The Pokémon Go “Nearby” tracker feature expands to a few new cites

Niantic Labs began testing a new "Nearby" tracker feature in August for its hit augmented reality game Pokémon Go, but limited the test to parts of San Francisco. Now, the company is expanding that test, but only to a few additional U.S. cities.

See also: How to track Pokemon in Pokemon Go

In a blog post, Niantic stated that the Nearby Pokémon feature is now live in the rest of the San Francisco Bay area, along with parts of Arizona and the Seattle area of Washington. The company added that it will continue to take feedback from Pokémon Go players in those regions, and make changes to the tracking feature if needed, before expanding it to more areas.

The feature allows players to see nearby Pokémon if they are close to a Pokéstop location. Tapping it shows players where to get them by switching over to a bird's eye view map. The feature is also supposed to give players a heads-up if their desired Pokémon decides to leave the nearby Pokéstop before they arrive at that location.

Do you live in one of the new areas where the Nearby Pokémon feature has gone live, and if so, has it helped you find and catch new creatures in the game?

Get it at Google Play

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General Mobile GM 5 will be the first Android One Nougat-based smartphone

Android 7.0 Nougat is currently available on a select few smartphones. Indeed, only Google's own Pixel and Pixel XL ship with the OS pre-installed at the moment. However, one company, General Mobile, says its upcoming Android One phone, the GM 5, will have Nougat installed when it is released.

See also: Nougat arrives for Android One103

According to the company's listing for the GM 5, it will have a 5-inch 1,280×720 display, and inside it will have a currently unnamed Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor with a clock speed of  1.2GHz. It will also have 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard storage, along with a microSD card slot that can support up to 64GB of additional storage.

The General Mobile GM 5 will also have a 13MP rear camera, a 5MP front-facing camera and a 2,500 mAh battery. Finally, the phone will come in three colors: Golden, Space Gray and Black. A price and release date has not been announced, but the company plans to offer the phone in 20 countries, mostly in Europe but also in some markets in Africa and Asia.

This will likely be just the first Android One-based smartphone that will have Nougat out of the box, but we should see more of these mid-ranged phones with Google's latest Android OS pop up in the coming months. Would you buy a Nougat-based smartphone with these hardware specs if the price was right?

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Samsung: nearly 85 percent of Galaxy Note 7 phones in U.S. have been replaced

If you still own a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 in the U.S., you are definitely in  the minority compared to the folks who have traded in the exploding smartphone for something else. Today, Samsung stated that nearly 85 percent of Note 7 owners in the U.S. have replaced the device since the official recall went out a few weeks ago. It added that the majority of trade-ins were for another Samsung-made phone.

See also: Galaxy Note 7 recall: what you need to know453

Samsung's brief but official update on the ongoing effort to recall all Note 7 units stated that it will begin rolling out an update for the phone "in the coming days" to the U.S. that will limit the battery power on the phone to 60 percent of its usual capacity. It will also issue more notifications to those remaining 15 percent of Note 7 owners who have kept the phone that they really need to turn it in for something else.

T-Mobile has already revealed it will begin pushing out the Note 7 battery restriction update starting on Saturday, November 5. We expect the other major U.S. carriers will be following suit in the next few days. If you are still holding onto your Galaxy Note 7 for some reason, will these moves finally get you to turn it in and avoid any issues with the battery catching on fire?

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Skype for Android is slated to add SMS Relay features in the future

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Skype users on Android will be able to send and receive SMS and MMS messages with the VoIP client sometime in the future. Microsoft buried that tidbit of news today in a blog post announcing that SMS Relay has been added to the Windows 10 preview version of the app.

See also: 10 best video calling apps for Android12

Microsoft says that SMS Relay will allow users to see texts send from other Skype members along with SMS messages sent to their phone number. It will also support group messages along with sending and receiving photos. Microsoft did not offer a specific timeline for when Android users will be able to access this feature, saying only that it will happen and that we should "stay tuned" for more information and updates.

