We wanted to re-run a poll from a week ago to get your feedback on what is most important to you as a buyer for your next smartphone. Pick from the choices below, or feel free to pick “other” and leave us a comment and give us your feedback.
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For the modern smartphone era, our devices can do many things that used to require specialized equipment to do. Many of the content creators on the internet use their mobile devices to vlog, produce YouTube videos, and even short films. But occasionally specialized equipment is still required to perform certain tasks. One such piece of specialized equipment is the Smooth Q, a smartphone stabilizer and gimbal capable of reducing vibration and jitters in mobile video. Here is our first look at what this device is, and what it does.
The 4th and final developer preview of the newest version of the Android operating system was released on Monday, to little fanfare. Many who are Android enthusiasts were waiting on this final “DP4” release and many others were probably unaware that we are probably only about a month out from a new version of Android hitting many phones. While there are sure to be new features found in this release, the truth of Android updates is not as easily found.
The latest flagship from Motorola is coming, with high end specs and with different configurations and colors available. The device resembles in design the Z2 Play (which we’ve featured and are reviewing) in order to be able to fully support the Moto Mods ecosystem. The new phone will also support bands for each of the 4 major carriers, and full details on the new device are after the break.
So far, this has been a pretty quality year for mobile devices. And there are probably lots of you who are looking to upgrade this year to something new. Having said that, let’s take a poll on what is going to be most important to you in your next smartphone. We can talk about the reasons why afterwards, but cast your vote below and we can start the discussion.
![[Op-Ed]Rumored new Nexus program full of question marks and probably bad news for Verizon customers](https://silicontheoryblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/verizon-lock-540x438.jpg?w=274&h=222)
There was some troubling info floating around the internets in the last few days; most notably this report from the ArsTechnica, wherein Verizon has basically admitted to doing “Verizon” things. While the current FCC chair is very interested in making net neutrality a thing of the past, it is still the law of the land for now. And under it, Verizon’s blatant throttling of a service like Netflix is in violation of it.
via Essential Twitter account
In a recent public communication from Andy Rubin, both those who pre-ordered the upcoming mobile phone from Essential and anyone else who asked (i.e. the standard Twitter feed response) are being told that the device should be “in your hands in a ew weeks.”
Considering that Essential has already missed their initial self declared deadline, this maybe sound like just more vague news for a product that is (for now) nothing more than vaporware. But Andy Rubin has a track record and a bunch of venture capital behind him, so hopefully we will see this device being reviewed sooner rather than later.
The recent rumors of the 2017 Google Pixel devices got me thinking; while the larger Pixel device appears to be a significant redesign, and looks very promising so far, the smaller regular Pixel device (made by HTC) will basically look very much the same in terms of design. While very little other info is currently available in the way of specs at this point, Google’s decision put more design and R&D into the Pixel XL is following the same trend as most of the larger OEMs in the last 2 years: larger smartphones are becoming more and more the norm. Which begs the question: where have all the good small smartphones gone?
The image you see was released this morning on Twitter from famed leaker EvLeaks (Evan Blass) and is presented at the upcoming flagship under the Nokia brand. The latest rumors have this device sporting a Snapdragon 835 SoC, as well as 4/6/8GB RAM memory variants and a 128GB storage option.
Its not clear yet if this mobile device will support US mobile bands (likely) and if it will even be available for sale in the US (unclear) but its been a while since Nokia had a presence anywhere outside of Europe. We will be following up on this news very closely.
I pondered recently on our Anchor station about why Essential had been so mum of late since their initial pomp and circumstance at the Code Conference announcing their PH-1 mobile device. It turns out that perhaps the reason behind why things have been under wraps is due to some turmoil at the top – this report from 9to5Google claims that Essentials VP of Marketing left the organization effective Friday, July 14th. This comes after their head of communications also left earlier in July.
Chaos at the top line of your offices probably could come at a better time, since carrier launches with Sprint in the United States and Telus in Canada were expected soon, with a rumored partnership with another UK carrier in the works. We are very much interested in the Essential phone’s release and will follow up on additional news as it becomes available.
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