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[DrFunk]

round 2 sez evleaks

 

[Jazzy Network]

That makes me wonder if Samsung is going to keep the aggressive RAM management in the next version of TouchWiz, to push the S7 further in battery benchmarks.

They've already toned down on that in current models.

 

[DrFunk]

Report: Google to Take Top-To-Bottom “Apple-Like” Control Over Nexus Line

Ever since the launch of the Nexus 6P and 5X at the end of 2015, we have begun to see this narrative arise suggesting that Google needs to stop partnering with companies like LG, Samsung, HTC, and Huawei to build its Nexus devices and instead take the Apple approach, where they handle everything from top to bottom and simply contract out companies to help build devices. That essentially means going the Pixel route, where we see products like the Pixel C that were designed and essentially, manufactured, by Google. In other words, Google takes control over everything from the software to hardware design to make a tablet or computer (or phone) that is 100% Google. Sure, they are sourcing chipsets and RAM and displays and all of that, plus they need someone to physically build everything, but they aren’t asking someone like LG or HTC to add their name to it.

While this “Apple-like” control over the Nexus program seems to be the opposite of what the Nexus program was designed for, a report out of The Information this morning, suggests that’s what Google plans to do going forward.

According to this report, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and his crew has told “colleagues and outsiders” that the company will take greater control over Nexus smartphones. No time frame for when that will happen was mentioned in any form during this report, nor were there any other real details, so we don’t have much to go on other than that bit about Pichai informing “colleagues and outsiders.”

The report continues with mention of HTC potentially still hustling to try and build this year’s Nexus phone(s), but that insiders at HTC aren’t exactly thrilled that Google may want tighter control that wouldn’t include HTC’s name in any way. Then again, HTC could be the last partner before Google switches to a Google-only branded Nexus line later on.

Of course, the argument surrounding this move has to do with Apple. According to sources of The Information, Google wants more control, because it wants to compete at the high-end with Apple and is worried that Apple will continue to try and squeeze Google’s money-making opportunities out of the iPhone, which again, sits at the high-end of the smartphone market. So, putting tons of money into the niche Nexus program is going to fix that? I’m not following.

Some other bullets from the report suggest that Googlers weren’t happy that the newest Nexus phones weren’t sold through carriers and that Nexus phones typically carry “high price points.” Honestly, I don’t know that I can get on board with either of those statements. I don’t think Google likes partnering with carriers. They attempted it last year with the Nexus 6 and the phone was largely thought to be their worst selling Nexus in years. Do I even need to bring up the Galaxy Nexus fiasco? The Nexus line also has never really been sold at “high price points” outside of the Nexus 6. The Nexus 6P, at $499, is quite the bargain actually. Anyways.

So who knows what this all means in the end. If Google wants to reduce the partner participation of companies like LG or Huawei or HTC for its Nexus line, I guess it is what it is. We all know that Nexus phones will never be household items until Google puts some marketing dollars behind them. Will a top-to-bottom approach finally push them to do that?

. . .

ruh roh

 

[Jigolo]

round 2 sez evleaks

That was the best thing about the Note 5. The ergonomics. Glad it's making it's way across the entire line of Galaxy

Report: Google to Take Top-To-Bottom “Apple-Like” Control Over Nexus Line


. . .

ruh roh

I'm all for more control and trying to compete with Apple if the quality of the phone is in the realm of the Galaxy line, iPhone, HTC, and G series now (I expect the G5 to look very classy). This is the kind of phone I wanted Google to make since around the time of the Galaxy Nexus with this

as their logo the "x". I always thought the whole spelling out was dumb.

Just keep the prices more affordable like the 6P. At $499 32GB that is a fucking bargain tbh. And it's constantly on sale like $50 off like today and a $25 gift card to go along with it. Even if Google were to make the prices start $599 for 64gb that would be a good deal compared to the other manufacturers out there.

Rumor also states this could be the last year where Google outsources their hardware for their future flagship Pixel or Nexus phones, whatever they decide to call it. There's a good chance that this might be the last Nexus with a company logo on it.

 

[ukas]

Report: Google to Take Top-To-Bottom “Apple-Like” Control Over Nexus Line



. . .

ruh roh

Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe they can buy HTC for pennies and use what resources they have left to manufacture their phones.

 

[JAV Actress]

Is there anything as good as continuity from iPhones/Macs with android yet? Most of the stuff I always saw was shitty browser based crap. Black berry seems to have a decent app that does the continuity thing but I'd rather not get a black berry.

Looking at the Xperia line btw.

 

[Jigolo]

Chrome going Material

http://thenextweb.com/apps/2016/01/...ng-to-google-chrome-heres-what-it-looks-like/

Finally! Probably for Chrome 50. Wish Google would speed up the process for their other stuff like calendars, gmail and shiz. I don't use G+ but it does look very nice and I've read about the speed improvements with Material.

