This Week in the Life of DROID: 12/19/2014

This may be hard to believe, but Christmas is next week. Like seriously, you have this final weekend to finish off shopping. Crazy, right?

On that note, you may have noticed that things have really slowed in terms of big Android-related news. That happens around this time every year because of the holidays and will continue through to the new year. Big companies don’t have anything to announce, people aren’t working in general, and the rest are probably sucking down as much winter ale as is humanly possible, meaning they are “busy.” Oh, and CES is also around the corner, so if there are things to be announced, they will happen then, not now.

Still, some decent things happened around DL this week, including new Android updates, big announcements from T-Mobile, and free LotR. FREE LOTR. Be sure to catch up! 

• Giveaway:  Two Nexus 9 Magic Covers are up for grabs this weekend! (Quick review)
• Poll:  What is the Android phone of the year?
• Poll:  Which version of Android is your phone running?
• Download:  Get the latest Android 5.0.1 OTA zip files.
• Android 5.0.2 is already a thing.
• Android 5.0.1 appears to be rolling out to both Moto G models.
• Android may be coming to your car in a big way when Android M rolls out.
• Verizon expanded XLTE to 10 new markets.
• T-Mobile news:  Introduced rollover data | LTE covers 260 million people.
• Telltale games takeover:  Tales From the Borderlands | Minecraft |
• Amazon will now deliver goods to you in under an hour (in select markets).
• A bunch of Google apps once again were updated on Wednesday.
• Instagram gained 5 new filters!
• Get Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring for free.

Be safe out there on this final shopping weekend. Some of us will claim that we are shopping, but may be at a martini bar instead.