Category: Android Phone

With demand high and supply limited, Samsung is having to ramp up production of the Galaxy Note 7.  Reuters reports that the Korean company has had higher demand than they expected for the Note 7 and that they will be sorting out how and where to increase production to meet the needs.

“As pre-order results for the Galaxy Note 7 have far exceeded our estimates, its release date in some markets has been adjusted,” Samsung told Reuters in a statement without commenting on where launch delays could occur.

Samsung has made similar comments in the past, most notably on last year’s Galaxy S6 Edge, and one could argue that they creating a false urgency in the market.  While there is probably a little bit of truth to it, the numbers don’t lie.  Samsung is expected to sell upwards of 15 million Galaxy Note 7’s this year and delays in launching have already happened with further “adjustments” to the launch schedule made to try to keep up with demand.

The challenge, of course, is that Samsung risks losing buyers outright to competitor products so the faster they can ramp up that production, the better.  Samsung’s stock was down 2% yesterday after this news broke.

Microsoft and Lenovo have entered into an agreement which will see the Redmond company’s apps appear on the Beijing based company’s future Android phones.  The announcement by the companies will bring Microsoft Office apps, OneDrive and Skype to select Lenovo devices going forward.  Which specific devices is not laid out in the press release.

“Microsoft’s thrilled that our productivity apps will be pre-installed on Lenovo’s premium devices,” said Nick Parker, corporate vice president OEM Division, Microsoft. “The marriage of Microsoft’s apps and Lenovo’s Android-based devices will enable customers around the world to be more productive, more connected and achieve even more.”

For Lenovo, they are gaining access to some of Microsoft’s patents and IP (Intellectual Property) to be cross-licensed in Motorola and Lenovo devices.

This is a killer deal and it is today only on Amazon.  Today you can pick up the Nextbit Robin in either Midnight Blue or Mint for just $199.  That is $100 off the normal $299 price.  Stop what you are doing (reading this) and go order it now.  I’ll wait.

Okay, good.  Now let’s talk about what you just bought.

As expected, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 has become available as a pre-order from the four major carriers here in the United States this morning.  AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon all have the phone available to order today through various payment options with delivery of the device expected to start happening on August 19th, the day the device becomes generally available.  Generally speaking, if you want to buy it outright, it is going to be at least $850 regardless of the carrier you go with but many are offering accessories when you pre-order your Note 7 (subject to availability).

AT&T

Outright, the Note 7 is $879 from the carrier or you can do one of the AT&T Next programs.  The 30 payment option is $29.34 while the 24 payment option is $36.67.  Along with this, the carrier is offering a $695 in credits when you buy one Note 7 and want to get a second one.  It’s pretty close to BOGO.  Or, if you sign up for a 2-year contract with the carrier, they will give you a free Samsung Gear S2.  Lastly, you can pick up a Galaxy Tab 3 for .99 Cents with the purchase of a Galaxy Note 7.

For those of you who use Google Weather on your Android phone, there is a small but nice update that has happened behind-the-scenes for the feature.  In addition to the hourly temperature forecasts, you also now get a wind and precipitation forecast in the information card.  If you aren’t familiar with what I’m referring to as Google Weather, it is something that is found on phones by simply doing a search for weather on your phone.  When you do that, your phone will pull up the local weather information in an applet that launches in Google Search.  While there is nothing to install, you can have the applet store your weather information for other cities too.

The Nextbit Robin, the flagship phone from the Silicon Valley startup, has dropped to $299 pretty much across the board now, including at the Nextbit store.  For the last few weeks you’ve been able to get the $299 price on Amazon but now pretty much everyone has it for this price.  For those who may not remember, this was the same price for the Robin during the company’s Kickstarter program last year and for a 32GB, Marshmallow running device, it is a great deal.