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Android Circuit: Samsung Reveals Galaxy S8, New Nokia Sells Out, Deciding On The S8 Launch Date

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Taking a look back at seven days of news and headlines across the world of Android, this week’s Android Circuit includes Samsung's reveal of its Galaxy S8 flagship, the decision about the S8 launch date, Nokia sells out its new handset, thoughts on the Pixel 2 features, Android One's potential arrival in America, the history of Project Ara, analyzing Android update speeds, and details on Super Mario Run's arrival on Android.

Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android in the last week (and you can find the weekly Apple news digest here).

Samsung Leaks Galaxy S8 Images

When you are keeping your flagship handset under wraps to create a big moment when you reveal it, the last thing you want to see is another division in your company potentially leaking the new smartphone. Step forward Samsung Display, who's latest video on AMOLED panels features a suspiciously secretive Galaxy handset.

In a pair of new promotional videos for display division, Samsung has shown off new AMOLED panels which are widely expected to be used in the Galaxy S8. But more than this, it ends both commercials by showing the panels morph into an unnamed smartphone with very slim top and bottom bezels:

Does this look familiar? It should because the proportions and missing physical home button line up exactly with the leaked renders of the Galaxy S8 which surfaced just a few days ago.

Well played, Samsung. Well played.

Samsung Galaxy with Samsung's Browser software (Image: Ewan Spence)

S8 Needs A Launch Date Decision

Staying with the Galaxy S8, Samsung has a tactical decision to make. Video leaks and stray web images aside, when does the South Korean company officially reveal the handset to the public? Does it stick with the traditional MWC date in late February? Does it wait until April just before the expected release of the handsets to the retail market? And can it avoid Nokia stealing all the PR oxygen from the ecosystem?

Finnish start-up HMD is already doing its best to ensure that the big story coming out of MWC will be the return of the Nokia name to the smartphone world. Samsung could consider an early Galaxy S8 reveal to disrupt a potential rival getting a foothold. If HMD can get a handset like the rumored Nokia 8 on sale as quickly as possible after the reveal (which is the intention of CEO Arto Nummela) and the Galaxy S8 is already a known but unavailable quantity, consumers will have enough information to make a choice and potentially switch to Nokia.

Read more here on Forbes.

Nokia Sells Out

Not content with over one million pre-sale registrations in China for its new smartphones, the team behind the Nokia 6 placed the first units on sale through one of the classic Chinese marketing strategies... the flash sale. Phandroid's Quentyn Kennemer highlights the success and the question around this method:

Unfortunately, we’re not sure how many units they’ve actually sold. Nokia boasted about having 1 million pre-registrations, so if initial stock teetered even on the side of 50,000 units then that doesn’t sound like an unreasonable conversation rate. (But without any actual official numbers, we’re talking just to talk.)

Our hope is that strong sales in China will encourage Nokia to consider spreading love to other markets in due time.

As well as the Chinese bound Nokia 6, HMD Global is expected to announce a number of new Android-powered Nokia smartphones at MWC 2017 for sale in Western Europe and America.

What Can The Pixel 2 Do Better?

What could Google do with the Pixel 2? The thoughts of many are turning to the next smartphone flagship from Mountain View (but presumably not those who have signed two-year contracts to own the first Pixel and Pixel XL models). There's always something better around the corner, and Android Central's Daniel Bader has some ideas on what that better could be, starting with waterproofing:

The most obvious one is a feature manufacturers can't afford to overlook in 2017. With the Samsung Galaxy line well established as the IP68 mainstay, and Sony not far behind with its admittedly less acclaimed lineup, Google has to appeal to the mainstream by waterproofing its 2017 flagship. There were just too many times in recent months where I would have preferred to be able to be more cavalier about taking the Pixel out in the rain or snow — or even using it near a sink — without worrying about death through mainboard corrosion.

More thoughts from Bader at Android Central.

Android One Ready To Fly The Stars And Stripes

The Android One program of reference-design hardware and software support carried out by Google is coming to America this year. While the Pixel takes care of the high-end, Android One will help devices further down the Android portfolio. LG is expected to bring Android One devices to the US, with lots of support from Google. Dieter Bohn reports:

If Google really does put some real effort behind Android One, it could make its plans for Android a little clearer. Google itself has taken a stand that it wants to make its own hardware at the high-end of the smartphone market with the Pixel, and if The Information’s report is accurate, it wants to ensure that its services are not cut out from the low end. Whether that leaves enough breathing room for partners like Samsung is another question — but it doesn’t seem especially likely that Google’s Pixel is going to out-sell the Galaxy lineup anytime soon.

Google should be so lucky as to have that kind of problem right now — the more urgent issue is ensuring a consistent experience in the low and midrange of Android products, where software quality varies wildly and software updates are all too rare.

And that goal is at the heart of Google One. More at The Verge.

The History Of Project Ara

What lessons are there from Google's Project Ara? The modular smartphone was an exciting concept, and one that a number of manufacturers are still exploring. Harrison Weber takes an extensive look at Mountain View's cancelled dream and how it never quite came together:

When Google sold Motorola to Lenovo that January, it held onto ATAP and Ara — a shining light of innovation at an advertising behemoth.

As one might expect, Google’s absorption of ATAP had side effects.

“In some ways, it let us preserve our charter,” said Makoski. “And actually, there were some internally that said it was this project, Project Ara, that was the one that ended up keeping us [at Google], because it generated so much enthusiasm in the technical world.”

Others say Google held Ara back. “The pace and scale of contracting that we did all of the sudden really slowed down [after the acquisition],” said one source, who requested anonymity. “The model of ATAP is based on really rapid contracts, like DARPA. There were 150 people working on Ara before we transitioned into Google. And only 3 of them, or 4 of them, were Google employees. All the rest were external contractors,” said the source.

Settle in with a coffee and head over to Venture Beat for the full article.

When Will Your Android Update Arrive?

Although a lot of focus is placed on Google's updates to Android, the real concern is how fast a manufacturer can get the updates onto your handset. Who's speedy, who's slow, and who hasn't rolled out anything? Over on Android Authority, Kris Carlon has collated the data:

With all major Android OEMs now having updated at least one device to Android 7.0 or above, we can finally tally the results to see which Android OEM updated their phones the fastest in 2016.

Google dropped Nougat on August 22 and the LG V20 was the first device to arrive running Android 7.0 out of the box. The Pixel phones arrived with Android 7.1 at launch, but almost all other phones had to be updated to Nougat. So who was fastest and who stumbled?

All the numbers are at Android Authority.

And Finally...

Three months after the Italian Plumber jumped into iOS, Super Mario Run will arrive on Android (suggesting a ninety-day exclusivity clause with Apple). Nintendo's Japanese Twitter account posted this week that the 'free to start' game will be available in March. Polygon's Samit Sakar reports:

Nintendo describes it as “free to start” — players can download Super Mario Run and play three levels before they have to fork over $9.99 to unlock the rest of the game. A page for Super Mario Run is live on the Google Play Store; interested parties can “pre-register” with their email address to be notified when the game is live.

Android Circuit rounds up the news from the Android world every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future, and of course read the sister column in Apple Loop! Last week’s Android Circuit can be found here, and if you have any news and links you’d like to see featured in Android Circuit, get in touch!

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