Android News

In 2017, Google’s hardware division launched its second-generation family of products, while expanding the group with the acquisition of several thousand HTC engineers working on the Pixel line and a rumored Nest merger . A new report reveals that Google is bolstering its hardware presence in China with a growing team of engineers based out of Shanghai. Nintendo Switch According to The Information  (via Android Authority ), this Shanghai team has grown from 20 employees a year ago to 150 today. Their primary job is to oversee contractors manufacturing products like the Pixel and Google Home , with the team reporting directly to Mountain View. Besides those marquee products, this group is also working on the Pixelbook , virtual reality headsets, and wearable devices . The team consists of former Apple and Amazon employees who are well versed in hardware and the supply chain. Given Google’s production troubles — namely not being able to manufacture enough of the original

If you’re bored with the standard Waze voice, and don’t want to record your own , the company has just announced that actor Liam Neeson’s voice is available ‘for a limited time’ as part of a promo for his upcoming movie  Commuter … Imagine: you’re in your car, coffee safely in the cup holder, playing a great song, and (actually) enjoying your routine morning commute. Then, out of nowhere, everything changes. The clouds break and a storm hits hard. The car in front of you slams their breaks for an unexpected accident-related jam. The formidable lights and drilling of a construction zone appear and it becomes clear that you’re no longer going to make it to that meeting on time. Aside from making sure you’ve got Waze on, what do you do next? You call on the one-and-only Liam Neeson—or at least his signature, reassuring voice—to show you the safe way out of hazards, jams and obstacles ahead. Neeson joins other celebrities to voice directions in Waze. These include  Morgan Freem

Following years of teasing , Magic Leap has finally unveiled its first product and detailed more about its takes on augmented reality. The Google-backed startup has amassed massive amounts of funding , as well as content partnerships, since its 2010 founding. Today, it is introduced a developer kit called the Magic Leap One Creator Edition. Nintendo Switch In line with rumors from earlier this year, the Magic Leap One is composed of a “Lightwear” headset attacked to a circular puck (via a cord) that contains processing and graphics called the “Lightpack.” Meanwhile, a “Control” remote – not too dissimilar — from Daydream’s allows for six degrees of freedom and movement. The key part of Magic Leap’s technology is is the “Digital Lightfield” for producing realistic images. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: VIDEO

If you’re anything like me, you have noticed that the holidays are now upon us and you haven’t bought gifts for everyone just yet. Thankfully, there is still time to pick up or order some last minute gifts . Here are a couple of items that are still in stock and can be at your door in time for the big day… UAG Cases Gift cards for the Google Play Store, Amazon, Netflix, and more | If you’re in an extreme time crunch or just don’t know what to buy that special someone, you can never go wrong with a gift card to their favorite retailer. Below are several popular choices that you might like or you can peruse  Amazon’s gift card center . If a business accepts gift cards, you will most likely be able to find it there. Do take note when purchasing an item as some are physical cards that are mailed to you while others are digital codes which can be used online. Purchase gift cards for  Amazon , the Google Play Store ,  iTunes ,  Netflix , and  Starbucks . Google Home Mini |

Nearly a year after launching on phones, Google finally announced last week that Assistant was coming to tablets. We’ve finally received it on a tablet, and while this was long overdue, the experience is somewhat lacking. Nintendo Switch This rollout of Assistant to tablets comes as Google is also expanding availability to Android phones running 5.0 and 5.1 Lollipop. The latter addition is particularly notable as it makes the smart assistant available to nearly 80 percent of current Android devices. On tablets, it brings feature parity with Google’s other Android devices. Users can now finally control smart appliances via Home control, issue voice commands, and have access to other features like Shortcuts. Once rolled out to your device, holding down on the home button will launch the Assistant setup tutorial where you’re notified of features and can enable Voice Match for Ok Google or Hey Google hotword recognition . Afterwards, users have the option to add Google As

Google today announced a number of new changes and policies for Android developers to improve app security and performance on Google Play. Coming into effect throughout 2018 and 2019, these policies cover what API levels to target and a new 64-bit requirement Nintendo Switch Security metadata Beginning in early 2018, Google will automatically insert security metadata in each APK to verify that it was officially distributed by Google Play. The company harkens this Play badge to labels on physical products that signify authenticity. No action is required on the part of developers or end users. This metadata is small with the maximum APK size being adjusted to account for the addition, while app functionality will not be altered. Google notes that besides security, “this metadata will enable new distribution opportunities for developers in the future and help more people keep their apps up to date.” Target API level requirement In late 2018, the Google Play Console will

