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A number of interesting upgrades for the Google Assistant were announced during the I/O developer conference last week, including the option to use the keyboard as the default input method instead of voice. Now that people have had a chance to play with the new setting it's become apparent that Assistant offers its own next-word suggestions, seemingly related to current events.
LG's 2016 flagship, the G5, is still a solid phone, even if it never quite reached the same heights as other headline devices of the time. While you may not be willing to pay through the nose for it, $299 is an attractive price given its specs, and that's made even better when B&H are willing to throw in an LG 360 VR headset for nothing.
Top technology companies are no strangers to patent litigation. Wherever there is money to be made there will always be opportunistic individuals and companies who will obtain patents in order to profit from licensing or litigation. Yesterday, the US Supreme Court ruled on a key change that should make it much harder for patent trolls to be successful.
Since the release of the Pixel last year it's been possible to swipe down on the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor to pull down the notification shade. It took a while, but the feature eventually came to the Nexus 5X, and finally the 6P. Ever since it came to the Nexuses, there was a bug wherein the axis wouldn't change along with the orientation. The release of the second developer preview for Android O (DP2) fixes this, and you can now logically swipe down from whichever side of the device is currently the top, depending on how you're holding it.
Since LineageOS rose from the ashes of the ever popular CyanogenMod custom ROM at the beginning of the year, the community has been hard at work releasing incremental updates on a bi-weekly basis. Each one brings new features and support for more devices. The previous update to LineageOS 14.1 arrived with support for 9 further devices, including the Moto Z Play and Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5. The latest changelog includes additional support for just 1 extra device, the Nextbit Robin, which has been re-added. It also announces that the Nexus 4 will no longer be officially supported.
Rovio's ever popular Angry Birds has become something of a phenomenon, with multiple games spanning different genres and billions of downloads. The franchise shows no signs of slowing down either. With movie tie-ins and spin-offs aplenty, the Finnish company continues to find new ways to push the series. It's been a long time coming, but the next evolution (ahem) of the game on Android is almost ready for primetime. Angry Birds Evolution will be released in the US next month and you can now pre-register for it, with a free starter pack worth $7.99 up for grabs for anyone who does so today.
What happens when you take an iconic Breakout-style block-breaker and collide it with a classic alien shooter? Arkanoid vs Space Invaders is what, and Square Enix has just released the game on the Play Store. Both retro games were arcade champions of their time, with Space Invaders hitting machines in the late 1970s and Arkanoid coming later in the mid-1980s. Both are sure to have a great deal of loyal, nostalgic fans who may find this mashup of interest.
If anyone needs a little break from all the Google I/O related news, Microsoft chose an opportune day to announce an overhaul of its note-taking app. The OneNote redesign relates to every platform it's available on, including Android, and promises enhanced usability, simpler navigation, and a more consistent experience across devices.
We've already taken a brief look at Google's new PayPal-like payment API which was introduced during a session at I/O today. Potentially the coolest application for this is going to be the ability to send payments to friends and others with Google Assistant.
A brand new Pixel Launcher UI has been spotted at Google I/O during a sandbox session on Instant Apps. We've not seen anything official about it yet, so it's either going to be debuted soon, or somebody messed up and it's not even a fully tested product. It seems the unreleased launcher was being used to demo new functionality relating to the now more widely available Instant Apps, which it can show in search results alongside those on the Play Store. Previously, the launcher could only display apps already installed on your device.
At I/O two years ago, Google introduced Expeditions, an educational tool allowing teachers to take their classes on virtual reality field trips, and it's since been experienced by more than 2 million students around the world. It could be used with an inexpensive viewer such as Google Cardboard to tour a variety of virtual spaces, such as Antarctica or the International Space Station. During this year's I/O keynote, Google's VP of Virtual Reality Clay Bavor announced a new feature for the app — it now includes an AR mode.
One of the most interesting new features introduced during the Google I/O keynote has to be the integration between Google Home and Chromecast. The intelligent assistant can now show visual responses to interactions you have via any Chromecast connected TV. For a while now we've been able to play videos through our Chromecast via YouTube and Netflix, and now many more services are being added.
Google’s Rishi Chandra took to the stage during Google's I/O keynote to talk about incoming features for Google Home. After announcing that some great music services will be coming to the smart speaker — including Spotify, Deezer, and SoundCloud — he also dropped the news that support for streaming over Bluetooth was incoming.
Google I/O is underway and one of the first topics covered was the great strides the company has made in image recognition software. Further improvements in computer vision are enabling Google products to see the attributes behind the picture and break them down into constituent parts. This is powered by machine learning and capable of some incredible image editing feats.
T-Mobile has announced that LG's latest phablet, the G Stylo 3 Plus, is available on the network from today. The phablet is a Samsung Galaxy Note competitor of sorts, albeit at a much lower price point, as it sports a massive 5.7" display and also includes a stylus.
Uber wants to make things easier for people who choose to do part of their journey using its taxi service and the other part with public transport. To that end, the company has announced a deal with the journey planning app Transit. It's now possible to view onward train departure times without having to leave the Uber app.
With the OnePlus 5 now confirmed for a summer release, design and spec leaks have started to emerge much more frequently. The successor to the popular flagship-on-a-budget OnePlus 3/3T is shaping up to be another powerful device, with rumors also suggesting it will have an in vogue dual camera set-up. Now, thanks to Android Authority, we have an image of an alleged prototype to whet our appetite further.
Yesterday it was reported that Google could be planning to release a standalone VR headset at I/O this week, and now we may have further evidence in the form of a trademark filing at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Google has registered the term "WORLDSENSE," which we presume will be styled as either WorldSense or Worldsense. The filing, from 9th May 2017, states that it relates to computer hardware, computer software, and virtual reality headsets.
A few days ago Android Pay continued its mission to increase its support by adding 71 banks and credit unions, and now it's adding a further 39 to that list. With most of the major banks already using the technology, Google is now checking off the smaller institutions across the US in its bid for ubiquity.
Anyone interested in the quality of the camera attached to their smartphone is probably aware of DxO Labs. The firm rigorously tests the image quality produced by new devices and gives it an overall score, the DxOMark. Google even used the high rating achieved by its Pixel camera in its own marketing campaign, such is the reputation of DxO's word. Since its release in late October 2016 the Pixel has been top of the DxO rankings, scoring 89 points. Until now, that is, as the newly announced HTC U11 has just come out on top, beating the previous leader by 1 point with at total of 90.