Google is now rolling out a big update to Google Photos that enhances its sharing capabilities and adds some new movie concepts. The app will now let you share a collection of photos and videos to multiple people (and multiple services) at once. Google has also added a "They Grow Up So Fast" movie concept, and says a couple more will be added this week.
Google announced and launched the preview of Android Studio 2.2 back at Google I/O earlier this year. And now the final, stable version is available for everyone. Along with support for the latest Android 7.0 Nougat features, Android Studio 2.2 also adds features like an APK analyzer, enhanced Layout Inspector, expanded code analysis, IntelliJ's 2016.1.3 features and much more.
Google's new itinerary app had some screenshots leaked back in April of this year. Shortly after that, Google started inviting some of their Local Guides to test the app. After a few months of closed beta testing, Google Trips is now available for the public. The app lets you download map data for offline viewing, groups together sites you want to see and much more.
The Pixel and the Pixel XL have been rumored for launch on the 4th of October, and now, Google has confirmed a phone-centric event for the same date. The minimalistic teaser starts off with a search bar and slowly transforms into the silhouette of the phone. The short url mentioned in the video description gets redirected to madeby.google.com.
It doesn't take much to join the dots here — This is phone hardware that is coming in from Google, aka the new Pixel phones that will be launched instead of Nexus phones this year. What is interesting is that this teaser was aired on several prominent television channels in USA, and close to prime times, indicating that Google is pushing the devices much more aggressively than it has any prior phone before these.
Google will be hosting the event on 4th October at 9am in San Francisco, and going by all the clues so far, the Pixel will be marketed as the first phones to be heavily influenced by Google.
The news does not stop here though. Before Google announced the event, series of new information flowed regarding the new devices.
First, one of the Pixel devices made an appearance in a Nest advertisement aired in the Netherlands.
The phone that is used in the ad matches the renders of the device and the leaked front assembly. It is not clear which of the two Pixel phones is shown here, but seeing that both the Pixel are essentially the same design in different dimensions, that should not be a surprise.
Next, the Pixel devices, both of them, had a few live images leaked. The phones are showed off side by side, and you can make out the metallic body of the devices along with the half-glass backs.
The front of the device is also pictured, and again, it matches all that we have seen so far, including the balanced-but-large front bezels. The Pixel XL is shown to have a standard lockscreen setup, but the smaller Pixel is in middle of booting up, showing the rumored-but-assumed-fake new bootanimation on the devices. You can find a video of the bootanimation here, and yes, it does look like Angry Bees.
The last bit of information is related to the crucial, selling points of the device: the price. AndroidPolice mentions the pricing of the smaller, 5″ Pixel could begin at $649. This price is speculated for the 32GB variant of the smallest of the two devices, meaning that higher memory options (if they exist) and the larger 5.5″ Pixel XL will cost upwards of this price. The Google Daydream View headset is speculated to be at $80, but things could change closer to launch.
The source mentions that the Pixel will have financing options available from Google, and they won't require Fi, although it is unknown for which markets these financing options will be offered. Additional warranty and accidental damage coverage options will also be available for the phones, rumored at $99 for the Pixel and $119 for the Pixel XL. The phones are likely to be sold via the Google Store, and interestingly, Verizon is rumored to be an exclusive retail partner for selling the Pixels in physical stores in the States.
AndroidPolice does give it a lower confidence rating than it did with the renders that they released. So the pricing can change till the official announcement is made by Google.
The pricing is definitely a shocker, as it is far cry from what the Nexus brand stood for. The Nexus 5 with its base variant of 16GB came at $349 at launch and $399 for the 32GB variant. The Nexus 6P, which is considered one of the first Nexus to cater to a more premium audience, launched at $499 for the 32GB variant. So Google ditching the Nexus branding on these devices and opting for a separate Pixel branding makes some sense from a pricing perspective as these phones in their currently rumored pricing do not resemble Nexus at all.
The Pixel devices are a new territory for Google in more than a few ways. While the pricing is hard to digest, and the design would come off as uninspired, we are still speculating at best at what are parts of a bigger picture. Perhaps there is a grand scheme of things that is only privy to Google right now, or perhaps Google truly does not know what it is doing this year. We will have to wait till the 4th of October to find out.
