Samsung today announced the Galaxy S8 and S8+ its flagship smartphones for 2017. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+ adopt what Samsung calls its Infinity Display. Infinity Display moves from the industry standard 16:9 aspect ratio to a taller 18.5:9 ratio with 2,960 by 1,440 pixels. The devices share nearly all features other than screen size and battery capacity. Where the Samsung Galaxy S8 has a 5.8 inch display and 3,000mAh battery, the Samsung Galaxy S8+ has a 6.2 inch screen and 3,500mAh battery. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+ is first to see Samsung drop the physical home button that has been set at the front of its handsets in favor of on screen controls and a virtual home button that's unmarked in the area below the screen. This has allowed Samsung to reduce bezel size along the top, sides, and bottom edges giving the new flagship 83% display ratio. Samsung says the displays are mobile HDR certified and offer more room for multitasking. Core features include a Snapdragon 835 processors with 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage, and SD memory card supporting a max SD card of 256GB. Both Samsung Galaxy phones are rated IP68 for protection against water and dust.
Samsung has moved the front mounted fingerprint reader for an updated rear mounted fingerprint reader, front mounted iris scanners, as well as wireless and rapid charging. The main rear facing camera has a 12 megapixel sensor with optical image stabilization and an aperture of f/1.7 while the front camera has an 8 megapixel sensor and boast an aperture of f/1.7 with autofocus and face detection. Ports include USB-C and 3.5mm headphone jack. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+ are run Android 7.0 Nougat at launch along with Samsung's new Bixby voice enabled user interface, and comes with improved Samsung Health, Samsung Connect, and Samsung Knox apps preinstalled. The U.S. version will come in black, silver, and purple. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8+ is expected to go on sale next month, with pre-orders live. Pricing will be set by carriers. Source: Samsung
Google is working on providing a more child friendly experience for Android. Launching as invite only Family Link allows parents to control what apps children can use on managed devices as well as set screen limits and usage locks. The Family Link apps allows parents to create a managed Google Account for their child. Installing the app and signing into that account on an intended device will present parents with several management options. Parents have full control over what kids can download from the Play Store, while being able to track how much time is spent in those apps. Reports show usage on weekly and monthly increments. There are also daily screen time limits as well as a more general device bedtime that remotely locks devices after set hours. The Android 7.0 or higher requirement is a notable limitation given how relatively few devices are currently running Nougat. Additionally, tablets which parents are more likely to give to young children than phones have yet to widely see the latest version of the OS. Parents in the US can request an invite to the Family Link early access program starting today by hitting the source link below. Google will ask early users for feedback on how to improve the experience before rolling it out to all. Source: Google Family Link
Google has finally confirmed it will be unveiling its new Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones at a media event scheduled for October 4th. Google has also created a new “madeby.google.com” web page which shows the same animation as the video but with some amazing photos, suggesting that the search giant plans to market the new smartphones as “made by Google” although reports claim they will be manufactured by HTC. Google just published a video to confirm the date Oct. 4th, as you can see in the video below, the search bar slowly turns into a silhouette of a phone with Oct. 4th, and the Google "G" logo on the opposite side.
With Google’s latest Nexus/Pixel phone's release tipped for an October 4th announcement, the launcher formerly known as the Nexus Launcher has been leaked. The Pixel Launcher has a new trick up its sleeve... integrating Google Calendar in to the Pixel Launcher, allowing for real-time dates to be shown in the calendar app. The Pixel Launcher app confirmed that Google's smartphones will be called the Pixel later this year. In addition, the Pixel Launcher app version number being 7.1-3231428 indicating a likelihood that Pixel devices will ship with Android 7.1 Nougat. Google's Pixel Launcher can be downloaded by following the source link below, along with the Wallpaper Picker that allow for setting stock wallpapers when using the new Pixel Launcher. Leave your comments, let us know what your thoughts are in the comment section. Source: Pixel Launcher, Wallpaper Picker
Google has made the final version of Android 7.0 Nougat available to developers, phone makers, and select devices. Google released the first developer build of Nougat earlier this year and has been refining the platform ever since. Today Android 7.0 Nougat official moves out of beta. The next generation mobile operating system includes support for Vulkan to improve graphics performance for games, and also improves the Android runtime to speedier daily use. Nougat introduces file based encryption to better isolate and protect individual users. Android 7.0 Nougat offers seamless security updates that happen automatically in the background with no user action required. Google made improvements to the multitasking with multi window mode. Android 7.0 Nougat now shows the most recent seven apps and moves the "clear all" tool to the top of the screen to prevent accidental closings. Nougat overhauls notifications providing direct control over silencing certain types of notifications. The platform adds Unicode 9.0 for an expanded set of emoji. Last but certainly not least Android 7.0 Nougat adds direct support for virtual reality. Android 7.0 Nougat is available to the Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, and Pixel C devices. Source: Android
Google today revealed the name for Android N "Nougat". Google did not specify the number designation for Android Nougat. Android Nougat is available in beta to select devices and is set to be released in full later this summer. Source: Google via Twitter
