August 2016 ~ XDA

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Samsung misses their S7 Vulkan Deadline, but Finally adds Support

Back in February, Samsung made a big deal about the gaming performance of their new Galaxy S7 smartphone. One of the key features of the S7 that they were showcasing was that it would be the first smartphone...

Lenovo IFA 2016 Announcements: Moto Z Play, Hasselblad True Zoom MotoMod and US Pricing for the Moto Z

IFA 2016 has been the bearer of some exciting products so far. Lenovo is adding on to that list by announcing the Moto Z Play, the third member in the Moto Z family along with dropping some other tidbits...

It’s raining smartwatches at IFA 2016. First, ASUS took the wraps off the ZenWatch 3, and now its Samsung’s turn to do the same for its smartwatch. Meet the new Samsung Gear S3. With the Gear S3, Samsung...

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 Shipments Delayed due to Quality Testing

Samsung’s latest flagship and its supply was known to be in behind the incredible demand, but the Note 7 seems to be having additional trouble. Shipments of the Galaxy Note 7 are now being delayed due to additional tests being conducted for “product quality”. Samsung did not expand on the nature of...

Nest is Reportedly Going Through Another Restructuring

It’s no secret that Google hasn’t been happy with Nest’s performance, and now reports indicate that Google is taking advantage of those resources. A new report claims Nest’s entire platform team is now working for Google’s new “living room” products, and will be reporting directly to Android chief Hiroshi...

CyanogenOS 13.1 is Rolling Out to the Wileyfox Storm

Wileyfox Storm users can look forward to a big OTA update being pushed to their device very soon. Cyanogen Inc. has just announced they are pushing Cyanogen OS 13.1 to the device starting today. As with most OTA updates, this is being done in phases and could take time to complete. Cyanogen Inc. also...

Google has Discontinued the Chromebook Pixel 2

Google had already discontinued the $1,000 Chromebook Pixel 2 back in April of this year, leaving only the $1,300 version left in stock. Now, this premium model is no longer available in the Google Store or Best Buy. A Google spokesperson has been in touch with VentureBeat regarding the issue,...

Xiaomi Launches the Amazfit Watch in China

Just like Honor is Huawei’s sub-brand, Xiaomi has a sub-brand called Huami. The company has just launched their first smartwatch dubbed the Amazfit Watch. The wearable is IP67 certified, has a 28nm GPS sensor, a 200mAh battery (which is said to give up to 5 days of battery life),...

Samsung Begins Mass Production of the Exynos 7570

Samsung has just announced they are beginning mass production of their new SoC for “affordable devices.” The company says this is the first SoC in its class that also integrates a Cat.4 LTE 2CA modem, WiFi, Bluetooth, FM radio, and GNSS in one chip. It’s also using the company’s 14nm FinFET...

From Store to Shelf: An In-Depth Capitulation of Why MSM8974 Devices Are Excluded from Nougat

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At IFA 2016 held in Berlin, Germany, ASUS has launched the next iteration of the ZenWatch, called the ZenWatch 3. As expected, the device runs on Android Wear and is compatible with Android and iOS devices. The...

Corning Unveils the Gorilla Glass SR+ for Wearables

Corning has unveiled a new type of glass composite that is designed keeping in mind the needs of wearables. The Gorilla Glass SR+ merges drop protection with scratch resistance from sapphire. The SR+ is promised to be more scratch resistant than Gorilla Glass 4 and 5 and is as thin. Gorilla Glass SR+...

ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE551ML Finally Receives Android 6.0 Marshmallow Update

Better late than never, ASUS has finally released the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for the ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE551ML. In addition to bringing a new OS and a few pre-installed apps, the update removes a whole host of bloatware apps but also removes support for multi-user and snapview....

What Android Security Patch Are You On Right Now, and Does it Really Affect/Bother You?

Android Security Patches are a big thing. They attempt to fix glaring vulnerabilities and security holes in our beloved system, without needing to wait a whole new system/OS update. Google has committed to a monthly update pattern, and several other OEMs had promised the same in the interest of consumer...

