HTC breaks its promise to update the One A9 ‘within 15 days’
When HTC launched the One A9, it promised to roll out new versions of Android “within 15 days” of their release. Pretty sweet, right? Well, it would be — but that’s not happening with Android 7.0. In a tweet, HTC said the new software will be hitting the HTC 10 in the fourth quarter of 2016, followed by the unlocked One M9, the unlocked One A9 and their carrier counterparts. The timeline suggests that the company will be breaking its promise with the One A9 — Google released Nougat on August 22nd, meaning the phone would need to receive it by September 6th.
We reached out to HTC, and a spokesperson told us: “With the excitement around Android Nougat, we’re aligning engineering resources around our most popular flagship products where the most customers will benefit.” It’s a shame, because the One A9 is a decent little phone. Admittedly, it’s not a top-tier powerhouse like the HTC 10, but it’s still capable. Throw in a five-inch display (an increasingly rare smartphone spec) and a light, reserved take on Android, and you’ve got a solid if unadventurous device.
The move is a head-scratcher, because HTC is struggling to sell phones as it is. The least it can do is support the people who are still buying them.
Via: XDA Developers
Source: HTC (Twitter)
Google links Project Fi-approved WiFi hotspots to Nexus phones
The WiFi Assistant feature from Google’s Project Fi wireless network turned out to be one of Nicole’s favorite parts of the service, and now more people will have access to it. Google announced today that it’s bringing the ability to “automatically and securely connect” to over a million hotspots to Nexus owners in the US, Canada, Mexico and Nordic countries. WiFi Assistant identifies open, unprotected hotspots with good connections, and if you don’t want your network on the list then you may want to take a look at these instructions (or, just make sure it has any password protection at all).
Since it’s operating on open wireless networks by nature, WiFi Assistant uses a Google VPN to try and secure the connection. Ideally, it just makes sure you have an internet connection that you can trust, wherever you are, without the need to do anything manually. The FAQ should do a lot to explain exactly how the feature works and give you some time to get used to it as the feature rolls out “over the next few weeks.”
Source: Nexus (Google+), WiFi Assistant FAQ
The Power Egg is unlike any drone you’ve ever flown before
Normally, when you think “quadcopter”, you think of the standard block-shaped mass of propellers, struts and landing gear. But nothing says they have to look that way. In fact, one drone company from China is taking a radically different approach with a UAV that looks like something from the labs of Capsule Corp.
The Power Egg is the latest autonomous flyer from Beijing-based Power Vision and marks the company’s first foray into consumer UAVs. The Egg weighs 4.6 pounds and is roughly the size of a rugby ball. Its body is comprised of high density plastic. Despite its namesake, this device appears surprisingly sturdy.
Both its landing gear and propeller struts retract back into the housing for easy transportation but flick out for flight. Well, technically the landing gear automatically extends — you’ll have to manually lock the propeller struts in place. The bottom tip of the Egg pops off to reveal a 4K UHD camera mounted on a stabilized 360 degree gimbal. Conversely, the top tip houses the drone’s 6,400 mAh battery.
The Power Egg is capable of flying both indoors and out. When outside, the UAV’s onboard GPS keeps track of where it is relative to the operator. When flying inside, the Power Egg switches over to sonar and ground pattern recognition to understand its orientation.
But the Power Egg’s shape isn’t its only unique feature. Users can control the UAV with either a standard two-axis controller or with a Nintendo Wii-like gesture remote. This secondary controller is designed specifically for people who are new to flying and may be hesitant to give it a go. Therefore, PowerVision made it super simple to use. Wave the remote up to have the Power Egg climb or sweep to the left and right to have it pan. Users will have to hold an activation trigger when gesturing, just to ensure they actually mean to move the Egg and aren’t just waving their hands around. And if that’s too much for your tech-phobic relatives to handle, the wand remote also includes an analog thumbstick.
Both remotes offer single-button landing and both rely on your iOS and Android mobile device for processing power. Interestingly, Power Vision offloaded the 2.4GHz antenna that are normally affixed to the back of the remote and made it into a standalone “base station”. That is, your mobile device will still communicate to the Egg through this station, but it won’t be attached to the controller itself. That allows for both remote control options without having to cram unwieldy antennas onto each one. Even with the base station setup, the Power Egg boasts an impressive maximum communications range of 5 km — assuming you can get it that far with the drone’s 23 minute battery life and 13 m/s maximum airspeed.
The Power Egg is also able to think for itself, to a degree, and offers a number of autonomous features. You can command it to travel between pre-selected waypoints while you control the camera, have it circle a specific location — you can even have it perpetually train its camera on the operator in Selfie Mode.