Depending on who you poll, Samsung’s Infinity Display on the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 handily trump the notch of the iPhone X. Doubling down on this design advantage, Samsung is bringing that same screen to the mid-range Galaxy A8(2018) and A8+(2018) , along with several other features founds on its flagship devices. Nintendo Switch The Galaxy A line caters more to the higher mid-range with wide availability internationally, though it is beginning to trickle over stateside. The marquee feature of the Galaxy A8 and A8+ is the 5.6 and 6-inch, respectively, Super AMOLED display at 1080 x 2200 resolution. With minimal top and bottom bezels, this device is a dead ringer for the Galaxy S8. Up top, there are dual front-facing cameras with 16MP and 8MP F1.9 sensors. It is geared for both close-ups with the background to portrait shorts. Live Focus allows for pre and post-editing of the bokeh effect. Meanwhile, there is a 16MP F1.7 rear camera optimized for low-light conditions wi

Google’s ongoing project with Street View is ambitious, but it’s also not the only one going on at any given time. Microsoft has had its own “Streetside” photography project ongoing for Bing maps and, after a while, cars from those opposing projects crossed paths. The best gifts for Android users Taken back in 2014 and brought back to the public eye on Tumblr (via The Verge ), there’s an intersection in Minnesota where these cars crossed paths and had that encounter immortalized on each other’s photos. It’s certainly ironic that this happened at all, but what’s even more interesting is what Microsoft decided to do about it. If you look on Google Maps Street View photos of the occasion, you’ll see the Bing car in full view, all the way as the Maps car drives down that street. However, when you check out Bing’s photos  (seen above), the Google Maps car is actually “erased” with a giant rectangle. Obviously, you can still tell that the Maps car is there given the equipme

Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by  signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter . Also, be sure to check us out on:  Twitter ,  RSS Feed ,  Facebook ,  Google+  and  Safari push notifications . Everyone can use an Echo Dot: Just $50! 9to5Toys Lunch Break delivers the best deals every day of the week at 12:30PM EST. This includes price drops on all sorts of Apple products from iPad to MacBook and everything in between, as well as HomeKit gear, accessories of all kinds and so much more. You’ll also find our daily coverage of the coolest new gear and gadgets from across the internet along with our New Toy of the Day, product reviews, giveaways and app sales. Head below for today’s top deals and most interesting new products in the world of tech and beyond… TODAY’S CAN’T MISS DEALS: iOttie’s 1-day Amazon Gold Box has iPhone/Android Car Mounts from  $14 Samsung’s app-controlled POWERbot robotic vacuum is down to $299 (Reg. $499) MORE NEW DEALS: Ring’s

To build “a better web for everyone,” Google announced in June that its Chrome browser would gain a built-in ad blocker in early 2018. Aimed at snuffing out sub-par ads that provide bad experiences, Google announced today that the tool will launch in February. Nintendo Switch Google’s “ad filter” will remove ads that do not meet standards set by the Coalition for Better Ads . This industry group includes tech companies like Google and Facebook, as well as publishers such as Reuters and The Washington Post and other ad companies. Since the announcement in June, Google has rolled out tools to analyze whether web pages meet the “Better Ads Standard” established by the group. Disruptive experiences  that will get penalized and blocked include pop-ups, auto-playing video ads with sound, flashing animations, and much more. The goal behind the industry ad filter, which will also block bad experiences served by Google, is to help curb users from installing ad-blockers that fi

Back in October, YouTube TV announced dedicated apps for smart TVs and other streaming devices. Since then, Android TV, Xbox, and various apps for television sets have launched. However, the remaining Apple TV and Roku clients have now been delayed until next year. Nintendo Switch According to CNET , the Google video site will not be meeting the original 2017 schedule for Apple TV and Roku apps for the cord-cutting service. Still in development, these clients provide an experience optimized for the big screen and are now on track for the first quarter of 2018. Last month , YouTube TV launched apps for 2016 and 2017 LG and Samsung televisions. Apps for 2014-2015 Samsung sets , as well as Linux-based ones from Sony, will also launch within the first three months of next year. The clients provide an immersive experience, as well as allow for control via a physical TV remote. Earlier this month, YouTube TV rolled out to 84 cities following a big 35 market expansion. For

Earlier this month, more details emerged about the long rumored subscription service from Google that would merge Play Music and YouTube. Negotiations with music labels were cited as an obstacle at the time, but today, YouTube has struck the necessary deals. Nintendo Switch Bloomberg reports that YouTube has struck the necessary deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment to move forward with its latest subscription service. These agreements govern royalty rates for official content and user-uploaded clips. Meanwhile, Warner Music Group signed a deal in May. Artists should get better pay and more flexibility, with the labels winning some concessions from Google. Notably, Universal will have say over what appears on ad-supported channels, while YouTube will improve scans that look for copyrighted content in user uploads. Codenamed “Remix” internally, this combined music service is rumored to feature on-demand streaming with video clips and other YouT

