Thursday, 1 June 2017
Android O for Nokia 6, 5, 3 coming soon
Android O is months away, but HMD Global has already given assurances that the Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 will get the update.
The post Android O for Nokia 6, 5, 3 coming soon appeared first on Pocketnow.
from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2017/06/01/android-o-for-nokia-6-5-3-coming-soon
Nubia Z17 comes to China with up to 8GB RAM, Snapdragon 835 SoC, slim bezels
It's not exactly bezel-less, but ZTE's Nubia Z17 appears to offer quite a lot of bang and a pretty exquisite design for a relatively low price.
The post Nubia Z17 comes to China with up to 8GB RAM, Snapdragon 835 SoC, slim bezels appeared first on Pocketnow.
from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2017/06/01/nubia-z17-china-release-8gb-ram-snapdragon-835
Moto Z2 Play release date, news and features
Motorola has announced the Moto Z2 Play, the thinner, lighter and faster successor to the Moto Z Play.
The new phone will come with the latest version of Android Nougat out of the box and will be powered by the Snapdragon 626 octa-core chipset. The Z2 Play appears to come in multiple configurations, as Moto is offering the choice of 3 or 4GB of RAM as well as 32 or 64GB of internal storage.
Compared to its predecessor, it’s a full millimeter thinner at 5.99mm, bringing it closer to the ultra-thin status of the 5mm-thin Moto Z. It’s lighter, too, shedding off nearly 20 grams from its weight.
For all that has changed, there are some familiar pieces here. First off, the design isn’t totally brand new, but the edges have been smoothed over compared to the striking edges of last year’s model. It also keeps the 3.5mm headphone jack and USB-C port, which are good moves in our book.
Key differences
The Play variation of Moto’s smartphones tend to signal that it’s down to do just that: play, and usually for longer and harder than its flagship can. Oddly, Moto’s move to slim down the new phone comes at the cost of slicing its predecessor’s champion 3,510mAh battery down to 3,000mAh. It goes without saying that the Z2 Play probably won’t deliver two-day battery life, but Moto promises 30 hours of use and we’ll certainly be testing that out in the full review.
Next, the camera bump on its back might look familiar, but it contains an improved sensor that’s capable of shooting photos with larger pixels. Despite the drop down from 16MP to 12MP, it now has a lower aperture value that should ideally lead to some better low-light photography chops than its predecessor.
If you’re facing the screen head on, the new ovular fingerprint sensor on the front of the phone looks a lot like the one found on the Moto G5 Plus. So it makes sense that Moto is also bringing the one-button nav ability found in that budget phone to the Z2 Play. Activating this feature removes the on-screen navigation in favor of finger gestures that you can perform right on the sensor. It sound strange, but don’t knock it until you try it!
Mods, price and availability
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Moto Z phone unless it had Moto Mod compatibility. Thankfully, it does, and Moto is celebrating the phone’s launch by showing off a few new mods: Moto’s own TurboPower battery case, another Motorola-developed style mod that enables wireless charging, a new and supposedly improved JBL SoundBoost 2, and finally, the Moto GamePad, which looks to turn the Moto Z2 Play into a Nintendo Switch-esque portable console for more authentic on-the-go gaming experiences.
The Moto Z2 Play is available today in Brazil and is said to be releasing globally throughout the month of June. If you live in the US, it will first be available exclusively on Verizon later this summer followed by the release of an unlocked version for $499 ( about £387, AU$675).
from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/moto-z2-play
Despite some advances, Android Wear 2.0 is not progress
Android Wear has been out for a while now. I’m a bit late to the party – totally get that. But I just got an LG Watch Style and I’ve been sporting it for a couple of weeks now. I like the watch, itself. It has a nice build and it’s, well, stylish, but Android Wear 2.0 keeps driving me up a bit of a wall, and I just wanted to clear the air. There has been some Android Wear progress, but I’ve had a few issues with the operating system and a few tweaks could really help.
First, I’d like to say, that I love the way Android Wear 2.0 handles things like emails. The archive control is front and center, and since I archive a lot, that’s important to me. I don’t have to struggle with notifications like I’ve had to on Android Wear 1.5. The new UI is nice, keeping your app list out of the way, along the left side of the watch. All neat things, but while we’re on the topic, let’s talk about that list of apps.
Lefty Loosey
The world is full of right-handed people. The world is less full of left handed people. I’m weird. I’m a righty who wears my watch on my right wrist. It’s a long story. Anyway, as I was saying the app list running along the left side of the screen is really convenient for keeping your hand out of the way while scrolling through the list – unless you’re wearing the watch on your right hand. Then, your hand is still getting in the way.
Android Wear 2.0 needs a left-handed mode. Granted, it’s not a 50/50 split. Left handers represent only ten percent of the population. With me, it’s ten percent plus one, but our lefties (which include my brother and my dad by the way) need some love from Android Wear developers. Get on it, and make ¾ of my family happy!
Oops, I can’t do that now
Google Assistant on Android 2.0 is also really great – or so I’ve heard. You see, I wouldn’t know about that because Google Assistant hasn’t worked on my watch from day one. It launches, accepts my commands, it even goes to the trouble of writing them out on the screen. Then, it says “Oops! I can’t do that right now.” Every time for everything. It’s really irritating.
The only solution I have found online is to factory reset the phone to get it to work. I’m not a normal use case. I factory reset phones all the time as part of my job. But the normal everyday Joe who’s reading this probably doesn’t. For them, that advice sucks. I haven’t gotten around to it yet because I had to move on to a different device for review. But when I go back, I’m going to have to factory reset that thing. That shouldn’t ever be the answer. If Google wants its Assistant to succeed, that can’t be the answer.
(Editor’s note: After this writing, [...]
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from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2017/06/01/android-wear-2-0-not-progress
Thinner Moto Z2 Play goes official alongside several new Moto Mods
Priced at $500 unlocked, and exclusive to Verizon when it comes to US carriers, the 5.99mm-slim Moto Z2 Play comes with a bunch of new Moto Mods.
The post Thinner Moto Z2 Play goes official alongside several new Moto Mods appeared first on Pocketnow.
from Pocketnow http://pocketnow.com/2017/06/01/moto-z2-play-official-pricing-specs-release-new-moto-mods