AT&T is returning its Nexus 6 units to Motorola due to a bug

AT&T's Nexus 6 units are apparently affected by a software bug. This is so bad that the carrier is now telling its stores to return their initial shipments of the smartphone to Motorola in order for it to fix said software glitch.

The info reportedly comes from multiple sources, one of which even shared the screenshot you can see below, which is purported to be from an AT&T system.

The bug renders a black screen and keeps the Nexus 6 from connecting to the network when it's powered on, thus essentially making it pretty much useless. Luckily, there have been no reports of early owners of the AT&T Nexus 6 to go through this, and Motorola has already identified "the root cause" of the issue. Obviously though, if you have an AT&T Nexus 6 and have had this happen to you, you should contact the carrier immediately.

Shipments with good software are being prepared by the manufacturer, and new inventory availability for AT&T stores will be communicated within the next few days. Again, only "initial shipments" of the Nexus 6 for AT&T have the bug.

It doesn't seem like the bug has made it to any other variations of the first Nexus phablet. AT&T's iteration is a bit special when compared to most, since it comes with a special boot animation and it even features the carrier's logo on its back.

White BlackBerry Passport goes up for pre-order

BlackBerry quietly put a white-color Passport up for pre-order in Canada. The eye-grabbing new color option will begin shipping to customers early next month, on December 7.

The newcomer is priced at CAD $699 (about $622 USD). The price tag currently carries a CAD $100 premium over the black version of BlackBerry’s flagship smartphone. The black model carries a Black Friday promo pricing through November 30.

Furthermore, a crafty web surfer who poked around BlackBerry’s official online store revealed a rather stunning looking red/black Passport coming our way. The third color option will reportedly be available in limited quantities on Black Friday.

Sprint offers the Galaxy S5 and iPhone 6 for $5/month

In an attempt to keep existing customers from switching to a rival carrier, Sprint is launching a Loyalty program with quite a few perks. The most notable of them is a large discount of the Samsung Galaxy S5 or iPhone 6 16GB. Now, they're offered for $5/month without down payment, while previously Sprint offered each for $20/month over the course of a two-year commitment.

If you take part of the loyalty program and decide to benefit from the discounts, you'll save $360 for the period of the contract. Additionally, you can add a new line and get it for 12 months free with unlimited talk, messaging and data just by paying off the remainder of the current month.

Finally, Sprint offers 20% off on selected mobile phone accessories. If you're a Sprint customer for some time now, you should've received an email inviting you to take advantage of the current promotions

SwiftKey gets updated with better performance, more languages

SwiftKey, the popular predictive keyboard, has just received a significant update that includes performance boosts as well as additional languages. Performance has always been a pain point of SwiftKey, with many reporting lag when typing and particularly when opening and closing the keyboard. This latest update includes faster response time when typing as well as reduced time for the opening and closing of the keyboard.In addition to these performance enhancements, SwiftKey now supports 12 more languages including Bengali, Nepali, Punjabi and more. All in all, this is a great update for SwiftKey that not only opens it up to more folks, but also improves it for those already using it. Check out the Play Store to see if you’ve received the update yet. If you don’t have SwiftKey, follow the link below and try it out for yourself!

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 for AT&T now receiving its Android 4.4.4 update

The Samsung Galaxy S5 for Sprint has just received the green light to get its Android 4.4.4 KitKat update, but it looks like that’s not the only Samsung-branded smartphone getting new software.

As it turns out, the AT&T-branded Galaxy Note 3 is now also receiving its official update to Android 4.4.4. This means that you’ll be upgraded from Android 4.4.2 (if you’re still on official releases) and, as usual, the update will be sent out over the air (OTA). So, while some folks are already picking up the new software on their handsets out there in the wild, these things happen in waves, so stay tuned over the next few days to make sure the new version lands on your own handset.

The update itself measures in at 459MB, and there are a few new features and tweaks to use with the new version, as noted by Android Police. With the update, owners will find Kid Mode, Knox 2.0, SideSync 3.0 and a virtual tour mode within the camera app. What’s more, AT&T has made some changes to the pre-installed software on the handset, reportedly making Uber one of the apps that can’t be uninstalled from here on out.

Stay tuned for the new software, and if you do get to upgrade, let us know in the comments what you think!

Via: Android Police

Source: Samsung

Android 5.0 for HTC One Google Play edition delayed

f you’ve got an HTC One (M8) or One (M7) Google Play edition device and you’re waiting patiently for your update to Android 5.0, well, you can stop waiting now.

HTC’s Mo Versi has revealed on Twitter that the HTC One GPe Android 5.0 update has been “delayed,” explaining that Google wanted “one more SW spin.” Versi hasn’t offered a new timeframe in which the update may be released, but he promises that he’ll let us know when Google approves the software.

Is it disappointing that HTC One (M8) and One (M7) GPe users won’t get to enjoy a tasty new Lollipop this weekend? Certainly, but delays like this happy, and we’re glad that HTC is at least keeping us informed about what’s going on. And because HTC has been spot-on with updates in the past and we’re now just waiting for Google’s approval of this update, we’re betting that it won’t be too much longer before you HTC GPe folk are on Android 5.0.

