Articles about Android

Samsung has kicked off the Android Oreo roll-out for the Galaxy S8, three months after introducing a public beta program. The first to get it are the testers who enrolled, starting with those in Germany.

What's interesting is that, even though version 8.1 exists, Samsung is pushing Android 8.0 Oreo. That's pretty much what happened last time round with the Galaxy S7, which received Android 7.0 Nougat, when 7.1 was available.

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Going under the banner of Emoji 11.0, a raft of new emojis are due to hit the screen of iOS and Android devices later this year.

After being previewed late last year, the full list of emojis has now been published by the Unicode Consortium, and they're due to be launched in the second half of 2018 -- August or September. What can you look forward to? New red-haired and bald men and women feature, as do a female superhero, a pirate flag and a microbe.

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Amazon’s Prime Exclusive Phone Program is very admirable. True, Amazon itself benefits from selling these devices, but ultimately, the true winners are consumers. If you aren’t familiar, these Android phones are priced very low because they are subsidized by lock screen advertisements. It allows people that are struggling financially (or those that just like to save money) to achieve a solid phone at an affordable price.

Today, the Prime Exclusive Phone program gets even better. You see, Amazon is dropping the lock screen ads! In other words, Prime members can now score affordable phones with no gimmicks. Amazon will even issue updates to existing Prime phones to remove ads from them too. Nice!

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Despite foolish actions by some US cellular carriers caused by political pressure, the Huawei Mate 10 Pro Android smartphone is still coming to the USA. If you aren't familiar with the controversy, both AT&T and Verizon have refused to carry this device because xenophobic politicians are concerned about Huawei being a Chinese company. Tons of products for sale in the USA are made in China, so it is odd that Huawei is being singled out for alleged espionage. Of course, with the USA's current president, all logic has seemingly gone out the window.

Huawei has wisely decided to just go the unlocked route, meaning the Mate 10 Pro will work on T-Mobile, AT&T, and other GSM carriers in the USA -- Verizon and Sprint are not compatible. If you want to buy this flagship Android smartphone, you can pre-order starting today. Quite frankly, Huawei makes absolutely gorgeous products that are high-quality, so I would recommend that you do.

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OnePlus today kicked off the roll-out of OxygenOS 5.0.2, which finally brings Android 8.0 Oreo to its latest flagship killer, the OnePlus 5T. This build also adds a couple of changes to the UI and updates a number of the built-in apps.

The official Android 8.0 Oreo release lands nearly a month after OnePlus introduced the first public beta. Given the nature of such major under-the-hood changes, it will reach a limited number of OnePlus 5T users on day one, with a broader roll-out set to start in the next couple of days.

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The iPhone X was among the best-selling smartphones in major markets like Europe, Japan and US in December, according to a new report from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Apple's flagship helped iOS gain market share in five major European markets.

Kantar Worldpanel ComTech's report comes just after Nikkei claimed that iPhone X was selling bellow expectations. Nikkei based its analysis on supply figures from Apple's partners, which may not accurately reflect consumers' interest in the flagship.

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Using any smartphone means having to work within its storage limitations. The prevalence of cloud services has taken some of the strain off physical storage, but running out of room locally can still be an issue.

To help with this problem, Google offers Files Go. Now the company has updated the app to make it an even more powerful tool for freeing up space. The app can now handle SD cards and tablets, and includes a new option to change file associations.

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When many consumers buy a Galaxy phone, they aren't choosing Android, they are selecting Samsung. I know what you are thinking -- isn't that essentially the same thing? Actually, no. You see, for many, the operating system is largely inconsequential. When buying a new Android phone, they don't want HTC, LG, or even Google's own Pixel. Instead, these folks must have a Galaxy -- nothing else will do.

