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Is this the Moto Z (2017)?

Alexandra Arici
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The Moto Z lineup was introduced back in 2016 as Motorola’s high-end family of devices. The phones quickly became popular with consumers everywhere due to their Moto Mods compatibility. Moto Mods are accessories which snap on the phone via pins in order to deliver extra functionality.

Naturally we expect to see a second-gen Moto Z this year. And now it seems like the Moto Z (2017) has leaked in a photograph.

As you can see by yourselves, the purported Moto Z (2017) pictured in the image looks quite similar to the current Moto Z. It features a physical home button reminiscent of the one on the recently unveiled Moto G5 Plus. It probably embeds a fingerprint scanner. By the looks of it, the phone features a dual-tone led flash on the selfie-camera.

There’s not much information about the Moto Z (2017) at this point, but we can speculate a little bit. A recent Geekbench listing revealed Motorola is prepping a high-end phone with a Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM and Android 7.1.1 Nougat onboard. So we can very well speculate this is the Moto Z (2017). On the other hand, it could be the Moto X (2017) which previously leaked online.

Back in July 2016, leakster @Ricciolo claimed that the next-gen Moto Z’s camera will feature a lower megapixel count, but the size of each pixel will be increased allowing the snapper to take better images in low light conditions.

Since the Moto Z was launched in June 2016, we can speculate Motorola will follow the same timeline, provided the Snapdragon 835 becomes available by then. During the same period we should also be seeing the OnePlus 5 make an appearance as well.

Movado prepares Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch, influenced by Museum Watch

Alexandra Arici
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The line between haute-couture watches and smartwatch is slowly blurring. Case in point, American watchmaker, Movado announced it has partnered up with Google to unleash a line of five intelligent timepieces with Android Wear 2.0 onboard.

Movado will launch the new smartwatches under the Connected brand. You should expect them to make an appearance during Baselworld 2017 which begins on March 23.

Prices are expected to start at $495 which is not cheap at all. However, we expect Movado’s designs to sweep us off our feet. Movado is best known for its Museum Watch which was designed by Bauhaus-influenced artist, Nathan George Horwitt – so the brand has an intriguing history – design wise.

Classic Movado Museum Watch

And the new Movado Connect smartwatches will feature five customizable dials inspired by the Movado Museum dial. On top of that, each dial will include 3-4 customizable elements like for example, array of complications, backgrounds and watch hands.

We’re also told that the five watches will feature support Android Pay and the Google Assistant will be onboard, as well. Like most smartwatches out there, the Movado bunch will take advantage of fitness tracking features. More info about the specs will be revealed during Baselworld.

Movado Bold Motion smartwatch

Movado is not a stranger to smartwatches. Back in 2015 the company partnered up with HP in order to produce the Bold Motion smartwatch which features a simple, classical design. Bu the device did not run Android Wear, but a proprietary system made by HP.

The press release also reveals that two other Movado-owned brands, Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss are set to launch Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches of their own come this fall.

Keep in mind, that Tag Heuer also has an Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch due out in May. It seems that at least so far 2017 is going to be the year of ultra-stylish smartwatches.

AT&T is now giving DirectTV Now subscribers free or discounted HBO

Alexandra Arici
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When it launched back in November under AT&T, DirecTV Now promised to offer a wide selection of live television and premium programming. But while the offer looked very good on paper, in reality users experienced all kinds of issues with the services – from signing-in errors to blocked content.

But AT&T is not giving up on the service. The carrier has been diligently working to solve these issues which apparently are in the past now. AT&T also wants to reward DirecTV Now customers who’ve been patient and understanding by offering them free HBO.

Those of you who have been a subscriber of DirecTV Now since March 6 or earlier will be eligible to get HBO either free of charge or at a discounted rate. Customers who are on the Go Big or Gotta Have It will be getting HBO for free for the next 12 months. As for those who have Live a Little or Just Right, they will be eligible to receive $5 off the HBO subscription for six months.

Customers who already have HBO needn’t worry. Customers with Go Big and Gotta Have It will see the charge automatically be credited each month during the 12-month offer. While Live a Little and Just Right users will get the $5 credit applied to the account with the next six month of service.

Take into consideration that it might take up to 24 hours to see the new channel become available, so don’t fret if you don’t see it just just yet.

How-To use Instagram’s new Geostickers

AndroidGuys
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In case you did not already get the news, Instagram has released some new Geostickers for New York and Jakarta. These are stickers that can only be used when you are close to specific geolocations and are specially designed to reflect the ambiance of the area around you. These new images are available on Instagram 10.11 for both iOS and Android.

We thought that on the heels of such an announcement would be a great time to show you how to use these stickers and see what you can come up with. Lets get started.

Prerequisites:

Obviously, there are going to be a couple things we need to have to complete this, but they are pretty straight forward:

  1. You need a smartphone with a camera (pretty obvious)
  2. You also will need an Instagram account (also obvious)

GeoCapture:

If you are reading this, I’m sure you already know how to use Instagram so this will not be super basic. Let’s start off after the pictures are taken.

