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How to enable the Pixel 2 Android Oreo Always on Display on AOSP right now

Dan Bartram
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Android Oreo while a small update it terms of visual changes brought some interesting new features. The new Autofill API paved the way to improve the way in which apps like LastPass interact with the OS, as well as things like Project Treble.

Another new feature enabled by Android Oreo is the Always on Ambient Display mode that seems to be reserved for the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 as it is currently disabled.

Despite the next generation Pixel devices only a month away, the always on display feature seems to be fully functional in Android Oreo and just needs activating. This means you don’t have to wait for the new Pixel 2 devices and can get started with any device that supports Android Oreo AOSP.

The new ambient display setting works pretty similarly to all of those other “always on display” modes from Samsung or LG that have included it with its devices for a few generations. When you receive a notification, it’ll display on the AOD for a few seconds before facing away leaving just the icon below the clock.

The method to enable this in Android Oreo AOSP is pretty simple and comes courtesy of XDA that found the “alwaysOnAvailable” code that is tagged as “false” can be reversed by simply changing the method to “true”.

Check out XDA Developer Mishaal Rahman’s post to try it out and see for yourself.

Forget drones! This kit lets you control paper planes from your Android smartphone

Alexandra Arici
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If you’ve been flying drones as a hobby, but recently found yourself craving a new distraction, then you listen to this. Remember the good old days when you used make paper airplanes?

You’re not probably aware of this but now, in the era of technology you can actually get them to perform complicated tricks.  All you need to do that is the Powerup Dart conversion kit. The project – which is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter – can turn a regular paper plane into a controllable flying toy.

Powerup Dart adds a module which includes a motor and Bluetooth-enabled intelligent controller on the nose of the plane. A second cross-shaped component is placed along the plane and connected to the rear, where the rudder and propeller live.

Once the paper aircraft is ready you will need to install the accompanying Android app on your device. From there you should be able to control your paper plane by means of gestures (a gamepad mode is also available) and get it to perform all kinds of tricks including spin, loop lazy 8 or hammerhead.

Don’t worry if you don’t know how to build a paper airplane anymore, as the Powerup Dart comes with paper templates so you can easily build your aircraft.

We should also note that the little plane can fly at a maximum speed of 40 km/h for 10 minutes in a range of 60m. Once depleted, it takes up 25 minutes to fully recharge its battery via a microUSB cable.

If you too would like to recapture some of your childhood moments, you can head on to Kickstarter and pledge $29 for a Barebone DART bundle which includes a DART Module and two Blue Paper Plane Templates.

Since the project has already been fully funded, you can expect the DARTs to start shipping out in December.

Defense Zone 3 HD: What’s not to love about this game? (Review)

Gerson Noboa
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When was the last time you played a tower defense game? Probably some of you have done it recently, but the truth is that this enjoyable and thorough kind of game has taken a seat back in favor of endless games in recent years. There is a huge fanbase around the genre, though, and it is easy to see why. The games are entertaining, add strategy and progression elements, and most of the time look very polished in the audiovisual department. Defense Zone 3 HD is one of the most recent games in the genre, ticking the boxes for everything that a tower defense game should have.

Developer: Artem Kotov
Price: Free

Overview

Defense Zone 3 is, at its core, a tower defense game. You need to protect your base from incoming enemies through the deployment of weapons and special skills along a twisty corridor. It is funny that the game never exactly shows what you are protecting. We can all assume it is a friendly base, but the only way of knowing that you are failing in your tower defense duties is by letting enemies go through the end of the long path you’ve sworn to protect.

There are 15 missions to choose from, and each one provides four levels of difficulty. They range from Easy to Nightmare. Since the premise of the game is pretty simple, the developer decided to omit some kind of tutorial or help for newcomers. Even though this means that you can start gaming right away, the amount of stuff on-screen can be a little bit daunting at first and you still have to figure out some stuff before you can actually enjoy the game to the fullest.

When starting the game, you will have some resources allocated to you. The primary one is money, which is used to buy new weapons to deploy through the war zone. In order to deploy one, you just need to drag them from the bottom of the screen to the designated areas, which are marked by blue squares. These weapons will start to fire automatically as soon as it detects an opponent wandering through their premises.

