Additional non-final LG G4 angles show front and side

Recently, we caught a look at what is allegedly a non-final press render of the upcoming LG G4. Only the rear of the device was exposed and showed that LG would keep its setup that debuted on the G2 and reappeared on last year’s G3. The new images, still considered non-final press renders, offers looks at the front and side of the G4. Quite noticeable is the slight curve that the device has. Perhaps LG wants to start implementing the G Flex series’ innovative technologies with its flagship as a key selling point.

Hit the break for an image of the side.

Source: NowhereElse.fr

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AH TechTalk: Google’s Improvements To Android 5.1 Lollipop Uncovered

Yesterday, Google released details about the next version of Android, bumping the version number up to 5.1 Lollipop. The new version of Android includes a number of improvements and refinements, taking into account feedback received from customers. The improvements range from the significant to the relatively minor; Google are billing the update as improving stability and performance plus bringing new features. Let’s take a look at some of the changes starting with the improvements to stability and performance, because these centre around the memory leak issues that many customers have reported: Google have reportedly fixed the issue, which should mean our devices are more responsive and stable after those initial hours of use. Google have also fixed issues with devices unable to connect to certain networks and the silent mode (without vibration) is back.

The next feature is long overdue: Android 5.1 Lollipop will support HD Voice (high definition). HD Voice is a better audio quality by providing voice calling with higher bandwidth over a 3G network. VoLTE (Voice Over LTE) technology already provides customers with high-quality voice conversations, but not all carriers support VoLTE around the world and many of those that do not have provision for HD Voice calling. For those customers who use their smartphones for calling, this is a welcomed improvement.

Likely a favorite feature of Android 5.1 is the refinements to the “heads up” or toaster notifications that appear at the top of the screen. These appear for a few seconds and are designed as a discrete alert to something interesting happening elsewhere on the device. It’s a great idea but, unfortunately, the 5.0 Lollipop toaster notifications are flawed because there is no way to dismiss a notification without effectively marking it as read. Sometimes, notifications don’t need to be actioned straight away but are instead left in the notification tray for later. Android 5.0 Lollipop allows notifications to be swept to the side, but this permanently dismisses the notification and means you’re not alerted again. The current solution is to leave the notification sitting at the top of the screen until it goes away by itself, but with Android 5.1 there’s an improvement: simply swipe up to snooze the notification and be reminded later.

Google are debuting a new feature called Device Protection with Android 5.1, which connects your Android device to your Google account even through a factory reset. Google’s blog states that Device Protection will be available on the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 and “most Android ‘phones and tablets shipped with Android 5.1.” There are improvements in connecting to WiFi and Bluetooth networks or devices from the quick settings menu. Another change is the ability to remove the additional item that popped up if you used it, typically the WiFi Hotspot, Invert Colors or Cast Screen. A long hold over this icon can declutter your Quick Settings screen if you want to (currently, you need to not use the function for a month before it is hidden).

For those customers with a dual SIM device, Android 5.1 brings enhanced support including the ability to set a different dialer theme color for each SIM, which makes it obvious what SIM card you’re using. This is an improvement over older versions of dual SIM, as up until Android 4.4 all implementations of dual SIM technology were created by the original manufacturers. Android 5.0 includes some dual SIM technology but not to the same level as Android 5.1. Google’s blog says that the update has already started rolling; assuming there are no problems, customers with recent Nexus devices should be seeing the update arriving over the next couple of weeks. Has it arrived for you? If not, when it does let us know and tell us what you think to the improvements.

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Stock Android could be getting its own mult-window feature

Various Samsung and LG devices have a feature that allow two applications to run simultaneously on the same screen. It eliminates the need to jump between apps, something that is especially tedious when the two apps are needed at the same time. Samsung calls the feature Multi Window while LG uses the term Dual Window. Soon, Google could be getting into the enhanced multitasking game. The term “multiwindows” was listed within the code for stock Android.

There were not any details included with the term, but it does show that Google’s attention to what the hardware manufacturers are doing. We should find out more later this year at Google I/O 2015.

Source: Google
Via: Phone Arena

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New Alleged Leaked LG G4 Press Renders Show Off The Front And Side Of The Device

Earlier this morning, a supposed leak of the yet unannounced and yet to be officially revealed LG Flagship for 2015, the LG G4, was shown off in a press render which displayed the back of the device. We saw some familiar characteristics that we know from past LG devices, like the rear placement of the volume rocker and power buttons, as well as the laser autofocus and dual-LED flash on both sides of the rear facing camera. If the actual device turns out to be anything like this render, it may also end up with a very slight curve to it from the top to bottom edge, although not quite as curved or accentuated as the LG G Flex and LG G Flex 2.

