Google is reportedly “considering” a firmware update for the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P. This will allow users to have a fingerprint gesture that users of the Pixel and Pixel XL currently enjoy.
The gesture is a simple “swipe”. You swipe your finger down on the fingerprint scanner to access the notification shade on the device. Although a feature of Android 7.1, it wasn’t brought to the 5X and 6P due to a firmware issue with the scanner.
The Pixel models use the same fingerprint hardware as the two previous Nexus models, but Google says the firmware version of the Nexus scanners was incompatible. According to AndroidPolice, Google gave a short reply to suggest that the team is “evaluating” a firmware update to the 5X and 6P.
So it’s not for certain, but Google is considering it. There is no details about when a possible update would arrive, but Google said to “stay tuned.”
With its unprecedented advertising campaign, Google is pushing the Pixel phones as hard as it can. Some features, like the Assistant and these fingerprint gestures, are Pixel-exclusive. Our own Derrick Miyao said he would consider the Nexus 6P to be a solid choice, even after a year later. So it’s definitely worthwhile for Google to keep Nexus users happy.
We’ve got a question for you today. When you get in the car to drive somewhere, where do you put your phone? Please tell us you don’t put it in a cup holder or some sort of cubbyhole. If that thing comes out of your pocket, it needs to go somewhere handy and practical. Your phone deserves a mount of some sort.
We have reviewed a number of car mount accessories over the years, some of which suction to the dash or window. Others that have come across our path can be placed in an air vent. Up for review today is a kit that bundles together three different types of mounts in one package; we looked at Omaker 3-in-1 Universal Car Phone Mount and would like to share our impressions.
Packed neatly in a small little box, the Omaker kit includes a number of pieces which can be assembled to your liking. If you’d like to mount your phone on the dashboard, there’s a sticky base that grabs hold tightly and ensures your handset doesn’t go anywhere.
Prefer to put your phone up a little higher or in the windshield itself? Opt for the different mount which offers up a flexible yet strong arm that bends to your exact placement. And, if you’re the type of person who would rather stick their device somewhere a little different, you might like the air vent mount.
Taken as a whole, there are seemingly endless places you can place your phone with the Omaker 3-in-1 Universal Car Phone Mount kit. And, lest you worry that you’re stuck with any one placement, the universal bracket screws and unscrews with minimal effort. It’s a breeze to go from one mount to another. The only downside we saw was that the dashboard one’s sticky bottom doesn’t seem as if it would be as strong if you got in the habit of moving it around.
The bracket itself has a nice foam padding to it on the rear as well as the side arms and bottom. Once snugged up, the phone is protected on nearly all sides with material that ensures your phone doesn’t get scratched. The bottom leaves the center of your phone clear so you can plug in a charger.
Because of its design, the Omaker 3-in-1 Universal Car Phone Mount lets you change the orientation of your phone at a moment’s notice. Heading out on a long trip and need to use the GPS or navigation function of your phone? Turn the bracket 90 degrees in whatever direction you want and get going.
When it’s time to take your phone out of the mount, there’s a button on the rear near the bottom. It is intuitively placed and lets you loosen the side arms; they slowly expand while you hold the button down.
We thoroughly enjoy the Omaker 3-in-1 Universal Car Phone Mount as it’s one of the most user-friendly products of its kind. Moreover, it’s flexible and highly customizable to suit needs. At only $14 on Amazon, it also happens to be an incredible bargain. Note that the price was discounted at the time of publication and is subject to rise without notice. With that said, we feel comfortable recommending this one even at $30-$35.
Recently T-Mobile made a pretty interesting offer to Google Pixel users. While the carrier isn’t actually selling the phones per-se, T-Mobile invited Pixel owners (only 32GB version) to jump onboard with its One plan and receive $325 credit in return. That’s half the value of a Pixel.
Granted, the $325 is to be awarded in the form of bill credit on a monthly basis ($13.55 credit/month) for 24 months, but it’s still pretty neat.
But there was a caveat included into this promo. T-Mobile offered Pixel users only the possibility of signing up for its highly controversial ONE plan. But a few days later, the magenta carrier seems to have had a change of heart and issued an update saying that Simple Choice Unlimited customers are also eligible for the Pixel promotion.
That’s pretty good news, considering a lot of customers might be skittish to jump on the “unlimited” ONE plan bandwagon. But why is that?
In theory, T-Mobile’s ONE plan sounds great. For $70 per month, customers get unlimited LTE data, talk and text as well as free roaming in Canada and Mexico. Sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it?
Not so much. In reality, the plan comes with unlimited tethering, at 2G speeds. In today’s era that’s pretty barbaric. If customers want LTE tethering, they are invited pay an extra $15 per month. And let’s face it, who would need LTE tethering today?
