The Google Play Store is growing, and it’s growing fast. In 2013, App Annie reported that Android applications were only downloaded a little bit more than iOS, but in 2015 we are seeing 100% more app downloads on Android than iOS. However, this report shows that iOS trumps Google Play by 75% when comparing revenue brought in by both services.
A Google engineer has announced that a new compression algorithm is headed to Chrome soon. This is said to speed up various aspects of the web and should outperform gzip by 17–25%. Mobile users will end up seeing less data transfer fees from browsing, and less battery usage as well. There are some restrictions (like it being HTTPS only) that will limit its adoption rate at first.
LlabTooFeR is at it again with some more HTC-based information and this time it is about the upcoming flagship. There had been reports about this device not appearing at MWC 2016 and this tip seems to corroborate that. We also learn that there should be two versions, one with the Snapdragon 820, one with a MediaTek chip, and both should have Android 6.0.1 with Sense 8.0 installed at launch.
A few months ago, it was revealed that Chris Lacy, the creator of the Link Bubble browser, had sold the application to a third-party company. This company was unknown at the time but now it has been revealed that the ex-CEO of Mozilla, Brendan Eich, and his new startup were the ones who acquired the code. Now, the browser has been open sourced, and is available on GitHub.
As part of Amazon.in’s Great Indian Sale, the LG Nexus 5X and the OnePlus X have received discounts on their price. The Nexus 5X now costs Rs. 20,990 ($310) from its original launch price of Rs. 31,990 ($470); while the OnePlus X now costs Rs. 14,999 ($220) from its original price of Rs. 16,999 ($250). Note that this reduction is temporary and is valid till 23rd January.
