T-Mobile has a new protection plan for customers looking to secure their phones and tablets against things like accidental damage or theft. The new device insurance tier is called Premium Device Protection Plus and is available for $15 a month.
For this amount of money subscribers will get the usual protection package which includes loss, theft, physical damage. On top of that, T-Mobile also throws in some additional services like the McAfee Content Protection – an anti-malware tool for phones and PCs (10 licenses included) and the McAfee ID Protection – a service that guarantees 24/7 Lost Wallet and ID Restoration, as well as $1 million insurance for qualifying recovery expenses.
T-Mobile’s Premium Device Protection Plus also offers something called Tech Personal Help Desk – a service through which the carrier can deliver immediate, personalized support for a wide range of devices including printers, routers, TVs and game consoles.
Premium Device Protection Plus also incorporates other utilities like Alarm, locate, lock and wipe remotely, App scanning, Back up contacts and photos and much more.
Alongside the new Premium Device Protection Plus plan, T-Mobile also introduced the JUMP! Plus, which is basically their phone upgrade plan that cost $15 and includes all the goodness of the new protection plan offers.
T-Mobile’s Premium Device Protection Plan is available for customers interested in buying a new phone and adding a new line of service. Any takers?
The Galaxy S7 marked the last generation that would have physical navigation buttons as the Galaxy S8 saw a move to on-screen navigation to accommodate the nearly bezel-less display. This means that the home button only needs to be tapped to be interacted with as opposed to actually needing to be pressed.
A user over at XDA has developed a app that will modify the behavior of the home button on the Galaxy S7 to be capacitive. This means that you don’t need to physically depress the button to interact with it, simply touch it like a virtual button such as on the Galaxy S8.
The app runs as a service in the foreground so you’ll see a permanent notification in the notification pane but you can quickly pause and disable the app via this. If you don’t like the persistent notification, just hold you finger on the notification and within the notification settings you’ll be able to disable it (the notification will be hidden but the app still works fine).
You may find the notification useful though since you may find you have to disable the app temporarily when another app requires the use of the fingerprint sensor to authenticate you. There is a PRO version which includes the whitelist feature that will allow you to automatically disable the Fingertouch service for specified apps so you don’t have to manually disable it each time.
The app service is active only when screen is on and is automatically paused when screen is off so does not interfere with fingerprint unlock and there is no adverse impact on battery life.
It may seem like a small thing, but not having to click the home button is one of my favorite things about the S8 so to have this on a device like the S7 is something that will no doubt speed up unlocking the device and also reduce the wear on the physical home button.
Android 7.0 or above is required to run the app and you can grab it for free via the Google Play Store using this link.
For those anxiously awaiting the new Android Wear 2.0 update to arrive on their Huawei Watch 2, the wait is now over.
Owners on Reddit of the new Huawei Watch 2 have reported that they are seeing a new update available to bring the smartwatch to the latest and greatest version of Android Wear.
Android Wear started rolling out initially in March earlier this year but was placed on a temporary hiatus due to some last minute bug issues. The rollout later resumed in early April and it seems that’s it’s the Huawei Watch 2 that is next on the list.
The update is rolling out slowly to owners but if you’re running Android Wear 1.5 on your Huawei Watch 2, you can apparently trigger the update by repeatedly tapping the green check mark on the software update screen.
Be sure to have 50% battery available before triggering the update and be aware it does wipe your device in the process. Otherwise, enjoy!
The notoroious leaker @evleaks has taken to Twitter to discuss news that Motorola could be dropping the whole DROID branding that has been around since the Android inception with Verizon all those years ago.
Put it down to brand evolution or new ownership but it seems Motorola will look to rebrand the devices it has previously seen success with. There have been some great DROID devices over the years but with so much change for the company and the focus now on its Z range, it seems inevitable that the DROID relationship with Verizon would fade out.
The question then inevitably remains of will the removal of the DRIOD branding mark the beginning of another naming partnership with Verizon, or does it mark the end of the carrier partnertship?
Of course with any rumor mark it with a pinch of salt, but with evleaks credibility you can be pretty certain this will be spot on.
Some say that the Android market is on the decline but Motorola seem to believe that there is still hope yet as the company look to launch a tablet of its own.
In a source that is cited as highly confident in the plans for Motorola to bring a tablet to the market, the expectation is the device will be 9-10 inches in size and be of a premium nature.
There’s no mention of a screen size, processor speed, or even memory size so it appears the device is either kept under heavy wraps or is in the very early stages.