  1. Once you snap your photo (or take a video), tap on the sticker icon in the upper right and corner.
  2. Any Geostickers related to your location will appear at the top of the sticker list.
  3. Just like other stickers, these can be moved and resized to help design the perfect image to share.
Jakarta

It’s that simple. These special Geostickers can also act like the customizable location stickers, if they are clicked on by your followers, it will tell them exactly where you took the picture.

Now go, and capture use as many of these stickers as you can. Find all the cool spots with the best stickers, and, while you are at it, tag @androidguys with some of your images to we can see how you are doing.

TubiTV is basically Ad-Supported Netflix Lite, minus the subscription (Review)

Donovan Jeska
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Everyone loves Netflix. It’s a universally accepted fact at this point. (Universally, I say – and if you say otherwise, you’re wrong.) Everyone loves binge-watching series (serieses?) and having moviethons and chilling whilst Netflixing. But sometimes – sometimes – Netflix doesn’t have what we want to watch. 

TubiTV’s Homescreen

Maybe – maybe – TubiTV will have it. TubiTV is very much a similar service to Netflix and Hulu; a selection TV series and movies streamed from the cloud. TubiTV has all the standard features one would expect; a watchlist, subtitle support, bandwidth (and therefore resolution) selector, and the ability to share videos round out the features list.

The selection isn’t nearly as large as either of the aforementioned services, and there aren’t a whole lot of AAA titles, but if all else fails and you desperately need to find something to watch and Netflix and Hulu and Amazon have completely let you down, you might give TubiTV a shot. There are a bunch of different categories in the app, including a rather interesting one called Not on Netflix – which, as you might guess, is a selection of shows and movies you won’t find on Netflix. I thought that was a cute selling point.

Warning: This is the part where I go on a tirade about ads.

Look. I understand that apps and services need to turn a profit somehow, and ads are probably the best way to get that revenue without a subscription fee. But TubiTV plays two full-length ads before every. Single. Video. And sometimes they aren’t even in English. I had an add for Sons of Anarchy that was in Spanish. What the hell, TubiTV – you can’t detect what language my phone is using and just play ads in that language?

 

…But I digress, as usual.

Why yes, that is Forrest Whitaker in Ghost Dog, the uplifting story about a mafia hit-man/samurai featuring music by RZA.

A couple bugs that I think are worth mentioning; 1) It’s really easy to confuse the app. If you open a video, and then close it before it finishes buffering, it’ll end up playing in the background for as long as the app runs in the background, until you end it by forceclosing the app. Related to this, you can force the app to play a second audio stream right on top of the first by re-opening the app again and starting another video while the first stream is playing – even if it’s of the same video. 2) Facebook login only? Really? On a Google-made OS? Come on, TubiTV.

Google launches its first original podcast

Alexandra Arici
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Not so long ago Spotify launched three original podcast, in a bid to stand out in the highly competitive music service market. And now Google is following suit.

Today the search giant is launching its own original podcast about music called City Soundtracks under the Google Play Music banner. For this endeavor, Google has partnered up with noted musician and composer, Hrishikesh Hirway.

The exclusive series focuses on individual artists and people, places and moments that had an impact on their lives. Each episode will feature tracks picked by the particular guest.

Episodes range from 11 to 15 minutes and Google has produced three of them so far. The first welcomes a girl name Kelhanni and how music influenced her as was growing up in Oakland. The second one stars “Queen of Bounce” Big Freedia who will be taking us on a tour of musical landmarks in New Orleans.

The third revolves around Spoon members, Britt Daniel and Jim Eno as they talk about their favorite records, venues and more.

It’s worth noting here that Google has launched the podcast section for its Play Music service back in April 2016, which is now being populated with the company’s own original show.

Google is no stranger to creating media content, as the company has already tried it hands at TV and movie creation.

The three podcasts are available for your pleasure in the Google Play Store.

Turn your Amazon Echo Dot into a cordless, enhanced speaker with the Vaux

Alexandra Arici
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The Amazon Echo Dot is a hands-free, voice-controlled little device that uses Alexa to lay music, control smart devices around the house, provide users with relevant information, set alarms and much more. It includes a Bluetooth speaker, but it can also connect to speakers or headphones through Bluetooth or 3.5mm stereo cable.

But because the Echo Dot requires to be plugged into an wall outlet, it is mostly confined to one place. Well not anymore. Thanks to a new accessory called Vaux launched by the new Ninety7 startup, the Echo Dot can be turned into a mini Alexa-powered, portable Wi-Fi speaker.

Just slot the Echo Dot into the Vaux and connect the built-in Micro USB and 3.5mm audio cables and voila. The Vaux will also add a more powerful speaker than the one found on the Echo Dot.

But why not get the Amazon Tap instead you might ask? Well the Echo Dot+Vaux ($49+$49) bundle is cheaper than the Amazon Tap which sells for $129.99. But there are a few caveats to consider.

