
By IVAN NECHEPURENKO from NYT World https://ift.tt/2JqPoqa
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Google Photos is fantastic for storing and organizing all your pictures, but there's something just neat about flipping through a paper photo album. The service has provided those since last year, but your options for customizing them were more or less limited to choosing which photos to include and whether you wanted a hard or soft cover. Now, you're able to customize the layout of each page for a more personalized album.
Read MoreGoogle Photos now lets you customize photo book layouts was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
After a year of rumors and the departure of both co-founders, WhatsApp is officially getting ads. Vice-president Chris Daniels confirmed to Outlook India today that the days of an ad-free platform are numbered: "We are going to be putting ads in 'Status.' That is going to be [the] primary monetisation mode for the company as well as an opportunity for businesses to reach people on WhatsApp."
The 'Status' section is WhatsApp's take on Instagram Stories, itself cribbed from Snapchat's core feature set.
Read MoreWhatsApp exec confirms the inevitable, says ads are coming to the app's 'Status' section was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Google announced a refreshed Chromecast at its hardware event in New York earlier this month. That device is now on sale for $35, the same price as the previous model. The new version has replaced the old on the Google Store, and retailers are clearing their stock of the older generation — and some Target locations have it on clearance for as low as $10.64.
You can't order the last generation for delivery anymore; this is an in-person-only deal.
Read MoreThe 2nd-generation Chromecast is on clearance for just $11 at some Target locations was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Crappy posts are part and parcel with any social network, and Twitter has more than its fair share of spam, scams, and bald-faced lies. The platform has always allowed users to report spammy posts, but now, the functionality is getting more granular, letting you specify the particular type of spam you're flagging.
When reporting a tweet as "suspicious or spam," you can now choose between five different reasons for doing so: the account that tweeted the message is fake; the tweet directs to "a potentially harmful, malicious, or phishing site;" it contains unrelated hashtags; or it uses replies to spam.
Read MoreTwitter now lets you specify the type of spam you're reporting was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Making a typo you can't correct is one of the more frustrating parts of text communication. Viber seems to agree, because now you're able to edit messages you've sent through the service. Like in other apps that offer similar functions, edited messages will be marked as such to limit any possible confusion.
Editing works about like you'd expect: long press the message you want to fix, tap edit, make your changes, and that's it.
Read MoreViber now allows users to edit sent messages was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
The history of Android is peppered with the occasional dual-screen phone, but none of them have made an impact beyond shock value. None of those secondary screens have solved a problem well enough to be a success, but Nubia is the latest to try with the Nubia X. This phone has a 6.26-inch LCD on the front with a 93.6% screen-to-body ratio. A smaller OLED display lives on the back of the phone, eliminating the need for a front-facing camera.
Read MoreThe dual-screen Nubia X is official in China was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Back at IFA 2018 in Berlin, right at the end of its presentation for the launch of the Honor Play, the Huawei sub-brand teased a follow up to the Honor Magic from 2016. The second generation Magic is now official, and it's an impressive looking device with minimal screen bezels thanks to a slide-up front camera mechanism.
On the back, the Honor Magic 2 clearly takes design inspiration from its bigger brother, the Huawei P20 Pro, with a very similar triple rear camera arrangement and vibrant gradient colors.
Read MoreHonor Magic 2 features an almost bezel-free display with slide-out front cameras and in-display fingerprint tech was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
It's that spooky time of year again. That's right, Halloween is here, so I have put together a roundup of the creepiest and scariest games released in 2018. While I know many games are currently running Halloween events, I have avoided those titles to come up with a list that is scary all year round. So without further ado, here are twenty of the spookiest Android games to play during the 2018 Halloween season.
Read More20 of the spookiest Android games for Halloween 2018 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Google is making a real effort to enhance its travel features across a variety of platforms lately. Over the past few months, the search giant updated Google Flights with new features for sussing out whether you're overpaying for airfare and hotels, added new tools in Search for planning upcoming trips, and overhauled hotel listings in Google Maps. It's now continuing that trend with an update to hotel browsing on Search for desktop that takes after a mobile refresh from earlier this year.
Read MoreGoogle refreshes hotel search experience on desktop to align with mobile was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Spotify has announced a new promotion for members with family accounts. Starting tomorrow, November 1, the master account holder on any Spotify Premium for Family plan in the United States can get a Google Home Mini for the low low price of zero dollars.
The Google Home Mini's speaker isn't particularly robust, but you can have it play music from Spotify on a paired Bluetooth speaker or any cast-enabled device. And even if you don't have those things, it's hard to quibble with the sound quality of your free smart speaker.
Read MoreSpotify Premium for Family account holders can snag a free Google Home Mini starting November 1 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

The Google Assistant is a serious tool that helps us through each day in various ways, but it also has a whimsical side. In a similar vein to last year, with Halloween just around the corner, Google has unveiled some special Assistant easter eggs relating to the most terrifying of holidays.
Read More[Update: More treats] Spooky Google Assistant easter eggs are going live in time for Halloween was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
The SPECTRA Mini Plus is the newest member in the SPECTRA family of electric skateboards, and it will redefine your commute. It's perfect for zipping around the city, and thanks to its small size and low weight, it's easy to carry around when you can't ride. So if you are looking for an accessible electric skateboard that's easy to ride and won't weigh you down when you can't, look no further than the SPECTRA Mini Plus.
