Samsung Knox customers will get a complementary free 3 months of Google Drive for Work
Right on the heels of adding in new features to Knox, Samsung has announced an offer for customers that use the security service. Any customers that sign up for Knox will get a free 3 month trial of Google Drive for Work, which is obviously Google’s own cloud storage service that’s centered around business security.
The offer nets customers a full 1 TB of storage, and if more than 5 users take part, that gets bumped up to unlimited storage. The encryption on the service is top notch, which goes hand-in-hand with Samsung’s take on Knox, so this might be a worthwhile offer for many people.
As a side note, the offer is only available in the US, but it seems like that’s where Google and Samsung are aiming this partnership, anyway.
source: Samsung
Come comment on this article: Samsung Knox customers will get a complementary free 3 months of Google Drive for Work
Nexus 6 listed as ‘coming soon’ on Verizon’s website
The Google Nexus 6 smartphone has been available for over two months through carriers like T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T. However, the nation’s largest carrier, Verizon Wireless has been somewhat absent from the action. It seems like that could change over the coming weeks, with the smartphone going up on the carrier’s website with a “coming soon” sign.
Unfortunately, there’s still no word on when the smartphone will actually arrive on the carrier’s shelves. But we like to think that the day is not far away now. At this point, users can’t do much apart from signing up to receive updates on the smartphone.
The Nexus 6 is Google’s latest flagship smartphone and its arrival on Verizon will certainly be welcomed by the fans.
The device packs a 5.96 inch QHD display, a 2.7 GHz Snapdragon 805 chipset, a 13-megapixel camera with OIS, a 2-megapixel front camera, 3GB of RAM, 32 or 64GB of internal storage, Android 5.0 Lollipop with the promise of latest updates and a 3,220 mAh battery.
Source: Verizon
Via: Droid Life
Come comment on this article: Nexus 6 listed as ‘coming soon’ on Verizon’s website
Motorola sales doubled year on year, more than 10 million phones sold in Q4
Lenovo announced results for the first quarter with Motorola in the house, and everything seems to be going according to plan so far.
Lenovo completed the acquisition of Motorola from Google on October 30, following the announcement of the $2.9 billion deal in January 2014.
Lenovo’s plan to make Motorola profitable within six quarters is on track.
In the quarter that ended December, Motorola sold more than 10 million smartphones, a 118 percent increase over the same period last year. Motorola revenue was $1.9 billion, out of the total of $3.4 billion generated by Lenovo’s mobile unit, which includes Lenovo-branded smartphone, tablets, and TVs. However, the mobile unit ended in the red, with a loss of $89 million for the quarter.
According to IDC research, thanks to Motorola and its own brand devices, Lenovo grabbed 6.6 percent of the global smartphone market, behind only Samsung and Apple. That’s a 78 percent increase year on year.
Lenovo said that its plan to make Motorola profitable within six quarters is on track.
Lenovo highlighted its global reach (67 countries and counting) and slipped in a jab at Chinese mobile rivals (read Xiaomi) that make the bulk of their profits in China. That’s opposed to Lenovo, which sold 60 percent of its phones outside of China.
Overall, Lenovo beat analyst margins by a long shot, with net profit of $253 million, compared to the $184.6 million consensus of analysts consulted by Bloomberg. The Chinese giant even increased its PC sales by 5 percent, which is quite a performance given the general weakness of the market.
Lenovo is just getting started with Motorola, and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the venerable phone maker. Motorola cost Google hundreds of millions each quarter, but Lenovo is confident it can turn it around relatively quickly. Lenovo just re-introduced the Motorola brand in China, while in the fast-growing Indian market, Motorola is already thriving, having sold three million units in 2014.
Report: Google working on car service to compete with Uber and Lyft
Google self-driving car concept
If we can believe the reports, Google is about to put together their own car service that will compete with ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft. But there won’t be any drivers to contend with, we’re looking at a fleet of Google’s self driving cars.
This news comes out of Bloomberg, reporting that Uber executives have heard from Google of these plans.
Google has been a major backer of Uber, having invested more than $258 million into the ride sharing company. As such, Google has a seat on the board at Uber, from whom Uber has heard of Google’s plans for their driverless car initiative.
Looking at Google’s autonomous car program, this move makes sense. Google could attempt to sell their cars to us as individuals, requiring us to jump through hoops for registration and insurance. Instead, a ride sharing service leaves the cars in Google’s control and responsibility, which would be great for us, at least in some regards.
