Android Forum at DroidForums.net

Ladies and gentlemen we have an AWESOME giveaway that we are excited to announce! As you can see we are giving away a Limited Edition Code Black Drone!! Yes, one (1) lucky member will get the chance to win this very cool drone and as always it's going to be a snap to enter.

Lets take a quick look at some of the Code Black Drone's features:

• 6-axis flight control system and adjustable gyro sensitivity, the Code Black Drone can perform complicated maneuvers will speed and accuracy. A beginner and expert flight mode allow you progress to more complex flights.
• Take amazing aerial video in stealth mode. Shoot perfect HD and SD video with this stealth matte black drone. This badass drone shoots badass video.
• Easy to use remote. This responsive, 4-channel remote is included with every Code Black Drone. Easy to learn controls will have you flying like a pro in no time

So what do you have to do to enter? Rules for entry are as follows:

• Only ONE (1) entry per member. Duplicate entries will result in immediate disqualification.
• Let us know what carrier you are on AND what carrier, if any, you are planning to move over to. If you're happy and staying where you are, please let us know!

That's all you need to do and you are entered folks, so jump right in!!

On January 29, 2015 at 12:00pm Central the contest will close and we will randomly draw one (1)...

Even though Android 5.0 Lollipop is one of Google's largest and most ambitious new Android OS upgrades in quite some time, that doesn't mean it is flawless. In fact, there are several problems/changes with Lollipop which some would argue are a step backwards for Google. This is on top of the fact that the initial rollout was a bit buggy.

This makes for a good conversation topic as we can "arm-chair" dissect Google's decisions to try and figure out what they were thinking with these relatively minor mis-steps. Here are the four most glaring problems with Android 5.0 Lollipop:

1. No Silent Mode with Volume Rocker - This is definitely one of the most talked about issues with Lollipop, if not "the" most talked about problem. It had us scratching our heads trying to figure out what Google was thinking on this one. Why change what worked fine before into something that is now more complicated... why fix what isn't broken. Yes, they added the Priority Mode, but that creates extra steps to actually turn the phone to vibrate or silent, when a few presses of the volume rocker got you there before. On top of this over-complication, this segues into our next biggest complaint, which is that Priority Mode doesn't always work! Read on...
2. Apps Can "Hijack" Priority Mode - So, why have a Priority Mode at all, if some of your apps can over-ride its settings? Perhaps it's just a bug, or simply developers figuring out sneaky ways to bypass a...

I for one am happy that Google has officially announced the latest cities to begin construction of Google Fiber. There was a press conference this morning in Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Raleigh-Durham where Google reps made it official. So if you are in one of those cities get ready to receive high speed internet. To get an idea what to expect as far as pricing check out our 'Is Google Fiber Worth It' thread.
If you are in one of the newly announced cities give a shout out and let us know how you feel.

The next potential cities on the list will be San Antonio, Texas, San Jose, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix. Good luck to those cities and hopefully you guys are able to join the movement.

Source: Google Fiber Blog

It looks like Sony is really rethinking their mobile strategy. According to the latest report, Sony will not debut their next flagship, the Xperia Z4 at Mobile World Congress 2015 as previously thought. Apparently, they plan to slow down the frequency and variety of mobile products they launch. Supposedly, they plan to wait until later this summer to reveal the Xperia Z4.

This big shift seems like a wise move for the beleaguered tech titan. They have taken a beating from nearly all sides over the past few years, and especially in the mobile sector. Perhaps a fresh approach and a renewed focus on core products is what they need, instead of spamming a multitude of new devices as quickly as possible. This strategy seems to work for Apple.

Of course, it's also possible that this report will turn out to be false, so take it with a grain of salt for now. What do you guys think?

Source: Phandroid

We are going to chalk this one up as a rumor because we are skeptical of the source and the results. Still, it's worth having a look at these benchmark numbers if they are accurate. Supposedly, the HTC One M9 with the Snapdragon 810 chipset and the Samsung Galaxy S6 with the Exynos 7420 have both been benchmarked and the new Galaxy 6 crushes the HTC One M9. Here are the numbers:

• HTC One M9 Geekbench 3 score: single-core = 1,232 & multi-core score = 3,587
• Samsung Galaxy S6 Geekbench 3 score: single-core = 1,520 & multi-core score = 5,478

As you can see, assuming these numbers are accurate, they are pretty lop-sided in favor of the Galaxy S6. It is roughly 300 points faster in single-core and almost 2,000 points faster in multi-core. Obviously, faster benchmark scores doesn't necessarily translate into a better experience for the end user, but it's hard to dismiss these drastically different numbers.

