Google may employ LG for another Nexus phone

Photo: LG Nexus

Google may employ LG for another Nexus phone

LG’s Nexus smartphones — the Nexus 4 and the Nexus 5 — were arguably two of the best Google devices to date. In fact, they were so good that Google has asked LG to build another one, according to a report from South Korea.

eToday reports Google engineers have been spotted at LG’s headquarter, where they took a tour of the facilities responsible for building the company’s displays, cameras, and wireless charging components — as well as LG’s research and development facility.

The reason for the visit? A smartphone with the codename “N000,” which will launch as the Nexus 7, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Yes, that’s the name of Google’s 7-inch Nexus tablet, which makes the whole thing a little confusing. But while Nexus tablets are named based on their size, Nexus smartphones have long been named purely by the order in which they are released.

But of course, this is purely speculation for now. A new Nexus smartphone is more than six months away, and it’s never a good idea to rely on rumors this premature.

I must say, though, I certainly wouldn’t mind another Nexus made by LG. I adored the Nexus 4 and the Nexus 5, and while they weren’t perfect smartphones, they were certainly excellent products for the price.

Google may employ LG for another Nexus phone

By Killian Bell SourceeToday ViaPhandroid

Google posts handy guide for folks switching from iPhone to Android

With the upcoming releases of the Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google thought it wise to create a nice, simple guide for those compelled to switch from iPhone to Android.

It’s no doubt a hard counter to Apple’s similar move when introducing their new bigger iPhones (because bigger iPhones means folks will leave Android in droves, mirite?).

The guide isn’t terribly in-depth, but it does touch on four of the most important things you might want to get situated upon first moving to your new platform. Here’s what it’ll show you:

• How to bring your photos and music
• How to transfer contacts
• How to setup email and messaging
• How to find your favorite apps

Of course, there is much more to learn in the vast world of Android and all the greatness that exists within Google Play, but if you aren’t sure where to begin then this wouldn’t be a bad resource to use. We have a feeling you won’t be needing Apple’s guide once you get a taste of what Android has to offer.

Google posts handy guide for folks switching from iPhone to Android

 

[via Google]

MultiROM v32a multi boot

Introduction

MultiROM is one-of-a-kind multi-boot mod for Nexus 6. It can boot any Android ROM as well as other systems like Ubuntu Touch, once they are ported to that device. Besides booting from device's internal memory, MultiROM can boot from USB drive connected to the device via OTG cable. The main part of MultiROM is a boot manager, which appears every time your device starts and lets you choose ROM to boot. You can see how it looks on the left image below and in gallery. ROMs are installed and managed via modified TWRP recovery. You can use standard ZIP files to install secondary Android ROMs and MultiROM even has its own installer system, which can be used to ship other Linux-based systems.

Features:
* Multiboot any number of Android ROMs
* Restore nandroid backup as secondary ROM
* Boot from USB drive attached via OTG cable

You can also watch a video which shows it in action.

Warning!

It _is_ dangerous. This whole thing is basically one giant hack - none of these systems are made with multibooting in mind. It is no longer messing with data partition or boot sector, but it is possible that something goes wrong and you will have to flash factory images again. Make backups. Always.

Installation

1. Via MultiROM Manager app
This is the easiest way to install everything MultiROM needs. Install the app and select MultiROM and recovery on the Install/Update card. If the Status card says Kernel: doesn't have kexec-hardboot patch! in red letters, you have to install also patched kernel - either select one on the Install/Update card or get some 3rd-party kernel here on XDA. You are chosing kernel for your primary ROM, not any of your (future) secondary ROMs, so select the version accordingly.
Press "Install" on the Install/Update card to start the installation.

2.Manual installation
Firstly, there are videos on youtube. If you want, just search for "MultiROM installation" on youtube and watch those, big thanks to all who made them. There is also an awesome article on Linux Journal.