Now some new renders have popped up showing off not only the back, but also the front and side views of the device, giving people a truer idea of what to possibly expect from LG when they launch their successor to the LG G3. When you look at the side render image, you can see more of the curve that barely appears in the image from earlier this morning which displays the back. As stated the curve is nowhere near what LG has done with the G Flex line, but it does appear to be there ever so slightly.

The front facing render shows off what we’re to expect could be some very thin bezels on the sides of the device, while also sporting a new front-facing camera that shows up on the left hand side of the top edge of the screen. The renders don’t show off the top or the bottom edges of the phone so we can only assume the charging port will show up on the bottom like with the LG G3, and it appears the headphone port will be present on the bottom of the device as well which was visible in the render shown off from this morning. Whether or not these are the actual press render shots is unconfirmed, but they look convincing enough to at least keep in mind. Now with the potential design being right in front of us, what all may be left to learn is pricing, official hardware and specs, and a launch date and regions.

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Bookmark Sync Returns To Opera Browser For Android In The Latest Update

Back in 2004 (or thereabouts), Opera was my go-to browser. I liked that it was available on both Windows and Linux, and it just seemed faster than Firefox to me at the time. That was of course long before mobile phones were what they are now - I was probably carrying and old Nokia bar phone and changing the faceplate every three days. Good times.

Another thing missing back in the dark days of the early 2000s was something Google really made happen with Chrome: cross-device/platform sync.

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Bookmark Sync Returns To Opera Browser For Android In The Latest Update was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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Pocket Casts gets Material Design and a ton of new features in version 5.0 update

2014 Moto X Gets Its First Official CyanogenMod Nightly

Motorola does a very good job with software on the Moto X. However, if you're unhappy with the stock ROM for some reason, you now have a new alternative. The first official build of CyanogenMod has been released for the 2014 model (code name Victara), and is ready for installation.

You'll need an unlocked bootloader to install CM on your Moto X, but that's a simple task if you've got a Pure Edition phone.

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2014 Moto X Gets Its First Official CyanogenMod Nightly was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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The Samsung Galaxy S6 Active May End Up Having A 5.5-Inch Display

Yesterday we reported to you of the possible outing of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active. The discovery was made thanks to a User Agent Profile that was on the Samsung official website. The device model number was listed as SM-G890A. It is thought that this could be the AT&T version of what may be the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active. We saw this designation similarly with the Samsung Galaxy S5 Active which had the model number SM-G870A. If the same type of designation holds true for the Gaalaxy S6 as it did for the Galaxy S5, which seems logical, then Sammy let the cat out of the bag. Though not much detail other than that was given. It would appear as if the phone will have similar specifications to the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

However, today new information may have surfaced to show this new variant of the Samsung Galaxy S6 with a listed 5.5 inch Quad HD display. According a discovery on the import/export site, Zauba, there has been around twenty of these devices that have left South Korea. One group of 15 left on February 20 and another 5 left on March 7. The records list these devices as evaluation units and are most likely heading to other Samsung offices or other trusted companies for evaluation. And while this is a normal thing for companies to do, it does give us one little bit of surprising information that may hint that this phone has a 5.5 inch screen along with a single SIM card slot. This is larger than the 5.1 inch display on the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. If this is true, this means that Samsung’s rugged version of the Galaxy S6 will not only be dust and water resistant, but have much more screen real estate. This is good new for some Samsung customers who were a bit dismayed that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6 phones will not sport a large screen. This may be the phone that those customers have been waiting for.

It is important to keep in mind that these are not official announcements from Samsung, and so should be trusted with a bit of caution. We will not know for sure what this phone is until Samsung makes an official announcement. If it is, in fact, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active, it could help satiate some customers need for a larger screen and do so in an environment resistant package. Would you be more willing to buy the Samsung Galaxy S6 Active if it had a larger screen? Does the size of the screen help you decided which model you want to buy from Samsung? Let us know on our G+ Page or hit us up on the comment section below.

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Android 5.1 SDK And Updated 5.1 Emulator Available To Download And Test Run Apps

If you have been following the news over the last twenty fours hours then it has been an exciting time for android users. After months of speculation and waiting, yesterday, Google went and dropped the Android 5.1 (Lollipop) bomb on everyone by finally and officially announcing the release of the latest Lollipop update. Not to mention, this was quickly followed by the beginning of various Nexus factory images making their way online and available to download and install.

This was then followed today by Google announced the launch of a few new APIs which were landing with the Android 5.1 update. These included an API for multiple SIM-card support, an API for enhanced enterprise for Android for Work and a new API for Carrier Services. Well, along with the newly released APIs, Google also made publicly available the new SDK for Android 5.1. This, of course, will not be that useful to most android users but for those interested in developing for Android 5.1, then the release of the SDK will be a welcomed addition. The Android 5.1 SDK is noted as API level 22, which follows on from the API 21 for Android 5.0 and the earlier API 20 from Android 4.4 (KitKat).

