Theta Android News: April 2017

Sunday, April 30, 2017

ZTE Axon 7 update: Night Mode, improved MicroSD support, bug fixes, and more

Those rocking a ZTE Axon 7 now have something to look forward to. The company has just announced they are rolling out a sizable update in the next 48 hours. This brings the device up to build 25, which comes with plenty of great improvements to enjoy. Let's take a look at them!

What's new?

Enables "Night Mode" setting
Supports 256GB micro SD cards
Allows users to disable some stock apps
Optimizes the "Do Not Disturb" function
Fixes various Wi-Fi Calling issues
Improves device stability and security
Miscellaneous performance improvements and other fixes

ZTE Axon 7 review

July 25, 2016

Of course, the most important upgrades are Night Mode and support for 256 GB cards. Being able to disable more useless apps is also helpful, though. As is fixing bugs and improving stability.

Have any of you gotten this update yet? Hit the comments to let us know how it is treating you!

from Android Authority http://ift.tt/2qjvpCC
via IFTTT

Weekend poll: Screen protector or no?

In seven years of smartphone ownership, I can't say I've ever bought a screen protector for any of my handsets. They feel weird, they put a layer between you and the screen, and I really just don't' like the way they look. But, there's no denying that a proper tempered glass sheet can save your phone from catastrophe along with reducing the signs of general wear and tear, and a plastic one can at least do the latter.

Weekend poll: Screen protector or no? was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

from Android Police – Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets http://ift.tt/2qiSdCA
via IFTTT

How to customize the Samsung Galaxy S8’s Always On Display

One smartphone feature that's been growing in popularity as of late is the Always On Display. Major phone manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, and Motorola have been including these display options on their phones for the past few years, and it's no surprise that Samsung included it on the new Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus review

2 weeks ago

For those unfamiliar, Always On Display lets you check the time, date, battery percentage, and notifications, even when the phone isn't in use. As you can see in the image attached above, most of the screen is completely black, aside from the clock and notifications on the screen. It's a subtle way to get the information you need as quickly as possible, without the need to turn on your phone's screen.

Plus, Samsung made the Always On Display super customizable. If you want to learn more about the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus' Always On Display, check out the full tutorial below:

Enable Always On Display

Pull down your notification shade, and tap on the Settings cog.
Scroll down and select Lock screen and security.
Ensure the toggle next to the Always On Display category is turned on. To turn it on, simply press it one time.
Then, select Always On Display.

Good job – Always On Display should now be turned on. Now it's time to start customizing.

Customize Always On Display

The very first option you'll see on this screen will help you decide what content will be shown on your lock screen. Tap on the Content to show option, then you can choose whether or not to display only the home button, only your clock or information, or your home button and clock or information.

Personally, I like to have the home button and clock or information option turned on. That way I can see the most information I can on my lock screen, and also be able to wake my device with the virtual home button.

Once that's done, you'll see a list of six different Always On Display styles to choose from. The six different styles are: Digital clock, Analog clock, World clock, Calendar, Image, and Edge clock. For this tutorial, we're going to select Digital clock.

Once you make your selection, you'll see three customization categories at the bottom of your screen: Clock style, Color, and Background. These are all pretty self explanatory, so I'll let the screenshots do the talking:

Once you've edited your Always On Display to the best of your ability, just tap the Apply button in the top-right corner of the screen, and you're all set! Easy, right?

Oh, and one more thing. If you don't want the Always On Display to be turned on at all times, you can set it to a schedule. Just scroll down and turn off the toggle next to the Show always option, then tap Set schedule to select your times.

Looking for more Galaxy S8 how-tos? Check out more coverage below:

from Android Authority http://ift.tt/2pvnpM0
via IFTTT

Crowdfunding project of the week: Cosmo Connected smart break light for motorcyclists

It's time for another 'Crowdfunding project of the week", where we highlight the hottest projects from sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. This one goes to my fellow motorcycle riders as they make their way back home safe this Sunday afternoon. Today's featured campaign will keep you visible and your family at peace. Want to learn more? Let's look into it.

Other featured projects:

The rumble of a motor, tremoring pavement and piercing wind are addictive. Motorcycles are a symbol of freedom and pleasure, but they also represent a dangerous lifestyle. Riding requires attention, but not only from you; also from people you share the road with. This is why we buy things like reflective material, extra lights and louder pipes. It's important to help other notice us.

Enter Cosmo Connected, a smart break light that easily attaches to the back of any helmet. The location is important. Riders will know it's always better to keep your head as visible as possible, as it is closer to driver eye level. Simply stick the magnetic base to the back of the helmet, then you are ready to mount the break light.

