Author Archives: Derek Walter

The holiday season rightly makes people think about how they can give to others. Charitable organizations are emulating the ease at which you can shop from your phone by offering their donation services right from their mobile apps. So you really have no excuse not to help people who need it.

But navigating the world of charity can sometimes feel uncertain, as you want to make sure that your money is going to a reputable cause and not a fraudulent scheme. If you’re unsure of where to start, here are five solid apps that go to worthwhile charities. They’re strong at offering transparency about their causes and offering you ways other than money to give of yourself.

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The OnePlus 3 and 3T are the big winners in the world of updates this week. The former is getting another taste of Nougat thanks to the company’s beta software program. The 3T isn’t there yet, but it’s the recipient of another update that promises several improvements. 

Each week, we round up all the major software updates to hit the Android ecosystem, including phones and tablets on U.S. carriers, unlocked phones, smartwatches, and Android TV devices. Making sure your device is running the latest available software is a good housekeeping practice, ensuring you have the latest features with fewer bugs and security holes.

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It’s hard to declare a smartphone perfect, but the Pixel is starting to feel pretty darn close with the latest update pushed out this week. With Android 7.1.1, you get a nice lift-to-wake and screen knock feature that vastly improves the convenience.

Along with those updates, both Pixel and Nexus devices get a number of bug fixes that should bring you an even smoother experience.

Each week, we round up all the major software updates to hit the Android ecosystem, including phones and tablets on U.S. carriers, unlocked phones, smartwatches, and Android TV devices. Making sure your device is running the latest available software is a good housekeeping practice, ensuring you have the latest features with fewer bugs and security holes.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

It’s hard to declare a smartphone perfect, but the Pixel is starting to feel pretty darn close with the latest update pushed out this week. With Android 7.1.1, you get a nice lift-to-wake and screen knock feature that vastly improves the convenience.

Along with those updates, both Pixel and Nexus devices get a number of bug fixes that should bring you an even smoother experience.

Each week, we round up all the major software updates to hit the Android ecosystem, including phones and tablets on U.S. carriers, unlocked phones, smartwatches, and Android TV devices. Making sure your device is running the latest available software is a good housekeeping practice, ensuring you have the latest features with fewer bugs and security holes.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

The promise of mobile payments is that you’ll never need your wallet again. Just a tap on the payment terminal with your smartphone will get you everything from movie tickets to groceries.

In reality, we’re nowhere near ubiquity when it comes to ushering in this plastic-card free future. But after more than a year of substantial updates, Google is in a much better position to leverage Android Pay. If you buy in, you’ll find it’s not only a better way to pay for stuff, but you get the added benefit of a convenient digital container for all of your loyalty and gift cards. 

Optimizing Android Pay for everyday life takes a little bit of effort, but the payoff is worth pushing through the details.

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The promise of mobile payments is that you’ll never need your wallet again. Just a tap on the payment terminal with your smartphone will get you everything from movie tickets to groceries.

In reality, we’re nowhere near ubiquity when it comes to ushering in this plastic-card free future. But after more than a year of substantial updates, Google is in a much better position to leverage Android Pay. If you buy in, you’ll find it’s not only a better way to pay for stuff, but you get the added benefit of a convenient digital container for all of your loyalty and gift cards. 

Optimizing Android Pay for everyday life takes a little bit of effort, but the payoff is worth pushing through the details.

To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

It’s that time of year again. Rumors are flying about the latest Samsung flagship smartphone. Presumably to be called the Galaxy S8, it’ll attempt to revive Samsung’s burned edges from the Galaxy Note7 debacle.

Here’s everything we have heard so far about what Samsung is putting together. The details are pretty much in the rumor category at this point, but we’ll continually update this article as we get more information.

An even better display

The latest Samsung phone usually wins the “best display” crown from Displaymate. A report from the Korea Herald indicates Samsung is going to bump up the resolution on the S8 to 4K (2,160 x 3,840) to top the current S7 line. The Korea Herald has broken a lot of Samsung news in the past, so there’s some merit to the rumor. Additionally, a rumored 5.5-inch display size would fit with the current Galaxy S7 Edge, which remains a very popular handset.

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Google’s Pixel is no doubt a hit, with some models still out of stock a couple of months after launch. An analysis by Morgan Stanley gives us an even more detailed picture about just how well the phone is doing and what it may mean for Google’s place in the smartphone market.

According to the report, Google’s on track to sell three million phones with revenues around $2 billion. The biggest moneymaker is of course the 128GB Pixel XL, with a gross profit margin of 25 percent. The cheapest phone, the 32GB Pixel, comes in at 22 percent.

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We have some solid evidence about the arrival of Android 7.1 for Nexus devices. Apparently Vodafone Australia has spilled the beans with details of a December 6 release date for the Nexus 6P.

The timeline makes sense, as Google unveiled the final developer preview of Android 7.1 on Nov. 22. Security patches are usually in the early part of the month, and the timeline of a few weeks to finalize the Nougat release is consistent with Google’s previous statements about the schedule.

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