MultiROM has 3 parts you need to install:

• MultiROM (multirom-YYYYMMDD-vXX-shamu.zip) - download the ZIP file from second post and flash it in recovery.
• Modified recovery (TWRP_multirom_shamu_YYYYMMDD.img) - download the IMG file from second post and use fastboot or Flashify app to flash it.
• Patched kernel - You can use either one of the stock ones in second post or third-party kernels which include the patch, you can see list in the second post. Download the ZIP file and flash it in recovery.

You current rom will not be erased by the installation.
Download links are in the second post.

Adding ROMs

1. Android
Go to recovery, select Advanced -> MultiROM -> Add ROM. Select the ROM's zip file and confirm. As for the space, clean installation of stock 5.0 after first boot (with dalvik cache generated and connected to google account) takes about 1 GiB of space.

Using USB drive

During installation, recovery lets you select install location. Plug in the USB drive, wait a while and press "refresh" so that it shows partitions on the USB drive. You just select the location (extX, NTFS and FAT32 partitions are supported) and proceed with the installation.
If you wanna use other than default FAT32 partition, just format it in PC. If you don't know how/don't know where to find out how, you probably should not try installing MultiROM.
If you are installing to NTFS or FAT32 partition, recovery asks you to set image size for all the partitions - this cannot be easilly changed afterward, so choose carefully. FAT32 is limited to maximum of 4095MB per image - it is limitation of the filesystem, I can do nothing about that.
Installation to USB drives takes a bit longer, because the flash drive is (usually) slower and it needs to create the images, so installation of Ubuntu to 4Gb image on my pretty fast USB drive takes about 20 minutes.
Enumerating USB drive can take a while in MultiROM menu, so when you press the "USB" button in MultiROM, wait a while (max. 30-45s) until it searches the USB drive. It does it by itself, no need to press something, just wait.

Updating/changing ROMs

1. Primary ROM (Internal)

• Flash ROM's ZIP file as usual, do factory reset if needed (it won't erase secondary ROMs)
• Go to Advanced -> MultiROM in recovery and do Inject curr. boot sector.

2. Secondary Android ROMs
If you want to change the ROM, delete it and add new one. To update ROM, follow these steps:

• Go to Advanced -> MultiROM -> List ROMs and select the ROM you want to update.
• Select "Flash ZIP" and flash ROM's ZIP file.

Source code

MultiROM - https://github.com/Tasssadar/multirom/tree/master (branch master)
Modified TWRP - https://github.com/Tasssadar/Team-Win-Recovery-Project (branch master)
Kernel w/ kexec-hardboot patch - https://github.com/Tasssadar/android...ipop-mr1-kexec

Google in talks with LG to build this year’s Nexus smartphone, not Huawei

Details about how the Nexus 6 was conceived is still shrouded in mystery. With rumors last year that Google would effectively be killing off the Nexus line in favor of multiple high-end devices — all running stock Android — sold in carrier stores, Google seemingly made a U-turn. This was after the Android Silver project head made his sudden departure from the company altogether.
Now, as we look ahead to the next Nexus, early rumors began swirling that Chinese smartphone maker Huawei would take up the mantle, something we’ll admit we never saw coming. But before you got your hopes up (or down), a new report has emerged, suggesting that it could be none other than LG.
Apparently, Google engineers were spotted visiting LG headquarters in South Korea, where they took a tour of a few LG facilities responsible for building LG’s displays, OIS cameras, wireless charging parts, as well as LG’s own R&D facilities. Carrying the codename “N000,” (those are zeroes, by the way, not the letter “o”) the device — said to be a smartphone — could launch as the “ Nexus 7.” Um… what?
Going by Google’s current naming convention, the number following a Nexus name has always denoted screen size — not generation. It’d be odd if Google suddenly switched gears confusing consumers in the process. So, that either means Google is looking to LG for a 7-inch tablet followup, or they’re launching a 7-inch smartphone (or not using the 7 name at all). If LG is making another tablet (and not a smartphone), then it’s still entirely possible for Huawei could be working on the actual smartphone. Confused yet? So are we.
As you can already tell, we’re getting a little bit ahead of ourselves here. In any case, LG is a major Android partner and has released quite a few Nexus devices to date, even more if you count their Google Play tablet. If rumors of an LG-made Nexus 2015 smartphone are true, would you guys be disappointed or overjoyed?
[eToday]

