There are a lot of Android phones out there, and chances are that someone in your life is looking for one this holiday season. Well, there also happens to be a lot of Black Friday deals on Android phones this year. So we've rounded up the best deals taking place on Black Frida ...more
Your smartphone stays with you everywhere you go, so it's only a matter of time before you spill coffee all over it or drop it on the ground. For some of you, it has already happened, perhaps even multiple times. That's why we thought it was important to find out which flagshi ...more
Our phones have evolved past a simple pocket computer. They have become more like Swiss Army Knives, opening up possibilities that were previously considered Sci-Fi material. Thanks to the recent push into augmented reality, a new world of tools is becoming available to mobile ...more
Samsung's latest flagship devices—the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge—both sport an interesting new feature called Always On Display, or simply AOD. When enabled, this feature keeps the clock, date, and other bits of information visible at all times—even when the screen is off. Samsung ...more
It's that time again. Snow days, Thanksgiving dinner, holiday presents ... and great Black Friday deals. Starting the Friday after Thanksgiving (or sometimes a few days before), millions of items will go on sale, including your next Android phone. Jump Ahead: Google Phones | ...more
| Updated February 11, 2019 with new phones. When will my phone get Android Oreo? That's a question still being asked by many, even this late in 2018. Most OEMs have answered this question in one way or another, either releasing a stable OTA or confirming their device won't b ...more
The headphone jack is becoming outdated technology in smartphones — that's what many manufacturers would have you believe. For the convenience of the audiophiles out there, we recently published our list of all phones that have removed the 3.5 mm jack. But what did each compan ...more
Sony offers a set of free games to its PlayStation Plus subscribers every month, but it's easy to miss out if you're not constantly around your console. Perhaps you're traveling, or maybe you've stayed up one too many nights playing Uncharted, leading to a period of PlayStatio ...more
Mobile gaming still isn't on par with video game consoles or PCs, but we've come a long way from Snake. Modern games running on the latest smartphones boast downright impressive graphics—even more so when you consider how compact the system has to be in order to fit in people' ...more
On the new Moto X smartphone, the only thing you have to do to activate the virtual assistant is say "Okay, Google Now." That's it. You don't have to press a button or tap on the display at all. It's always ready for your voice commands via its "Active Listening" feature, maki ...more
One of the biggest gripes I initially had with the LG G3 was the lack of options for the Shortcut keys, which are the volume keys that allow you to launch the camera or the QuickMemo+ app directly from the lock screen. I never use QuickMemo+, so having it as a shortcut was a c ...more
The holidays are here. From the week of Thanksgiving until the end of the year, retailers will be offering massive discounts on your favorite items. So if you're looking for smartphone accessories, this is the time to buy. From Walmart to Best Buy, there are deals everywhere o ...more
The Avengers aren't the only shiny new toys available to Pixel handset owners, as the animated stars of the upcoming Pokémon Detective Pikachu movie have arrived in the Google Playground app. Just weeks after bringing the headlining characters of the box office-owning Avenger ...more
After the limited initial release of the massively popular game on the Android platform, many users have been stuck waiting to play Fortnite. That's because, initially, Epic Games only released the game to Samsung Galaxy devices, and asked non-Samsung users to join an invite l ...more
One of the highest rated posts on Spotify's own community forum is titled "Add support for Google Chromecast," a clear indicator of not only how much this feature is desired, but also of Spotify's lack of care for it. Remaining consistent with statements made in the past, Spot ...more
It seems like custom Google Now commands are a dime a dozen these days. With Commandr for Google Now giving non-rooted users their first taste of custom voice commands just a couple weeks ago, you may wonder why we're covering this subject again. Unlike Commandr, the app Auto ...more
It seems that Apple is taking a page from Google's book with their new "Hey, Siri" voice activation feature in iOS 8. This feature mimics the one found in Google Now, the voice-activated intelligent personal assistant available to just about all Android users. Apple's version ...more
Cloud storage looks pretty good compared to the heavy restrictions that hard drives and other types of external memory carry. The cloud is not only limitless in what it can hold, but it can also easily be accessed from any device that has Internet—your smartphone, work compute ...more
| Updated Aug. 22, 2019 with new phones. When will my phone get Android Pie? For the first time since Android's inception, this question shouldn't have an answer that lets you down. That's because Android Oreo introduced Project Treble, a new low-level arrangement that makes ...more
It's that time of year again. The world's largest electronics companies are sending representatives to the annual Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, and for gadget lovers like us, that means we'll get our first look at some of this year's biggest upcoming flagship smart ...more
