Galaxy Note 7 fiasco may be good news for Google’s Pixel phones

According to Branding Brand, 8 percent of the surveyed Samsung smartphone owners will opt for Google's Pixel phone. While the Galaxy Note 7's recall – and now discontinuation – may have had an adverse effect, ultimately, the data size is too small for anything conclusive.

See also: Samsung vows to restore consumer trust following Galaxy Note 7 woes50

We all know about the Galaxy Note 7's sad fate: the gorgeous phablet with a beautifully-curved screen became a self-combusting threat overnight, and in the end, Samsung had to axe it altogether. We've previously stated that although this means a huge disaster for Samsung, it could be beneficial for other smartphone manufacturers. Well, according to Branding Brand, an e-commerce platform, Google's Pixel phones may be grabbing a portion of Samsung's consumer base.

Branding Brand conducted a survey of 1,000 Samsung smartphone owners from October 11^th through the 12^th to look at consumer confidence. According to the company, 40 percent of current Samsung consumers have said that they would not be buying another Samsung phone in the future. And of those switching from Samsung phones:

• 8 percent said they would buy a Google Pixel phone.
• 30 percent would buy an iPhone.
• 62 percent would buy another Android phone.

Chris Mason, the CEO of Branding Brand, explains:

As we've watched the Galaxy Note7 recall and discontinuation play out, even more people say they will switch their smartphone brand. Consumers want to be confident in their personal safety and will choose a new smartphone accordingly. Only a week after Google's smartphone launch, many already have their sights set on the Pixel.

Personally, I'm not too convinced that the Note 7 disaster was a direct cause of Pixel's popularity. First of all, the sample size is way too small and vaguely-defined. 1,000 is pretty small considering there are millions of Samsung smartphone users in the world. Also, "1,000 Samsung smartphone owners" could mean 1,000 Samsung Galaxy J owners. Of course these users would want an upgrade to a Pixel phone, an iPhone, or anything that's better – this may not be a direct result of the Galaxy Note 7's discontinuation. It's a typical case where correlation does not necessarily mean causation. And even if those 1,000 respondents were Galaxy Note 7 owners, it doesn't really correspond with Samsung's official data that said 90 percent of Note 7 users were sticking with the device.

This may not be a direct result of the Galaxy Note 7's discontinuation. It's a typical case where correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

What are your thoughts? Google Pixel or Galaxy S7 edge? Google Pixel or another Android phone? Let us know in the comments below!

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OnePlus clarifies and reveals more details on OxygenOS Beta program

OnePlus has offered more information on its OxygenOS Beta program that launched earlier this year. It's been designed to give select owners of its smartphones a chance to test out updates to its Android-based operating system before they are released to everyone else.

The beta program consists of what OnePlus calls "Community builds" of its OxygenOS. In a forum post, the company explains that there are three different "streams" of these builds. The one that is updated the most is found in the Closed Beta stream. Only 60 or so OnePlus community members are picked to get Closed Beta updates, which happen four or more times a month.

See also: New OxygenOS community builds land for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus X19

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Closed Beta builds of OxygenOS, as you might expect, tend to have more bugs than the other "streams" but they also contain new features that won't be released to everyone else for weeks or sometimes even months. Again, these builds are only available to a very select few users.

The same cannot be said of the builds sent to members of the Open Beta "stream". Those OxygenOS versions are updated about twice a month, but they are also available for any OnePlus smartphone owners to download. While these OS versions are much more stable than the ones in the Closed Beta stream, they are still not quite ready for prime time.

That is reserved for the official over-the-air (OTA) release versions of OxygenOS, and those updates are offered to OnePlus smartphone owners every one to two months. Even though these builds are considered to be stable enough for an OTA release, the company still wants to know if there are any issues with them from owners:

We still continue to collect and analyze feature requests and bug reports, and we actually have some big things in the works to make the feedback process even better.

What is your opinion of OnePlus and its OxygenOS beta program? Is it effective as a bug and feature testing tool?

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Facebook videos can stream to Chromecast via iOS and web, Android support coming “soon”

Facebook has added support for streaming all of those cute cat and wacky stunt videos posted on the social network to big-screen TVs. Those videos are now supported for streaming to Google's Chromecast device, along with the Apple TV set-top box. At the moment, Chromecast streaming is limited to Facebook's iOS and web platforms, but support for the Android app is coming "soon".

See also: Chromecast Ultra announced: 4K video streaming, HDR and more for $697

Now, streaming a Facebook video on a Chromecast-based TV is easy. Just go to the video you want to check out on your News Feed, tap on the new TV logo that should be located on the top right of the clip, then simply select the Chromecast device you want to stream the video to from a list of choices. Once that's done, you'll see that sweet cat or talented dog video on their big-screen TV.

Facebook video streaming support to Chromecast from the Android app is coming "soon".

One cool thing about this feature is that you will be able to see any real-time reactions or comments on that Facebook video while seeing it on the TV,  You will also be able to respond to those reactions as well. If you want to go back and check on your News Feed, that's OK. The video that you picked will continue to be streamed to the Chromecast.

Will you be using this new Facebook streaming feature on your Chromecast-enabled TV, especially when the Android app is updated with this feature?

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Nexbit Robin goes on sale for $199 (Update: midnight black model now offered too)

Update (10/13): For those that prefer the brand midnight black model, you can now pick it up as well!

Buy now on Amazon

Update (9/22): The sale is now live. You can nab it here:

Buy now on Amazon

Original: Looking for a good phone? The Nextbit Robin is not only a worthy smartphone, but it is one that will offer an experience that is truly unique. And if you are looking for a deal, Nextbit does have a good one for you.

