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Moto E4 Plus with 5,000 mAh battery landing in the US on June 30?

Alexandra Arici
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Motorola unveiled the Moto E4 and Moto E4 Plus not so long and while the former is already available for purchase at Verizon, we don’t have any official details about when the Moto E4 Plus will land in the US.

The big battery handset recently landed with UK retailer Argos in the UK, so it might not be long until the phone becomes available across the pond. Actually according to industry insider Andri Yatim the Moto E4 Plus could start selling as soon as June 30.

On the same date, Motorola was expected to roll out the Moto X4 – the successor of 2015’s Moto X – but apparently, the phone has been delayed due to Snapdragon 660 shortages.

So instead of the Moto X4, we’ll see the Moto E4 Plus make an appearence in the US. Motorola will also “mention” the elusive Moto Z2 – which is apparently still in the cards – on the same date.

When it finally arrives, the Moto X4 should bring along a 5.5-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution and a Snapdragon 660, which is expected to power most of the mid-rangers coming out in the second part of 2017. The handset will also feature IP68 rating and include a 3,800 mAh battery, Quick Charge 3.0 and USB Type-C port.

On June 30 customers will finally be able to purchase the affordable Moto E4 Plus with a big 5,000 mAh battery. The product carries a 5.5-inch display with 1280 x 720 resolution, a Snapdragon 427 chipset, 2GB of RAM and either 16GB/32GB of internal storage.

It also boasts a 13-megapixel primary camera, as well as a 5-megapixel selfie shooter with LED flash. Customers should be able to purchase the Moto E4 Plus for $179.99.

OnePlus 5 is now available at Amazon, but with a huge price tag

Alexandra Arici
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Introduced last week, the OnePlus 5 has already made an appearance on Amazon US. But before you get all excited, we’ll have to warn you – it comes with an abnormally large price tag.

The OnePlus 5 with US warranty included can be purchased from Amazon from $779 (for the 64GB model) or from $899 (for the 128GB model). The versions without a warranty are a bit more affordable, available for $559 (64GB) or $649 (128GB) but still pricier than the OnePlus’ official rates.

In case you don’t remember, OnePlus announced the 64GB version will be sold for $479, while the 128GB model will feature a $539 price tag. Why the discrepancy between pricing schemes? We’re not really sure, but it might have to do with the phone being available earlier.

OnePlus announced the new flagship will become available on its official website starting June 27 (which is tomorrow). A few early adopters were given the chance to get the phone before everyone else after the OnePlus 5 announcement ended.

The company also hosted a few so-called “Pop-up” events around various major cities from across the world, allowing fans in the area to purchase the device ahead of everyone else.

But if you’re still waiting to get your OnePlus 5, we recommend you wait until the phone goes official tomorrow.

OnePlus 5 was unveiled just last week and arrives with a 5.5-inch FullHD display (1920 x 1080) and a new Snapdragon 835 processor on the inside.The product boasts a new dual-camera setup system comprised of a main 16-megapixel sensor and a secondary 20-megapixel telephoto lens. It ships with Android 7.1.1 Nougat with Oxygen OS laid on top and also includes a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Are you getting the OnePlus 5?

Google will soon stop sending targeted ads to your Gmail account

Alexandra Arici
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Good news Gmail users! Google will stop reading your emails with the purpose of delivering target ads.

The practice has been employed ever since 2014, when Google first launched its popular email client. But after receiving numerous criticism on the matter, Google finally announced it will soon stop scanning users’ correspondence.

The decision – made by Google’s cloud and business software unit – hopes to attract more corporate customers to its G Suite set of services, in a bid to better compete with Microsoft’s Office.

The move will align Google’s free Gmail service with the paid business version which does not deliver any ads. Despite offering a corporate version, Google has had troubles retaining business users who often find themselves apprehensive about trusting the search giant’s business tactics.

Once the practice is retired later this year, Gmail ads will be in line with how Google personalizes ads for its other products. Meaning, it will show ads based on the user’s settings which can be changed at any time, including disabling personalized ads altogether.

Despite being harshly criticized for its ad policy in Gmail, the service has continued to rise in popularity with standard users across the world. With targeted ads being taken out of the picture, the service is bound to become, especially to those who so far had concerns and did not want their emails to be scanned.

Samsung now only trails Apple in wearable market share, but it’s not close

AG Deals Team
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Samsung has slowly but steadily been working towards gaining more market share in the wearable market. A new report suggests that Samsung has taken over the place of “best of the rest” as it has moved into the #2 position in global wearable market share.

In Q1 2017, Samsung’s wearables, including the newly-launched Gear S3 smartwatch, helped the company gain 12.8% of the market share. This move marked the first time that Fitbit has been displaced in quite some time, but Fitbit has been struggling as of late.

As you would expect, if you pay attention to this sector of tech, Apple leads all wearable manufacturers by a ridiculous margin – 53%. It’s highly doubtful that Samsung makes a huge dent in Apple’s market share anytime soon, but this market seems to be one focused on the “long run”.

