Android Archives - TechBizzAre

November 30, 2018

Volvo Switching to Android Operating System for Next-Gen Interface

Volvo used the 2018 Los Angeles auto show to announce its connectivity projects. The automaker is currently developing a new Android-based multimedia system in cooperation with Google, which will bring apps such as Google Maps and Spotify into the car. This new system will seamlessly integrate all operating systems and allow the automaker to expand its connected services beyond its current offerings.

At a roundtable discussion, Google and Volvo executives revealed that their intent is to allow an individual to bring their life into the car with a multitude of apps. Currently, Volvo and Amazon offer a delivery service that drops off packages to your vehicle. Volvo says it will offer seamless connectivity with all operating systems and bring third-party services into the vehicle but with a priority on safety. That means games are relegated to rear-seat passengers and ads won’t be shown to you. Volvo will also allow drivers to control their information and give them the ability to stay anonymous; however, staying incognito will prevent one from accessing the full capabilities of the built-in apps.

Autonomous driving will also play a key role because Volvo is learning how to restructure its software from Google. Henrik Green of Volvo’s R&D arm says the automaker is now relying less on third parties for software; instead, it is creating its own in order to allow for new functions like over-the-air updates sooner. Green and Google executive Mickey Kataria did concede that vehicle software updates won’t happen as quickly as they do on mobile devices.

Green also revealed that 5G connectivity will be integrated into upcoming vehicles. The existing CMA and SPA platforms will receive the upgrades starting with the Polestar 2. Polestar 3, which will debut the second-generation SPA platform, will come standard with 5G connectivity and the new Android-based multimedia system. The second-generation SPA platform will also feature an integrated computer that will run all infotainment and Level 5 autonomous driving functions.

Volvo says that it will roll out its new interface globally but will have a special version for the Chinese market due to government restrictions on Google. iFly will replace Google voice for voice commands, and Autonavi will be the navigation app; however, the interface will remain Android based. Expect to see the new system by 2020.

[“source=gsmarena”]

November 16, 2018

Motorola One Power Android 9.0 Pie update starts rolling out in India, brings Dual VoLTE, improved camera performance

Motorola just announced that it has started rolling out Android 9.0 (Pie) update for the One Power Android One smartphone in India, as it had promised at the launch in September. At the launch the company also promised Android Q update for the phone, as well as security updates for three years from the initial global launch date.

Android 9 Pie update offers even longer & improved battery life, an entirely new UI with redesigned Quick Settings and a revamped split-screen. The update also brings forth a fresh intuitive navigation, simplified volume controls and an improved Do Not Disturb mode. It also brings Dual SIM Dual VoLTE Support and an improved camera performance including the panorama feature and better low light images.

[“source=TimeOFIndia”]

November 16, 2018

Motorola One Power Android 9 Pie Update Rolling Out, Brings Dual 4G Support

Motorola has officially confirmed the rollout of Android 9 Pie update to its Android One smartphone- the Motorola One Power. The company did not announce this news on Twitter or any other social media handle, instead, the Android 9 Pie release notes have gone live on Motorola’s website, confirming the update’s rollout has begun. In addition, Motorola is sending a notification to the One Power users in India stating that the device will receive the latest iteration of Android in the next few days. Going by the release notes available on the Motorola website, this update will add the much-requested Dual 4G and Dual VoLTE feature to the smartphone. Alongside that, Motorola has added Panorama feature to the camera app and also bumped the security patch version of November 1, 2018.

Motorola One Power Android 9 Pie Update: Features You Need to Know

For the unaware, the Motorola One Power is an Android One smartphone, meaning it runs stock Android and is also eligible for receiving timely software updates. Recently, we reported that the Android 9 Pie beta testing was going on for the One Power and it took just a week for the Lenovo-owned company to roll out the update.

Talking about the features, the Android 9 Pie update to the One Power brings all the features Google introduced such as gesture navigation, adaptive brightness and battery features along with a new interface for notification panel and quick tiles.

Besides the standard Android 9 Pie features, Motorola has added Dual 4G and Dual VoLTE functionality to the smartphone, meaning users can use two Jio 4G SIM cards on the smartphone. Earlier, when the smartphone launched in India, Motorola did not add the functionality for some unknown reasons.

The update also brings Panorama feature along with various improvements to the camera performance. So expect the images captured on Motorola One Power to come out a tad better after the update. Lastly, the update adds November 2018 security patches. Right now, the Motorola One Power is on August 2018 patches.

