Even WiFi routers aren’t safe from the hackers of the world and Google’s OnHub wireless router was their latest target. It seems that the new router from Google is essentially a modified Chromebook without a screen. We are told they were able to break into the OnHub router simply by using a modified version of booting into Developer Mode.
LastPass was started in 2008 and ever since then they have grown into a favorite password management service for a lot of people. Their integration in Android is what really caught my attention and today they have some big news. The team and the technology are now owned by LogMeIn and we are told that the free, premium and enterprise options will only get better.
It’s only been a few days since the source code for Android 6.0 was released and we’re already starting to see ports released by the community. This one comes to us from XDA Senior Member vocoderism and they also give a hat tip to Dmitry Grinberg. There aren’t any known bugs so far, but if you find one then be sure to report it in the thread.
XDA Member DukeMcWood has posted a guide on unlocking the bootloader of the Xperia M5. The guide utilizes the official Sony unlock program and Flashtool to unlock the bootloader, and by extension, opening the possibilities of custom kernels and recoveries.
OnePlus India has been undertaking various collaborations and partnerships to promote OnePlus and its two smartphones.
The latest promotion comes in the form of OnePlus’ first open sale for the OnePlus 2 through Amazon India. The sale is scheduled for October 12th 2015 between 12 noon and 1 pm IST. During this period, customers can, hopefully, log into their Amazon India accounts and purchase the OnePlus 2 without the need of any invites.
Speaking of promotions, OnePlus India’s run started with the partnership with Airtel to offer invites and hands-on experience for the OnePlus 2 through select Airtel consumer stores. The OnePlus 2, along with other 4G LTE devices, were used to push Airtel’s new 4G consumer services. OnePlus also recently partnered with AirAsia India to offer OnePlus 2 invites to flyers, selected through a lucky draw. “Winners” of invite would receive it within their flight, and would also stand a chance to further win a OnePlus 2. Post this collaboration, OnePlus also partnered with Blowhorn to deliver OnePlus One smartphones within 60 minutes or customers get it for free.
OnePlus 2 invites in India are not as sparse as one may think. Coupled with the invites sent out via Airtel and the others that were sent out via various events and even competitions held by OnePlus themselves, rollout for the device has been at a decent pace when considering the fact that the OnePlus One did not even reach the country officially in its first few months of launch.
Detaching their infamous marketing campaign (2016 Flagship Killer) away from the actual product, the OnePlus 2 actually makes for a decent purchase for someone wishing to get their first “powerful” smart phone. The OnePlus 2 64GB costs Rs 24,999 ($385), while for comparison, the recently launched Moto X Style will cost a mildly disappointing Rs 29,999 ($460) for the 16GB variant. As an upgrade over the OnePlus One, the price point of the OnePlus 2 is not worth it, but on its own, it does make a decent smartphone for a first time flagship user.
If you’re looking to purchase the OnePlus 2 in India but have been unlucky with invites so far, the coming Monday may be your best chance at scoring one. Word of advice though, be mentally prepared for either server crashes on Amazon India or for the phone to run out of stock.
It’s Friday, October 9, 2015, and let’s talk about what happened this week over at XDA-developers.com.
First up, just thought I’d mention that my channel, TWILdotTV, is a part of the Big Android Giveaway for this month, along with 5 other awesome Android-related channels. We’re giving away 6 prizes, and it’s an international giveaway, so I’ll put a link in the description to my video if you’re interested in entering the giveaway.
And it’s time to announce the winners of XDA’s giveaway of the Mpow speakers. I’m completely going to butcher these names, and I don’t think I’m even going to apologize for it. The winners are…
So clearly this was an international giveaway.
Moving on, I don’t normally do this, but a bit of a mini-rant here. An article went up on the portal about device leaks, and how they’ve basically ruined device launches. I can definitely support this. As a person who reports Android news, I’d much rather be reporting on existing events than essentially peeking at Christmas presents in Mom and Dad’s closet, as it were. Obviously, let us know what you think on the article, or in the comments down below.
Speaking of which, Microsoft unveiled a bunch of new stuff at their event this week, including a couple of new flagship Lumia phones, the 950 and 950 XL, which support full desktop convergence, which is awesome. They also launched the Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book, which, if I’m not mistaken, wasn’t leaked at all. And the funny thing is, that’s the device I was most excited about, as a result. Of course with the release of those new phones, XDA forums have been added for them.
Google released the Android 6.0 factory images for a bunch of Nexus devices this week, so make sure to go get your stock Android fix if you’ve got one of the supported Nexus devices. I went ahead and flashed it to my Nexus 9. T-Mobile, Sony, and Motorola all announced which of their devices should be receiving Android 6.0, so be sure to check those lists to see if your device of choice is on there. Strangely enough, the 2015 Moto E, the 2014 Moto G AND Moto X, the Moto Maxx and the Droid Turbo are all missing from Motorola’s list… not cool.
Now for a few device launches, the Asus ZenWatch 2 showed up in the Google Play store for $150 this week. Lenovo launched a ridiculously large 6.8″ phone called the “Phab Plus”, which… just… no. One I was REALLY excited about, View-Master’s VR headset went on sale this week. If you don’t remember, that’s basically Mattel’s take on Google Cardboard, but mixed with augmented reality, and it looks amazing and I totally ordered one. Be on the lookout, I’ll have a video going up about it on my channel as soon as it shows up.
Motorola rolled out the kernel source for the 2013 Moto X on Android 5.1.1, so if you’re looking to do any dev work for that device, head on over to their GitHub. They also added the Moto X Pure, Style, and Play to their Bootloader Unlock Program, which should make developing for them much, much easier.
CyanogenMod made a couple of announcements this week. First, they’re working on a new CM 12.1 snapshot bringing on updated security patches from Google. Also, they’ve begun working on CM 13, based on Marshmallow, as you might expect.
XDA Member sachin put together a guide showing you how to roll back your Android One device to stock in order to prepare for the Marshmallow OTA, if you’re interested in doing that.
XDA Senior Member Kahun put out a guide on how to enable more LTE bands on the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro, and if I’m reading it right, that means it MIGHT actually work in the US now, which is exciting as far as I’m concerned.
XDA Member ebones figured out how to turn on the NFC module that’s actually hidden inside the Sony Smartwatch 3. Just more proof that Sony puts NFC in literally everything they touch, and I’m ok with that. The mod itself will eat through your battery quickly, so be cautious.
XDA Senior Member ajsmsg78 also released a build of TWRP for the Huawei MediaPad X2.
And this week it was announced that XDA is sponsoring Droidcon UK this year. I’ve said it before, but I’ll mention it again, I’m going to be heading to Droidcon, so if you’re going to be there, make sure to say hi.
And a grand total of 5 other videos were posted this week, although 2 of them were posted just after my weekly recap last Friday. TK talked about what he thinks Google missed out on with the new Nexus devices, then ColdFusion made a video about material design, I did the third video in the “best phones under $100” series, talking about their cameras, TK showed you how to root the OnePlus 2 and install TWRP, and the third episode of the XDA/Android podcast went up as well.
But you know what? That’s going to be about all from me for today. You can find the links to all the stories I talked about in the video description, as well as the links to my YouTube channels. Make sure to stay tuned for more exciting content coming out soon, give us a “Thumbs up” down below if you liked this video and subscribe to receive our content as soon as it becomes available. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.
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Google has partnered with Electronic Arts and Chillingo to offer a deep discount on 13 different games for Android. You can pick up titles like Monopoly, Fleece Lightning, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Dead Space, Bloodstroke and more for only a dime a piece. There isn’t a known end date to this sale so you might want to hurry.
