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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Motorola Updates Moto App on Google Play, Brings Auto Location and Activity Adjustment

An updated version of the official Moto app from Motorola is available to download on Google Play, bringing a feature perfect for those who attend the movies every once in a while.

With the update, Moto 3.0 adjusts to both places and activities. For example, if you head to the movie theaters, you can set that location for the device to recognize, and it will automatically silence itself for the duration of your stay. 

The update is now live on Google Play, so if you have a supported device, go grab it.

Play Link

Motorola Updates Moto App on Google Play, Brings Auto Location and Activity Adjustment is a post from: Droid Life



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Sprint’s New Family Share Pack Gets You 10GB of Data for $100

Sprint is still doing whatever it can to try and compete in the US wireless industry, which really just means that they are continuing to drop the prices on their plans in hopes of convincing you to switch to their network. This morning, the Beckham-friendly carrier announced a new family plan that includes 10GB of shared data for 4 lines at just $100 per month. If that’s not enough data, they are also making a 40GB plan available at $120 per month. 

This new Family Share Pack is only available for a limited time and appears to only be available to those switching to Sprint from another carrier. In other words, Sprint doesn’t care about its current customers.

Also, keep in mind that the plan pricing is $100 (10GB) or $120 (40GB), but you also have to lease four phones at $20 per phone per month. So the plan pricing may be $100, but your bill is actually somewhere around $180 per month. That’s still fairly cheap. However, this is really just Sprint waiving the line access fee for new customers. Whatever it takes to save some money.

This new plan arrives this Friday.

Via:  Sprint

Sprint’s New Family Share Pack Gets You 10GB of Data for $100 is a post from: Droid Life



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Does This Backside Belong to LG’s Upcoming ‘Bullhead’ Nexus?

According to Twitter leaker @OnLeaks, the below image is of the backside cover from the upcoming Nexus device produced by LG, codenamed Bullhead. As a brief backstory, there are two Nexus devices rumored to launched later this year; one from LG (Bullhead), and the other from Huawei (Angler). Besides a few reports here and there, there has been little to no tangible information regarding the LG-made Nexus device to seen, but this could be our first visual of the device’s back cover. 

From what we can see, and as it is reported, this is a very raw drawing of what we could eventually see. As of right now, it appears we can expect a camera (duh), LED flash (duh), and what could be a fingerprint reader. With fingerprint support being built natively into Android M, it only makes sense Google would want this feature highlighted in any upcoming Nexus smartphones.

What makes this design rather funky are the two large holes on the backside, obviously. There is speculation the second opening could be for the fingerprint reader, or it’s possibly where a logo will be placed. At this point, who knows. Another thing we can see from this image is the button placement. Both the volume rocker and power button appear on the same side, just as it is on the Nexus 6.

Rumored specs for the Bullhead device are a 5.2″ display, 2,700mAh battery, and Snapdragon 808 processor.

We know it’s early, but what is your take? Interesting looking?

LG Nexus 2015

Via: @OnLeaks

Does This Backside Belong to LG’s Upcoming ‘Bullhead’ Nexus? is a post from: Droid Life



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Wednesday Poll: Would You Buy a Phone If It Lacked NFC?

The OnePlus 2 doesn’t have NFC, did you know that? Of course you did, because it’s all anyone can say in the comments when telling others why they aren’t buying one. OnePlus supposedly thinks that no one uses NFC, even though we are finally at a time where Apple has given in and begun using the tech to try and make mobile payments a major deal. OnePlus…they don’t care. Why include the tech when no one uses it?

(Because it probably costs pennies to include a damn NFC chip, that’s why. Add a freakin’ dollar to the price of your “flagship killer.” We’ll all pay to have a phone that isn’t crippled in the NFC department.)

Anyways, we are with most of you in that it seems quite ridiculous that OnePlus made an NFC decision for us based on who knows what kind of evidence of use. All I know, is that I like to make a mobile payment or two here or there and am disappointed that this phone, which should be incredible, won’t ever be able to.

So now we want to see votes. Would you buy a phone (could be any phone, not just the OnePlus 2) if it lacked NFC? What if the new Moto X or Galaxy Note 5 didn’t have NFC, would you still consider them?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Wednesday Poll: Would You Buy a Phone If It Lacked NFC? is a post from: Droid Life



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Google Search Now Shows ‘Popular Times’ For Businesses

With so much excitement yesterday morning, we missed this gem recently announced for Google Search users. Now appearing in search results when you place an inquiry for a business, you will be shown Popular Times for said business, hopefully leading you to not wasting time in long lines or crowds. 

After taking it for a spin on a few places by my home (Best Buy, Target, and McDonald’s), it seems to work just fine, displaying to me which times these businesses are most busy. To see these times, when you go onto a store or business’s search result page, scroll down a little bit until you see the graphs. Once there, you can swipe left or right to see which day of the week you want.

These changes have already rolled out to Google Search, so go check it out.

