Android - page 2

Square offers alternative to its iPad point-of-sale register

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Square Register POS terminal
Larger companies might choose the Square Register POS terminal, instead of the iPad-based option.
Photo: Square

Square provides cash registers for small businesses. For years, these were built around iPads, but the company now makes Square Register, its own Android-based point-of-sale terminal.

It hasn’t dropped the iPad version, but recommends its own system for businesses that take in over $125,000 per year.

LG disses iPhone in whiny new ad

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LG v iPhone
Put that iPhone down and smile for the ThinQ.
Photo: LG/YouTube

With its smartphone sales in sharp decline, LG takes aim at the iPhone in a television ad that seems desperate to drum up excitement for its new flagship handset.

The commercial for the new LG G7 ThinQ features actress Aubrey Plaza and shows a village of people using every criticism the Android community has ever hurled at the iPhone to try and convince a whiny user named Ryan to switch to the ThinQ.

Samsung Galaxy X folding phone could cost twice as much as iPhone X

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Samsung's concept folding smartphone.
Samsung concept folding device shows what the Galaxy X could look like.
Photo: Samsung

Apple and Samsung are both supposedly working on foldable phones. The Korean company will get its out first though, but hold onto your wallet, it’s going to be shockingly expensive.

An analyst predicts that this device, allegedly called the Galaxy X, will cost about 2M Korean won, or $1815. That’s nearly double the iPhone X, which drew criticism for its $999 price tag.

Verizon’s new data plan even more unlimited than its other unlimited plans

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verizon-adds-20-fee-to-all-smartphone-upgrades-image-cultofandroidcomwp-contentuploads20160314777958118_8f2ab75b15_k-jpg
For about $100 a month, you can use more than 2GB of 4G LTE data each day without worrying about throttling.
Photo: Verizon

Verizon just created a new top tier to its unlimited data plans. It was designed for “super users who want the most,” according to the carrier.

The Above Unlimited plan offers 75GB of unthrottled 4G LTE data, and 20GB of unthrottled hotspot data, for $95 a month.

Twitter redesign doubles down on news

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Twitter
Twitter is going to show you lots of news, all through the app. Hopefully that's what you want.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

A Twitter redesign will put breaking news and sports events at the top of your timeline. Expect updated iOS and Android apps to emphasize current happenings over casual chat.

Apparently being brushed under the rug are pictures of your cat. Twitter seems to want people to be consumers of Tweets, not creators.

Neural networks make Google Translate app smarter, more accurate while offline

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Google Translate is now better, even offline
On-device learning should make the Google Translate app much better at its job.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Neural machine translation (NMT) has made the online version of Google Translate more accurate for years. Today, this AI feature was added to the iOS and Android apps so it can be used offline.

NTM allows the software to learn over time to create better, more natural translations. And this function is available while traveling without a local data plan.

Google borrows iPhone X navigation system for Android

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Android P has a similar swipe-based navigation system as the iPhone X, and it supports screen cutouts.
Android P has a similar swipe-based navigation system as the iPhone X, and it supports screen cutouts.
Graphic: Google

Anyone who’s used an iPhone X already knows how to navigate around in the next version of Google’s mobile operating system. The company showed off Android P at its developer conference today, and it includes a touch bar at the bottom of the screen, just like Apple’s flagship phone.

Android P also natively supports screen cutouts, so device makers will be able to easily produce iPhone X clones.

Apple Music videos make the leap to Android

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Music Video
Apple Music -- now with added music videos.
Photo: Apple

Apple has rolled out its new music video-oriented Apple Music app update for Android.

Now available to download in the Google Play store, the Apple Music 2.4.2 update boasts the same “music video experience” recently added with iOS 11.3. That means that users can access a plethora of exclusive music video playlists curated by Apple.

Apple and Samsung massively increased chip spending in 2017

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chips
Apple spent $38.754 billion on chips last year.
Photo: Intel

Apple ramped up its spending on semiconductors by more than a quarter in 2017, a new report from Gartner claims.

In the past 12 months, Apple spent a massive $38.754 billion on chips, making it second only to Samsung in terms of semiconductor spend. In 2016, Apple spent “just” $30.39 billion — or 27.5 percent less.

iPhone reclaimed some valuable ground from Android last quarter

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iPhone X
The iPhone reportedly had a great quarter late last year.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

iOS increased its market share in the U.S. over the most recent quarter, a new report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners reveals.

The newly published research claims that iOS devices accounted for 39 percent of new mobile device activations over Q4, compared to only a 34 percent increase this time last year. Android, meanwhile, saw activations fall from 71 percent to 64 percent.

Some Samsung Note 8 owners are experiencing battery issues

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Galaxy note
Samsung is experiencing battery-related PR issues of its own.
Photo: Samsung

Apple’s not the only smartphone manufacturer having PR issues involving its phone batteries. Some owners of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 are reporting that their handsets refuse to charge or turn on after running out of charge.

