Eric Zeman / Android Authority
After a lengthy delay, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE made its official debut early this month. The phone doesn’t push the industry forward, but it does give fans a relatively affordable device option ahead of the Galaxy S22 series launch. But is that enough? Is the Galaxy S21 FE hot or not? We posed this question to readers in a recent poll, and the results are now in.
We are thrilled to announce that we’ve launched a new sister website and YouTube channel. The name is Sound Guys and the focus will be on the latest, greatest and just plain coolest audio gear. We’ll be delivering in-depth news as well as reviews of all sorts of headphones, earbuds, Bluetooth speakers and tons of other audio products. We’re so happy to launch this new channel, we’ve just got to give something away.
We’ve been keeping tabs on Dyzplastic’s series of mini Android collectibles over the past few weeks, and now the time has come. The Android Mini Series 03 collectibles are finally available for sale via blind box, and we’ve got a preview showing what you might end up getting.
While you can’t be sure what you’ll get, it’s sure to be awesome. Some of the possible figures include Sir Knightly Bild, Whoogle the Owl, Pandroid, Professor Skully McRivethead, Escape Ape, 8-Ball Hustler and Nexus, who carries a tiny, non-working Nexus phone.
Probably one of the most anticipated games of the year, Mass Effect: Andromeda now has a companion app available on the Play Store.
Mass Effect: Andromeda is launching on March 21st in North America and March 23rd in Europe for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC. Developed by BioWare, the open world game is a fourth installation of the Mass Effect series. Well, BioWare has also released a companion app so that you can check in with the game’s multiplayer anytime and anywhere.
Get two tower defense games for the price of one! Developer 11 bit studios is celebrating “Anomaly Promo Week,” reducing the prices of Android games Anomaly Warzone Earth HD and its sequel, Anomaly Korea, to half for one week. Both games have a normal price at $4, which means that each game only costs merely $2 until Friday.
If the affordable price is not convincing enough, then perhaps the universal acclaim across multiple reviews (many of which praise the visually-stunning graphics and the superb gameplay) can persuade you to buy and download them now.
The ASUS ZenWatch 2 follows its predecessor’s steps by offering an enticing design for a price point that very few competitors can match. It’s a sweet deal for those who want to get into the Android Wear game without spending too much cash, and today marks the new watch’s arrival to the Google Play Store, where you can buy the ZenWatch 2 for only $149.99.
Not sure whether you want to go for this Android Wear device or upgrade to another one?
Google Assistant making a call
The demo was designed to show how Google Assistant, using a new technology called Google Duplex, could make phone calls on behalf of real people for things like reservations for haircuts or for restaurants. In the first demo, the AI-driven voice for Google Assistant called for a woman who wanted to set up a haircut appointment. The demo showed the AI voice understanding the voice of the human on the other end of the call, and it made correct responses to that real person’s answers.
Dave Burke, Google vice president of engineering for Android, mentioned today on Twitter that scrolling screenshots are “in the hopper” for Android R.
Nothing is concrete, since Burke also said the Android team can “hopefully” implement scrolling screenshots in Android R. That said, Android software engineer Dan Sadler joined the thread and accepted Burke’s challenge.
It’s good to see Google taking a more concrete stance on scrolling screenshots. As a fireside chat during Google I/O 2019, Burke said the feature was a “good idea” and that there’s “no reason not to do it.
Among the trends we see year in and year out at CES, is the tendency for companies to make “smart” products that don’t really need to be smart. “Better living through data”, we’re told, as the smart toothbrushes, smart locks, and smart sex toys are shoved at us. But is that really the case? We don’t think so. It seems a little cliche to dunk on weird smart gadgets, but the annual electronics show in Las Vegas has become synonymous with ill-conceived smart tech in recent years.
When China-based LeEco announced it was going to start selling its smartphones in the US earlier this fall, it made the decision to go with the “flash sale” business plan. It only let people purchase its products in the space of a few hours. Apparently that plan didn’t work well so LeEco is now ditching the flash sale for a more traditional online US retail business model.
LeEco Le Pro3 review