Motorola has unveiled the Moto Z, the Moto G4 and the Moto E3 so far this year, with the entire range undergoing a refresh and compounding to cover almost every section of the pricing spectrum. But...

Color changing LED lights are very popular right now. Bluetooth enabled lights range from $20 to $200 depending on what brand you get. In this video, we will be looking at the most entry level kit you...

Contacts 1.5 Update Brings Labels to Android and more.

A significant update to the Contacts app has been launched, which bumps it up to v1.5 and includes a number of changes. The tabbed layout to switch between Favorites and All is gone, replaced with a navigation drawer with more options such as Labels, Duplicates and account filters. Labels...

30 Finalists Announced for Google’s 1st Indie Games Festival

On September 24th in San Francisco, Google is holding their first annual Google Play Indie Games Festival. All 30 finalists of the event have been announced and 20 of them aren’t even available in the Play Store (yet). Next month, we’ll see 10 judges select the top 3 best games that made it...

BLU Announces the Pure XR with its 3D Touch Display

BLU has just announced the $300 Pure XR, which is rather surprising when the company generally targets a more affordable price range. The Pure XR features a 5.5″ 1080p AMOLED display with 3D Touch capabilities, MediaTek helio P10 SoC, 16MP F/1.8 aperture rear camera, 8MP wide-angle front camera,...

Moto G4 Play is Coming to India “Soon”

Last month, we saw Motorola announce the Moto G4 Play for the UK market, and now the company tells us it’s coming to India as well. Motorola tells us the launch is “coming soon,” and that it will be an Amazon exclusive within the country. Some reports say the device will be available in India next week,...

NVIDIA Shield TV Game Console Appears in New FCC Entry

Thanks to a confidentiality agreement, not much is known about this new NVIDIA Shield TV entry by the FCC. We do know that NVIDIA recently had the FCC approve a new remote & a game controller though, so this could all tie into a new release sometime soon. Then again, NVIDIA also had a new tablet...

Google Talks About its Recent Tango Developer Workshop

The 3-day Tango Developer Workstation event had independent filmmakers, developers, producers, and creatives at major media companies participating to see what was capable. The New York Times used 3D models to tell news stories, The Wall Street Journal prototyped an AR app for location-based stories,...

Google Builds Casting Capabilities into Chrome

Until now, Chrome users on the Desktop have had to install an extension if they wanted to cast anything using Google Cast. This extension is no longer needed as Google has finally built this feature into Chrome by default. You can either click a Cast icon on supported websites, or you can cast...

Win an Honor 8: Dual-Camera, Premium Build, and Fast-Charging

We just dropped our extensive review of the new Honor 8, and the tldr is that we’re pretty impressed with what Honor has done. So, we’re giving one away! Below you can enter the contest in a bunch of different ways. The contest will run for about a week, when we’ll pick a winner by random. Each point...

Best Android Camera Apps for 2016

Jared is back again with XDA TV to talk about some of the best camera apps for 2016. We will be looking at the all-around best camera apps that still remain user-friendly. Let’s get into it. Footej This app...

HTC to Launch One A9 Successor “One A9s” at IFA

HTC will be reportedly launching the successor to the “iPhone Clone” One A9. Interestingly, the device will be called the HTC One A9s, giving it yet another similarity to the Apple brand. The device images provided show a device that is largely unchanged other than re-positioning of camera sensors....

Last week, we published an article documenting some of the experiences we’ve had with the Galaxy Note 7, sourced from four different units from different XDA members. Shortly after our article went live,...

Experimental suhide Mod for SuperSU Hides su Binary from Applications

XDA Senior Recognized Developer Chainfire needs no introduction in the world of third party development, so we’ll spare you some time. Today, Chainfire brings to us his latest work — suhide. Suhide is an experimental mod for SuperSU, one that leverages the systemless installation to give you...

BlackBerry Priv Beta Update Includes September’s Security Patches

AT&T, Canada, and Asia Pacific BlackBerry Priv users who are in their beta program can look forward to a new update hitting your devices soon. BlackBerry has not issued an official changelog for this update as of yet, but we can already see that it includes Android’s security patches for the month...