According to Samsung, this issue affects a, “very limited number of reports which could be associated with the power management circuit.”

Huawei executive arrested for allegedly taking bribes

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Huawei
Huawei is the top-selling smartphone brand in China.
Photo: AndroidCentral

The China sales head of Huawei Technologies’ smartphone division has been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes.

According to an internal memo sent to staff, Teng Hongfei was detained for, “the suspected crime of accepting bribes as a non-state functionary.” Huawei is currently the top smartphone maker in China by market share, and could soon overtake Apple in terms of global market share.

Need a stable smartphone? Buy iPhone, not Android

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iphone x
iPhones suffer fewer issues, claims new report.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The “failure rate” of Android devices is nearly double that of iOS device, although iOS apps crash 7x more frequently than Android apps.

Those are two of the findings from respected mobile diagnostics experts Blancco Technology Group, who have just released their latest mobile device performance and health report.

Apple and Google remove 330 apps linked to trading scams

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France fines Apple $27 million for intention iPhone 'throttling' controversy
Removal request came from Australia, but is a worldwide problem.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple and Google have removed a total of 330 binary trading apps from their respective app stores, following intervention from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission.

Australia’s securities regulator requested the removal of the apps based on fraud investigations, concerning certain apps which allow users to make bets about whether or not shares and currency will rise or fall. While some apps that do this are legitimate, others have been linked to scams.

Google snatches Apple chip architect to work on future Pixel phones

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Google Pixel
Future Pixel phones could benefit from Google-developed chips.
Photo: Google

Google has hired away veteran chip architect Manu Gulati from Apple, with the goal of building its own custom chips for future Pixel phones.

Gulati has been working on chip development at Apple for almost eight years. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is now employed as Google’s lead system-on-a-chip Architect.

Android squeaks past Windows to become internet’s most popular OS

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Android rules the Internet.
Android rules the Internet.
Photo: Google

Windows can no longer claim the crown as the most popular operating system on the internet thanks to the rise of smartphones.

During the month of March, Microsoft finally saw its share of worldwide OS internet get eclipsed by Google’s Android operating system, marking the first time a mobile OS is more popular than the software powering PCs.

Samsung nearly tops Apple in J.D. Power smartphone rankings

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Samsung
The exploding Note 7 didn't hurt Samsung's status.
Photo: Jim Merithew / Cult of Mac

The gap between Apple and Samsung is narrower than it has ever been, according to J.D. Power’s 2017 smartphone satisfaction rankings that have the iPhone-maker in the lead by just one point.

Apple took the number one spot with a total score of 840. Meanwhile Samsung somehow crept up to the second spot with 839 points, even though it had a disastrous last half of 2016 with the exploding Note 7 fiasco.

Kodak smartphone still shooting for photographers

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Kodak Ektra smartphone
The Kodak Ektra is a camera with a smartphone built in.
Photo: Kodak

It was a pretty bold move for the pioneering but fading photography icon Kodak to launch a smartphone dedicated to serious photographers one month after Apple’s release of the highly anticipated iPhone 7 Plus.

The Android handset was released in Europe and Australia and some lackluster reviews soon followed. But Kodak and its partner in smartphones, Bullitt, still have high hopes in putting the Kodak Ektra in the hands of more photographers.

Samsung chief faces arrest for bribing South Korea president

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Samsung's de-facto boss is in a spot of trouble.
Photo: Samsung

The de-facto head of Samsung faces arrest on charges of bribing South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye and a confidante.

The call for Lee Kun-hee, Samsung’s vice chairman and the only son of its incapacitated chairman, is part of a larger investigation into alleged corruption involving senior government officials and large South Korean corporations.

iPhone triumphs in U.S., while Android continues to decline

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iPhone 7
iPhone 7, 7 Plus and 6s were big winners over the holiday season.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Sorry Android, it seems that iOS got the better gifts this Christmas!

According to the latest Kantar Worldpanel ComTech sales figures, iOS gained market share at Android’s expense in the United States, United Kingdom, France and elsewhere.

In the U.S., this marked the sixth consecutive quarterly decline for Android, while Apple grew 6.4 percent year-on-year.

Galaxy S8 could use same battery supplier as explosive Note 7

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Galaxy Note 7 that exploded while charging.
The Note 7 was one of last year's big debacles.
Photo: Mr NiBaidu

Samsung threw away millions of dollars and took a hefty PR hit thanks to its exploding Galaxy Note 7, which it wound up recalling at great cost last year.

However, it seems that Samsung’s not ready to give up on the controversial batteries used in the smartphone, but will instead continue using Samsung SDI batteries for its upcoming Galaxy S8 flagship device.