Author Archives: Derek Walter

Android Wear 2.0 has been kicked back to 2017, but we’re already starting to hear buzz about how the experience will change for you.

It looks like the way you install apps is going to see a major change. According to a lengthy Android Wear Developers thread on Google+, Android Wear 2.0 will not only support, but require standalone watch and phone apps. 

Developer Advocate Ian Lake makes the difference pretty clear: 

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BlackBerry is back with another Android phone.

This time it’s the DTEK60, the pricier sibling to the DTEK50 announced in July. This model offers better specs and comes in at $499, compared to the more modest $299 DTEK50.

For the money you get a Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, a 3000mAh battery that promises to go 24 hours, 32GB of internal storage, and a microSD card slot. The screen comes in at 5.5 inches with a 2560×1440 resolution at 435 PPI. 

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The smoke still hasn’t cleared from Samsung’s Note7 debacle, and along come new reports that Galaxy S7 Edge phones are also catching fire.

There are two recent incidents to go on. PhoneArena says someone from a “big U.S. wireless carrier” contacted the site about a Galaxy S7 Edge that exploded while charging overnight using Samsung’s official charger. 

Another S7 Edge user in Canada posted pictures of his phone, which he said “burst into flames” while driving. He said he tossed the phone out the window of his car and then covered it with snow to extinguish it. 

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Samsung isn’t giving up on customer loyalty without a fight. 

Samsung is aiming to win back those burned by the Note7 debacle with a new upgrade program that indicates the Note line isn’t dead after all. Targeted specifically at buyers in Korea, the company will give an S7 or S7 Edge to those who bought a Note along with an upgrade promise to a new Galaxy S8 or Note8 phone.

That’s the first solid piece of evidence we’d heard that Samsung isn’t shuttering the Note line altogether. The company had previously hinted that the Note was dead given the spectacular demise. You can’t get worse product association than having your phone banned from U.S. flights or burning down a Jeep and garage.

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Google is just getting started when it comes to selling its own hardware. Another rumor from the usually accurate Evan Blass points to a pair of Google-built watches that will come early next year.

Google’s two smartwatches will be released with Android Wear 2.0 in Q1 2017 [image courtesy of: https://t.co/so8uJyEZCy] pic.twitter.com/ruejqXSNSy

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) October 13, 2016

We’ve heard this before, but we have a lot more context now after attending the ”Made by Google” hardware event, where the company showed off the Pixel, DayDream View headset, Chromecast Ultra, Google WiFi, and Google Home.

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Racing to the market may have burned Samsung twice.

[ Related: Timeline of Samsung’s disastrous Galaxy Note7 debacle ]

First, a rush to beat the iPhone7 with a technologically superior Galaxy Note7 might have gotten the company into trouble in the first place by shipping out a phone no one realized had the potential to explode.

The problem has compounded with a failed recall, culminating in a second callback and the cessation of the Note7 altogether. According to a New York Times report, the company still doesn’t have a handle on why the phones are catching on fire. Engineers were unable to duplicate the exploding phone issue, which was wrongly pegged on faulty batteries. Samsung recalled the originals, shipped replacements, and then they started to explode, too.

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Allo may be the future of Google’s messaging efforts, but it’s Duo that will replace Hangouts as one of the preinstalled options on future Android phones.

An email about the change recently went out to partners that install Google Mobile Services on their phones. This is distinct from the Android Open Source Project, as enabling these services means agreeing to a license with Google that your phone will include this distinct bundle of apps. Basically, all devices with the Google Play Store are “Google Mobile Services” licensees, while other devices that have their own app stores don’t use the Google Mobile Services agreement. We rarely see those products here in the U.S., but Amazon’s Fire tablets are the most popular example.

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