Despite the robust specs, the Power Egg is geared more towards casual users than the “prosumers” who’d otherwise be looking at high-end drones, such as the DJI Phantom 4. Company reps told me at a recent demonstration that, while there will likely be some overlap with some professional services like Real Estate marketing, they expect the Power Egg to be used primarily for snapping pictures and video of yourself and your loved ones. And, while conventional quadcopters are typically stored out of sight when they’re not in use, the Power Egg has been designed to take center stage on your living room coffee table as a piece of functional modern art with an included storage stand.
The Power Egg is currently available on preorder from the PowerVision website. For $1,288 you’ll get the Egg itself, both controllers, the 2.4 GhZ base station, the battery, necessary charging cables and a stylish backpack in which to carry them all. The company expects the first models to ship 8-10 weeks after preorder ends, so you’re looking at Mid-October for deliveries to start.
Google’s Daydream VR could debut in the next few weeks
With the release of Android Nougat this week, Google’s mobile VR platform Daydream couldn’t be far behind. And that indeed seems to be the case, as Bloomberg reports that Daydream will launch in the “coming weeks.” You can also expect some brand new VR media from the likes of Hulu and YouTube stars like Justine Ezarik and the Dolan twins to accompany the platform.
At this point, the search giant is dabbling in different types of VR content to see what sticks, according to Bloomberg. It’s shelling out in the “high six figures” for video game-related VR experiences, and in the “low five figures to low six figures” for projects involving filmmakers. Facebook, in comparison, has poured millions into producing VR media for its Oculus platform. That’s also one of the biggest strengths of Samsung’s Gear VR, which was built in partnership with Oculus.
While Daydream seems like a far more ambitious VR initiative than Google Cardboard, there’s still plenty we don’t know about it. For one, we’ve only seen a sketch of a prototype headset design, which looks very similar to Samsung’s Gear VR. It’s also unclear what, exactly, Google will demand of its hardware partners. All we know is that Daydream compatible phones will require “key components” like “specific sensors and screens.” (Based on conversations with people in the VR industry, I’d bet that OLED displays will play a major role.) The company has at least managed to get Samsung, LG, Xiaomi and HTC onboard with building Daydream-compatible phones.
Source: Bloomberg
Opera’s free unlimited VPN service is coming to Android
Opera previously launched an unlimited VPN service for iOS earlier this year as a result of its 2015 acquisition of SurfEasy, and now it’s doing the same for Android users.
Opera VPN will let you appear as if you’re in a different country such as the US, Canada, Singapore, Germany and the Netherlands in addition to allowing you to block ad trackers. You can effectively bypass content restricted by location with the VPN, and without a data limit you can use it as much as you want.
If you’re not well-versed in VPNs, the app automatically handles setting Android VPN settings for you and will also check the security and integrity of your current Wi-Fi connection. This feature may slow down your internet speed while you’re using it, as TechCrunch attests, but not so much that it’s too problematic to use while surfing.
If you’re interested in trying out the app, you can pick it up via the Google Play Store now.
Via: TechCrunch
Microsoft app helps you coordinate with fellow shift workers
Sure, the office crowd has chat apps like Slack and HipChat to coordinate what they’re doing, but what if you’re a shift worker who needs to swap hours? Microsoft (which already has GroupMe and Skype for Business, we’d add) might help. It’s testing Project Sonoma, a currently closed-access app for Android and iOS that helps shift workers keep track of the daily grind. You can see shifts, request swaps and chat with teammates either one-on-one or in groups. If you’ve ever wanted someone to cover your stint while you’re out at the dentist’s, this could be your app of choice.
Microsoft hasn’t said if or when it plans to release Project Sonoma to everyone. You can sign up for a waiting list if you want to get in. We’ve asked it about what’s happening and will let you know what it says. With that said, it won’t be surprising if you can try it soon. Our friends at TechCrunch suspect that Microsoft bought the developers of a very similar app, Shiftr — while Microsoft has plenty of experiments (such as its Garage projects), it likely wants to translate an acquisition to a widely available product.
Via: TechCrunch, MSPowerUser
Source: App Store, Google Play, Project Sonoma
Android 7.0 Nougat arrives today
Typically, Google releases new versions of Android alongside new Nexus hardware, but the company is breaking with tradition this year. Android 7.0 Nougat is rolling out as an over the air update starting today. The update is available to anyone using the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6 phones as well as the Nexus 9 and Pixel C tablets. It’s also coming to the Nexus Player set-top box and the General Mobile 4G Android One smartphone.
If you’ve been using the Android 7.0 open beta, you won’t notice a ton of differences here. Google rolled out a very stable version of that beta software back at I/O in May, and it has served as a solid template for the final version coming out today.
