Androidifying

Samsung is rolling out its online-exclusive mobile accessories around the globe. Starting in early November, six of Samsung’s mobile gadgets – which are already available in Korea – will be purchasable from Samsung’s online store and “major regional shopping sites”. The upcoming branded accessories comprise of: Wireless Speaker Bottle design – 360-degree surround sound speaker with wireless charging, a motion-sensitive UX and built-in light compatible with the Samsung Lux Manager app. Wireless Charger Tray design – slim, wireless charger capable of loading two devices simultaneously. Battery Pack Kettle design – portable battery coming in 5,100 mAh and 10,200 mAh capacities. Wireless Speaker Scoop design – disc-shaped portable speaker with built-in microphone and strap. USB LED Light – portable USB-powered lamp. In-ear Headphones Rectangle design – in-ear phones with fabric-and-metal construction and tangle-free cable. This news follows just several days after Samsung

Google Assistant is one of the most interesting features the newest version of Android has to offer. When officially announced, Google only showcased the core capabilities of Assistant. These include the option of opening apps, playing a song from a certain artist, making notes, or creating reminders. See also: Google Assistant: The top features you should know 26 As always, it seems there’s more beneath the surface than we initially thought. A user on Google Plus  has recently uncovered an interesting feature of the Assistant that can make sharing on social media faster and easier. When reading an article, a user can bring up the Assistant with a voice command (“OK Google”) and say “Share this on Twitter” or “Share this on Google Plus.” The Assistant then prepares a tweet or a Google Plus post by copying the link of the article as well as its title, and then lets you share it with the world. It’s worth noting that the feature currently only works with the already mentioned soc

Google ’s Pixel phones – and a number of Huawei devices – feature some pretty nifty shortcuts you can access using the fingerprint sensor. But these are no longer exclusive to those handsets, as someone at the XDA Developers forums has created an APK which brings the functionality to any phone with a fingerprint reader running Android 6.0 or above. Fingerprint Quick Action was created by developer ztc1997 and allows the fingerprint scanner to be used to bring down the notification shade, return to the home screen or put the device to sleep. While the app doesn’t require root to install and operate, if you want to use the fingerprint reader to turn off your phone display, you will need root permissions. See also: Google Pixel XL review: a Pixel’s perspective 243 There’s a short introduction video over at the  Fingerprint Quick Action XDA thread  which shows you how to set it up, but it is pretty straightforward – just make sure you have the Unknown Sources header ticked in

ARM unveiled the technical specifics of its new Bifrost GPU architecture earlier this year, along with details of its first GPU to use that new architecture – the Mali-G71. Since then we have seen the Mali-G71 make its way into SoCs like the Kirin 960. The Mali-71 is aimed at the high-end of the mobile GPU market, but that left a gap for chip makers who wanted to move to Bifrost (and its native support Vulkan) but needed a GPU for mid-range phones. ARM has now plugged this gap with the release of the Mali-G51. Before I get into the specific details of the Mali-G51, here is a quick refresher about Bifrost. ARM’s mobile GPU products have been through two previous major architectural revisions. First came Utgard, which supported OpenGL ES 2.0 and was used for GPUs like the Mali-400, Mali-470 etc. Next came Midgard, which added support for the unified shader model and OpenGL ES 3.0. Midgard GPUs include the Mali-T604 found in the Nexus 10, the Mali-T760 found in the Samsung Galaxy S6,

Maybe you’re dressing up for Halloween. Maybe you’re staying in to watch the latest season of the eerie British TV show Black Mirror. Or maybe you don’t celebrate it at all. Whatever the case may be, there’s one thing you should check out, and that is Google’s Halloween Doodle for this year. Featuring Momo the cat, this simple game is a thrilling way to kill time if you’re ever bored. As Google explains, the goal of the Halloween Doodle is fairly straightforward: This year’s Halloween Doodle follows freshman feline Momo on her mission to rescue her school of magic. Help her cast out mischievous spirits by swiping in the shape of the symbols above the ghosts’ heads. And you’d better pounce fast—the ghost that stole the master spellbook is getting away! Essentially all you have to do is use your mouse or trackpad to draw simple shapes like lines, triangles, hearts, etc. Some ghosts have multiple symbols, and you have to draw each symbol in the order that you see. At the end of eac

Xiaomi launched two new flagship smartphones a few days ago in Beijing, and while the unique  Xiaomi Mi MIX  concept phone stole some of the limelight, the company’s other high-end offering deserves as much, if not more, attention. Here is the first look, as we go hands on with the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 ! The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 will seem familiar at first glance, with the curved glass, or 3D Glass as Xiaomi calls it, found at the front and back making this look a lot like the erstwhile Galaxy Note 7 . There are some differences in the feel though, with the Mi Note 2 being a touch wider, along with the metal sides where the two curved glass panels being sharper. The Mi Note 2 is a flagship smartphone, which is why some may be disappointed at the fact that the 5.7-inch AMOLED display comes with a 1080p resolution. Full HD more than gets the job done in most situations, unless you are planning to use this smartphone for VR, but Quad HD is an expectation that isn’t asking for too much with a h

Google rolled out its big version 2.0 update to Google Allo just a few days ago, and with it came a number of new features like support for multi-window and direct reply from the notification shade. It also included a “Monochrome” theme in the settings menu, where you opt to make the app a tad more monochrome than before. Oddly enough, the default chat interface in Allo is already mostly monochrome, so this new option isn’t all that useful right now. See also: Google Allo: Everything you need to know 35 Apparently that Monochrome theme will start making more sense in future versions of Allo, according to the folks at  9to5Google . The messaging app will soon begin to support a variety of colorful themes. The screenshots below, obtained by  9to5Google , show a handful of different themes that will be present in a future version of Allo. The report notes that Allo will suggest you pick a theme every time you create a new chat, though you will be a