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Gboard is bringing screenshots to the clipboard for easier sharing
Google's on-screen keyboard goes from strength to strength
Gboard is probably one of Google's best Android apps — it's constantly evolving and gaining useful new features. Last year, its clipboard was expanded to allow for easier copying and pasting of images, and now screenshots are being added into the mix for your convenience.
Google Assistant continues to mean well with socially relevant, utterly cringeworthy songs
I'll take it if you promise never to never sing again, Google
The Google Assistant team seems to enjoy coming up with little ditties that its AI voice helper can sing to you, whether it's about washing your hands, Halloween, New Year, or wearing a mask. This latest number is all about encouraging us to take the vaccine — an important topic, but it's not Google's best musical work, I must say.
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After months of rumors about a potential Spotify price hike, it's finally happening. Affected customers have been sent emails with the bad news, and the new pricing model is set to come into effect from June 2021 for current subscribers and from the end of April for new users. The change impacts Premium Student, Duo, and Family plans in Europe and the UK, with your monthly fee set to go up by around £1-2 (€1-3). Folks in the US are luckier, though, with only the Premium Family plan affected by a single dollar. We should point out that in all cases, the "standard" Spotify Premium plan is unaffected — for now.
Apple's AirTags will work with your Android phone — if someone loses one
So long as you have NFC, you'll be able to help return AirTags to their owners
Apple finally unveiled its long-awaited competitor to the Tile tracker at its big event yesterday, and the AirTags seem like an instant win. For just $29 you can make sure you never lose your keys again, and if you have more money than sense, there are also some ludicrously expensive Hermès strap options. While you might think they only work with iPhones, that's actually not entirely the case.
Google's new cheap Pixel Buds may lose some features
They could miss out on the swiping gesture for volume
Rumors of a new pair of Google earbuds have been swirling for a little while now. It seems clear that we're getting a cheaper set — possibly called Pixel Buds A in line with its phone naming scheme for its more affordable models — and Google itself appeared to leak an image of the upcoming product. New evidence has popped up that points to a lack of volume gesture controls.
Google Photos looks set to get a powerful new search feature
Filters will make finding specific photos a whole lot easier
Searching through large amounts of data is Google's bread and butter, and so it's surprising that the search tools in Google Photos are a little lacking. You can search for certain things by name, and there are filters of sorts with people, pets, places, etc, but you can't easily use more than one at a time. Thankfully, Google is working on a more robust set of filters.
TicWatch has a new budget health tracker with temperature monitoring
Tons of health features for an affordable price
Mobvoi's TicWatches are some of the best wearables around right now. In fact, they're among the very few Wear OS watches that we would actually recommend buying. The latest addition to the lineup is a little different, however — it doesn't run Google's OS, it's almost entirely health focused, and it's exceedingly affordable.Unlike anything we've previously seen from Mobvoi, the TicWatch GTH has a square watch face — it reminds me of something, but I can't quite put my finger on what. As well as 24-hour heart-rate monitoring and blood oxygen saturation detection (Sp02), it's the first TicWatch to include skin temperature monitoring. Mobvoi will stop short of calling this a Covid-detection watch, but it's clear this is something the feature set is alluding to.
Sleep tracking and stress management tools are also on board, along with a suite of apps to tie it all together, making this a pretty appealing all-around health wearable. Since it uses a proprietary operating system instead of Wear OS, you won't be able to download additional apps, but that shouldn't be an issue if you're looking for a simple health and fitness tracker. The GTH has automatic workout detection (for walking and running) and supports tracking for 14 different sports in total...
This Google Home app feature you probably didn't know existed has new customization options
Anyone remember the Feed tab?
I use the Google Home app pretty often to control my lights and various other smart home gadgets, but I must admit I had entirely forgotten about the second tab in the app's bottom navigation. It's a feed that alerts you to certain events across your home, such as the addition or removal of devices or Wi-Fi status updates. Google has just rolled out a new settings menu you allowing you to customize the types of notifications in this feed.
Google Lens translate feature spotted in Android 12 recents screen
We've been expecting this for what seems like forever
As far back as July 2019, we saw evidence that Google was preparing an easy-to-access translate feature in the recents/overview screen. This was finally announced by Google as part of December's Pixel Feature Drop, along with a similar feature for screenshots, but it's not appeared since. It now looks like it's finally showing up, although only in the latest Android 12 developer preview.
New Google product passes through the FCC — could it be a new Nest Cam?
It's a 'Wireless Streaming Device' with a battery, that much we know
We often find out about new Google hardware products in cryptic fashion when they arrive at the Federal Communications Commission. Due to confidentially agreements, the regulator only discloses the bare minimum in these listings, but we can usually make an educated guess at what to expect. The latest example appears to be a new Nest Cam.
Google can't seem to fix (or doesn't care about) broken app update notifications
The Play Store toggle doesn't seem to work at all on Pixel phones
When Google removed the ability for the Play Store to notify users of app updates, people were understandably miffed. This even led to a third-party solution being developed, before Google eventually saw sense and brought it back as an optional setting (albeit off by default). This functionality appears to be broken now on various Android phones.