The idea of calling up a driverless car from Google for your local transportation needs is pretty slick, and could come at a rate far less than that of the competition, due to not having to pay a driver. This theory, however, falls apart entirely if local law requires a driver in each vehicle, but we’ll leave that discussion for another day.
Where does this leave things between Google and Uber, then? It looks like Google will withdraw their position on the Uber board. On the flip side, we are hearing that Uber is teaming up with Carnegie Mellon University to build their own autonomous driving systems. It seems the two have learned from each other and shall now part ways and get all up in each other’s business. We’ll have to wait to see how Uber fares… er, fairs, in this ordeal.
What do you say, would you go for a ride in one of Google’s autonomous vehicles?
Google working on service to compete with Uber
The app-based transportation network field is not too crowded but competition is present. Uber and Lyft have been fighting atop the market for sole supremacy. The only issue is that Google has an interest in being involved. The company, according to Bloomberg Business, is developing an app-based transportation network of its own. The service would likely launch alongside the existing driverless car project.
David Drummond, Google chief legal officer and senior vice president, has been a member of Uber’s board of directors since 2013. The executive has reportedly chatted with other Uber board members about the possibility of Google developing a competitor. Drummond even showed screenshots of the service’s app to Uber executives. Now, the board members are deciding on Drummond’s future with Uber.
In August 2013, Google Ventures funded Uber with $258 million. Additional money was invested into Uber just a few months later. The belief was that Google had eyed Uber as an acquisition target or, at the very least, a business partner. With this report, it seems that Google is going directly against Uber rather than working with it.
The image at the top of this page is Google’s response to the source on Twitter. Do you think they are bluffing? Let us know in the comments.
Source: Bloomberg Business
Come comment on this article: Google working on service to compete with Uber
Android 5.0 Lollipop now running on 1.6% of all Android devices
Android distribution figures are published every month by Google to give us a better idea of where the platform stands in terms of marketshare. While KitKat and Jelly Bean have dominated the chart for quite a while now, we’re now seeing Lollipop marking its entry in the list officially.
The latest version of Android has been missing from the distribution chart over the past couple of months as Google only shows Android versions with more than 0.1% marketshare. The latest reading puts Android 5.0 Lollipop at 1.6%, which is a significant improvement. The Android 4.4.x marketshare is up by 0.6% with the platform now standing at 39.7%.
The good news for Google is that other Android versions are seeing a steady drop in marketshare with Jelly Bean coming down to 44.5% while a month ago it was at 46%.
This means that more users are making the shift to Android 4.4 KitKat. Even though this isn’t the latest version of Android anymore, Google will be pleased to know that customers are transitioning from older versions of Android like Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean.
The company will be more pleased if it can replicate similar success with Android 5.0 Lollipop. The fact that it has seen a significant increase over the last month or so will be reassuring for Google.
Source: Android Developers
Come comment on this article: Android 5.0 Lollipop now running on 1.6% of all Android devices
Google pays AdBlock to unblock their ads
Most people use some form of ad blocker to remove ads from a site that impede the user experience, but no doubt allow ads here on Android guys thanks to the tasteful layout and efficient use of ads.
The most popular is AdBlock Plus, which has some 300 million downloads so perhaps it’s of no surprise to learn that in fact Google are paying the company behind AdBlock Plus to to allow their ads through the blocking software.
Ads are fundamental to fund sites like the one you’re ready here, although some sites take it a lot further than the odd ad in the sidebar instead opting for pop-up, fly in, and other intrusive ads, so it’s no wonder people block ads.
But with Google being allowed a bypass, is the user being mislead by AdBlocks software? Should a company be allowed to pay for special treatment?
The post Google pays AdBlock to unblock their ads appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Nexus 7 cellular variants finally receiving Lollipop 5.0.2 updates
For owners of the two cellular Nexus 7 models, new is indeed the best word to describe the update to Lollipop as both have been running KitKat until this weekend.
It’s hard to believe, but neither of Google’s cellular-equipped Nexus 7 devices have not received Lollipop yet, a fact that has no-doubt caused some grievances among owners. For whatever reason, it seems Google not only releases the cellular models in a protracted fashion, but goes about updating them in such as way as well.
Fortunately, the long wait is now over as both the 2012 Nexus 7 Mobile and 2013 Nexus 7 LTE variants are receiving Lollipop. Even better, they are both ported directly to version 5.0.2 meaning that there is no additional wait necessary to bring them up-to-date with the latest builds. Unfortunately there is going to be some wait involved for all those who want a FOTA pushed to their devices, though thankfully the individual factory system images can be downloaded directly from Google for those that know how to apply them:
Nexus 7 2012 Mobile Lollipop 5.0.2 Update
Nexus 7 2013 LTE Lollipop 5.0.2 Update
For all those who prefer to wait, please remember that it may take several days or weeks for the update file to hit your device, although it never hurts to hit the “Check for Updates” button every now and then.
