APK BRO™ - Download APK Android Apps: 11/23/15

Monday, November 23, 2015

Faulty Screen Component to Blame for LG’s Pull of Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE

Last week, LG abruptly pulled the Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE from the market, just days after launching the device. At the time, LG stated that a “hardware issue” was to blame, and now, we have a few more details directly from LG.

Apparently, a component used in the screen of the smartwatch could lead to reduced image quality over time, so instead of having folks see their watches croak unexpectedly, LG decided to pull the device entirely. The company states there were no fears for purchaser safety, but it was merely a faulty component. The component in question has not been used on any other LG wearables, so no previous testing was available to the company.

In a statement to Telegraph, LG states the following.

For competitive and supplier relations reasons we are not in a position to communicate the specifics of the issue that led to this decision. However, what we can share is that the hardware issue was related to a new advanced component that we had incorporated in the device that had never been used in an LG wearable device before.

During aggressive testing over thousands of hours under severe conditions, it was revealed that this component failed to meet LG’s quality standards and could potentially impact our image quality over the life of the device.

At this time, LG did not give any inclination that a new model would be made available, but that the decision to pull the device was not made lightly, again, stressing that there are no concerns for the safety of wearers due to the faulty component.

So, there’s that.

Via: Telegraph

Win 1 of 10 ASUS ZenFone 2 Devices From Droid Life and ASUS

To celebrate all of the things in life we have to be thankful for, we are teaming up with ASUS to giveaway 10 ZenFone 2 smartphone devices. If you need a new smartphone that comes carrier unlocked and features enough power to get you through any type of mobile computing task, then you are in the right place.

Recently through social media, ASUS has been gifting free phones to those in need, and now, we are working together to hook up 10 of our readers. The ZenFone 2 features a 5.5″ Full HD IPS display, 13MP rear-facing camera, 2.3GHz 64-bit Intel Atom processor with 4GB of RAM, plus 64GB of built-in storage. In fact, we did our own unboxing and hands-on with the ZenFone 2 shortly after it was released for the US.

We will be using a Rafflecopter system for entries and for selecting winners, so as to make sure everyone has a fair chance at winning one of these devices. Down below, we have placed a ton of options to choose from for gaining entries, so have at it. The contest will close Friday, November 27 at 10am Pacific.

Enough talk, let’s do this.

Contest

Prizes

10 winners will win 1 of 10 ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) smartphones. Devices are of the 4GB of RAM/64GB of storage model, featured in Silver Grey.

How to Enter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winners

The contest will end at 10am Pacific on November 27. We will select our 10 random winners via Rafflecopter and notify them by email.

Cheers to ASUS for providing the prizes for our winners. Be sure to check out the MyZen by ASUS blog for all things ASUS.

T-Mobile Gives 3 Months of Unlimited Data to All Simple Choice Subscribers

This afternoon, T-Mobile kicked off a new promotion called Un-carrier Unwrapped, which is their way of getting the Uncarrier movement into the holiday spirit. With Un-carrier unwrapped, T-Mobile is handing out holiday “gifts” for four straight works, the first of which is three “full months” of unlimited LTE.

To “every single” postpaid Simple Choice customer, T-Mobile is gifting three full months of unlimited data. The promotion starts today, so if you are a Simple Choice customer, you are now running with an unlimited data plan for the next 90 days. Well, there is a bit of a catch. T-Mobile isn’t just switching you to an unlimited plan for three months. From what we can tell, they are only giving you unlimited data after you use up your monthly allotment and use up any Data Stash you have built up. Once you hit that point, then they will allow you to continue using data.

After this week, T-Mobile says that it will introduce another promotion per week, one for each of their favorite carriers, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.

On a related note, T-Mobile also announced their Black Friday specials today. They are as follows:

Free Galaxy S6: From 11/26 through 11/29, you can get a Galaxy S6 32GB for $0 down/$0 per month.
UE Boom deal: The popular UE Boom Blueooth speaker is $100 off from Friday through Sunday, while supplies last.
Free tablet: From 11/25 through 11/29, if you sign-up for a tablet data plan, T-Mobile will give you an Alcatel Pixi 7-inch 4G LTE tablet for $0 down/$0 per month.

Here is a link to all of T-Mobile’s Holiday Deals.

