold out in seconds. Over 5 million people had registered for the sale. Amazon had told consumers that they had 3 minutes to add the phone to their cart, and 15 minutes to check out once the sale started at 2pm Indian Time this afternoon. The Yuphoria was priced at the equivalent of $109 USD.
Driving while using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet is, in most places, illegal. In areas that it hasn't been outlawed, it's still dangerous, and such distractions have been known to cause many an avoidable fatality on the road. The smartwatch era is now well under way, and while checking a traditional timepiece isn't likely to score you a ticket from a passing cop, where does that leave the use of a device like the Apple Watch when behind the wheel? As one Canadian driver has discovered, it can lead to a $120 fine.
If technological websites such as ours make up a fair share of your daily reading, you may remember a bunch of manufacturers, most notably ASUS and Huawei, announcing smartphones and tablet hybrids that freely booted into Android and Windows. They seemed very promising, but for reasons that mostly have to do with Google and Microsoft politely telling its technological partners to hold off launching dual boot devices... or else, products like the ASUS Transformer Book V and the unnamed Huawei smartphone never saw the light of day.
We were given a heads-up before it happened, and now it has happened — Sony officially unveiled the Japan-exclusive Xperia Z4 for the international market just two days ago, but it'll be called the Xperia Z3+. Regardless of the name change, the two devices are actually identical and flaunt the same, high-end hardware. Now, we're getting the first test results from performance benchmarks, telling the story of how well the various parts work together.
The latest reports on LG's doings suggests you should keep your eyes wide open for next year's LG G5, as the Koreans' next hero phone will most likely come with iris scanning security! Reportedly, LG has been working with Korean-based biometrics firm Irience to integrate iris recognition technology in the G5, which is scheduled for 2016's first half. It is said that Irience has already completed work on the hardware module which will go into the smartphone, and is now polishing its algorithms to increase the recognition range from 12in (30cm) to a cool 20in (50cm).
Xiaomi's Redmi Note mid-range phablet was quite successful last year – announced in March, 2014, the phone pre-sold like hot cakes, probably thanks to the fact that it carried a 5.5" 720p display, an octa-core MT6592 SoC, 1 GB of RAM, and an 8 MP camera for the price equivalent of $130. Naturally, the manufacturer began planning a sequel for the model, and we've seen many rumors, speculations, and possible launch dates for the second iteration of the large handset.
Android M is just around the corner and as its announcement nears, and rumors about more and more plausible features of the platform's next version come to surface each and every day. We already have a pretty good understanding of what Android M is going to be all about, but we are certain that Google has a lot of hidden functionalities hidden up its sleeve.
Lenovo has just announced a smartphone with a feature that has been often dreamed up by concept designers at its Lenovo Tech World conference. The new Smart Cast smartphone is equipped with a focus-free laser projector, which, according to Lenovo, can turn every surface into a touchscreen.
Last week we finally got around to ranking manufacturers' flagships by how compact they are relative to their screen size. Japanese Sharp's little-known Aqos Crystal X flagship finished at the very top, with the impressive 82.18% of its body being occupied by nothing but the display. In comparison, Apple's fancy iPhone 5s finished last, with just 60.82% of its physical form made up of its 4-inch screen.
A few days ago, we showed you a picture of a phone that looked like the Meizu m1 note with one big change. Instead of having the power button located on top where it is a stretch to reach, the power button on this model was on the side. In fact, with a placement under the volume rocker, the power button was in a very reachable location on this handset.
Google is polishing up the Chrome once again, and the Android variant of the browser is being updated to version 43, or 43.0.2357.78 to be exact. The updated app should hit the Google Play Store within days, and promises to speed up the checkout time for Google Wallet users. The browser will have secure checkout forms ready for you, with data taken from Google Wallet.
The Ashton Kutcher movie Jobs was about as commercially successful as the Apple Newton. It wasn't Ishtar, but it was barely watchable save for Matthew Modine's portrayal of John Sculley. Nonetheless, the Steve Jobs story is certainly worth another cinematic try and Universal is about to give us Steve Jobs starring Michael Fassbender in the title role. Seth Rogen is Steve Wozniak.
Apple Pay customers are about to get a number of perks for using the mobile payment system. Next month, Apple is expected to introduce a rewards program for Apple Pay users. This apparently will be introduced next month at WWDC in San Francisco. Exactly what these perks are is unknown at this point. According to the New York Times, they will probably be designed to keep consumers returning to certain merchants.
Here we go! Google’s developer conference is set to kick off Thursday morning. Expectations and excitement is high. Of course anticipation is always a bit wondrous just before festivities get underway, but there is a lot to be excited about.
Smartwatch manufacturer Pebble announced today that it will start accepting pre-orders on June 22nd from those who did not help fund its new timepiece on Kickstarter. Pebble Time, with its colorful e-paper display and enhanced app storage, raised more than $20 million from 78,000 backers on the crowdfunding site. Watches for those who funded production of Pebble's greatest and latest intelligent timepiece will start shipping this week.
The top executive at GM, Mary Barra, said today that 14 new Chevy models rolling off the assembly line later this year, will work with both Android Auto and Apple's CarPlay. The models that will support the two services include the Cruze, Malibu, Camaro, Silverado, Impala, Volt, Suburban, Colorado and Tahoe. These vehicles accounted for 2.4 million unit sales and the Cruze is Chevy's best selling passenger vehicle.
Officially announced this week as a global version of the Japan-only Xperia Z4, the Sony Xperia Z3+ will be available to buy starting this summer (possibly from June). If you're curious about the new handset's rear camera, this is a 20.7 MP one with a 25mm wide-angle G lens and, fortunately, with support for multiple manual controls.
Earlier today we told you about a pair of new Motorola handsets that could be part of the DROID lineup that is exclusive to Verizon in the U.S. One model, code named the "Clark," is similar to last year's Motorola DROID Turbo with an expected 5.2-inch 1440 x 2560 resolution QHD screen and a 565 ppi pixel density.