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Monday, December 21, 2015

Unlocked HTC One A9 and Moto X Line Proving Again Why Unlocked Phones are King

Buy unlocked phones. Please. If you want software updates the quickest, this is your best bet. It’s also going to aid in shutting up Apple tools fans in the future, but that’s not what this is about. This is about you getting updates to the newest versions of Android the fastest, so that you can experience new features and have the latest security patches. This is about you not bitching in comments across the web. This is about you not wondering 8 months from now, “What’s new in Marshmallow?” This is about you not having to deal with companies cutting off your phone’s software support in less than a year. This is probably about freedom, or something. Toss in a “‘Merica!” as well, because why not. 

If you need proof as to why unlocked phones fix many of those problems and bring you happiness, look no further than HTC and Motorola’s unlocked, carrier-free phones. Man, f*ck carriers, actually. Their excuses for holding up software updates because they are worried about their networks and the experiences on them is such horsesh*t. I don’t think anyone’s Nexus or Moto X or Moto X Pure or HTC One M9 or One A9 or One M8, for that matter, or unlocked S6 or Note 5 are killing anyone’s network. How about all of those millions upon millions of iPhones that Apple updates directly – are they killing your networks, careful little carriers?

Anyways, back to the actual topic here, which is why unlocked phones like the HTC One A9 or Moto X Pure Edition (or Nexus phones too) are continuing to prove why they are the phones you should be buying. We’ll leave Nexus phones out for a moment, because we know that Google gives them updates in a hurry and have documented plenty of times why we love them. This is about the One A9 and Moto X Pure, both of which already have Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Hell, you can even throw in last year’s Moto X (2nd Gen) “Pure Edition,” because it started getting Android 6.0 today. Outside of the LG G4 on Sprint, and Nexus devices, these are on the only phones running Marshmallow!

You know why these phones have Marshmallow before anyone else? Because the manufacturers of them don’t have to go through ridiculously long carrier testing periods (or wait in dozen long device lines) to get approval on these updates! They control them. They control the software that rolls out to them. They also control the pricing. This is why we love unlocked phones so much. This is why we’ll continue to buy them. This is why we’ll continue to hope that the Moto X Pure Edition and One A9 can be successes, at least on some level.

Seriously, go buy unlocked phones and enjoy a life full of software updates.

Unlocked HTC One A9 and Moto X Line Proving Again Why Unlocked Phones are King is a post from: Droid Life



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Droid Life Q&A Sessions: Volume 35

It may be dead right now, but come January, there will be a whole lot happening in the Android world. With CES kicking off in early January, followed by MWC and events from all of the top OEMs, we have a whole lot to look forward to. With that in mind, let’s talk about what’s to come.

The QA Sessions are your opportunity to ask the DL staff whatever may be on your mind, concerning Android, or anything else that might be on your mind. We can share our thoughts on Star Wars (no spoilers, please), or even the ridiculous Carolina Panthers. As always, virtually everything is fair game.

Given it’s a holiday week, we will post our answers for this volume next Monday. 

To see all of our previous Q&A’s, check them out here.

Droid Life Q&A Sessions: Volume 35 is a post from: Droid Life



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Moto X (2nd Gen) “Pure Edition” Gets Marshmallow Update!

If you own the Moto X (2nd Gen) “Pure Edition,” which also happens to be model XT1095, you should head into Settings and check for an update right now. I did, as did a couple of our readers, and we are seeing the update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Just look at that image above for proof. 

The update weighs in as an 884.4MB file, so make sure WiFi is on or you have a good amount of data in your data plan. Once finished updating, your phone should be on system or software version 24.11.18.

Then, start enjoying Doze, Google Now on Tap, and all of the other goodies baked in to Android 6.0.

Cheers eric!

Moto X (2nd Gen) “Pure Edition” Gets Marshmallow Update! is a post from: Droid Life



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Nexus 6P Hits Best Buy and Sells Out, But Amazon Has It

Just as a report said it would, the Nexus 6P officially hit Best Buy this week, but as of right now, the device is listed at “sold out” online. Once the device is listed as available, Best Buy will be another place, besides the Google Store, where you can purchase the phone. And for those who need to hold a phone before they buy, this should also mean that Best Buy will have units in-store at some point for fondling.

