Nougat Beta on the Honor 8 (Also Get $110 Off)

A beta version of the Android Nougat update for the Honor 8 has been pushed to phones that are enrolled in the beta program. Along with the jump from Marshmallow to Nougat, we get an update to EMUI 5.0. This video highlights all of the new features found in the beta update.

Check out these screenshots of the latest update.

When it comes to performance, there is a noticeable improvement throughout the system. Honor 8 owners will be glad to know that this is a solid updates bringing a lot of great stuff to your devices.

As a side note, there is a crazy deal going on over at Amazon for the Honor 8. You can grab one of these phones for only $289. Check out our affiliate links.

Honor 8 in Midnight Black

Honor 8 in Pearl White

Honor 8 in Sapphire Blue

Check out more content for your Honor 8 phone over at the XDA Forums here.

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LG V20 for “US Open Market” Added to LG’s Official Bootloader Unlock Tool

When we talk about developer support, the first name that pops up outside of Nexus devices…is not LG. Recent LG devices have been notoriously bad when it comes to allowing the user full control over what they can do with their device. LG does not provide complete access from the get-go for even its flagship devices. For some respite though, devices from certain markets are added on later to their official developer unlock tool.

As spotted by AndroidPolice and threads in our forums, the LG V20 is the latest device from LG that can now be officially unlocked through the OEM provided tool. The catch in this situation is that not all V20 devices will get the unlock love. Only devices sold for the U.S. Open Market through retailers like Amazon and Newegg, codenamed US996.USA, will have support from the unlock tool. This excludes all the other regions that the V20 is sold in, and also excludes all the carrier variants of the LG V20 (including the ones purchased from US Cellular, despite them bearing the similar codename – US996TNUCL). Effectively, in a market where carrier and contract based phones are preferred especially in the premium smartphone segment, the unlock tool extends the opportunity to those who bought the V20, LG's costly $800 flagship, in the open market.

Of course, the standard disclaimers continue to apply if you do decide to unlock your device. The bootloader unlock process cannot be undone, and your warranty from LG will be void once your bootloader is unlocked. If you need further instructions beyond the ones provided by LG, you can refer to the instructions and help thread in our LG V20 device forums.

The other devices and regions that LG officially allows bootloader unlocks for include:

• LG V20: US996.USA for the U.S. open market
• LG V10: H960A for the European market and Android M (Except France)
• LG G5: H850 for the European market
• LG G4: H815 for the European market

We hope LG extends some more developer love to its flagships in other regions as well.

What are your thoughts on LG allowing bootloader unlock on the LG V20? Let us know in the comments below!

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OnePlus AMA Roundup: OnePlus 3T Edition

Contrasting the mediocre response to its 2015 products, OnePlus has been on a high with the OnePlus 3 in 2016. The company managed to deliver one of the best and consistent experiences that one could purchase in its price bracket. To top that off, OnePlus is once again in the news with the launch of the OnePlus 3T: an "enhanced re-release" of their best product, aiming to solidify their position as one of the top dogs despite the continuous barrage of new competition.

The launch of the OnePus 3T inevitably presented a situation where consumers, both old and new, had a lot of questions to ask. We answered a whole bunch of such questions in our article on the philosophy of the OnePlus 3T. Mario also went on to answer what changed between the OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 3T in his extensive review, so check that out as well.

But if you still had more questions, the OnePlus team had offered to host an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session over on Reddit's Android subforum. This AMA was attended by Carl Pei (/u/carpe02), co-founder of OnePlus; Aaron (/u/Aaron_oneplus) from the ROM team; Jonathon (/u/jonathan_oneplus) from the Customer Service team; Steven (/u/StevenG_OnePlus from Logistics and Caio (/u/Caio_OP) from the EU team. The AMA saw close to a thousand comments in all, and a bunch of the earlier ones were answered to by the team.

In case you did not plan to go through all the comments and hunt down replies, we compiled this summary of the AMA session:

On updates:

• Android 7.0 is what the next update on the OnePlus 3/3T would be. Android 7.1 was released midway through OnePlus' development cycle, and hence, integrating it would have delayed their schedule of providing Nougat. (Link)
• Following the Android 7.0 Nougat update, both the OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 3T would be on the same update cycle.
• Future updates will bring Enhanced EIS to both the devices for their IMX298 camera sensor.
• No ETA was given for Nougat update on the OnePlus 3, but it is "sooner than you think". (Link)
• The merger of OxygenOS and HydrogenOS has helped the company move at a much faster pace than before while still maintaining two different products with the same team. (Link)

On the OnePlus 3T specifically:

