Fully Charged: Android Silver program reportedly halted, Apple luring Android converts with iPhone transfer guide, and wild custom PS4 sneakers
All of the tech news tidbits you need to start the day
Android Silver unlikely to launch
The Android marketplace is famously fragmented due to such a massive array of devices, but the Nexus line has been a welcome beacon of light amidst the madness. Google was reportedly planning to replace that line with Android Silver, a brand for high-end pure Android smartphones, but that may not be the plan anymore.
According to a report from The Information, the Android Silver program is “on hold” and some Google employees don’t think it had a particularly rosy future anyway. The summer departure of executive Nikesh Arora from Google is pegged as one reason than plans have changed, but Google’s partners were also reportedly not so keen on the idea.
Flagship phones still rule Android fans’ attention spans, but as great Android handsets become startlingly inexpensive, perhaps it’s too much to think that a high-end device can command an exorbitant price above even what top-tier phones cost today. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
[Source: The Information via The Verge]
READ MORE: Android Silver: everything you need to know about Google’s upcoming range of premium smartphones
Apple makes guide for Android converts
Apple seems pretty confident that the larger display sizes and revised builds of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are going to pull some current Android users into the iOS fold. How confident? Enough to actually create a guide for transferring over content from Android to iOS.
The guide is fairly extensive and goes over everything from mail and contacts to photos, videos, music, and books. In many cases, it simply points out that cross-platform third-party apps typically let you access the same content between platforms, while other bits are tutorials that explain how to move media and the like. And if you doubted it, we truly are living in the Tim Cook-led era of Apple.
Are the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus really worth all of that hassle? Click on our brand new reviews linked in that last line to find out our take on both devices.
[Source: Apple]
READ MORE: Apple iPhone 6 review
Custom PS4 Air Jordan sneakers are excessive
Jonny Barry of FreakerSNEAKS makes incredible custom sneakers, but even so, this one’s a real doozy: the PlayStation 4-themed Nike Air Jordan IV’s, called the JRDN X PS4, are so wonderfully over-the-top that they actually feature an HDMI-in port. It doesn’t do anything, but still.
Barry says he’ll be making and releasing just 10 pairs of these fanboy kicks, which come with a custom HDMI cable and are slated to sell for about US$950 (~£585) apiece. You know, enough to keep you in awesome PS4 games for the next year or more. Like the ones in the link below!
[Source: DualShockers]
READ MORE: The 10 best Sony PlayStation 4 games