If waiting on Best Buy is no good, Amazon is now also listing the device in-stock, ready for your purchase. Amazon has the Aluminium and Graphite model available, but a few of the storage options are out of stock. 

Best Buy appears to only have a 64GB model online, priced at $499.

Best Buy Link | Amazon Link

Nexus 6P Hits Best Buy and Sells Out, But Amazon Has It is a post from: Droid Life



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Action Launcher 3 Gets Big Update – Smartsize Icons, Quickedit With Icon Pack Suggestions, More

Action Launcher 3, the third party launcher best enjoyed after watching Crocodile Dundee, received a major update today with not only “boatloads” of bug fixes, but a bunch of new features as well. In the update, Chris Lacy and his accent are introducing a Quickedit menu for icons from the home screen, Smartsize for icon resizing, image cropping, support for Marshmallow’s permission system, and more. 

The biggest new feature is likely Quickedit, which is a menu that pops up after long-pressing on an icon. This new menu allows you to quickly uninstall, edit the label, or find app info, but if you are an icon junky like us, you’ll probably care more about its quick icon changing access. With the menu accessed, a swipe up shows you all sorts of icon suggestions pulled from your installed icon packs. In other words, you no longer have to go into an icon screen or an icon pack to quickly change icons to whatever style of theme you are looking for. The video below shows this quite well.

With Smartsize, you get automatically resizing of icons to fit the Material Design grid, since icon designers from different apps all suck, and can’t find common ground.

The rest of the changes are as follows:

  • Smartsize icons (Beta): icons automatically resize to fit in the Material Design icon grid.
  • Bundled Google Calendar icons that display the correct day for each day of the month.
  • A bundled Marshmallow icon pack (handy when on non-Nexus devices).
  • Support for Marshmallow’s permission system.
  • Support for Marshmallow’s ‘reveal’ app launch anim (requires Marshmallow).
  • Completely overhauled icon picker.
  • Image crop functionality.
  • The free version of the app can now apply icon packs.
  • Introduction of Supporter pack, allowing people who have long-since purchased the app the option of making another purchase.
  • A boatload of bug fixes.

Play Link

Action Launcher 3 Gets Big Update – Smartsize Icons, Quickedit With Icon Pack Suggestions, More is a post from: Droid Life



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Marshmallow Update Now Available for NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet K1

NVIDIA continues its streak of timely updates for its hardware to the latest versions of Android, the most recent being the SHIELD Tablet K1. The Marshmallow update, which was promised for December, is now available to all owners, bringing the tablet up to Android 6.0.

Inside, given this is Marshmallow, there are plenty of changes. Owners can now use the Doze feature, Now on Tap, adoptable storage, an updated camera app from NVIDIA, and tons more.

Take a look below at all of the changes, then head into your settings and check for the update, if you have not already been notified.

What’s News

  • NVIDIA SHIELD Camera – New UI inspired by Material Design, improved burst photo functionality, Adds new real-time HD Image Effects
  • Now on Tap – Quickly find information related to what you are seeing on the screen, also from inside an app
  • Adoptable Storage – MicroSD cards can be integrated with main internal storage, auto managed by system
  • User Interface Upgrades – Personalize Home & Lock screens with different wallpapers, new NVIDIA wallpapers, Personalize Quick Settings menu, add/remove, rearrange toggles, Google Now voice commands can be launched from lock screen
  • Improved App Permissions – Permissions are now managed centrally
  • Power Consumption – App Standby power improvements, Improved BT Low Energy scanning power efficiency
Via: NVIDIA

Marshmallow Update Now Available for NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet K1 is a post from: Droid Life



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OnePlus Sending Out OxygenOS 2.2.0 to OnePlus 2

An update for the OnePlus 2 is rolling out this week, OxygenOS 2.2.0. Inside, OnePlus has baked in a lot of bug fixes and a few new features. For what’s new, OnePlus has added in a few holiday wallpapers, fixes for Google Camera, security patches, and added NTFS and exFAT support for OTG. 

