Google's Chrome app is one of the most popular web browsers in the world - especially on mobile devices. Whenever the app has an update, we draw closer to a time at which older devices will no longer be supported. Today is one of those days. The latest version of the Chrome web browser app for Android removes support for Android 4.1-4.3 Jelly Bean.
One of the most respected traditions in the Android world is guessing the code name for the next major Android release. It follows the basic requirement of being a dessert that starts with the next letter of the alphabet after the current release. Usually, that guessing game is started with a flurry of suggestions, some of them sensible while others are really out of this world. It seems, however, that the tradition is in danger of dying out, which is probably why Google SVP for Android Hiroshi Lockheimer took it upon himself to get the ball rolling. Or maybe even trolling.
The latest Android distribution numbers are here from Google, and they're showing an expected uptick in the number of devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Of course, with Marshmallow being the newest version of Android, you'd expect its adoption rate to increase as time goes on, but here we're beginning to see Marshmallow move within striking distance to one of the versions ahead of it: Jelly Bean.
This afternoon Google introduced Android Instant Apps, a system with which Android apps will be able to open as quick as a web link. With this system, developers will be able to present just tiny pieces of the apps they've already made. Users will be able to see just one part of an app without having to download the whole thing. Easy and smooth - and backwards compatible. This system will be released into the wild as soon as Google's done working on it - which doesn't appear to be all that long from now.
A number of new ARCHOS smartphones are headed to Mobile World Congress 2015, each of them with MediaTek quad-core processors and relatively low price points. This is not the first time ARCHOS has released smartphones at this time of year - they have the last several years running, in fact. It is the first time they're bringing three phones with Android 4.4 KitKat. They're all coming with displays larger than 5-inches, as well - so that age of small-screen smartphones is pretty much over for this brand.
This week Huawei appears pumped up to announce that one of their newest devices on the market, the Huawei Ascend Mate2, will not be getting any more Android updates. This is the device we reviewed in June of this year - it was released that same month - but now there'll be no more updates to its software. Here's the kicker: Huawei WILL be updating the device in every region outside the United States. It's just its 4G USA-centric release that they've essentially abandoned.
Among Lenovo's newly unveiled products lie a couple distinguished features -- the YOGA 3 Pro's watchband hinge, for example, and the YOGA Tablet 2 Pro's integrated Pico projector. With the projector, the need to connect to an external display is eliminated -- any empty wall can be transformed into a display, whether to give a presentation or watch an impromptu movie. To complement the video feature is a JBL sound system complete with a subwoofer. which brings audio quality above and beyond what you get from the average Android slate.
Welcome back to what I consider the world’s most versatile tablet. When I reviewed the NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet just a few weeks ago in its Wi-Fi edition, it became immediately clear what NVIDIA was aiming for - a tablet that’s made for gamers, but rolls with the punches for anyone else that might want to take a stab at it. With the LTE version of this slate, I honestly can’t think of a tablet better suited to be my one companion for travel, at-home entertainment, and gaming.
CAT has rolled out a new flagship smartphone targeting the outdoorsy, adventurous, I-drop-my-phone-too-often Android users among us: the CAT S50. With this phones comes the same rugged design we've seen with the company's other handsets, as well as 4G connectivity and some other handy features.
It seems like each week, we learn of a new Android device coming out. It probably feels that way because it is that way, and a new report only highlights just how bad the issue is. According to Open Signal, there are nearly 20,000 Android devices in the wild, up from almost 12,000 last year.
Google continues to add value to their Chromecast device, today bringing some power with Screen Casting to a select number of devices running KitKat. The version of KitKat you’ll need to be running is Android 4.4.1, while the device you’ll need to be running it on are listed below. This feature now also works with sound.