There have been some that have suggested that the wearable market is becoming a bit stagnant, at least when it comes to non-Apple devices. However, we’re barely halfway through the year, so it will be interesting to see if Samsung, or anyone else, makes a run to take some of the pie from Apple.

Let us know what you think about this latest report and what you would like to see in a new wearable or smartwatch.

HTC shows off some new Edge features for the HTC U11

Dan Bartram
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One of the standout features of the HTC U11 are the ‘squeezable’ edges as part of the company’s Edge Sense skin and it showed off some interesting features in a new video.

The new Edge Sense feature is where the sides of the HTC U11 are pressure sensitive and can therefore be linked to various gestures such as launching apps or triggering various shortcuts.

HTC is showing off some new features in the video, one of which is where users can squeeze their device to zoom inside of Google Maps and Google Photos, change the views in Google Calendar, as well as answer and hang up calls.

While the changes aren’t all available immediately, HTC assures that they are ‘coming soon’.

Are you using Edge Sense? How do these new features resonate with you?

Action Launcher gets a new look and a slew of new features in its latest update

AG Deals Team
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Everyone loves Nova Launcher and tends to forget that there are other, viable, options available on the Play Store. One such option is Action Launcher 3 from the well-known developer, Chris Lacy.

On Friday, Lacy pushed a HUGE update to Action Launcher, which provided a rather long list of changes and feature additions. In addition to these changes Lacy has also removed the “3” from the name while bringing an all-new icon for Action Launcher.

Other than the design changes that have been made to the launcher itself, Lacy has added a new Clock widget. The reason that this new clock widget is so special is that the clock now features an animated second hand. The seconds ticker will move around the clock, regardless of whether you use a Clock widget or have the application on your homescreen.

Official Changes:

  • NEW: Action Launcher 3 has been renamed to Action Launcher, and has a shiny new icon to prove it!
  • NEW: Use an animating, Android O-style clock icon for the Google Clock app (requires Lollipop or later). This animating clock is also available as a standalone widget.
  • NEW: By default, all new installs of Action Launcher will use Pixel Launcher style All Apps, folders and everything in between.
  • NEW: Many Pixel Launcher features that previously required Plus are now free for all users. Furthermore, the app is now far less aggressive in prompting users to upgrade to Plus.
  • NEW: Full integration of Pixel Launcher’s UI styling for displaying App Shortcuts (previously known as Quickcuts). App Shortcuts display when long pressing an icon from either the desktop or All Apps list.
  • NEW: App Shortcuts can be used in combination with Shutters and Covers.
  • NEW: App Shortcuts can be dragged and placed as shortcuts on a home screen.
  • NEW: Revamped appearance of the icon indicators for Covers, Shutters and App Shortcuts..
  • NEW: Smartsize icon resizing is no longer a beta feature, and is enabled by default for all Plus users.
  • NEW: Add animated caret indicator when opening/close Pixel style All Apps.
  • NEW: Custom system fonts are correctly applied to labels on the desktop.
  • NEW: The horizontal screen margin can be adjusted (via Desktop settings, phones only).

In addition to the various new changes being made to Action Launcher, Lacy has also provided a slew of “improvements” to the launcher. These range from optimizations to the launcher itself, to showing new animations after Action Launcher is used for the first time.

If you’re interested in learning more about this latest update, hit the links below and give the new update a chance to take over your homescreen. If you’re already using the new Action Launcher, let us know what you think about the changes in the comments below.

Tip: Improve Iris scanning results on the Galaxy S8

Dan Bartram
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One of the standout features of the Samsung Galaxy S8 was the ability to authenticate your identity and unlock the device using the Iris scanner. The ability to have the phone scan your Iris via infrared to authenticate you added another level of security.

However, the results were mixed. Those with glasses were left with no alternative but to remove them to use the technology and everyone else found the technology to be very slow and often failed entirely. Iris scanning on the Galaxy S8 isn’t a complete failure as some of my friends who have the device swear by the feature but I’ve found it to be too slow when compared to something like the fingerprint sensor.

There is a small tweak that you can make to your Galaxy S8 in the settings that seems to yield faster results for the Iris scanning.

Step 1: On your device, go into Settings » Lock screen and security » Iris Scanner. You will be required to enter your pattern or PIN. Follow the on-screen instructions if you’ve not saved your iris data.

faster-iris-scanning-galaxy-s8-tip-1

Step 2: Tap Iris unlock when screen turns on to toggle this feature on. The feature enables the phone to unlock itself with your iris as soon as the screen turns on, without requiring you to swipe first.

faster-iris-scanning-galaxy-s8-tip-2

I’m not sure why this wasn’t enabled by default but it certainly does make a difference. Drop us a comment and let us know if this improved the Iris scanner speed for you.

The Pixel 2 lineup could see a slight design change

AG Deals Team
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As we hit the full swing of Summer, we are likely to continue hearing more and more information regarding Google’s next flagship lineup. The Pixel 2 ‘walleye’ and ‘taimen’ will replace the current Pixel lineup, but it seems that things may be a bit different this time around.