Microsoft recently announced it will be rolling out a number of updates for Skype mobile users over the next several weeks. Among other things, it will let calls continue with their conversations even if the person who started the call leaves temporarily. It will also be removing some features as well including custom voicemail greetings, email notifications and SMS transcriptions.

Will you be using the SMS Relay features for Skype in Android when it is made available in the near future?

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If you got a Daydream View VR headset early, you won’t be able to use it yet

Good news; you might be one of the lucky folks who got the Daydream View smartphone VR headset from Google shipped to you early. Bad news; you can't use it yet until Google releases a specific app.

See also: Google Daydream View hands on17

According to a new report, many people now have the Daydream View headset, several days before it was supposed to be shipped to them on November 10. However, it appears that the headset won't actually work until an app called "Google VR Services" is installed on their phone. That's a problem, because the app has yet to be published in the Google Play Store.

Since the company announced a few days ago that the $79 headset would officially be available Nov. 10 in five countries, we would expect that the Google VR Services app should make its appearance in the Play Store sometime before that date. In the meantime, all those "lucky" Daydream View owners who got it early will just have to wait a little while longer before their new VR experience can begin. We will also point out that for now the headset can only be used by two smartphones: Google's own Pixel and Pixel XL.

Did you get your headset shipped to you early, and if so, are you a little miffed that you can't use it right away?

Get it at the Google Store

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Galaxy Note 7 battery restriction update to be rolled out by T-Mobile on Nov. 5

If you are still using the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on T-Mobile, you will soon get a noticeable reminder that you really need to turn in the exploding smartphone. The carrier has revealed that starting tomorrow (Saturday, November 5) it will roll out an update to Note 7 owners that will restrict the charging of its battery to 60% of its normal capacity.

See also: How to return a Galaxy Note 7 bought second-hand24

The update itself will have the version number N930TUVU2APK1. Besides the battery restriction, the update will also change the Battery indicator color to grey. Finally, the recall order for the phone that was issued about a month ago will begin to appear more frequently on your Note 7 after the update, in case you need a reminder.

Samsung had already announced that it would be releasing the battery restriction update for any Note 7 owners in Europe who have yet to turn in the smartphone, and now it seems that decision is continuing to roll out to other carriers. Indeed, it looks like some of them, such as all of New Zealand's mobile networks, are not going to allow Note 7 owners to connect to them at all. Combine that with the bans on airplanes in the U.S. and other countries, and it looks like the Note 7 has turned into a true pariah.

Have you still not traded in or discarded your Galaxy Note 7 yet?

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Samsung Link content sharing app get shuts down with no warning

Users of the Samsung Link content sharing app got some unexpected, and rather shocking, news this week. Samsung sent out messages to those users informing them the app has been shut down. In fact, Samsung Link was closed earlier this week, on November 1, with no prior warning.

See also: Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge: Olympic Games Limited Edition overview22

SamMobile reported that the notifications were sent out to smartphone users this week, and the official Samsung Link website also has been replaced with a bare bones page revealing the close of the service. It explains that the shut down was "due to a change in internal operation policy." That's a very vague reason, but it's likely to be the only one we will get.

Samsung Link actually began life as another app and service, AllShare Play, which launched in 2012. It allowed owners of Samsung's Android phones to share content like videos and photos with laptops, tablets, and smart TVs via Wi-Fi or DLNA. In 2013, AllShare Play was replaced by Samsung Link. It brought a new user interface and some new features such as the ability to automatically save any photos taken with your smartphone on your home PC.

The termination page for the service says that any "files stored on registered devices and cloud services will not be deleted. You can access the remaining files via the individual devices or via your cloud storage website/mobile application." There's also a FAQ page that offers some more support information for former Samsung Link users. It adds that folks who want to connect their Samsung smartphone, tablet or PC to their smart TV can still do so with the Samsung Smart View app.

Did you use Samsung Link and, if so, are you disappointed that the company has decided to unceremoniously end this service? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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