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How to get Google Assistant on any device running Android 5.0+

Dan Bartram
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Google Assistant is a great personal assistant and one of the best features of modern Android. Unfortunately it is restricted to only certain devices. That was until now.

The folks over at XDA have worked their magic once again and you can now have Google Assistant running on any device that has Android 5.0 or above. The best part is no root access is required to get it working.

Although initially only available to the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, Google later announced that any smartphone running Android 6.0 or above in certain countries could get Google Assistant. Most notably of those devices that are lacking Google Assistant support is those devices running Android 5.0 and also any Android tablet.

The method involved works by launching a hidden activity within the Google App called com.google.android.apps.gsa.staticplugins.opa.hq.OpaHqActivity. Say that 3 times!

There’s two methods to call this custom action. Be sure to have updated your Google App to the latest version.

How to Set Up Google Assistant

Method 1 – Using Activity Launcher

  1. Open Activity Launcher
  2. Tap on the “Recent activities” tab up top and select “All activities.” Wait for all activities to load.
  3. Scroll down until you find the Google App. Tap on it to expand all available activities under the Google App.
  4. Find com.google.android.apps.gsa.staticplugins.opa.hq.OpaHqActivity. You can either tap on it once or create a shortcut to it on your launcher.
  5. You’ll now find yourself within the new Assistant “explore” screen where Google categorizes available integrations, how to use them, and quick access to make custom shortcuts.
  6. Swipe over to the “Your Stuff” tab up top.
  7. Tap on “Add Reminder” to trigger Google Assistant. What this action does is launch the activity com.google.android.apps.gsa.staticplugins.opa.OpaActivity – which normally can’t be accessed on your unrooted device.
  8. You’ll now be taken through the hotword setup process. Teach it to recognize your voice, and you’re done! Now you can access Google Assistant by saying “OK Google!”

Method 2 – Using Nova Launcher

  1. Find an empty spot on your home screen and long-press to add something new.
  2. Tap on “Widgets.”
  3. Under “Nova Launcher” tap and hold “Activities” and drag it to your home screen.
  4. Scroll down and find the “Google App.”
  5. Tap on it to expand it, and select com.google.android.apps.gsa.staticplugins.opa.hq.OpaHqActivity.
  6. This will add a new “Google Assistant” icon to your home screen which is a shortcut to this activity. Tap on this icon.
  7. You’ll now find yourself within the new Assistant “explore” screen where Google categorizes available integrations, how to use them, and quick access to make custom shortcuts.
  8. Swipe over to the “Your Stuff” tab up top.
  9. Tap on “Add Reminder” to trigger Google Assistant. What this action does is launch the activity com.google.android.apps.gsa.staticplugins.opa.OpaActivity – which normally can’t be accessed on your unrooted device.
  10. You’ll now be taken through the hotword setup process. Teach it to recognize your voice, and you’re done! Now you can access Google Assistant by saying “OK Google!”

The obvious caveat is that you can’t long press the home button to launch Google Assistant as you can on regular devices. For full details go ahead and check out the XDA thread.

Of course, Google could always patch this by renaming so be sure to get this set up while you can. Drop us a comment and let us know how you get on.

What’s the difference: Moto Z2 Play vs Moto Z Play

Alexandra Arici
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This year Motorola is betting on affordable devices. The latest to join the growing family of Moto phones is the Moto Z2 Play. No standard Moto Z2 will be available in 2017, so the spotlight goes on the Moto Z2 Play now.

In what follows we’ll see how the brand new Moto Z2 Play compares to last year’s Moto Z Play – a phone which has been very popular with users. We called it “exceptional” for a number of reasons, but mainly because it could deliver such a great battery life.

Design and Display

At first glance, the Moto Z2 Play looks quite similar to the Moto Z Play. But at a closer inspection, one starts to see the differences. For starters, the Moto Z2 Play appears to be made of metal, while its older brother came equipped with a glass back.

The Moto Z2 Play features the more complex, pill-shaped physical home button à la the Moto G5 Plus, which also doubles as a fingerprint scanner and supports gestures for back and opening up the multitasking window. Both handsets are water-resistant, so a splash of water shouldn’t hurt either model.

