About Prasham Parikh
Prasham Parikh is a freelancer at Android Police, and you can catch him writing how-to guides, features, and reviews on smartphones or pretty much anything that has a battery in it. His love for technology began with the Nokias and the Sony Ericsons of the early 2000s, and he hasn’t looked back since. He’s been the go-to guy in his circle for advice on smartphones, laptops, and gadgets in general—he regrets not sharing affiliate links as often, though. His first stint as a writer was for India’s leading tech magazine — The Digit — but he got his first true experience in tech journalism writing for and managing a small tech blog, EOTO.tech. He then went on to write and produce for Mashable India, where he penned over a thousand articles, reviews, opinions, and in-depth features and hosted and scripted several YouTube videos. Prasham hails from Mumbai but recently moved to Atlanta after graduating from Duke University with a Master’s degree in Quantitative Management. The gadgets he currently uses on a daily basis are the Google Pixel 6, Oppo Watch, Sony WH-1000XM4s, the MacBook Pro, and the Onyx Boox Nova Air. When he’s not spending time writing or ogling new tech, he’s probably playing NBA 2K or watching a true crime documentary. Once in a while, he even digs out his trusty ol’ Gameboy Advanced SP to play the best game ever made: Pokemon Leaf Green.
Latest Articles
Story time: YouTube is adding a button to quickly make TikTok-style videos
Current availability seems limited to users in India
If TikTok's explosive growth has proven one thing, it's that short-form videos are not something that social platforms can afford to pass on — they're catchy, they help improve app retention rates, and they're attracting more ad dollars than ever before. Google has certainly realized this, and it's making sure that YouTube adapts to changing times. In its latest attempt to make it easier to produce short videos, the video platform is experimenting with a prominent Create button.
Realme X7 5G and X7 Pro 5G offer dual-SIM support and super-fast charging
They ship with 65W chargers in the box
While 5G hasn't arrived in India yet, smartphone companies have already started selling 5G phones. The newest kids on the block are the Realme X7 5G and the X7 Pro 5G, which aim to compete with mid-rangers like the Xiaomi Mi 10i and the OnePlus Nord.
Google Maps is testing a not-so-intuitive routing screen
Don't fix what's not broken, please?
Let's face it, a lot of us would literally be lost without Google Maps. It not only helps with directions, but also with picking the best mode of transportation by showing their ETAs in a neat row. This might change, though, as Google is testing a new UI that looks cleaner but is not necessarily as intuitive as before.
Huawei is set to launch its next foldable, the Mate X2, on February 22
You still won't be able to get your hands on it, mate
Huawei created a furor among visitors at CES 2019 when it showcased its upcoming foldable phone that admittedly looked more futuristic than the prototype Samsung had shown. A lot has changed, however, between then and now. While the South Korean giant is now making the finest foldables on the market, its Chinese rival has been crippled by the US trade ban. Huawei isn't giving up, though, and is set to launch its next folding phone — the Mate X2 — later this month.
OxygenOS Open Beta 6 brings January security patch to the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro
And a bunch of fixes and optimisations
OnePlus recently brought the January security update patch to the OnePlus 7 and the 7T series, and the OnePlus 6 and 6T already got it last month. Surprisingly, the company's more recent flagships — the OnePlus 8 and the 8 Pro — had yet to jump on the bandwagon. While the patch still isn't available on the stable channel, it has arrived on the phones with the latest OxygenOS Open Beta 6.
HMD Global, with its Nokia brand, is one of the only mainstream companies that still offer Android Go smartphones. Further expanding its lineup is the latest Nokia 1.4, which brings a seemingly decent experience without costing an arm and a leg.
Hands-on: The minimalist Niagara Launcher is officially out of beta
An attractive homescreen alternative designed for one-handed use
Smartphone displays have grown much bigger in recent years to cater to our growing appetite for consuming media. However, the software running on most of these phones still isn't optimized for one-handed use. One of the best things about Android is that issues like this can easily be addressed by third-party apps. Niagara Launcher aims to make your phone's homescreen more convenient, and after four years of development and a two-year beta, it's launching for real.
YouTube Music makes it easier to 'start radio' from your currently playing song
It takes two (taps) to tango
If there's one thing that YouTube is really good at, it's recommendations. Google has done an excellent job training its algorithms to serve just what users would like to watch. Fortunately, this trait has also been passed on to YouTube Music that has a good hunch of what you might want to listen to next. In a bid to make it easier to find songs you may like, the service's Android app is getting a new way to "Start radio."