The Vaux is neither waterproof nor water-resistant. Furthermore, the Vaux promises around to six hours of battery life, while the Amazon Tap offers 8-9. The accessory has a microUSB slot charging and the producing company says it takes up to 6 hours to get a full re-charge.

Despite these limitations, if you have more than one Amazon Echo Dot around the house, the Vaux might be prove to be quite useful. The accessory is available for pre-order for $49 a pop and should start shipping sometime in April. It’s available in Ash and Carbon.

Transform your Android smartphone into a 360-degree VR camera with the Insta360 Air

Alexandra Arici
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Yesterday we told you about the strange ProTruly Darling smartphone which has a built-in 360-degree camera onboard. This feature makes the phone look more particularly weird, but what if you could turn your Android into a 360-degree camera without having to transform it into a bizarrely elongated gizmo?

Now you can with the Insta360 Air camera. The device attaches itself to your Android smartphone via a microUSB or USB Type-C port in order to bestow 360-degree VR camera options to your device.

The Insta360 Air can capture 3K photos (3008 x 1504 resolution) and 2.5K video (2,560 x 1,289 resolution) at 30fps thanks to its dual fisheye lenses. Via a dedicated app, the camera uses the smartphone display as a viewfinder to capture 360-degree content.

The camera also offers real-time image stitching and allows users to live-streaming directly to YouTube and similar platforms. Content can also be shared directly from the companion app to social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and more.

The Insta360 Air is a lightweight device at only 26.5 grams, so it won’t make your smartphone a lot heavier.

You should know that the Insta360 Air is not limited to mobile. The camera can be used as a webcam on Skype so it can connect to a PC via USB 2.0 or USB 3.0.

The company behind the InstaAir 360 promises that a real-time image stabilization feature will become available in the near future via a “firmware update”.

The camera is currently available to purchase for $129 a pop from all retailers in the US.

These new smart features might make it into Android O

Alexandra Arici
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Google is constantly working to improve Android. According to a new report coming out of Venture Beat, Google is currently focused on developing a set of smart features that may or may not make a debut in Android O. The search giant is expected to introduce them during the Google I/O conference in May.

The first feature which report talks about is called “Copy Less” and is meant to provide a better alternative for copying from one app and pasting into another.

For example, if you’re chatting with a friend about meeting for dinner at a certain restaurant you’ve stumbled upon on Yelp – you won’t have to exit the messaging app, copy the address from Yelp and go back and paste it into the messaging app anymore. Just type “it’s at” and automatically generated suggestion in GBoard will deliver the restaurant’s address right in the messaging interface.

It’s not currently known at the moment whether the feature will be part of an updated GBoard or will be baked into Android O.

A second new feature is revealed in the article, one that iOS users are already familiar with. Text will display smart links that will link relevant information within the respective app. Today if you get a text message in Google’s Android Messages containing an address, nothing would happen if you tapped on it.

However, in the future Google will be able to recognize this piece of text is an address ad open it with a relevant app – Google Maps in this case. The sources couldn’t specify whether this feature will be restricted to Google’s stock Android messaging platform or will become available in all messaging apps in Android.

The third feature is the least like to make it into the final version of Android O. Sources claim it’s similar to Huawei’s Knuckle/Knock Gestures, except there will be no knuckles involved here. The example given here is that users will be able to draw a C on the display in order to bring up the Calendar app.

So what do you think? Would you like to see Android O take advantage of any of these features?

HTC U Ultra to start shipping to US customers on March 10

Alexandra Arici
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HTC unveiled the HTC U Ultra flagship back in January. Well it’s March now and if you have placed a pre-order for the device then you’ll be happy to know that the HTC U Ultra is finally ready to ship out to consumers in the US.

On March 7, HTC announced on Twitter that shipments have already started going out to members of the HTC Elevate community. However, general shipments will kick start on March 10, 2017.

Customers in the US can currently purchase the phone in three coloring options including Sapphire Blue, Brilliant Black and Ice White. Shipping is free if you agree to the standard option.

The HTC U Ultra is offered unlocked but is compatible with GSM/LITE providers such as T-Mobile and AT&T. However, subscribers of Verizon or Sprint won’t be able to use the unlocked model.

The phone is available for a pretty hefty $749 price tag. For this amount of money, you’ll be getting a device with a 5.7-inch display with QHD resolution plus a secondary 2.05-inch display with 160 x 1040 resolution.

The flagship is powered by a Snapdragon 821 processor which works hand in hand with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card up to 256GB). The HTC U Ultra features the same 12MP camera that lives on the Google Pixel, although the software is quite different. It also has a 16MP secondary selfie camera.

The HTC U Ultra ships with HTC’s new Sense Companion digital assistant and Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. You’ll also get a pair of free high-quality headphones plus HTC UH OH Protection which offers one-time replacement for broken screens or water damage.

Interested in purchasing the HTC U Ultra? Let us know in the comments below.

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