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Thursday, November 19, 2015

LG Stops Sales of Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE Due to “Hardware Issue”

LG has halted all sales of the Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE smartwatch, according to emails sent directly from the manufacturer. In a message sent from an LG rep to The Verge, “a hardware issue which affects the day-to-day functionality of the device,” has led Verizon and AT&T to both stop sales of the Android Wear-powered device. 

At this time, there is no timeframe given for when consumers can expect to see the device’s return to shelves. AT&T is reportedly offering refunds or exchanges to anyone who has recently purchased the device, and Verizon has placed the device “On Hold,” with no pre-order shipments set to ship out.

This news came rather abruptly, and with LG claiming it to be a hardware issue and not a software bug, the recall, remanufacturing, and redistributing of the device could make a relaunch extremely difficult, even for LG.

Did you purchase one of these smartwatches?

Via: The Verge | 9 to 5 Google | reddit

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Thursday Poll: What is the Android Phone of the Year?

We’re closing in on the end of 2015, if you can believe it, so we need to start figuring out who won the day in terms of best smartphone. We want to know who you think made the Android phone of the year.

I honestly can’t recall a year that was filled with so many good phones from so many different players. And it wasn’t just a year where everyone had a single, pretty good phone. We had multiple great phones from some manufacturers that just kept getting better throughout the year. In a time where people keep talking about smartphone plateaus, I’m starting to wonder if we really are that close. Even if we are, we are at a time where phones are so good on so many levels, that I’m not so sure this plateau is a bad thing for you and I.

What’s interesting, is if we go back to this same poll we ran last year, I said the complete opposite. In fact, last year was a pretty terrible year for smartphones. We got a bunch of in-betweener, so-so phones, that all had pretty major flaws in some category. This year, we really had to nitpick to find things that were wrong.

So, you tell us – what is the Android phone of the year?

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

Thursday Poll: What is the Android Phone of the Year? is a post from: Droid Life



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Papa Murphy’s Launches First Mobile App for Ordering Pizzas

If you live in one of the 38 states within the US that has a Papa Murphy’s pizza shop, then prepare to be blown away. This week, Papa Murphy’s launched an official application onto Google Play, allowing pizza lovers to create their own pies while on the go, then have them ready to go at your nearest location. 

Inside the app, users can create custom pizzas from all of Papa Murphy’s ingredients, or select from a variety of popular pies they offer. I gave the app a test, seeing if I could build my usual, which is a half pepperoni and black olive, half Italian sausage, pepperoni, and green pepper pie. In the customization section of the app, selecting which side you want the certain ingredients on is a breeze, and I thoroughly impressed the app. Additionally, you can choose which sauces you want, how much cheese, and what type of crust you desire. It’s all there.

I have been munching on Papa Murphy’s since I was just a wee baby, and if you are like me, then this app will likely be a staple on your phone.

Go grab it.

Play Link

Papa Murphy’s Launches First Mobile App for Ordering Pizzas is a post from: Droid Life



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Black Friday 2015 Deals

Like we do most years, we are once again putting together a decent Black Friday round-up of the deals that might interest the good people here at Droid Life. This isn’t going to be the ultimate in Black Friday guides, because well, there are dedicated Black Friday websites that do that better than we could ever think of doing. This one, like in the past, is focused on the Android stuff and the accessories that go with the Android stuff and the occasional other electronic that may or may not go with Android stuff, but still might be of value thanks to a deep discount.

As the we close in on November 27, Black Friday day, we’ll continue to update this post. Feel free to check back! 

Amazon

Amazon is finna go H.A.M. on Black Friday, because they want you on their site buying all of the things that big box stores will try and get you to stand in line for. That means deals for days, not just the day after Thanksgiving. In fact, they are kicking off 8 days of holiday deals starting November 20 and pushing them through Black Friday and beyond.

They’ll have TVs on sale, along with their Fire products, accessories (SD cards and such), fitness trackers, Samsung’s tablets, and more.

As we get closer to Black Friday, we’ll update this section with direct links as they pop up.

They have a dedicated Black Friday Hub, which you should visit regularly if you are interested in doing your shopping from Amazon.

Best Buy

As is always the case, Best Buy has more deals than you can probably handle. With that said, here are a few that are standing out already. Also, keep in mind that Best Buy is holding back some deals until Thursday.