Latest Galaxy Buds Pro update improves ANC and voice detect mode
It's the second update to hit the earbuds since launch
One advantage of companion apps for truly wireless earbuds is that they can push out software updates that improve functionality. Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro, as we mentioned in our review, are a truly great set of all-rounder earbuds. They're now receiving a second update that improves on a few of their key features.
Motorola thinks it's 2019, rolls out Android 10 update for Moto One Macro
Meanwhile, the Moto G Stylus 2020 gets Android 11
You'd think that Motorola, with its comparatively light Android skin, would be quicker at delivering software updates, right? Well, you couldn't be more wrong. If its flagship phone, the Edge+, ranks poorly on our update tracker, it's best not to expect too much from its budget devices. However, the company has managed to fall short of even the lowest expectation by only just releasing Android 10 for the Moto One Macro in 2021.
Chromebooks continued to sell like hotcakes in Q4 2020
The market quadrupled fourfold in Q4 2020 compared to last year
Laptops powered by Google's nifty Chrome OS have proven to be great machines for students or just about anyone looking for a reliable and affordable laptop for day-to-day computing needs. The incredible growth witnessed by the Chromebook market in Q3 2020 is a testament to their usefulness in a world that's been rattled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuing this blistering growth, the market has quadrupled in Q4 2020 over the same period a year ago.
Apple's iCloud Passwords extension arrives on the Chrome Web Store, but it's not working yet
It's supposed to be functional for Windows users
Read update
No matter how hard companies pitch the benefits of being in their ecosystem, more often than not, consumers end up buying products from different brands that render some ecosystem-exclusive features useless. In an attempt to make iCloud Keychain accessible to those with Windows PCs, Apple has released a Chrome extension. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work at the time of writing.
Xiaomi teases Mi Air Charge, its true wireless charging solution
Not coming to a commercial phone in 2021, unfortunately
Wireless charging isn't quite as convenient as it sounds. It still needs the phone to be placed in a dock or on a mat, or in the case of Apple's new MagSafe solution, basically tethered to a cable. However, Xiaomi claims to have developed a new charging technology that can wirelessly charge a phone over the air, which would truly be a game-changer.
WhatsApp adds biometrics authentication requirement to link account to PC
The update should roll out in the coming days
Following a change in its privacy policy that caused an exodus to competing apps like Signal and Telegram, WhatsApp is adding a new layer of security to the process of linking an account to a computer. The Facebook-owned messaging service is now pushing an update that will allow users to take advantage of biometrics on their phone for authentication.
Android 12 may offer a system-wide color theming feature
Going beyond light and dark mode
It's been a while since smartphones went beyond just being tools to become practically extensions of ourselves. And being so personal to so many users, it's no surprise that a lot of us want to customize the way our phone's interface looks. Unfortunately, stock Android doesn't offer system-wide theming options, but there's a chance this may change with the arrival of Android 12.
Telegram now lets you import your chat history from WhatsApp
There has never been a better time to switch
It would be an understatement to say that Telegram benefited from the quagmire WhatsApp found itself in after it pushed users to accept its Facebook-or-die terms of service. In January alone, the messaging service added over 100 million users. Now to make things easier for those considering switching, Telegram is rolling out the ability to import existing WhatsApp chats.
Galaxy S21 users can apply custom backgrounds and snazz up video calls on Duo, Zoom, Teams, and Webex
Don't expect smooth results, though
Samsung always bakes new software features for its latest flagships, and this year's Galaxy S21 series is treated no differently. The smartphones were launched with One UI 3.1 that brought a bunch of new functionality, such as Google Discover on the homescreen and Director's View. There's another addition that's especially useful in a time where video calls have become the primary form of communication for a lot of us: custom video call effects.
Google's latest canceled VR project will at least live on as an open source project
Tilt Brush will remain available in digital stores
One of the more interesting VR applications we've seen in recent years is Tilt Brush, an app that lets users create 3D art in a virtual environment. Unfortunately, Google has announced that it's ending internal development for the app. It will get another chance to succeed, however, as an open-source project.
You can now permanently disable Auto Night Sight on the Pixel 5 & 4a 5G
Missed photo ops no more!
Google introduced Auto Night Sight for the Pixel 4a 5G and the Pixel 5 with the aim of saving users an extra couple of swipes to access the mode. Not everyone was a fan of the app making that decision for them, though. Hearing the feedback, Google has released a new Camera update that finally lets users manually disable Auto Night Sight.
The Motorola Edge S is the first phone with a Snapdragon 870
It may arrive in international markets as the Moto G100
Shortly after Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 870 — a slightly tweaked version of last year's flagship Snapdragon 865 — the first phone powered by it has been announced. The Motorola Edge S just made its debut in China, but we may see it arrive in other markets in the future.