Snap Inc. announces major redesign for Snapchat on Android

Looks like Snap Inc. is finally going to pay better attention to its Android user base. In an investor note that’s part of the company’s third quarter 2017 financial results, Snap’s CEO Evan Spiegel announced that they are working on a major revamp of Snapchat on Android, citing they’re building it “from the ground up.” The app will be built from what the company’s Android development team has learned from working on Android in the past five years. Spiegel claims that the new Android version will be “a huge focus over the coming year.” The company says they saw “significantly more Android users” added with the improvements they’ve added to the app, even when compared to iOS users.

Spiegel didn’t give a specific time frame for the release of the new Android app but they did say it’s coming out in a limited number of markets first before they roll it out worldwide. On top of this, Snap is exploring a redesign of the app to appeal to a wider audience, even if this might be as he says “disruptive to our business in the short term.” These announcements come out as Snap reported a lower-than-expected 4.5 million new Snapchat users in the third quarter. The app currently has 178 million daily active users.

Source: Android Authority

iPhone X coming to 13 more countries

Apple's iPhone X will arrive in 13 additional countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa as well as Macau on Friday, November 24. 

iPhone X started shipping in Canada last Friday to long lines of buyers as well as unprecedented pre-orders for the new flagship devices. iPhone X brings an all-new glass design, a beautiful 5.8-inch Super Retina display, A11 Bionic chip with neural engine for powerful machine learning, augmented reality and immersive 3D gaming experiences, wireless charging and Face ID, delivering an innovative and secure new way to unlock, authenticate and pay.

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As Xbox One X ships, Microsoft Canada has a contest to win limited edition consoles

Xbox One X is the world's most powerful console and Microsoft's gaming platform for a 4K and HDR future. As the console hits stores today, Microsoft Canada is marking the occasion by offering gamers a chance to win ultra-rare Xbox One X consoles.

Teaming up with Bryan Espiritu to create custom consoles based on the different neighbourhoods in Toronto. 

Using the Frenzy app, anyone in the dropzone—the south end of Trinity Bellwoods Park—can vie for a chance to win one of four custom Xbox One X consoles at 4:00 p.m. ET today, November 7^th, 2017. Once the countdown reaches zero, the first four people to complete their order will win.

You can now fully disable Bixby on Galaxy S8 devices and Note8

It seems like a hard-fought battle but finally Samsung has acquiesced to the demands of the users of being able to disable the Bixby button. It can now be physically disabled so it would no longer summon up the Bixby Home screen. At first, they disabled it but it could still wake up the phone’s display like the power key would. The latest update though completely disables the button. The caveat, though, is you need to update all Bixby-related apps (Bixby, Bixby Home, and Bixby Service) on your Samsung Galaxy S8, S8 Plus, and Note 8 to the latest version to disable the feature.

Source: Android Authority