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Thursday, December 17, 2015

Customize Threads With Colors and Emoji on Facebook Messenger With Latest Update

It seems Facebook has been hard at work adding new features into the Messenger app this week, and the latest additions are custom colors and emoji for your individual chats. Now, if you want a custom color for your conversations, you can set a theme from inside of the chat’s settings.

For example, you will normally see the standard blue theme for Facebook, but you can now set red, green, purple, and many other colors as a chat’s theme. A custom theme can be set on each of your conversations, perfect for customizing what you see when talking to different people. 

Not only can you set custom colors, but you can set custom emoji. As shown in the header image above, I set one of my chats to show a poo emoji. With that emoji set, whenever I open that chat, I will always see poo. Fantastic.

These changes are now live via Google Play, so if you use Chat Heads and Messenger as much as I do, go grab it.

Play Link

Customize Threads With Colors and Emoji on Facebook Messenger With Latest Update is a post from: Droid Life



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Qualcomm Renames and “Repositions” Snapdragon 618 and 620 Chipsets

What happens when a couple of your best processors get lost in the world of model numbers with a few chipsets that aren’t so cutting edge? You “reposition” them with new model numbers. Meet the Snapdragon 650 and Snapdragon 652 from Qualcomm, the artists formerly known as the Snapdragon 618 and 620 respectively. 

In an effort to “reflect advanced performance” that these two processors are capable of, Qualcomm has decided to change the model numbers. Qualcomm points out that features like 4K Ultra HD video recording, high-resolution still photography, and advanced 4G LTE capabilities were things that the 618 and 620 chips handled much better than its brethren in the 600 series of chips.

Because of this, Qualcomm felt the need to distinguish these two chips with a higher position within the Snapdragon 600 tier.

We’ve been developing the Snapdragon 652 and Snapdragon 650 processors over the last 12 months, and the superior capabilities and performance positions them well above other processors in this tier.

Not that end consumers outside of readers who you find here at Droid Life would notice much, but in case you hear about a Snapdragon 650 and 652 chip and think, “did they announce something new?,” don’t fret. It’s the same processors, but with a new name.

Via: Qualcomm

Qualcomm Renames and “Repositions” Snapdragon 618 and 620 Chipsets is a post from: Droid Life



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OnePlus Reflects on 2015, Announces OnePlus X Champagne Edition

OnePlus turned two years old today. In a blog on the company’s forum this morning, co-founder Carl Pei wrote a post reflecting on his past two years of shaking up the mobile industry with his company’s core promise to “Never Settle.” If you have been following OnePlus since its inception two years ago, you have probably heard most of what Carl wrote in his reflective post this morning, albeit through some rose-colored lenses.

Highlights include, “bringing consumers premium products at a disruptive price,” when referencing the OnePlus One and following that up with the OnePlus Two’s, “beautiful and premium design, as well as bleeding edge technologies such as USB Type C and fingerprint sensor.” While we loved the OnePlus Two’s fingerprint sensor, it was pointed out after the fact that the USB Type C was less than bleeding edge tech.

Toward the later part of the company’s history, Pei’s promise to continue this industry disruption into next year was still voiced, “In 2016, there is no excuse for any part of OnePlus to not live up to, if not exceed, industry standards,” while saying that his company will still be, “unapologetically OnePlus.”

Deep within the blog post at this point, Pei announced a special Champagne edition of the OnePlus X to celebrate two years of shaking things up. Rollout of this special champagne gold and white edition begins in Europe on December 22. During the weekly open sales it will be a first-come, first-serve basis. But, as always, if you have an invite to the table, you can order one any day after they are made available.

To wrap this all up, OnePlus is making a documentary about their journey over these past two years. The teaser is linked at the bottom of the post and filled with stormy ambiance, voice-over by Carl Pei and an F-bomb. The film should release sometime next year and features the highs and lows of what it’s like to “Never Settle.”