12 best games like Minecraft on Android
Minecraft is a culture all its own. It’s made billions of dollars across many platforms and have vaulted many YouTubers to new heights in terms of popularity thanks to Let’s Play videos. However, after a while, you start asking yourself what else is out there. Here are the best games like Minecraft on Android.
Block Story
[Price: Free / $1.99]
Block Story is a mashup between Minecraft and an RPG. You play through a story, do quests, and level up your character. It also keeps many Minecraft elements like building, the graphics, and crafting. The story is infinite as you can continue questing in various maps and regions even after you’ve completed them to gain more resources to build more things. It’s a bit buggy here and there but the overall reception is generally positive.
The Blockheads
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
The Blockheads is a 2D/3D mix game that is a mix between your standard Minecraft and a platform game. The premise is you play as a Blockhead and you must create a shelter before nightfall so you don’t freeze to death. The platformer feeling is unique and jumping around collecting things has a bit of a different feeling than normal Minecraft-style experiences. It does still have the mining, crafting, and building of traditional Minecraft so the differences aren’t that big.
Delver
[Price: $1.99]
Delver is one of the higher rated Minecraft substitutes. It’s a first person dungeon crawler where you must fight monsters, collect loot and potions, and level up. It’s another game that puts an RPG spin on the Minecraft genre and it does so arguably better than pretty much anyone else. It doesn’t have most of the features of Minecraft like building or mining but the graphical style, sandbox elements, and general mechanics are similar. Plus, there’s a perma-death mode for those hardcore enough to play with only one life. There are also no in app purchases!
Discovery
[Price: Free / $1.99]
Discovery essentially takes the building parts of Minecraft and scraps everything else. This game is all about creativity and the various ways to build things. There are different times of day so things like lighting are always changing. The textures are of higher quality than most of these other games which gives it a polished feeling. The paid version has extra elements such as animals that the free version doesn’t have but it is recommended you try the free version out first to make sure this game works on your device before paying for it.
DroidCraft
[Price: Free / $1.99]
DroidCraft is a very old game. So old that it hasn’t been updated since 2012 so those who run devices with ART will probably want to skip this one. Those with older devices or are running older versions of Android may be able to take this for a good spin. It’s a top down survival and crafting game that keeps the core elements of Minecraft and simply puts them in an overhead view with even more old school graphics. Much like Discovery, we recommend trying the free version to make sure it works on your device before buying it.
Growtopia
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Growtopia is kind of like Minecraft mixed with Mario Paint thanks to the sheer number of things you can do in it. It is a 2D game but you still have full control over the world you play in. There are also various mini games you can play such as quizzes, PvP battles, parkour courses, Operation-style surgery, and more. You can even compose music if that’s something you enjoy. It’s one of the more popular games on the list and it has a pretty decent user review rating.
Guncrafter
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Guncrafter takes the fun of building in Minecraft and and combines it with the undeniable popularity of firearms. In Guncrafter you use various materials to craft your own gun. Your creations will be more or less powerful based on your design choices and your material choices, You can then take that gun and match up against other players online to see whose gun can score more points. As you progress, you’ll get better materials and larger design options.
Monstercrafter
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
Monstercrafter is a lot like Guncrafter and that’s probably because they’re developed by the same studio. Monstercrafter takes the fun of crafting in Minecraft and adds in the ability to build and battle your own monsters. Much like Guncrafter your can use various materials to build your monsters. The design choices and materials ultimately affect how strong your monster is. You can then go into matchmaking and dual with other monster creators. It’s also worth noting that practically every monster you face in single or multiplayer is made by another player which is kind of neat.
The Sandbox
[Price: Free with in app purchases]
The Sandbox is a highly popular sandbox and simulation game on iOS and it has done pretty well on Android as well. It features a very high number of possibilities in terms of scenery and game play. It keeps many of the Minecraft elements including crafting and full control over the landscape. It also borrows from games like Farmville in that you can also plant crops for resources instead of just mining for them. It’s a large game even if the graphics are a step backward from Minecraft.