Of course, the Cosmo Connected's main purpose is to light up when decelerating. This is done with the use of a gyroscope, which means it works with gravity and inertia, making it functional even when motor breaking. The team promises this will work flawlessly for up to 8 hours per charge, but there's more to this little device.

Staying safe and visible is only part of this gadget's functionality. Every time we mount the saddle there is a chance of an accident. We take the risk and hope we will be ready when the moment comes. And when it does happen, what happens right after an accident is critical and can make all the difference.

Cosmo Connected detects accidents and links to a smartphone app to get you help as soon as possible. The application will immediately alert a roadside assistance service. An operator will try to reach out to the rider and send help to his GPS coordinates if there is no answer. All within 3 minutes. The user can also select a number of personal contacts to be alerted in case of an accident.

Interested? Cosmo Connected starts shipping this July and can be had for as low as 99 Euros (about $108 USD) from Kickstarter. That's not a bad price for the added security and peace of mind. Are there any fellow riders out there? Say hi and tell me what you think of this product. I would consider buying it, but do wonder how well the gyroscope system actually works. It's a great concept, though.

Check out Cosmo Connected on Kickstarter

from Android Authority http://ift.tt/2oYI0aK
via IFTTT

Under Armour Sport Wireless Heart Rate review: A great step in the right direction

I have a love-hate relationship with Bluetooth, especially headsets. As a regular gym-goer, I like the convenience that they offer, which by-and-large outpaces wired earbuds. However, most are not as reliable, lose connection, and don't have the best sound quality. Despite all of this, I see more Bluetooth sound devices these days than wired ones. The neckband style especially (think Powerbeats) is gaining in popularity — they're all over the gyms, hiking/mountain biking trails, and sidewalks.

Under Armour Sport Wireless Heart Rate review: A great step in the right direction was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

from Android Police – Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets http://ift.tt/2pkO2oN
via IFTTT

AT&T's '5G Evolution' network isn't a brand (new) problem

AT&T told us it would be rolling out its 5G lie back in February. At the time, no one cared. Here's why we still shouldn't care.

In February, AT&T announced that it would launch something called a 5G Evolution network in Austin later in the year. At the time, no one paid the announcement much attention because it was filtered in with a larger, seemingly more-important pronouncement: that AT&T was moving towards real 5G trials, also in Austin where it has extensive research facilities. With the impending hardening of the official 5G standard, America's second-biggest wireless carrier was on its way towards an honest-to-goodness leg up in the next generation of wireless.

Moving from LTE to 5G is like going from 1080p to 4K — it's a big difference, but you need the right equipment to see it.

Last week, AT&T launched said 5G Evolution network in Austin, and the world, including us, took umbrage at the naming convention. But we should have seen this coming — AT&T made it plain three months ago that it would be adulterating the idea of 5G for its own branding advantages. At the core of the disdain towards AT&T was the apparent flagrancy of its convention-breaking, the idea that what the industry, or a standards body, decides is 3G or 4G or 5G must be followed to the letter by the companies that famously make billions of dollars each year distorting or exaggerating the truth. (AT&T has defended its use of the 5G Evolution name, telling FierceWireless that "AT&T's 5G Evolution lays the foundation for 5G while the standards are being finalized.")

.@ATT @TMobile So I'm very, very proud to announce @TMobile "7G Eventual" – very exciting, already existing technology.
— Neville (@NevilleRay) April 26, 2017

When I first read that AT&T was launching a 5G Evolution network, I got just as worked up as everyone else (though I didn't swear in my title). I said the company was ruining 5G for the rest of the industry, an admittedly hyperbolic refrain that now, days later, I regret. AT&T hasn't ruined 5G because 5G isn't ruinable. It's not a thing yet. 5G is a mishmash of ideas and best practices and existing technologies, buoyed by dozens — likely hundreds — of organizations each with a vested interest of advancing their minor constituent towards the center of the enormous game board. To further the board game analogy, the main problem with the ruthless advancement of 5G is that no one is waiting their turn to play; everyone is merely using the resources at hand to advance their pieces as quickly as possible.

It's within this climate that AT&T decided to make the first public move, and stood to face the most ire as a result. But here's the thing to note about this unilateral move: it's really not a big deal. And even though, in principle, AT&T probably shouldn't mislead customers by calling what is clearly still a 4G LTE-based network '5G Evolution', it's not nearly as objectionable as when, back in 2011, AT&T balked at Verizon's early launch of true 4G LTE and renamed its decidedly third-generation network '4G'.

5G promises to be a big upgrade over 4G LTE, but it's also a much more complex beast to tackle.