Play Link

Via: +Google

Google Search Now Shows ‘Popular Times’ For Businesses is a post from: Droid Life



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Deal: Buy 2 Chromecast Dongles and Save $15 on Google Store

For who knows how long, you can save $15 when you buy two Chromecast dongles over on the Google Store. Regularly priced at $35 a piece, bringing the price of two to $70, this deal means you only need to pay $55 for the pair.

Alongside this solid deal from the Google Store, Amazon is offering up a $10 Amazon gift card when you purchase the dongle from their store. The product is also listed at $5 under retail, so it’s deals on deals today for Chromecast. 

If you need yourself one of these dongles, follow the links below.

Google Store Link | Amazon Link

Deal: Buy 2 Chromecast Dongles and Save $15 on Google Store is a post from: Droid Life



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Samsung Begins Mass Production of Industry’s First Mobile Image Sensor With 1.0μm Pixels

Announced this morning, Samsung has begun mass production of the industry’s first mobile image sensor using 1.0μm pixels. The cut in size will allow for a 16MP sensor with a height decrease of 20%, compared to Samsung’s current 16MP module using 1.12μm pixels. This ultimately means you can have a superior camera sensor, even in a very thin device. 

Titled the S5K3P3, this sensor utilizes Samsung’s proprietary ISOCELL technology, the same found in the Galaxy S6. Samsung first introduced ISOCELL back in late 2013, making its debut in the Galaxy S5. ISOCELL deploys a minute barrier surrounding individual pixels, leading each pixel to feature increased light sensitivity, higher color fidelity, and a 30% decrease in crosstalk (which reduces image noise).

According to the Samsung, the sensor is now ready for use by OEMs to work into their smartphone designs. If other companies besides Samsung decide to use it, this is big news for consumers. As it is, the camera found on the Galaxy S6 is top-tier, and with it decreasing in size, we could see a few very cool device designs in the future.

With the Galaxy Note 5 just around the corner, it’s quite possible we will see this new technology baked inside.

Via: Samsung Tomorrow

Samsung Begins Mass Production of Industry’s First Mobile Image Sensor With 1.0μm Pixels is a post from: Droid Life



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Google Translate Gets 20 Languages for Visual Translations, Speeds Up Voice Translations

Thanks to an update, Google Translate now supports 20 more languages through its visual translation feature, giving it a total of 27. Also, the update speeds up and smooths out real-time voice translations, even when you have a poor network connection. 

The new languages supported in visual mode are Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian. Google added one-way translations from English to Hindi and Thai, as well.

As for the new speedy performance, Google knows that many of the countries where you would need Translate don’t have the most reliable wireless networks. So with this update, they focused on making sure your conversations are as fast as ever, if if your connection isn’t.

Play Link

Via:  Google Blog

Google Translate Gets 20 Languages for Visual Translations, Speeds Up Voice Translations is a post from: Droid Life



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We All Need Motorola’s Direct-To-Consumer Approach With the New Moto X to Succeed

Whether or not you plan to buy the new Moto X Pure Edition when it arrives in September, you should be rooting for Motorola to sell record numbers of them. This new direct-to-consumer approach from a brand like Motorola is something that could help continue to change this industry for the better if it were to succeed. Sure, there are pretty substantial benefits to be had here in the short run if you buy their new flagship, but we could all see some real benefits in the long run.

I talked about the reasons for buying an unlocked phone recently, almost all of which were touched on yesterday from Motorola. Motorola spoke of a phone experience through the new Moto X that is free of carrier interference, which means a phone that doesn’t have bloatware. It also means a phone that can be updated much quicker, because Motorola doesn’t have to go through those long, drawn-out carrier approval processes. Instead, they can do all of the testing on their end and update the phone when the software is ready.

Of course, the benefits here are much deeper than software. Motorola has now cut out the middle man by selling these phones directly to you and I, so that has allowed them to lower prices. The new Moto X Pure Edition, with those specs, is an absolute steal at $399. Think if Google hadn’t partnered up with carriers this time around for the Nexus 6 – how cheap would it have been?

moto x pure edition 2015-3

Speaking of the Nexus 6, Motorola more than likely took what they learned there in terms of network connectivity and applied it to the Moto X, giving it what may be its most important feature – complete carrier freedom with all US carrier band support. There aren’t many phones on the planet that just work on all carriers, but again, Motorola was likely able to do this so easily because they ditched carrier partnerships with this phone. They also understand that the market is changing and people want to be able to switch carriers often to find the best deal for them.

All of that is available to you in the short run, because for the first time I can recall, the US has a flagship phone that is affordable, completely unlocked, and will ship directly to you. That’s all great, of course, but as I mentioned in the opening, we should all be rooting for this to be a huge success so that this industry well take notice.

If Motorola were to succeed, who knows, but maybe in a few years Motorola won’t be the only big brand selling directly to you and I. Maybe Motorola won’t stand alone with unlocked flagships that work everywhere, yet won’t break the bank. Maybe Motorola won’t be the only company letting you customize your phone or get updates without carriers getting in the way.

We All Need Motorola’s Direct-To-Consumer Approach With the New Moto X to Succeed is a post from: Droid Life



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