2015 is a wrap

Android Coliseum is a labour of love spearheaded by +Ryan Moore . It started with some articles and a weekly hangout and has been steadily growing. Let's take a look at what happened with us in 2015.

There was quite a change in the team. +Tom Gray moved back to Apple for his main device when the iPhone got the bigger screen. He has a tech collection that you can check out. +Mark Lastiwka  got a promotion at work and at home. As his family has grown, he's had less time to write and hang out.  +Sylvain Le Bourhis has given up a lot of Google apps, but remains as a team writer. +Sivan Rehan finally formalized her connection with the group and has come on as a writer and a hangout participant.  +Rob Blaich  has joined the gang, participating in hangouts and doing some web stuff for the group. +Martin Guay is still with the group doing a lot of reviews and doing hangouts. I am buying stuff to review and doing the hangouts. +Ryan Moore does everything from making connections for review units to organizing us.

And what about those hangouts? We shortened the time to 30 minutes and focused on Canadian news. We enjoy getting together to chat and will be looking at some different ideas for the new year. Let us know if you would like us to do more product and/or app reviews as part of the hangout.

Our most popular posts were... a how to series on setting up Kodi. Lots of interest in streaming and cord cutting for Canadians. Next up was a quick review for Blue Mail - an encrypted app with an iOS feel. That was followed by Android Auto articles.

Let's take a look back at the predictions  +Ryan Moore did for 2015.

-  Full day batteries - Most phones will last a full day now. Samsung did have a small battery for the S6 but countered balanced with wireless and fast charge.

-  Android is reaching more devices - There are lots of Android wear devices, but v. 2 has similar hardware to v. 1 There are some very nice looking devices out there though. Android auto is in the early adoption stage still. Other devices? Not so sure.

-  Difficulty differentiating based on specs - This really was the year of the unlocked mid-range devices. We got a lot of review units that worked well without spending an arm and a leg. Even if you didn't go with a OnePlus device, Asus, Blu, ZTE is well priced solid options.

-  Push had on Google Wallet into Canada - #GoogleHatesCanada that is all.

-  Blurring with ChromeOS - this prediction was a little early I think:) 

As Android matures, things should get even more interesting. What are you wishing for? I am hoping for Samsung Pay because I have a Gear S2 but really, any tap to pay would be nice.

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