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Amazon Fire OS 6 brings Android 7.1 Nougat to its 2017 Fire tablets (Update: maybe not)

Amazon’s Fire tablets run a custom version of Android called Fire OS… and while the company releases small software updates from time to time, it’s rare for one of Amazon’s budget tablets to get a major OS bump. But that’s just what happened recently. When the 7th-gen Amazon Fire, Fire HD 8 and Fire HD […]

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Android 7.1 on Chromebooks to bring better multitasking support (for Android apps)

Google began rolling out support for the Google Play Store and Android apps on some Chromebooks in 2016. This year it looks like the company is preparing an update that will make it easier to view and interact with multiple Android apps at the same time. Chrome Unboxed has posted some pictures of a pre-release […]

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Google releases Android 7.1.1 for recent Nexus, Pixel devices

Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones were the first devices to ship with Android 7.1 software. But now Google has released the first stable builds of Android 7.1 for a bunch of recent Nexus and Pixel products. New Android 7.1.1 factory images, OTA update images, are available for the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, […]

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Android 7.1 coming to Nexus phones in December

Google’s Pixel smartphones were the first to ship with Android 7.1 Nougat software, but Google has been offering developer previews of Android 7.1 for select Nexus devices since October. Now it looks like Android 7.1 is getting ready to drop the preview label. According to Vodafone, a security update coming to the Nexus 6P on […]

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Google DayDream View VR headset review (with Google Pixel XL)

It’s been more than two years since Google showed that you could transform a smartphone into a virtual reality device by placing it in a headset made of nothing more than cardboard and lenses. Sure, Google Cardboard isn’t as powerful or versatile as an expensive VR device like Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. But it’s […]

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Google spells out requirements for Daydream VR-ready smartphones

Google Android 7.1 has a new virtual reality mode called Daydream baked in, but not every Android 7.1 phone will support the platform. While we know the new Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones are Daydream-ready, most older phones are not. That includes Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X smartphones from last year… and pretty much […]

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Now you can root a Google Pixel or Pixel XL smartphone

Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL are the first smartphones to ship with Android 7.1, but they’re also the first to feature a new disk partition scheme and file-based encryption (instead of full-disk encryption) which makes updating the operating system faster and safer… but which means hackers have had to find new ways to unlock the […]

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CyanogenMod 14.1 development begins, based on Android 7.1 (CM14 won’t be officially released)

The developers behind CyanogenMod have scrapped plans to nightly builds of their Android 7.0-based operating system… because they’ve begun development of a version based on Android 7.1 instead. In other words, the next version of the operating system will be called CyanogenMod 14.1 rather than CyanogenMod 14. It’ll incorporate the latest updates to Google’s operating system […]

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Google launches Android 7.1 developer preview for recent Nexus devices

The Google Pixel smartphone may be the first to ship with Android 7.1 Nougat software, but if you have a recent Pixel phone or tablet, now you can sign up for the Android 7.1 Developer Preview to give a beta version of the software a try on your device. Google has released the Android 7.1 […]