In addition, users can now manually adjust the temperature of the screen through quick settings, and a fix for dual-SIM preference selection issues has been placed inside of the settings menu.

As noted by OnePlus, the update is rolling out incrementally, so if you do not receive it today, be patient.

What’s New

  • Fixed dual SIM preference selection issues in settings
  • Added NTFS and exFAT support for OTG
  • Fixed Google Camera photo-sphere and panorama bugs
  • Screen temperature can now be adjusted from quick settings
  • Added hide search bar option in launcher settings
  • Security patches
  • Holiday wallpapers
  • General bug fixes and optimizations
Via: OnePlus

OnePlus Sending Out OxygenOS 2.2.0 to OnePlus 2 is a post from: Droid Life



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Buy a Samsung Galaxy Phone, Sign-Up for Samsung Pay, and Get $200 Back

Samsung really wants you to sign-up for Samsung Pay. They will do almost anything to get you to do so, including handing you a $200 gift voucher and the chance to win a $23,000 football-related package that includes airfare to San Francisco, plus hotel for four nights, and VIP entrance into a pre-Super Bowl VIP party. 

In the latest of many Samsung Pay promotions, Samsung says that if you buy a Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S6 edge, Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+, Samsung Galaxy S6 Active or Samsung Galaxy Note 5 from now until January 20, then sign-up for Samsung Pay with a compatible card (list of cards), you’ll be eligible for those offers. First, if you buy a phone and are able to sign-up for Samsung Pay, you get a $200 gift voucher to spend at Samsung no matter what. But by doing all of that, you also get entered in to win that football package I just mentioned, worth up to $23K.

There are all sorts of rules here, though, so if you want to buy a Samsung phone and have a card that works with Samsung Pay, you’ll want to hit up that link below and read it all.

As a reminder, one of our readers who took advantage of this, mentioned that he went the T-Mobile route, since they are offering deals like the 128GB model of Samsung phones for the price of the 64GB model. Not only that, they are also giving away Netflix for a year. So if you do buy now, you could get yourself into some pretty heavy discounts.

Details below.

Samsung Promo Link

Cheers Dave!

Buy a Samsung Galaxy Phone, Sign-Up for Samsung Pay, and Get $200 Back is a post from: Droid Life



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Popular Apps and Games on Sale Through Google Play for Holidays

Already done shopping for the ones you love? Then it’s time to spoil yourself. This holiday week, Google Play has a few apps and games currently on sale, a few with huge savings attached. For a limited time, you can pick up Star Wars Pinball 3 for only $0.10, and Rayman Fiesta Run is listed at only $0.25.

The Goat Simulator series is listed at $0.99 a pop, and both Lara Croft GO and Hitman GO are down to $0.99, too. Even better, Hitman: Sniper is available for $0.50, which is a crazy-good deal.

See the full list below. 

App Sales

Happy holidays, gamers.

Popular Apps and Games on Sale Through Google Play for Holidays is a post from: Droid Life



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DEAL: Nexus 6 32GB Drops to $249 at Amazon, 64GB to $299

Google decided that a couple of weeks ago, it would end sales of the Nexus 6 by taking it away from the Google Store. That tends to happen each year when Nexus phones are about a year old and Google has newer products it would rather you buy. Thing is, that doesn’t mean these products can’t still be found elsewhere at incredible prices. The Nexus 7 (2013) can still be purchased here and there for rock bottom prices and it’s still getting updated! It has Marshmallow! The Nexus 6 will likely continue on thriving in the same way for years to come, even though Google is no longer selling it.

So when you see deals like today’s at Amazon and you are need of a quality, quality smartphone at a hell of a price, you shouldn’t even hesitate about jumping on it. The Nexus 6 is currently $249 at Amazon for the 32GB model and $299 for the 64GB model. Remember, this phone originally retailed for $649. That’s a hefty discount.

Amazon Link

DEAL: Nexus 6 32GB Drops to $249 at Amazon, 64GB to $299 is a post from: Droid Life



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