Via: T-Mobile

Buy a OnePlus 2 Without an Invite Starting November 27 Through November 30

Starting November 27 and lasting for four days (ends November 30), you can purchase the OnePlus 2 with no invite. I know, it’s an odd concept, buying a phone without an invite, but OnePlus wants to shake this industry up. The device will be purchasable directly through OnePlus’ website beginning November 27 in the morning.

Currently, OnePlus appears to only have the 64GB model in stock, priced at $389, and who knows if they intend to offer the 16GB (3GB of RAM) model. The 64GB model comes with a Snapdragon 810 processor, 4GB of RAM, 5.5″ Full HD display, and 13MP rear-facing camera.

Is the OnePlus 2 a good purchase? Read our full review here.

Via: @OnePlus

Here are Samsung’s Black Friday 2015 Deals

Samsung is kind of going nuts with the Black Friday 2015 deals this year. We are seeing TVs slashed by as much as 60%, wearables and tablets by 40%, and other accessories by 50%. In even better news, these deals are running all week long and are already live. If you had Samsung-related shopping to do this holiday shopping week, you can do it before it gets wild on Friday.

Here are the big links by category:

Here are some individual deals worth looking at:

Gear S2 Classic for $299 [$50 off]
Gear S2 in black for $249 (or white) [$50 off]
Galaxy Tab S2 9.7 32GB for $399 [$100 off]
Galaxy Tab S2 8.0 32GB for $349 [$50 off]
Radiant360 R1 Bluetooth/WiFi speaker for $99 [$150 off]
Radiant360 R3 Bluetooth/WiFi speaker for $199 [$130 off]
Radiant360 R5 Bluetooth/WiFi speaker for $299 [$200 off]
Radiant360 R7 Bluetooth/WiFi speaker for $349 [$250 off]
SmartThings Home Monitoring Kit for $199 [$50 off]
32GB EVO+ microSD card for $9.99 [$13 off]
64GB PR+ microSD card for $29.99 [$40 off]
128GB EVO+ microSD card for $44.99 [$58 off]

You can find all of Samsung’s Black Friday deals at the link below.

Samsung Black Friday Link

Here are Sprint’s Black Friday 2015 Deals

Like Verizon, Sprint is also hosting a bunch of Black Friday 2015 deals. Their list of deals include everything from half off on the Samsung Galaxy S6 to free Amazon Prime subscriptions to free TVs with the purchase of an LG G4. Yes, Sprint is giving away free TVs. They also have deals on the same accessories that everyone else seems to be discounting.

The big deals:

Half-off Galaxy S6 lease deal: $9 per month (was $18)
Free Amazon Prime: activate Sprint services on a Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, or Note 5
Free 24-inch LG TV: activate a new LG G4 and receive a free 24-inch LG HD TV ($179 value)

Other deals:

Fitbit Charge HR for $119 [$3o off]
Fitbit Charge for $89 [$40 off]
Garmin vivofit 2 for $69 [$30 off]
Garmin vivosmart for $79 [$50 off]
Garmin vivoactive for $169 [$80 off]
Withings Activite Pop for $129 [$20 off]
LG Tone Pro 750 for $39 [$30 off]

All of these deals can be accessed at the link below.

Sprint Black Friday Link

Via: Sprint

Google Awakens the Force With Star Wars Themes for Apps, Includes Gmail and Maps

Because there was not already an over saturation of Star Wars crap for you to buy in stores, Google has launched Star Wars themes for your apps, just in case you needed more Force in your life. If you have a Google account, and use it for Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, and other Google services, you can experience what the Light or Dark side have to offer their users.

To start, you will need to choose a side – Light or Dark. Once a side is chosen, you will begin to see Star Wars themes throughout many of Google’s applications, whether it is on an Android device or desktop computer. For example, I chose the Dark side, opened my Gmail, and I was greeted with a darkly colored Empire theme. In addition, if you open Google Maps, find your home, you should see a Death Star.

As for which applications you will see changes take place, Google lists that YouTube, Chromecast, Google Maps, Waze, Gmail, Inbox, Google Translate, Android Wear, Google Search, and Google Calendar will all see a Star Wars transformation.

Here are a couple of notes. Yes, you can change sides once you have already made a selection. If you don’t care for these themes, you can also easily go back to the default settings. Also, Google notes that it may take a couple of hours for all changes to take place, so once you make a side selection, allow for time to pass before you get upset about not seeing wookies and what have you. And finally, these themes are only available for regular Google account users. No Google Apps for Work, Education, or Government are supported.

