Androidifying

The unlocked and Verizon versions of the 2nd-generation Moto X have already started receiving their Android 5.1 updates. It’s only a matter of time before all other Moto X users get the sweet Lollipop treat. If you are using a Moto X on AT&T, today is your lucky day!After announcing the AT&T Moto X (2nd gen) was getting Android 5.1 full soak test, this morning, Motorola’s David Schuster has just updated its original post giving us the good news. It seems the Android 5.1 Lollipop OTA update for the Moto X (2014) is ready and “open for pull”.This should mean the update is now final and you can go ahead and grab it. You can check for updates within your settings, but remember these don’t always come right away. They are usually rolled out periodically, so you might not see it available at this point.“UPDATE: Moto X (2nd Gen) on AT&T is open for pull for the 5.1 Lollipop upgrade” -David SchusterNot sure what Android 5.1 Lollipop is all about? We have put together a detailed ar…

Google’s recently released Photos app proved to be a convenient addition to the Search Giant’s application portfolio. Google Photos offers automatic photo syncing, Assistant (Auto Awesome) and even a feature for automatic tagging, which can recognize and group food, things, places, animals and more. This automatic tagging feature is definitely among the most popular additions to the new service, but we now have proof that their recognition technology still needs some work.It must have been the most embarrassing day in a long time for the Google+ team when they discovered their app was tagging people as animals. Things get worse when you consider this can be linked to popular racial slurs. Computer programmer Jacky Alciné shared his tagging results via Twitter when he discovered the Google Photos app was tagging dark-skinned people as gorillas. Something Google responded to rather quickly.And it’s only photos I have with her it’s doing this with (results truncated b/c personal): http:/…

It seems an infinity of manufacturers has been joining the wearable race the past few years. Recent studies from Lux Research prove patent filings related to wearable electronics grow at a 40% annual rate, with 41,301 patents filed since 2010. These numbers may appear successful, but even with this vast amount of filed patents, Lux Research has discovered manufacturers are doing very little in terms of true innovation.This conclusion is formulated after taking into account that there’s a very small overlap in patents filed for wearable technology and PFOE (Printed, flexible and organic electronics). PFOE applications could offer some game-changing technologies for the wearable market, yet only about 651 patent publications overlap between it and the wearable section.Their argument does make total sense. No one jumped on board with Qualcomm’s awesome Mirasol displays, for example. I was a big supporter of Qualcomm’s new displays, which offered color imaging, daylight visibility, an alw…

The Internet is for porn, no shock there. But just how prolific is the watching of porn via the web? Considering that our coverage of the PornTime app was one of our most popular articles for several days in a row, we’d say it’s pretty popular. Getting more specific, a new report from Juniper Research says that 136 billion adult videos will be watched in 2015, with an expected growth of 193 billion watches a year by 2020.Breaking things down further, the average smartphone user that watches porn consumes on average 348 videos a year. That’s pretty much a porno a day, with just a 17 day cumulative break — probably on holidays if we had to take a guess (Santa is watching after all).the average smartphone user that watches porn consumes on average 348 videos a yearSo where in the world are all these porn viewers coming from? The most common locations are the United States and Western Europe, but developing markets are seeing a massive uptick as 4G, high-speed WiFi, tablets, and smartphon…

If you’ve been thinking of picking up an off-contract Moto X (2nd Gen.) now may be a good time to grab one. From now until Tuesday, July 7th at 10:59am CT, Motorola will allow you to upgrade to a genuine red Horween leather back for free with your purchase of an off-contract Moto X. Considering the leather backplates normally run at a $25 premium, this is a pretty nice deal.Although we’re only a few months away from getting a new Moto X, the 2014 model is still a great smartphone. Putting user experience above all, the Moto X (2nd Gen.) features a clear 5.2-inch Full HD display, perfectly capable Snapdragon 801 processor and a slew of handy software features that many users are quite fond of. If you’re on the fence, be sure to check out our full review for more information.Related Videos Moto X (2014) Review! Moto X (2014): Moto Voice Se... Moto X (2014) Unboxing and F... The New Moto X First Look! Keep in mind that you’ll need to customize your new Moto X through Moto Maker, then add …