Android 5.1 update on your Nexus device, how Google manages updates

Android 5.1 update on your Nexus device, how Google manages updates

If you keep hitting “check for updates” on your Nexus device, you are just wasting your time, and stressing your fingers. We know, we don’t like to wait for the OTA update either.

Having your device constantly check for updates is about as effective as repeatedly hitting a floor button on an elevator – it’s not. As it happens, clearing Google Service Framework data doesn’t help either, in fact, it will actually hurt your chances of getting an update in a timely manner.

We dug through the interwebs to find some information about how Google manages Android updates, et voila, we found an explanation by Google’s own Dan Morrill, an Android Engineer, on Reddit. He shared these pearls of wisdom a little over a year ago when Android 4.4 KitKat started rolling out, but let’s rehash these things as they touch on both tactics for trying to get Android updates, and explain perfectly why they don’t work.

Taking the latter issue first, if you clear the Google Service Framework data, Google’s servers see this as factory reset, changing the primary ID for your device. Doesn’t sound like a big deal right? The problem is that it invalidates all the app tokens which, in turn, wreaks havoc over notifications. In short, you won’t brick your device, but you are not getting it to the front of the line trying to grab the newest OS update.

As for continuously “checking for updates,” it is not unlike knocking at the door when no one is home. The updates are pushed out in phases. The first phase lasts 24-48 hours, and will reach about 1% of devices initially. The engineers then examine error reports and how the devices are checking in.

If all is going well, then the second phase will push out to about 25% of the install base. Assuming there are no further problems (if any), then the following phase will reach 50%, and so-on over the next couple of weeks.

How does that translate to you the user? Well, if you hit “check for updates” during the first phase, basically you have a 1% chance of getting the update. If your device is not randomly selected to receive the “offer,” then you are on the sidelines until the next phase starts. In Morrill’s own words, “Once your device checks in and gets turned down, that’s it until the next batch. Mashing on the ‘check for updates’ button just causes yourdevice to check in again, and get automatically turned down again. Think about how that makes your device feel! WON’T SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE PHONES?”

As you may expect, the next phase gives your device another shot at hitting pay dirt for the update, but again, once the device checks in, that is it for a given 24-hour period usually.

If it’s any consolation, the “offers” are random, updates are not handled on a first-come, first-served basis. While that means there is no “race” to get the update first, we kind of wish it was sometimes.

 

Android 5.1 update on your Nexus device, how Google manages updates

source: Dan Morill (1, 2) via Reddit

Google just acknowledges leaky memory, is fix coming to Android 5.1.1 or not ?

A memory leak that was originally discovered in Android 5.0.1, is still annoying and befuddling Nexus device users with Android 5.1. According to the Issue Tracker page on the AOSP website, Google has internally fixed the issue and plans to include it in an upcoming release. That most likely would be Android 5.1.1. 

The complaints are beginning to read the same. Apps, especially Google+, restart on their own. Some active apps disappear in the middle of using them, and free RAM drops in hours to about 750MB-800MB from 1.1GB-1.3GB. Most of the people who sent in a complaint appear to be using the Nexus 5, although other Nexus devices have been cited. Some complaints said that opening apps would increase the amount of RAM in use, but closing apps would not reduce that figure.

Issue 159738, "Memory leak still present on Android 5.1," was closed by Google on Friday. Now, it is just a matter of waiting for Android 5.1.1. Google will no doubt stamp this as "Rush" because no one wants to live with the craziness of a handset running with a memory leak.

Thanks for the tip Rodrigo!

source: AOSP