If you are interested in developing for Android 5.1, then as well as the Android SDK, Google have also released an updated Android Emulator which will allow you to see your developed 5.1 apps running in an emulated environment and both the SDK and emulator are available now to download. Of course, if you already have apps available for android, then you will probably also want to give the new SDK and emulator a whirl to make sure your current apps function correctly and properly on Android 5.1 and without any major issues. If you prefer to test run the apps in a real-world setting, then as long as you have one of the Nexus devices for which the 5.1 factory image has already been released then you can just grab the image and test your apps that way. Either way, you can read all the details of the updated SDK, emulator and API’s by clicking the source link below.

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Downtime Updated in Android 5.1, Now Can choose from Priority or No Notifications Interrupting You

One of the cooler features in Android 5.0 was Downtime. It was basically Google’s view on Do Not Disturb, which just about all the manufacturers had built into their skin. The biggest issue with Downtime in Android 5.0 was the fact that it defaulted to Priority mode. So that you would still get notifications even though you were in the Downtime mode. Seeing as you can set downtime to enable automatically, a lot of people (or maybe just me) would use downtime for when they are asleep so they aren’t disturbed. And having Priority notifications come in isn’t exactly a good thing. The only notification, I think, that should come in while you’re asleep and your phone is in downtime is the Alarm. Because we wouldn’t want to miss that now would we?

New in Android 5.1, which just got released yesterday, users can now choose between Priority and None for notifications, as shown in the image above. Now if you go into Settings > Sounds & Notifications > Interruptions, you will see the settings for downtime at the bottom. I still think there should be a separate menu for Downtime, but not everything can be perfect, right? We’ve seen Motorola, HTC, LG, Samsung, and others do their own version of Do Not Disturb, and Google’s is getting there, but I still think that Motorola’s is the best. Since it’s integrated into their Motorola app, and it’s worked pretty well for me on the Moto X (2014).

It appears that plenty of tweaks were made to Lollipop in Android 5.1. We’re still finding out most of these tweaks that Google made. If you have a Nexus 5, you can go ahead and flash the factory image. However, it appears that the rest of the Nexus family is out of luck for now. As we don’t see any other factory images available yet. In the meantime, you’ll just have to sit back and wait on the OTA’s to come out for your Nexus device.

How many of you out there have already gotten your hands on the Android 5.1 OTA? If you have, be sure to leave a comment below and let us know what device you have.

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The HTC One E9 Will Reportedly Be A Phablet With A Quad HD 5.5-Inch Screen, 3GB RAM, And 8-Core MediaTek SoC

If the M9 reveal didn't impress you, HTC looks ready to start going after other segments of the market. Through a constellation of leaks and rumors, it seems quite clear that we will soon see a phone called the E9 by HTC that won't be a mere update to last year's E8. Instead, it will be a true phablet that appears nestled somewhere between the high end and mid-range. Here's what you came here for:

This image surfaced on the website of the TENAA, China's regulatory agency that is roughly equivalent to the FCC, along with a bare minimum specifications that indicate the phone will have a 5.5 inch screen, a 2800 mAh battery, and will be 7.54mm thick (or should I say thin?).

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Google’s Nexus 4 Receives Android 5.1 Lollipop Through An Unofficial ROM

Yesterday, Google officially unveiled the next version of Android, 5.1 Lollipop. The new version has a number of refinements and improvements to the software and the over-the-air (OTA) update has been released for a number of Nexus devices, including the Google Nexus 4. Now, one of the advantages of the Nexus smartphone and tablet program is that customers of these devices should receive software updates to these devices before the majority of other handset or tablets. This means that customers of recent Nexus devices will be expecting the update to arrive on their device in the next two to three weeks. We know that the LG Nexus 4 is set to receive the update too.

The Nexus 4 was the first Nexus smartphone to be introduced at a mid-range price but offering at the time high-end specifications. The device is based around a quad core, 1.5 GHz, 32-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor paired up with 2 GB of RAM and either 8 GB or 16 GB of internal storage. There’s a DC-HSPA+ 3G modem capable of data speeds at 42 Mbps but the Nexus 4 never officially supported LTE, although contains an LTE modem and may be modified to support some LTE bands. There’s an 8MP rear camera, a 4.7-inch 720p display panel and a 2,100 mAh battery. LG’s Nexus 4 differed from many devices at the time of release (late 2012) by having a glass front and rear, which gave the device a distinctive and premium feeling, although it was very slippery. In terms of hardware, then, the Nexus 4 is more than capable of running Android 5.x Lollipop.

