According to the Samsung wizards at SamMobile, the company has officially entered the firmware testing phase for the Nougat update on the Galaxy S7. What does this mean for us? Sadly, not much, as the company has been hesitant on ever delivering any type of solidified timeframe for when customers can expect to see major updates. On the bright side, something is happening, and that’s never a bad thing. (more…)
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Overly Concerned About Privacy? Allo Isn’t for You
With figures like Edward Snowden and Johns Hopkins’s Matthew Green taking to Twitter this morning, many should be questioning whether Allo is the right messaging service for them. When unveiled at Google I/O earlier this year, Google discussed the level of privacy one could expect from the Allo service, with end-to-end encryption Incognito mode and the transient storing of messages being the highlights. Unfortunately for those who take privacy seriously, Google has not delivered a service that meets these two previously set targets. (more…)
HTC Designer Posts ‘Ocean’ Hardware and Software Concepts by Accident
On a personal website earlier today, a designer at HTC published what appear to be conceptual video clips of what may or may not be an unannounced HTC smartphone. Apparently codenamed Ocean, as titled in the video, the smartphone features no physical buttons, with specific commands being controlled by various taps and slides on the phone’s edges.
After the page was live and circulating around the web for a bit, the owner placed a passcode on the website, not allowing anyone else to view it. Furthermore, the creator, issued a brief statement following the publishing claiming, “this is just a conceptual piece and does not represent any real product from HTC.” Well, we’ll just see about that. (more…)
Search in Google Drive Just Got a Whole Lot Smarter
When currently searching for files inside of Drive, it’s imperative to know what it is you are looking for. Whether it be a random .jpg or other .doc, knowing the exact name will definitely bring you the results you need. However, what if you don’t know the exact name, or you want to accomplish a more broad search. With an updated search feature for Google Drive, you can do just that. (more…)
That Blue Dot in Google Maps Now Shows Your Direction
In a Google Maps update that was first given to beta testers, as we’ve seen it for what seems like a couple of weeks now, the blue dot that indicates your location will now also indicate your direction. Not that this needs to be broken down any further, but let’s break it down for all to understand. (more…)
HTC Unveils Desire 10 Pro and Lifestyle, Not Yet Ready for US Market
The Desire 10 from HTC is now official, after what seems like weeks of teasing. There are two models of the Desire 10, just as we suspected, with launch set to take place outside of the US starting later this month. For fans of the Desire series, there is the Desire 10 Pro, as well as the Desire 10 Lifestyle. Each model is quite similar, differing in only a couple of ways. (more…)
Don’t Miss These Android Stories: September 16, 2016
Another week in the books at Droid Life. When we look back at this past week years from now, what will we remember most? Most likely, we will recall Samsung making the Galaxy Note 7 recall completely official, urging all owners to “power down and exchange immediately.” Oh yes, good times for Samsung.
On top of the Note 7 recall drama, Google apparently renamed the Nexus Launcher to Pixel Launcher (which we checked out in a video), Motorola attempted to trick a few Apple fans into thinking Apple is still awesome, and we learned that Moto, LG, and Huawei won’t be bringing any new Android Wear devices to market this year.
Catch this week’s greatest stories below. (more…)
President & COO of Samsung America Issues Formal Apology Video
I have to say, Samsung has been completely upfront about this Galaxy Note 7 recall. They don’t appear to be hiding anything, and seem genuinely concerned with the safety of its customers. For that, let’s give them a light golf clap. After all, this is what we as consumers expect from companies, right? (more…)