According to Mario from XDA, a source has confirmed a few key specs for both the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Starting with the smaller of the two, it seems that ‘walleye’ will feature a 4.97-inch display with a Full HD display. Powering the device will be the Snapdragon 835 SoC along with 4GB of RAM and at least 64GB of storage.

Pixel 2 ‘walleye’ Specs:

  • 4.97-inch FHD Display
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC
  • 4GB RAM
  • 64GB Storage
  • Identical Build to Pixel

Things don’t stop there, as the source also confirmed that the 3.5mm headphone jack would be removed from the Pixel 2 lineup. This move was to accommodate those asking for stereo speakers, so you’ll have to make the move to Bluetooth with the Pixel 2. Finally, it seems that the Pixel 2 ‘walleye’ will feature a design that is “almost identical” to its predecessor.

Moving onto the larger Pixel 2 XL ‘taimen’, the device will feature a 5.99-inch OLED display. In fact, this OLED display is being provided by LG, which makes sense due to Google’s recent investment in LG’s display division. While there won’t be any fancy “infinity display” gimmick here, it does seem that the larger Pixel 2 will feature slimmer bezels.

Pixel 2 XL ‘taimen’ Specs:

  • 5.99-inch OLED Display
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC
  • 4GB RAM
  • 128GB Storage
  • Slimmer Bezels
  • New Design
  • Single Camera

As you would expect, the Pixel 2 XL will also be powered by the Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB variant. However, there are some key design changes that are coming to the larger of the two devices. 

According to the source, while the ‘taimen’ will feature a similar glass and aluminum design, however, the glass window on the back will be smaller. Instead of surrounding the camera sensor and fingerprint scanner, it seems that we’ll be looking at a window similar to what was found on the Nexus 6P.

Neither the Pixel 2 ‘walleye’ or Pixel 2 XL ‘taimen’ will make the move to a dual camera system. Google is opting to stick with what works with the single camera sensor and a dual-LED flash.

Speaking of the Nexus 6P, it seems that the source speaking to XDA found mention of ‘Nexus Imprint’ when using the software of the larger ‘taimen’ device. This is by no means confirmation of the resurgence of the Nexus lineup, but instead, is likely something that will be fixed in the future to properly represent ‘Pixel Imprint’ for the fingerprint software.

Let us know what you think about this latest set of rumors and if you’re getting excited to see what Google has in store for the Fall of 2017.

Android O brings some significant improvements for VR

Dan Bartram
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Getting a device Daydream certified is a documented process that any smartphone can apply for. Simply have a HD resolutin that can run two separate streams at 60 frames per second with a latency under 25 milliseconds.

It also needs to run without overheating and maintain a decent battery drain rate. That sounds quite simple right? Hardware is only part of the story and Google need to do its part in the Daydream experience software side of thins. It sounds that Android O is heavily focused on bringing improvements that could see more devices Daydream certified.

Don’t Miss: Google now allows anyone develop Daydream VR apps

Specificially these changes revolve around the graphic APIs that can be used from Vulkan and OpenGL. Android O will be better at drawing data on the screen compared to previous versions of Android. This will mean that the process of taking this data and turning into a VR experience will be much more efficient.

Android O also improves the way background processes are handled so this will also benefit VR and could see more devices see that Daydream certification as battery life becomes more efficient as a result.

It seems Google are going big on VR and are putting a lot of emphasis to take the technology to the next level. The next year is certainly going to see huge improvements in the platform.

Tip: How to speed up your Moto G4

Dan Bartram
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The Moto G4 is still a great device and perfect for those looking for an Android smartphone that is close to stock on a budget. However, the device is not as new as it once was and with apps getting more resourcing demand you could find the G4 to be slowing down. Luckily there is a hidden feature that you can change that will instantly speed up your device.

The tip will help speed up your Moto G4, helping reduce the impact of the aging processor and resource hungry apps. The best bit is there’s nothing extra to install or tons of settings to change, just a simple case of changing a setting with developer options enabled.

The little hack revolves around the animations applied to transitioning between windows and turning the device on or off. By simply turning this off, it contributes to making the device seem extremely snappy and fast by reducing the delay applied to the animation.

First, you’ll need to enable the Developer Options hidden menu. To do this, go into Settings -> About Device and scroll down to “Build Number”. Now, tap on “Build Number” five times and you’ll see a notification saying that “Developer mode has been enabled”.

With that hidden menu now enabled, we can head on into it to begin fastening up our Moto G4.

  1. Head on in to Developer Options in Settings.
  2. Scroll down to the Drawing section.
  3. Of interest here is the Window Animation Scale, Transition Animation Scale, and Animator Duration Scale.
  4. Click on them individually to change the scale.

You are able to turn the animations off completely, or set them to 0.5x (default is 1x) so the animations will be double speed for those who would like to retain them.

You’ll notice your Moto G4 feels substantially quicker without any hacks that affect your software, warranty, or device battery life. Let us know your comments in the section below.

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