The armament at your disposition varies in price, strenghts, and abilities. For example, the cheapest one is a machine gun that works best when deploying at the beginning of a stage when your resources are limited, but it gets too weak for subsequent waves. There’s a much stronger missile launcher, but it is also more than twice as expensive to deploy and the firing speed is rather slow. You need to find a combination that works best for your situation.

Enemies come at you in waves (insert Trivium meme here). The last wave is normally a huge single boss that takes a lot of effort to destroy. How many waves the game throws at you depends on the level, but these can be rather long. My first game took approximately 30 minutes to complete, which could be too long for you, depending on the situation where you play mobile games. Fortunately, there are some speed settings you can change to suit your needs.

You will quickly realize that the stock weapons are too weak for some enemies, so the game lets you upgrade your turrets to increase their power, range, and firing speed (or amount of ammunition fired at the same time). Since space is limited, this is the only way to effectively stop later waves from invading your base.

Also, some weapons can engage in something called Hellfire, which is a temporary boost of power and firing speed you get from time to time at no additional cost. Finally, there are some additional weapons that you can activate from time to time, such as help from aircrafts or some weird waves that slow enemies.

General Impressions

When starting the game, you could feel a bit lost with all the options at your disposal. For people who are not used to tower defense games (or that haven’t played them in a long time), the first couple of waves could be very confusing.

However, once you get the hang of it, Defense Zone 3 is loads of fun. Enemies get more complicated as you cruise through the different levels, weapons at your disposal get more powerful, and the strategic decisions you have to make on the fly means you are challenged at all times.

The fact that you unlock weapons as you clear levels means that you feel a sense of progression when playing the game. However, I feel like the game could have experimented with some type of in-game currency in order to unlock weapons.

Graphics and Interface

Being powered by the Unity engine, graphics look superb. From trees to weapons to enemies, everything has a great amount of detail and looks outstanding. If your phone is struggling a bit, you can deactivate the drawing of certain elements. I tested this game on a Samsung Galaxy S8 and on a Huawei Honor 7 Lite and neither suffered from performance drops, so it seems like the developer found a great balance between superb graphics and smooth performance.

If there is something to complain about, it is the interface. In an attempt to follow the visual guidelines imposed by the sprites used in the game, the interface uses similar colors to the background. If favors a lot the use of brown and gray colors, which makes it difficult sometimes to clearly distinguish between the interface and the background. Also, font could be rather small in some situations.

 

Some other interface quirks include the lack of bulk upgrading or activation of Hellfire. If you want to upgrade several weapons, or activate Hellfire on all of them, you have to tap on each one individually and then tap the upgrade button (or Hellfire, depending on the case). Depending on the positioning on the map, tapping a weapon can get a little bit tricky, and sometimes I found myself pausing or speeding the game instead of tapping a weapon.

These are some minor annoyances, though, and they don’t erase the fact that the developer has done a great job in the graphics department. If some small UX could be fixed, then the game would have absolutely no issues in this area.

Sound

I have found out that normally war games have a good sound, since it is their duty to immerse us in the mayhem that is going on. Fortunately, Defense Zone 3 is no different. The weapons all sound great, with everything from explosions to aircrafts being executed in a great way.

However, the real star of the show is the background music. It is composed of epic, dramatic tunes that really add to the experience. Coupled with the audio effects, they converge to create a truly exceptional experience.

Conclusion

Tower defense games experimented a spike in popularity years ago with the likes of Kingdom Rush, Toy Defense, and Plants vs Zombies. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t good tower defense games in the current market, and Defense Zone 3 is a good example of that.

While some of the other tower defense games are more focused on flashy, sci-fi elements, Defense Zone 3 tries to adhere more to a real war zone, with some futuristic turrets and special skills sprinked on top. With its 15 stages and four difficulty levels, I assure you that there is something here for everyone.

Download and install Defense Zone 3 HD from the Google Play Store.

Rumor: Sony finally moving on from OmniBalance to bezel-less in early 2018

Alexandra Arici
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While manufacturers like Samsung, LG or Xiaomi are racing to release the most appealing bezel-less smartphone out there, other Android OEMs like Sony or Nokia seem to prefer the classical approach.

