Tom Maxwell

• Android
• Moto X
• Tech Industry
• Motorola
• India

Motorola India launches ‘My Moto Logo’ contest, a chance to win a bespoke Moto X

Tom Maxwell Jun 15 2015 - 8:36 am PT

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No, it wasn’t Moto Maker launching in India – it is another way to potentially get your hands on your own custom-designed Moto X, though.

Yesterday we saw Motorola India’s Twitter account teasing something special to come on June 15th, implying that customers would be able to do some designing themselves with captions like “Artistry is as artistry does. Fancy doing something to show off your arty side? Find out how on the 15th of June.” And while it was easy to assume that these tweets were referencing a launch of the company’s phone customization service Moto Maker, available in several countries allowing customers to customize every aspect of their Moto X from the trim color to onboard storage size, they sadly were not.

Instead what Motorola India announced is My Moto Logo, a contest in which individuals can create their own illustration of the iconic Motorola “Batwing” M logo, with the six best ones being made into real-life bespoke Moto X’s.
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• Google
• Google Chrome
• Chromium
• Chrome Web Store
• Extensions

Chrome Web Store adds new device compatibility indicator

Tom Maxwell Jun 12 2015 - 8:09 pm PT

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It’s Friday! As the week draws to a close, we’ve shared some interesting little additions to the Play Store including new user feedback call-to-actions and a ‘Free App of the Week‘ promotion, and so it only makes sense to mention a change to the Chrome Web Store that happened this week: there’s a new device compatibility icon.

Yes, not a huge change, but helpful nonetheless. If an extension or theme is compatible with your device, you’ll see a reassuring “Compatible with your device” indicator in the right-hand information rail, above the app description. If not, you’ll (as always) see the “Add to Chrome” button replaced by a red “Not Compatible” button, like the one pictured below. That picture was taken from techdows.com because it’s surprisingly hard to find a Chrome Web Store app not compatible with any of my computers, but what the picture below is showing is Chrome disabling NPAPI plugins on Windows 8, as the technology is not compatible with Windows 8 Metro mode.

This change was initially spotted by a tipster speaking with the unofficial Chrome Operating System blog.

• Android
• Samsung
• Tech Industry
• Galaxy Note
• trademark

Samsung submits trademark application for ‘S6 Note’, possibly merging Note and Galaxy S lines

Tom Maxwell Jun 12 2015 - 11:24 am PT

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Earlier today we reported on continuing rumors that Samsung is working on a larger-screened version of its Galaxy S6 Edge. The device is set to be released before the next Note model, expected to be unveiled at IFA in September, and was up until just recently referred to as “Galaxy S6 Edge Plus.” Now, however, it’s been discovered that Samsung has filed for a trademark on the name “S6 Note.” The Galaxy S line is separate from the Note line of phablets, which is why this is interesting. We’re unsure whether or not this name is related to the rumored S6 Edge Plus.

It’s worth pointing out that large multinational corporations like Samsung obtain trademarks and patents very frequently that they never end up using at all— so you should probably take this trademark application with only a little more than a grain of salt. Under the Galaxy S line you already have the S6 Active and the S6 Edge, so the logical conclusion is that if Samsung really is developing an S6 Edge with the screen-size of the Note 5, and these two lines get ever closer to parity, it may make sense to just make the Note line a subset of the Galaxy S line as well. It’s just a theory, though.

We’ll see how this pans out later this year.

• Android
• Android 5.0 Lollipop
• Moto X
• Tech Industry
• Motorola

Soak testing of Android Lollipop for Moto X (1st gen) has begun

Tom Maxwell Jun 11 2015 - 3:25 pm PT

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Today was a bit of a downer for owners of the Motorola DROID Turbo, who learned that contrary to earlier information, there is in fact no set rollout date for the phone’s update to Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. That being said, we did learn that Lollipop is rolling out to the budget-end Moto E on Verizon, and now we’ve got word that testing of Lollipop has begun for the 1st-generation Moto X. If testing goes well and no major problems are identified, rollout should begin in about a week. Owners of the phone have been waiting quite some time for this big update.

David Schuster, a product manager at Motorola who’s quite reliable when it comes to information on Android software deployments, posted the following to his Google+ account this afternoon:

Hey guys, quick update here for Moto X (1st Gen). We have started full soak testing again in the U.S. on the 5.1 Lollipop upgrade for our retail channels. If the data looks good, we’ll move to full deployment in about a week.

In addition, we also initiated a full soak test for Brazil retail and Rogers in Canada yesterday for Moto X (1st Gen).

Please ensure that you have accepted any updates from the Play Store for Motorola Update Services (to version 4 or higher). You will need this to get the upgrade notification.

Motorola earlier in May began TestDrive – a program through which it tests early software with a tiny amount of select device owners who’ve agreed to participate – for the Moto X Lollipop update, and acknowledge frustration with the slow rollout, attributing it to “the lack of support from some of our partners.” We have to believe he was probably referring to carrier partners. But now it looks like things are moving along nicely.

• Android
• Android 5.0 Lollipop
• Moto E
• Motorola
• Verizon

Verizon Moto E receiving its update to Android 5.1 Lollipop

Tom Maxwell Jun 11 2015 - 12:17 pm PT

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The unlocked 2nd-generation Moto E might have already began receiving Android 5.1 Lollipop straight from Motorola in early May, but Verizon customers rejoice: your over-the-air update is dropping now.