Motorola made the Moto Z2 Play thinner than its predecessor. The newcomer measures 6.15 x 3.0 x 0.24 inches in comparison to the 6.16 x 3.01 x 0.28 inches of the Moto Z Play. It also weighs 145 g, while the older model tips the scales at 165 g.

Motorola didn’t upgrade the display of the Moto Z2 Play. So like its predecessor, the new-comer features a 5.5-inch AMOLED display with 1920 x 1080 resolution – all in league with most upper middle-rangers out there.

Internals

Compared to the Snapdragon 625 under the hood of the Moto Z Play, the Moto Z2 Play relies on a newer Snapdragon 626 chipset. It’s an octa-core CPU comprised of eight Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and Adreno 506. As for the Snapdragon 625, it’s also an octa-core processor, clocked at a lower 2.0GHz frequency.

While the new Moto Z2 Play offers a choice of 3GB or 4GB of RAM with 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, the Moto Z Play was only available with a standard 3GB/32GB configuration.

Both models include a microSD card slot which allows for memory expansion up to 256GB.

Cameras

Motorola slapped a 12-megapixel camera with dual pixel phase detection autofocus and f/1.7 aperture on the back of the Moto Z2 Play. Last year’s model takes advantage of a 16-megapixel sensor with phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash and f/2.0. Both can shoot 4K video.

As for self-portraits, the freshly squeezed phone bundles a 5-megapixel snapper with f/2.2 and dual LED flash, while the Moto Z Play takes advantage of a 5-megapixel with single LED flash.

Software

The Moto Z2 Play launches with Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box, while the Moto Z Play ships with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box.

However, Motorola recently started sending out the Android 7.1.1 Nougat update for the Moto Z Play.

Battery

The biggest drawback when it comes to the Moto Z2 Play is the smaller battery. Compared to its predecessor which packed a 3,510 mAh juice box, the Moto Z2 Play relies on a smaller 3,000 mAh one. It’s the compromise Motorola choose to make in order to deliver a slimmer, lighter device this year.

Motorola notes the battery inside the Moto Z2 Play should last up to 30 hours on a single charge, while the Moto Z Play was advertising to offer 50 hours.

Value

The Moto Z2 Play will be available this summer for $499 a pop from Verizon. An unlocked model will also be available from Motorola itself.

Don’t forget the Moto Z2 Play is compatible with truckloads of Moto Mods – old and new. The newcomers include the GamePad, SoundBoost 2 and Turbo Power Pack – all of which will cost additional cash.

As for the Moto Z Play, you can still pick it up from places like Best Buy where it’s available for $399.99 or Amazon where it sells for $449.99.

Naturally, the Moto Z Play is compatible with the Mods that were just announced, as well as the old ones.

The alien-looking MotherBox aims to deliver true wireless charging

Alexandra Arici
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Wireless charging isn’t a new idea, but it requires that users place their phones on a charging mat. But this innovative project on Indiegogo called MotherBox aims to bring us closer to the era of true wireless charging. In an ideal scenario, you’d be able to walk around the house freely with your phone charging and that’s exactly what the team behind MotherBox set out to do.

Created by the Yank Technologies, a startup which is part of Columbia’s University’s startup lab, the MotherBox is an alien-looking hub that can transmit 2 watts of power to any smartphone located in a range of 20-inches. It works like this – the closer you are to it the more power it will send your way. So if you’re 5-inches away from the MotherBox, you should get up to 10W flowing through your device.

Sure, 20-inches isn’t too far, but it’s still more than you can expect from the majority chargers available on the market today.

There’s another caveat. You’ll need to connect your phone to a receiver which plugs into the power port of your smartphone. You’ll also have to use a case, to ensure the receiver doesn’t hang out. The receiver is compatible with Samsung, Huawei, LG, HTC and Google devices.

The MoterBox works in league with a smartphone app which allows users to customize the rate of charging. It also displays notifications to alert you when connected devices are running low on juice.

Yank Technologies is offering the MotherBox which ranges up to 20 inches and is a bit larger (6 x 6 x 6 inches) and the MotherBox Mini (3.5 x 3.5 x 3.5 inches) whose reach is up to 10 inches. Another difference between the two is that the Mini features a rechargeable battery it’s also portable, while the MotherBox needs to be connected to an outlet.