The new features of Android Nougat aren’t exactly a surprise at this point, but they’re worth reviewing as the OS rolls out more widely. Probably the two biggest user-facing changes are new notifications and a multi-tasking mode. Notifications are now grouped by app in the notification shade; you can pull down on any app’s alerts to get the full list. You can also reply directly from notifications, something that iOS has actually had for longer than Android.
Multi-window multitasking lets you run two apps side-by-side, just like you can on the iPad when running iOS 9. This multitasking mode will probably be most useful on tablets like the Pixel C, but it works on smartphones as well — and the experience is a lot better than we originally expected.
Nougat also has a bunch of small tweaks that make getting around the OS generally and more personalized to you. The quick settings menu can now be customized to include the things you access the most, and double-tapping the multitasking button switches you between the two more recent apps you’ve used.
Doze mode, a battery-saving measure introduced last year in Android Marshmallow, has also been tweaked. Previously, Doze would put your phone into a lower-energy mode when the screen was off and the phone wasn’t moving, but now it’s smart enough to stay in low-power mode even when you’re moving around (say, if your phone is tucked in your pocket or backpack).
Perhaps less immediately useful but no less significant is how Android Nougat will handle software updates. If you’re running a “new” Android device with Nougat, software updates will install in the background and be present when you reboot your phone — there’s no more waiting with your phone totally locked up while new software installs. But it looks like only devices released from this point forward will have this feature. Current Nexus devices will benefit from much faster software updates, but it’ll still be in the old fashion where your phone reboots and is unable to be used during installation.
Most significantly, there are 72 new emoji available in Nougat. Get to texting. There are a lot more new features to be found in Nougat, but these are the ones that most users will want to use as soon as the update hits their phones. Unfortunately, it might be a little bit before that happens — in classic Google fashion, the update will be rolling out “in the coming weeks.”
iOS and Android Combined for Record 99% of Smartphone Sales Last Quarter
The latest numbers from research firm Gartner reveal that the smartphone industry continues to be a virtual two-horse race between iOS and Android. The operating systems combined for a record 99.1% worldwide market share in the second calendar quarter of 2016, compared to 96.8% in the year-ago period.
Android remained the world’s most widely used smartphone operating system with 86.2% market share in the second quarter, up from 82.2% a year ago, while iOS dropped to 12.9% market share from 14.6% in the year-ago period. Windows and BlackBerry smartphones continued their long-running descent, dropping to 0.6% and 0.1% market share worldwide respectively.
iOS and Android achieving a 99% duopoly in the smartphone market is remarkable given that Symbian and BlackBerry operating systems were industry leaders just six years ago. Symbian was used by several major mobile phone vendors, including Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson.
Symbian was essentially discontinued in 2012, beyond being used on a few regional smartphones in Japan, while BlackBerry released its first Android smartphone last year. Meanwhile, Microsoft scaled back its Windows Phone efforts earlier this year following continuously poor sales of Lumia devices.
Tags: Gartner, Android
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Google Chrome tests out a more personal New Tab page
A recent change to the Chrome Dev build on Android could indicate a new feature coming to the browser soon. Android Police points out that users are seeing a Google Now-powered content list on their devices, and I was able to pull it up easily after installing the test version of the app on my device. Google Reader it isn’t, but it does bring the personalized suggestions closer to people who might not open the Search bar as often as their browser.
Even without installing a developer build, you could see the “Articles for you” but typing in Chrome://flags and trying to switch “Show content snippets on the New Tab Page” to enabled. That worked for me in the beta and regular versions on Android, although there’s no indication when Google may make it the default for everyone — just a hint towards a future where your phone knows what you want without needing to be asked.
Source: Android Police, Chrome Dev (Google Play)
Airbnb takes down its experimental Trips app for Android
Airbnb has pulled down an unreleased app it was testing from Google Play shortly after people caught wind of its existence and what it can do. The experimental application represents the future of the company, you see, one that goes beyond vacation home rentals. While the test wasn’t open to the public, a Bloomberg report revealed that travelers will be able to use the app called Airbnb Trips to book restaurant reservations and even city tours. If it can truly offer everything you’ll need when you go on a trip, then it has the potential to become an essential companion for jetsetters and frequent travelers.
TechCrunch asked the company about the app, but company spokesperson Nick Papas only said: “We’re continually experimenting with new things and we don’t have anything to share right now, but we have a few exciting things in the works.”
Airbnb has been planning to offer services other than rentals for quite a while now, so Trips didn’t exactly come out of left field. While you can’t get a glimpse of the app on Google Play anymore, you might only have to wait a few more months to be able to use is. Bloomberg believes that Airbnb will officially launch an Android and an iOS version during its annual conference in November. That’s the same conference where the company is expected to reveal a new program that gives homeowners an opportunity to make some extra cash by offering guided tours to their guests.
Source: TechCrunch
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