Sony promises Lollipop for every single device in the Z series

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Sony promises Lollipop for every single device in the Z series

You read that right — if your Sony Xperia phone is from the Z line, you’re getting Lollipop, no questions asked. Sony confirmed that much in a blog post today, and in case you’ve forgotten how many devices fit the bill here’s a handy dandy list:

• Xperia Z


• Xperia ZL


• Xperia ZR


• Xperia Tablet Z


• Xperia Z1


• Xperia Z1^S


• Xperia Z Ultra


• Xperia Z1 Compact


• Xperia Z2


• Xperia Z2 Tablet


• Xperia Z3


• Xperia Z3v


• Xperia Z3 Compact


• Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact

Sony says the core Xperia Z3 and Z2 models will be first in line with first upgrades expected to begin in early 2015. Timelines for the rest of the phones are still up in the air, though we’re sure Sony will work to get it out as soon as they can. That’s the extent of what we know about their plans to this point so we’ll be patiently awaiting more details from the Sony camp as the months tick by.

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Austin, TX residents can sign up for Google Fiber starting in December

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Austin, TX residents can sign up for Google Fiber starting in December

Quick heads up for those of you in Austin, Texas looking for better internet soon — Google Fiber is nearly ready, and Google will soon be taking signups from anyone interested. The company will accept signups from the metropolitan area of the city for any and all folks interested.

It’s believed that those in smaller, surrounding markets will have to pool together and show enough interest in Fiber for Google to start spreading the service (though if rollouts in Kansas City and Provo are anything to go by, that won’t be a huge issue).

Google will offer their standard gigabit high speed service for those willing to pay up the monthly coin for it, though basic free internet for 7 years is certain to be an option as long as you pay the $300 upfront installation cost. Not bad if you or someone you know doesn’t need a whole lot of data to get things done. Google has a sizable list of other cities they want to hit in the months to come and within the next year, but these things take time and you shouldn’t be holding your breath for Fiber in your area if you need internet connectivity now.

[via WSJ]

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HTC confirms Lollipop for One M7, One Mini (2013) and One M8

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HTC confirms Lollipop for One M7, One Mini (2013) and One M8

Not that we were worried that HTC’s flagship smartphones from the past two years would receive Lollipop, but the company has come out to confirm that the HTC One M7 and the HTC One M8 will both be receiving the upgrade within 90 days of the update’s release. Of course, time will vary from region to region and variant to variant, but HTC’s been pretty good about sticking to their timelines over the past couple of years so we shouldn’t be subject to any lengthy delays.

A bit more on the surprising side is that the HTC One M7 Mini is now confirmed to be receiving Lollipop. The smartphone is only one year old, but it’s underpowered compared to its bigger sibling by a similar name. That said, Google said Android 5.0 Lollipop would be optimized for entry-level hardware and the HTC One M7 Mini sure has more than enough to handle the load. We’ll be looking to see if any other devices in HTC’s catalog will be in line to receive the upgrade so stay tuned.

[via Twitter 1|2|3]

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HTC One M8 Developer Edition is now receiving EYE camera update

Owners of the unlocked international HTC One M8 started to receive the EYE update being featured on HTC’s new selfie-focused Desire EYE, and now developer edition owners are in for more of the same. The upgrade is now being rolled out to that crop of M8 owners over the air. You’ll be looking for version 3.28.1540.5, and if you haven’t been keeping up it’ll bring the following changes:

• Face tracking: track up to 4 faces during a video chat, and ensure that they stay within the camera’s angle of view


• Split Capture: record the action in front of you and yourself at the same time, or record the action first and then record a commentary


• Face Fusion: Using 2 photos such as your selfie and a photo of your favorite celebrity, try merging your looks together


• Voice Selfie: Take a picture or video selfie by just saying “say cheese” or “action”


• Live Makeup: smoothen your skin before taking a selfie


• Photo Booth: take 4 selfies and merge them into a single picture

It’s nothing that’s going to improve the quality of the photos you take with the HTC One M8’s cameras, but certainly some very cool features if you’re super big into selfies. The update is quite large at about 235.92MB so be sure to enable WiFi and charge your battery before attempting to pull it down. All that’s left is to get the upgrade to those on carrier variants of the HTC One M8 (though we have a feeling it will take a bit longer to accomplish that).

[via Twitter]

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Full Android L Casting Call video shows lots of disappointed desserts

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Full Android L Casting Call video shows lots of disappointed desserts

So Google came out and confirmed that Android L would be named Lollipop. So what happened at the end of the casting call video with all the other tasty desserts auditioning? Well, a wave of disappointment, that’s what. So sad to see cute little lemon drop walk away with a frown.