In an effort to eliminate consumer confusion, Sprint today announced a new “All-In” pricing plan that includes unlimited talk, text and data* for $80 per month. On the surface, this new plan seems to be quite simple and actually pretty valuable, though it does have a few too many caveats for our liking. Here’s how it works:For $60 per month (plus taxes), you will have access to unlimited talk, text and high-speed data, as well as a leased smartphone for $20 more. There’s also a one-time activation fee of $36, and well-qualified consumers will pay $0 down when they sign up.Unfortunately, that’s just the easy part. Sprint has also included a few easily-overlooked footnotes in the announcement that will likely turn many users away from the plan. Take a look at the excerpt below:To improve data experience for the majority of users, throughput may be limited, varied or reduced on the network. Streaming video speeds will be limited to 600Kbps at all times, which may impact quality. Sprint m…

If you’re the proud owner of a Motorola Droid Turbo, your wait is finally almost over. Verizon has just announced that it will begin pushing out the Droid Turbo’s Android 5.1 Lollipop update beginning in the afternoon of Wednesday, July 1st. The update, which Verizon says will bring the device’s software version to 23.11.38, will roll out to devices in stages.So, what does Android 5.1 bring to the table? Aside from a few new Moto Actions on the Motorola side of things, Android 5.1 will bring performance improvements, a ton of user interface enhancements, factory reset protection and much more. Remember, you’re moving up to Android 5.1 from Android 4.4 KitKat (not 5.0 Lollipop), so this is a pretty huge update. To get the full list of changes, feel free to check out Motorola’s full changelog, as well as a complete Android 5.1 walkthrough from our very own Joe Hindy.Related Videos Android Lollipop 5.1 - Here'... Motorola Droid Turbo Review! Motorola Droid Turbo First L... Android 5.…

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi today announced that it is entering the Brazil market with its Redmi 2 smartphone, which will be sold in the country for just BRL499. This is the company’s first big foray into the Latin American market. It has also been announced that the phones will be manufactured by Foxconn International Holdings, making these the first Xiaomi smartphones produced outside of China.The Redmi 2 features a 4.7-inch HD display, a dual SIM card slot, 2G/3G/4G connectivity, an 8MP rear-facing camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP front-facing camera that can take 720p video. The device is powered by a Snapdragon 410 processor and runs Xiaomi’s MIUI 6 software overlay. Interested folks in Brazil will be able to purchase the phone online beginning Tuesday, July 7th for 499 reais ($160).Hugo Barra, Vice President of global operations at Xiaomi, explains:I strongly believe that Redmi 2 will be a game-changer in the Brazilian market, offering consumers a quality optio…

HTC’s Vice President of Product Management Mo Versi took to Twitter last night to announce that Android 5.0 Lollipop would begin rolling out to the HTC Desire Eye on AT&T starting today. For clarification, the update will begin rolling out today, June 30th, which was still “tomorrow” when Versi posted the tweet last night.Great news for HTC Desire Eye AT&T owners! We’ve just received technical approval for Lollipop update! OTA to start tomorrow!— Mo Versi (@moversi) June 30, 2015In the conversation following the tweet, HTC clarified that this is an update to Android 5.0, not 5.1. That probably won’t be a huge deal to most users with this device, though it would still be nice if the Eye was running the most recent version of Android.If you need a refresher, HTC’s Desire Eye is actually a pretty nice smartphone. Featuring a 5.2-inch Full HD display, a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 processor and a powerful Adreno 330 GPU, the Desire Eye offers users a great overall Android experience wit…