Flagship Android smartphones typically ship with a 2-year promise for major updates, but for mid-range devices, it generally ends up being a shorter guarantee, especially for bigger updates. However, despite being over a year and a half old and no longer in production , ZTE is still working to prepare an Oreo update for the Axon 7. The best gifts for Android users The Axon 7 was a fan-favorite smartphone for its stellar build, speakers, and performance. Over the course of its life, ZTE also managed to keep the Axon 7 updated quite well as far as major updates and minor security patches . Now, we’re glad to see –  courtesy of a ZTE employee  – that Oreo is in the works. We are announcing now that we are already developing android 8 for the Axon 7, your positive feedback has been inspiring us a lot and made us very happy and because of this we try to get it customer ready as soon as  possible for the best customers in the world, and I ask for your understanding because

HTC’s latest mid-range device, the U11 Life , arrived in the States as a T-Mobile exclusive, and now that variant of the phone is picking up an update to Android Oreo… The best gifts for Android users If you’ll recall, the HTC U11 Life recently debuted both in the US as a T-Mobile exclusive as well as being the  first Android One product from HTC  overseas. The smaller, mid-range device clearly pulls a lot from the  standard HTC U11 , including the same blue color and squeezable sides. In case you missed it, HTC updated the HTC U11 Life to Oreo earlier on this month, and now HTC has confirmed on Twitter that the T-Mobile variant is getting the update. While this was very much expected, we’re still glad to see that support for carrier versions of this device aren’t lagging too far behind unlocked options. If you purchased the U11 Life on T-Mobile, you can check for the Oreo update now through your settings application. The Android 8.0 Oreo update is now available for

One of the things Google changed about the Pixel 2 from the original that fans didn’t like was the removal of the headphone jack . Google thankfully does include an adapter in the box, but some owners of the phone are reporting that their adapters simply aren’t working. The best gifts for Android users First spotted by Android Police , a handful of Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL owners are amassing on Google’s Product Forums , claiming that the USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack included in the box isn’t working. Needless to say, that would be incredibly frustrating, especially when the music that’s supposed to be heading to the adapter is simply coming through the speakers . These users do report that rebooting the phone or switching to safe mode temporarily solves the problem, but that’s a lot of work to do for something as simple as listening to music. It could easily be that some of Google’s adapters are shipping out defective, or that other apps on these units are causing the p

According to a report out of The Wall Street Journal today, customers of Waymo’s ride hailing service will be covered for any damaged property and trip-related medical expenses (hopefully none!) by a relatively new insurance startup out of Danville, California. Everyone can use an Echo Dot: Just $50! CEO of Trov, the company behind the coverage, detailed the deal to the WSJ this morning: Trov Inc., a five-year-old firm based in Danville, Calif., said Tuesday it will work behind the scenes with Waymo to insure its riders for lost and damaged property and trip-related medical expenses. Trov CEO Scott Walchek  said passengers won’t have to pay. They also won’t know Trov is providing the coverage. Notably, this is a corporate behind-the-scenes deal between Waymo and Trov, not some annoying opportunity for riders to opt-in to coverage for an additional cost. Trov says customers won’t even know that the insurance is there except in the unlikely event they need it. It goes

It’s likely that you take quite a lot of screenshots on your smartphone, so it’s easy for them to get lost in your folders. Samsung is playing around with an interesting idea to help sort through them on Android Oreo — naming screenshots based on where they were taken. The best gifts for Android users Samsung hasn’t changed a whole lot in Android Oreo , but this is certainly an interesting place to make a change. First spotted by SamMobile , this functionality simply inserts the name of whatever app the screenshot is taken from into the filename alongside the time and date. Odds are, you’ll never notice this happening on your device, but it might come in handy at some point. One way Samsung might even give this feature a real-world use case is by updating the file manager to let users sort and/or filter the screenshots folder based on app. Regardless, this is an interesting addition from Samsung. Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: VIDEO

Samsung’s Gear S3 is easily one of my favorite smartwatches on the market today , but it hasn’t been immune to issues. In a previous update, Samsung seriously hurt the battery life on the Gear S3 , but now, the company is taking steps to fix that. The best gifts for Android users First spotted by SamMobile , Samsung is currently rolling out a new update to Gear S3 owners which fixes battery problems. In fact, the only note on the changelog for the roughly 21mb update is simply that it “improves battery usage time.” Unfortunately, there is a pretty major catch here. So far, it’s only been confirmed that this update is rolling out in Canada. Thankfully, there have also been some mixed reports of the update rolling out in other regions. We’ve reached out to Samsung for input on the scope of this rollout. In the meantime, if you have a Gear S3, it can’t hurt to manually check for updates in the Gear app on your phone.   Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news: VID