BlackBerry is Reportedly Looking to Raise $605 Million from Investors

BlackBerry is in need of some funding as the company has reportedly turned to investors for a sudden injection of funds. The company is said to be turning to Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, as well as other investors, in an attempt to sell $605 million in convertible debentures that will be due...

Next 3 Android Versions Rumored to be 7.1, 7.1.1 and 7.1.2

When Google released Android 7.0 Nougat, they also announced there would be quarterly Maintenance Releases to keep the software polished as time goes on. evleak’s sources seem to believe that the next three Android versions for these MR updates will be 7.1 (which will include a new API), 7.1.1, and...

Anker Recalls Out of Spec USB Type-C Cables

We’ve talked about Nathan K’s USB Type-C tests before, and Anker is now recalling their Anker PowerLine USB-C A8185011 cables because of an issue he found when testing them. Not only is Anker offering a full reward to customers who purchased one, but they’re also giving them a free Anker PowerLine...

Zopo Color C, Color E, and Color S5.5 All Get Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Zopo has just announced a big push for three of their popular smartphones. If you own the Zopo Color C (with the model number ZP330), Zopo Color E (with the model number ZP350) or the Zopo Color S5.5 (with the model number ZP370), then you can look forward to an Android 6.0 Marshmallow OTA update being...

Which Apps Are Your Top Battery Drainers?

We recently published an article on the battery life and experience of living without Google Apps. The results did not come out entirely unexpected, but we were surprised by the minimal nature of the gains. Which points us to the next obvious battery hogs: our other most frequently apps! Whether...

Lenovo Launches the Moto E3 Power in Hong Kong

Lenovo has just launched a new variant of their low-end smartphone, the Moto E3. This new variant is called the Moto E3 Power, and will come with a 3,500mAh capacity battery instead of the 2,800mAh one we see in the regular Moto E3. They even published a cryptic tweet that some say implies...

Chainfire Discusses SuperSU and Problems With The Note 7

Earlier today Chainfire took to Google+ to discuss progress with the Note 7 and SuperSU, explaining that as the Note 7’s release has been delayed in some countries he has had to work via remote debugging. Thankfully, with the aid of Dr.Ketan and SeraphSephiroth it is now working. However it is not all...

The OnePlus One is a legendary device. Moreso for people who care about third party development – the phone has officially received CyanogenOS, OxygenOS, HydrogenOS, MIUI 7, Sailfish OS and even Ubuntu. All...

In this newest installment of Rawad Rants, Rawad freaks out about the short length of the charging cables that ship with your phone. For one reason or another, OEMs insist on packaging the smallest cable...

Honor 8 Camera Tip and Tricks

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Jiayu S3 Plus (MediaTek MT6753) Receives Unofficial AOSP 7.0 ROM

Courtesy of Team MAD, the Jiayu S3 Plus with its MediaTek MT6753 SoC) has beaten several Snapdragon devices to receive an unofficial build of AOSP 7.0! Head on over to the forum thread to check it out!...

Sony Posts Guide on Building AOSP 7.0 Nougat for its Xperia Smartphones

If, for some reason, you were still of the opinion that an OEM could never be developer friendly, Sony has given yet another example of being just that. On its official website for all developer resources, Sony has posted a build guide for building Android 7.0 Nougat, the AOSP flavor and not its...

We giving away a whole bunch of these Allmaybe 60W, 6 port charging towers. 10 lucky winners will receive a box full of these awesome chargers. Whether you gift them to your friends or have one in...

It’s no secret that battery life on smartphones these days are not the best. Most will consider it mostly a hardware issue, seeing companies trading battery size for aesthetic design. But that’s not the...

Last night, Opera Software reported a security breach affecting all users of their web browser’s built in password manager. 1.7 million users had both their synchronized passwords and their authentication...

Weekly Debrief

Let’s go over some of the best articles from XDA this week, in a fresh new XDA TV YouTube video. With the Note 7, Samsung Still Delivers Embarrassing Real-World Performance: Every year we notice the same pattern: new Galaxy device comes out, it gets positive reviews (excluding, perhaps, the...

With the final release of Android Nougat, Google has introduced some new features but it has also removed some of the features that were in the developer preview. One that many people really enjoyed...

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