Sources: @moversi (1), (2)

Huawei Ascend Mate2 is going to be updated to Android 5.0 in early 2015

In June, Huawei released the Ascend Mate2 with 4G LTE functionality for GSM carriers. It was certainly a big step for the manufacturer, especially with a budget device with plenty of worthwhile internals and features. Unfortunately, by the end of October, the excitement may have wavered a bit.

At the end of October, it was revealed by Huawei that the Ascend Mate2 would not actually see an update to KitKat after launching with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on board. While Huawei did confirm that the hardware of the Ascend Mate2 warranted an update to KitKat, the company noted that there were other factors in that particular decision and that they’d be focused on making their “next device” even better.

Turns out, customer feedback has won the day, and even earned a big bonus.

On Friday, November 21, Huawei confirmed via its official blog that the Ascend Mate2 will indeed be receiving an update, but it won’t be to Android 4.4 KitKat. Instead, Huawei has opted to leap a version number and go right for Android 5.0 Lollipop. The author of the blog post notes that the reason this update is coming is due to customer feedback and that the manufacturer takes this feedback very seriously. As a result, the Ascend Mate2 will be updated to the latest variant of Android.

Huawei Device is pleased to announce that Android Lollipop will be available for the Ascend Mate2 in the first half of next year. In light of your feedback, we have reassessed our upgrade strategy. We take our customers’ feedback seriously and want to ensure they have the best experience possible with the Mate2. The Mate2 upgrade will go from the current JellyBean directly to Lollipop.

Motorola Nexus 6 has a secret RGB LED behind the speaker grille

The Motorola Nexus 6 has a cool feature called Ambient Display, which means as notifications land on the device, the display will light up and give a quick indication of what’s waiting.

If that’s not enough of a notification for you, or maybe you simply miss a little light that brightens up when you get an email or text message, the Nexus 6 has you covered. Sort of. According to a post by Droid-Life, the newest member of the Nexus smartphone lineup has a secret RGB LED set behind the speaker grille, as shown off in the image in this article.

The RGB LED was discovered by owners of the Nexus 6, as well as the developer behind the app Lightflow. It’s still unclear why Motorola decided to disable the LED right out of the gate, but considering the Ambient Display is a selling point of the new smartphone, that could very well be one reason.

Unfortunately, for Nexus 6 owners that don’t feel like rooting their device, then it would seem the little LED will be just out of reach. If an owner does indeed plan on rooting (or has already done it), then there’s a nice set of instructions to get the LED working. As Lightflow team continues to work through the discovery, there’s a set of instructions here that can show you how to enable the LED, as well as adjust its colors.

AT&T sending back Nexus 6 stock due to fatal software bug

AT&T’s Nexus 6 has been significantly modified by the carrier to its taste. And of course, AT&T’s taste isn’t very good. There’s a SIM lock, AT&T ringtones and disabled tethering until you pay extra for the feature. Many folks are mad, as Nexus devices are supposed to be pure and untouched. But if you’re buying a device with AT&T’s payment plans, it makes sense for them to want to modify it. It sucks, but it makes sense.

However, there are other issues with carrier modifications greater than a few extra ringtones. We’ve seen before how carrier mods end up making a device unusable (Galaxy Note 3 with AT&T GPS files, anyone?), and the Nexus 6 is no different. Some shipments of the device were sent with old software, causing obvious usability issues like a black screen. Due to this, AT&T is sending all of the old stock back to Motorola to make sure no more customers get a bad device.

Luckily, there is no recall so folks with a good device won’t be bothered. If you do have issues, AT&T will replace your phone under instruction from the higher-ups. It’s a shame to see a device having issues at launch, but this one seems to have been quickly taken care of.

Motorola Camera and Gallery get Material refresh

Motorola’s apps get pretty frequent updates thanks to the fact that they’re on the Play Store. This means that any bugs can be worked out without a system update, and features can be added at any time. And the latest update to both the camera and gallery apps do just that.

The camera app has been updated with some Material styling. The color has been changed from the old Holo blue to the new Material teal. It’s also quite a bit flatter. Outside of aesthetics, Motorola added a timer mode and a new feature to twist the device to switch between the front and rear camera. The last feature only works on devices with motion sensing, like the Moto X and latest model Droids.

The Motorola Gallery app has been given a partial makeover as well, and it’s somewhat Material. The flat and colorful aesthetic is spot on, though the slide out pane and other details are still of the old Holo design. It’ll get there with time, but it already looks pretty good.

If you want to update either of these apps, head to the Play Store on your Motorola device or hit the source links to check out the apps. It’s good to see OEMs embracing the new Material design, and it’s starting to really grow on me. What do you think of Motorola’s new design aesthetic?

Pebble’s latest update adds full notification support and more

Despite Android Wear being out and taking all the lime light, there are still many people withPebbles out there. With a screen that’s easy to read in daylight and awesome battery life, the Pebble still has a competitive edge over Android Wear devices in some respects. And starting today, an awesome new update is rolling out to it.