SurvivalCraft
[Price: Free demo / $3.99]
SurvivalCraft is one of the main competitors of Minecraft and thus has most of the same sort of game play elements and graphics. It expands on the core premise by adding things like marksmanship with bows and arrows. Other than a few expansions on ideas, the game is pretty much just like Minecraft. You can mine things, craft things, build things, and change things til your heart is content and there is even a free demo so you can try it before you buy it.
Terraria
[Price: $4.99 with in app purchases]
Terraria is essentially the 2D Minecraft experience that expands on the core elements by a whole bunch. Unlike Minecraft, Terraria has a story and a point. You’ll craft things, mine things, engage in boss fights, and travel to various landscapes. It features 1250+ crafting recipes, about 15 pets, 15 bosses, and over a dozen environments for you to check out. Some users have complained about how it’s not quite like the PC version but most generally like this mobile version.
WorldCraft
[Price: Free]
Last on the list (for now) is WorldCraft. It is pretty much like Minecraft in every way but suffers from the pitfalls commonly associated with a game being totally free with no in app purchases. Despite being a tad underdeveloped, the game still manages to be fun. It includes features like online multiplayer, the ability to explore worlds created by other people, and most of the elements of Minecraft. It’s not amazing but it’s definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for a cheap alternative.
Wrap up
If we missed any great games like Minecraft on Android, let us know in the comments!
To see our complete list of Android apps and games lists, click here!
Android Authority this week
Hello Android fans, here’s what went down in the world of Android this week: Facebook launched its Lite app for entry-level Android devices, we’ve heard some troubling news about Sony, Qualcomm confirmed its overheating problems, ZTE and Meizu introduced new devices, alleged renders of the Galaxy S6 and One (M9) surfaced, we discussed Cyanogen’s plans to take Android from Google, and Microsoft launched its Outlook and Office apps for Android.
Inside AA HQ
This week Josh and Darcy visited Huawei’s headquarters in China, where they learned more about the tech giant’s plans for 2015 and got a peek at all the work that goes into designing, building, and selling a modern smartphone. Expect a look behind the scenes soon.
Because of Josh’s trip, our Friday Debate podcast is actually going down this Sunday. In this edition, Josh, Andrew, Joe and Jon are talking about the Cyanogen’s plans for a Google-free Android. This topic has been on everyone’s lips this week, especially since news broke that Microsoft has become an investor in the company founded by Steve Kondik. We’ll update this post with the podcast widget as soon as it goes live.
Joe is piloting a new format and a new name for his popular weekly show about apps. The segment is now called Android Apps Weekly, but the gist of it is the same – cool new apps, big updates, and all the news that matter in the world of Android apps.
In our Sunday Giveaway, we’re putting up for grabs a brand new Nexus 9! Throw your name in the hat here.
The stuff you shouldn’t miss
Here are some interesting posts for your Sunday reading:
- Opinion: Matthew prefers Tizen to Android Wear – read all about it here
- Hands-on: Josh checks out the new Huawei Honor 6 Plus
- Review: It’s thin, it’s cheap, it’s the Blu Vivo Air
- Throwback: A modern look at the phone that start it all – the T-Mobile HTC G1
- Debate: Cyanogen has huge ambitions. Can it make it?
Top news of the week
And here are the top news in the Android world this week:
Sony news
- Sony is getting back to longer smartphone release cycles – report
- Is releasing a single Xperia Z flagship a year the right move for Sony?
- Sony will reportedly cut 1,000 more jobs from its mobile division
- Sony announces partnership with Spotify to replace Music Unlimited service
Facebook Lite
The heat is on Qualcomm
- Snapdragon 810 issues may put the heat on Qualcomm
- Qualcomm reveals “large customer’s flagship” won’t use Snapdragon 810, all signs point to Samsung
- LG reassures that the G Flex 2 and G4 won’t be affected by Snapdragon 810 issue
ZTE Blade S6
Meizu M1
Our first look at the One (M9)?
Cyanogen saga
Microsoft loves Android
- (Update: final versions) Microsoft Office for Android tablets now available on Google Play/
- Microsoft Outlook Preview for Android lands in the Google Play Store
Galaxy S6 rumors
- There will be less bloatware on the Galaxy S6 – report
- Don’t take those Spigen Galaxy S6 cases too seriously (Updated)
Samsung’s shaky quarter
- Q4 2014 was a photo finish between Apple and Samsung
- Samsung sold fewer phones in Q4, but made more money out of them
Sound off
We always want to hear your feedback. Whether it’s criticism or praise, feel free to tell us what you think about Android Authority’s content, design, and community. Comment here or get in touch with us on our social channels:
Happy Sunday!
AIVAnet 