Via: OnePlus

OnePlus Reflects on 2015, Announces OnePlus X Champagne Edition is a post from: Droid Life



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Latest SwiftKey Beta Brings Android 6.0.1 Emoji to Your Fingertips

I have to admit, I was more excited than I should have been when Google finally announced and added the new set of emoji last week for Android 6.0.1. For the large group of our readers that still use SwiftKey as their keyboard of choice, and are running Android 6.0.1, you can rejoice – today’s SwiftKey Beta has added these fresh new emoji.

Since this update is currently rolling out the members of the SwiftKey Beta, you will have to join the group if you want them today. You can sign up for that group on Google Play or by following the link below. Rest assured that, huge bugs aside, all of the SwiftKey community should be seeing this update come to their phones quite soon.

Go forth and send the unicorn emoji to as many friends who will tolerate your spam, but remember you are signing up for the Beta channel. Things can still get wonky every now and then. But again, please note that you need to be running Android 6.0.1 on your device in order to see the new emoji.

Hit up the Beta Forums for the full changelog and bug reports if you have any.

Play Link

Latest SwiftKey Beta Brings Android 6.0.1 Emoji to Your Fingertips is a post from: Droid Life



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Google May Use Online Poll to Name Next Version of Android

A large part of the fun leading up to each new version of Android is figuring out which sweet treat it’s going to be named after. Google’s Sundar Pichai is on a short trip to India, and let a few details slip about what the next version might end up being. According to his statements, we, as in the entire Android community, may get to choose!

During a chat with Indian college and school students, Pichai mentioned that for the next version of Android, Google might host a poll and let the online community decide. If convention holds true, the next version should start with the letter N. Playing a bit to the crowd, Sundar said that if enough of the students in attendance voted, the next version of Android could very well have an Indian name.

Now, this is far from Google officially saying the fate of Android N is in our hands, but it’s an interesting thought. It is pretty easy to see the Internet getting excited about the thought of voting to name the next software version, but since this is the Internet we are talking about, we could also see this going south. What if we all voted for something silly, like Nutter Butter? Wait a minute, Nutter Butters are delicious.

So what do you think? Are we going to get the chance to vote on Android’s future? If we do, my money is on Android Nutella. People go crazy for that stuff.

Via: NDTV

Google May Use Online Poll to Name Next Version of Android is a post from: Droid Life



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Tip: Set a Shortcut to Your Google Reminders After Setting a Reminder

In the most recent update to Google Calendar, Google finally made reminders a centrally functional feature across a variety of Google apps, including Calendar, Inbox, and Keep. Before this update, there was a chance that a reminder set in one app wouldn’t ever make it into another app and your chances of missing it or forgetting about it were likely. While this centralized reminders control is awesome, attempting to find a complete list of reminders, including both current and past, has always been somewhat of a chore. In fact, the only ways I can think of to pull up a list is to say to Google, “View reminders,” set a reminder and then hit the “View reminders” button shown after completion, or swipe into Google Now, then swipe out the side menu and choose “Reminders.” Why there isn’t some sort of dedicated Reminders widget or readily available shortcut is beyond me.

Well, there is actually a shortcut, it just isn’t exactly all that easy to find, from what we can tell. Yesterday, one of readers spotted a prompt to add a home screen shortcut for reminders after he set a reminder. You can see it in the screenshot above and below. 

tap shortcut reminders

To access this shortcut, since it doesn’t appear to be a widget that is listed in the system widgets list that is accessed from your home screen, you need to set a reminder in the Google app. Once that reminder has been set and confirmed, assuming you are running the latest versions of the Google app and Google Now Launcher, you should see a blue bar below your reminder that asks if you want to add a shortcut to your reminders (see above). Tap that button and the shortcut will appear a few seconds later on its own home screen.

Cool, right? Sort of.

This does indeed create a shortcut on your home screen to all of your reminders. By tapping on it, you can see a list of your reminders, both current and old, edit them, refresh them, etc. It’s super handy.