Case in point, Sony at IFA 2017 unveiled its latest Xperia XZ1 flagship, which despite bringing some impressive features to the table, comes with the same old OmniBalance design the company has been bringing for years. Not that fans aren’t complaining about it.

Anyway according to a recent rumor, it seems like Sony is finally getting ready to ditch the old and adopt the new. Hello, bezel-less Sony smartphones? Perhaps.

Apparently, the Japanese tech giant is all set to adopt a new design language dubbed “Mirai” in 2018 and the first fruits of its efforts will be showcased at MWC 2018 in Barcelona. Mirai translates to “future” from Japanese, but it’s also the name of malware – which was first detected in 2016 – which turns networked devices running Linux into remotely controlled bots can be used as part of a botnet for large-scale network attacks. Pretty awkward, Sony!

It’s not the first time we’ve heard about Sony going bezel-less. A few months ago we told you the company was working on a phone said to taking advantage of a Japan Display LCD panel with 18:9 aspect ratio. The handset was rumored to launch at IFA 2017, but that obviously didn’t happen.

Anyway, for the time being we advise you to take this information with a grain of salt, seeing that none of this information has been confirmed. But with bezel-less smartphones becoming more common place these days, Sony will have to adhere to the trend at some point. Or risk being shunned by Android phone customers.

Essential Phone is getting Android 8.0 Oreo in the next month or two

Alexandra Arici
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Earlier this week Reddit hosted an AMA during which Andy Rubin and other Essential officials answered a series of questions asked by users from around the world.

One of these queries was regarding the Essential getting the Android 8.0 Oreo update. The phone is currently shipping out to customers with Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box, but according to Essential’s VP of Software, Rebecca Zavin users can expect to see the new update arrive “in the next month or two”.

Another interesting detail revealed during the AMA is that Essential is prepping two new modular accessories for the smartphone due to be released in the upcoming months. The first one is a charging dock (which was teased during the phone’s launch), while the second one will be a high-end audio add-on that will offer DAC support and 3.5mm headset jack. Right now customers can only purchase the 360-degree camera accessory.

Users also wondered what’s the status on the other color versions of the phone. Essential is currently shipping only Black model, but the good news is that the Pure White color option is in build trials which means it should start going out to customers in the upcoming weeks.

As for the more interesting Ocean Depths and Stellar Gray color versions, you’ll have to wait some more. Essential didn’t give an estimate of how long it would take before these hues become available.

Low-end Nokia 2 smiles for the camera

Alexandra Arici
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While we’re waiting for the Nokia 8 flagship to land in the US, it seems that HMD – the company behind the new Nokia Android phones – is gearing up to unveil a new product.

The handset dubbed the Nokia 2 has leaked in the past, but this time we can actually take a look at it thanks to prolific leakster @evleaks who posted an image showcasing the upcoming device in black and white color versions.

The Nokia 2 is going to be a low-range handset which is expected to arrive with a 5-inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution, a Snapdragon 212 processor aided by 1GB of RAM and a large 4,000 mAh battery. In contrast, the Nokia 3 includes a much smaller 2,630 mAh battery, while the Nokia 6 relies on a 3,000 mAh power house.

The phone will feature virtual navigation keys and will come with Android 7.x Nougat out of the box, although HMD recently pledged it will update all its current Android models to Android 8.0 Oreo at some point. So maybe Oreo is in the cards for the Nokia 2 as well.

There’s no information available related to launch date or pricing, but the phone’s announcement seems imminent.

Would you consider buying the Nokia 2?

NUU Mobile intros a pair of affordable 18:9 aspect ratio phones

Alexandra Arici
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American maker of affordable smartphones, NUU Mobile has just unveiled the new G series which includes two handset models, the G1 and G3.

One of the major trends in smartphones this year is the inclusion of 18:9 format displays. However, most of the phones boasting a screen with this particular aspect ratio are high-end affairs (think Samsung Galaxy Note 8 or LG V30).

But NUU Mobile’s new G1 and G3 will offer this format on the cheap, as both smartphones will come with a 5.7-inch 18:9 HD+ display with rounded corners. Yet, the G3 is the more modern looking of the two, boasting a bezel-less dual curved glass design reminiscent of the high-end phones launched by top Android OEMs this year.

