Mobile Nations Weekly: All the way to Z
- jun
- 12
Behold, Moto's new Zs.
This was Motorola's first real outing under the Lenovo umbrella and they came out in full force with the new Moto Z and Moto Z Force with magnetically-attached Moto Mod accessories like an extended battery, loudspeakers, and projector. Just one hitch: the phones are exclusive to Verizon through the summer.
Microsoft pushed yet another Insider build for Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile, bringing the Fast Ring up to Build 14631. We also saw the return of the Bank of America app, last seen in the days of Windows Phone 8 — and a leak of NFC Tap to Pay for Windows 10 Mobile.
Tesla came under fire for suspension problems that turned out to no be poblems at all, but Tesla's salty response to the accusations threatened to overwhelm the original non-story. Tesla also announced a new battery pack option: a software-limited Model S 60 and 60D, bringing the starting price down to $66,000.
Team iMore is heading out to WWDC 2016 — Apple's annual World Wide Developers Conference, and while we can only speculate on what Apple might be poised to announce, there's a lot we want to see in iOS 10, macOS 12, tvOS 10, and watchOS 2.
iMore — WWDC you soon!
We're on our way to Apple's annual World Wide Developers Conference — WWDC 2016 — where we'll be bringing you the keynote live on Monday, the Loop/iMore Beard Bash party later that night, and all the action from Dub Dub, AltConf, and Layers, throughout the week. And make sure you follow @reneritchie, @settern, @journeydan, @apaholik, and @mikahsargent on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat for all the behind-the-scenes action!
- Roundtable wish-lists: iOS 10, macOS 12, tvOS 10, watchOS 2, WWDC 2016
- What we're taking to WWDC: Rene, Serenity, Bader, Lory, Mikah
- More iPhone 7 rumors, of course
Android Central — Lenovo does it big
This was Lenovo and Motorola's week to shine, with the annual Tech World event taking place in San Francisco and packing in all sorts of awesome news. Lenovo launched the gigantic Tango-enabled PHAB 2 Pro, and then Motorola took the stage to unveil the beautiful new Moto Z and Moto Z Force and their Moto Mod accessories. Unfortunately, they're exclusive to Verizon through the summer.
There was also plenty of other news outside of Lenovo's world. Project Fi added U.S. Cellular to its network, the OnePlus 2 started getting Marshmallow, Nextbit dropped the Robin's price, NVIDIA Shield Android TV got some sweet updates and Marshmallow is now running on 10% of Android phones.
- Samsung Gear Fit 2 review: A great fitness tracker, with a little extra
- Moto Z and Moto Z Force — what's the difference?
- Moto Z and Moto Z Force hands-on
- Making your Android look like a Nexus
- Don't buy a Chromebook right now (in June 2016)
- Ask AC: Should I buy a Chromecast?
- Samsung Galaxy S7 Active review: MORE ACTIVE!
CrackBerry — KimBerry
A rather lively week for BlackBerry news ranging from everything from anonymous reports from AT&T execs about Priv sales to BlackBerry helping law enforcement right down to Kim Kardashian.
- Anonymous AT&T exec claims Priv sales are 'really struggling'
- BlackBerry has intercepted BBM messages for authorities to fight crime
- Kim Kardashian might have to give up her BlackBerry Bold
Tesla Central — Battery hits
Oh what a week. Tesla came under scrutiny after reported problems with the Model S suspension, which was actually the smallest part of the story — a preliminary NHTSA inquiry into a single customer's complaint and a misunderstanding over legalese prompted an avalanche of poor press (which Tesla handled poorly). In the end there was no issue and most of the complaints were false.
Amid speculation that Tesla might be exploring new battery partners for the Tesla Model 3, CEO Elon Musk affirmed that Panasonic would continue to be their exclusive battery cell provider. And speaking of those batteries, it turns out concerns about their longevity can be easily assuaged — you'll only see a 23-mile range loss per every 100,000 miles driven. Continuing on batteries, Tesla introduced a new option for the Model S: a software-limited 60 and 60D, bringing the starting price down to $66,000
- Tesla calls claim of forced customer silence 'preposterous' amid NHTSA suspension inquiry
- Under attack, Tesla lashes out in the worst possible way
- NHTSA clears Tesla in suspension inquiry, finds 93% of complaints fraudulent
- Tesla Model S starting price drops to $66,000 with 60 and 60D options
- Panasonic is the exclusive battery supplier for the Tesla Model S, X, and 3
- Worried about Tesla battery degradation? It's 23 miles per every 100,000 driven
- On Supercharger and EV ettiquette
VR Heads — Wholly virtual
The post-Computex rush of crazy new hardware concepts and exciting yet wildly impractical whole-body VR experiences has started to fade, which means it's back to the stuff we can touch right here and now!
HTC has stepped up their game and promised shipping within 2-3 days on all new orders, and NVIDIA's new GTX 1070 has been WOWing reviewers left and right. We also got a decent metric for how popular Adult content is in VR, with an IndieGoGo campaign promising to make the "World's Best VR Glasses for Porn" hitting its goal in under 24 hours. Actually, now that it's all written out like that, this week was just as weird and exciting as last week.
- HTC Vive now ships in 2-4 business days, more US demo locations added!
- "World's Best VR Glasses for Porn hits IndieGoGo goal in under 24 hours!!
- Reviews are in for NVIDIA's GTX 1070, survey says oh hell yes!!
Enter to win an HTC Vive VR headset and ASUS VR-capable gaming PC!
Windows Central — Building
Microsoft had another busy week with new builds of Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile hitting the Fast Ring for Insiders. Build 14361 is now available for those who want an early look at the Anniversary Update and with it comes many new features, fixes, and smaller changes. You can read all about it in our comprehensive breakdown article.
Bank of America returned to Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile with a shiny new Universal app. We liked it so much it is a featured Gem in our continuing showcase of fantastic Windows apps with Microsoft
Speaking of banks, we confirmed that NFC Tap to Pay is right around the corner for Windows 10 Mobile. In fact, we got our hands on a leaked version of the app and even tested in a McDonald's with great success. Read our exclusive story to find out all the details.
Finally, we posted our second episode of the rebooted Windows Central Podcast featuring Daniel Bader, Daniel Rubino, and Michael Fisher!