Top Android news of the week: BlackBerry Venice, Marshmallow, Android phones costing jobs
This week in the world of Android we heard of Marshmallow, that cheap Android phones are costing jobs, and that the BlackBerry Venice could be the first Android phone from the firm.
Cheap Android phones causing layoffs at major OEMs
Lenovo, HTC, Microsoft and other major smartphone OEMs have announced 15,000 layoffs due to lackluster sales. The highly competitive smartphone space is making it hard for these firms to be profitable in the face of companies making cheap Android phones.
Google unveiled that Android M will be named after the treat, Marshmallow. Each version of Android has been named after a sweet treat, such as KitKat and Lollipop.
It seems to be an odd choice, as marshmallow can be a term for something weak. It also brings to mind cooking Android phones over an open fire on a big stick.
BlackBerry phone with Android could be coming in November
BlackBerry is rumored to be bringing an Android phone with a sliding QWERTY keyboard in November. Leaked images show the keyboard sliding out from the bottom of the phone.
Google apps are shown on the phone screen, which would imply the Venice (as the name is thought to be) would be sanctioned by Google.
Display experts DisplayMate have determined that the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 has the best performing smartphone display they've ever tested. Samsung has improved the performance of the OLED display on the Note 5, and testing by DisplayMate shows it makes a difference.
