Sweet Candy: Logic Experiments – Always think five steps ahead. [Review]

Overview – Move your piece of candy around, collecting other pieces of candy while jumping through all manner of hoops in the process. Developer: bone7 Price: Free (Ad-Supported, $0.99 to remove &

Sonic, Mad Max and more Sega and Warner Bros games coming to NVIDIA Shield

Owners of NVIDIA’s Shield devices will soon be able to play nine more games, via the GeForce Now streaming service. The games come from publishers Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Sega.

NVIDIA says that four Sonic the Hedgehog games will be part of this new addition to GeForce Now. Sega will also throw in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and Alpha Protocol. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will add two of its movie-based games to the service: Mad Max and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Those new titles will give users of GeForce Now 100 PC games that can be streamed and played on the Shield products.

Sony launches PlayStation Video app for Android

Owners of Sony’s PlayStation game consoles can now purchase and watch movies and TV from the PlayStation Store on their Android device, thanks to the launch of the new PlayStation Video app.

Sony says:

Starting today, we’re launching a new PlayStation Video app for Android phones and tablets that will let you stream previously purchased video content from PlayStation Store to your Android device. With the app, you can also purchase your favorite movies and TV shows, including PlayStation original content like Powers, straight from your phone or tablet.

You can download the PlayStation Video app right now in the Google Play Store.

Google Search adds U.S. Presidential campaign finance info and search trends

Google continues to add more features to Search for people interested in the current for the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. They include adding fast access to campaign finance info for the candidates, along with search trends for the election.

Google says:

Today, working with one of the most respected data sources in the industry, the Center for Responsive Politics, we’re making presidential campaign finance information easy to access and understand, right from Google Search. So when you search for “donald trump” or “clinton campaign finance”, you’ll see a snapshot of their campaigns’ finance breakdown and be able to dig into interesting insights, like the percentage of funds coming from SuperPACs versus individual donations, or which industries have donated the most to a given candidate.

In addition, Google Search can now display search trends for specific candidates. Users will be able to see data on how other people have searched for each candidate over time.

Inbox by Gmail brings its Smart Reply feature to the web

Google recently introduced Smart Reply to its Inbox by Gmail mobile apps, and now the company is bringing the feature to the web interface as well. The feature is designed to populate some responses that you may end up typing, and let you just click them to send instead of having to click reply, typing your message and hitting send. From Google’s blog post:

Just like in the Inbox mobile app, Smart Reply saves you precious time by suggesting up to three responses based on the emails you get. Selecting an option starts a reply, ready for you to either edit or send:

10% of all your replies on mobile already use Smart Reply, so we’re excited to bring this same convenience to the web. It’s particularly helpful when you’re jamming through lots of emails on your laptop.

Do you find Smart Reply to be a helpful feature, or would you rather just compose your replies on your own? Let us know how you prefer to handle emails in the comments.

Google Maps will soon make it easier to hail a cab

Google is giving you more ways to get around with the integration of ride-hailing services to Google Maps in countries across the world. Now, when you ask for directions, Maps can give you fare estimates and pickup times if a car from one of the new partner services is near you. Google has added support for Hailo in the UK and Spain, 99Taxis in Brazil, Ola Cabs in India, myTaxi in Germany and Spain, and Gett in the UK.

In order to take advantage of this new integration, you’ll need to install the app from one of these services. From Google:

Select a service, and we’ll take you directly to their app for you to book your ride with one tap. When it makes sense, we’ll also show ride service availability when viewing the map in walking and transit directions, and multiple ride services options for each provider—where they exist. For example, if you’re using Uber, starting today, we’ll now show uberX, uberXL and UberBLACK for an easy and quick comparison.

To start, Google will only be offering integration with these services in the UK, Spain, Germany, India, and Brazil. This feature will begin rolling out in the next few days on Android, and will arrive on iOS shortly as well.

Guess the Android N nickname and you could win a Pixel C tablet!

The yearly cycle of Android upgrades has started early in 2016, with the first Android N Developer Preview dropping a full month and a half ahead of the annual Google I/O developer conference. We don’t know what it’s going to be called, but if the pattern of years past continues, there’s a good chance it will be a sweet food related name. Could it be Android Nutella? Perhaps Android Nanaimo Bar? Or will things get really crazy when they announce Android Nacho? (C’mon, it’s a tasty treat, too!) We all just have to wait and see! In the meantime though, let’s have some fun!

We want to give one of you a Pixel C tablet. Android N is going to bring a super important function to this tablet (hello multi-window support!) so we thought it would be rad to give one out to someone. But we also want to have some fun, so we’re not just doing a “leave a comment below to enter” contest. This time you’re going to work for it.