The official OTA to Android 5.1 Lollipop is set to arrive over the next few weeks but for some people, this is not soon enough. An enterprising XDA Forums member “eagleeyetom” has announced that he has been able to compile an Android 5.1 ROM for the Nexus 4. In eagleeyetom’s own words, the new ROM is “properly tested and uses 5.0.1 blobs, so bugs and instabilities may occur. Use at your own risk.” The update process is straightforward so if you have a Nexus 4, don’t want to wait for the OTA and would like to experiment with Android 5.1, hit up the source below and try the update. If you do this, please heed eagleeyetom’s warning that the ROM may be unstable, could destroy your data or even your advice and neither XDA Forums, eagleeyetom or Android Headlines can be responsible for any problems you may encounter. Still, if you give the unofficial Android 5.1 a go, please let us know how you get on using the comments below.

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Mention of multi-window functionality found in Android code commit

DisplayMate Verdict: Samsung Galaxy S6 Joins Galaxy Note 4 In Being Awarded “Best Performing Smartphone Display”

This month was when all the waiting and speculation surrounding Samsung’s latest flagship device, the Samsung Galaxy S6 ended. At MWC Samsung unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S6 along with its counterpart Edge edition, the Samsung Galaxy Edge. While a lot of the focus was on the look of the Edge version, both come equipped with pretty much identical specs including an identical display (besides the sloping edges). One in which, by the way, is as good as a device offers at the moment, consisting of a 5.1” Quad HD (2560 x 1440) display with a massive 577 ppi. With specs like that, it is no wonder the Galaxy S6 comes slated as a premium device and with a premium price tag. However, specs are one thing. How the display performs is another. One Company who looks at such things and makes valid comparisons is DisplayMate.

In fact, until the release of the Galaxy S6, DisplayMate had previously awarded the Galaxy Note 4 (also by Samsung) as having the best smartphone display so far. Now, the results from DisplayMate’s latest tests are in and make for some interesting reading. Firstly, DisplayMate acknowledges the increases the Galaxy S6 has over its direct predecessor, the Galaxy S5. These include an increased overall pixel resolution (up from 1920 x 1080 to 2560 x 1440). Not to mention the increase Absolute Color Accuracy (noted as a 27 percent increase) and display Power Efficiency (noted as a 20 percent increase). While also the ppi has significantly upped from the previous 432 ppi up to the now 577 ppi. That is all while the screen remains the same size.

However, the battle with the Galaxy S6 was never going to be won or lost with the Galaxy S5, but instead is more fairly fought with the recently crowned ‘best display’ of the Galaxy Note 4. Obviously the Note 4 does come with a largely display in terms of size, but in performance, DisplayMate noted that the Galaxy S6 at the very least, matches the display of the Galaxy Note 4. In some cases, even exceeds the performance. In terms of the results, DisplayMate notes that the Galaxy S6 offers “consistent all round Top Tier display performance”. Further noting that the Galaxy S6 at least matches (sometimes breaks) records set by the Note 4 including “Highest Screen Resolution, Highest Pixels Per Inch, Highest Absolute Color Accuracy, Highest (Infinite) Contrast Ratio, Highest Peak Brightness, and Highest Contrast Rating and screen readability in Ambient Light”.

In fact, Display Mate goes on to state that in all categories the two devices are pretty much “neck-and-neck” with the two devices alternating between first and second place. While this might not sound like much improvement with the current flagship simply tieing with the previous flagship, when you factor in the smaller screen size and remember that the specs and performance have to be scaled down to accommodate the smaller screen, the Galaxy S6 is impressive. In fact, DisplayMate finish things up by stating that the Galaxy S6 joins the Note 4 as the “Best Performing Smartphone Display that we have ever tested.” If you are interested in reading more you can check out the full report by clicking the source link below

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Shifty Jelly pushes Pocket Casts into the Material Design era

Today, what is arguably the best podcast player for Android devices becomes even better with its latest update, v5.0. Shifty Jelly, the developer of Pocket Casts, is pushing an update to its app that revamps it with Material Design. Pocket Casts already looked great but Material Design makes it beautiful. I have been been using the app with the update for a few minutes and can confirm that everything expected of Material Design, such as use of color and fluid animations, is present.

Hit the break for the changelog, gallery, and download links.

What’s New:

• Material Design! We agonised over jokes/puns using the word ‘material’ for hours, but in the end we spared you. I still have ‘Material Girl’ playing on loop in my head though :(


• Swipe episodes to mark as played/unplayed. Viva la revolución!


• New Audio Effects: Volume Boost and Silence Removal. If you can’t guess what the first one does then you’re beyond help.


• Up Next list now in your mini player, swipe across to see what’s coming up and quickly add more.

Play Store Download Link

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