Interestingly, there could be a new productivity mode that allows apps to be pinned to the navigation bar to allow them to be launched quickly making it look very similar to Chrome OS.
As cool as this sounds, it still wouldn’t address the unfortunate lack of Android aps that are optimized for tablet use and the inevitable decline of Android tablets on the market.
Nevertheless, I have high hopes for Motorola if this device does exist and what fresh ideas and functionality they can bring to an Android tablet.
If you’re looking for the best phone of 2017, the search starts with the Samsung Galaxy S8 or the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. The crazy beautiful Infinity Display is a head turner and the complete lack of any side bezels makes is truly remarkable. But, let’s say you pick up your Galaxy from a carrier like most people do and you want to travel overseas or use it on another network. What do you do? Well, you can go through the carrier unlocking process or you can unlock through a third party service like Android SIM Unlock.
If your account is in good standing (no past due bills and older than 60-90 days) and your phone is paid off, you can normally request an unlock code from your carrier. T-Mobile even has an app on phones they sell so you can request it right on the device! But, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is brand new and therefore it’s impossible for it to have been on your account long enough to get an unlock code.
So, how do we get it unlocked? Here are step-by-step instructions for you to get your unlock code right now!
Get your IMEI Number
Before you do anything else, you need your IMEI number. IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identifier and it’s the unique code for every device to identify it to things like cell towers. Here’s how you get your IMEI number:
Open the phone application
Dial *#06#
Your phone’s IMEI will pop up on the display
Write it down in a document on your computer or a piece of paper nearby
Unlocking
Free unlocking
We mentioned previously about the requirements to get your free SIM unlock. If you’re unsure if you qualify, give your carrier a ring and ask them. The worst they can tell you is no and all you’ve lost is time. If you do qualify, wonderful! Here are the steps to unlocking your device with an unlock code provided by your carrier:
Call your carrier customer service (normally you just dial 611 and hit send!)
Request an unlock code
Provide the IMEI number you wrote down earlier
Your unlock code will be sent to you and should arrive within 5 days
Replace the SIM card in your phone with one from another carrier
Enter the unlock code when the prompt comes up
Pretty simple stuff. If you’re traveling overseas and you’re picking up a SIM card when you get there, make sure you have all of your information written down so you can quickly access it. We suggest writing it down and keeping it in your purse or wallet so it’s handy. You don’t want to have it saved in a document in the cloud and not be able to access the internet.
Paid unlocking
If you don’t qualify for free SIM unlock from your carrier, you’re not out of luck! You have another option and that is buying an unlock code from a third-party service. These unlock codes can be incredibly cheap, down to about $10 for the Samsung Galaxy S8. This method will work for carriers besides T-Mobile and MetroPCS, so if you have service through them, we’ll have special instructions below for you.
Visit Android SIM Unlock or a similar unlocking site and enter the IMEI you wrote down earlier
Complete the checkout process
Your unlock code will arrive in your email in about an hour, but most of the time sooner than that
Put a SIM card from another carrier in your Samsung Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8 Plus
Enter the unlock code in the prompt that appears on screen
T-Mobile and MetroPCS Unlocking Process
T-Mobile and MetroPCS, as we mentioned above, has its own unlocking app. Even if you don’t qualify for a free unlock, you can still unlock your device using the T-Mobile or MetroPCS Device unlock apps. Here’s how you’ll go about it:
You’ll receive your unlock confirmation email in 1 – 3 days
Open the T-Mobile Device Unlock or MetroPCS Device unlock app
Press Continue, then Permanent Unlock
The unlock process will run and reboot your phone when its done
The process for T-Mobile isn’t any more complicated than other carriers, it’s just a bit slower.
With summer vacations coming up soon, you may want to invest in unlocking your Samsung Galaxy S8 or Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus right now so you don’t run into a time crunch. Let us know down in the comments if you’ll be unlocking your device.
Polar is extremely well-known for it’s fitness tracking devices, and multiple models can be found at almost every retail extension. While they have tons of devices out in the market that are geared to the hard-core athlete, they had yet to really make any headway in terms of the smartwatch realm.
That delay ends with the M600 smartwatch. The M600 is Polar’s almost-flagship fitness tracker (eclipsed only by the ultimately athletic-minded V800), and the first to utilize Android Wear (and now Wear 2.0!; more on this shortly). And it does so well….so well, in fact, it’s kind of become a bit of a shape-shifter. Is it a smartwatch that does fitness tracking extremely well? Or is it a fitness tracker that has true smartwatch chops? Either way, it’s an extremely fun device to have on your wrist, particularly when paired with your smartphone. Let’s check it out!
