Cam Bunton, Editor at NewGeekGuide – Cam has been passionate about tech since his dad bought the family’s first Commodore AMIGA back in the late 80’s. He’s been in the tech industry (writing and making videos) since 2010, and joined NewGeekGuide as the resident video producer and product reviewer in 2015. He sometimes writes news and reviews for 9to5Mac too.
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Traditionally, when it comes to Android developer previews, Google only makes the pre-release software available to the Nexus smartphone and tablet lineup. This year, it’s already broken with tradition by releasing the first developer preview of Android N earlier than usual, and it could throw another curve ball by making a version available to non-Nexus owners.
Earlier today, we were in London to witness the launch of Huawei’s latest flagship smartphone series. The P9 and P9 Plus were shown off, and on first impressions look like they could pack a serious punch in the smartphone market.
As many of you will undoubtedly know, Apple recently unveiled and launched the iPhone SE. Essentially, it’s an iPhone 6s inside the iPhone 5’s body with a few exceptions. But it turns out an Android OEM may be planning an ‘SE’ version of its own phones. Trademarks filed by LG suggest the company has been planning a G5 SE since as long ago as December.
While we love new technology and where it’s headed here at NewGeekGuide, nothing quite tickles our nerd bone than when someone manages to equip an old nostalgic piece of everyday tech with modern day features. In this case, that’s a 1978 tube TV with a built-in Chromecast…
Just a couple of weeks after announcing the latest R-series phones, Oppo has followed up with the new F1 Plus for African, Southeast Asian and European markets. Like most competitive Android smartphones these days, it has a flat iPhone-like all-metal rear case with rounded edges, and is practically identical to the R9 and R9 Plus revealed last month.
BlackBerry has opened up a new beta testing program to give BlackBerry PRIV owners early access to the upcoming Android Marshmallow software update. This news follows the announcement from the company’s CEO last week that the 6.0 update would be rolling out in late April, or early May.
Following a teardown video which seemed to show a generous layer of gray plastic on the LG G5‘s supposed all-metal uni-body build, the Korean manufacturer has hit back, stating that it’s not plastic at all. According to LG, the gray substance is just ‘primer’ used to insulate the metal and act as a base for applying the final finish.
Nova Launcher is easily one of the best launchers available for Android right now. That’s mostly thanks to the fact that you can change virtually any part of the Android user interface. Whether you want to download custom icon packs, change their size, change the home screen, folder or app drawer layout, it can do virtually anything. And the latest beta version adds a couple of new, welcome additions.
During its fourth quarter earnings call this morning, John Chen, BlackBerry’s CEO, confirmed when we can expect Android Marshmallow to land on its first Google-powered smartphone. While many other manufacturers have already rolled out Android 6.0 to their customers, it seems BlackBerry PRIV owners will need to wait at least another month.
While I don’t necessarily commend the liberal use of plastic on the supposed ‘all metal’ LG G5, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed its launch and marketing strategy. This year, the Korean tech giant decided to have fun at the product unveiling, and now with one of the wackiest all-action product ads we’ve ever seen.
LG G5 proudly unveiled its newest flagship at an event in Barcelona last month and didn’t hold back lauding its ‘metal build’. We didn’t see anything at the time to question those claims. It seems, however, that those early claims of a metal build are — at best — a twist on the truth and — at worst — deliberately misleading…
A couple of days back, Samsung released a new UI for its new Galaxy owners, and from first impressions I can’t tell if it’s brilliant or terrible. I decided to take it for a spin, and show you what it’s like to set up and give you a visual walkthrough. You can download Good Lock from the Galaxy App store, or download the APK directly from APKMirror.
Towards the end of last year, a company called AC Worldwide launched a promising Kickstarter project. Essentially, these were fully licensed, to scale Star Wars Bluetooth speakers in the shape of C-3Po and Stormtrooper heads. Not long after the speaker project launched, an investor came in and offered the company all the money they needed to get the speakers to market. Now they’re here, and I just had to try them out…
BLU pretty much blew us away in December when it announced pre-orders of the Life One X. At $99, it was the first ever Android phone with a full HD screen and solid metal frame to cost under $1oo. Once pre-orders ended, it was back up to its recommended retail price of $149, which is still a good deal. But, for today only, the phone has dropped back down to its pre-order price point, and is once again available in black and white for just $99 on Amazon.
Following the launch of the Type-C equipped Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P and Pixel C devices, Google engineer Benson Leung set out to save us from all the dodgy non-compliant cables and adapters available on Amazon. Without the correct technical compliance, a Type-C adapter could charge a device too slowly, or at worst, ruin the product. Following Leung’s extensive testing, Amazon has now prohibited the sale of non-compliant accessories.
Acer has announced a brand new Chrome OS-powered notebook this morning, and despite being a familiar looking design, boasts a few company firsts including an attractive metal build and 14-hour battery life.
WhatsApp is preparing a new set of features for its Android users, many of which have been on my wish-list for many years, and have perhaps been the biggest causes of my disdain for the popular messaging app. The new beta, WhatsApp version 2.12.560, rolled out today and features (among other things) quick reply, solid wallpapers and new multiple-selection tools and options.
Samsung has finally, albeit quietly, launched the new J-series handsets for 2016. The new low-end phones have improved specs on last year, and unlike previous generations, they come with a sturdy, sculpted metal chassis similar to the A-series phones. If the prices are close to those of last generation, these could be very competitive phones (at least by Samsung’s standards).
In a durability test which will send health and safety professionals in to overdrive, the ceramic-backed Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro is forced to endure scratching from a number of intense-looking hardware tools. In the video, the host, Alex Wang takes to the back surface of the latest Xiaomi flagship with a number of metallic objects. Some are more common day-to-day objects like keys, others would only come in to contact with your phone in a workshop.
Despite having built the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge with impressive water and dust resistant qualities, it seems Samsung and/or AT&T has seen fit to launch an ‘Active’ version. Evidence supporting the device has crept up in a number of locations online over the past few days.
According to a report from SlashGear, Google is looking to combine the technologies used in its Goggles app and visual search tool with the standard Google Camera app. In doing so, the default stock Android camera will be able to recognize products and objects, then search for them.
Following some serious issues with performance, Sony Canada has advised its Xperia Z5 and Z5 Premium customers that it is temporarily pulling the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update.
For a brief spell last night, uncensored Google search was alive and kicking within China’s borders. For roughly 105 mins, according to the South China Morning Post, residents inside the People’s Republic had free, unrestricted use of Google’s popular search domain.
When LG launched the G5 at its event in Barcelona last month, it took us a little by surprise that the company was following the trend of Chinese OEMs and ditching the Android app drawer. With the device’s official retail launch just a few days away, it seems the manufacturer has changed its mind.