49 should come mid to late March

meaning 50 should be mid to late May. That's around the time of Google I/O

 

[The Faceless Master]

Report: Google to Take Top-To-Bottom “Apple-Like” Control Over Nexus Line

. . .

ruh roh

why not just make a Pixel Phone!?

 

[Admodieus]

why not just make a Pixel Phone!?

That's probably what this is.

They will probably try to target wireless carriers with a device that competes with the iPhone at the premium end.

 

[lunchtoast]

Did anyone receive a notification card for tap 10 in Android Pay? I've gotten nothing, so I'm not sure if I'm eligible or not.

By the way Tap 10 is using Android Pay 10 times before the end of the month and you get a free chromecast.

 

[3phemeral]

Did anyone receive a notification card for tap 10 in Android Pay? I've gotten nothing, so I'm not sure if I'm eligible or not.

By the way Tap 10 is using Android Pay 10 times before the end of the month and you get a free chromecast.

Waited for it to pop up since I heard about it and haven't received any prompt. Some people are getting variations of the promotion, like tap 3 instead of 10. Or Tap 10 only gives free songs while others get free songs and a Chromecast. I already bought a CC before the promo so maybe that made me ineligible.

 

[Saiyan-Rox]

Nexus Security updates are out for those who care

I see my beloved Pixel C got an update swell....since they skipped the January one I'm hoping this update has those fixes we've been waiting for......

Spoiler

Not likely

 

[Bboy AJ]

Lol at Google being more and more like Apple every year. Month. Day.

 

[Baroquemantic]

I'm fine with Google taking more control over the Nexus line. Should've done that from jump.

 

[Saiyan-Rox]

A Pixel phone if they use the same design aspects would look like the 6P without the visor and a LED strip......Hmmmm

 

[HawkeyeIC]

Looking forward to the next Nexus phone using a Note 4 screen.

 

[Vanillalite]

why not just make a Pixel Phone!?

The current Nexus lineup is good though. The current Pixel C not so much.

 

[thuway]

I am glad Google is deciding to take the Nexus line into it's own hands. The Nexus 6 was a stale state of compromise on top of compromise that made no sense. The Necus 6P makes sense, but since it's not sold at carriers and came in just shy of Snapdragon 820 - it failed to hit any relevance whatsoever.

The "elusive" Premium Nexus has always been compromised because OEM's would rather make a Premium version of their flagship over a "Android" waterboy.

 

[Vanillalite]

I am glad Google is deciding to take the Nexus line into it's own hands. The Nexus 6 was a stale state of compromise on top of compromise that made no sense. The Necus 6P makes sense, but since it's not sold at carriers and came in just shy of Snapdragon 820 - it failed to hit any relevance whatsoever.

The "elusive" Premium Nexus has always been compromised because OEM's would rather make a Premium version of their flagship over a "Android" waterboy.

People in here don't want the premium Nexus per say though. The whole reason many in this thread like the Nexus line is the affordable off contract price.

 

[Noema]

Nexus Security updates are out for those who care

Time to Flash

People in here don't want the premium Nexus per say though. The whole reason many in this thread like the Nexus line is the affordable off contract price.

True. If I hadn't scraped my Nexus 6 off the bottom of the bargain bin, I'd still be rocking a Moto G.

Nexus for me is: affordable+timely updates+can unlock bootloader with a few commands.

 

[Bboy AJ]

Just give us iPhone quality hardware with Android. And more ram because it's Android. We would have a winner.

Be more and more like Apple, Google. You've never been right when it comes to design philosophy.

 

[wilflare]

Chrome going Material

http://thenextweb.com/apps/2016/01/...ng-to-google-chrome-heres-what-it-looks-like/

Finally! Probably for Chrome 50. Wish Google would speed up the process for their other stuff like calendars, gmail and shiz. I don't use G+ but it does look very nice and I've read about the speed improvements with Material.

49 should come mid to late March

meaning 50 should be mid to late May. That's around the time of Google I/O

wonder when the CAF browsers will catch up

 

[Bboy AJ]

You can swipe left and right to navigate forward and backward. I had no idea. Is this new?

 

[Jzero]

You can swipe left and right to navigate forward and backward. I had no idea. Is this new?

I was able to do that on my Windows tablet for a while but not on Android

 

[Kuros]

You can swipe left and right to navigate forward and backward. I had no idea. Is this new?

Swipe left and right has always been there on chrome on tablets but i don't think on phones.

 

[HawkeyeIC]

Swipe left and right has always been there on chrome on tablets but i don't think on phones.

It's too bad. One of the best features of Safari and one of my most missed iOS features.

 

[NotBacon]

You can swipe left and right to navigate forward and backward. I had no idea. Is this new?