The M600 is styled first and foremost as a fitness tracker, with flat, subdued lines; no ornate or formal design cues here. Still, it does provide an air of subtle class, with an all-black band and case (white is also available, but, why?) and an almost-stealthy matte finish.
Now don’t get me wrong: while very sporty and athletic looking in its own way, svelte this smartwatch is not. It’s a rather thick slab of metal, rubber, and silicon sitting on your wrist. While wearing it I received comments both on how large it looked, and how it “looked rather size-appropriate on the wrist”. It was honestly about a 50/50 split in opinion of size from onlookers. For me, it was a similar experience. While looking at this thing on my arm thinking, “man it sure looks big”, it would just as quickly disappear from thought while I wore it.
Same goes for wearing it at night to track sleep. When I first tried lying bed with it on, I thought there was no way I was going to be able to rest comfortably with it on. But lo and behold, it almost melted onto me and I never had a single issue with comfort.
As far as using the device, it’s been simplified, utilizing the touchscreen as much as possible. There are only two physical buttons on the thing: the power/back/Google button on the side, and the “fitness” button (my term) low-and-center on the front. This front button is used to access Polar’s many fitness features, including initiating a recorded workout, reviewing your overall day’s metrics, and accessing Polar’s coaching functions.
The entire unit is completely waterproof (IP-8X to be specific), so you track your swimming workouts as you’d like.
On the backside, you’ll see the heart rate sensors and a proprietary charging connector. The charging cord that comes with the M600 is entirely too short, just short of XXX. The connector can also be a bit fiddly when tying it to the device, requiring just the right angle to make a positive connection.
On charging, I got just over 2 full days of regular use (watch, Android notifications, fitness and exercise tracking) until I had to plug in.
The stock band (you can replace it with other options) is a comfortable and rather soft rubber. But it isn’t all good news: I regularly had issues with the band loops continuously sliding down, exposing the band to flap around. It wasn’t just vigorous exercise that caused this, either; a simple 9-hole round of golf caused this to happen at least 3 times…it started to drive me nuts.
Interface
The M600 is just a fantastic mix of smartwatch and fitness tracker. The recent addition of Android Wear 2.0 provides a bunch of new features, like the ability to download native apps
Try this on a Fitbit
from the Play Store right from the watch, better reply ability for messaging apps, and much-improved battery life.
This is definitely a step above the Fitbits of the world. The larger color screen and full Android Wear 2.0 integration see to that. Even something like navigation works well enough on the M600 that it allows you to keep your smartphone in your pocket more than you’d normally have to.
Even small touches, like screen sleep and wake, are well-implemented. When you bring the M600 up to your face, raising your forearm and/or twisting your wrist, the device is quick to wake, turning its display brightness way up for easier viewing. After just a few seconds of inactivity, it just-as-quickly goes back to sleep. You can also just tap the screen for a quick wake-up.
Again, with only two physical buttons, this device if very touch-intensive. Directional swipes take you to the notification pane, settings screen, other watch faces, fitness sub-screens, and the like. The device also allows for gestures to control your device, but honestly, it can seem pretty silly at times (waving your arm upward into the air just to ‘swipe up’…my wife was literally laughing at me when she caught me trying this out).
The screen is decent at 240 x 240 px, but it’s not the prettiest thing (visible scan lines).
Oops, I swiped to a new clock face again…
But that said, colors are very vibrant and I generally enjoyed looking at it. One niggle is that the primary left and right swiped on the device while in base clock mode is to switch around clock face options, which I did unintentionally more that once. Why this isn’t buried at least one level deep I don’t know. Maybe Polar found that peeps like messing with the faces a lot?
While the interface (and Android 2.0) is generally very good, I did get a little tired of addressing notifications via my wrist. When your phone is busy with incoming emails, messages, and notifications, I experienced general “swipe-fatigue” with all the flicking to and fro to clear these from the M600. There is a “clear all” button to hit but I never remembered to use it. Now, this isn’t a ding on the device, specifically, it did hamper the overall smartwatch experiences for me. Do with that what you wish.
Using this device does require you to install the Android Wear app on your smartphone. This allows all the magic syncing to happen. Here you can also adjust some settings, like which apps you’d like blocked from appearing on your M600, or finding even more watch faces. You can even take a screenshot of your M600 display remotely (though I have no clue why you’d need to do this; features for features-sake, IMO).
