[Deal] The Moto X Play is on sale for just £199 from Amazon UK today
If you are in the market for a new smartphone, or perhaps thinking of giving one as a present to a loved one (it is getting to that time of year, you know), choosing the right phone at the right price can be somewhat taxing. But what would you say if I told you that the black Moto X Play can be found for just £199 from Amazon UK today, saving £70 on the usual price?
The Moto X Play is known for having great battery life, but let’s take a look at what else it brings to the table:
- Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
- 5.5-Inch Full HD display, 403ppi, Corning’ Gorilla Glass 3
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core @ 1.7GHz
- Adreno 405 GPU
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB Internal storage
- MicroSD card support (up to 128GB)
- 21MP Rear camera
- 5MP front camera
- Nano-SIM
- Battery: 3,630mAh
- Dimensions: 148 x 75 x 8.9 (10.9 at thickest point)
- Weight: 169 grams
At its normal price of £269, the Moto X Play offers good value for money, but at £199? It’s a bargain. Sadly, to paraphrase Henry Ford’s saying –“you can have the Moto X Play for £199, in any colour, so long as it’s black”. All you have to do to take advantage of the offer is click the link below, and Bob’s your uncle. One thing to remember is that this is a one-day-only deal, so there isn’t too much time to ponder.
Come comment on this article: [Deal] The Moto X Play is on sale for just £199 from Amazon UK today
EE is considering whether to block ads on customers’ phones
The ability to block online ads could soon come from an unlikely source. Instead of installing a browser extension or a third-party iOS app, there’s a chance Brits will be given the option by their mobile network. We’ve heard rumblings of this before, but now a UK carrier has confirmed it’s looking at such a feature; EE’s CEO Olaf Swantee tells The Sunday Telegraph he’s launched an internal “strategic review” to see whether customers should be given “more choice and control over the level and intensity of ads on mobile.”
Source: The Telegraph
Domino’s makes ordering pizza dangerous with ‘Easy Order’ button
With more than half of its customers now ordering via its mobile apps, it’s fair to say that Domino’s has pizza delivery down to a fine art. But in this modern age, there’s always room to shave a couple of seconds off the purchasing process. That’s where “The Easy Order” comes in. Domino’s has brought one-click pizza ordering to the UK, letting you hit a physical button to get your favourite pizza delivered to your doorstep.
Choose a side in Star Wars and Google’s apps will follow your path
If you’re a big fan of the Empire’s policies, if Darth Vader is your personal role model, if you think Stormtroopers are totally underrated, Google now lets you paint your allegiance all over your apps.
Just go to Google.com/StarWars and join the Dark Side. You can also choose those goody two-shoes Jedi, but that would be a waste of perfectly good Force, wouldn’t it?
Regardless of the side you lean towards, Google now makes it easy to give your apps a Star Wars-y flair. Pick a side and the following apps will be updated to show your loyalty:
- Android Wear – Install the Star Wars app
- Google Calendar – Add the dates of Star Wars events to your calendar
- Chrome – Install the Awaken The Force Within extension to see cool Star Wars images every time you open a new tab
- Chromecast – Get a Star Wars-themed backdrop
- Gmail – Get a Light Side/Dark Side Gmail theme
- Inbox by Gmail – Get a Light Side/Dark Side Gmail theme
- Maps – Your position marker is now a X-Wing or TIE Fighter
- Waze – Let C-3PO guide your drive
- YouTube – The progress bar will turn into a blue or red laser saber
- Google Search – ??
- Google Translate – ??
Choose your allegiance wisely, but, in case you realize the futility of fighting the Dark Side, you can always change your mind.
Some of the changes will take a few hours to be applied to your apps, as per this Google FAQ. With the exception of Google Search, Google Translate, and Waze you must be signed in with your Gmail account to use the full power of the Force.
Google says that all changes are strictly esthetic, though the FAQ doesn’t promise you won’t be humming a ppor rendition of the Imperial March, while your coworkers give you funny looks. Speaking of which, the Star Wars makeover only works for personal accounts.
The Star Wars experience works across Android, iOS, Windows and Mac, though the transformations to Chrome, Gmail, and YouTube only take place on desktop.
So, what is your favorite side in Star Wars, and why is it the Dark Side?
Facebook adds new tools to help manage your breakup
Breakups. They are never easy, especially if you are still friends with your ex on Facebook. Which is why the social network everybody uses is introducing new tools to ease the awkwardness.
The tools will appear when a user changes their relationship status, which allow the user to do the following:
- Limit the former partner’s name and profile picture without unfriending or blocking them.
- Limit how much your former partner can view your statuses, photos or videos.
- Limit who can see you and your former partner’s past posts.
The tools have started rolling out to US Facebook users on Android and other mobile devices. Facebook has stated that these tools are optional and can easily be accessed in the help center of the site.
“This work is part of our ongoing effort to develop resources for people who may be going through difficult moments in their lives,” Product Manager Kelly Winters wrote in a blog post.