Since it launched back in late February, the project has been fully funded. Luckily there are still Late Bird bundles available, if you’re looking to grab one. For $89 you’ll get a MotherBox + USB Cable + MotherBox Receiver. The estimated delivery date is set to September 2017. A MotherBox Mini bundle is a bit more expensive, as it will ship out for $99.

Samsung, LG prepping new Galaxy S8, G6 variants in anticipation of iPhone 8 launch

Alexandra Arici
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Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 8 in September. The product is bound to make a pretty big splash on the smartphone market, so in order to prevent it from grabbing all the attention, Samsung and LG are gearing up to launch new Galaxy S8 and G6 variants.

According to a report coming out of The Investor, Samsung is hoping to diminish the new iPhone’s appeal with a set of new color options for the Galaxy S8 including Rose Gold (a color Apple’s handsets are known for), but also Lake Blue, Smoked Purple Gray, and Quicksand Gold. The Galaxy S8+ will only be available in Smoked Purple Gray and Quicksand Gold.

LG has a different strategy in mind, as it plans to offer slightly modified LG G6 versions called the LG G6 Pro and G6 Plus. Both handsets will rely on the same Snapdragon 821 which currently fuels the standard G6 version.

We’re told the LG G6 Pro will include 32GB of internal storage (the LG G6 with 32GB is available in the US, but not in Korea), while the G6 Plus should pack 128GB of storage and wireless charging – a feature that has been available only in select markets (the US included). The two phones should arrive with the same display and RAM capacity.

It’s expected the LG G6 Plus will come with a retail price of approximately $890, while the LG G5 Pro will sell for around $700.

According to a separate report, the two LG G6 variants should land in Korea towards the end of June. As for the new Galaxy S8 colors, we have no information related to their availability.

While the new variants might help Samsung and LG boost sales, don’t forget the two companies are also expected to release their second flagships for the year.

Samsung will out the Galaxy Note 8 and LG is working on the V30, so the two phone makers have plenty to combat the arrival of the iPhone 8 with.

Amazon hasn’t given up on smartphones, is working on new “Ice” lineup

Alexandra Arici
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0

Released back in 2014, Amazon’s first smartphone effort, the Fire Phone proved to be a disastrous attempt. Only one month after unveiling the handset, Amazon admitted defeat and proceeded to drastically cut the Fire Phone’s price from $200 to 99 cents (with a 2-year AT&T contract attached to it).

Amazon had high hopes for the Fire Phone, but the mediocre specs, awkward user experience and high price-tag sealed its faith from the get-go.

Remember me?

Three years have passed, wounds have healed and now Amazon appears ready to give smartphones another go. According to two industry sources who talked to NDTV, Amazon is gearing up to make a comeback into the world of smartphones with a new line of “Ice” smartphones.

But instead of targeting the US market, Amazon wants to launch its icy products in developing countries like India. We’re told the phones will come equipped with middle-range specs, as well as Google’s suite of apps including Gmail, Google Play, Google Maps and more. If you remember, the Amazon Fire Phone like the Kindle range of tablets did not come with Google services onboard.

The ill-fated Amazon Fire phone

The two sources apparently already used a test version of one the first Ice smartphones. The prototype includes a 5.2-inch to 5.5-inch display, a Snapdragon 435, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The phone should also include a 13-megapixel rear camera and fingerprint scanner. It should launch with a price tag of approximately $93.

However, the sources noted the Ice smartphone they’ve handled did not come with Amazon’s Alexa assistant onboard. It’s a puzzling move since an affordable phone with the popular virtual helper onboard could give Amazon a competitive advantage in the crowded mobile market. At least the inclusion of Google services sounds like a good idea.

The Ice phone(s) should go on sale by the end of 2017. While US availability wasn’t mentioned in the report, it’s quite possible we’ll see the Ice phones land in the country, as well. Will Ice be able to trump Fire? What do you think?

LG Pay released, will be available on the LG G6 in South Korea at launch

Alexandra Arici
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LG recently introduced its own mobile paying service dubbed LG Pay, which launches as a direct competitor to Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and Apple Pay.

LG Pay will be offered in South Korea first and will land on the LG G6 via a software update that will allow users to add up to 10 payment cards, including both membership and transportation cards. Support for other devices is also in cards, but the company is yet to reveal the exact names of the devices that will get LG Pay treatment.