Remote viewfinder: cool!
One interesting feature I kept playing with is a remote shutter option for your phone’s camera. Not only does it remotely close the shutter (once you press it there’s a three-second countdown), but you can also get an, albeit small, preview of the image as the phone sees it before you take the picture. This could become pretty slick in terms of landscape and low-light photography, where you are looking to minimize any and all camera shake. Heck, you could also use it to be part of the family picture, framing and taking the photo while in front of the lens.
Performance
As a “daily driver”, the M600 is a smooth operator. As stated before, the screen is bright and colorful, and responsiveness to my touching and swiping was nearly 100% spot-on. Notifications come into the watch almost instantaneously with my smartphone, and addressing them on either device updates the other just as fast. Android Wear boasts the ability to reply to messages right on the watch; you can like (thumbs-up!), try to tap on the ridiculously small predictive keyboard, or hand-write on a 240-pixel-wide screen and hope for the best. Obviously none of these are ideal, but they’re trying!
As a fitness tracker I loved this thing. It does a very good job of tracking and breaking down your daily activity and workouts. It also integrally connects to Strava if you’re a biker or runner. I used it for several exercises, including weights, cardio (inside & outside), and even golfing.
If the M600 does have a weakness, it’s in the GPS, which can be a bit slow/delayed and/or inaccurate. I even noticed this when using the M600 as my navigation screen; it had trouble keeping my current location current.
Of course, with the fitness tracking comes the Polar Flow App and website. The app does a very good job of breaking down your daily activity and detailing each workout, as well as tracking your general level of activeness and sleep quality. There’s much more to this app and website than bears writing here. I took several screenshots for your viewing pleasure, to give you a feel for the interface:
Conclusion
The Polar M600 is a device that I had no intention of loving at the end of my review, but that’s exactly where I’m at. I’m not even a watch guy in general, but I continually found myself putting it on once charged and using it throughout the day. In just over a week it became a staple part of my technology arsenal, I like it that much.
The M600 does a incredible job of melding smartwatch and fitness tracker functionality and looks that I can’t tell where one stops and one begins. And that’s a great thing; a “holy grail” of sorts in this niche market. If you are in the market for a higher-end wearable, please give the M600 your most serious consideration!
2016 was a big year for OnePlus. We saw two iterations come to market within 5 months of each other; the OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 3T.
Both phones offered incredible bang for your buck in not only the looks department, but also spec department too. We even went on record to say that, and I quote:
So, it comes with great excitement and anticipation that we are able to inform you that OnePlus has exclusively confirmed via The Verge that their next “flagship” offering will be arriving this summer, the OnePlus 5.
I feel it’s important to say at this point that nothing has been 100% confirmed as yet regarding specs and even the price point is a speculative one but, I will share with you what the rumor mill has so far been able to ascertain in regards to this potential giant killer.
Below is a render of what we call an ” About Phone ” screen, basically it’s the bit you go to on your phone that tells you how much memory you have used or your current operating system number; stuff like that. This render has apparently come directly from a OnePlus 5.
It’s clear by looking at the render this it’s a Chinese variant due to the Hydrogen OS (and the Chinese writing) but that aside, the fact it’s showing 8GB of ram is definitely enough to raise a rye smile and 128GB of storage twinned with the Android 7.1.2 means it could be pretty much be coming out of the box packing one hell of a punch.
Previous rumors have also indicated that the OnePlus 5 will be powered by a Snapdragon 835 processor, a gloriously powerful 2600mAh battery and will of course come packing a Quad HD display. As in another render pictured below we can see a further possible spec breakdown of the device, inclusive of an again speculative price point.
A couple of things jump out here: a 12MP dual-lens rear-facing camera and an 8MP front-facing selfie cam, and the usage of UFS 2.1 storage for more prevalent multitasking.
With the internet awash with all this speculation it’s only a matter of time before OnePlus drop the bomb and we all start obsessing about getting our hands on it, but until then I shall depart leaving you with a little sprinkle of knowledge to see you through the weekend that I do know is a hard fact about this device.
The phone is going to be called the OnePlus 5 and not the OnePlus 4 because the number four is considered unlucky in China, now, don’t say I never give you anything.
In a world of digital information, there is nothing more important that some sort of backup. For desktops, there is the ever recommended external backup or off-site solution (typically in the form of a cloud option such as Google Drive or Dropbox). This is equally important for our mobile devices. External backups are much more difficult with mobile devices the cloud option is ever present and becoming more affordable by the day.