Even worse is Ladoo — poor guy couldn’t even get up and walk himself out of the door. But Lollipop sure had a good time, and it’s going to enjoy the crown of the “L” release until “M” drops. Speaking of which, Google might have hinted that “muffin” would be on the horizon. Or maybe that was Lollipop’s character choosing the worst M dessert you could think of to instill some hope back into today’s failed contestants. Be sure to grab a look at the video above.

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This is how the Nexus 9 looks in the real world [Pics, Video]

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This is how the Nexus 9 looks in the real world [Pics, Video]

Renders are enough to give us a decent idea of how a new device looks at its best, but there’s nothing like getting a look at the thing in the flesh. The Nexus 9 won’t be available until November 3rd, but some lucky souls in Vietnam have already gotten a chance to finagle the thing and were gracious enough to deliver all the photos and video we can handle.

The device doesn’t really look more or less cool than what we’ve seen in the official press renders, though we were taken aback by the fact that it definitely is as thin as advertised. And it does look absolutely stunning. We obviously can’t comment on how it feels in the hand just yet, but early impressions suggest you won’t have any issues palming the 8.9-inch tablet.

The Nexus 9’s 4:3 aspect ratio might have been off-putting on paper, but it looks like a really comfortable, natural device that should hopefully bring 4:3 back in style for the tablet scene. One last thing — that keyboard case looks freaking awesome. The case is a very snug fit when not in use, and it looks to fold out into a laptop-like state with ease. Needless to say this is most certainly one of the best looking tablets out there, and we imagine there won’t be a much better way to spend $400 this year if you’re in the market for one. Be sure to head to the source links for a lot more.

[Tihnte.vn, SForum.vn]

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Unlocked Sony Xperia Z3 Compact (AT&T and T-Mobile) finally gets a ship date

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Unlocked Sony Xperia Z3 Compact (AT&T and T-Mobile) finally gets a ship date

After becoming officially available for purchase only 2 days ago, it seems Sony has finally gotten their house in order and are ready to give ship dates for the unlocked Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. According to the Sony Store, if you pre-order the unlocked Z3 Compact today — which supports both AT&T and T-Mobile networks (no band 12 LTE, however) — you can expect the phone to arrive on your doorstep as early as November 3rd.

The Sony Xperia Z3 Compact is retailing for $530 direct from Sony and offers the highest-end hardware specs you can find on a sub-5-inch smartphone. Sony also offers 2 years of accidental damage protection for an additional $80 in the event the phone is ever dropped and damaged ($0 deductible).

Don’t forget, student and faculty also get a bonus 10% (about $53) off the price of a new Sony Xperia Z3 Compact (or any Sony device for that matter) just by signing up at Sony’s Student Store here. Not a student or faculty? You can still sign up and nab the discount if you’re “buying for a student,” so there’s always that route as well.

P.S. Yes, I just purchased one for myself in black. Can’t wait to finally get my hands on a full capable Android device I don’t have to use with 2 hands.

[Sony Store]

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New details behind Android 5.0 Lollipop’s upcoming kill switch security feature

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New details behind Android 5.0 Lollipop’s upcoming kill switch security feature

Smartphone security is one of those hot topics in mobile and ever since Apple introduced their “kill switch” solution to help prevent unauthorized iPhone theft, we’ve been curious to see how Android would follow suit.

Back in August, California’s “kill switch” bill was signed into law, requiring any smartphone manufactured after July 2015 to have a security feature that will allow users to disable a handset if lost of stolen. Google hasn’t been quiet on the issue, stating back in June their plans to implementing a kill switch feature in the next version of Android, now known today as Android 5.0 Lollipop.

We haven’t heard much about it since then, but today the folks at Recode got word from Google on exactly how this security measure will work. More of a pseudo kill switch, the feature — known as “Factory Reset Protection” — doesn’t really kill anything. As the name suggests, all it does is require the user enter in a password before they can perform a full factory reset. It’s still up to users to either have some sort of lock screen security, or lock the phone remotely using the Android Device Manager in the event their phone is ever lost or stolen. This renders the phone useless to the new unauthorized user, but is easily reversible if ever recovered.

It’s still unclear if this method is 100% foolproof, or if a simple factory reset done via recovery or fastboot will bypass the security in Android’s software. In any case, it’s a welcomed addition and one of the many helpful new features arriving inside Android 5.0 Lollipop. We couldn’t be more excited when it begins rolling out early next month.

 

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