Samsung

Streaming Devices

Wearables

Other Goods

Here is the full Best Buy Hub for all of the deals, including those on TVs, appliances, computers, speakers, video games, and more.

Huawei

Huawei is discounting the Huawei Watch through their online store, at BestBuy.com, Amazon, Target, and the Google Store from $50 to $100.

Newegg

Newegg is hosting more than 5,000 deals from November 23 through November 30. The initial 4,000 deals will be unlocked at 1PM on November 23, then more on November 25, followed by the final unlocking on November 27 (Black Friday).

You can find all of the specials at this Newegg Black Friday Hub.

Google Store and Google Play

Google hasn’t announced plans just yet, but we are assuming that they will have at least a few. Huawei, if you noticed above, already let the cat out of the bag a bit in suggesting that Google will discount the Huawei Watch for Black Friday.

We’ll update this section once we know more.

Costco

Costco doesn’t have a ton of deals, but they have a couple for Android folks.

  • 2-pack Chromecast (2nd gen) is $20 off
  • Fitbit Flex is $23 off
  • 64GB SanDisk Ultra Plus microSD card is $15 off

Here is Costco’s full Black Friday Hub.

TYLT

TYLT is back once again with a big Black Friday sale. This time they are doing 35% off their entire wireless charging line, plus 50% off all other products.

More coming!

Black Friday 2015 Deals is a post from: Droid Life



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Last Horizon Hits Google Play, a Minimal Space Adventure to Find a New Home

Published to Google Play by Noodlecake Studios — one of my personal favorite publishers — Last Horizon can be picked for $2.99, with no ads. This is a minimal, space exploration game, in which you must pilot a rocket ship to distant stars in search of a new home for the human species. Along the way, you will visit rocky planets to mine for ore to fix your damaged ship, collect oxygen from ice and garden planets, and harvest other resources to help terraform a new world for all of us. 

The gameplay is extremely simplistic. To thrust into space, leaving our old world behind, you hold down on the screen, with two single buttons for turning left and right. As you orbit worlds, their gravitational pull will bring you closer, and it is your job to land your rocket safely using the thrusters. If you smack straight into a star, moon, asteroids, black hole, or a massive sun, you will die and have to start all over. The compass at the bottom of the display points you in the direction of which you need to go.

At first, the game took a bit to get used to in terms of mastering the ship’s movement, but once you nail down the thrusts and landings, the game moves along rather quickly. From what I saw during my gameplay, there are four missions or “flights” you must complete. Each mission gets harder in difficulty, with more debris floating in space for you to avoid. In addition, during the later levels, you also come across alien life. Do they wish you harm? You will have to find out for yourself.

Priced at $2.99, the game features a great little soundtrack, plus fun visuals of space. With no ads, it’s a must-have for any wannabe space explorers among us.

Play Link ($2.99)

Last Horizon Hits Google Play, a Minimal Space Adventure to Find a New Home is a post from: Droid Life



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Google Fit Updated With Real-Time Stats for Runs, Nutrition Monitoring

In an update for the Google Fit app, users can now get real-time stats for their activities such as running, complete with data for elevation, speed, pace, route, and more. In addition, for those into strength training who happen to own an Android Wear watch, your device can now pick up push-ups and squats whenever you perform them, allowing you to attempt a few 30-day challenges at any time of the day. 

Google Fit will now also show data from a few of the top nutrition and sleep applications. You can monitor your diet with MyFitnessPal, Fatsecret, and LoseIt, or track your sleep with Sleep as Android, a Xiaomi Mi Band and Sony Smartband 2.

These integrations, set to take place over the next couple of days, will provide better insight into your daily health and fitness routines.

The update is rolling out now, so be sure to grab it.

Play Link

Via: Android

Google Fit Updated With Real-Time Stats for Runs, Nutrition Monitoring is a post from: Droid Life



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Hangouts Gets Guest Access for Video Chats With Non-Google Users

This morning, Google is announcing guest access for Hangouts, which is their way of saying, “Yes, weird people without Google accounts, you can join in on the Hangouts video calling fun too.”

