Get ready for the Nextbit phone. Photo: Nextbit

Nextbit, a startup smartphone maker led by Android veterans and a former HTC design chief, today confirmed that it will launch its “friggin’ awesome” debut device on September 1. The device will offer supercharged Android software that only gets better with age.

Finally Android owners have something to brag about. Photo: Brighthouse

iPhone owners are 50 percent dirtier than Android users, according to a new study commissioned by the U.K.-based online retailer Brighthouse.

Brighthouse tested 170 items as part of its study, including game controllers, remote controls, laptop computers and 38 different phones — with 24 being iPhones and 14 being unspecified Android devices.

Spotify is finally listening to the labels. Photo: Spotify

Spotify is planning to introduce a new “gated access” model that will make its free streaming plan a lot less attractive, according to a new report. Those who choose to opt out of paying for the service could see it become extremely limited, with access to just one or two songs from big album releases.

Vulkan is coming to Android. Photo: Samsung

Apple Metal, introduced at last year’s WWDC, gives developers low-level access to the GPU to maximize the graphics and performance potential of their games. Now Android gamers are going to get a taste of that, too.

No, Apple isn’t bringing Metal to Android — but Google is adopting an alternative called Vulkan.

Larry Page announced a whole new company, Alphabet, and it now owns Google. Photo: Alphabet

Google just dropped a bombshell announcement that the operating structure of the company is getting seriously shaken up. To start, co-founder Larry Page broke the news of Alphabet: a new holding company which Google will operate under moving forward. Page will operate as the CEO with Sergey Brin as President effective immediately.