Samsung's brand loyalty is quite remarkable, and it is possibly only surpassed by Apple. I mean, heck, even after Samsung sold phones that literally exploded and caught fire, consumers have continued to purchase the company's products. It's not hard to see why -- its phones, tablets, televisions, washing machines, and more are an absolute delight. Its Galaxy phones in particular are well-designed and take class-leading photos. Today, Samsung is sure to make many excited, as it has started to send out press invitations to witness the unveiling of the Galaxy S9 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

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After you've used a messaging app, it's hard to go back to SMS. You can't share files, get read receipts, group chats or share emoji. It's archaic, but the good news is that there is an alternative.

It's called Rich Communication Services and it offers many of the features that we have come to love on messaging apps. Google is one of the biggest adopters, offering support for RCS in its Android Messages app. And, today, it announces that Huawei, one of the largest Android vendors, will integrate it in its Android smartphones.

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Security firm Kaspersky Lab has revealed details of a highly-sophisticated Android trojan that takes advantage of multiple vulnerabilities to gain full control of a device. Skygofree has capabilities that have never been seen in the wild before.

In the malware's arsenal of weapons is the ability to track user location, record audio, connect to attacker-controlled networks, monitor messaging apps, intercept text messages, take photographs, and much more. Kaspersky says its capabilities are "reminiscent of Hollywood spy movies."

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ProtonVPN’s free VPN service got off to a very rocky start when it launched 7 months ago. Demand was such that free users got put on to a waitlist, where they languished for months before even seeing an invite. The company did sort things eventually, and today it expands ProtonVPN further, by bringing the service to Android.

If you’re concerned about using a free VPN, the company says you shouldn’t be. The free service is funded by paid subscribers and subsidized by ProtonMail, meaning there are no ads and user data won't be sold to pay for it.

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When you think of elegant computers and devices, your mind probably goes to Apple, and rightfully so. After all, the iPhone-maker has long pioneered the concept of technology being more than just function. With Apple, exterior design is equally as important as the internals. The first iMac, for instance, showed that a computer could be more than a beige tower.

Nowadays, there are many other companies that focus on external beauty, but one in particular really shines in this regard -- Huawei. That manufacturer sells elegant phones, tablets, computers, and more. Its previously announced Mate 10 Pro had many people drooling (including yours truly), but tragically, it was not available in the USA. Today, however, Huawei announces that the much anticipated smartphone is finally coming to the country sandwiched between Mexico and Canada.

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A new beta of the Android tweaking tool Xposed Framework has been released. The big news is that the release brings support for Oreo, something of a surprise considering how recently Google pushed the latest version of its mobile operating system out of the door.

The latest Xposed Framework release comes mere months after Nougat support was added. While the Oreo-supporting release will be welcomed by mobile tweakers, the developer says it should be treated as a beta, and may be buggy.

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One of the fun aspects of Android is that you get to choose from many different devices. Unlike Apple iOS, where you are fairly limited, Google's operating system can be had on many phones and tablets, from companies like LG, Samsung, HTC and more. Unfortunately, unless you buy a Pixel or Nexus device, you often don't get a "pure" Android experience. Not to mention, community support can be limited due to locked bootloaders and other nonsense.

That's why the OnePlus devices have been such a breath of fresh air. These phones are no-nonsense, with purposeful design, and a fairly pure Android OS experience. Best of all, there is a wonderful community for support. Not to mention, they are affordable too. Today, the company announces that its latest flagship, the OnePlus 5T, will soon be available in a very limited edition color -- Sandstone White. Despite having the same specifications and just being a new color, the company says the phone "is the most complex device we have ever built."

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Sound familiar? A Galaxy Note has a problem with its battery! Samsung has acknowledged that there is an issue with the battery of the Galaxy Note8 -- but unlike the Galaxy Note7, there's no risk of it catching fire or exploding this time around.

A number of Note8 owners have complained that their phones have essentially been bricked after they let the battery run flat. With the battery fully discharged, it has proved impossible to charge the phone again. The problem is mainly affecting Note8 owners in the US.

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