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Google shuts down its latest attempt at a social media app
The Area 120 experiment called Keen is shutting down this month
Alongside its core apps such as Gmail, the Workspace suite, Maps, and apps exclusive to Pixel phones, Google also devotes considerable efforts and resources to experimenting with new ideas for services which could be spun into their own businesses, much like self-driving car company Waymo. However, 2023 was a rough year for Alphabet Inc., and we are still seeing a ripple effect with the latest shutdown of a Pinterest-style social media platform called Keen.
Google Maps starts showing social media profiles from your favorite bars and restaurants
Business Profile can now tie into your socials directly
Every brand is growing increasingly dependent on social media marketing to improve their visibility to consumers, and that’s why even homegrown businesses lay emphasis on social media presence through the best social apps. Besides the role of its advertising business in such marketing efforts, the company also allows businesses to create their profiles, called Google Business Profiles. Although they are fairly detailed and descriptive, Google now allows to link your business’ social media accounts with the Business Profile.
Google's updated sign-in page appears to be rolling out widely
We are seeing the new design for many user accounts worldwide
Besides its important role as one of the biggest search engines around, Google also has a thriving business of apps and services such as the Workspace suite. Additionally, you could also use your Google account to sign in to several other websites, apps, and services which have partnered with the company for user identification. Now, things could look a little different when you’re signing in using your Google account, but don’t be alarmed, because the company’s login page redesign is rolling out widely now.
Massive discounts drop Pixel 8, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel 6a down to their lowest prices ever
Save big with these incredible deals on some of our favorite Pixel devices
We've seen some great deals on Pixel phones over the past couple of months, with excellent discounts that bring some of the best Android phones to some of the lowest prices we have ever seen. But if you've been holding out, now's going to be your chance as we're seeing the lowest prices to date with deals on the Pixel 8, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel 6a. Right now, for a limited time, you can score up to 23% off these phones through Woot.
Google paid out $10 million in vulnerability awards last year
The company held its first ever live-hacking event targeting LLM in 2023
The more complicated software gets, the more likely it is to have bugs or security loopholes. Google and many other companies recognize that, and they want to give hackers and security researchers an incentive to find and report problems. That’s where Google’s Vulnerability Rewards Program (VRP) comes in. Last year, the company paid out a total of $10 million to researchers reporting problems with Google software all around the world.
Google finally gives your Pixel 8 external display support
Pre-existing hardware-level support is now unlocked
The best Android tablets get close to blurring the distinction between a portable handheld gadget and a notebook, but your options are considerably limited if you’re using an Android phone. Samsung gives users near desktop-like functionality with DeX mode over a simple USB-C connection, but other brands, including Google’s Pixel range of phones don’t support external displays. The situation improved with the Pixel 8, and now, it officially supports external displays over a wired connection.
Why Google went a different route for Chromebook keyboards
UPPERCASE letters can be intimidating, and lowercase might be more familiar
Laptops come in all shapes and sizes, and the latest Chromebooks offer even greater flexibility and portability as well as software and hardware support that make them compete against Android tablets. If you’ve ever used a Chromebook or seen one in the store, you may have noticed they have lowercase letters imprinted on their keyboards. This isn’t something new; Google has done this since the very first prototype, the CR-48, which was launched in 2010.
Google is busy fine-tuning its AI chatbot, Gemini, although much of the recent coverage has revolved around its inability to generate accurate images of people. However, the team behind the company's current AI efforts also has other obstacles to deal with, such as inconsistent Wi-Fi speeds, a new report has found.
Android loses its emulator edge as Apple trims the hedge on its walled garden in this week's news
This week in Android: Big Tech goes on a killing spree, and the grass IS greener on the other side of the pond
With some of the biggest companies in the world constantly competing for market- and mindshare, there's never a dull week in Android news. This week, a few big names outside the usual Google-Samsung two-step came to dance, as EU regulators and corporate lawyers alike laid down the litigation. Of course, Google itself still made headlines, but not all of them were good. If you haven't been following the space as closely as you'd like, we've got you covered with a rundown of this week's top five headlines below.
The Pixel Launcher ships as the default launcher on all Google Pixel phones. For all the functionality it packs, Google's stock launcher offers limited customization options. And that's a shame, especially since it has been over 5 years since Google broke navigation gestures in custom launchers, making it difficult to pick up an alternative. Either So, you use the stock launcher with limited features or a custom launcher with buggy gestures.
