Official Nextbit Robin 7.1.1 Update is now Available

The Nextbit Robin is a great 2016 mid-range smartphone for Android enthusiasts. The phone launched with Android Marshmallow on board, but thanks to support from the company users have been able to treat themselves to some sweet Nougat-y flavor via custom ROMs. Eventually, the company released an official Android 7.0 Nougat update back in March, and today the team has officially published a factory image of Android 7.1 for the device.

The history of software updates for the phone is somewhat interesting. Back in November 2016, a beta version of Nougat was released thanks to the support of the Paranoid Android team. A few months later, in January, the company was acquired by Razer Inc. Following that move, production of the Nextbit Robin halted, though the company promised that the acquisition wouldn’t spell the end of support for the phone. Following on that promise, Razer released the official Nougat update in March, though that update was based on Android 7.0 not Android 7.1 which was the latest release.

Now, a factory image of Android 7.1.1 is available on the Razer forum for the Nextbit Robin. At this time, the kernel source is only available for version 7.0 of the build. We hope that Razer will update this code soon. While the Robin is no longer being sold by Razer, the gaming giant has pledged to keep releasing software updates and security patches for the phone through February 2018.

The installation procedure is very similar to the one used for Nexus/Pixel devices. If you want to update your Robin, you need a working fastboot setup and a bit of patience. The installer asks to preserve the user data, so you don’t have to worry about losing anything precious.

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Get the Android 7.1 Factory Image for the Nextbit Robin!

Thanks to Chalx for the tip!

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Google Home is now available for Pre-Order in Canada

During this year’s I/O developer conference, Google announced that its Google Home smart home device will be available in Canada. It looks like Canadians won’t have to wait very long for the release, as the device is now available for pre-order on the Google Store and Best Buy.

This week Google has also finally launched the Android Pay program in Canada. The voice-activated smart speaker powered by the Google Assistant is next on the list to reach Canada. Canadian users will have the chance to communicate with the device in both English and French.

In Canada, the Google Home is selling for CAD 179.99, which, after converting, is a pretty similar price to the one offered in the U.S. From the announcement we can learn that the Google Home will be available starting on June 26th. The device will not only be available on the Google Store but also through Bell, Best Buy, Indigo, London Drugs, Rogers, Staples, The Source, Telus, Visions, and Walmart. It’s noteworthy that Best Buy also gives a free Chromecast as a part of pre-order.

Google Home was officially announced during I/O 2016. Canada is now the third country in which users can order the speaker. The product has been available in United States since last year. On April 6 it has become available for purchase in the United Kingdom.

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Source: Google Canada   Get it from Google Store   Get it from Best Buy

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FastHub is an Open-Source GitHub Client Application Built From Scratch

Many of us here are familiar with GitHub, but some of us have been looking for a good, open-source client application for the platform. This is where XDA Senior Member yakov116 stepped up and created FastHub. Not only is it fast, easy to navigate, beautifully designed, and open-source, but you can download it from the Play Store or the XDA Labs repository. I’ll include the feature list down below:

FastHub Features

• App
• Two login types (Basic Auth) or via (Browser)
• Themes mode
• Offline-mode
• Markdown and code highlighting support
• Notifications overview and “Mark all as read”
• Search users/orgs, repos, issues/prs & code.
• Pinned ReposRepositories
• Search Repos
• Browse and search Repos
• See your public, private and forked Repos
• Filter Branches and Commits
• Watch, star and fork Repos Download releases, files and branchesIssues and Pull Requests
• Search Issues/PRs
• Filter Issues/PRs
• Open/close Issues/PRs
• Comment on Issues/PRs
• Manage Issue/PR comments
• React to comments with reactions
• Edit Issues/PRs
• Lock/unlock conversation in Issues/PRs
• Assign people and add Labels and Milestones to Issues/PRs
• Manage Milestones
• Merge PRs
• PRs reviews
• PRs statusesCommits and Gists
• Search Code/Gists
• View Gists and their files
• Comment on Commits/Gists
• Manage Commit/Gist comments
• Create/Delete GistsOrgs
• Overview
• Feeds
• Teams & Teams repos
• ReposUsers
• Follow/unfollow users
• Search Users, Repos, Issues,Pull Requests and CodeMuch more…
• FastHub is actively developed. More features will come!

Check out FastHub in our Apps and Games forum

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Chrome Will Start Blocking Ads in 2018 on Sites Not Compliant with the Better Ads Standards

As society is moving toward a mobile-first world, more and more companies are trying to improve the user experience when it comes to browsing on a mobile device. Facebook worked on this with Instant Articles, Google has been rolling out their AMP project and then there’s Apple News specifically for iOS users. We’re even starting to see mobile web browsers building in ad-blocking technology into their browsers and enabling the feature by default.