Do you like watching videos all day long? Well you better get used to 480p resolution, because on the ONE plan that’s all you’ll be able to get. If you want to enjoy 720p, 1080 or 4K video, you’ll need to pay another extra $25 per month.
As you can see these are pretty good reasons for customers to stay away from T-Mobile’s ONE plan. On the other hand the Simple Choice Plan is a lot more popular. It includes free unlimited streaming, unlimited calls and texts to and from the US, Mexico and Canada plus LTE data.
On top of that all the unused LTE data (20GB / month) will be recycled for the next 12 months, so no data will go to waste.
So T-Mobile’s recent update is very good news for Pixel owners looking to do business with the carrier.
According to the rumor mill, OnePlus is currently gearing up to release an OnePlus 3 variant dubbed the OnePlus 3T. It seems that OnePlus is faced with a shortage of AMOLED panels, so the upcoming handset is expected to fix this problem by rocking a LCD screen instead.
While we wait for the OnePlus 3T to show its face into the world, information about the upcoming OnePlus 4 has made its way online.
The folks at AndroidPure have been doing a bit of digging on Weibo and unearth a few, exciting info nuggets. According to the report the OnePlus 4 should be released as soon as this summer (June-July) and will make a debut with Qualcomm’s next-gen Snapdragon 830 onboard.
It has been speculated around the web that Samsung will be in charge of the Snapdragon 830 production which is based on the 10nm process. The Korean tech giant announced it was starting mass production of its 10nm FinFET chips a few weeks ago, so it makes sense.
But some whispers claim Samsung has fallen behind schedule, so Qualcomm is looking to switch partners and take its business to TSMC. This theory is a bit problematic given the fact TSMC hasn’t started mass producing its 10nm chips yet. It remains to be seen what Qualcomm will eventually end up choosing.
Coming back to the current rumor, the Snapdragon 830 expected to power the next OnePlus 4 will run at 3.0GHz clock speed and will feature an Adreno 620 GPU inside. The phone will take advantage of the services of a 4,000 mAh battery and will ship out with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.
Previous rumors claimed the OnePlus 4 might bundle a whopping 8GB of RAM and a venerable 23MP camera. However, these are just speculations at this point, so you better take the info with a healthy grain of salt.
For the time being, we’re awaiting the release of the OnePlus 3T which should be an improved version of the current OnePlus 3. The phone should launch with a QHD display, Snapdragon 821, 6GB of RAM and a $480 price-tag. This is $80 extra than what users have been paying for the OnePlus 3.
Created in India in 2009, Practo is a healthcare app that aims to bring healthcare to the masses. The aim of the app is simple: bring healthcare to every patient in the country. The revolutionary app has grown rapidly in the last few years, bringing together 200000 healthcare practitioners, 200000 doctors, 8000 diagnostic centers, 10000 hospitals, and 4000 wellness centers.
In a country such as India, it is often difficult for every patient to know which doctor to approach, and they often rely on word-of-mouth as a way to find their doctor. This can be an unreliable method and sometimes patients simply don’t have enough information to make an informed decision.
Using Practo, millions of patients can today find a medical professional that is best suited to them using a range of tools that the app offers. In a country with over a billion people, this is certainly a step in the right direction.
A great feature of the Practo app, which makes it stand out in a large country such as India, is the location feature. By turning on the GPS function on your phone, users can allow the Practo app to link to Google maps on their phone, making it possible to show the user all the healthcare practitioners or wellness centers located near them.
Currently available on the iOS and Android platforms, the Practo app can be used in 100 Indian cities. It is also available in a few countries outside India including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and most recently, Brazil. The app hopes to soon be available in more countries in Southeast Asia.
As of 2015, 10 million users in India were using Practo’s search engine to find healthcare providers and two-thirds of the total traffic was coming via smartphone users.
Experience
The app can be downloaded for free on both the Android and iOS platforms. The idea behind the app is that a user can search for clinics and doctors in their local area and can then book an appointment with the practitioner of their choice.
After logging in, a user within India, for example, will have 100 cities to choose from. Once a user picks a city, they will be shown all the doctors and clinics in that area. The app is very user-friendly and easy to use with three main tabs to choose from on the home screen.
The first tab that the user sees is the Speciality tab. This is a vital feature of the Practo app and since each city has over 200 specialities, the user is spoilt for choice.
Once a speciality has been picked, the user is shown an informative card for every doctor that shows how experienced they are, their consultation fee, the clinic address, and what customer feedback they have received. The feedback feature will help potential patients see how satisfied other patients found a practitioner’s work.