What are your thoughts on the Pixel and the Pixel XL so far? Let us know in the comments below!
With many companies investing heavily in the Internet of Things, there is no reason developers shouldn't join in with the fun as well. With that in mind, we have teamed up with MediaTek to host a development challenge!
Using the Linkit Smart 7688 and 7688 Duo HDKs and open source platform, developers can add Wi-Fi to any device. This challenge is your opportunity to pitch your proposal for the best IoT app and bring it to life with a LinkIt Smart 7688 or 7688 Duo of your own. We'll be awarding these HDKs to the 15 best app proposals in order to give even first time developers a chance to work with the platform. Developers will then have 5 weeks to implement their ideas at the end of which the best as chosen by xda-developers and MediaTek will receive a Grove Hardware Kit. So without further ado here's how the competition is going to go:
Round 1 (September 19 – October 3, 2016):
1. Developers around the world are invited to submit a proposal for an app they want to build utilizing MediaTek's Linkit Smart 7688 or 7688 Duo before October 3, 2016 (5:00pm Pacific Time).
2. A panel of judges from both XDA and MediaTek will select 15 Finalists, based on the proposal's innovation, ingenuity and originality.
3. The 15 Finalists will each receive one of either the 7688 or 7688 Duo to develop their apps on.
Round 2 (October 3 – December 7, 2016):
1. Finalists have 5 weeks to develop their apps and submit them before December 7, 2016 (5:00pm Pacific Time) for Grand Prize consideration.
2. A panel of judges from both XDA and MediaTek will select 1 Grand Prize winner.
3. The winner will receive a Grove Hardware Kit.
The Grand prize award winner will be announced on December 14, 2016.
To enter the competition all you have to do is fill out the form at the bottom of the page, but to help you get started you can find a playlist with some great tutorials below.
LinkIt Smart 7688 Duo: Documentation
LinkIt Smart 7688: Documentation
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If you are looking at ways to backup a large amount of data from your device to your PC, you can use these adb commands to compress and quickly transfer the backup to your PC!
The controversy surrounding the Galaxy Note 7's battery combustions have shifted the conversation away from the device's merits, a sad state of affairs for one of 2016's biggest releases and some of the best smartphone hardware to ever reach consumer hands.
At XDA, we too were worried about our devices. Most of our Portal staff have already stopped using the Galaxy Note 7, and some of them are initiating the return process to find greener pastures. Portal Editor Daniel Marchena found himself giving up on the Note 7 after his third T-Mobile unit, and Portal Writer Eric Hulse also left the Snapdragon 820 Note 7 behind, in great part due to the performance issues he found. Other members of the XDA Portal Team who haven't voiced their opinion on the website, too, decided to recall their devices. I am the only one left using the Note 7 (making sure to charge it carefully), and while I am also on my third unit, I'd say I found a keeper… if it wasn't for the recall. The reason why I would keep this unit? The Exynos processor, and more specifically, the battery life I am getting.
The tl;dr version of the story is that I am nothing short of surprised. Performance is better with less-frequent lockups than what I experienced on the Snapdragon 820 variant, and the device is responsive enough for day-to-day usage. I still find myself surprised at the relatively fluidity and snappiness of other devices like the Honor 8 and its Kirin 950, which can do simple tasks such as sharing a link without a single hitch. That being said, this Exynos Note 7 hasn't given me the headaches the Snapdragon version gave me and other Portal writers (both of my unites had tens of disabled packages, you can find my current list here), and I've been using it for everything.
These past few days I've had the chance to dump many, many hours of usage on my Note 7 – almost using it as a primary device, barely excluding my Surface – given I have been ill in bed half the time, and working/studying the other half. I've used it for work and play more than I've used any other device — in great part, because no other device could withstand so much usage on my part.
The Exynos Note 7 has so far offered me the best battery life of any smartphone I've used, and I really mean any smartphone. This includes previous Note devices, and also devices that I've modified through Greenify/Amplify, underclocking, and the like in order to maximize endurance. Whereas phones like the OnePlus 3 and Honor 8 offer me around 5 to 5.5 hours of screen-on time throughout a single charge, the Exynos Note 7 is lasting me over 7 hours of screen-on usage throughout a day, or more, despite its battery capacity "only" being higher by 500mAh. This also includes at least one hour of background Youtube or Soundcloud through Chrome while the device is off, plus a few hours on LTE while commuting or walking around campus.
