Did you follow along last week’s Android customization post to figure out the details of screen pinning in Android Lollipop? I know, you likely already knew what it was all about. This week we’re diving into YouTube – specifically, using your Android phone to remotely control YouTube. This includes the Chromecast, sure, but also an old, little known and often forgotten feature of the streaming service, YouTube TV. YouTube is predominantly known as a video streaming service on the web with access through any web browser or through mobile apps on our favorite Android devices.

TL;DR Google Illustrations is launching today, allowing users to choose from hundreds of small art pieces for their Google profile. The images also can be altered so they can show up in different color options. The feature launches today for Gmail for Android users and expands to other Google services in the coming months. For years, Google has allowed users of its online services to upload a photo to serve as their profile picture.

Update, January 5, 2021 (03:34 PM ET): Today, the Minecraft Earth staff announced that, starting in June 2021, the game will no longer see support. This means that on July 1 of this year, the game will no longer be playable. Until then, it will operate as normal. The staff pins the COVID-19 pandemic as being primarily to blame for the demise of ME. Thankfully, anyone who’s made a purchase in the mobile game will get a free version of the main game (Minecraft: Bedrock Edition) as a token of thanks from the developers.

Update: July 22, 2020 (9 AM ET): Motorola announced that the unlocked Motorola Edge will go on sale July 31. In a bit of a surprise, the company has lowered the price of the phone from $699.99 down to $499.99 for a limited time. You can pre-order the phone at the link below. We have updated the article to reflect the lower price. For a few years now, we’ve thought that Motorola was completely out of the flagship smartphone game.

Realme made a real statement with the X2 Pro in November when it told the industry that it was out to compete with OnePlus and Xiaomi in the “flagship killer” market. Three months later, the Chinese firm is back with its most powerful smartphone to date: the Realme X50 Pro 5G. With a top-shelf SoC, lots of RAM, a high-refresh-rate display, and 5G connectivity, Realme is creating its own niche within the market.

Back in 2004, well before the advent of the modern smartphone, cell phones were relatively dull pieces of technology. While companies tried to stylize its devices, almost every phone sported a similar-looking clamshell or candy bar form factor and was made out of plastic. A disruptor is what the market needed, and the Motorola Razr V3 was just the phone to do it. The Razr V3 featured a sleek design that was crafted out of metal.

David Imel / Android Authority I should preface this article by admitting that I’m not really the type that cares about getting the best possible quality in my home theater system (if you can even call it that). I own a 4K television, but only because it was really cheap at Walmart. I have stereo speakers hooked up to a small amp to improve the sound quality a bit, too. I also use a Chromecast with Google TV exclusively to access my streaming platforms.

Motorola’s stock email app has appeared over at the Google Play store, along with a selection of improvements, bug fixes and little feature tweaks to improve the app’s functionality. However, before we get too excited, the app isn’t compatible with non-Motorola handsets, at least not yet. In fact, it doesn’t appear to work with all Moto phones either and you will need to be updated to Android 5.0 or later. But there is a point to all this.

Xiaomi Mi 5Xiaomi has dotted the i's and crossed the t's with the Mi 5 and delivered an astonishingly impressive smartphone. By offering what is quite possibly the best mobile experience at this price, Xiaomi has yet again redefined what an affordable smartphone should be. Table of contents Nearly five years ago, Xiaomi released their first smartphone: the Mi 1, and with it, arguably began revolutionising the affordable smartphone market. Xiaomi’s goal of using inexpensive hardware to increase MIUI’s presence within China was simple and effective and certainly paid off; in 2015, for example, Xiaomi shipped nearly seventy million smartphones, the most of any smartphone manufacturer within China.

A new version of this device is available. Check out our review of the Zhiyun Smooth Q3 at the link. Not satisfied with killing off the pocket camera, smartphones are now supplanting some DSLRs as the preferred device for capturing photo and video. For many, the trade-off in size and weight just isn’t justified, especially with recent advances in computational photography. While smartphones typically take great photos these days, there’s still room for improvement where video is concerned.