This is not the column I intended to write today. That one lies one tab over, not yet deleted, but never to be published. No better time than right now to make things better. Or at least try to. It's not that there was anything particularly bad about it. I love the idea of asking "What kind of Internet do you want to live in?" And I thoroughly enjoy discussion of the open web,...
Is there anything more boring than a wireless operator in the United States? Here we are again with the virtually simultaneous releases of the Samsung Galaxy S6 and HTC One M9 — two phones that give us a lot of reasons to be excited. But the colors available here in the U.S., sadly, are not one of them. To be fair, HTC's usual MO is to do the safe stuff first — in this case silver...
A week ago today we were running all over Barcelona in one of the more insane days of coverage in recent memory. So many devices, companies and events. So how'd we do? It's hard to not wake up in Barcelona excited. It's a beautiful city, first of all. And it takes its time getting out of bed on the weekends, so on occasion you can feel like you have the streets to yourself. I'd...
Google's latest Android commercial brings a very swift and different reaction — but why? It's funny how those of us with two legs respond to those with four in a very different way than we do each other. That's not exactly a new thought, and I don't think I'm having it just because we got a new addition to our home last week. (That's Max and my wife, Shannon, above.) Google's put out...
This job never ceases to amaze me. Sometimes the weeks fly by. Sometimes they drag. Sometimes they're full of headaches. Sometimes the work perpetuates things. Sometimes I hit the weekend thankful for a couple days' respite. The past week was a fun one, speaking as an editor. We cruised through our Nest series, the first of our new focus on, well, focus. We're still going to do all the...
Let's keep things a little light for this week's column, shall we? Probably the biggest news of note is that we're going to start doing more series work. That is, we'll take a specific topic and do more cohesive coverage of it, instead of shotgunning stories here and there throughout the year. It's the right way to do it, and so that's how we're going to do things going forward,...
There was no liveblogging. Only a smattering of tweeting. And not a single selfie stick. The "Living the Dream" event my wife and I attended Saturday night, honoring generations of civil rights leaders and ushering in the new generations to come, was quite the departure from CES in Las Vegas a week ago. I freely admit I probably don't appreciate the importance of an event like that....
A few (more) thoughts on the boss' favorites We survived another one. Another week in Las Vegas. Another week at CES and forced narratives and crazy awesome tech that many of us won't ever be able to afford, right alongside crazy (crazy) tech that will never see the light of day once it's shipped back from the Las Vegas Convention Center. That, friends, is CES, at least from the tech...
Fun fact: Christmas Day actually is one of the top traffic days of the year for this little site. That makes sense when you stop to think about it. Lots of folks are getting new Android toys. And lots of folks are searching for things about their new toys. And that means there are lots of folks who are finding us for the first time. By that same token, they're also finding you. Your...
The Galaxy Note has moved out of its niche Phil is spending some much-deserved holiday time away from his desk this weekend, so you're stuck with me. He'll be back with more weekly punditry next Sunday. In the meantime ... I had a very interesting day this past week. Some last minute holiday gifts needed bought, and since I live in a sleepy little town, that meant a road trip. My...
What happens when an embattled, smartphone-based car service lands in sleepy Pensacola? It's been an interesting week in my hometown. In the same week in which Pensacola (somehow) continued to have a debate over whether the offensive Confederate battle flag should be flown anywhere — and this has been an issue here since before I was born — we saw our first uberX cars hit the streets...
There's not much time to look back on the past five years — the next five are going to be crazy good This past week marked my fifth year running Android Central. I've now been out of the newspaper business half as long as I spent inside it. And quite a lot has changed in the industry this latest half-decade. And quite a lot has changed here as well, and continues to change. We've...
Finally, things are about to slow down a tad. That's not to say there's not work to do — there's a ton — but I'm finally shifting out of travel mode and back to editing mode. (Not that there's a switch or something, but it's definitely hard to do the latter when you're also doing the former.) Moreover, it means more time with friends and family before it all starts again in January with...
Not that anyone's actually pushed Android 5.0 updates yet, but so what if the Nexus 5 isn't the first to get Lollipop? So let me make sure I've got this right. It's pretty clear that all the major Android device manufacturers have been working with Android 5.0 Lollipop code for some time now, and they're all practically tripping over each other to be the first one to release updates....
Saturday mornings at my house (providing that I'm not on the road) usually go something like this: I wake up way too early for a weekend. I enjoy, oh, maybe an hour of quiet time with a cup of coffee, a bit of music (turned way the hell down) and some reading. Not Android. Not work. Just reading. At some point a kid wakes up. Doesn't matter which one. And as soon as soon as that...
After a full week on the road, a couple things stand out regarding recent events from HTC and Sony. It's crazy to think that HTC has had such a bigger presence in the U.S. than the Japanese giant, but that's the way it's been for a few years now. But for both companies, maybe things finally are about to change. We'll start with HTC, since it came first in the week. I spent a solid...
Nobody likes a trollout. Perhaps the worst words you can see in an announcement about a new release or update to anything is "will start rolling out to users over the next few weeks," or something to that effect. It's called a staggered release. We call it a trollout. It plays with our emotions and, more accurately, our patience. And it's probably one of the smarter things that happens...
For as fast as we tend to move forward around here, the past few days I've caught myself looking back. Back an entire decade — something that I (usually) still don't feel old enough to be able to say. (Never mind that I'm easily feeling dated thanks to the sleeping wife, aching feet, two loud-but-adorable kids, and bacon traded for yogurt.) Ten years is a long time for some things, and...
Three cities, and a mountain of coverage We've done a lot of things and gone a lot of places in my five years of doing this job. New York. San Francisco. Las Vegas. San Diego. Chicago. Detroit. Orlando. Los Angeles. Seattle. London. Berlin. Barcelona. Seoul. Austin. Dallas. And that's just off the top of my head. I don't remember ever pulling off — or being anywhere near as tired, or...
We've reached that point of the year at which I'm required once again to remind you of the following: Shit's gonna get crazy. Let's recap the next couple of weeks: This week we've got the IFA conference in Berlin. I'm sitting it out this year, but Alex and Richard have it covered, with an able hand from the one and only Derek Kessler. They'll be on hand for Samsung's Unpacked event...