Month: March 2016

The Nextbit Robin got Discontinued on Verizon and Sprint

Written by Joey Peters

The Nextbit Robin is a flagship smartphone that was released and it has a new technology in it where it backs everything up to the cloud automatically. That means you don’t need any space on the actual device itself. Unfortunately, if you are on the network Verizon or Sprint, you will not be able to use this phone on your network.

What happened is that the Robin was suppose to release a long time ago and was only going to cost Hundreds of thousands of dollars but then it became into a waiting game and didn’t release until a couple of months later which then would cost carriers Millions of dollars and Verizon didn’t think that it really worth it to invest into the phone because they thought it really wouldn’t get across the public and nobody would buy it and then they would loose a ton of money. I think they both made the right decision on not signing with Nextbit because in my mind I didn’t really like the Nextbit Robin.

With this, Verizon and Sprint could loose a small percentage of customers because some people really want to buy the Nextbit Robin. In some ways this was good by saving them money but then they loose customers in the process of it. It is really a win/loose situation here. Do you think they made the right decision in doing this? Leave a comment down below telling my if they made the right decision and do you want a Nextbit Robin?

Apple’s iCloud reported to be partially powered by Google’s Cloud Platform

Written by Lance Nickel

According to a few sources, iCloud will be partially powered by Google Cloud. Apple seems to be cutting their spending costs with Amazon. A move on this level is a huge achievement for Google’s flourishing cloud enterprise.

It has never been made official, but it is reported that iCloud is currently powered by Amazon Web Services and Microsoft’s Azure. Apple is reportedly paying Google between $400 and $600 million for this deal. Apple is not planning on dropping Amazon completely, but they are starting to cut back on that service to save money. (Because of all companies… Apple is the one that needs to save money).

At the writing of this article, Google is #3 when it comes to enterprise cloud services. They recently hired VMWare co-founder Dianne Greene to lead their cloud services. They are planning on making the service more affordable in the years to come.

Google is often more affordable because of their extensive fibre networks that connects their data centers at high bandwidth, and low costs. A while ago, Spotify made the announcement that they will be using Google’s Cloud Platform for their music.

It will take just about a year for iCloud to be completely running on Google’s servers, but it will eventually happen.

header image thanks go globaldots

Material Design guidelines now include “Bottom Nav” guidelines

Written by Lance Nickel

Google has added some things to their Material Design guidelines. These guidelines are rules and tips for designers looking to design apps on Android, to make the ecosystem consistent. The design is based of off “quantum paper”, which means that many elements use life-like shadows, physics, and other things, while still being smart like a computer.

As you know, Google Photos received an update, which added a bottom bar. Google Plus has had this for a while (Android versions), and they seem to be different. Maybe Google will update them?

The thing that kind of annoys me about Material Design is that Google themselves do not adhere to these rules as much. As nice as this system is, it could be a lot more consistent across Android, let alone Google’s own suite of Apps.

Here are some guidelines for the bottom navs:

  • It should only be used if there are 3-5 top level views
  • Less than 3 views? Use a tab bar.
  • More than 5? Use a slide-out nav.
  • It should be fixed and not scrollable.
  • Web based apps can use them as a sidebar, rather than a large bottom bar.
header image thanks to Google

Apple March 21st Event Confirmed

Written by Joey Peters

Apple has confirmed that there will be an event on March 21st with the tagline being, “Let Us Loop You In” which is referring to the new Apple Watch bands they will most likely be releasing. We have known for awhile what they are going to release and it will feature a new 4-inch iPhone which will be called the iPhone SE, new Apple Watch bands, and a new iPad Pro Mini. There is a slight chance that there will be a refresh to the Macbook Pro but that is unlikely because Intel is behind on releasing there Skylake processors.

iPhone SE – The iPhone SE will bring back the 4-inch display and will look almost identical to the iPhone 5s. The iPhone SE is expected to bring an Apple A9 Chip with 1 GB on RAM. On this phone, expect to see Touch ID as it was on the iPhone 5s but where not sure if it will be the first generation Touch ID or second generation Touch ID. Also on this phone there will be Apple Pay so you can go up to supported credit card swipers and use your thumbprint to pay for something. For the camera, it is going to be a 8-megapixel. Live Photos will be supported but there will be no 3D Touch so it will probably just be a long press to activate the Live Photo as seen before in a jailbreak tweak. To its looks, there will probably be a new color which will be Rose Gold (pink) and a full metal casing just like the iPhone 6/6s/6 Plus/6s Plus.

Apple Watch bands – We are expected to see some new Apple Watch bands that already exist but in different colors and also a new nylon and Space Black Milanese Loop bands.

iPad Pro Mini – We are also expecting to see a new iPad that will have the iPad Pro like features but smaller in a 9.7-inch form factor. There will be a four speaker design, Smart Connector for keyboards, and Apple Pencil Support. On this iPad, you should expect to see the very first iPad with a rear flash for the camera. Basically, it’s going to be a smaller iPad Pro most likely called the iPad Pro Mini.

Image Header Credit: Apple

Welcome to Currently Techie

Written by Currently Techie Announcements

This is a website all about tech, all the time.

Lance (youtube, website) and Joey (youtube, website) run this website. Together we aim to bring you the latest in technology news and updates.

We both write articles, so please look for an author name, if the article starts to become opinionated (EG: Joey loves Apple… I hate Apple).

We are both very excited to see where this project of ours will go, and hopefully one day it will be an awesome place for your technology news.

Maybe even set this as your homepage? < Sorry about that.

Thanks for reading!

–Joey and Lance

🙂

Android N factory images are ready to install

Written by Lance Nickel

If you happen to own a Nexus 6P, 5X, 6, and 9, or you happen to own a Pixel C, you are in luck.

Today, Google released the developer version of Android N. You can download if you are a developer via their developer website. This is actually a surprise, because Google usually releases these previews during their I/O keynote, but that is not coming for another few months.

Some new features that developers are able to play around with (and make their apps compatible with) are some new native split screen technology. They also have a new notification system that they can take advantage of, as well as quick replies from the notifications.

Of course, with all of the updates, they will have performance improvements in this version, and this time were are expecting to see some new battery saving features.

For most people, the [soon to be released] beta program will be the easiest method. This method will install this version like any over the air (OTA) update. For those of you who like to use a computer to flash your phone, that is already up and available for download.

header image thanks to Google (Android)

How to turn your old PC into a Chromebook (for free)

Written by Lance Nickel

The funny part about the cloud computing era is that the top of the line new notebooks (Chromebooks at least) tend to be less powerful than an older PC. That is because everything is handled by the servers that you use your products with.

No need for storage, Google Drive has that covered. No need for fast processors, server end coding has that covered.

This company called Neverware created an installer that dual boots your old PC or Mac with Chromium OS. Because these systems are lightweight, they will run this without a problem. Most likely faster than most modern Chromebooks. These are meant for applications in school buildings with older computers, and usually not the budget to replace them.

But, this company also offers a free download to anybody who stumbles upon their website. Which means that anybody can turn their old computers into a Chromebook.

The software works off a version of Chrome OS called Chromium. It is an open source version of Google Chrome OS, and is run by Google and many other people. Since it is open source, you can use it without an extra cost, you can modify it without any ramifications, and you can surely share it with your friends.

This is perfect for somebody who wants a basic operating system for their older computers just to do email or some other things without paying for a new one.

And where it can really shine is in the developer market. People can download it for free and get a feel for the Chrome OS environment in an almost carbon copy of Chrome OS.

header image thanks to TechRadar