While the G1 includes a 13-megapixel primary shooter and a 5-megapixel selfie camera, the G3 rocks a dual-camera setup which pairs a 13-megapixel sensor with a 5-megapixel one on the back. The self-portrait snapper is of 13-megapixel variety.

On its official page, NUU Mobile reveals the G1 will arrive with a MediaTek processor clocked at 1.5GHz under the hood, as well as 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage and a fingerprint scanner.

As for the G3, the device will take advantage of a MediaTek Helio P25 chipset (octa-core processor clocked at 2.6GHz) aided by 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable memory (up to 256GB). The phone should also include NFC (for Android Pay), USB Type-C and a fingerprint scanner on the back. Both the G1 and G3 have VoLTE enabled and will be sold unlocked.

NUU Mobile says the G Series will become available at Target, Best Buy, Amazon, HSN, as well as NUUMobile.com. Prices are yet to be announced yet, but the phones are bound to be affordable.

Motorola released the list of devices getting Android Oreo 8.0 update

AndroidGuys
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Android Oreo 8.0, the latest and the fastest version of Google’s mobile operating system was unveiled last month by Google. The update was initially rolled out to the Google Nexus and the Pixel line-up officially and several other devices have been getting it via unofficial custom ROMs.

Traditionally, OEMs other than Google, take at least a few more months after the official launch to bring the latest update of Android to their devices. The primary reason to this is that manufacturers like Samsung, LG and HTC use a custom skin which is built on top of stock Android. So, they have to modify the stock Android to make it compatible with their exclusive skins.

However, Motorola has always been one of those OEMs to roll out the latest Android update to its devices much earlier than the others. This is mainly because Motorola, unlike other phone manufacturers does not include custom skins in their devices. They prefer a closer to stock Android experience with minimal extra functionalities and features.

Since this doesn’t require them to heavily modify the stock version of Android to be compatible with their devices, they manage to roll out the OTA update for the latest version of Android to their devices soon after the official announcement of the update.

This might also be the case for the Android Oreo 8.0 update and Motorola has already announced which of its devices would be getting the official update to the sweetest and the safest release of Android yet. But, the list is not as huge as you expect but nevertheless, Motorola has tried to cover most of the major devices from the past and current year.

Here is the list of both unlocked and carrier specific variants of the Motorola devices that will be officially getting the OTA update to Android Oreo 8.0.

  • moto z
  • moto z Droid
  • moto z Force Droid
  • moto z Play
  • moto z Play Droid
  • moto z2 Play
  • moto z2 Force Edition
  • moto x4
  • moto g5
  • moto g5 Plus
  • moto g5S
  • moto g5S Plus

Android Oreo 8.0 comes with a few interesting new features like the picture in picture mode, app notification badges, lock screen shortcuts, adaptive icons, smart text selection, autofill, improved doze functionality, and a lot of behind the screen improvements.

Motorola has also announced that the Android Oreo 8.0 update will be sent to the above devices starting from this fall. While there is no definitive order on which of these devices would be the first one to receive the update, you can expect the ones that are most recently released, like the Moto Z2 Play, Moto Z2 Force, and the Moto G5S, to receive it before the older ones.

You can track the update for your device based on your country and carrier at the Motorola support page for upgrades here.

Do you own any of the devices in the above list? Are you excited about the Android Oreo 8.0 update? Let us know in the comments below about your favourite feature of the latest version of Android.

Top HR software attributes for small businesses (Promoted)

AndroidGuys
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Gone are the days when you had to maintain manual records of your workforce. The so called “HR software market” is gaining immense popularity with every passing day. And to rise up to the requirement, there are innumerable HR software vendors that are offering varied solutions for the same.

As per reports furnished after an extensive study related to “Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trends”, it was found that 73% of the business (regardless of the size of the business entity) bank heavily upon the concept of “digital HR”, a trend that has caught up in the field of human capital management rapidly.

Why does a business need digital HR set up?