You can join a side by clicking the link below and signing into your Google account.

Join the Light or Dark side here.

Via: reddit

Here are Verizon’s Black Friday 2015 Deals

Verizon posted a PDF file this morning that contains its plans for Black Friday 2015 and the days that follow. Like most years, Verizon has some decent deals, though many revolve around switching carriers, trading in your current phone, and then signing up for new service. Verizon is also doing some decent discounts on phones too, plus they are offering discounts on a number of accessories.

The big push Verizon is making is for this $500 switch credit/discount when you trade in your smartphone from another carrier and join their network. With this deal, they are slashing $200 off of smartphones, then giving you up to $300 for your trade-in. If you do that and qualify for the full $500 off, you can get into phones for these prices:

Samsung Galaxy S6 for $3.16/month
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge for $7.16/month
DROID Turbo 2 for $5.16/month

If you don’t want any of those phones, Verizon is also doing $100 off other phones, plus the $300 trade-in credit. That would get you into these phones for the these prices:

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ for $15.33/month
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 for $12.33/month
LG V10 for $11.33/month

And if none of that sounds fun, here are some other deals.

Fitbit Charge for $89.99 [$40 off]
Mophie Powerstation Plus for $99 [$50 off]
Mophie Powerstation 4000 for $39 [$40 off]
UE Megaboom Speaker for $249 [$50 off]
Nest Cam for $169 [$30 off]
Bose SoundLink Speaker for $119 [$10 off]
Parrot AR Drone 2.0 Elite for $249 [$50 off]
Beats Solo On-Ear headphones for $249 [$50 off]

You can access all of these deals come Black Friday at the link below.

Verizon Black Friday Link

Via: Verizon (pdf)

Android Studio 2.0 Previewed, Includes “Instant Run” and GPU Profiler

The Android Developers team at Google is beginning to preview the launch of Android Studio 2.0, detailing what features app developers can look forward to upon release. All features detailed are available via the canary release channel, but given this is merely a preview of what is to come, Google recommends you download and run an additional copy of Android Studio in parallel with your current version.

The first feature, Instant Run, should dramatically improve development workflow, allowing you to view changes made instantly on your emulator or development device. All new projects started in Studio 2.0 will feature Instant Run, but if you have pre-existing projects that you would like to enable Instant Run for, Google has a very easy process for doing so. During usage, you will select “Run” app as normal, then when changes to the source code are made, pressing Run again will deploy your changes directly into the running app.

Also detailed in Android Studio 2.0 is GPU Profiler, which allows easier profiling of OpenGL ES Android code. According to Google, this tool is in early preview, but is “very powerful,” not only showing details about the GL State and Commands, but allows you to record entire sessions and walk through the GL Framebuffer and Textures as your app is running OpenGL ES Code.

Again, it is in early preview, but is available through the GPU Debugging Tools package from the Android Studio SDK Manager.

Google says this is only the beginning, so if you dev for Android, be on the lookout for more big changes.

Via: Android Developers

Square’s New Reader Takes NFC Mobile Payments, Launches Today

Square, the payment dongle that you see stuffed into iPads at all of your favorite overpriced coffee shops in hipster neighborhoods across the US, has a new reader out today that allows merchants to accept mobile payments over NFC. Square has teamed up with 100 local businesses for today’s launch, but the plan is obviously to make this a much bigger rollout over time.

The new reader lets you pay with Android Pay or Samsung Pay or (Gasp!) Apple Pay with the tap of a phone. Actually, Square is only really telling the world that Apple Pay, Apple Pay, Apple Pay, and Apple Pay works with it, but in reality, it’s just an NFC terminal that will take all of the NFC-based payment solutions. Seriously, go look at their promo page. It doesn’t mention any other mobile payment solution outside of Apple Pay. It’s kind of ridiculous, if I’m being honest.

This new Square reader also works with EMV chip cards, for those next-level secure payments.

So there you have it, Square is now all up in the mobile payments game. Enjoy that $10 pour over.

Via: Square

DEAL: $45 for 128GB SanDisk MicroSD, Plus 60% Off Others

Here come the deals!

Today, Amazon is running one of its typical memory discounts, with SanDisk at the helm. You can grab their memory products for up to 60% off, which includes 200GB and 128GB microSD cards. The 128GB card has now dropped to $44.99, while the 200GB is now just $134.99.