Much of this performance delta can be attributed to Samsung's big.LITTLE architecture and their smaller 14nm process for the Exynos SoC, versus the 20nm process on the Snapdragon 810 SoC. What do you guys think of these numbers?

Be sure to check out our dedicated sections for more discussions on both of these phones:

• HTC One M9 Android Forum at DroidForums.net
• Samsung Galaxy S6...

This thread was inspired by @cr6. Some of us have grown tired of our service options as far as cable and internet. And in our frustrations we begin to wonder if the grass is greener on the other side. I am not here to convince you one way or another but to just present the facts and ask you to look at your current provider to determine if you would be getting a deal or paying more.

Lets start with the facts and to do so we are going to use the rates for Kansas City. Google Fiber as of now offers 3 options; Gigabit+TV, Gigabit Internet, and Basic Internet.

Gigabit +TV:

• $120 per month (plus taxes and fees) $130 per month in Austin so prices vary per city (Plans and Pricing Austin Google Fiber)
• 1000 Mbps (1 gig) up/down
• 150 channels (TV Channels Kansas City Google Fiber)
• 1 TB storage
• 1 TV box included
• DVR and Network Box included
• 2yr commitment with $300 construction fee waived

Gigabit Internet

• $70 per month
• 1000 Mbps (1 gig) up/down
• 1 TB storage
• Network Box
• 1 year commitment with $300 construction fee waived

Basic Internet

• $0 per month
• +$300 construction fee one time or $25/mo for 12 months
• 5 Mbps down 1 up
• Network Box
• No contract and free service for at least...

Today HTC released the kernel source of Lollipop for the HTC One M8 for developer edition and unlocked editions running Sense. This is pretty big news for those of you who like to run custom roms, as this is one of the most important things that custom Rom developers need to make everything from the camera, to gps, to bluetooth work properly. The carrier is listed as BrightStar US which turns out to be HTC's way of saying this is for GSM unlocked devices. Roms developed with this should work fine on any of the GSM phones on ATT and T-mobile.

via AndroidPolice

Most Roms are already starting to update to the latest version of Android. Finally Xiaomi has started beta testing their own Lollipop builds of MIUI. Mi products will be the first to be able to install and use MIUI6. So far Mi 2/S/A users will be able to try the Beta Rom if they meet a few requirements. You'll need over 50 English forum credits, and you will need to be willing to report bugs to the forum. Only a handful of users will be able to get in on the Beta testing so you will need to go as soon as possible if you are at all interested. There should be plenty of new MIUI features along with many performance optimizations. Only 50 spots are available. Head to the link below to join the Beta.

via AndroidAuthority

In the Kit Kat Google changed the default permissions for writing to the external sdcard. This means that 3rd party apps no longer have access to the external sdcard. This can be especially frustrating when you are trying to manage files on your external sdcard. File Managers won't work properly. You can actually fix this problem with root access. However you should know that this is a security feature, and if you make the change it may cause OTA updates to fail. You must be rooted and you will have to edit a few text files. If none of this bothers you follow the directions in the link below to unlock writing to the external sdcard for any app.

via AndroidRevolution

It is finally here! CyanogenMod has finally updated the Boot Animation on their latest build of Android. This feature had been missing from the earliest nightly builds, but it has been added to the latest nightlies. The boot animation is inspired by Google's material design, and has a much lighter overall theme than the previous CM11 boot animation. You don't actually have to run CyanogenMod in order to use the new boot animation. Team Cyanogen has released the boot animation for several different resolutions in both recovery flashable non flashable forms. If you have a custom recovery installed you can simply boot into recovery and flash the zip file. If you don't have a custom recovery installed you can download the file and then replace the bootanimation file in your system/media file. Head to the link below for the download.

via XDA