The new guess access doesn’t require anyone to fill out a form or have a Google account. Instead, they really just need to click a link in an invitation that you sent. From there, a pop-up will ask for them to input a name name before joining, but then you (as the host) will also be able to approve or deny their entry to the Hangout and maintain full control over their participation throughout the call.

Easy, right?

unnamed

Via:  Google

Hangouts Gets Guest Access for Video Chats With Non-Google Users is a post from: Droid Life



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Nuance Announces Dragon Anywhere, Mobile Voice Dictation With a Subscription Price

Those is need of mobile voice dictation can turn to Nuance this week, as the company announced Dragon Anywhere, a paid subscription service that bring’s its desktop voice dictation software to Android and iOS devices. 

With this software, users can dictate pretty much all text input on their Android device. Instead of typing out long emails or texts, simply let Dragon do the work for you. However, as users of Dragon on the desktop already know, you need to speak with proper punctuation, so as to make sure Dragon types exactly what you want to say with proper grammar.

As for pricing, Nuance is offering a free 7-day trial of Dragon Anywhere, but after that, get ready to shell out some serious dough for this software. For a single month, Dragon Anywhere costs $15. If you package months, you get a bit of a discount – a 3 month subscription is $40, and a 12 month package is priced at $150. Yes, that ain’t cheap for voice dictation.

Features

  • Fast dictation and high recognition accuracy
  • Continual learning of a person’s unique voice for improved accuracy – the more Dragon Anywhere is used, the more accurate it becomes
  • No time or length limits on dictation; professionals can speak as long as they want to, capturing all of the details needed for complete, accurate documentation
  • Robust voice formatting and editing options, including the ability to select words and sentences for editing or deletion, navigate through fields of a report template, and apply common formatting like underline, bold and italics
  • Support for custom words, allowing professionals to add industry-specific terminology for even better dictation accuracy
  • Support for simple importing and exporting to and from popular cloud document-sharing tools like Dropbox and saving to note-taking apps like Evernote, so work can be continued from a mobile device or on a desktop

If this is something you might need on a day-to-day basis, or for your job, follow the links below to get started.

7-Day Trial Link | Subscription Link

Via: Nuance

Nuance Announces Dragon Anywhere, Mobile Voice Dictation With a Subscription Price is a post from: Droid Life



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Verizon Tweaks Prepaid Plans Again, Up to 4GB of Data for $60

Just over a month ago, Verizon made a bunch of tweaks to their prepaid line-up that were both somewhat confusing, as they were billed bi-monthly, and also not very good deals. Today, they’ve changed them all again to much more traditional monthly billing cycles, plus they included options for bonus data. 

The new plans lock in at $60, $45, and $30 per month. The $60 plan has 3GB of data, but you can up that to 4GB, thanks to a bonus 1GB of data if you sign-up for autopay. Same goes for the $45 plan, which starts at 1GB, but can also be bumped up an additional 1GB to 2GB with autopay. The $30 plan doesn’t include a data package.

Verizon also opened up a couple of new “basic” phone plans for non-smartphones at $30 and $15 per month. The $30 plan includes unlimited talk, text, and mobile web. The $15 plan has 300 voice minutes, texts or multimedia messages, plus unlimited mobile web.

The plans are live now.

Via:  Verizon

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Verizon is Giving Away 1GB of Free Data Right Now for “Thanksgetting”

For the 2nd straight year, Verizon is trying to turn the day before Thanksgiving into some sort of freebie day, where they can promote their own products, along with those from others. Last year, they called it Connection Day or something really weird. This year, it has apparently changed to “Thanksgetting.” I have no idea what that is supposed to mean, but this day is like last year’s day before the feast in that Verizon is giving away free things. 

Starting today, they are handing out 1GB of free data to everyone on Verizon with a qualifying plan. All you have to do is hit the link below, tap the “Get Now” link, sign-in to your account, and claim. The data will then be added to your account for use. The promo also seems to suggest that you will get another free 1GB in your next billing cycle as well. Free data!

The rest of “Thanksgetting” will include deals like free $5 iTunes gift cards, free boingo and GoGo internet, and more. Those deals, though, won’t be available until November 25.

Verizon “Thanksgetting” Link

Cheers Brandon!

Verizon is Giving Away 1GB of Free Data Right Now for “Thanksgetting” is a post from: Droid Life



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