A couple of months ago a report was published which claimed Google was even starting to build in ad-blocking technology into Chrome. Some ignored the report because Google is making billions from online advertising and to them it just didn’t make sense. However, this week the company has announced they have plans to start blocking ads in Chrome sometime in early 2018. Interestingly enough, this is actually a move that could make Google more money in the long run.

Google recognizes there are a number of people using ad-blocking software don’t actually want to block ads on every single website they visit. What tends to happen though, is there being a few websites out there which are implementing ads in such an annoying way that the person gets fed up and installs an ad blocker. This results in the person blocking ads on all the websites they visit and Google feels there is a better solution to the whole thing.

They feel that if annoying ads are stopped from the start, then the person won’t go out and seek solutions to the issue. So they’ve partnered with an industry group dedicated to improving online ads called Coalition for Better Ads. The group recently announced a Better Ads Standard that provides data on the types of ads people are truly fed up with. So, in early 2018, Google’s Chrome browser will start blocking ads site-wide on websites which are not compliant with the Better Ads Standard.

Source: The Keyword

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Moto Z2 Play Officially Announced, Available On Verizon in July

The first generation of Lenovo’s Z series was a huge hit, at least the Play variant. Those phones were rock-solid and offered something, that Android really craved, often tried, but never nailed: modularity. Today Lenovo announced a successor to one of the more renowned Z devices, the Moto Z Play (2nd gen.) or Moto Z2 Play. Surprisingly, both names are in use.

Last month Evan Blass from VentureBeat published renders and specifications of the phone. We can now confirm that those renders were accurate, and the Moto Z2 Play is just a bit slimmer than its predecessor. The waistline is only 5.99 mm thick (the first generation was 6.99 mm), but this one millimeter probably came at the expense of battery capacity. The 2nd gen. Moto Z Play features a less capacious battery and should last up to 20 hours shorter than original Moto Z Play.

Device Name:	Moto Z2 Play	Release Date/Price	Available in July (Verizon), Later this summer, U$D 499
Android Version	7.1.1	Display	5.5 inch 1080p Super AMOLED (401p ppi), Corning®Gorilla® Glass
Chipset	Snapdragon 626, Octa Core 8x 2.2GHz Cortex-A53, Adreno 506 GPU	Battery	3,000mAh, TurboPower charging 8h of use in 15 minutes (50% charge in 30 minutes)
RAM	3GB LPDDR3 / 4GB LPDDR 3	Sensors	Fingerprint Sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient Light, Gyroscope, Magnetometer, Proximity, Ultrasonic
Storage	32GB / 64GB microSD Card slot with UHS-I support (up to 2 TB)	Connectivity	Moto Mods™ connector USB-C™ port with USB 3.1 support 3.5mm headset port
Dimensions	76.2 x 156.2 x 5.99 mm	Rear Camera	12MP 1.4um Dual Autofocus Pixel ƒ/1.7 Laser Autofocus (Up to 5 meters) Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) Color Correlated Temperature (CCT) dual LED flash Professional mode Auto Night mode Video Encode: 480p (30fps) 720p (120fps) 1080p (60fps), 4K (30fps
Weight	145g	Front Camera	5MP 1.4um ƒ/2.2 Wide-Angle lens Color Correlated Temperature (CCT) dual LED flash Auto Night mode Beautification software Professional mode Video Encode: 480p (30fps) 720p (120fps) 1080p (30fps)
Network	CDMA (850, 1900 MHz) GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz) 4G LTE (B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 38, 41, 66)	Water protection	Water repellent nano-coating

The Moto Z2 Play sports a 5.5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 platform. It’s not the newest or the most powerful processor on the market, but the Moto Z Play also had a mid-range Snapdragon 625 CPU. Lenovo plans to release two versions of the phone. One will have 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. The second will sport 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. The storage can be expanded up to 2 TB with a microSD card. To wrap things up, Lenovo sported two cameras — rear being 12 MP and front settling for 5 MP.

According to Lenovo, the Moto Z2 Play will last up to 30 hours on one charge, with a 3,000 mAh battery — over 500mAh less than its predecessor. We won’t be able to verify how much of a hit to battery life this translates to until the device is released, though the smaller battery is a bit worrisome. Lenovo also features TurboPower charging technology, and according to the company, a 15-minute charge should give up to eight hours of use.

Lenovo Moto Z2 Play features a larger fingerprint sensor on the front. The sensor is similar to the one used in Moto G5 and G5 Plus, and users can press the button to go back, open the recent apps menu or home.

Alongside Moto Z2 Play release, Lenovo is announcing new Moto Mods. These include the JBL SoundBoost 2 ($79.99), a Wireless Charging Style Shell ($39.99), a Moto TurboPower Pack charger ($79.99) and GamePad ($79.99). Moto Z2 Play will also be compatible with already-released mods.