Another field found on every doctor’s card is the ‘like’ button. The ‘like’ button can be seen as a tool that can be used to build a community of patients, similar to the patient feedback section. These are some of the features that show how the Practo app is built to be increasingly centered around the patient.
The app is helping to bring transparency into the decision-making process, and by looking at the reviews for each doctor or wellness center, a patient is able to make a more informed decision.
When the user clicks on the card of a healthcare practitioner, they will be able to see further details for that doctor. This screen shows each doctor’s appointment timings and free spots that are available for booking. The screen will also inform the user about any other hospitals where the doctor might be practicing.
Personalization
If a user wants to find out more about any clinics or doctors in a particular area, then the second and third tabs allow them to do so. If you have multiple appointments that you need to keep track of, the dashboard can be personalized to do so.
Another great feature of the Practo app is the filter option which gives you truly personalized results. When searching for a healthcare provider or clinic, the user can adjust the search to suit any preferences. For example, if you have a limit on how much you can pay for a consultation, the Practo app even lists doctors who offer free consultations.
For users who have a problem meeting with a doctor during particular days of the week, the search results can be filtered to show specific days of the week when a doctor is available.
The gender of the doctor is also a preference that users can make use of to find a suitable practitioner. Another great filter option is the time of day when a doctor can meet patients. This will be a useful option for users who can only see the doctor early in the day or late in the evening. Some doctors only practice for a few hours a day at their clinic, spending more time at hospitals.
Final Thoughts
Thanks to India now having more Internet users than China or the U.S. and due to the surge in smartphone users in the past few years, apps such as Practo are seeing greater acceptance. The Practo app is an all-encompassing, end-to-end solution provider for patients who are looking to find a suitable healthcare provider and want to find out all the information about a practitioner while also being able to seamlessly book appointments.
Finding a suitable doctor can be a herculean task in countries such as India, and the Practo app is helping to bridge the gap between patient and doctor.
Along with doctors, Practo also helps its users find pharmacies, spas, yoga centers, and gyms. The app has also given a lot of importance to securing patient’s data since it is home to a lot of sensitive medical data. Its data center is hosted on Amazon.com, Inc.’s cloud and complies with the highest global security standards. Investors believe the end-to-end capability of Practo is what will bring it long-term success.
Are you on the hunt for a new smartphone? Have you considered T-Mobile as your potential service provider? If you’ve answered yes to those questions, you’re definitely in the right place. We’re here to make the task of buying a handset easier on you.
The Nexus 6P was launched in September 2015, so it’s over a year old. And like it’s the case of most handsets, over time users start to notice their device isn’t working as great as it did when it was first purchased.
Performance might start to dwindle and batter life might decrease dramatically. It’s seems the latter problem applies to the Nexus 6P. A bunch of users have taken to Reddit to complain that the phone’s battery is dying out excessively fast.
The topic was started by user TheRedyTedy who uploaded a video showcasing the problem. It displays the Nexus 6P (running Android 7.0 Nougat) in the process of taking a few photographs via the Google Camera app. Immediately after the deed, the device powers off without warning. The phone in the clip is a RMA and has been put through a factory reset.
TheRedyTedy shows users that pressing the power button has no effect on the device, the only option to wake up the “sleeping beauty” being to connect the Nexus 6P to a charger.
The post has attracted numerous users who seem to be dealing with the same issue. Some report solving the problem through a factory reset or by flashing Android 7.1.1 Nougat. Another Nexus 6P owner claims his device was plagued by battery issues too, but he contacted Google and got a RMA which works just fine.
So if happen to find yourself in the same boat as these Nexus 6P owners you have three options you can try. The first one would be to perform a factory reset. Granted, it won’t be fun since all your data will be deleted, so if you choose to go with this option remember to back up all your information.
The second option would be to try and flash Android 7.1.1 Nougat on the device – there’s a whole thread devoted to that. In the case the fixes suggested above don’t work, you can always contact Google and ask for a replacement phone.
Recently we told you that Google partnered with Visa and MasterCard in order to expand the reach of Android Pay.
It seems that Google is actively working to make its mobile website transaction app more useful. This week the tech giant announced it has added more US based and credit unions support to Android Pay. Check out the complete list below:
Alpine Bank
Anheuser Busch Employees CU
Bristol County Savings Bank
Capital One
CinFed Credit Union
City & County CU
City National Bank
cPort Credit Union
Eaton Family Credit Union
First Flight FCU
First New York FCU
Fremont Bank
Georgia’s Own Credit Union
HomeTrust Bank
Hudson Valley Federal CU
LCNB National Bank
Leyden CU
Michigan Educational CU
Neighbors Credit Union
North Dallas Bank & Trust
Pacific Service Credit Union
Philadelphia FCU
Rainbow Federal Credit Union
Redwood Capital Bank
Seaboard Federal Credit Union
Seacoast Bank
SELCO Community Credit Union
Settlers Bank
ShareFax Credit Union
Siouxland FCU
Southside Bank
Texas First Bank
Three Rivers Federal Credit Union
United Community Bank
United Savings CU
University of Toledo FCU
WEOKIE Credit Union
York County FCU
As you can see one of the biggest banks in the US, Capital One is on the list, but we’re still waiting on an official confirmation from the bank.