• The OnePlus 3T was launched because OnePlus had the capability to improve their product (Link).
• Clearing up some confusion, the front camera is fixed focus and not PDAF (Link).
• Accessories purchased for the OnePlus 3 (cases, screen protectors) are compatible for the OnePlus 3T as well.
• The increase in the battery voltage to 4.4V does not compromise on the safety of the device. OnePlus certified Dash charger keeps the heat out of the device, just like it did with the OnePlus 3.
• 3rd party chargers (5V/3A) will work with the device, but you will be bereft of "fast" Dash Charging unless you use the certified charger (Link).
• The rear camera on the OnePlus 3T did not see any hardware upgrade because there were none ready to go (Link).
• The OnePlus 3T does not have a MIMO antenna but does support MU-MIMO (Link).
• When asked why the OnePlus 3T (or the OnePlus 3, for that matter) do not come with a hybrid SIM slot and stick strictly to using a Dual SIM try, Carl commented that the 128GB UFS 2.0 storage performs much better than current microSD card implementations (Link).
• The reason why a choice for microSD was not provided was to avoid a scenario of unacceptable user experience (Link).
• The OnePlus 3T makes use of the F2FS file system while the OnePlus 3 used EXT3. Both use UFS 2.0 for storage (Link).
• The OnePlus 3T ships with Enhanced EIS 2.0 (Link).
• The Gunmetal Gray color came from feedback from the forums and reddit. Users wanted a darker variant.
  "Gunmetal is the best balance between aesthetics and darkness. Darker, but light enough to reflect light the way we want, accentuate the product's subtle curvature" (Link).

On Developer Support for the OnePlus 3T:

"Dev support is something we're serious about, and it's an area where we really put our money where our mouth is. Honestly, we just love the custom ROM scene. It's why we are one of the few that allow for rooting/installing custom ROMs without voiding warranty. It's also why we always release kernel sources and devices trees super early, as mentioned in the OP.

As for devs who are upset about the 3T – we hear you, we understand where you are coming from, and it's something we were prepared for. We have something planned (that we can't announce just yet) to address this. Just hang on a bit. We got you."
– Bradon

Link

On the OnePlus 3:

• You cannot swap the battery for that of the OnePlus 3T. This will 100% void your warranty, with OnePlus explicitly condoning this modification. There is no cross-compatibility with regards to the batteries (Link).
• The OnePlus 3 will receive EIS 2.0 as well, although no ETA was given for the same.
• When asked why the OnePlus 3 does not pack in a 3400mAh battery as well, the team commented that they were still in the testing phase for checking the reliability of the higher density cell, and they were not ready in time for the OnePlus 3. Since battery is an area where quality is very important, the company opted to play safe and not compromise of user safety (Link).

On sales and regions:

• The OnePlus 3T will come to India. The time window was left unspecified but OnePlus India's social media channels have pointed to an announcement soon.
• Availability on some regions is restricted as production of the device needs to ramp up (Link).

On Daydream support:

• Both the OnePlus 3 and the OnePlus 3T are not Daydream compatible yet and there are no plans to support Daydream on either at this time (Link).
• Daydream was announced after the product design of the OnePlus 3, so the design remains uninfluenced by Daydream compatibility specifications (Link).

On the lessons of the past:

Q: What do you guys feel like you've learned from the OnePlus X and 2?
A: To think more, and reflect more. To better know ourselves and our situation, and do the right thing. In other words, to find our own true north, and not to have noise such as the market or competition lead us.
– Carl Pei

(Link)

On the future of OnePlus products:

• There are no concrete plans on going ahead with "T" releases. The company would like to assess the reception for this current model, so it is early to comment on this (Link).
• Will there be more product lines? Carl answered that they could consider that when they are "10x" their current size, and there is still a lot of work to do to reach there (Link).
• Will prices of future products move ahead on the price scale? Are current price points sustainable for the company? Currently, OnePlus is happy, but it is a tough market so they are unsure of the future (Link).
• Will there be Dash Charge battery packs in the future, or simple cases (silicon/translucent gray) for the OnePlus 3? There are no confirmed plans as of yet (Link).

---

As the AMA title suggested, a lot of focus of this session was understandably on the OnePlus 3T. Hopefully, this session answered those questions that the community and users wanted answers for.

Check Out XDA's OnePlus 3T Forum >>

Check Out XDA's OnePlus 3 Forum >>

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Nextbit Releases a Nougat Beta with Help from Paranoid Android

The folks behind the Nextbit Robin have announced they've begun beta tests for their upcoming Nougat release. For anyone who wants to participate, the company asks that you fill out this form to send in your request. However, they warn anyone who has made any type of modification to their phone to stay away from this Nougat beta. If you have made such modifications to your phone, you will want to revert back to stock before trying to install this update.