The device will be available in Lunar Gray and Fine Gold. Initially, the device will be available in July on Verizon. The global release of the unlocked version will take place later this summer. Moto Z2 Play will be priced at $499.

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Check out XDA’s Moto Z2 Play forums!

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Nubia Z17 Launched with Snapdragon 835 SoC, 8GB of RAM, and Quick Charge 4+

ZTE’s sub-brand Nubia has announced a new flagship in its home country, China, called the Nubia Z17. With the Nubia Z17, the Chinese OEM aims to deliver flagship smartphone experience with top-of-the-line hardware and premium design without raising the price bar too high. While not as popular as other Chinese OEMs such as Huawei and Xiaomi, Nubia has lately been expanding its smartphone offerings into European and US markets.

The Nubia Z17 is the successor to the last year’s Nubia Z11. Broadly speaking, the Nubia Z17 follows the same design language of the Nubia Z11, featuring a glass and metal body with a nearly bezel-less display. The device sports the same 5.5-inch full HD IPS display and comes with the familiar capacitive home button on the front.

However, the things get more exciting when we look at the internals of the device. On the inside of the Nubia Z17 is the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC along with Adreno 540 GPU. The device packs whopping 8GB of RAM and a hefty 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage. As for the camera, the device comes with a dual-camera setup on the back comprising of a 12MP sensor and a 23MP sensor with f/1.8 aperture and larger 1.4 µm pixel size. The camera offers 2x lossless zoom, 10x dynamic zoom, 0.03 ultra fast focus speed and make use of artificial intelligence and NeoVision 7.0 search engine to further improve camera performance.

Nubia’s New Flagship the Z17 (PRNewsfoto/nubia)

The front-facing camera has also been upgraded from an 8MP sensor to a 16MP one and features f/2.0 aperture and 80-degree wide-angle lens for improved selfie experience.

There is a 3,200 mAh battery on-board which the company claims can last up to 2.4 days on a single charge, thanks to its NeoPower 3.0 power saving system. Also, the Nubia Z17 is the first device to ship with Qualcomm’s latest fast charging standard, Quick Charge 4+, out of the box and can charge the battery from 0 to 50℅ in just 25 minutes.

On the software side of things, the Nubia Z17 comes running Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box with Nubia UI 5.0 on top. Similar to what we have seen on some of the Huawei devices, Nubia UI comes with some sort of AI-based technology called NeoSmart that improves performance and user experience over the time by learning user’s pattern and behavior through its machine learning algorithms.

The Nubia Z17 is also IP67 certified and can survive submersion into water up to 1 mt. for up to 30 minutes. However, making the device water-resistant means the device now no longer features a headphone jack nor it offers MicroSD card expansion.

Finally, the device comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint reader, IR blaster, NFC, Bluetooth 4.1, and USB Type-C port.

The Nubia Z17 will be available in five different colors – aurora blue, black gold, obsidian black, solar gold, flame red, and three storage options to choose from. As for pricing, the 8GB RAM + 128GB variant will retail for 3999 yuan ($590), the 6GB RAM + 128GB model for 3399 yuan ($500), while the model with 6GB RAM + 64GB will set you back 2799 yuan ($410). All variants of the Nubia Z17 will go on sale in China come June 6. It’s not clear at this point exactly when, if ever, the device will be made available in other regions.

All variants of the Nubia Z17 will go on sale in China on June 6. It’s not clear at this point exactly when, if ever, the device will be made available outside of China.

Source: Nubia

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Qualcomm Introduces Quick Charge 4+, Nubia Z17 to Bring it First

Today, smartphones are way more than just phones. They are practically a complete pocket multi-purpose computer with software capable of performing even the most difficult tasks with varying effectiveness. Unfortunately, even the most capacious battery can drain quite fast and needs frequent, if not daily, recharging. Qualcomm has a way to alleviate that — it’s called Quick Charge 4+.

Quick Charge 4+ is the successor to last year’s Quick Charge 4. You may find this move surprising because you certainly haven’t seen devices supporting such standard.

Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ has three major improvements compared to its predecessor. The first one is Dual charge, which divides the charge current across two management Integrated Circuits. According to Qualcomm this move should reduce the charge time by 15 percent and lower temperatures by 3°C. Qualcomm says that that thanks to QC4+, a device can go from empty to 50 percent in just 15 minutes.

The second new feature is called Intelligent Thermal Balancing. Currently, some phones get hot at certain points during charging. This new feature moves the electricity through the coolest path and eliminates these hot spots. QC4+ is also monitoring the device case and connector temperature to avoid overheating.

Every accessory labeled with 4+ logo will be compatible with previous versions of Quick Charge. If you are planning to get a new charger or power bank, you don’t need to worry that your QC 2.0 or 3.0 device will not be compatible. Qualcomm says that the first device with QC 4+ will be ZTE Nubia Z17. The Nubia Z17 sports the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 as its CPU.

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Source: Qualcomm

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