Vivo has another phone with a neat camera you probably can't buy
Complete with Zeiss branding, because new camera collabs are this season's must-have accessory
OnePlus just made a big song and dance about its collaboration with Hasselblad for the cameras on the OnePlus 9 series, and now it's the turn of sister company Vivo. One-time Sony partner Zeiss has been appointed to add some extra allure to Vivo's cameras in its X60 series, with the X60 Pro+ serving as its latest premium flagship phone.
The Realme 8 Pro goes official with its fancy 108MP camera system
Large screen, big battery, all for a relatively small price
At a livestreamed event today, Realme unveiled a set of new products, including its latest affordable smartphone. The Realme 8 Pro boasts Samsung's new 108MP camera sensor for high-resolution photos, while other innovative features such as tilt-shift time-lapse video are also on board. At the same time, Realme announced the launch of two new wearable accessories in European markets: the Watch S Pro and Buds Air 2.
We won't get a Galaxy Note from Samsung this year
Is this the end of the road for the popular flagship series?
You may have already heard whispers about a shortage of semiconductors affecting the technology and automotive sectors, but it looks like the worst is yet to come. According to Samsung CEO DJ Koh, this "serious imbalance in supply" could lead to some tough decisions in the next business quarter. Chief among those is the call to scrap this year's Galaxy Note flagship.
It looks like Signal has been blocked in China
Social media crackdown continues with the privacy-focused WhatsApp rival
The blocking of popular Western social media platforms in China is nothing new, and regulators appear to have gone after the increasingly fashionable chat app Signal. Users in the country report that the service has been down since yesterday.
The TicWatch Pro S is a cheaper model aimed at sporty types
It's really just an updated TicWatch Pro 2020
The Wear OS space has reached such depths that the TicWatch Pro 3 is one of the only models we'd recommend buying right now. To capitalize on its good reputation, Mobvoi is releasing a new Pro model. Somewhat confusingly, though, the new TicWatch Pro S is an updated TicWatch Pro 2020 positioned as a sports watch.Although the key selling seems to be its affordability, the TicWatch Pro S costs $259.99 (£222.99 / €259.99) — that's only $40 less than the TicWatch Pro 3 and while it carries a lot of the same features, the Pro S is saddled by the aging Wear 2100 chipset. That difference alone could be worth paying the $40 difference.
Much of what makes the TicWatch Pro range tick is still here, however. It's got the nifty dual display with up to 30 days battery life in Essential Mode or 2-5 days in Smart Mode. There's 8GB of storage so you can download a good amount of music for offline listening. Its suite of first-party apps includes TicExercise 3.0, TicSleep 2.0, and newer software experiences like TicBreathe and TicHearing. The first of those handles GPS tracking and heart rate monitoring during workouts, as well as Vo2 Max measurements. Other expected features such as NFC for mobile payments are also present. Its IP68 rating ensures decent protection from the elements, and it's suitable for pool swimming at least.Since the TicWatch Pro 2020 on which this new timepiece is based felt a little dated when it launched, and with a newer Wear 4100 model on offer from Mobvoi for only 40 bucks more, it could make the Pro S a hard sell without too many meaningful upgrades to speak of. A TicWatch 3 Pro on sale would be a better buy, for example.
The TicWatch Pro S is available for purchases in the UK (£222.99) and the US today ($259.99), while pre-orders open across the rest of Europe (€259.99). You can get it from Mobvoi.com or Amazon.
The Realme 8 Pro will feature an all-new 108MP camera system
Look forward to the first tilt-shift time-lapse video on a smartphone and other new features
Realme's recent phones have all gone pretty much the same way — incredible value considering the spec sheet, but slightly underwhelming cameras. That was true of the X2 Pro I reviewed last year and seemed to still be the case when Prasham recently looked at the X7 Pro 5G. The Oppo/OnePlus sibling is hoping to turn a corner with its next smartphone lineup, however, thanks to a brand-new 108MP camera system and a bunch of new features.
WhatsApp now lets you mute videos before sharing
Get rid of annoying audio before you send someone that hilarious clip
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If you want to share a video with someone but need to get rid of the audio for whatever reason, you can do so with Google Photos or another gallery app. But let's say you get to the point of sharing in WhatsApp and you still need to remove some annoying sound — the chat app is rolling out a feature that makes that a piece of cake.
Oppo shows off its futuristic Wireless Air Charging tech
And its VOOC fast charging tech is coming to Volkswagen cars, Anker accessories, and more
Oppo has made a few announcements at Mobile World Congress Shanghai today, including new partnerships that will see its VOOC flash charging technology used by other companies and a wireless charging solution to take on Xiaomi with.
Spotify is testing a redesigned (and much-improved) library UI
You can view and search all library content at once with this simplified approach
The Spotify Android app hasn't seen a major design overhaul for a few years now, but it does get incremental updates on a regular basis. The latest section of the app to get a new lick of paint is the library, which was last upgraded in 2019 to accommodate podcasts.