There are plenty of markets around the world that might not have a population that’s willing to shell out $1,000 for a smartphone. This is why there are companies that purely make cheap Android phones to sell to the masses. Obviously there are compromises when you make a cheap phone, such as using less premium materials or using lower-end hardware.

Unfortunately, it also seems that in some cases, you might end up compromising on security as well. According to a report from BuzzFeed News, it seems that there are cheap Chinese Android smartphones being sold in regions such as Africa where it has been discovered that these phones actually come preloaded with malware that will steal your money.

One of the nifty features of the iOS and macOS ecosystem is that they all work hand in hand. This is especially useful if you have a new device and need to connect to the WiFi, in which you can actually sync the password of the WiFi network from an older device with the new one, saving you some time.

The good news is that it looks like Google wants the same thing for Android and Chrome OS where based on the comments made by developers, it seems that soon Google will enable WiFi password syncing between Android and Chrome OS devices. This means that if you’re connected to someone’s WiFi network and don’t want to bother them for the password, or if you forgot your password, you can use this sync feature to connect the new device to the network.

The beauty of Android over iOS is that Android usually lets users choose their default apps, while iOS pretty much limits users to the default apps. However, the bad news is that come Android 11, Google seems to be clamping down on allowing users to pick their default camera within apps.

Basically, with certain apps, the developers can make it so that users can choose to use a different camera app apart from the default one it is bundled with. This is because some apps aren’t designed to be photography apps, and as such, they might not necessarily take the best photos or give users more control.

The company has announced that they will be “raising the bar” with their Android update support where a bunch of Samsung handsets and tablets will now be eligible for at least three generations worth of updates. This means that depending on the device, your handset or tablet could receive major Android updates up to 2021 or some even going into 2022.

The support devices include Samsung’s Galaxy S series starting with the Galaxy S10 Lite and newer; the Note series which starts from the Note 10 Lite and newer; Samsung’s entire foldable lineup; the Galaxy A series which starts with the A51 and newer; and the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and newer.

The argument that the US government is using in their bid to ban TikTok is that they claim that the app collects data on US citizens, which they believe poses a risk to national security. It seems that whatever excuses TikTok is making to defend itself might be moot, especially with a recent discovery.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, it appears that towards the end of 2019, TikTok had actually been collecting data on Android users in the form of the user’s MAC addresses. Unlike cookies that can be easily deleted, MAC addresses are unique identifiers that are used especially in digital advertising to identify devices.

When it comes to mobile chipsets, Qualcomm is undoubtedly king. This isn’t to say that they are necessarily the best, but they do have a massive chunk of the chipset market. Samsung is producing chipsets of their own, although benchmarks have shown in the past that the company’s Exynos chipsets simply aren’t up to scratch compared to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series.

However, that could change soon because according to a report from Business Korea, it seems that Samsung could be looking to take things up a notch by partnering with the likes of ARM and AMD. For those unfamiliar, ARM is the company that developed the architecture that many companies like Qualcomm, Samsung, Apple, and Huawei use for their own chipsets.

Microsoft is set to release Project xCloud on Android devices next month, but the good news is that if you can’t wait to try it out, you’ll be very pleased to learn that Microsoft has actually released the beta version of the service today where if you’re interested, you’ll actually be able to take it for a spin ahead of the public launch.

It should be noted that since this is a beta, Microsoft does warn that there could be some quirks with the service, but for the most part it should still be largely playable. Also, instead of offering over 100 titles, the beta will only give gamers access to about 30 of the launch times, but that should still be more than enough to tide you over until the service goes live for everyone.

One of the upsides of using Android is the ability to use custom launchers. Unlike iOS where users are more or less stuck with what Apple has given them, Android allows for a greater degree of customization.

If you’re not planning on rooting your Android device, launchers are a great way to customize your device without getting too technical and are usually safe and won’t mess up your phone.

On video platforms like YouTube or media apps like VLC, users are able to control the playback speed of their videos. They can slow things down or they can speed it up. The good news for Netflix users is that if you were hoping to get these kind of controls, you’ll be pleased to learn that it is now happening.

If you watch Netflix on Android, the company has recently confirmed that they are rolling out support for playback speed controls. This will let users speed up videos by 1.25x or 1.5x, or slow down videos by 0.5x or 0.75x. However, it seems that these settings will not be saved and users will need to manually speed up or slow down their videos with every video watched.

This is why it doesn’t really come as a surprise to learn that Microsoft has since announced that they will be shutting down the Cortana apps on both iOS and Android. According to Microsoft, “As we make this shift toward a transformational AI-powered assistant experience in Microsoft 365, we need to adjust our focus areas of innovation and development to give our customers assistance where they need it most. As a result, we are making changes to some U.S. consumer-centric features and functionalities with lower usage.”

This doesn’t mean that Microsoft is done with Cortana or that they are killing it off entirely. Instead Cortana will continue to live on within iOS and Android, but it will live on by being integrated within Microsoft’s 365 apps, so if you really have to use Cortana, you’ll still be able to access it within these apps.

One of the new features that Google is bringing to Android 11 are Bubbles. The concept of chat heads isn’t new and we’ve seen Facebook use it with Messenger in the past, but with Android 11, Google is bringing it about in a big way. In fact, according to 9to5Google, it seems that Google could be bringing its Assistant feature to Bubbles.

According to an APK teardown, they found evidence that suggests that Google is working on something called Assistant Chat Head. Similar to Bubbles, it shows how Google Assistant can float about on the Android home screen like a contact that you’re chatting with. For now, tapping on it summons Google Assistant.

Apple’s iPhones and Google’s Android devices come with their own digital assistants in the form of Siri and Google Assistant. One of the advantages of having a native digital assistant is that it is deeply integrated into the operating system, allowing them to do things that third-party digital assistants can’t.

However, it seems that Amazon’s Alexa will soon start to creep into more iOS and Android apps as Amazon has announced what they are calling Alexa for Apps. This is a new feature that is currently in preview and basically what it does is that it allows Alexa more access to iOS and Android apps, where users who prefer using Alexa can now launch and control these apps to a certain extent.

Every year, it’s probably safe to assume that there are a number of iPhone users who decide that they want to make the switch to Android, and vice versa. There are many reasons for this, but for the iPhone SE, it seems that cost could be one of the main draws because according to Counterpoint Research, it has pulled in more Android users than before.

According to their data, the 2020 iPhone SE managed to attract 26% of Android users over to it. This seems to be higher than normal for Android users who are making the jump to Apple’s iPhones. According to Jeff Fieldhack, Counterpoint’s Research Director for North America, “Over 26% of iPhone SE users moved over from an Android device, which is higher than normal Android to iOS switching.”

Chevrolet and Ford have abandoned the large sedan segment in the United States, but Toyota isn't pulling back as they've announced a series of updates to the 2021 Avalon.