15.2% of Android devices are now running Marshmallow

Android Developers

Google has updated its Android distribution chart for August, and while KitKat is still in the lead, Marshmallow’s presence has increased to 15.2%. The team behind Android releases information on platform versions regularly to show the number of devices running a given version of the Android platform.

Android Developers

Compared to last month, the only two versions that saw an increase are Android 5.1 Lollipop and 6.0 Marshmallow. Android 5.1 increased by 0.6 percentage points and is now present on 21.4% of all active Android devices. Marshmallow, on the other hand, saw a more generous gain with a 1.9 percentage point increase. This means 15.2% of all active Android phones are running on the latest available Android version.

Although it may not be a huge increment, especially when compared to the 3.2 percentage point increase that Marshmallow saw last month, the general trend is looking pretty solid for Google.

It makes sense for older versions of Android to slowly and steadily phase out, and the distribution chart for August confirms just that: the presence of Gingerbread, Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean, and KitKat is continuing to decrease.

Currently, KitKat powers a majority of smartphones at 29.2%, but it should be only a matter of time until Lollipop and Marshmallow take the lead. Curiously enough, however, Froyo’s meager 0.1% presence has doggedly stayed the same since last month: who on earth is still using a phone that runs on Android 2.2 Froyo?!

With Android 7.0 Nougat’s launch allegedly just around the corner, we are happy to see that Marshmallow’s market presence finally broke the 15% threshold.

See also: Is Android N starting to fix fragmentation?73

Which Android version is your phone running on? Are you amongst the 0.1% of Froyo users? Let us know your favorite version of Android by leaving a comment below!

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15.2% of Android devices are now running Marshmallow

Leak shows new fingerprint reader gesture for upcoming Nexus handsets

According to a report published yesterday, a new gesture will be available to owners of the new HTC Nexus models that will make it a snap to open the notification shade on the new phones. A leaked animated image shows that a swipe down on the fingerprint reader will allow those sporting the new Nexus models to see their notifications.

The leak also revealed that the navigation buttons will be refreshed with colors added to some of the symbols. Also of interest is the blue-colored phone used in the screenshot to demonstrate the new gesture. This is purportedly the ‘Electric Blue’ color that … – Source

Leak shows new fingerprint reader gesture for upcoming Nexus handsets

Human rights groups slam Australia's treatment of child refugees who are crying out for help on Facebook

A new joint report from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch slammed Australia’s treatment of refugees — detailing the plight of detained children who have been attempting to use Facebook to expose their poor living conditions.

The report alleges that over a thousand refugees, who arrive by boat and then were taken to a detention facility on the island of Nauru, have been the victims of a “deliberate policy” of abuse.

SEE ALSO: From Raqqa to Norway: One Syrian refugee’s search for a new home

The report, released Tuesday, claims asylum seekers on Nauru are prevented access to medical care, beaten, sexually harassed and suffering from mental health conditions brought on by their indefinite incarceration and the violence they experience. Human Rights Watch senior counsel Michael Bochenek noted in the report: “Driving adult and even child refugees to the breaking point with sustained abuse appears to be one of Australia’s aims on Nauru.” …

More about Nauru, Asylum Seekers, Refugees, World, and Australia – Source

Human rights groups slam Australia's treatment of child refugees who are crying out for help on Facebook

Sorry Snapchat, Instagram Stories Sorta Kicks Your Ass

I didn’t want to like Instagram stories, not one bit. I think it’s not very nice of Instagram—which, if you don’t remember, is owned by Facebook—to basically rip off the concept of a smaller competing app for its own benefit. Instagram has …

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Sorry Snapchat, Instagram Stories Sorta Kicks Your Ass

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is the first phone to use Gorilla Glass 5

Despite being made of glass, the Note 7 is looking to be a durable beast as far as everyday use will be concerned. It can plunge as far as five feet down into water and emerge unscathed, thanks to its IP68 certification. You can also drop it to the ground from the same height and the upcoming Galaxy Note 7’s face will likely remain unblemished, thanks to Samsung’s inclusion of Gorilla Glass 5 in the phablet’s build.

Rumors had put Gorilla Glass 5 on the faces of both the Note 7 and the upcoming iPhone 7, and with today’s announcement, Samsung has beat Apple to the punch. During the Note 7 announcement, Samsung confirmed that Gorilla Glass 5 will protect the Note 7’s 5.7-inch sAMOLED display when the handset launches on Aug. 19. Gorilla Glass 5 is Corning’s latest and toughest glass cover for mobile devices. Citing lab tests, the company says phone faces protected by Gorilla Glass 5 have an 80 percent chance of emerging unscathed after falling from heights of up to 1.6 meters of 5.25 feet.

The inclusion of Corning’s latest glass cover might be big news for you if you’re a millennial. A Verizon commissioned KRC Research study recently found that millennials drop their phones about four times each week on average, about twice as often as Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. That same KRC Research study found that about 43 percent of smartphone users considered dropping their handsets into water to be the most embarrassing way to damage their devices. If you feel the same, well the Note 7 and its water resistant build has you covered there too.