While Black Friday shoppers found countless deals on all kinds of smartphones, one device was overtly left out of the price cuts — the iPhone X. Walmart was the only store to offer a promotion on the newest Apple device, and even then, it was difficult to find. Cyber Week appe ...more
Whenever you would use "Portrait Mode" in iOS 10 on your iPhone 7 Plus, the camera would save both a regular and depth effect version. If you were low on space, you could always opt to save the depth effect version only, but this setting is now gone in iOS 11. While at first i ...more
Even today, smartphone text input leaves a lot to be desired. It's difficult to select specific words, the cut/copy/paste menu isn't always accessible in every app, and we're lacking undo and redo options, even though it's as simple as pressing Ctrl + Z on computers. Don't Mi ...more
Android has a system-wide user dictionary file that any third-party keyboard can utilize, if it so chooses. This file contains all of the words that you've added to your keyboard manually, and of the big-name players, Minuum, TouchPal, and the Google Keyboard call on this file ...more
The year is still off to a roaring start, with augmented reality at the center of nearly everything, from enterprise solutions, to entertainment, to safety. In the realm of streaming, the Marvel universe got another dose of augmented reality marketing help thanks to Disney Pl ...more
Android 10 is officially out, but a lot of phones didn't get it in 2019, and others may not get it at all. With this page, you'll at least know when or if. Despite all the improvements to Android's updating process, only 10.4% of devices were updated to Android Pie (9.0) as o ...more
So, your grandmother finally wants to ditch her flip phone for a shiny new smartphone? Congratulations. But helping her get used to her new device, even when it's an iPhone, is no small task. Grandma mastered checking her email in late-2012 and just recently learned there's a ...more
While Google isn't ready to commit to a wide release of the AR walking navigation mode for Google Maps, the company has begun testing the feature with members of its Local Guides crowdsourcing community. As a result, I've had the opportunity to test an alpha build of the feat ...more
The past year brought about a number of trends in the smartphone space. More immersive displays, better processors, and portrait mode for cameras come to mind as big steps forward. One of the most polarizing trends that continued in 2017 is the removal of the 3.5 mm headphone ...more
It was a long overdue announcement when wireless charging was revealed as a feature in Apple's 2017 iPhone lineup. While certainly a welcome addition, wireless charging would only work with up to 5 watts of power, which meant no fast-charge capabilities. That's not the case an ...more
The fifth developer beta for iOS 11.1 was released on Oct. 24, and the official iOS 11.1 update was pushed out to iPhones everywhere on Oct. 31. However, that isn't stopping Apple from seeding developers with the iOS 11.2 beta already. The first beta of version 11.2 features ...more
HDR, or high-dynamic range, is currently the best way to view movies and TV shows on your iPhone 8 or 8 Plus. With a wider color gamut and a broad luminance range, there's no beating HDR video for the ultimate viewing experience. Unless, of course, you don't have the storage t ...more
If your iPhone is acting up, frozen on a screen, and/or won't respond to you, force-restarting it is a surefire way to whip it back into shape. And the process is easy on older devices ... just hold down a two-button combo until the Apple logo appears. That's no longer the cas ...more
The iPhone 8 is just about here. If you're anything like me, you can hardly contain your excitement. Apple has been keeping its 10th-anniversary device — whether you call it the iPhone X, iPhone Edition, or iPhone 8 — as secret as possible, but this past year we've seen a wate ...more
When Disney teased an augmented reality game called Star Wars: Jedi Challenges running on a headset from Lenovo, fans had more questions than Disney had answers. When? How much? Can I be a real Jedi? With official word today from Lenovo and Disney by way of IFA 2017 in Berlin ...more
The OnePlus 5 may have received a lot of flak for its design mirroring the iPhone 7 Plus' very closely, but that doesn't change the fact that dual cameras have become increasingly more common over the last couple years. Samsung's next smartphone, the Galaxy Note 8, is rumored ...more
We've been following the rumors surrounding the OnePlus 5 for a while, and we are more than excited to get our hands on it. That excitement has only increased today, as we learn OnePlus has included a feature in its newest device that resembles the iPhone 7 Plus — real dual ca ...more
We talk a lot about Spotify and Apple Music on the topic of music streaming. So much so that it's easy to forget that other streaming platforms exist. Tidal, Jay Z's streaming service, is often one of these forgotten platforms. But, bless their hearts, they're still trying to ...more
Arguably the most impressive aspect of the iPhone 7 Plus is its dual-lens camera, or better yet, the Portrait mode that comes with it. This mode creates a dramatically shallow depth of field behind a subject, and was pretty impressive as is. Now, in iOS 11, Apple is making it ...more
The roll-out of T-Mobile's hotly anticipated 'Digits' service is now underway. For those unfamiliar with what could be the un-carrier's next killer app, 'Digits' is basically a combination of Google Voice and AT&T NumberSync. With it, T-Mobile customers can use their number a ...more