So, to enter, post a creative picture on Instagram or Twitter with your prediction of what the N will stand for. Make sure you include the hashtag #WhatIsAndroidN so we can find your post, and if your account is private you might want to consider opening it up for the duration of the contest, otherwise we won’t be able to see your picture.

Be creative! (I can guarantee that a picture of a lonely jar of Nutella on your counter isn’t going to win.) You definitely want to try to include your phone or tablet or something else Android related in the shot. Bonus points if you’re in the picture too!

Everyone may enter up to two pictures, so make sure you come up with a great idea and post your best shot. The contest is open worldwide, but please be aware that we are not responsible for fees incurred during shipping, such as customs fees, duties, taxes, and so on. We will be accepting entries through the end of March. After that we’ll scour the internet for your pictures (using #WhatIsAndroidN to find you!) and then our team of judges will pick their favorite to win! Good luck everyone!

Should you upgrade to the Galaxy S7 edge from the Galaxy S6 edge?

Year after year, it’s always the same question: should you upgrade?

Now that it’s out and available, there’s plenty to be excited about with the Galaxy S7 edge. A larger screen and bigger battery are joined by the return of waterproofing and an SD card slot to the Galaxy S line, and those four points alone are making those who have spent a year with the Galaxy S6 edge look longingly at the successor to their current phone.

But for as nice as the Galaxy S7 edge looks, you already have a phone — and while we all would love to be able to upgrade every time the new hotness hits the shelves, these things cost a lot of money. So if you have a Galaxy S6 edge and are considering an upgrade to the latest edge from Samsung, is it worth the cash? We’re here to answer that question.

Hardware and specs

Last year, the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge kicked off an entirely new design language for Samsung. The metal frame accented with two panes of glass — and in the case of the S6 edge, curved glass on front — was a gigantic step forward for the company. Things haven’t really changed in 2016, and the Galaxy S7 edge is basically the same phone externally. The rear glass is now slightly curved to provide a bit better grip, and the camera “hump” on the back is greatly diminished — but despite those changes there isn’t enough here in the hardware to make you lust after the new phone.

Internally, you start to notice a few differences. Being a year newer, you of course expect to have a faster processor and more RAM. You get a Snapdragon 820 processor here in the U.S. or Samsung’s latest Exynos 8 octa-core processor most other places in the world, and both are a step up from last year’s. You also have 4GB of RAM inside instead of 3GB, which doesn’t mean a whole lot now but surely adds a bit of life in terms of futureproofing you for capabilities a year or two down the road. The only potential downside here is storage, where the Galaxy S6 edge actually offered 64 and 128GB internal storage options … the Galaxy S7 edge has 32GB, and that’s it.

The few hardware changes are big ones that make a difference in how you use the phone.

The big differentiators really come down to four main areas: screen size, battery size, waterproofing and an SD card slot. The first two really go hand-in-hand, with the Galaxy S7 edge bumping up its screen size to 5.5-inches from 5.1-inches in the GS6 edge. It keeps the same resolution and fantastic screen quality, but having a little extra real estate is a big feature for a lot of people. That larger screen gave Samsung more room to work with in terms of battery, and the GS7 edge makes a huge jump to 3600 mAh from just 2600 in the GS6 edge. Battery life is easily a full day on the newer model, which is something very few Galaxy S6 edge owners can claim to achieve on a regular basis and may be one of the biggest factors in considering an upgrade.

And on the other two features, it’s pretty simple: the new Galaxy S7 edge can take in an SD card to expand your storage capabilities, and the phone can go for a swim for up to 30 minutes in water and be completely fine at the end. That SD card works for storing media, moving files to/from your computer and for storing some apps, but keep in mind that it doesn’t work as proper “adoptable storage” as other Marshmallow phones offer. As for the waterproofing, it’s a huge bonus — being able to spill a drink on the phone or drop it in the sink accidentally is great. Just don’t expect the Galaxy S7 edge to be able to take the physical damage often associated with such accidents — it’s still very fragile.

Software and performance

The Galaxy S7 edge ships with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and all of the associated changes from Samsung therein. There are big improvements in the base Marshmallow software, of course, and those who have latched onto using the edge screen software will be in for a treat with more edge panels and customization options. You get a nicer color palette, slicker animations and just a little less legacy cruft to deal with, but in terms of a wholistic experience it isn’t far off from Samsung’s take on Lollipop that shipped on the Galaxy S6 edge.

But this isn’t too big of an argument to have at this point, as Samsung is deep into the rollout of Marshmallow to the last-generation phones at this point. The Galaxy S6 and S6 edge in regions around the world — yes, even via the carriers here in the U.S. — are starting to get Marshmallow updates with the same experience as you get out of the box on the Galaxy S7 edge.