This update introduces a redesigned Pebble app, which includes full notification support. This means that any app can send notifications to your Pebble, much like with Android Wear. I’m sure this a big deal for Pebble owners, as they will no longer have to wait for app developers to add support and will now see important info on their wrist.

Also added is support for many new languages. According to Pebble itself, over 98 percent of Pebble users will now be able to receive messages in their native languages. The list is quite long.

For Android users, the update will be rolling out starting today. Only 10 percent of people will get this update initially, with more getting it in the following weeks. A staged rollout is expected with such a large update, so you may have to wait a while. And if you don’t want to wait, hit up the Pebble beta channel to try it out now!

How many of you still use your Pebbles? Leave a comment!

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lollipop leak shown off on video

By now, it’s no secret that Samsung has been working on Lollipop for its recent devices.We’ve already seen a few older Samsung devices running the new operating system, but now it’s the Galaxy Note 3′s turn. The year-old device still has plenty of life in it, and SamMobile is showing off a new build of Lollipop for it.With Lollipop comes a somewhat new aesthetic and some fresh new animations. Samsung’s styling has long been vaguely similar to Material design, with the bright colors and fairly flat look. But now it’s upgraded to Material styling, and it looks pretty nice, despite not being anywhere close to AOSP. And the addition of all the fancy new animations is a nice touch and something I’m excited for.Of course, with Lollipop come massive changes below the skin. A new camera API, tons of new features and a complete redesign of many staples of Android-like notifications. This build isn’t downloadable at this point, but it’s great to see what it’ll look like and how close to finished it is. We can’t wait until it’s released to the public; it looks pretty close!

Nokia N1 BATTERY Li-Ion 5300 mA Android OS, v5.0 (Lollipop) good luke nokia

This is not a GSM device, it will not work on any GSM network worldwide.

GENERAL	2G Network	N/A
	SIM	No
	Announced	2014, November
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2015, Q1

BODY	Dimensions	200.7 x 138.6 x 6.9 mm (7.90 x 5.46 x 0.27 in)
	Weight	318 g (11.22 oz)

DISPLAY	Type	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	1536 x 2048 pixels, 7.9 inches (~324 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, Polyphonic, MP3 ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes, with stereo speakers
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	No
	Internal	32 GB, 2 GB RAM

DATA	GPRS	No
	EDGE	No
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
	Bluetooth	v4.0, A2DP
	Infrared port	Yes
	USB	microUSB v2.0, Type-C, reversible connector

CAMERA	Primary	8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus
	Features	Geo-tagging
	Video	1080p@30fps
	Secondary	5 MP

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v5.0 (Lollipop)
	Chipset	Intel Atom Z3580
	CPU	Quad-core 2.3 GHz
	GPU	PowerVR G6430
	Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro
	Messaging	Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	HTML5
	Radio	No
	GPS	Yes
	Java	Yes, via Java MIDP emulator
	Colors	Natural Aluminum, Lava Gray
		- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MP4/H.264/WMV player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA/Flac player - Photo/video editor - Document viewer

BATTERY		Non-removable Li-Ion 5300 mAh battery (18.5 Wh)
	Stand-by

More details about Tizen-based Samsung SM-Z130H leak

amsung is working on a low-end smartphone running Tizen, which it will launch in India at some point in the future. The device, known so far just by its model number (SM-Z130H), is actually codenamed Kiran, internally at Samsung.

After the canceled Samsung Z project, the Korean company has focused on the low-end of the marketplace for its Tizen-based smartphone efforts. The first handset to run the new OS (after many years of delays) should be this Z130H, or Kiran.

Today more details about it have been leaked, including the fact that, as you can see from the image above, it will have a button configuration that will be virtually identical to what Samsung has used for its Android devices until recently (when that Menu key on the left was replaced with a Recents one).

So expect the Z130 to have capacitive Menu and back Keys, in between which we should see a physical Home button. Moving on, the Tizen interface will rather closely mimic Samsung's TouchWiz UI for Android. It has basically the same general design language, as the leaked screenshots below can attest (click either of them for a full-res image).

  

Samsung Tizen UI

Also making their way from Samsung's Android phones are a bunch of features such as Ultra Power Saving Mode and Private Mode, both of which will be available on the Kiran.

Spec-wise, we're looking at a handset with a 4-inch 480x800 touchscreen, a 3.2 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 0.3 MP front snapper, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11n, dual-SIM functionality, and an FM radio.

Powering up the device will be a Spreadtrum SC7727S SoC with a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU and ARM Mali-400 GPU clocked at 460 MHz, aided by 512MB of RAM.

The Kiran will be sold in India first, and it will apparently be positioned to take on the cheap Android One devices that are already available over there. That might be a tough act to pull off, given the obvious lack of apps Tizen will face compared to Android.

It's unclear if this phone will make it to other markets too. Also, when exactly it will finally land in India is still a mystery.