But as the difference between 720p and 1080p was enormous, and the advantages obvious to the naked eye, so too was the variation in speed between "faux-G" and real 4G, which was, as it is today, based on the LTE standard. AT&T and T-Mobile, doubling down on HSPA+ and DC-HSPA, which were certainly improvements over existing 3G speeds, especially for downloads, began referring to their networks as 4G-capable so it didn't fall behind what was a yawning technological divide between Verizon at the time. Sprint, with its doomed WiMAX standard, did the same, much to its detriment.

But 4G LTE isn't just faster than 3G in terms of speed; it's more efficient, with the ability to push more megabits over much narrower airwaves; and it offers considerably lower latency, which is becoming increasingly important as the mobile web transitions to consuming more video than anything else.

5G promises to be a big upgrade over 4G LTE, but it's also a much more complex beast to tackle. It's more like moving from 1080p to 4K — better, but you need a much bigger TV to see the difference.

Part of the 5G standard uses very high-frequency airwaves that approach the same signals used by microwaves, which hold enormous capacity for throughput but due to physics can't travel long distances. On the other side of the spectrum (literally), 5G plans to achieve sub-one millisecond response times for mission-critical services, and be the vehicle for the Internet of Things products to send billions of tiny packets to one another so that everything, not just phones and lightbulbs, are somehow connected to the Internet. It's a huge, daunting and potentially society-changing project, but even when the first stages of the new standard begin to show up in consumer products in the last year of this decade, it will still be many years until 5G takes on its final form, just as LTE has taken the better part of this decade to reach maturity.

At the same time, though, the average smartphone user isn't going to see massive advantages in terms of wireless speed, latency and coverage when those first 5G-compatible phones roll off the line sometime in 2019 or 2020. Part of Qualcomm's recent marketing push is to explain that gigabit LTE, which can be achieved using its X16 solution found inside the Snapdragon 835 (which is only in the Galaxy S8 right now), lays the foundations for 5G because it incorporates the same fundamental OFDM-based technologies that will eventually migrate to the next generation: MIMO, carrier aggregation, 256QAM (and higher) and the use of unlicensed spectrum. AT&T tells us that its 5G Evolution network uses all of these things; T-Mobile has been using them since September of 2016.

But regardless of what you call these achievements — LTE Advanced Pro, 5G Evolution, 7G Eventual — it's unlikely to completely change your life and blow your mind the way that moving from "faux G" to real 4G did a few years ago.

In the meantime, you can make fun of AT&T for jumping the gun, but really — and unfortunately — if it didn't do it, another company was going to.

A few more notes from this week:

The more time I spend with the Samsung Galaxy S8, the more its flaws are revealed to me, and the less I care. This is one solid phone, quirks and all.
Good to see Samsung not waiting for the carriers to roll out emergency fixes for its latest phone. More of this, please.
It was interesting watching and reading Phil's take on the S8, since he's no longer inundated with new phone releases like he used to be. I agree with some of his points, but I do think the S8 stands on its own, and would have made just as much of an impact had the Note 7 stayed on store shelves.
Our most popular post last week was, unsurprisingly, Andrew's essay on how it's still stupidly difficult to buy a Google Pixel. It's a vivid retelling of a very poorly-planned product launch. Not only does the Pixel XL now feel comically oversized next to the Galaxy S8 and LG G6, but I know more than a few people who forwent buying one after waiting for stock replenish, finally giving up and buying an S8.
You'll be seeing more about the BlackBerry KEYone this week, and I'm excited to say that, even though a hardware keyboard isn't really for me — at least not as my main device — the phone is solid, well-designed, and pretty damn fun to use.

That's it for now! See y'all on the flippity-flip.

-Daniel

from Android Central - Android Forums, News, Reviews, Help and Android Wallpapers http://ift.tt/2pM5hAs
via IFTTT

Samsung Marshmallow offers parental controls and teaches proper phone usage

Marshmallow is not a rare topic here at Android Authority, but it is usually the Android version we refer to when we speak of this sweet treat. Now we have a new Samsung service named after the same dessert – Samsung Marshmallow.

This is a parental control app, but Sammy wants us to look at it as something more than just that. The application is not made to simply enforce rules, it is also designed to teach children proper smartphone usage habits.

It's easy to set bedtimes, limit internet time, block apps and more. The app also takes things a step further by enticing your kids to be better smart device users. There is a reward system in place, too – kids can earn points with good online behavior, while being naughty will cause a loss in points. After getting enough points, the child can ask parents for a card to use in the gift shot.

The bad news? This is a Samsung exclusive, which means only the company's own devices will support the app. Here is a list of supported handsets: Galaxy S8 / S8 Plus / S7 / S7 Edge / S6 / S6 Edge / S6 Edge Plus / S5 / Note 5 / Note 4 / A5 / A7 / A8 / A9 / J3 / J5 / J7.

