The Astro Slide is a smartphone that you can also use like a tiny laptop thanks to a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from behind the display. Designed for touch-typing and inspired by the Psion line of handheld devices, the keyboard is quite different from the thumb keyboards found on BlackBerry-style devices or even modern […]
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Some Android 13 features leaked nearly a year ahead of launch
Android 12 is so new the paint is still drying, and Android 12L is still in beta. But details about the next major version of Android are starting to leak. While Android 13 most likely won’t be released until fall of 2022, the folks at xda-developers have received a series of screenshots that highlight some changes […]
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Linux smartphone news roundup: Waydroid, postmarketOS, Phosh, and MauKit updates
A better method for running Android apps on Linux phones is now working on the PinePhone. More independent reviews of the JingPad A1 Linux tablet are coming in. A new service pack brings improvements to the latest stable build of the postmarketOS Linux distribution. And in this latest Linux smartphone news roundup, there are a […]
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Amazon Prime Exclusive phones scrap the lockscreen ads (and raises prices)
When Amazon launched its Prime Exclusive Phones program in 2016, the proposition was pretty straightforward: Amazon Prime members could save some money on a carrier unlocked smartphone if they were willing to put up with ads on the lockscreen and home screen. Starting February 7th, the deal will get a little better… sort of: Amazon […]
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Wileyfox drops its smartphone prices… in exchange for ads on the lock screen
Amazon may have been the first major company to offer customers a chance to save money on a smartphone by purchasing models with advertisements on the lock screen. But Amazon Prime Exclusive phones aren’t the only models available with lock screen ads anymore. British phone maker Wileyfox has announced it’s now selling versions of its […]
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Google bans (most) apps with lock screen ads from the Play Store
When you install a free app on your phone to use as a file browser, keyboard, or photo editor, you might expect to see some ads in the app. Developers have to get paid somehow, right? But you probably don’t expect to see ads show up outside the app. A few years ago Google banned developers from […]
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Amazon offers discounts on phones with lock screen ads (Moto G4 for $125 and up)
Amazon has been selling Kindle eReaders and Fire tablets with “special offers” for a few years, allowing you to save around $15 on the purchase price in exchange for viewing ads on the lock screen and in a few other places. Now the company is bringing special offers to third-party devices. Amazon is offering deep […]
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Microsoft unveils new Windows 10 lock screen, Cortana, Start Menu features
Microsoft unveiled some new features for Windows 10 at the kickoff to the company’s BUILD developer conference today. We learned that the Project Spartan web browser is now known as Microsoft Edge, developers can bring Win32, web, Android, and iOS apps to the Windows Store, and some Windows Phones will be able to operate as […]
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Lilbits (11/10/2014): Scrambled PINs
So you use a PIN to make sure nobody can unlock your phone unless they know your code. But what if someone sees your code by looking over your shoulder? The developers at Cyanogen have introduced a new security tool that lets you scramble the digits that show up on your lock screen, making it […]
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Locket no longer pays you to unlock your Android phone (App updates)
Locket is an Android app that launched this summer with an unusual promise: Install the app and you’d earn money every time you unlocked your phone or tablet. The idea was that Locket would partner with advertisers to display content on your lock screen, and since you were looking at it every time you turned […]