IFA 2017 officially kicks off tomorrow which means most, if not all, of the major announcements from companies at the event have already taken place. Over the last several days, we’ve seen phones from LG, Sony, Motorola, and others get unveiled.
If you were to buy one of the phones announced at this year’s IFA, which would it be?
YouTube has been testing a Material Design redesign and adding new features to the mobile application for some time now. That all came to a head today as Google has announced a brand new YouTube logo, design refresh, and added features.
What are your thoughts on the new YouTube?
After Fitbit purchased Pebble last year, many anxious fans awaited the company’s next fitness-focused device that would ideally incorporate the features loved by the Pebble community. That day has come as Fitbit this morning unveiled the Ionic. While it may not be a Pebble replacement, it is the company’s first real smartwatch.
If you were to buy a smartwatch right now, would you purchase a Fitbit Ionic over an Android Wear device?
When the initial Essential Phone reviews were published, there was a consensus that the handset’s weakest point was the camera. Once we got our hands on the phone, we had to agree with others were saying, especially with the camera’s low-light performance.
Do you still plan to purchase the Essential Phone despite its poor camera performance?
Well before today’s announcement of the Galaxy Note 8, many speculated that the premium handset would cost a pretty penny. Now that it’s official, we know that the device will cost around $930, well above Samsung’s other flagship smartphones and also the competition.
Are you thinking about buying the Galaxy Note 8 despite its high price tag?
Tango is Google’s first step into augmented reality which uses highly sensitive cameras and sensors to scan its surroundings. The latest Tango-enabled device is the Asus ZenFone AR which is meant to get the AR platform into more consumer hands. Unfortunately, our review of the handset finds that it likely has more flaws than anything else for most people, especially with a $600+ price tag.
Does the ZenFone AR offer enough to get you to use Tango or are you more interested in using other mobile AR technologies?
Before all of the excitement surrounding the announcement of Android Oreo, we tore down the latest Google application and found strings in the code that hinted that the mysterious “Bisto” device might actually be a pair of Assistant-powered headphones.
Would you purchase headphones from Google if they featured Assistant built-in?
In the age of the internet, the number of cable subscribers is at an all time low, while there’s a growing number of people choosing to watch content online using services like Netflix. Services that offer people live TV over the internet are also starting to grow in popularity as an alternative to huge cable bills.
How do you consume video on the web?
As we quickly approach the end of summer, we’re expecting some of the biggest names in the smartphone world to release its latest and greatest. This includes handsets from LG, Samsung, Google, Essential, and Motorola.
Which of this fall’s new Android smartphones are you most interested in buying?
Since its launch, Google Allo has been highly criticized for its lack of features and for the fact that it could only be used on a smartphone. Since then, Google has been slowly rolling out updates to improve the service, but it wasn’t until today when Allo for web launched that the instant messenger might have finally become a viable means of communication.
Are you likely to give Google Allo a second chance?
Project Fi, Google’s own mobile carrier, piggy backs on T-Mobile, Sprint, and U.S. Cellular networks to bring cheap data plans and an easy-to-use interface when dealing with data usage and bill payments. Its biggest downside, though, is the limited number of compatible phones.
Once several new phones are announced this fall, which device would you buy to use on Project Fi?
Back at Google’s developer conference, it was announced that the company would update the Home to allow for phone calls to be made through the smart speaker. Thanks to a teardown of the most recent Google app, we know that we are now one day closer to that functionality becoming available.
Do you plan to use your Google Home to make phone calls?
Last year when Google unveiled it two smartphones, many criticized the company for giving the Pixel and Pixel XL a safe and boring design that resembled previous HTC devices. This year, Google is expected to introduce successors to both handsets, but will only make small changes to the Pixel 2 while the XL 2 will see changes made to its whole design.
Does the lack of a substantial redesign for the smaller Google Pixel make you less likely to purchase it?
Before it was purchased by Lenovo, Motorola had three distinct smartphone models that were each targeted at a particular type of consumer. There was the flagship X line, the G line for those on a budget but still wanted decent performance, and the E line for those who just needed a dirt cheap smartphone. Now, Moto makes so many different phones that it’s hard to differentiate them.
Do you plan on purchasing any of the phones that Motorola has released this year?
With Android 8.0, Google is implementing something called Adaptive Icons, which allow the end-user to decide the uniform shape they want all of their installed app icons to look like. Unfortunately, with this change, apps that have uniquely-designed icons like the old Slack app and Adsense will have to be changed to work with the new system.
Do you prefer the new round and uniform or old unique and personalized application icons?
For as long as Android has been around, the platform has struggled with Bluetooth. While Android O features a great deal of Bluetooth improvements, the competition is still far ahead in many aspects.
Is Android’s poor Bluetooth performance enough to get you to switch to a different platform?
While Android O doesn’t introduce much new to the user interface, there are a lot of new tools for developers to use that make notifications much better. On top of this, the upcoming OS also comes with new system-level features that give users better control over what notifications they see and where they see them.
Which of Android 8.0’s new notification features are you most excited for?
It was reported earlier today that Samsung is working to bring its contactless mobile payment solution to non-Samsung smartphones. While the NFC aspects of the app could easily be used by other devices, the company would need to find a way to feasibly bring its MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) technology to other handsets.
If Samsung found a way to bring Samsung Pay and all of its features to other smartphones, would you use it?
To help users find and use some of its web applications, Google has a launcher placed on the top right corner of its websites. When clicked, the launcher expands to show some of Google’s most popular web services. It’s in the news again because starting on August 1st, Google will be reorganizing its application layout within the launcher.
Do you ever use Google’s web app launcher?
Lenovo today officially unveiled the new Moto Z2 Force. As the successor to last year’s Z Force, the device has an identical footprint and is compatible with both old and new Moto Mods. Alongside the Z2 Force, Lenovo also showed off two new Mods: a gaming controller and a 360-degree camera.
Are Moto Mods enough to convince you to purchase the Moto Z2 Force?
After dropping the third O Developer Preview back in early June, Google today pushed out the final Developer Preview build before the official release of Android 8.0 later this summer. While Google has tweaked some of the designs within the OS, DP4 is mainly a close to finished build of Android O which means better performance and finalized APIs for developers.
Have you already installed it or do you plan to install Android O’s fourth Developer Preview?
The Android community became extremely excited when Andy Rubin, the founder of the Android operating system, announced that his latest startup, Essential, was building a phone. Even before anything was known about the device, there was an enormous amount of hype around the handset just because Rubin was a part of the company. Unfortunately, after announcing the device, Essential has missed its launch period with no exact release timeline.
After missing its deadline to release the handset, have you lost interest in the Essential Phone?
Since its inception, Google’s homepage has not changed much. On it, you will see the company’s logo and the search bar. Besides some links around the borders, Google.com is pretty sparse. Then, after Google unveiled a revamp of Feed, rumors started floating around that it would one day be added to the search giant’s homepage.
Do you think Google should place a news feed or something else on its homepage?
Today, several months after the Galaxy S8 and S8+ was debuted, Samsung finally released the full version of Bixby, which allows for voice interactions with the virtual assistant, in the United States. Along with it comes the ability to interact with some, but not all, of your favorite applications.
Currently, there are 13 third-party applications that work with Bixby. What others apps do you want to gain Bixby support?