Those interested and carrying a supported device can go ahead and download the app straight from the Google Play Store. Hit the comments to let us know how you like it!

Download Samsung Marshmallow

from Android Authority http://ift.tt/2qiHsAe
via IFTTT

Every Daydream app you can install right now, and a look at what comes next

Just go ahead and install all of them. You know, for fun.

Google's first Daydream headset is finally shipping to people who purchased the first Daydream phone, and are quickly finding it's not easy to locate the whole list of Daydream apps from the Play Store. While we've been having a lot of fun showing you the best free Daydream apps and the Daydream games everyone should have installed, the act of browsing for apps and then waiting for them to install while in VR isn't a good time.

To make it a little easier, we've tracked down the first wave of Google Daydream apps that are available to install now, so you can load up your Pixel with VR goodness and see what this new experience is all about.

ZTE Axon 7 updated to support Night Mode and 256GB microSD cards

The ZTE Axon 7 was updated to Android 7.1.1 last month, becoming one of the few non-Google devices to officially receive it. A new software update, referred to as 'B25' by ZTE, is now rolling out to the Axon 7 A2017U with a few minor new features and bug fixes.

Here's the full changelog:

Enables "Night Mode" setting
Supports 256GB microSD cards
Allows users to disable some stock apps
Optimizes the "Do Not Disturb" function
Fixes various Wi-Fi Calling issues
Improves device stability and security
Miscellaneous performance improvements and other fixes

Users on the update's forum post, linked below, are reporting that the B25 update does not include April security patches.

ZTE Axon 7 updated to support Night Mode and 256GB microSD cards was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

from Android Police – Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets http://ift.tt/2pkflPJ
via IFTTT

Deal: Snag a Google Home for just $114 from the Google Store ($15 off)

With Mother's Day just around the corner (it's Sunday, May 14, by the way), it's time to start thinking about getting your mom a special gift for the big day. If you're still struggling to find the right gift, perhaps this new promotion at the Google Store will help.

From now until Saturday, May 13, you can pick up a Google Home for just $114, which is $15 off the normal retail price. Google says this deal is available while supplies last (or until May 13), so you might want to take advantage of the promo sooner rather than later.

The complete list of services with Google Home support

2 weeks ago

For those unfamiliar, the Google Home connected speaker works with both Android and iOS devices, and is powered by the Google Assistant. You can ask it for weather updates or trending news, tell it to play a certain playlist, and a lot more. I use my Google Home every day in a variety of different scenarios, and I think it's super handy to have in an office or living room. If you'd like to learn more about the Google Home, check out our full review here.

Interested? Head to the Google Store link attached below.

Buy now from the Google Store

from Android Authority http://ift.tt/2oYsV93
via IFTTT

Must read: top 10 Android stories

This week we reviewed Samsung DeX, the Sony Xperia XZs, and the new Garmin fenix 5. We also compared the top three voice assistants out right now, and talked about the Galaxy S8's one big flaw. There's a lot to catch up on, so here's the news of the week!

Who wants to win a Samsung Galaxy S8?

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is one of the best Android smartphones out right now. Here's how you can win one!

10 Android stories we handpicked for you

Samsung DeX review – can your smartphone replace a PC? The Galaxy S8 is here and so is the new Samsung DeX docking station. It lets you use Android with a keyboard and mouse, but can it really replace a PC?

Sony Xperia XZs review The Xperia XZs features a few key improvements over its predecessor. Is that enough to make it a compelling choice? Find out in this Sony Xperia XZs review!

Garmin fenix 5 review The fenix 5 is here, but is it actually worth the high price tag? Find out, in our full Garmin fenix 5 review.

Bixby vs Google Assistant vs Siri 2017 is shaping up to be the year of the virtual assistant, so here's how the big three – Bixby, Siri, and Google Assistant – compare.

The Samsung Galaxy S8's one flaw… The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are two of the best phones of the year, but they're missing an increasingly key feature.

8 ways the Galaxy S8 is objectively better than the iPhone 7 We think we can objectively prove the Galaxy S8 is better than the iPhone 7. So grab some popcorn and settle in, because this is about to get ugly.

Have smartphones become too expensive? Buying a flagship smartphone is certainly expensive, but are we paying more for top-end smartphones than we were half a decade ago?

Fitbit Alta HR review The Fitbit Alta HR adds a heart rate monitor and new sleep tracking features to an already convenient and capable device. Learn more in the full review!

The best OEM specific features Flagship smartphones are all pretty impressive these days, but here are the OEM specific features that may make or break your purchasing decisions.

10 best new Android apps and games from April 2017 Plenty of great apps and games were released in the month of April. Here are the best ones!