The Nextbit will see a temporal discount this September 22-23. Its price will be lowered to $199, which is quite the deal considering the phone launched at $399.

Nextbit takes a jab at a couple other companies by mentioning this phone won't catch on fire and will come with a headset jack. But that is hardly what makes the Nextbit Robin special. This phone harnesses the power of the cloud by using smart storage solutions.

• Nextbit Robin review
• Unboxing… the Nextbit Robin

The device can recognize which apps and content you are not using. It then intelligently pushes these files to the cloud. It's quite neat, if you ask us. And you can learn all about it reading our review.

One thing is for sure, though. At $199, this phone is a very good option. It comes packed with a Snapdragon 808 processor, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage, a 5.2-inch Full HD display, a 13 MP main camera, a 5 MP front shooter and a 2,680 mAh battery.

Who is signing up for this deal?

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PCMark for Android adds more benchmark tests and compares OS performance

Futuremark has just updated its free PCMark for Android app. It now has one additional benchmark and a new version of a previous test that will help you see how your particular device can handle specific tasks. The update also allows for users to see how performance on devices is affected by Android OS updates.

The Work benchmark test in the new version has been upgraded to version 2.0. The test is designed to see how an Android smartphone or tablet can handle common productivity tasks. The updated Work 2.0 test has improved versions of its Web Browsing, Writing, and Photo Editing tests. It also adds the new Video Editing and Data Manipulation tests that can be conducted to check both the performance and the battery life of Android devices for those tasks. The Work 1.0 benchmark is still in the app, though its scores are not comparable with the new 2.0 version.

See also: How to write an Android CPU benchmark tool4

The all new benchmark in PCMark for Android is called Computer Vision. It has been designed to show how devices handle image recognition tasks. Futuremark states there are three tests in the new benchmark:

TensorFlow is an open-source machine learning library developed by Google. The test uses a pre-trained neural network to recognize different objects in a set of pictures. ZXing, commonly known as Zebra Crossing, is a multi-format barcode image processing library. The test uses ZXing to read a set of barcodes and QR codes. Tesseract is an open-source optical character recognition library. The test recognizes and extracts English text from a set of images.

Finally, the updated PCMark for Android has added a feature in its in-app Best Devices list. Not only can you compare your benchmarking scores on your device against other Android smartphones and tablets, but now the scores can be compared with different Android OS versions. Newer versions of Android on the same device can offer improvements, or sometimes declines, in performance and battery life. The Best Devices feature can now show how PCMark for Android's benchmark scores compare side-by-side using different OS versions.

Get it from the Play Store

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The new Ricoh Theta SC 360 degree camera is both small and easy to use

This post originally appeared on our sister site, VR Source.

Ricoh revealed its latest 360-degree camera for people who want to make quick and easy videos and images that can be best appreciated in a virtual reality headset. The Ricoh Theta SC is basically a smaller and lighter version of the earlier Ricoh Theta S, and it is also cheaper at $299.95, compared to the original's $350 price tag.

Ricoh says that while the Theta S is mean for business or professional use, the new Theta SC is targeting the casual consumer who wants to jump in on this VR trend. It can take 14-megapixel images that can be put into a 360-degree sphere with its  F2.0 twin-lens folded optics. It can also record up to five minutes of 1920×1080 video at one time, up to 30fps. The camera itself has about 8GB of storage which can store up to 1,600 still images.

See also: The best VR cameras

The Ricoh Theta SC also comes with its own Theta+ App Video editing app for Android and iOS, which should allow owners to quickly edit any 360-degree images. The camera also supports the Theta+ Video App, which gives owners a fast way to trim clips, and add filters and background music to their 360-degree videos.  Images can be transferred quickly over to smartphones and tablets, which can then be uploaded to the Theta360.com website for anyone to check out. Owners can also share any images on their favorite social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Videos made from the camera can also be quickly uploaded to places like YouTube.

The camera comes with a LED indicator on its front panel that shows when the Ricoh Theta SC is operating and also which modes (still images or video) are in play. The smartphone app supports Live View for still images, which means owners can check things like the camera's exposure and white balance in real time. The camera itself has four different colors to choose from; blue, beige, pink and white.

Pre-order now from Ricoh

What do you think of the Ricoh Theta SC? Will you use it to make your own VR videos and images?

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Google will help you with voting: from voting dates to nearest polling place

History proves that voting is important. It's a precious right in a democracy, but its power is often underestimated. Some of us end up not voting for one reason or another, but for those who want to vote but don't exactly have all the information, Google is here to help. Google knows that voting matters, and that's why you can simply search "How do I vote?" or "Where do I vote?" and it will give you everything you need in either English or Spanish.

In less than a month, millions of Americans will be casting their vote for the next president, and this year's election is going to be, well let's just say, interesting. Four years ago, only about half of the population in the US showed up to vote; the figure was worse for the 2014 midterm elections, with only 42 percent of Americans voting. One of the factors affecting voter turnout is the complicated system. Google is well aware and wants to help all voters.

Let's say you haven't registered to vote yet. You can go right ahead and search or ask Google, "How do I register to vote?" Depending on your location, it'll show what you need to do to register online, by mail, or in person. Voting requirements are different in every state, and it gets complicated, so that's why Google also gives you everything you need regarding how and when to vote. Simply type in your question, and you will see what voting options you have, what kind of identification is required, and all the different types of state deadlines. It even has an option for absentee voters, so Americans abroad, you have no excuse!

Locating the nearest polling place is easy as well. Not only does Google tell you who's on your state ballot, but it will give you the location of the nearest polling booth and how to get there, so that you can vote for your candidate with any hassle.

2016 is going to be a monumental year for Americans, and voting is a civic duty and a privilege for everyone – so don't forget to go out and vote come November!

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