Android will soon get Windows-style sticky keys for physical keyboards
Future Android versions could also add support for slow keys
Android 14 QPR3 won't be out for the masses until June, but we already have a decent idea about what it will bring to the table, thanks to beta releases. The second Android 14 QPR3 beta dropped this week, and although some are experiencing bricked devices while sideloading the update, we've learned a fair bit more about what the next quarterly platform release (QPR) will look like. Android sleuth Mishaal Rahman has detailed several of the changes, both big and small, included with the new release. We can now add another to the list, focusing on physical keyboards.
Google Lens makes retracing your steps much easier
A new opt-in feature helps revisit searches without cluttering your device gallery
Lens was one of the most useful additions to Google’s arsenal of Search tools, eliminating the sometimes challenging translation of photographic memory into words for a search query. Recent improvements in the form of Multisearch and Multisearch near me have made the user experience even more convenient, reducing the chances of resorting to textual search after using Lens. However, it's not always convenient to retrace your Search journey involving Lens, but Google is finally rolling out a solution to that long-standing problem.
Android 15's satellite connectivity could help you text your friends
More details of how satellite connectivity will work on Android have surfaced
Apple debuted Emergency SOS satellite connectivity with the iPhone 14 Pro series in 2023. While Android hardware makers are quick to adopt new hardware features, over 1.5 years later, the best Android phones still don't offer an equivalent option. In recent weeks, there have been signs of Google working on adding satellite connectivity to its Pixel phones. A new report now sheds more light on how this feature will work, including the possibility of satellite SOS connectivity coming to existing Android phones without requiring additional hardware.
The Google Pixel Watch 3 might supercharge Watch Unlock with UWB
A big step up from the existing Bluetooth-based Watch Unlock
The Google Pixel Watch 2 ranks among the top Android-based smartwatches you can get today. One of the many features we like about the wearable is Watch Unlock, first teased over a year ago and formally introduced to the first-gen Pixel Watch and the Pixel Watch 2 last December. This basically enables the Pixel Watch to unlock a nearby Pixel phone by bringing the two close together, leveraging Bluetooth to communicate with the smartphone. We're now learning that Google could make Watch Unlock even better with the rumored Pixel Watch 3 by introducing UWB (ultra-wideband).
Facebook and Instagram were down big time this morning
Many people across the world reported they can't access Meta and some Google services
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Meta experienced issues with some of its most important services this morning. People across the globe reported that they couldn't access Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Some people were also not able to access Google services for a time, though that situation seems to have resolved itself much faster.
Some Pixel 7 users are already getting Circle to Search
An update to the Google app seems to be triggering availability
The big March 2024 Pixel Feature Drop has arrived — well, technically it won't start rolling out in the US until next week, but it's already going live in some markets — and the headlining feature is that Google's new Circle to Search utility is becoming available on older Pixel phones, namely the 7 and 7 Pro. Usually, these things take a matter of days, if not weeks, to hit actual phones in the wild, but this particular feature seems to be arriving sooner than any of us expected.
Why won't Google increase its 15GB free storage?
Google thinks 15GB is enough for most people, and it might not be wrong
Google surprised everyone when it upped the storage in Gmail from 1GB to 2GB in 2005, and the company was one of the few services that offered such a large amount of storage for storing emails. As the years went by and the industry kept evolving, the software giant settled for 15GB of storage, shared across the entire Google account.
Google and Samsung steal the limelight from MWC in this week's biggest news
This week in Android: Samsung's cooking up hardware and software while Google's in the kitchen with Wear OS
This week started off with the world's largest mobile show in Barcelona, as MWC 2024 brought the most prominent names in tech under one roof to showcase their latest concepts and prototypes. But even with all that hubbub, the two biggest companies in the Android space dominated headlines as usual, with rumors and releases on the hardware and software fronts from Samsung and Google hogging the limelight. If you missed out on any of the biggest headlines this week in Android amid all the commotion, we certainly don't blame you — in fact, we'll get you caught up in no time with the five biggest stories from the past seven days after the jump.
Signs of another new Chromecast appear in the Google Home app
We don't know anything about it, but it does seem to exist
We've been following rumors about a Chromecast refresh for quite some time, and now, we've got another one to throw on the pile: 9to5Google reports that yet another new Google TV device identifier has appeared in code for the Google Home app. It's not a whole lot to go on, but it does show that Google is working on new Chromecast hardware in some capacity.
Wild new Google Search buttons have appeared in beta for some
Google looks set to make its core app more colorful, but no, it’s not Material You
While the Google Search app still hasn’t been updated to follow Material You colors, introduced all the way back in Android 12, the company behind the search engine is busy with another interface update for its core app. As spotted by AssembleDebug, some beta testers currently see a new homepage design with a revamped search bar and colorful quick action buttons.