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Friday, May 6, 2016

Don’t Miss These Android Stories: May 6, 2016

Before you head into the weekend or as you consume the weekend, we have the top stories of the week for you below to catch up on. That’s right, we love you so much, we left out all of the fluff to help you gobble up all of the stuff that actually matters.

You will find the latest episode of the DL Show, check in on how everyone’s S7 and S7 Edge are holding up after two months, see why the LG G5 is still a decent option, and deal with our thoughts on the Huawei P9. Other stories include highlights of the new Google Keyboard 5.0, Galaxy S7 Active, new Samsung Pay banks, and LG’s new button-less fingerprint reader.

Enjoy! 

Pallet Jack is my current favorite beer.

Don’t Miss These Android Stories: May 6, 2016 is a post from: Droid Life



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Google Opinion Rewards, an App You Better Have Installed if You Like Free Money, Got an Update Today

One of our favorite apps of all time, Google Opinion Rewards, received an update today, which means we have an excuse to talk about it and remind you that using it is a probably a good thing. The update introduces availability to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, in case you were wondering, along with a slightly different UI that may even have been a server-side switch.

What is Google Opinion Rewards? It’s an app that wants to give you free money (in the form of Google Play credits) to spend by asking you to answer short 1-4 or 5 question surveys. It probably – because it’s tied to Google and your Google accounts – knows far too much about you and may creep you out with some surveys, especially the location-based ones, but it’s worth it for most of us who don’t mind a little Google stalking. In a few years worth of surveys, between two accounts, I’ve totaled over $50 in Play credits. Some of our readers have hit much higher numbers than that. See for yourself. 

The surveys are often very short, some even only a question or two long. I typically get surveys that are based on places I have visited in the past, asking if I would rate the place. Some people see surveys related to upcoming or future products as well. It’s also kind of fun to see how much you get paid for each short questionnaire.

So yeah, if you don’t mind feeding Google and its advertisers even more of your life’s info to earn some free credits, be sure to download this.

Play Link

Google Opinion Rewards, an App You Better Have Installed if You Like Free Money, Got an Update Today is a post from: Droid Life



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WhatsApp Update With Quick Reply, Other Features Exits Beta

Back in late March, the beta for WhatsApp received a sizable update, one that included quick reply from notifications, wallpapers for chats and multiple contact selection. At last, that update is now rolling out to everyone, exiting the beta stage.

As previously stated, this update includes a quick reply feature, allowing users to rapidly reply to incoming messages directly from the notification pulldown. Additionally, users now have a few color choices to choose from to revamp the look of their chat windows, as well as quickly add photos or video from your camera roll by tapping the quick camera button. 

For those who want to get in on the WhatsApp beta action, you can sign yourself up right here. Simply click, “Become Tester,” then download from Google Play. Super easy.

Here’s the complete changelog.

What’s New

  • Reply to new messages right from notifications
  • Tapping the quick camera button in a chat lets you pick a photo or video from your camera roll
  • Pick from a set of solid colors for your chat wallpaper
  • Quickly archive, delete, or mute multiple chats at once. Just tap and hold a chat in the chats tab and tap on other chats to select them.
  • Format text in your messages by surrounding your text with special characters: *bold*, _italics_, or ~strikethrough~

Play Link

WhatsApp Update With Quick Reply, Other Features Exits Beta is a post from: Droid Life



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The Droid Life Show: Episode 108 – HTC Nexus?

We took last week off from the Droid Life Show to recover from weeks and weeks of smartphone reviews in a row, but are back this week to catch up before we get to Google I/O. So on this episode (108), we’ll walk through the latest Nexus rumors involving HTC and a couple of codenames. We’ll also talk about why we think it’s a mistake to buy DROID phones at Verizon, check in on your Galaxy S7 after two months, talk must-have smartphone features, and share initial impressions of the Huawei P9.

Join us at 1:00PM Pacific (4:00PM Eastern) for the fun.

If you miss us live, feel free to subscribe to us by following one of the links below. We have a video embed as well and will be chatting it up over at the YouTube page for the show. You can find it here.  

Subscribe | Google Play | iTunes | Stitcher | Show Page

The Droid Life Show: Episode 108 – HTC Nexus? is a post from: Droid Life



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DEAL: All Samsung Gear S2 Models are $50 Off at Best Buy and Amazon

Need a smartwatch? How about one of Samsung’s Gear S2 models? As of today, the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic have been discounted by $50 at Best Buy and Amazon. And we are talking about all models, including the new platinum and rose gold Classics.

At a $50 discount, you can get into the regular Gear S2 for $249, the Classic for $299, or the platinum and rose gold Classic versions for $399.