While backup options are easily available, we are all still human and accidents happen. Things can get deleted and, unlike desktop devices, a recycle bin isn’t going to save you. In cases like these, we will need an external tool to recover some of that misplaced data.
recovering your lost text messages
Enter Mobikin Doctor for android, a desktop application (available for both Windows and Mac) which allows you to recover text messages, contacts, documents, and more. Let’s take a look and see what this allows us to do.
Prerequisites
There is one major requirement to get Mobikin Doctor for Android to work properly, root permission. That’s right android lovers, root is required for this to work. Now, if you think about it logically, this makes sense. Being able to access call logs and text messages would likely require access to some base code in the android operating system.
Disclaimer
If you have read my posts before, you know that I, and all of the AndroidGuys staff pride ourselves on being as transparent in our reviews as possible. We consider it part of our mission to bring our readers unbiased and honest reviews.
Believe it or not, at the time of the writing of this review, none of our staff have rooted devices. Thus I was not able to complete the restoration process in its entirety. I did install the application and walk through all steps to get to the restoration, however, Call Logs, messages and contacts were not able to be accessed.
Setup
There are two setups that need to be done to begin your recovery process. First, you need to download and install the desktop app Android Data Recovery. Once installed you can launch the application.
The second setup is where it gets a little more in depth. Once you launch Mobikin Doctor, it takes you through the steps to enable USB Debugging. In case you don’t know, this requires you to unlock the developer options. Also, depending on the phone model, you need to set the USB connection mode (which is also set in the Developer Options menu).
Restoring Data
Once you get your device set up and plugged into the desktop application, you can watch Mobikin Doctor connect to your device and begin scanning. Feel at ease that if something goes wrong it will give you direction as to which step needs fixing.
After getting completely connected your device will be scanned for both current and deleted files. As shown in the video below, you can easily save files, images or any of the system information talked about above. Saving is done by simply checking which files you want to save and clicking on the save button. This brings in the money before you can restore any files you must purchase the Pro license for $49.95.
My main objection here is that it seems to save all system based information as an HTML file. While it is nice to get that information back, it would be nice to have if in a format that one might be able to import that information back into the phone.
Conclusion
Requiring root for the application to completely work is a pretty tall order for most users but, from a technology standpoint, it makes sense. With a price tag of just under $50, this puts it in line with some of the software retrieval tools for desktop computers. Is your data worth $50 to get back? Is it worth rooting your phone to get one more look at those text messages? Only you can decide that but, as far as I could tell this seems to work as advertised.
Bluetooth speaker specialist, Fugoo is this week extending its “Go Anywhere” lineup by adding two new products, the Style-S and Go.
The Style-S is a water-proof, dust-proof, mud-proof and shock-proof Bluetooth speaker that can deliver up to 93 dB loudness.
Fugoo says the speaker weighs only 1 pound and 7 ounces, so it can fit almost anywhere. It can be used as a speakerphone by virtue of the omni-directional microphone with echo cancellation and background noise reduction. The Style-S supports Apple’s Siri and Google Now, so you can interact with it via voice commands too.
The speaker can be paired with one of Fugoo’s other accessories, the wearable Bluetooth Remote Control which allows users to control the music playlist from a distance. The Style-S is available for purchase from Fugoo and Amazon for $139.99. For a limited time, you’ll be able to grab a second Style-S for 30% off.
The second product recently unleashed is the Fugoo Go. The manufacturer notes the Go is as big as a water bottle, so it can be easily held in one hand. It offers two orientations depending on how you want the music – place it on the back for 360-degree sound or on the side for direct sound.
It bundles four drivers – two full range drivers and two bass radiators which it uses to deliver up to 12 watts of full-range fidelity. Like the Style-S is offers 93 dB loudness. Both Fugoo Style-S and Go are compatible with Fugoo’s lineup of mount accessories. It’s available to buy for $79.99.
In addition to launching the new speakers, Fugoo is shaving off the prices of some of its following devices as follows:
Fugoo Style – $89.99
Fugoo Sport – $99.99 + Mount Pack at $19.99 value
Fugoo Tough – $129.99 + Mount Pack at $19.99 value
Premium Device Protection Plus also incorporates other utilities like Alarm, locate, lock and wipe remotely, App scanning, Back up contacts and photos and much more.
Get your IMEI Number
I feel it’s important to say at this point that nothing has been 100% confirmed as yet regarding specs and even the price point is a speculative one but, I will share with you what the rumor mill has so far been able to ascertain in regards to this potential giant killer.
