ZTE Axon 7 mini goes on sale in the UK from Carphone Warehouse

The ZTE Axon 7 mini is crossing the pond to the UK. Carphone Warehouse is the first retailer in the United Kingdom to sell the 5.2-inch smartphone, both online and in its retail stores. This launch fallows the release of the phone in the US in October.

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ZTE Axon 7 mini hands on

September 1, 2016

If you don't want to bother with a pesky contract or payment plan, Carphone Warehouse is selling the phone unlocked for £249.99. However, if you want to pay over time, you can pay to get the phone for £13.50 a month with a £50 upfront cost, or for £17.50 a month with no upfront cost. The retailer is selling the phone in both its Ion Gold and Platinum Gray colors, although as of this writing the gray color is sold out online.

The ZTE Axon 7 mini has a 1920×1080 AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor with a clock speed of 1.5 GHz,  3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage along with a microSD card slot to add up to 256GB of additional storage. The phone also has a 16 megapixel rear camera, an 8MP front-facing camera, and a non-removable 2705mAh battery. It comes with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow installed out of the box. The all-metal body of the phone also features dual front facing speakers.

Get it at Carphone Warehouse

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Republic Wireless is giving you six months of free service

Republic Wireless is celebrating its independence today, and it's celebrating big: if you buy a qualifying smartphone from the carrier, it comes with six months of free service!

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Republic Wireless now lets you bring your own phone

August 11, 2016

You might not know what Republic Wireless is, and I don't blame you: it's been living under the shadow of its parent company, borrowing big carriers' networks to provide service to customers. First, it was Sprint's network, and that continued for five years ever since the birth of Republic Wireless. And not too long ago, it added support for T-Mobile's network, which was kind of a game-changer.

Having T-Mobile support meant customers were able to purchase latest Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7 or the Nexus 6P and use T-Mobile's GSM network including its LTE. Except all that was for a fraction of the price you'd pay at T-Mobile. In fact, Republic Wireless – a self-proclaimed Wi-Fi first carrier – offers plans as low as $5 a month, and its basic smartphone plan with unlimited call and text plus 1GB of data costs $20. Compare that to $80 or more with any of the Big Four carriers in the US, it's hard to deny that it's a bargain.

Well, the carrier has secured enough funding to become an independent company, separate from its parent company Bandwidth. And although its relationship with T-Mobile is unchanged, this marks an important beginning for the Wi-Fi first carrier. And that's why if you buy the Moto Z Play (discounted at $349) between December 7^th through 12^th of the Huawei Ascend 5W (discounted at $129) between December 13^th through 19^th, Republic Wireless is willing to give you contract-free six months of free service. That includes unlimited calling and texting as well as 1GB of data.

Republic Wireless is willing to give you contract-free six months of free service. That includes unlimited calling and texting as well as 1GB of data.

Chris Chuang, CEO of Republic Wireless, emphasizes just how much money it's helped its customers save by offering comparable plans at much lower price points:

The past five years have been an incredible ride as we've worked hard to save our customers tens of millions of dollars off their cell phone bills.

Are you using Republic Wireless right now? How is it treating you? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

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More cloud storage options available for Office for Android

Microsoft brings good news for Android Office users: you can now save and update your Office files on more cloud storage platforms like Dropbox.

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Microsoft Office apps get updated with 'Tell Me' feature, among other things

May 29, 2016

December is already off to a good start, it seems. Microsoft announced today that its Cloud Storage Partner Program is now available for those who use Office apps on Android devices. This means that you can now edit, store, and update your Office files not only on OneDrive but also other cloud storage providers' apps. As of now, Microsoft Office on Android supports Dropbox, Box, Egnyte, and 腾讯微云 (Tencent). The company says that it will be adding more support in the near future, in particular Citrix ShareFile, Edmodo, and Learnium.

This means that you can now edit, store, and update your Office files not only on OneDrive but also other cloud storage providers' apps.

The Cloud Storage Partner Program has been available on iOS devices for quite some time now, so it's good to see that Android is also getting some love. All you have to do is add your preferred cloud storage provider from the Add a place menu in the latest versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Android. Essentially, you will be able to save your files on that platform, launch files from that platform, and any change will be automatically saved back on that platform.

Although the company assures that the list will continue to expand over time, it wouldn't be shocking to see Google Drive excluded from that. After all, by allowing users to create Microsoft Office files and share, edit, and store them on various cloud storages, the company is, in some ways, competing directly with Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets.

