Android News

This week, we talk about Google's RCS rebrand "Chat" and what it means for messaging on Android and iOS, more chatter about the controversy around gesture-based navigation in Android, Google potentially acquiring Nokia Health, and much more. Alphabet Scoop is available on Google Play ,  iTunes and Apple's Podcasts app , and through our dedicated RSS feed  for Pocket Casts and other podcast players. https://9to5google.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/alphabet-scoop-006.mp3 Everyone can use an Echo Dot: Just $50! New episodes of Alphabet Scoop are recorded every Friday and published on Saturday mornings. Subscribe to our podcast in Google Play or your favorite podcast player to guarantee new episodes are delivered as soon as they're available. Hosts: Links: Here's Android P's new navigation and Recents multitasking UI — and how it works [Gallery]   'Chat' is the name of Google's RCS-based iMessage al

Team Win Recovery Project, which you probably know as TWRP, is the most popular custom recovery around. The open-source project makes it easy to flash custom software, including custom ROMs, on your phone. Since our last update a couple weeks ago , TWRP has added support for a handful of other devices, including the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 and Moto E4 Plus. Here's the list of devices that recently got TWRP support: Motorola Moto Z Play 2016 ( addison ) Motorola Moto E4 Plus ( nicklaus ) Telekom Puls ( ttab ) Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 ( chiron ) You can download TWRP for these newly added devices using the links above, or you can download the TWRP app from the widget below. Read More TWRP now supports Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, Moto E4 Plus, and more was written by the awesome team at Android Police . #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

Sing along with your favorite tunes in the shower with these great speakers. If you're sick of belting out your favorite tunes in the shower a cappella you may want to consider getting a speaker to use in the shower. We've compiled a list of the best shower speakers you can find to help you sing like nobody's listening. UE Wonderboom Polk Audio BOOM Swimmer Photive Hydra SoundBot SB510 UE Roll 2 Fugoo Sport UE Boom 2 Sbode Bluetooth Speaker UE Wonderboom UE's latest water-resistant Bluetooth speaker is cute as a button! The Wonderboom is a compact Bluetooth speaker with big sound, a lovely design, and an IPX7 rating, meaning it can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water for 30 minutes — it's perfect for the shower. I've been testing this speaker and have been very impressed with its low end. The bass is surprisingly warm for such a small unit, and its size, again, is perfect for the shower. Given its size, the Wonderboom

Verizon is performing a little magic on its variant of the LG V30. They are waving a magic wand (borrowed from Harry Potter, of course) and turning the LG V30 into the LG V30 ThinQ. The update, which carries software version VS99620b, adds AI CAM to the handset's camera. This allows the camera to analyze the subject and recommend one of four filters available. Each filter optimizes certain settings like contrast, saturation and color. these recommendations are made after the AI CAM places the subject of a photograph into one of eight different categories such as "people, pets, food, flowers, city, ... #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

The last several weeks have seen numerous leaks and rumors about the upcoming LG G7 ThinQ, and with the phone's official debut expected on May 2nd more concrete details are surfacing, including LG's confirmation of the name. The latest tidbit is that one of the G7 ThinQ's hardware buttons will have a sole purpose of activating the voice-powered Google Assistant. … Continue reading #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

Google's decision to launch the Chat messaging service without end-to-end encryption shows utter contempt for the privacy of Android users, Amnesty said. #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

Samsung Galaxy C7 Pro has received a price drop in India, going from Rs. 24,900 to Rs. 22,400. #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

BLUBOO has just announced that the BLUBOO S3 is once again available for $149.99 on Banggood. That handset was actually announced quite recently by the company, and BLUBOO decided to sell the first 1,000 units for only $149.99 ($50 off), well, those first 1,000 pieces actually sold out really fast, says the company, within the first few hours, so BLUBOO has decided to offer another batch of 1,000 units for $149.99. If you're interested in grabbing the device at this special price, you'll find a link / banner below this article. It is worth noting that you will get a special gift pack along with the phone, which is worth $50 on its own. You will get a Tye-C to 3.5mm port dongle, OTG adapter, a 3-in-1 Type-C charging cable, a case for the device, and a screen protector. Having said that, the company has also released a new promo video for the device, in the video which is embedded down below, you will be able to take a closer look at the BLUBOO S3, its retail box, and the in

