We've learned that Google plans to introduce a new gesture to open the notification shade using the fingerprint on its new Nexus phones, slated for release later this year. We have an animation of settings tip that shows how the feature works, sourced from one of said new Nexus phones, below. At this time, it is unclear to us when or if this feature will come to existing Nexus 5X and 6P devices, as they are the only other Nexuses with fingerprint scanners aside from the upcoming devices.
Read MoreExclusive: Manual exposure control is coming back to Google's Camera app
One of the coolest additions to the camera in the Android 7.0 developer preview was an option to manually adjust the exposure in the camera app. It's not as if that's a groundbreaking feature - plenty of third-party apps and manufacturer skins offered the same thing - but it's nice to get it in stock. The manual exposure option has disappeared in some of the later preview builds, but there's good news: it's coming back.
Read MoreExclusive: Future Camera update will add more photo grid options and a handy toggle
At the moment, the default Google camera app allows a staggering one option for a helpful photo grid: on or off. As happy as we are that it's there at all (if you're wondering, it's very good for getting a straight perspective and a balanced composition), we'd like to see some more options. And we'll get them sometime soon! We've managed to snag a preview of a future update for the APK, and while it's not exactly mind-blowing, it does add some very welcome tweaks to the grid.
Read MoreExclusive: These could be Google's upcoming Android Wear smartwatches
As we reported last week, Google is in the process of building two Android Wear smartwatches. At the time, we were unable to show you the watches themselves. Today, that changes - what you see in the image above could be codename and "Swordfish" and "Angelfish," Google's two Assistant-enabled wearables that we believe will be released after the new Nexus phones.
Disclaimer: No matter the confidence level, there's always a chance product updates, features, and some or all details will be changed or cancelled altogether.
Exclusive: Google is building two Android Wear smartwatches with Google Assistant integration
Speaking to Android Police, a reliable source has told us that Google is currently building two Android Wear devices - possibly Nexus-branded - for release some time after the latest Nexus phones are announced. One watch will be larger, sportier, and more fully-featured (LTE, GPS, heart rate), the other will be smaller and lack the aforementioned mobile data and GPS.
Disclaimer: No matter the confidence level, there's always a chance product updates, features, and some or all details will be changed or cancelled altogether. As with all rumors, nothing is 100% until it's officially announced.
We do not have possession of any APKs we can distribute or unreleased devices, so please don't ask for them.
Exclusive: this is what the 2016 Nexus phones, Sailfish and Marlin, will look like
The moment you've all been waiting for, right? As you can see in the above image, Google's Nexus phones are taking on a decidedly cleaner design language for 2016, according to information we've received from a reliable source. The image you're seeing is not an actual press render, but our own recreation of the upcoming Nexus phones based on evidence from our source. So, let's do the rumor breakdown.
Confidence level
We give this rumor a confidence level of 8 out of 10. While we are very confident in the reliability of our source in this case, we are uncertain of the age and finality of particular details we received from that source.
Read MoreExclusive: specs for "Marlin" - the larger of two upcoming HTC-built Nexus phones
You know about Google's smaller new Nexus phone, Sailfish, but what about Marlin? Everyone's keen to know what the bigger - and ostensibly better - Nexus phone this year holds, and we've got the goods. Well, some of them - enough to sate you until we learn more. Let's get the basic stuff out of the way, I know you're not interested in waiting.
Disclaimer: No matter the confidence level, there's always a chance product updates, features, and some or all details will be changed or cancelled altogether. As with all rumors, nothing is 100% until it's officially announced.
Exclusive: Google is building a live support app with screen-sharing for Nexus devices
A long-standing gap in the Nexus device feature-set for "normal" buyers has been live on-device support. In the event you need help setting up your Nexus smartphone - a smartphone you bought on the internet, not a store - going through the online Google Support documentation or back and forth with a chat agent in the browser is not an ideal experience. Being able to share your screen with an agent who can see what's happening on your display is a lot easier for many people, and it helps support agents resolve issues more quickly by having direct visual access to a user's device.
Read MoreThe Best Of AP
Exclusive: specs for "Sailfish" - the smaller of two upcoming HTC-built Nexus devices
It's that time everybody: Nexus season. While the last substantive pieces of Nexus information we could share popped up nearly two months ago, we've finally received some tidbits about the device specifications we can give you today. Now, let's go through the AP rumor song and dance.
Disclaimer: No matter the confidence level, there's always a chance product updates, features, and some or all details will be changed or cancelled altogether. As with all rumors, nothing is 100% until it's officially announced.
We do not have possession of any APKs we can distribute or unreleased devices, so please don't ask for them.
Google Is Calling Android N "New York Cheesecake" (NYC) Internally
Android N is all around us — seriously, have you seen the number of Android N Feature Spotlight stories we've published in less than a week? (Hint: there are 40 and more are pending), but there's a lot we don't know about the next version of Android yet. We know the preview will get more frequent updates than L or M prior to release, we know the final release will be available in the summer, and we know that it's the bestest, awesomest, and most feature-packed'est version of Android yet. We don't know the name though, nor the software version.
But just as it did with KitKat (Key Lime Pie), Lollipop (Lemon Meringue Pie), and Marshmallow (Macadamia Nut Cookie), Google has an internal name for N: New York Cheesecake.
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