This only works if I swipe on the nav bar. Are you on beta?

 

[Hasney]

This only works if I swipe on the nav bar. Are you on beta?

That's tabs, not backwards and forwards.

 

[brotkasten]

Any rumors regarding a new GearVR that launches alongside the S7 or is that more likely coming in the fall?

 

[Fatalah]

Android Pay and Apple Pay both use NFC for payments so only retailers or businesses that have NFC terminals can accept payments from them. Samsung Pay is enabled to work with older card readers and NFC so it can pretty much be used anywhere in the country that accepts credit cards.

Yes. It doesn't require an NFC terminal to work. Just a standard swipe merchant machine.

I didn't know this.

Impressive Samsung, very impressive.

 

[Fatalah]

For those on Marshmallow -- have you been forced to disable Doze battery optimization for certain apps to sync properly?

So far, I've noticed these apps don't work using Marshmallow's default battery optimization settings:

• Pocket Casts
• Relay for Reddit

 

[Groof]

You can swipe left and right to navigate forward and backward. I had no idea. Is this new?

this is totally an rsbrowser thing.

does anyone else's 6p's touch go wild sometimes? fleksy is practically unusable because of this.

 

[reKon]

What are those on Marshmallow thoughts on Doze? Does it work or not?

 

[Groof]

What are those on Marshmallow thoughts on Doze? Does it work or not?

never seen it switch on on my 6p.

 

[Fatalah]

never seen it switch on on my 6p.

You won't see it switch on. It just happens.

 

[Bboy AJ]

does anyone else's 6p's touch go wild sometimes? fleksy is practically unusable because of this.

Yes. I reboot maybe once every ten days. That fixes it.

This only works if I swipe on the nav bar. Are you on beta?

RS Browser. That must be it.

 

[Noema]

For those on Marshmallow -- have you been forced to disable Doze battery optimization for certain apps to sync properly?

So far, I've noticed these apps don't work using Marshmallow's default battery optimization settings:

• Pocket Casts
• Relay for Reddit

Doze doesn't play nice with whatsapp web.

What are those on Marshmallow thoughts on Doze? Does it work or not?

It works but I tweaked the shit out of it so that it would trigger as soon as I lay the phone flat. It's not aggressive enough by default and it takes too long to activate.

It's a step on the right direction for sure but it's too easy for 3rd party apps to set themselves as high priority and just wake up the phone when it's supposed to be dozing.

 

[Groof]

You won't see it switch on. It just happens.

You can know by checking battery and if notifications pop in at the same time when unlocking.

 

[Husker86]

What are those on Marshmallow thoughts on Doze? Does it work or not?

It works. Standby time on my 6P/5/7 is crazy good.

 

[23qwerty]

What are those on Marshmallow thoughts on Doze? Does it work or not?

standby time for the pixel c is crazy good

 

[NotBacon]

That's tabs, not backwards and forwards.

Whoops.
I only said it because I just realized it was possible.

 

[Vanillalite]

What are those on Marshmallow thoughts on Doze? Does it work or not?

It works but it has to be real standby time. Meaning you'll see more of an impact over night than if expect to gain better battery during daily usage.

 

[LostMyNarbles]

Man, I just have no luck with the Nexus quality control. I've sent back a Nexus 5 and a Nexus 6 due to issues and now the Nexus 5X I got from Amazon has charging issues so I'm getting it replaced. :|

Spoiler

Phone is pretty amazing issues aside.

 

[Quasar]

What are those on Marshmallow thoughts on Doze? Does it work or not?

Well my 5x gets several days on a charge so it seems to work well.

 

[Drifters]

Google telling HTC what to built is going to be the GOAT Nexus... yes, even better than your silly Sony Nexus that will never happen.

 

[reKon]

I just played my PS4 over remote play (50 miles away) on my Galaxy Tab S2 from my hotels shitty connection and it ran kinda decently...

This is some futuristic shit

#androiddoes

 

[Ixian]

For those on Marshmallow -- have you been forced to disable Doze battery optimization for certain apps to sync properly?

So far, I've noticed these apps don't work using Marshmallow's default battery optimization settings:

• Pocket Casts
• Relay for Reddit

Pocket Casts syncing works okay for me on Marshmallow. I haven't changed any of the battery optimization settings.

 

[Hamster Plugin]

So it turns out ES File Explorer is doing some real shady shit. I got a notification after installing an unrelated app that it is requesting "Sensitive Permissions" and then ES started scanning something. That was uninstalled fast.

What is the best file manager app now?

 

[Spiritwalker]

Do any of you own the Huawei P8 (not lite)? If so, is it worth buying or are there equally good alternatives available?

I'm coming from an Xperia Z2, which died in a tragic accident recently.

 

[Saiyan-Rox]

So Google didn't fix the DND bug in the Feb update


Well played