Elsewhere in the Note 7, Samsung has installed a microSD card slot so that you can add an extra 256GB of space to the phone’s native 64GB of internal storage. The Android 6.0 Marshmallow device will also deliver a 12 MP rear shooter, 5 MP selfie cam, USB Type C connection, fast charging and wireless charging. For more details on the Note 7, be sure to check out our other hands on coverage.

See also: Samsung Galaxy Note 7 officially announced: everything you need to know33

So what’s the bigger deal for you: the Note 7’s Gorilla Glass 5 cover, its expandable memory or its water-resistant build?

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Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is the first phone to use Gorilla Glass 5

Firefox 48 ships, bringing Rust mainstream and multiprocess for some

A single Firefox process. (credit: Roger)

Firefox 48 shipped today with two long-awaited new features designed to improve the stability and security of the browser.

After seven years of development, version 48 is at last enabling a multiprocess feature comparable to what Internet Explorer and Google Chrome have offered as stable features since 2009. By running their rendering engines in a separate process from the browser shell, IE and Chrome are more stable (a Web page crash does not take down the entire browser) and more secure (those separate processes can run with limited user privileges). In order to bring the same multiprocess capability to Firefox, Mozilla started the Electrolysis project in 2009. But the organization has taken substantially longer than Microsoft, Google, and Apple to ship this feature.

Mozilla’s delay was partly driven by changing priorities within the organization—Electrolysis development was suspended in 2011 before being resumed in 2013—and partly because Firefox’s historic extension architecture made this kind of separation much harder to achieve. Traditional Firefox extensions can invasively meddle with parts of the browser and assume equal access both to the rendering engine and to the browser’s shell. Firefox’s developers had to both create a new extension system (they’ve ended up using HTML-and-JavaScript based extensions closely related to those pioneered by Chrome and also adopted by Edge) and create shim layers to offer developers a temporary way to continue to support their old extensions.

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Firefox 48 ships, bringing Rust mainstream and multiprocess for some

Review: Leica T serves its purpose as a great artisan tool

In reality, there are few reasons where you or I would want to have a Leica camera. After all, it’s not a necessity: fast-shooting, high megapixel and wide aperture touting cameras all exist from the likes of Sony, Nikon and Canon — all with unique traits that make them suited for different photography styles. Read More

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Review: Leica T serves its purpose as a great artisan tool

Facebook steals Snapchat “story” feature for Instagram

To be a person in these times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the most social and well-documented society imaginable. Forget the promise of innovation and diversification, for in the grim dark future there is only Facebook. Yes, as part of their ambition to become the one and only social medium, the friendly giant has announced that their image sharing platform Instagram has gained a “Story” feature that looks suspiciously similar to Snapchat’s.

Stories on Instagram just launched earlier today. Essentially, they create a set of moments that will appear in a slideshow format, much like Snapchat stories, which can be viewed by your followers for up to 24 hours, much like Snapchat stories, and which then disappear without remaining on your permanent profile, all together now: much like Snapchat stories.

See also: Comedic video highlights the woes of being an ‘Instagram Husband’2

Instagram designers say that this is to assuage concerns that you may be overposting. Now you don’t have to worry about spamming your followers with ephemera; you can simply lump all of your thai food and cat selfies into your story and keep trucking.

What’s more is that Instagram is giving you the ability to natively add text, stickers, and drawings to photos in your story. These features look very familiar for some reason, but we can’t put our finger on it. Oh right, it was Snapchat.

Stories are now available on the latest version of Instagram which you can snag by clicking the button below. Is this a natural addition for Instagram or something that feels tacked on? Give it a spin, then let us know what you think in the comments below.

Get it in the Play Store Next: Court rules Snapchatting others in toilet stalls criminal after teen suicide37 – Source

Facebook steals Snapchat “story” feature for Instagram

Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update introduces tons of new features, here's the full changelog!

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update is due today, and its mobile version has begun its incremental roll-out as well. If it hasn’t hit your device yet, and even if it is, here is the full changelog for Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update build 14393.x.

And what a list this is! The changes and new features are so many that going over all of them in detail would be impossible. Live tiles now update all at once on the start screen instead of one by one, Cortana can speak new languages, Microsoft Edge supports gestures, there are new Action Center panels, Continuum supports … – Source

Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary Update introduces tons of new features, here's the full changelog!

Black Lives Matter reveals a six-point plan to combat systemic racism

Dozens of organizations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement released a uniform six-point policy platform on Monday articulating many goals they believe will combat systemic racism in America.

The six demands each have lists of sub-goals that the organizations want to accomplish.

SEE ALSO: Jesse Williams gives a passionate speech about racism at the BET Awards

“Black humanity and dignity require black political will and power,” the policy …

More about Policy, Reparations, Police, Coalition, and The Movement For Black Lives – Source

Black Lives Matter reveals a six-point plan to combat systemic racism