For the second time this week, Twitter users around world on Friday faced difficulties in sharing their thoughts on the microblogging platform. #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

Huawei wants its next AI-powered voice assistant to be more aware of human emotions. #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

Facebook's attempt to limit fallout from a massive data breach hit trouble in Germany on Friday as a privacy watchdog opened a case against it. #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

London's Transport Commissioner Mike Brown met Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi in January, a freedom of information request revealed. #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

The new video editor in Google Photos brings simpler UI and more advanced tools to the app. #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

Without a good fit on your head, your PlayStation VR experience won't be too enjoyable. Despite its somewhat odd shape, the PlayStation VR headset is extremely comfortable. It's fairly lightweight and designed so that the weight it does have is spread evenly between the back and front of the head. It's unlike other headsets like HTC Vive and Oculus Rift , which strap on in more of a 'ski mask' fashion. But that doesn't mean you can just jump in and everything is hunky dory. Central to your overall enjoyment is being comfortable in the headset and that it's focused properly. The moving parts on PlayStation VR link comfort and focus together, so here's what you need to know to get the best of both. How to adjust the PlayStation VR There are two buttons relating to the adjustment of the headset. One on the rear of the headband and the focus adjust button on the bottom right-hand corner of the visor. The headband has some elasticity to it

In the personal assistance arms race, the two real options for Android users are Google's Assistant and Amazon's Alexa, and both companies have realized that victory will require ubiquity—not as the final result, but as the means. To that end, each has opened its platform up for third-party hardware, and Sony's (un)imaginatively named LF-S50G takes advantage of Google's Assistant in the same way the first party Google Home does, seasoned with a few unique features like gesture controls and a clock. At around $200, though, I don't think Sony's speaker is worth the extra cash for most people over the $130 Google Home, unless you have particular requirements. They say that there aren't any bad products, just bad prices, and $200 is a lot to pay for an Assistant-powered speaker—especially one of just 8 watts. The extra $70 here only gets you a middling subwoofer, clock, and mediocre gesture controls. So while the LF-S50G does get a lot louder than

Asking your Google Home smart speaker to set an alarm or reminder is a rudimentary use case for those devices . But it seems some users recently found that their Google Home failed to sound alarms and reminders that were set. Now Google is saying that a fix has been rolled out and those functions are working again. A few users in the Google Home Help Forum brought up the issue, saying they used their voice to set alarms or reminders on their Google Home and received an audible confirmation. However, no sound played when the alarms or reminders were supposed to go off. When some users asked their Google Home what alarms had been set, they were told that no alarms were set; another user said his Google Home told him he had an alarm set and that it was currently going off, though it was not. One user said retraining her Google Home's voice recognition seemed to resolve the issue with alarms, but that wasn't an official fix. Paula from Google chimed in on Frid

There are as many home screens as there are people, and what you keep on yours speaks volume about you. Some home screens are completely covered by apps, and some home screens are completely empty. Some home screens are all business, and some are devoted to pleasure and distraction. We at Android Central use our phones quite heavily, and so our home screens are a testament to our workflows, habits, and styles. They've evolved over our years on the platform, from phone to phone, launcher to launcher. And so, we're going to share that evolution with you. Daniel Bader I like to keep my home screen focused on the apps and information that I need most often. It took me a few years, but the core group of apps revolves around what matters to me on a typical day: news, work-related and otherwise (Newsblur, Twitter); my work (Slack and Newton); my friends and family (Hangouts, Instagram); my audio (Spotify, Pocket Casts), and my camera (Google Photos). The more time I sp