Months ago, when the Gear S2 was first released, I spent a good amount of time with it to see if it could become my smartwatch of choice. While I prefer Android Wear devices to Samsung’s wearables, there is no denying the attractive hardware here, really cool rotating bezel, and somewhat robust software experience. If anything, the Gear S2 is a solid alternative to Android Wear.

Amazon Link | Best Buy Link

DEAL: All Samsung Gear S2 Models are $50 Off at Best Buy and Amazon is a post from: Droid Life



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Question of the Day: How is Your Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge Holding Up?

We are closing in on the two month anniversary – if you can believe that – of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge launch. That means you have all had a substantial amount of daily usage to weigh in on whether or not you made the right decision in buying one. You have spent days and nights, dates and couch surfing sessions, travel and backyard BBQs, all with the S7 or S7 Edge by your side. At this point, you probably should have done it all.

So now it’s time to share your thoughts.

Has your phone maintained day one or week one performance? Is battery life good or bad or just OK? Are you satisfied with the camera? Has Samsung’s TouchWiz lived up to its “jank” reputation of slowing down a high-end phone after just a short amount of time? How has the glass held up on the front and back?

How is your Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge holding up?

Question of the Day: How is Your Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge Holding Up? is a post from: Droid Life



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LG G5 and V10 Certified for Enterprise and Military Use

Thanks to LG’s Guarded Access to Enterprise — better known as GATE — the G5 and V10 have been certified for use in fields that require top-notch security, enterprise and military. Certified by the U.S. National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP, for short), both devices meet the international standards for security in corporate environments. 

LG GATE offers enhanced platform, network, and application security that allows for “secure, reliable” access to enterprise data. Developed in 2013, GATE’s promise is to provide a variety of security solutions, such as anti-hacking, on top of mobile device management. Featuring layered security components, corporate data is safeguarded, but no system performance is compromised. More simply, your sensitive data is kept very safe, but your smartphone won’t feel sluggish while jumping through the various security hoops.

On top of GATE, both G5 and V10 feature Google’s Android for Work, which separates work apps from personal apps. Android for Work is primarily managed by a corporation’s IT sector, but it allows for users to have work profiles associated with a smartphone that offers enhanced security when using specific applications. Android for Work features default encryption and enhanced SELinux security enforcement.

The NIAP certification is recognized by 25 Common Criteria member countries, including Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, and the UK.

Long gone are the days where all government peeps rocked BackBerry devices.

Via: LG

LG G5 and V10 Certified for Enterprise and Military Use is a post from: Droid Life



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Check It Out, This Could be the Galaxy S7 Active on Its Way to AT&T

A little over a month ago, we talked about the idea of there being a Samsung Galaxy S7 Active, not only because Samsung mentioned the device in a listing for one of their apps, but because this is a long-running line of exclusive phones for AT&T that makes a lot of sense. It’s a pretty brilliant product idea (super high-end rugged phone) that should live on, even if we do all hate the fact that you can’t get it outside of a single carrier.

Today, thanks to a leak out of a Vietnamese Samsung-focused site, we get what might be our first look at the phone. As you probably expected, it’s rugged as hell and has all the camo a rugged person could ask for. 

Like last year’s Galaxy S6 Active (our review) and phones before it, we see a similar design with hefty exterior padding, camo back plate, separate “Action” button above the volume rocker, and that three-button setup on the front, all of which are physical. There is certainly a good amount of thickness here, but that’s also not new, as the Active line tends to sport larger batteries than its leaner cousins and needs padding for when you drop hammers on it or run it over with dump trucks. Other than that, there isn’t much to see.

galaxy s7 active att galaxy s7 active att galaxy s7 active att

I think we are all still assuming that this phone will carry identical specs to the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge, meaning QHD display, Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB RAM, 12MP Dual Pixel camera, IP68 water/dust resistance, etc. On top of that, the phone should be shock resistance as well.

Is this a phone on your radar?

Via: SamsungVN

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Verizon Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge Get Updates With Various “Improvements”

Verizon approved an update this morning for its variants of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge as software version VRU2APD2. The update includes both security patches and “improvements to various settings and features.” None of those improvements seems to be of the headline variety, but they are worth being aware of.

Verizon and Samsung added a reminder as you open or close the SIM tray to make sure it isn’t left open, you know, for water resistance reasons. They made it “easier” to check individual app performance, added clearer instructions for turning on/off Always on Display, tossed in a “Roaming” title for dual clocks in different time zones, fixed some bugs, and got rid of those silly multiple SD card pop-up notifications. Specific to the S7 Edge, the Calendar Edge panel also now shows a quick glance of upcoming events and their location info.

To check for the update, head into Settings>About phone>Software updates.

Via:  Verizon [2]

Verizon Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge Get Updates With Various “Improvements” is a post from: Droid Life



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