Community Spotlights

As expected, there was all sorts of Android goodness for Phil and his team to cover at CES. They did so wonderfully, covering everything from the YotaPhone 2, the Huawei Honor 6 Plus, to the LG G Flex 2. Perhaps the biggest surprise of CES was when Phil and team broke the news of a mysterious smartwatch from LG and Audi… powered by webOS. Read all about it right here, and be sure to check out Android Central's Top Picks for CES 2015 while you're at it.

Connectedly continues to cover 'all the connected things', and CES brought us a whole whackload of new things. If you missed it, we had the great opportunity to ride EcoReco scooters all week at CES (they're awesome), and had the chance to talk with the folks from Orbotix, BMW, Bang & Olufsen, Ecobee, and many more. We also wrapped up Connectedly's picks for the best of CES 2015.

On CrackBerry, all the buzz recently has been about the rumored Samsung takeover. While BlackBerry denies the rumors, we learned Samsung may instead extend its current partnership with BlackBerry. On top of that, BlackBerry may have rejected some recent buyout offers from other companies. It's interesting times indeed for BlackBerry, but it's good to see they are pushing forward with their plans, including a new BBM app for Android Wear real soon.

If you caught our CES coverage you'll know Rene, Serenity, Georgia and Anthony were all on-hand to bring you the latest. You might have even caught the iMore team serenading us with a very special song. Of late the team has worked up some stellar guides including Peter's How to set up your new Mac guide. Of course, the iMore team always has a lot of fun too, and this is apparent in Ally's How I learned to love the selfie stick, and Serenity's Shoot a selfie that doesn't suck article. All good stuff, all good fun.

Obviously the last few days have been big ones in the world of Windows Central. The Windows 10 Event went down the other day, and Daniel and his team were there to cover it. We were treated to a demo of Windows 10's new features, along with a look at Windows 10 for smartphones running on a Lumia 1520 for the first time. We even saw the introduction of Microsoft's new HoloLens technology (you can read about it here, or discuss it in our HoloLens forum). If you missed it, you can catch up on all the latest from the Windows 10 event right here.

Volunteer of the month

Bev is one of the absolute best moderators we have at Mobile Nations. She came to us as a member of webOSNation, and quickly ascended the ranks to become one of our most reliable and dedicated volunteers.

We think so highly of Bev that some time ago we anointed her a Network Moderator, meaning it's her responsibility to overlook all of our communities to take on general moderation issues, and give our team leaders a heads up on any important network-related issues.

To say she does a great job would be an understatement. Always pleasant, and always a true professional to deal with, Bev is a huge asset to the Mobile Nations team, and I know our members and moderators feel exactly the same way.

Her knowledge, passion, and experience give her a unique perspective to not only help our individual communities, but help our network thrive as a whole.

Bev, on behalf of everyone at Mobile Nations I'd like to thank you for all you do. You're a true professional, a friend, and a genuine community superstar.

*hat tip*

Until next time…

With January almost wrapped up, we've already accomplished a LOT in the first few weeks of 2015. It was great fun to cover CES for all of you, and was really cool to catch up with our good friends at GeekBeat and Purch once more.

2015 is going to be a massive year for Mobile Nations, and I hope you're joining us for the ride. The Android Central, Connectedly, CrackBerry, iMore, and Windows Central teams are primed and ready for action. It's going to be a fun year for our communities.

Time to wrap things up for now. I'll catch you again in the February edition of the Mobile Nations Community Update.

Stay warm and be awesome,

James Falconer

Community Manager

Mobile Nations

@JamesFalconer