If you’re the owner of a Nvidia Shield Android TV or Shield Tablet, you’ll be happy to know that Nvidia has just announced that Half-Life 2: Episode 2, along with three other great games, are now available exclusively on the company’s Android TV and tablet.Half-Life 2: Episode 2, which is now available for $7.99, joins other great titles like Q.U.B.E: Director’s Cut ($9.99), Never Alone ($14.99) and Funk of Titans ($4.99) in the Play Store. Each one of the games will be live sometime today, so just note that not all of them will be available for download right away. Feel free to check back at a later time if the games aren’t yet available.For a quick overview of each title, check out the game trailers attached below:Half-Life 2: Episode 2 Download Half-Life 2: Episode 2 from Google PlayQ.U.B.E: Director’s Cut Download Q.U.B.E: Director’s Cut from Google PlayNever Alone Download Never Alone from Google PlayFunk of Titans Download Funk of Titans from Google PlayHave you downloaded any of th…

Pushbullet is one of those applications that can do just about everything you need it to, and then some. It’s constantly being updated and refined, and starting today, it’s going to be even more functional than ever. Pushbullet today is receiving its biggest update ever, bringing a more streamlined user interface, simpler pushing between devices, a full-fledged messaging platform and much, much more. There’s a lot to go over here, so let’s jump right in.For starters, both Android and iOS versions are getting a simplified UI that now categorizes messages based on where they came from. The big difference is in the main screen of the app, which now features Friends, Following, and Me tabs. The Friends tab is where you’ll see everything sent to and from your friends, including links, images, videos and messages. This is also where you’ll go to begin a new conversation with a friend. The Me tab is where you’ll find all of your pushes sent to and from all of your own devices, and the Follow…

A short while ago, I wrote a small story about tablets. Despite my love for them, I will be the first to admit that affection is not spread equally. Some devices are not created as equal as others, though ironically (for the purposes of this piece), this has less to do with specs and more to do with design choices.In this feature, we will take a look a the major form factors of devices and analyze the benefits of each, as well as the demerits. At the end, we’d like to ask you, the reader, to let us know your own personal preferences with a short survey.Google’s on-screen buttonsLean and clean: AOSP uses on-screen buttons to handle navigation. The best place to start the party is with Google’s core Android design, and generally speaking, that means Nexus devices. For the sake of this feature, this means on-screen navigation buttons. While Lollipop has ushered in a new, Playstation-esque geometry, the functionality is still relatively unchanged. You have a back button, a home button, and…

The update to Android 5.1 Lollipop is now beginning to roll out to Sprint variants of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. The update, which comes in at around 563MB, will bring the Galaxy S6’s software version to G920PVPU2B0F7 and the S6 Edge’s version to G925PVPU2B0F7.Related Videos LG G4 vs Samsung Galaxy S6 /... Samsung Galaxy S6 vs S6 edge... Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edg... Android Lollipop 5.1 - Here'... So what’s new in the update to Android 5.1? Aside from a few bug fixes on Sprint’s side of things, Android 5.1 will bring a handful of performance improvements, just a few user interface tweaks, and factory reset protection. Be sure to check out our “What’s new in Android 5.1 Lollipop” post for more details.As is the case with most other software updates, it may take a few days to make its way to your device. If you’d like to check for the update manually, head to Settings>About device, then choose the “check for updates” button. Have you received Android 5.1 on your Galaxy …

Today not one but two Chinese manufacturers have announced new devices and both handsets are feature-rich at affordable price tags. Huawei’s e-commerce brand Honor has announced the Honor 7 while Meizu has announced the MX5, but how do these two handsets compare against each other and to the competition?Honor 7 vs Meizu MX5Before comparing these handsets to their rivals, let’s take a look at how they compare to each other. Both handsets adopt all-metal builds and while the Honor 7 has been influenced by the Ascend Mate 7, the MX5 is Meizu’s first switch to an all-metal design. Last year’s Huawei phablet – the Ascend Mate 7 – certainly had an influence on the Honor 7Both handsets offer Full HD displays but the 5.5-inch AMOLED screen on the MX5 is slightly larger than the 5.2-inch IPS display on the Honor 7, meaning it has a slightly lower display density of 401 pixels per inch (versus 424 ppi). Both handsets run on Android Lollipop, with Meizu adding Flyme 4.5 on top, while Huawei added…