There are several hiccups and technical snags that make businesses realize the need for digital HR solutions. Given below are few such instances. They are as follows-

Lack of dedicated HR resource

You will come across many such business entities that do not have individuals with well defined HR job profile. These businesses (usually start-ups) assign the task to a manager that manages other departments too in a parallel manner. He works as an HR administrator and is also entrusted with roles involving other departments. This individual has to take care of employee grievances, payroll system, recruitment, promotions, and related HR tasks all single-handedly.

Compliance, book and record maintenance

Regulatory compliance is something that your organization has to adhere to. Most importantly, rules and norms related to the same change always from time to time. As far as compliance is concerned, there are many aspects that have to be taken into account and these include tax codes, abiding by labor laws, reforms in healthcare and record keeping. It is not possible for an individual to keep track of all of these.

Performance

Not every employee will perform in the same manner. As such, the incentives enjoyed by any two employees will not be the same. Unless there is a systematic and well organized performance rating scale and management system, it is difficult to assess employees accurately.

Now that the loopholes of a manual HR system/lack of proper HR administrator have been highlighted, let us find out how you can overcome the same with the so called “digital HR” system and what you require for the same.

What are your options?

Basically, you have 3 options to select from depending upon your aims and objectives. These are as follows-

  • Strategic HR systems
  • Integrated HR systems
  • Core HR systems

What to expect from HR software system

Selecting the right HR software can be tricky and challenging. However, the system that you opt for must be such that it helps you to overcome the setbacks mentioned above. The HR key software features to look out for include a system that can take care of the following-

  • One of the key requisites is to invest in a system that will give you the highest ROI that is equipped with modern solutions
  • Automated taking care of administrative tasks
  • Record keeping
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Allowing HR managers to access HR tools effectively for better human resource management
  • Recruitment
  • Attrition
  • Retaining employees
  • Incentives and promotions
  • Promotions
  • Mobile access (compatible with majority of the OS like iOS, Android)
  • Self service access
  • Applicant on boarding
  • Training
  • Induction
  • Applicant tracking
  • Succession planning
  • Compensation and rewards
  • Administration of benefits
  • Tracking attendance
  • Tracking in and out time of employees
  • Performance management and tracking
  • Reporting
  • Hierarchy
  • Allowing access to tools meant for collaboration

If you find that the HR system that you are investing in is meeting the above requirements, it is worth making the investment to get the best returns. In this way, you will do justice not just for your business but also for the employees working in your organization.

Google Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 all set to launch on October 4th

AndroidGuys
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Last year on October 4th, Google launched the Pixel and the Pixel XL, the first exclusive smartphones from Google. Exactly a year later, Google is all set to launch the second generation Pixel devices, the Pixel 2 and the Pixel XL 2 on the same date, October 4th.

Google has already begun the advertising campaign for its upcoming devices by placing ads on billboards, launching a website, and uploading a promotional teaser video to YouTube. Much like the Pixel, the Pixel 2 will also be manufactured by HTC and the Pixel XL 2 will reportedly be manufactured by LG, which previously manufactured the Google Nexus 5.

It looks like Google has chosen to play things safe by pairing with the same companies with whom it had made successful outings in the past. Google is also expected to include the squeeze feature from the HTC 11 which could be used to launch the Google Assistant.

On the specifications front, both the Pixel devices will not be featuring a dual camera setup, which is quite disappointing considering every major flagship device this year, comes with one. Also, Google will be removing the headphone jack from the Pixel 2 and the Pixel XL 2 if reports are to be true.

Since Qualcomm had already announced that there won’t be a Snapdragon 836, the Pixel 2 and the Pixel XL 2 would probably be powered by the Snapdragon 835 which is currently the processor used in every other top end phones.

The rear design of the 2nd generation Pixel devices will also be similar to their predecessors with a combination of a metal and a glass back. However, the size of the glass back is expected to be smaller in the Pixel 2 devices than those from last year.

In the promotional teaser, Google displayed a bunch of questions being searched on Google. One of them was, “Why does my phone take so many blurry photos?”. So, Google might be bringing in the Optical Image Stabilisation to the Pixel 2 and the Pixel XL 2 replacing the Electronic counterpart from last year.

Google has also sent out official press invites for the Pixel launch event, which will begin at 12 PM ET in San Francisco on October 4th. With only a few more weeks for the big unveil, let us know in the comments below about your thoughts on the upcoming flagships from Google.

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