Motorola One Power: Specifications and Features

The Motorola One Power is the best smartphone launched by Motorola this year. The phone’s USP is the 5000mAh battery which will last for more than two days with moderate usage. The phone rocks a 6.2-inch Full HD+ display on the front with a 19:9 aspect ratio and a notch on top. The notch houses 12MP selfie shooter and an LED flashlight.

Under the hood, the One Power has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset, clubbed with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Notably, Motorola launched only one variant of the smartphone in India. As for the cameras, the phone rocks 16MP and 5MP shooters on the rear side, followed by a 12MP selfie shooter. Connectivity options on the handset include Dual 4G, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and a USB Type-C port.

[“source=TimeOFIndia”]

November 16, 2018

All Android Pie 9.0 Devices Get Project Treble

Google held their Android Dev Summit last week in California. The company demonstrated multiple changes for current & future Android devices. One of them is a big announcement for a long pertaining issue. For a long period of time, Android users have been complaining to OEM’s and Google for delayed updates on their devices. During the Dev Summit, Google developers showcased a solution to the problem in the shape of Project Treble. The company has declared that every upcoming Android 9.0 Pie devices will be Project Treble Compliant.

What Is Project Treble?

Project Treble was first introduced with Android 8.0 Oreo which has matured a lot since then. It is a mechanism that is concerned with pushing faster updates on an Android devices. Google developers demonstrated a common GSI (Generic System Image) running on devices from different manufacturers. Before this devices had a specific GSI engine per manufacturer, tweaked for compatibility with their devices. This uncommon GSI would increase the time for companies to modify the pure AOSP (Android Open Source Project) code that Google released. Now onwards Google will open GSI information for manufacturers so they directly modify pure AOSP code which was first sent to chip makers to enable their chipset compatibility.

In the past, lastest updates used to go through multiple checkpoints in order to be capable of deploying onto an Android device. Previously when Google released an Android update it was first sent to chip makers like Qualcomm & Mediatek. The chip makers would optimise the code according to the architecture on their chipsets. The update was then forwarded to manufacturers who would tweak the same as per the need of their respective devices & also integrate their proprietary software bits. This then leads to the OTA (Over The Air) update on their devices.

What’s In It For The Users?

Also Read: OnePlus 6T Thunder Purple Unboxing And First Look

Post Project Treble compliance the users would be able to receive faster updates on their smart devices. It will enable them to make the most out of what the latest Android firmware has on offer. Google as Android has always been criticised when compared to its Apple iOS counterparts.

[“source=TimeOFIndia”]

November 16, 2018

Motorola One Power to receive Android Pie update in the “next few days” [Updated]

Lenovo-owned Motorola announced the Motorola One Power Android One smartphone back in late August this year. The smartphone was then launched in India in late September with a price tag of ₹15,999. Even though the One Power was launched after Google released Android Pie – the latest version of Android – it came with Android 8.1 Oreo which was released last year. However, those who have been waiting to get a pie of Android Pie on their One Power will be glad to know that Motorola has confirmed to roll out the update pretty soon.

Motorola has started sending out notifications to One Power users, informing them that the company will start rolling out Android Pie update in the “next few days”. While, the company hasn’t shared any specific timeline for the roll-out of Android Pie update, we are speculating that Motorola will start seeding the Android Pie update for One Power users by next week.

The Motorola One Power is an Android One smartphone, which means it runs stock Android and comes with the promise of two years of Android version updates and three years of security updates. The One Power is a mid-range smartphone though. It is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636 SoC which is paired with 4 GB RAM. The smartphone boasts a 6.2-inch notched display and rocks dual cameras at the back. You can check out full specifications of Motorola One Power down below.

Motorola One Power Specifications

CPU: 1.8 GHz Snapdragon 636 octa-core processor
RAM: 4 GB
GPU: Adreno 509
Operating System: Android 8.1 Oreo (Android 9.0 Pie rolling out soon)
Display: 6.2-inch Full-HD+ (2246 x 1080 pixels) 19:9 Max Vision display with a brightness of 450 nits
Rear Camera: 16 MP + 5 MP with Portrait Mode, 4K Video Recording and LED flash
Front Camera: 12 MP with Portrait Mode and Flash
Internal Storage: 64 GB
External Storage: Expandable up to 256 GB via microSD card (dedicated slot)
SIM: Dual SIM
Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3.5 mm headphone jack, USB Type-C
Other: Fingerprint Scanner, Dolby Audio, Google Lens, Widevine L1 Certification, P2i Water-Repellent Coating
Battery: 5000 mAh with 15W TurboPower Charging

[“source=TimeOFIndia”]

November 16, 2018

Samsung Galaxy J2 Core Android Go Smartphone Announced in India: Specifications

The Galaxy J2 Core comes as Samsung’s first Android Go model.