I've never felt comfortable using any other smartphone for so much of my day
With me being sick and in bed, yet still needing to manage, edit, and study, I challenged myself to use the Note 7 almost exclusively — this very article has been drafted on the Note 7, for example. I've never felt more comfortable using any other smartphone for so much of my day, both because of battery life constraints and also lack of features, but the Note 7 managed to work for me, even if many tasks were way less efficient than doing them on a PC. I also managed to prepare for an exam, go over online lecture notes, and more all on the Note (that being said, I am a big fan of OneNote and I handwrite all my math lecture notes and homework, so if there's a phone suitable for my studyflow that's the Note 7). It's also worth noting that battery benchmarks like PCMark do reflect the excellent battery life as well.
| OnePlus 3 | PCMark Work Battery Life |
|---|---|
| Min. Brightness | 12 h 9 m |
| Med. Brightness | 9 h 1 m |
| Max. Brightness | 6 h 39 m |
While I expected to get better results, I didn't realize just how much the change would impact my user experience, either. Knowing that your phone can get you to the end of the day no matter how much you need or want to do on it is a liberating feeling, especially when you can end the day with a third left, not charge overnight, and still make it until noon. My usage consisted mostly of Chrome, plenty of Youtube both in the foreground and especially in the background, Relay for Reddit, Hangouts (including voice and video calls), OneNote, and some light gaming with Pixel Dungeon to round it out. Much of this usage was done on multi-window, too, particularly when practicing for an exam. While the Exynos Note 7 gets noticeably less signal, I haven't felt any LTE performance issues and I've been able to use the device while on data just fine.
Rumors have it that Samsung could go Exynos-only moving forward as their Exynos-powered S9 is expected to support CDMA networks; given the current delta between the Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8890 variants as well as the evolution of Exynos and Qualcomm's prospects, I'd say this is the way to go for Galaxy flagships. By avoiding the hot mess that the Snapdragon 810 was, Samsung managed to put their silicon prowess under the spotlight. Current benchmarks, analysis and even user reports (like this one) put the Exynos variant ahead, and while this trend might reverse in the near future, enthusiasts are justified in conceiving the Exynos variants of current Galaxy flagships as the superior versions. While the Snapdragon 820 version is still a rather solid device, I see that my current unit trumps the ones I've had before. I can't say whether all of that is due to the difference in processors — keep in mind that the software Samsung puts on the international variant and what's commissioned by T-Mobile are very different, even in terms of System UI elements. What I can say, though, is that the experience feels intrinsically different, even if not too different, and that benchmarks and tests reflect the processor plays a role in that differential.
Having to recall this phone is, frankly, very saddening. While I don't feel quite the enthusiasm I had for devices like the Nexus 6P or OnePlus 3, this is a damn good phone for day-to-day life. The battery life I am getting out of this device is frankly astounding, and more like something I'd expect out of cheaper phones with massive batteries and power-efficient A53 core setups. Even if Samsung were to cap the battery capacity at 60% through an OTA like it was suggested, it'd still outperform many flagships in battery life (at least when judging from my particular unit under my usage patterns).
Samsung moving to Exynos-only processors would be an idea I would have loathed a few years back and as an XDA user — to us, Exynos reminds us of the lack of AOSP on such powerful devices. But in the past year, we've seen their Snapdragon variants be even less developer-friendly than ever before, with AOSP ROMs seeming all but likely on the variants that traditionally had many options going for them. Now that their Snapdragon variants have been compromised, pushing for Exynos-only Notes wouldn't change their custom ROM situation with all other factors remaining equal. While I still cannot recommend the Note 7 to an XDA user who wants to be in full control of their phone, it's impossibly hard to ignore that this is ultimately a very good consumer device when putting the recall drama and explosion jokes aside. I know it's not a phone I'd personally own exclusively given my situation as a flashaholic in recovery, but if I do end up getting another Galaxy phone next year, I'd want it to be Exynos.
Would you prefer that Samsung went Exynos-only in the future? Let us know your thoughts down below!