This update brings all the changes we’ve come to expect from the 5.0.2 to 5.1.1 bump as well as a slightly tweaked “Interruptions” control menu and Device Protection, which ensures that a lost or stolen device will remain locked (aka can’t be factory reset) until the original owner signs into it with his or her Google account. Verizon has a handy PDF that covers most of the changes coming with this update.

To check if your Moto E has pulled down the update yet, head into the Settings app and select About Phone > System updates.

• Android
• Android 5.0 Lollipop
• Motorola
• Android 5.1 Lollipop
• Droid

Motorola product manager: no ETA on DROID Turbo 5.1 Lollipop update

Tom Maxwell Jun 11 2015 - 11:53 am PT

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A couple weeks ago we saw a Verizon employee take to his Google+ account to share a picture of a DROID Turbo running Android 5.1 Lollipop with a note saying that the update would drop sometime in “mid-June.” Today we have more news but it’s, well, somewhat of a step backwards. David Schuster from Motorola posted the following to his Google+ account:

Hey, I wanted to give a quick update on our progress on the DROID Turbo 5.1 lollipop upgrade since there seems to be A LOT of inaccurate information out there. We are still in the lab test cycle and things are looking good. We have not provided a launch date yet, but I will let you know as soon as the update is available.

The Verizon employee who made that post about the Turbo’s 5.1 update back in May had this to say about why update on Big Red can take a while:

Verizon delays on latest smartphones are due to Nationwide HD Voice. We want to make sure Software updates for HD Voice service is acceptable and does not impact voice quality. Verizon is the only company that has nationwide HD Voice in the USA. AT&T just has most metro cities here and there. T-Mobile and Sprint are way behind.

So now we really aren’t sure when to expect a rollout, unfortunately. We’ll keep you updated and let you know when it does, though.

• Android
• HTC One M9
• Tech Industry
• HTC
• HTC One

HTC shows off limited-edition One M9 ‘Ink’ handsets in collaboration with Jourdan Dunn

Tom Maxwell Jun 11 2015 - 10:03 am PT

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Desperate times call for desperate measures. HTC announced back in April that because “brand image is more important than volume,” the company was naming supermodel Jourdan Dunn as its new global ambassador and would be working in partnership with her to release a set of limited edition One M9s. The phones would have a custom body art-inspired engraving made in partnership with celebrity ink designer Cally-Jo Pothecary (yes, three levels of partnership here), but all we got to see at the time was the sketch above which would be used in the limited collection. Today the company has shown off what the device actually looks like with this engraving on it, in both gold and metallic silver:

HTC at the time insinuated in its press release that multiple different sketches would be used, but today’s blog post seems to indicate that this is the only limited edition engraving that will come out of this collaboration. This wouldn’t be too surprising to us, with the company slashing its performance outlook practically by the day, consistently making new promises of which we’re still waiting to see how they’ll play out.

HTC has a website up where you can learn more and register your interest in purchasing one of these, but if we’re being honest you probably don’t need to rush to get in on this. No word on pricing or when these handsets will actually be available.

• Android
• Tech Industry
• Sony
• Amazon
• Xperia

Sony Xperia M4 Aqua available in USA through Amazon, $349 unlocked

Tom Maxwell Jun 11 2015 - 8:44 am PT

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Sony’s mid-range, IP68-certified dust and water resistant smartphone has started showing up on store shelves in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, but those of us in the US have been mostly in the dark – until today, however.

The phone is being sold on Amazon through a reseller, but fulfilled by Amazon, for $349 unlocked in black with 8GB of onboard storage (no microSD card included). The LTE bands this phone can connect to are supported on all the major US carriers, so bringing it to your favorite shouldn’t be a problem.

You might want to get a microSD card to go along with it, however, as the M4 Aqua out of the box only has 1.26GB of free storage. The phone is otherwise packing a solid punch for the price with a 5.0″ 720 x 1280 pixel-resolution screen, a 1GHz octa-core Snapdragon 610 processor, 13MP rear shooter, and 2GB of RAM.

• Android
• Apps and Updates
• Facebook
• Social network

Facebook for Android updated w/ ability to ‘like’ posts offline, toggle post notifications, and more

Tom Maxwell Jun 10 2015 - 4:10 pm PT

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Facebook for Android has received an update which sees it gain a couple handy new features for keeping up with your wide network of “friends” (sorry, not sorry). Let’s go through them.

The first change is an odd one which lets you “Like” posts, photos, and pages even when you’re offline. These will presumably have to already have been loaded up in the app prior to going offline, and the Like will simply be queued up for delivery to Facebook’s servers once you get back onto a data connection, but it’s an interesting addition nonetheless.

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• Android
• Apps and Updates
• Gmail
• Microsoft
• security

Gmail for Android now has Oauth support for Yahoo and Microsoft accounts

Tom Maxwell Jun 10 2015 - 1:08 pm PT

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Google killed its stock email app in favor of Gmail with the release of Android 5.0 Lollipop, but they also made it possible to connect email accounts from other providers including Microsoft and Yahoo. Today they’ve gone ahead and added OAuth support for both of these third-party providers, which means increased security and added features including two-step verification and account recovery. The change will be rolling out to users over the next few days.

OAuth is an open-source standard used for authorization by many large services including Twitter, PayPal, and a bevy of others. In layman’s terms OAuth is used by these service providers to give applications like Gmail for Android a token they can use to access a user account on company servers. It’s considered much safer than simply giving out email-password combinations to apps which could be targeted by outside attacks.