Unfortunately, this shortcut is almost impossible to get on your home screen. As I mentioned above, setting a new reminder seems to trigger this blue box prompt some of the time. It may only show if the Google Now Launcher is your default. It may also only show up a single time before going away. For example, I set it up, then removed it and tried to replicate the process and can no longer get the prompt to display again. It’s not listed as a shortcut or widget in the widgets list. I couldn’t even find it by adding a Nova Launcher shortcut that digs through system shortcut lists.

The only way I could get this box to show up, was to have the GNL as default and set a reminder with my voice in the Google. But again, once I tapped the button once, it never showed up again no matter what I tried.

Anyways, I’ve typed way too much about such a silly little, mostly non-important feature. (“Slow news day, eh, bruh?”) But if you want a shortcut to all of your reminders, this is a way to do it! Woof.

Cheers Andy!

Tip: Set a Shortcut to Your Google Reminders After Setting a Reminder is a post from: Droid Life



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Cut the Rope: Magic Hits Google Play, Om Nom is Back

Om Nom, one of the more adorable characters to ever hit mobile devices, is back in an all new adventure for Android. In Cut the Rope: Magic, Om Nom looks to defeat an evil spider wizard who has stolen all of his candy. For Om Nom, and anyone who cares about his livelihood, this is highly unacceptable and the wizard must be destroyed. 

Cut the Rope: Magic features a “fresh spin” on the physics-puzzle gameplay, with over 100 levels for players to solve. Using magic, Om Nom will even transform into all new forms, such as a baby, bird, fish, and mouse. Was it even possible for Om Nom to get more cute? Apparently, yes.

The game is free to download on Google Play, but does feature a heavy helping of in-app purchases. If you use Amazon Underground, the game is completely free to use, including all of its IAPs. In order to use Amazon Underground, you will need to download the app from here. Once installed, you can find Cut the Rope: Magic, plus all of the other titles offered by Underground.

If Amazon is not your thing, follow the Play link below for Google Play.

Play Link | Amazon Link

Cut the Rope: Magic Hits Google Play, Om Nom is Back is a post from: Droid Life



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Other Google Store Deals: Huawei Watch at $50 Off, Free Overnight Shipping, More

Google hosted some Cyber Weekend deals in the Google Store a couple of weeks ago, but their current crop of last-minute holiday deals might be as good if not better. We shared with you the $50 discount on the Nexus 6P (and 5X, though that has been available for a while) that Google announced yesterday. However, there are more that you should probably know about. 

For one, anything you order from the Google Store comes with free overnight shipping. So anything you order could arrive the next day, depending on the time of order. That includes accessories, Chromecasts, Chromebooks, and of course, Nexus devices. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that Google is about the fastest shipper I’ve dealt with in recent years. Our Pixel C got to us in under 24 hours, as an example.

Outside of the free shipping, the Huawei Watch is $50 off, select Chromebooks are $30 off (plus up to $500 in freebies with purchase), Chromecasts are still discounted, and Google has extended returns through January 22.

Google Store Holiday Deals

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DEAL: Moto X Pure Edition is Just $349 Today Only ($100 Off)

Amazon does deals of the day that are often easily ignored. Today’s deal, is not one of those deals. For today only, Amazon has slashed $100 off the Moto X Pure Edition with 32GB of storage, dropping it down to $349.

For $349, you get a phone that is easily in the top 3 of 2015. Just a month ago, we called it one of the 3 best phones you can buy today. We also gave you 5 reasons to buy the Moto X Pure Edition a couple of weeks ago as well, in case you were still hesitating. Oh, our Moto X Pure review is worth a look too.

The black or white standard models with 32GB storage at $349 (down from $449). The white and bamboo model is $375.

Hurry.

Amazon Link

DEAL: Moto X Pure Edition is Just $349 Today Only ($100 Off) is a post from: Droid Life



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