“We hope these tools will help people end relationships on Facebook with greater ease, comfort and sense of control.”
Source: Facebook Newsroom
The post Facebook adds new tools to help manage your breakup appeared first on AndroidGuys.
‘Star Wars’ promo turns your Google account to the dark side
One downside of being a billion-dollar movie studio that owns one of history’s most popular film series is that it’s hard getting the word out about new releases. Take Disney, which is struggling to inform the population that there’s a seventh episode of the Star Wars saga coming out in a few weeks. Thankfully, the folks at Google have noticed the studio’s plight, and decided to help out by offering customized themes for everyone’s favorite internet services.
Source: Google Blog, Google Star Wars
Nano-sized diamond thread may be a super-strong wonder material
Move over, graphene — you’re not the only miracle material in town. Australian researchers have discovered that diamond nanothreads (one-dimensional diamond crystals capped with hydrogen) could be extremely strong. While scientists thought they were brittle when announced just a month ago, it turns out that they become supremely flexible (and thus durable) when you introduce the right kinds of defects. You could create nanoscopic structures that are just as strong as you need them to be, with a ‘perfect’ mix of bendy and rigid shapes.
Via: MIT Technology Review, Gizmodo
Source: ArXiv.org
T-Mobile starts rolling out Marshmallow OTA for the Nexus 6
If you’re the proud owner of a Nexus 6 on T-Mobile, you’ll be glad to hear that the carrier has finally started rolling out the long-awaited Marshmallow upgrade for the handset. The update brings the latest build of Android to the device, in addition to LTE band 12 and Wi-Fi calling.
The full changelog can be seen below:
- Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
- Exercise greater control over app permissions
- Purchase easily and securely with Fingerprint support and Android Pay
- Experience enhanced battery-life through Doze
- Redesigned App Drawer
To see if the update is ready for your device head into Settings, scroll to the bottom and tap on “About Device”, hit “System Updates”, then select “Check for updates”. Alternatively, you can wait until you receive a push notification prompting you to install the update.
Source: T-Mobile
Come comment on this article: T-Mobile starts rolling out Marshmallow OTA for the Nexus 6
Two-player synthesizer looks just as wild as it sounds
Noodling on a synthesizer is normally a solo affair, but Ben Bengler and Fiore Martin have found a way to spice things up. Their Collidoscope lets two musicians play in tandem thanks to the combination of twin keyboards and a clever sample-grabbing mechanism: all you have do is record something and use a hybrid knob/slider to determine what you’re sampling. It looks cool (somewhat like a musical, multiplayer Pong), but the big deal is that dueling artists can quickly create a track without breaking their flow. Perfect for live sets, we’d say. The team isn’t selling the Collidoscope right now, but there are hints that you’ll one day get to buy this competitive composition tool.
Source: Doctor Mix, ISAM
Pushbullet team holds Reddit AMA over Pro account concerns
Pushbullet fans have been going nuts the past week, after the popular service announced a new Pro service that costs $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. What do users get with this paid subscription? A few things; among them are an extra 98 GB of storage, file deliveries of up to 1 GB (as opposed to 25 MB and no messaging limits.
The main issue here is that some of these features used to be free. Not to mention the fact that those prices are a bit high for a secondary tool like Pushbullet. This is normally an app I would prefer paying a one-time fee for, but that is only my opinion.
The point is Pushbullet needs to somehow be monetized. It’s either that or shutting down. And no one wants Pushbullet to go under the bus, right? The only real concern is finding out whether Pushbullet went with the right pricing system or not, and that is what the team wanted to touch on during a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session.
Overall, the Pushbullet developer Guzba explained how the Pro pricing should have been added long ago. Overall, he seemed very accepting of commentary and willing to work with users. Most people go on to suggest that the price is a bit too high, or that it doesn’t offer enough premium features to justify the investment. Regardless, the situation is a bit tight for Pushbullet, which now struggles to survive and is asking fans for support.
See also: Irritated with Pushbullet? MightyText’s desktop app just went live
There were different propositions the host at least seems to have put thought into. Some people suggested a promotional cost for early adopters (a la Google Play Music All Access), others thought the prices should go down altogether. Since the product is not really at a “pro” level yet, others also thought a lower price point during at least only during that transitional period.
You can read the whole AMA session by clicking through the link below. What do you guys think about this whole ordeal, though? Pushbullet needs to make money to survive, so staying completely free is definitely not an option. What pricing would you say is a more fair alternative?
See the Pushbullet AMA on Reddit
New feature: sending texts from your tablet
Text messaging via Pushbullet can be easily done from a PC, but tablet users have been out of luck until today. Aside from trying to appease angry Pushbullet users, the company has announced a new feature we know many of you will love. You can now sync with your smartphone and send SMS messages from any tablet connected to the same account!
The only trick is that you have to have SMS Syncing on, but that is the only real requirement. The rest of it is just as natural and intuitive as Pushbullet has always been.
AIVAnet 