The deal also includes thumb drives, full sized memory cards, and solid state drives, all of which have Prime shipping.

Amazon Link

Samsung Pay Adds Chase, Another Handful of Cards, and Gives Out $100 Coupon for Signing Up

Samsung added Chase to its line-up of supported cards for Samsung Pay! Nice timing there, with holiday shopping for everyone about to kick into overdrive.

The mobile payment system also now supports cards from Citizens Equity First Credit Union, Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, Security Service Federal Credit Union, State Employees’ Credit Union, SunTrust and Virginia Credit Union. When you install Samsung Pay on your compatible Galaxy smartphone, you’ll now be able to add all of these new cards without a hitch.

As a bonus to go along with this news, Samsung is handing out $100 coupon codes when you sign-up that can be used to “get up to $100 off any” Samsung.com purchase.

To get more details on the $100 “gift,” head over to Samsung’s promotion site.

But yeah, Chase!

Samsung Pay Adds Eight More Credit and Debit Card Issuers Including Chase

Starting Today Samsung Pay Supports Chase Visa Credit and Debit Cards and New MasterCard Issuers

NEW YORK – November 23, 2015 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced today that Samsung Pay, the most accepted mobile payment system, now supports eligible Chase Visa® credit, debit and Liquid® cards, as well as debit and credit offerings from MasterCard issuers: Citizens Equity First Credit Union, Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union, Security Service Federal Credit Union, State Employees’ Credit Union, SunTrust and Virginia Credit Union. Samsung Pay also now supports Navy Federal Credit Union Visa® credit and debit cards. Cardholders of all these issuers will be able to use Samsung Pay to pay almost anywhere they can swipe or tap their card.

“With expanded support from eight additional issuers, including Chase and SunTrust, we look forward to building even more momentum around Samsung Pay,” said Injong Rhee, EVP of Samsung Electronics, Global Head of Samsung Pay. “Through our ever expanding ecosystem of financial partners, Samsung Pay users will be able to take advantage of the most widely accepted mobile payment solution.”

“Samsung Pay gives our customers another convenient way to pay with their Chase cards,” said Gavin Michael, Head of Digital forChase. “They choose how they want to pay.”

All three major payment networks will continue to be supported by Samsung Pay: American Express, MasterCard and Visa, as well as major banks including Bank of America, Chase, Citi, Navy Federal Credit Union, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and key partners includingBlackhawk Network, First Data, Global Payments, Synchrony Financial, TSYS, Vantiv, and Worldpay.

SIMPLE: To make a payment on Samsung Pay, users can simply swipe up, scan their fingerprint and pay.

SAFE: Samsung Pay uses tokenization, Samsung KNOX, and fingerprint authentication to provide secure payments. And, as terminals are upgraded to EMV, that security is leveraged, too.

ALMOST ANYWHERE: Samsung Pay is compatible with most existing and new terminals, including most magnetic stripe, EMV and NFC terminals^*. That means Samsung Pay works at more places than any other mobile payment service.

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Monday, November 23, 2015

Faulty Screen Component to Blame for LG’s Pull of Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE

Via: Telegraph

Related Stories

Win 1 of 10 ASUS ZenFone 2 Devices From Droid Life and ASUS

Contest

Cheers to ASUS for providing the prizes for our winners. Be sure to check out the MyZen by ASUS blog for all things ASUS.

Related Stories

T-Mobile Gives 3 Months of Unlimited Data to All Simple Choice Subscribers

Via: T-Mobile

Related Stories

Buy a OnePlus 2 Without an Invite Starting November 27 Through November 30

Via: @OnePlus

Related Stories

Here are Samsung’s Black Friday 2015 Deals

Related Stories

Here are Sprint’s Black Friday 2015 Deals

Via: Sprint

Related Stories

Google Awakens the Force With Star Wars Themes for Apps, Includes Gmail and Maps

Via: reddit

Related Stories

Here are Verizon’s Black Friday 2015 Deals

Via: Verizon (pdf)

Related Stories

Android Studio 2.0 Previewed, Includes “Instant Run” and GPU Profiler

Via: Android Developers

Related Stories

Square’s New Reader Takes NFC Mobile Payments, Launches Today

Via: Square

Related Stories

DEAL: $45 for 128GB SanDisk MicroSD, Plus 60% Off Others

Related Stories

Samsung Pay Adds Chase, Another Handful of Cards, and Gives Out $100 Coupon for Signing Up

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