The LG G6

Unlike Samsung Pay which takes advantage of Magnetic Secure Transmission technology, LG Pay uses Wireless Magnetic Communication technology to allow customers to tap their phone against a card terminal in order to make a payment. The Korean company says it plans to expand LG Pay’s functionalities to include options like online payment and banking services.

At launch, LG’s mobile payment alternative will be available only through four South Korean credit card companies including Shinhan, KB, BC and Lotte. However, LG says more support is coming by the end of September.

Unfortunately, the phone maker didn’t provide a timeline for when the service will hit other countries. The LG G6 is available in a number of markets, including the US and hopefully, LG Pay will eventually land in these countries at some point in time.

Android vs iOS – A business and brand comparison [Infographic]

Dan Bartram
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Android is consistently compared to iOS. Why wouldn’t it be? They are two of the dominant mobile operating systems of modern time, but the debate goes far deeper than simply which platform has most apps. In this infographic, the business and brand performance of both platform are analzyed, which is more appealing to developers, and which brand sells the best.

The data is taken from late 2016 so is accurate in representing where each platform was at the tail end of the year. Expect the numbers to have slightly increased in the first half of 2017, but the proportions would still be similar.

Drop us a comment and let us know which platform in your opinion is the better brand.

Nextbit Robin gets Android 7.1.1 update

Dan Bartram
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For those with the Nextbit Robin, you’ll be pleased to hear the the device is now getting Android 7.1.1.

The device was fantastic value and still is. With its unique app backup and restore mechanism to save storage space on irregularly used apps, the Nextbit Robin was one of those devices that gave that something different.

Don’t Miss: The best Android phones at AT&T (June 2017)

As you’ve unfortunately come to expect with these relatively smaller startups, updates tend to be lacking, but Nextbit having been purchased by Razer, are keeping up with the Pixels by releasing Android 7.1.1 to update it from the Android 7.0 that came to the device in March.

Nextbit has also released a Robin factory image for 7.1.1 on Razer Insider. Therefore if you need to wipe your Robin to do a clean update to start fresh, you can start directly from Android 7.1.1. You can find the factory images here.

Tip: How to speed up your HTC U11

Dan Bartram
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Whilst the HTC U11 is no slouch when it comes to specs, sometimes the device can become sluggish or bogged down with the skin HTC apply. There is, however, a hidden feature that you can change that will instantly speed up your device.

The tip will help speed up your HTC U11 and 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.

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 HTC U11.

  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 HTC U11 feels substantially quicker. Let us know your comments in the section below.

App Highlight: Cookie Jam Blast

Dan Bartram
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The App

Developed by Jam City, Inc, who is tagged as a top developer, Cookie Jam Blast is an established app with well over 1,000,000 installs. Having been updated on May 23, 2017, the developer is constantly fixing various bugs with the latest update seeing 20 new levels. Cookie Jam Blast is a bakery adventure where you can create new recipes across a number of challenges and game modes to earn rewards.

What it does

From the makers of Cookie Jam, the game has a number of challenges and game modes that require you to match colored treats to earn points. With over 200 levels the challenge inevitably gets harder where you rely on getting multiple matches to get boosters and help you clear the board. A number of excellent bakery themes islands await where if you’re lucky you’ll collect limited edition airships.

Features:
– Brand new game modes! Hundreds of new puzzles!
– Match 4 to create a Jelly Bee! Use it to shake up your board!
– Reveal the Yumsicle! Swap macarons to uncover hidden treats!
– Oh la la! Make matches to move the cupcake towards it’s box! Get it out for delivery!
– C’est Magnifique! Break the Waffles before you’re out of moves!
– Quick, get the Topplers! Make matches next to a Toppler before they move! Capture them all to win!
– Jam through levels and earn 20 stars to open a special prize!
– Spin the wheel to earn daily rewards!
– Connect with Facebook to sync your progress and share lives with your friends!

Why we like it

Anyone that is familiar with Candy Crush will appreciate Cookie Jam Blast. It takes the popular concept of matching multiple items to clear a board and gradually becomes more challenging as you progress. The themeing is a nice added touch and round off this well designed title. It’s definitely one to have a go. My concern is the longevity of the app as to keep it current and feel this one map slip off the radar after a few plays.

How to get it

Cookie Jam Blast is available for free from the Google Play Store. You can download it right here.

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