Android Authority this week

The final days of 2014 were quiet, but 2015 is starting off with a bang. International CES is about to begin in fabulous Las Vegas, and companies are already drumming up their products. In the past week, we went through the finest apps of 2014, learned about the LTE version of the Moto G (2014), got a peek at Samsung’s Lollipop ROM for the Note 3, talked about a longstanding memory bug in Android,  heard rumors about upcoming devices from Samsung, HTC, and Xiaomi, and got the first CES announcements.

Welcome to Android Authority this week.

Video roundup

Here’s Jayce’s video take on the events of the week.

Inside AA HQ

The end of the year is the time to look back, draw the line, and lay the roadmap for the year to come. Android developed dramatically in 2014, extending to wearables, TVs, and cars. It’s been an amazing year for Android Authority as well. Our traffic grew steadily throughout, but really took off over the last few months. On the video side, our YouTube channel hit the one million subscribers milestone and we’re now a top 25 Science & Tech channel. We have 36,000 forum users and almost two million social followers. We added new team members, and several contributors joined full time.

All in all, we’re proud of what we achieved in 2014, and deeply humbled and grateful at the same time. We have lots of things to improve in 2015 and we want to know your opinion on where we need to work first. To give us your feedback, take a minute to fill out our yearend survey here.

As you’re reading this, the AA team is already on the ground in Vegas, attending pre-briefings, talking to manufactures, and working to bring you the best coverage around. Stay tuned for a tons of news and hands-on coverage throughout the week.

As always, check out our Sunday Giveaway: today, the excellent Nexus 9 is up for grabs – good luck everyone!

The stuff you shouldn’t miss

Here are some interesting posts for your Sunday reading:

• App roundup: The best designed Android games of 2014
• App roundup: The best designed Android apps of 2014
• App roundup: Best Android games of 2014
• App roundup: Best Android apps of 2014
• Rumor roundup: Andrew Grush reviews all the rumors flying around the Galaxy S6
• The year in review: These are the events that made 2014 memorable
• Preview: These six Android phones will define 2015

Top news of the week

And here are the top news in the Android world this week:

Moto G 2014 LTE

• Moto G (2014) LTE model outed by Motorola Brazil’s website

Samsung Lollipop

• A look at the leaked Lollipop build on the Note 3 (international), install instructions included
• Android 5.0 Lollipop update for Samsung Galaxy S5 starts expanded roll out in Europe
• Report: Samsung to begin Lollipop rollout in US in January

Lollipop memory leak fix

• Fix for Lollipop’s massive memory leak coming soon-ish

Samsung rumors

• More details leaked about Samsung Galaxy A7 and Galaxy Grand Max
• Samsung to discontinue the Galaxy Alpha?
• Alleged images of Galaxy S6 surface, poses next to the S4 and S5

New Xiaomi devices

• Xiaomi confirms new flagship coming January 2015
• Xiaomi reveals Redmi 2: 64-bit, LTE, colorful designs for $110

HTC Desire tease

• HTC teases a Desire smartphone for CES 2015
• HTC’s Jeff Gordon promises the “best ever” product lineup for 2015, lots of surprises

Alcatel

• Alcatel Onetouch announces a smartwatch and Pixi 3 series phones ahead of CES

Sound off

We always want to hear your feedback. Whether it’s criticism or praise, feel free to tell us what you think about Android Authority’s content, design, and community. Comment here or get in touch with us on our social channels:

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Happy Sunday!