Marshmallow is a nice improvement — but it’s coming to your Galaxy S6 edge already.

Of course if you have one of the Galaxy S6 edge variants that hasn’t been updated to Marshmallow yet, you’ll have a little bit of envy seeing the latest software that’s available on the Galaxy S7 edge. While we all know how difficult that can be, the update is coming to your current phone — and given the number of models that already have it, you’re likely to see it sooner rather than later at this point. Don’t go buying a new phone just to get Marshmallow when the update is on its way to your phone already.

When it comes to daily performance, things are pretty darn close between the two generations. As I touched on above, there are bumps in the processing speed and amount of RAM available in the Galaxy S7 edge, but that doesn’t actually translate at this point into dramatically faster performance in any of your usual tasks. If you set the two phones side-by-side you’ll notice fractionally-faster app opening times on the newer phone, but this isn’t something you’d notice if you just used one or the other.

As I noted earlier, the better processor and increased RAM really only come into play later on down the road, after one or two years using the phone, where apps and software are even more demanding than today — at that point, you may be glad you had the extra horsepower to work with.

Camera quality

This is going to be a big point of contention for people on both sides. Samsung has changed the camera setup in the Galaxy S7 considerably, dropping to 12MP in order to get larger individual pixels; then putting that sensor behind a faster f/1.7 lens. Yes that’s lower resolution than the 16MP you’ll find in the Galaxy S6 edge, and yes the lens is faster than the f/1.9 of last year. It’s a useless argument to talk about which one is “better” in terms of numbers here — it all comes down to the resulting photo quality.

Your Galaxy S6 edge’s camera shouldn’t feel inadequate in any way.

In daylight situations, it’s actually debatable which phone takes better photos. Even set right next to the newer camera, the Galaxy S6 edge still takes beautiful, vibrant and crisp photos. If anything, the Galaxy S7 edge can come up short in some ways with poorly processed dark areas of light photos. In entirely dark scenes, the larger pixels and faster lens in the Galaxy S7 edge do make a difference in offering lots of clarity and low noise, but then again the Galaxy S6 edge is hardly a slouch in those shooting conditions.

To help illustrate the point, here are just a few snapshots to compare. (You’ll notice the 16:9 image is from the Galaxy S6 edge, which I’ve chosen to not crop in in order to show the full native resolution of the sensor.)

Galaxy S7 edge (left) / Galaxy S6 edge (right) — click images to view larger

When viewed at these normal web sizes, and even in full-resolution on your computer, you really can’t tell the difference for the most part. Both take absolutely great photos in a variety of situations, and will blow away anyone that looks at them online, at home on your TV or even printed out at a reasonable size.

If you’ve been using a Galaxy S6 edge and loving the camera, as is the case for most folks who have it, you shouldn’t be dying to get your hands on the Galaxy S7 edge simply for its camera quality. That’s a bit surprising as we always expect things to get notably better with each new phone version, but in this case you can be happy with what you have.

Read: Camera showdown: Galaxy S7 vs. iPhone 6s Plus vs. Nexus 6P vs. Lumia 950

The bottom line

Going through things section by section, it’s actually somewhat surprising how little has changed overall from the Galaxy S6 edge to the brand-new Galaxy S7 edge. Assuming your Galaxy S6 edge has the latest software update it’s running identical software to the GS7 edge, and either way the day-to-day performance is basically the same between the two. The hardware looks and feels almost the same, and packs all of the main features — including the great fingerprint sensor and top-notch screen quality.

That being said, the handful of things that have changed may be the ones to pull Galaxy S6 edge owners into considering a sale of their current phone to pick up the newer version.

The new features will make a difference in your everyday life, but are they worth $300-400?

The biggest is the battery. It’s no secret that the Galaxy S6 edge has horrid battery life, and the Galaxy S7 edge is a full-day phone no matter what way you slice it. Then you add in the other part of the larger phone: the bigger screen. For many people, it’s a bonus to have a bit more room to work with. You also now have an SD card slot, giving you potential for expanding your storage later on after purchase if you wish. And although the hardware externally hasn’t changed much, it’s now entirely waterproof — an increasingly important feature to consider when you drop upwards of $800 on a new phone.

Then there’s the camera — one area of the Galaxy S6 edge that you aren’t likely looking for an upgrade from. The Galaxy S7 edge’s reworked camera will once again be in the running for the best smartphone shooter of the year, but it actually isn’t a wholesale upgrade over what last year’s camera offers. The new camera does appreciably better in low light situations, but in complex daylight situations it may not come out ahead of what the Galaxy S6 edge can do.