The interesting part about this Android 7.0 Nougat beta for the Nextbit Robin is that they didn't do it alone. In fact, the company says their developers worked very closely with current members of the current Paranoid Android. Nextbit says they have "joined forces" to work on this new OTA update, and the result is a "faster, less power-hungry OS." The Paranoid Android brand is well known with the developer community, and Nextbit appreciates what they've been able to create.

If you remember, certain team members of Paranoid Android had to stop working on the project at one point in time when they were hired by OnePlus. This helped lead Paranoid Android to stop pushing out new releases, but then in June it was announced the AOSPA custom ROM would be relaunched. The current team has been releasing builds of Paranoid Android for the Nextbit Robin for a couple of months now.

Nextbit tells us they've been working closely with the Paranoid Android team by providing them with "kernel source code and system images" so they can test their custom ROM. This turned into discussions about how they could work closer together on the company's upcoming Nougat release. Nextbit was having some issues and the teams started to exchange "ideas, code, and resources" to help get NextbitOS running smoothly on Nougat.

So be sure to fill out the beta request form if you want to try out a beta version of Android 7.0 Nougat on your Nextbit Robin.

Source: Nextbit

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Google is Reportedly Rebranding “Google Cast” to “Chromecast Built-in”

In what is said to be the result of the company's newly formed hardware division, it's being reported that Google is currently in the process of phasing out the Google Cast brand. This comes as a surprise since they recently started pushing this name once 3rd-party companies started selling products with the streaming technology built in. Now, we're seeing multiple places where the term Google Cast is being phased out and replaced with the Chromecast branding.

It was back in March of this year when Google officially launched the Google Cast branding. The move seemed like a way for the company, and consumers, to know the difference between a Chromecast (which is a product) and the streaming technology it used (which was then labeled Google Cast). This made sense from an technical perspective, but this new report from Variety seems to indicate that Google wasn't happy with the changes.

The evidence given in this report starts by saying hardware partners like Vizio, Toshiba and Philips are now advertising their products with the new "Chromecast built-in" term. Then they cite a Twitter post from Google that says "From Google Cast to Chromecast. New name on Twitter, same device you know." Google has even started using the "Chromecast built-in" name on their own Google Cast page.

However, there are still some places, like the Android TV landing page, that still references it by the Google Cast name. So this whole thing seems to be a slowly phased out process that Google is currently in the middle of. The whole thing just seems confusing from a consumer standpoint. The quicker Google decides on, and sticks to, a name for their streaming technology, the better it will be for them and for consumers.

Let us know what you think is best? Were you a fan of the Google Cast name, or do you think Chromecast built-in is better since it helps to tie it to their Chromecast products?

Source: Variety

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Pixel XL Audio Mod Turns Ear Piece into Speaker

A lot of people were disappointing with the lack of front facing speakers on the Pixel XL. In this video, Miles shows us how this simple mod can turn your ear piece into a front facing speaker, on your rooted Pixel XL.

Check out this mod from the XDA forums here.

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SD Association Announces an App Performance Class for Smartphones

Last year, Google release Android 6.0 Marshmallow a little more than one year ago. This update introduced a new feature that let you virtually add the amount of storage you had on a microSD card with your internal storage capacity. This was a surprising move as Google has generally not been a fan of SD cards. They removed SD card slots from their Nexus phones and didn't include one in the Pixel or Pixel XL.

Google's reasoning behind this move was due to performance issues. They don't want the customer to blame the phone or the operating system because of slow performance from an SD card. The people at the SD Association have acknowledged this issue and have just announced a new class of SD cards. The Application Performance Class was introduced in the organization's SD 5.1 specification and this comes with the first App Performance Class1 (otherwise known as A1).

This new Application Performance Class will evolve over time as hardware improves, but it serves as a way for consumers to know their microSD card is fast enough for applications. The A1 app Performance Class comes with minimum random read performance inputs/outputs per second (1500 IOPS), minimum random write performance (500 IOPS) and minimum sustained sequential performance (10 MB/sec).

It's unclear if this move will push companies like Google to offer better support for SD cards, but it's a great move for consumers who know what they're looking for. The SD Association is even taking steps to make it easy for the customer to know if they have the right SD card or not. In the video, they explain that the recommended App Performance Class will be printed on the box of their smartphones.

So if the OEM recommends you get an A1 class microSD card, then it will be placed right on the box. This way the customer knows to go into a store and buy a microSD card with the A1 rating.

Source: SD Association

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