One “Never Settle” Plus does settle, at least in India. The legendary Snake game makes a comeback on todays mobile devices. Major game studios hunkering down on mobile. Android Lollipop continues to roll out but with a hitch for Dell Venue 8 owners. The world’s first 10-core mobile processor. And Huawei and LG fighting over the next Nexus title. These and a whole lot more are just some of the things you’ve missed these past days. So buckle up and join us for a very short trip down memory lane in this latest edition of Android Community’s Weekly Digest, covering the period from May 11 to 17, 2015.
The sweetness continues … for some
The Android Lollipop saga continues, with more and more device makers getting in line. Even the likes of BLU Products, who has a ton of budget-friendly Android smartphones in the market, is in on the game, announcing that almost a dozen of its products will be upgraded to Android 5.0 at the very least. The first gen Moto X, which is still a decent smartphone even by today’s standards, is also finally in its last stages for Lollipop deployment, much to the relief of some very aggravated owners.
But not all Lollipops are as sweet. Owners of Dell’s rather interesting and powerful Venue 8 tablet were in for a bittersweet surprise. While some have indeed received Android Lollipop, they quickly also found out that the update automatically encrypted their device, with neither their knowledge nor their consent. Given some performance issues found in encrypted lollipop devices, this might be a cause for concern, especially since there’s no going back after encryption without a factory wipe.
OnePlus and Micromax call a truce, business as usual
After months of legal preparations, OnePlus and Micromax has decided that the best way to move forward would be to just let each other move on. While Micromax still holds exclusive rights to Cyanogen in India, it is letting OnePlus continue with its business, at least for the remaining OnePlus One smartphones in the Indian market. This also means that owners will be getting their Lollipop update via Cyanogen OS 12. That said, the damage has been done and, despite the respite, OnePlus will continue with its own chosen path in OxygenOS.
WIll the real Next Nexus please stand up
Google I/O is starting to ramp up and so are the rumors of the next Android version and, of course, the next Nexus device. Like before, there seem to be two crowd favorites contending for the Nexus smartphone honor. One of the strongest, it seems, is Huawei. The idea seems to be based on the need, or a desire, to have the next Nexus made by a strong Chinese OEM. Given the way Xiaomi does its business, however, it seem hardly unlikely it will be tapped for this project. Huawei seems to be the reasonable choice given how it has been in the Android business longer than others in China.
Curiously, LG’s name came up again, hinting that after a brief stint with Motorola, Google is going back to the Korean OEM for a third time. Samsung fines might be disappointed yet again, but the LG G4 has proven that LG definitely has what it takes to remain in the game.
Speaking of Google-blessed devices, the first Android One smartphone for Europe has been launched and it manages to surpass its Asian cousins, both in hardware and in price. The General Mobile 4G Android One in Turkey runs on a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and has a 720p display on a 5-inch screen. Already this looks much better than previous Android One’s, but the price is also more than double those, at around $260.
Games Galore!
The face of mobile gaming is changing rapidly. Once seen as time wasters to fill in gaps of free time, mobile games are now becoming serious business, even for the big names in the industry. When Nintendo, a company that has been rather stubborn on its stance on mobile gaming, starts saying that it will have 5 mobile games by 2017, then you know that the proverbial excrement has hit the fan. Konami, another popular publisher responsible for hits like Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, and Castlevania, has also practically said that it is moving its primary platform to mobile Almost ironically, Sega announced that it will actually be removing games from Google Play Store, but only because it wants to focus on quality instead of quantity.
And speaking of games, ever played Snake on a Nokia phone? Born after that time? Well, now’s your chance to relive the game again or live it for the first time. The Snake is back for the modern times but with a fitting homage to its pixelated past. Will it be just as addicting as its ancestor or has its time really gone for gone? Take it for a spin and let us know!
Loot Bag
MediaTek might once again be stirring up the mobile CPU hornets nest. It once announced that it had the first ever “True” Octa-Core processor and now it’s is coming out with the first deca-core chip. Yes, that’s right. Ten processor in a single chip. Arranged in three groups of 2, 4 and 4 cores, this deca-core was designed to allow the system to smoothly transition between performance and power states, promising more efficient power consumption without gimping performance.
The Chinese mobile market has been the darling of many tech companies because of its size and its growth. Those days, however, might be over, if IDC’s assessment is to believed. According to the numbers, it is the first time in six years that the Chinese smartphone market has actually declined. It’s too early to tell, however, though it could be signs of an already congested market that will either grow stale or grow slowly. Android fans might be a bit worried that Apple has unseated Xiaomi as the country’s number 1, though numbers 2 to 5 are all made up of Android OEMs.
Meerkat is proving itself to be Android’s friend. Beating Twitter’s Periscope. the live streaming service has taken its Android app out of beta, providing Android users the ability to stream anything and everything over on Twitter. With a developer API also ready to embrace app makers, Meerkat is practically leading the race, though given it’s competing against Twitter, it probably shouldn’t rest on its laurels yet.
Wrap-up
This has definitely been a news-filled week, especially for those looking heavily into Android games. The future looks bright, even brighter, for that segment of the Android world, especially with Google I/O coming up. Google’s developers conference has a lot of Android sessions in store, particularly those on Android TV and Android games. It’s just a week away, so better be prepared by downloading the new I/O 2015 app and picking out your own preferred session. See you there!