Read MoreWe're giving away one SPECTRA Mini Plus Electric Skateboard [US] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Android One devices are rightly expected to get OS updates faster than others, and now the Android 9 Pie final release is ready to go for the Nokia 6.1 — it's starting to roll out to devices today.
Read More[Update: Nokia 6.1 Plus, too] Android 9 Pie stable starts rolling out to the Nokia 6.1 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
T-Mobile, the third largest wireless carrier in the US by subscriber count, posted impressive third quarter results Tuesday. The operator revealed $10.84 billion in profit and 774,000 net new monthly-billed subscribers — far above Wall Street estimates of around 628,000 net additions. Perhaps even better news for the wireless company's future, though, was its announcement that shareholder approval had come through for its acquisition of Sprint, the fourth largest American carrier.
Read MoreT-Mobile shareholders greenlight Sprint deal amid strong third quarter results was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Happy Halloween! October is basically over, meaning that the holiday season is about to kick into high gear. The app sales lists recently have reflected that and I don't think that's going to change any time soon. We have a lot on sale today, so get ready. And remember, notable items are in bold.
21 temporarily free and 73 on-sale apps and games for Halloween was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
The Crazybaby Air 1S True Wireless In-Ear Headphones offer an ergonomic fit, Hi-Fi sound, fast charging, one button controls, and most importantly, a true wireless design. They are perfect for an active lifestyle, whether you are a gym rat or an outdoors enthusiast. So if you are looking for the best way to listen to your favorite tunes while staying completely untethered, look no further than the Crazybaby Air 1S True Wireless In-Ear Headphones.
Read More[Update: Last day to enter] We're giving away 5 Crazybaby Air 1S True Wireless In-Ear Headphones, plus 18% off coupons for everyone else [US] was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
We've reviewed a few Android-based portable projectors in the past, like Anker's Nebula Capsule and the AAXA P2-A. The Optoma UHL55 is something else entirely. It's still a projector, and it still runs Android, but it's closer to something you would find in a high-end home theater.
Forget about the 720p resolutions and low brightness of other portable projectors — the UHL55 is 4K with a brightness of 1,500 lumens.
Read MoreOptoma UHL55 Android projector review: There's no point was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Third quarter financial results are out for most of the big players in our industry, but whether Sony still fits that bill is questionable. They still have an ardent fan base, and our recent review of the Xperia XZ3 found it to be the best Sony phone in years, but still, the company's mobile division appears to be struggling.
As you can see from the table below, sales by Sony's Mobile Communications (MC) segment amounted to 54.2 billion Yen ($478.9 million) less than in the same period in 2017.
Read MoreSony's smartphone division lost over $240 million last quarter, and it only expects things to get worse was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
The United States' most popular mobile payments platform, Starbucks, has always been useful for those who frequent the chain. With this week's update, though, it's getting considerably nicer to use, with easier access to the barcode screen and the ability to remember your order as you navigate the app.
There's now a prominent button that'll take you to the barcode Starbucks' baristas scan to charge you for your order. Additionally — and this is a big one — Starbucks will remember the order you're building should you venture to other parts of the app (it's bizarre it didn't always do that).
Read MoreStarbucks v5.0.1 brings easier payments and improved navigation was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
128GB microSD cards are getting cheap - really cheap. Earlier this month, we posted about SanDisk's 128GB Ultra card getting discounted to $25. At face value, these deals look identical, but this Samsung card comes with U3 classification that the Ultra doesn't have. As such, this 128GB EVO Select for $24.99 is a much better deal.
The U3 rating means that the minimum sequential writing speed is 30MB/s, which is a significant improvement over the typical U1's 10MB/s.
Read More[Deal Alert] Samsung EVO Select 128GB microSD card down to $25 on Amazon was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Uber and Lyft, America's two ride-sharing giants, are always going toe-to-toe in terms of new features and functionality. The latest move comes from Uber, which has just introduced something called Ride Pass to five major cities: Austin, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, and Orlando. Ride Pass costs $14.99/month (but $24.99/month in LA) and nets subscribers flat discounted rates on their Uber and UberX trip fares.
The exact discounts that Ride Pass will produce will vary from person to person, though Uber says that it'll save riders up to 15% on overall monthly travel.
Read MoreUber's new Ride Pass gives riders discounted fares in select cities from $15/month was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Google's October 9 event is only a week away, and while leaks of the upcoming announcements have been endlessly pouring in, Google may still have a few small hidden surprises. This new aqua color Home Mini speaker isn't one of them, though, as the company just officially announced it on its website.
Read More[Update: New release details] Aqua blue Google Home Mini to start shipping on October 29 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
In his teardown of Gboard v 7.4, Cody saw signs of a new personalized "minis" sticker pack coming. The feature is now live in v7.5.6 beta, which started rolling out today. The new minis stickers are a re-implementation of the selfie stickers that launched on Allo last year — as a matter of fact, many of the options are the same — but instead of one pack, you get two: "Bold mini" and "Sweet mini."
You'll see the "minis" option when you switch to the sticker section of Gboard.
Read More[Update: Formally available for all] Gboard 7.5.6 beta introduces two personalized 'Minis' sticker packs was written by the awesome team at Android Police.