Will you be taking advantage of this new feature? Or will you be sticking with Google Drive for now? Let us know by dropping a comment down below!

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Moto Mod smart car dock from Incipio announced for Moto Z

The lineup of modular Moto Mods for the Moto Z family of smartphones continues. Motorola officially announced that Incipio will launch a smart car dock Moto Mod sometime next week. It also confirmed the previously revealed Mophie battery pack Moto Mod that's now on sale at Verizon Wireless.

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Moto Mods Review: Blast, Power and Project in a snap

July 27, 2016

The Verge reports that the car dock attaches to the Moto Z on its back with magnets, like any other Moto Mod. The dock can then be attached to a vent on the car's dashboard in both vertical and horizontal positions. When the phone is connected to the dock, it automatically launches the recently revamped Android Auto app, which was redesigned to work on a phone's display. You can also charge the phone on the dock and connect to your car's stereo speaker with a 3.5mm jack. The price for the car dock will be $64.99.

Motorola also indicated that more Moto Mods are in the works for 2017, with the plan to release about four of them per quarter. One of them might be a Tango 3D camera that would enable the Moto Z phones to use the growing number of AR apps using Google's technology.

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Minecraft Pocket Edition celebrates its 5th birthday with new info on 1.0 update

About five years ago, developer Mojang released the first version of Minecraft Pocket Edition for Android. At the time, the mobile version of the popular PC sandbox game was an exclusive for Sony's Xperia Play smartphone (remember that?). Now the developer is celebrating the 5th anniversary of that launch with more info, and a new trailer, for the game's upcoming 1.0 update.

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The best games like Minecraft on Android

March 20, 2016

Mojang, which was bought by Microsoft after the launch of Minecraft Pocket Edition, says that the mobile version currently has over 40 million players. It remains on the top of the Google Play Store charts as the most downloaded paid game. Since the launch, the developer has been busy adding new features that will allow the mobile version of the game to have the same features as the PC version of Minecraft when it officially came out of beta several years ago.

Minecraft Pocket Edition will officially reach that milestone sometime later in December with the upcoming 1.0 update. Mojang revealed some of its features today, which include something called the World Seed Library. This is supposed to help players find world with the specific types of features they want from the game. Also coming in the update are polar bears for any snowy or artic-based worlds. Finally, the game's original soundtrack will finally be added to the Pocket Edition for the first time. Mojang says that they also have plans beyond the 1.0 update for the game, but obviously they want to keep those a secret for now.

Do you play Minecraft Pocket Edition? If so, are you excited about the upcoming 1.0 update?

Get it at Google Play

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ESPN app updated with Chromecast and live streaming support

Sports fans who demand access all the time to the latest news and videos are likely already using the ESPN app for Android. Today, the app become all the more useful thanks to an update that added a number of new features.

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July 24, 2016

Perhaps the biggest new feature is the ability for smartphone owners to cast live games to their TV via the Chromecast. The update also improves the app's live streaming features, adding a stats button that will allow users to check out the latest statistics of their favorite football or basketball player without having to leave the stream. The ESPN app also adds new Live Cards that offers a quick look at the latest scores, news and commentary from the network's lineup of pundits.

The news section of the app has also been refreshed with larger photos, quick summaries of each article and a better way to share news stories with others. Finally, the app adds full coverage of the ESPNs-sponsored X-Games, with fans of extreme sports able to keep up with all aspects of the annual Summer and Winter event, including alerts when your favorite snowboarder or BMX biker does something really cool.

Get it at Google Play

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GizmoTab is a tablet made with both kids and parents in mind

Parents who want a tablet for their young kids have a new option in the GizmoTab from Verizon Wireless. The carrier began selling the 8-inch Android tablet today, which includes a "kid-tough" removable bumper that can keep it working despite the large amount of abuse young children can offer.

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Best Android tablets

2 weeks ago

The pre-installed software that comes with the GizmoTab has been created especially for kids age 3-8, with access to 300 education-themed apps that are grouped in seven different islands. Those apps include Play-Doh ABCs, Operation Math Code Squad and Nat Geo Puzzle Explorer. Parents can access a dashboard on the tablet that will keep track of their kid's use and set limits on how long they can use the device.

When the kids are in bed or at grandma's, parents can use the GizmoTab like any other Android tablet, with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and 16GB of onboard storage. It does have Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 pre-installed, along with a 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera. It also can connect to Verizon's LTE network. The carrier is selling the GizmoTab for $249.99 without a contract, $79.99 with a two year contract, or for $10.24 a month for 24 months.

Get it at Verizon

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