Reviews, cheap phones, and updates – Week 29 recap: week in review

Posted on by Adam Doud

The technology world is a fast moving one, and hence, there are more than 100 stories we publish on a weekly basis here on Pocketnow. Those include reviews, videos, editorials, news, and more. With this new, weekly series, we’re making it easier for you to look back at the most interesting, exciting, and popular topics of the week, in case you missed anything.Look for the Pocketnow Week in Review every Saturday morning. It contains the most popular ten stories of the week printed on the portal, as well as top ...

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OnePlus One review, Fire Phone hands-on, Microsoft’s future and more | Pocketnow Weekly podcast 105 (Hangout)

Posted on by Michael Fisher

Update: Edited podcast with download links has been added below the YouTube embed, courtesy of our excellent podcast editor, Jules Wang! Get to downloadin’, folks!The big guys have enough time in the limelight. It seems every week we’re spending 80% of the podcast talking about the huge players in the mobile space, along with their commensurately huge smartphone and tablet offerings. While we’re not ignoring those established forces in this episode, we are devoting a bit more time to newcomers: from Amazon to ...

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Google Play edition hardware sees deep discounts in retailer sale

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Last week saw Google take the chopping block to its selection of Play edition devices for sale, pulling the HTC One, Sony Z Ultra, and the LG G Pad 8.3 from its listings. While that may be a sign that new, more modern GPe hardware is on its way, it was still a little shocking to see some of those models retired after just over half a year. If you’re wishing you jumped at the chance to buy one when they were available, we’ve got just the deal for you, as retailer Expansys puts these former ...

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Lumias and iPhones and L, oh my! Week 28 recap: Week in Review

Posted on by Adam Doud

The technology world is a fast moving one, and hence, there are more than 100 stories we publish on a weekly basis here on Pocketnow. Those include reviews, videos, editorials, news, and more. With this new, weekly series, we’re making it easier for you to look back at the most interesting, exciting, and popular topics of the week, in case you missed anything.Look for the Pocketnow Week in Review every Saturday morning. It contains the most popular ten stories of the week printed on the portal, as well as top ...

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Google pares down Play edition lineup: and then there were three

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

The feeling of change coming to Google’s lineup of Play edition devices has been almost palpable these past couple months. There was that brief hint of a GPe Galaxy S5 back in April, and then last month we noticed half of the six devices making up the series going out of stock, no longer up for purchase. Were new models just about to arrive? Was Google ready to kill-off Play editions entirely in favor of ...

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New Galaxy S5 Google Play edition render leaks; so where’s the phone?

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Samsung’s got a new member of the Galaxy S5 family to show off today, as the manufacturer got around to announcing the GS5 mini. While we’ve been eagerly looking forward to that news, this hasn’t been the only GS5 model on our radar, and we’ve been catching signs here and there of other variants, like the GS5 Google Play edition. That one in particular has felt like it’s been right on the cusp of release for months now, even

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Is Android L the death of OEM Skins?

Posted on by Joe Levi

As we’ve had the opportunity to review devices manufactured by various OEMs, an interesting trend has begun to surface: OEM skins are getting lighter-weight, and a distinctive and bold color scheme has been evolving.We’ve reviewed the HTC One M8, the One mini 2, and the Desire 816. All of them run modern versions of HTC’s Sense UI, and all feature very ...

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Why are so many Google Play edition devices out of stock?

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Trying to read into Google’s intentions from Play Store device listings can be a tricky game. Sometimes, it feels like stock availability problems foretell the release of new models, while other times we’re just looking at a logistical hiccup that resolves itself in due time. But with Google I/O just around the corner, a prime time for Google to mix things up with its hardware offerings, it’s understandable that we’re paying just a little closer attention than normal. And while

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Is the Huawei way the right way?

Posted on by Joe Levi

Huawei will be selling the Ascend Mate2 4G LTE direct to consumers via GetHuawei.com. Read that again: direct to consumers! For our readers across the pond and in various parts of the world outside these United States, that might not sound odd, interesting, or unique. However, for those of us in the States, it’s somewhat unusual.Most phones over here are sold with a contract. Sometimes they’re peddled by a ...

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Google Play edition phones get their taste of Android 4.4.3

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Google may have taken its sweet time in getting around to the release of Android 4.4.3 – evidence of the build had been hanging just out of reach for months before Google finally went ahead with distribution this week – but now that it’s here we’re seeing updates waste no time at all in becoming available. Unsurprisingly, Nexus models led the pack, though Motorola wasn’t too far behind with news of updates for its own recent ...

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No Nexus 6 could mean Android Silver gets here earlier than rumored

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Android rumors stretching back to January have been talking about the idea of Google retiring the Nexus family as we know it. It all started off with claims that 2014 would be the last year for Nexus devices, and they’d ultimately be replaced by the Google Play edition models like we have now, though possibly under some new branding. Then in late April those rumors started taking much more focused shape, describing something called Android Silver that would ...

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Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime, GS5 Google Play edition appear to get Bluetooth certification

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Rumors of upcoming Samsung Android have been arriving on multiple fronts, and we’re looking forward to everything from a third batch of new tablets this year, to some more Galaxy S5 variants, including that GS5 Active we checked out some evidence for overnight. Today we’re going to continue looking into those new Galaxy S5-series models, as we spot what sure seem to be a couple of them swinging by the Bluetooth SIG. We’re looking at two model numbers here: SM-G906L and SM-G900FG. The former you might ...

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Google Play edition Galaxy S5 looks imminent

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

We’ve got Google’s Play edition of Android devices on our minds this afternoon, just bringing you news of the big price break the GPe Sony Z Ultra is getting. But that may just be the opening act to some slightly more significant GPe news, as a little hint pops up that may point to the upcoming availability of a GPe Samsung Galaxy S5. We were only just wondering when the GPe GS4 might see a price cut like the Z Ultra’s enjoying, and it ...

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Google takes axe to Sony Z Ultra Play edition’s price tag

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Will we still have the Google Play edition family of Android devices this time next year? With those rumors of the ambitious Android Silver project making the rounds, and the consequences it may have for how Google sells Android hardware, it’s difficult to say. But for the moment, at least, GPe devices aren’t going anywhere, and today we learn of a pretty big change hitting the first phablet to bear the GPe name, with Google knocking a whopping 30 percent off ...

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Android 4.4.3 spotted for Sony Z Ultra Google Play edition?

Posted on by Stephen Schenck

Back on Monday, Sprint gave its users the heads-up that a Nexus 5 update was incoming, and based on the information the carrier made available, this sure looked like the arrival of Android 4.4.3. The weird thing was, Google had yet to announce the update itself, and even the factory image download page for Nexus devices failed to reflect the availability of this new version. As of today, we’re still waiting to see confirmation of users getting this Sprint update. ...

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