WinFuture, a German tech-news site, has leaked a spec sheet for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. We previously covered all speculation and leaks in our rumor roundup, but thanks to Roland Quandt, we now have a very clear look at what to expect from Samsung's latest ...more
Selfies' reign on social media and pop culture has not really lost any steam since it was declared the word of the year back in 2013. We've had the much-mocked selfie stick, and even an ill-fated TV show named after the term. So what's next? Well, if you're phone maker Oppo, y ...more
It feels like forever, but the wait is almost over. In less than a week, everyone will be able to try out all the cool new features in Apple's new iOS 10. This new update will be available on September 13 to most iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch users via the "Software Update" sec ...more
Among the many new changes ushered in by the iPhone 7, only one has the potential to completely change the way you interact with your smartphone—a new 3D Touch-enabled home button. Instead of the mechanical click we've grown accustomed to, your home button will now behave like ...more
Whether you use Google Calendar, Exchange, iCloud, or any other service, you need a good Android calendar app to keep you organized on the go. For many folks, the obvious answer was always Sunrise Calendar, but Microsoft purchased the company behind this awesome app in a class ...more
Ad blocking on Android usually requires root access, but a pair of new browsers based on the open source Chromium and Firefox builds are looking to change this. Today, I'll be going over two options for ad-free web browsing without root access. The first is the Chromium-based ...more
When Apple released their plus-sized iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, it only made sense that they would include a one-handed feature to accommodate the larger displays. That particular feature is called Reachability, and with just a quick double-tap of the Home button, the screen ...more
If you're anything like me, you rely heavily on your calendar to keep on track throughout the week, month, and year. While Android's built-in Google Calendar provides an excellent cloud-based solution for keeping our schedules properly maintained, it's not perfect. If you wan ...more
As Microsoft unveiled their new Windows Phone 8.1 software update yesterday, undoubtedly the most memorable takeaway was their showcase of Cortana. Competing directly against Apple's Siri and Google's Now, Cortana is Microsoft's entry into the digital voice assistant fray, and ...more
Most of us have some sort of malware scanner or antivirus program on our computers, but what about our smartphones? A lot of people don't realize that computers aren't the only devices that are susceptible to malicious software and apps—they can follow you on your smartphone o ...more
Amazon has launched its Chromecast competitor, the Amazon Fire TV Stick, which is available for pre-order today. This little dongle has four times the storage and twice the memory of Google's Chromecast, plus many of the features found in Amazon's Fire TV set-top box. Pricing ...more
Handwritten notes are no doubt useful at home, work, and school, but digitizing them with your smartphone will make them easier to edit, organize, and review. You'll also always have a digital copy ready if your handwritten notes get lost or erased. And Google Keep for Android ...more
To combat their poor coverage in rural areas, T-Mobile spent nearly $8 billion on 600 MHz spectrum in 2017, which was converted to LTE Band 71. With such a low frequency, the signal can travel further, providing LTE speeds to more Americans. But your phone also has to support ...more
While there aren't as many ways to customize your iPhone like there is on Android, there are still a lot of apps out there that can help streamline and enhance your experience beyond Apple's own default options — and we've hand-picked over 100 essentials. No matter if you've ...more
It's the holidays. That means new smartphones, and new smartphones mean new cases. Whether it's the Galaxy S8, the iPhone X, or the Note 8, your new phone deserves to be protected. Of course, good cases can get pricey fast. That's what Black Friday is for, of course. While no ...more
So you finally decided to make the switch from iOS to Android, huh? Well first off: welcome to the world of tomorrow. And secondly: good call, mate. In all seriousness, switching between mobile ecosystems can be quite the hassle. Even after you've grown accustomed to the new ...more
As things begin to clutter on your device, navigating through it can become much more difficult than when you first got it. The sheer number of added apps and mods that build up after time take its toll not only on the quickness and memory of your device, but also on your effi ...more
Apple just released iOS 13.6.1 for iPhone today, Wednesday, Aug. 12. The update is the latest public update for iPhones since iOS 13.6, which Apple released 28 days ago. Apple released this update just past 1 p.m. PDT. We anticipated Apple would release iOS 13.6.1 at 10 a.m. ...more
The camera situation on the all new HTC One is a little daunting. The M8 has not one, not two, but three camera lenses built in. First, there's the 5 megapixel selfie machine up front, then around back, there's the new Duo Camera with a refined UltraPixel sensor. HTC has done ...more
As paper forms become a thing of the past, it's becoming commonplace to fill out contracts, rental agreements, waiver release forms, and non-disclosure agreements online. You can easily fill out forms on your laptop, but how can you best do this using your iPhone or Android de ...more