Back in May, Google updated its Android Pay list to include Capital One, but it removed it from the list afterwards. Hopefully this time, Google’s announcement will be backed up by the bank itself.
It’s worth mentioning that Capital One has added support for rival Samsung Pay back in September, so it seems it’s only a matter of time before Android Pay will offer the same option.
Google is focusing quite a lot on Android Pay in recent days, so if you can’t find your bank in the above list you can be confident the company will add it in the next batch.
This form of tap-to-pay payment system is slowly gaining more traction with consumers, so it is expected to become even bigger once internationally availability slips into the picture.
Update: It seems Google has removed the list of supported banks. It might be just a glitch though and we’re going to see it back up soon.
It happened to all of us at some point – positive reviews misleading us into downloading a lousy app from the Google Play Store. But Google wants to put a stop to developers boosting their apps’ rankings through such shady means.
The tech giant has announced it is debuting a new technology that will help detect and filter out the bad weeds, meaning apps that use illicit means like fake installs, to advance their position in charts.
Google is a merciful god, so if an app developer is caught bending the rules once, the search giant will give him/her another chance. However, for those who have made of habit of going to the dark side, there will be no quarter and Google will eliminate their app presence from the Store.
Will the new system be able to eradicate fraud? There’s a slim chance we’re going to see that happen. As Google works to harden its Play Store platform, sneaky developers also advance in finding new ways to go around the imposed rules.
But being aware of these issues, will teach users how to protect themselves better from trickery. For example, looking at ratings and reviews is fine, just don’t put your your trust in them 100%, after all they are subjective opinions. To make sure an app is worth being purchased or downloaded, you need to do a bit of research by digging up more info about it online.
Bogus app installs aren’t the only problem for Google . Last month, a report came in claiming that at least 400 apps in the Play Store were infected with malware. So the search giant needs to continue to address these security issues.
Consumer interest for smartwatch products has been dropping considerably, but there are companies that still believe in this device category. ASUS, for example announced the ZenWatch 3 last month and now the product has been made available for intelligent timepiece enthusiasts.
The Android Wear device can be ordered from ASUS’ own web shop or from B&H Photo. Only the dark brown leather band version is currently available with the latter vendor and shipments are expected to begin sometimes in mid-November. Two other options featuring a high quality rubber band in dark brown or beige shades should become available later on.
As for ASUS’ own layer, the ZenWatch 3 appears to be temporarily out of stock, but users can sign up for an “Arrival Notice”.
The ASUS ZenWatch 3 should make it with a 316L stainless steel body and a 1.39-inch round AMOLED display with 400 x 400 resolution. The wearable takes advantage of a Snapdragon Wear 2100’s computing power in combination with 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage and a 340 mAh battery. The power source takes advantage of the new Hyper Charge Technology feature which promises to charge 60% of the battery in just 15 minutes.
The watch includes six different watch themes and 50 exclusive designer watch faces that offer support for customizable widgets. It also includes a FaceDesigner app, so users can create their own watch faces.
The ASUS ZenWatch 3 features three physical buttons, designed to allow greater control and give a more traditional watch feel when users are interacting with the smartwatch.
The ZenWatch 3 sells for a $299 a pop. The wearable looks fashionable enough to give the likes of Motorola, Huawei and LG the run for their money. A Zen circular watch anyone?
Packed neatly in a small little box, the Omaker kit includes a number of pieces which can be assembled to your liking. If you’d like to mount your phone on the dashboard, there’s a sticky base that grabs hold tightly and ensures your handset doesn’t go anywhere.
In a country such as India, it is often difficult for every patient to know which doctor to approach, and they often rely on word-of-mouth as a way to find their doctor. This can be an unreliable method and sometimes patients simply don’t have enough information to make an informed decision.
The app can be downloaded for free on both the 
The app is helping to bring transparency into the decision-making process, and by looking at the reviews for each doctor or wellness center, a patient is able to make a more informed decision.
But being aware of these issues, will teach users how to protect themselves better from trickery. For example, looking at ratings and reviews is fine, just don’t put your your trust in them 100%, after all they are subjective opinions. To make sure an app is worth being purchased or downloaded, you need to do a bit of research by digging up more info about it online.