So with at most a year of time with your Galaxy S6 edge, should you consider upgrading to the Galaxy S7 edge? It’s basically going to come down to how much you want these few basic features that are likely to play into your everyday life. The larger screen, dramatically bigger battery, SD card slot and waterproofing are all welcomed upgrades, but they alone might not be enough when you’re facing a $300 to $400 differential in price after you sell your phone. If you stay with your current phone, you can know you’re getting a lot of the same experience you’d find in the newer Galaxy S7 — and maybe that’s enough for you to keep your wallet securely in your pocket.

Do you have a Galaxy S6 edge and are considering the upgrade to a Galaxy S7 edge? We want to know what you’re thinking — sound off in the comments!

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge

• Galaxy S7 review
• Galaxy S7 edge review
• Galaxy S7 edge with Exynos: A Canadian perspective
• Here are all four Galaxy S7 colors
• Details on the Galaxy S7’s camera
• The SD card is back on the GS7
• Join our Galaxy S7 forums

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Order your limited-edition Android History T-Shirt today!!

Android has a long and storied history. It also has Cupcake and Donut and Eclair and Froyo and Gingerbread and … Well, it’s got a long lineage of tasty treats. And now you can not only house those scrumptious morsels on your phone (OK, hopefully something newer than Gingerbread), you also can do so on your belly thanks to this new — and limited-edition — Helvetica Android History T-shirt!

Wow your friends, impress foodies (OK, maybe not so much) and know that the answer to any question about the order of Android updates is only a load of laundry away. Or do the right thing and order two! We’ve got long-sleeves available as well, or you can go the hoodie route should your head need to stay hidden.

Click here to order before they’re gone!!!

Best Galaxy S7 edge cases that you can buy today!

If you want to keep your Galaxy S7 edge protected, check out these great options available now!

So you bought the Galaxy S7 edge but didn’t bother to order a case, but now you really want one? Well, luckily there are already a bunch of different options that are available for the phone. From slim cases to clear ones, wallet cases and super protective, you can find just the right one for you.

Did you get a the regular version and not the edge variant? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered on the best cases for the Galaxy S7 as well. So, let’s take a look at some of the best Galaxy S7 edge cases available right now.

Otterbox Commuter Series

Otterbox has been a trusted branded to keep your phone protected for years, and their Galaxy S7 edge case is no exception. The Commuter series features a two-piece design, with a rubber layer on the inside and a hard plastic outside that work together to prevent damages from drops. You can grab one in a variety of colors for around $35, though not all options are yet available.

See at Amazon

Verus Wallet Case

It’s not always convenient to carry around your phone and wallet, unless you have a wallet built into the case on your phone. The Verus Wallet Case makes a great addition to the Galaxy S7 edge, as it doesn’t add a ton of bulk, but lets you store two cards in it. It fits nice and snug to the phone, and the TPU lip around the edge keeps the screen from getting bumped and scratched too much. You can grab one at Amazon for around $20.

See at Amazon

Spigen Slim Armor

So you want to add a little protection without compromising too much of the overall style of the phone? Spigen’s Slim Armor is a great choice to do just that. It’s made up of a shock-absorbing TPU interior and a polycarbonate exterior to add military-grade protection to your shiny new phone. You can grab one from Amazon in gunmetal, slate, white and purple for around $30.

See at Amazon

Supcase Rugged Holster Case

While Samsung added waterproofing to the Galaxy S7, the phone overall is still a bit delicate with glass all around. If you work in a hands-on environment, like a factory or construction site you may be looking to add a bit more protection to your phone. Supcase’s rugged holster case allows you to add protection and keep some industrial design on the phone. You can grab one from Amazon now for less than $20.

See at Amazon

Poetic Affinity

Samsung is offering some great color choices on the Galaxy S7 edge, and if you want to show them off the Poetic Affinity series may be for you. It features a clear design, with the ability to pick an accent color that may work well with the phone itself. The case is nice and thin, it doesn’t add a ton of bulk but can still protect against scratches, dings and even some drops. You can grab one of the various colors from Amazon for around $15.

See at Amazon

Bomea Leather Carrying Pouch

The thing with adding cases to your phones is that it can make them harder to get in and out of your pockets, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider one. Bomea’s leather carrying pouch makes a great addition to any cased phone, as it allows you to hold it on your hip for easy access. This carrying pouch is held to your belt with its belt loops, and fits phones with cases inside of it. There is also a money holder, and a place to safely store credit cards and ID. You can grab one at Amazon for less than $10.

See at Amazon

What’s your favorite?

This is just a small list of the cases currently available. The best part about having such an amazing community is that we can count on you to share your experiences with us as well. Be sure to let us know which case will be protecting your Galaxy S7 edge, and why that is the one for you!

Discuss your favorite Galaxy S7 edge cases in the forums