HIGHLIGHTS

Samsung Galaxy J2 Core has officially debuted
The handset runs Android 8.1 Oreo (Go edition) out-of-the-box
It features a 5-inch display and a quad-core Exynos SoC

Samsung Galaxy J2 Core has been officially announced months after being in rumours and leaks. The handset that comes as the first Android Go model from Samsung is arriving first in India and Malaysia on Friday, August 24, though it will expand to additional markets soon. Being an Android Go handset, the Galaxy J2 Core runs Android 8.1 Oreo (Go edition) out-of-the-box along with key optimised apps, including Assistant Go, Files Go, Gboard, Gmail Go, Google Go, Maps Go, and YouTube Go. It also includes Samsung’s Optimised Data Control to manage data consumption. In terms of hardware, the Galaxy J2 Core has a 5-inch display and a quad-core Exynos SoC. There is a Gold colour option with a metal finish. However, a render showing multiple colour options emerged earlier this week. Price details of the Galaxy J2 Core in India are yet to be revealed.

Samsung Galaxy J2 Core specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano) Samsung Galaxy J2 Core runs Android 8.1 Oreo (Go edition) along with a bunch of preloaded features, including Optimised Data Control and Ultra Data Saving. The smartphone sports a 5-inch qHD (540×960 pixels) TFT display. Under the hood, there is a quad-core Exynos 7570 SoC, coupled with 1GB of RAM. There is an 8-megapixel sensor at the back along with an f/2.2 aperture and an LED flash. For capturing selfies and enabling video chat functionality, the Galaxy J2 Core has a 5-megapixel sensor at the front. There is also a Beauty Mode that is touted to offer users better portraits and selfies.

Samsung has provided 8GB of onboard storage on the Galaxy J2 Core that is expandable via microSD card. On the connectivity front, the handset has 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS/ A-GPS, Micro-USB, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sensors on board include an accelerometer and a proximity sensor. Notably, there isn’t any fingerprint sensor to help you quickly unlock the screen using your finger. The handset neither has a Face Unlock functionality. There is a 2,600mAh battery that is rated to offer an all-day experience on a single charge. Besides, the smartphone measures 143.4×72.1×8.9mm and weighs 154 grams.

“The Galaxy J2 Core offers a complete smartphone experience, incorporating some of the key features available on high-end devices with improved battery, storage, and performance that is particularly appealing to first time owners,” said Junho Park, Vice President of Global Product Planning, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics, in a statement while announcing the Galaxy J2 Core.

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

November 16, 2018

Google: Android Pie will hit more devices by the end of 2018 than Oreo in 2017, thanks to Project Treble

With major system upgrades landing each year, it feels as though most devices are farther behind than they’ve ever been. Despite the fact that Android Pie still has no presence on Google’s monthly distribution numbers, the company still expects Pie to hit more devices by the end of this year than Oreo saw last year.

In a blog post this week, Google gives a quick update on its efforts with Project Treble. One tidbit in the post is that Google has some big expectations for what Treble will be able to do for the Android ecosystem in terms of delivering major updates.

So far, we’ve only seen a handful of manufacturers roll out updates to Android Pie or launch devices with the OS. That includes Google, obviously, as well as Essential, Sony, OnePlus, and Nokia. That’s barely made a dent in the numbers, though, with Pie still not even showing on Android’s distribution numbers as of last month.

Despite that, with just a month to go, Google expects more devices to be running Pie by the end of 2018 compared to Android Oreo’s numbers in 2017. As a point of comparison, in January of 2018, Oreo was on 0.7% of devices.

Going forward, all devices launching with Android 9 Pie or later will be Treble-compliant and take full advantage of the Treble architecture to deliver faster upgrades. Thanks to Treble, we expect to see more devices from OEMs running Android 9 Pie at the end of 2018 as compared to the number of devices that were running Android Oreo at the end of 2017.

Treble’s goal is to close the gap on updates, making it easier for devices to launch updates faster than ever before. For some OEMs, that’s been true. Essential gave Treble a lot of credit for its day-one Android Pie update.

There’s seemingly hope for other OEMs as well. Samsung, for example, didn’t start rolling out Android Oreo until February of 2018, but it will launch Pie in January of 2019 for a handful of devices. Considering that update comes with a major refresh to the company’s own software layer, I’d say that’s good progress. Hopefully, we’ll see even further progress over the coming years.

[“source=forbes]