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Watch Samsung's virtual Mobile World Congress event here
We might get our first glimpse at a revitalized Wear OS today
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Google raised eyebrows back at the I/O developer conference, saying that the next iteration of Wear OS would be developed alongside Samsung. The company's Galaxy-branded smartwatches have eschewed Wear OS for years in favor of its own in-house Tizen operating system. Our first real glimpse at this hybridized Wear OS might just come later today when Samsung shows off its "vision for the future of smartwatches," and you can watch it right here.
Google Workspace users are finally getting invited to try out the new version of Google Pay
The updated app was incompatible with Workspace accounts before
Google seems to be trying to make the new Google Pay do everything for everyone. As usual, its own Workspace users are a little behind the curve, despite literally paying Google to use its software. That situation might be coming to a close: today a few lucky Workspace users are being invited to test out the new system with their work accounts.
After months of speculation, Google unveiled the first step in its game streaming effort earlier this month - Project Stream. It's currently only available in certain areas of the United States, and you can only play a demo of Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Google said interested users could start using it on October 5, but invites hadn't been sent out until today.
Google has just sent out invitations to an event on October 9th in New York City, confirming a previous report from Bloomberg and discrediting a previous rumor for October 4th. It's all but confirmed that we'll be seeing the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL there, but unfortunately not the Pixel Watch due to a recent decision.
The sensation that is Fortnite landed on Android just two days ago, but it was set to be a Samsung exclusive for a "few days." That nebulously defined period is now over, and the application now runs on non-Samsung devices, but there is a catch: You still can't actually play it unless you got an invite.
It's been almost three months since Android Pay was replaced by Google Pay, but the new name still sounds so foreign. In an attempt to alleviate that and introduce more users, Google is running a promotion in which you and someone you refer both get $10 in Play credit once the referred party makes a purchase. Bear in mind that this promo is still running (and ends at the same time).
What if there was an app that got you half-off food at some of the best restaurants in town, and all you had to do was place an order earlier in the day, and pick it up a bit later than usual? Well, there is, and it's called Food for All. Even better, the grub you grab was destined for the trash can, so you get to feel good about helping decrease food waste too.
A built-in sharing feature for YouTube has been in various forms of testing for months, but it is now live for all Canadian YouTube users. You read that correctly - Canada actually received a feature first.
OnePlus has been visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, and they've been convinced to mend their frustrating ways. Either that, or the sales of the OnePlus 2 (which has been widely criticized for its hardware shortcomings) have been less than stellar, and the company no longer needs its rationing system in order to fill demand for the device. Starting on Saturday, the OnePlus 2 will be available for purchase without jumping through the hoops of the invitation system. It's a friggin' holiday miracle. The cheaper OnePlus X isn't getting the same treatment, but you will be able to buy one without an invite from December 5-7.
We pretty much know what the OnePlus 2 will look like thanks to a regulator leak earlier this week. And we know all of the important technical details thanks to piece-by-piece updates from the company itself. But if you still feel the need to tune in to the announcement on Monday, July 27th, OnePlus would really like you to do so via newfangled virtual reality. They've just posted the official Google Cardboard app for the livestreaming announcement.
A little less than one year ago, I called the OnePlus One "the best flagship phone you can't buy" in my initial review. The phone had some impressive hardware at an amazing price, and in many ways it still does, but the system of invitations and qualifications built around actually buying the One made obtaining the device an exercise in frustration. It's taken them eleven months (and what seems like dozens of separate promotions and half-measures), but you can finally order a OnePlus One without an invitation of any kind starting today.
If you're wondering what NVIDIA has been working on for the last few months, you'll only have to wait a few more weeks to find out. The gaming and graphics company has sent invitations to technology press, including Android Police, for a presentation on March 3rd in San Francisco. According to the email, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang will be demonstrating something "5 years in the making" that will "redefine the future of gaming."
As winter slowly loosens its grip on the northern hemisphere, gadget nerds everywhere poke their noses above ground, looking to see if we'll soon have new hardware to drool over or six more weeks of relatively stale news. Easily the most anticipated springtime hardware announcement of the last few years has been Samsung's annual flagship refresh, and it looks like that will be coming on March 1st. The South Korean manufacturer has sent out invitations to its next "Unpacked" event at Mobile World Congress.
The biggest problem people have had with the OnePlus One is the convoluted invite system, making it necessary to jump through multiple hoops for the privilege of giving a company money to buy its product. On this most sacred day of bargains and barbarism, OnePlus has elected to suspend the invite system and its only slightly better pre-order page. You can buy a 16GB or 64GB OnePlus One today, no waiting, no hunting for invites, no phone smashing or sexist pandering required.
The OnePlus One isn't quite the hot item it used to be, and if there are any prospective buyers in India, they might have been swayed by the handful of flagship phones that have launched from more conventional manufacturers in the months since the device's release. Even so, if you want a One on the subcontinent, you won't have too much longer to wait. Maybe. According to this promotional page and some information from the OnePlus forum, Amazon will start selling the One in December. It has an Indian exclusive on the phone.
Update: Predictably, the OnePlus site is struggling to stay up under a barrage of traffic just minutes after pre-orders went live.
Oh selfies, how I loathe thee. You democratized and bastardized descendants of the self-portrait, you brothers of the awkward meal photo, you poorly-angled posers, you absolute scourge of social media. But alas, I appear to be in the minority, at least if the increasing focus on this hated term is anything to go by. You can't blame the manufacturers for making "selfie cams" - they're just giving the people what they want. And HTC is poised to do just that in New York City next month.
If you've been anxiously awaiting your opportunity to get your very own Google Glass, and somehow you've missed every other invite or code giveaway, your time is coming up in just a few days. The Glass team has confirmed documents leaked to The Verge that indicate Google will be giving a one-day pass to all residents of the United States to join the Explorer Program and purchase their very own head-mounted unit. The event will occur on April 15th at 6am PDT. The price remains faithfully locked in at $1500, but buyers will also have an option to choose between free frames (suitable for prescription lenses) or tinted shades.
Google Calendar has been updated recently, but a quick glance at the change log only finds "Bug fixes and performance improvements." What actually happened? Not much, but what's there is a doozy - replying to calendar events from within Gmail should now be a much less tedious experience.
MyColorScreen's Themer Is Now In Public Beta After 550,000 Signups And 1.5 Million Downloaded Themes
So it looks like a lot of you were excited by Themer, MyColorScreen's custom launcher which promises no-hassle installations of some of the fantastic homescreens featured on the site. After a month in closed beta the service is now open, so you no longer need a code to get access to those sweet, sweet themes. The free app is available on smartphones (and only smartphones) running Android 4.1 or later.