Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Stable OxygenOS 5.0.2 brings Face Unlock to the OnePlus 5

The OnePlus 5 may have been outshined by the OnePlus 5T, but it remains a capable 2017 flagship smartphone. It shares some hardware in common with its successor, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip, and software-wise, OnePlus has taken pains to keep it up to date. In fact, the OnePlus 5 received a stable Android 8.0 Oreo-based OxygenOS 5.0 update in December, while the OnePlus 5T only received a stable Android Oreo update today.

At launch, the OnePlus 5T had a key software feature that differentiated it from the OnePlus 5: Face Unlock. It relied on the phone's front-facing camera, so there weren't any technical challenges that would have prevented it from coming to the OnePlus 5. Sure enough, OnePlus listened to feedback and said that Face Unlock would make its way to the OnePlus 5. It finally came in the OxygenOS Open Beta 3, and on Wednesday, Face Unlock hit the stable channel.

OnePlus has started rolling out OxygenOS 5.0.2 for the OnePlus 5, the company announced on the official OnePlus forums. In addition to Face Unlock, the new firmware includes CPU security patch CVE-2018-13218 and updated system apps including the OnePlus Launcher, Gallery, Weather and File Manager. It also brings "enhanced EIS for video recording", which should theoretically improve video quality. Unfortunately, OnePlus didn't go into detail regarding the enhanced EIS.

Here's the changelog:

OnePlus 5 OxygenOS 5.0.2 Changelog

System

  • Added Face unlock function
  • Applied CPU security patch: CVE-2017-13218
  • General bug fixes and improvements

Applications

  • Updated Launcher to v2.2
  • Updated Gallery to v2.0
  • Updated Weather to v1.9
  • Updated File Manager to v1.7.6

Camera

  • Enhanced EIS for video recording

OnePlus says that the OxygenOS 5.0.2 update will be rolled out incrementally, at first. It will reach a small percentage of users today, and roll out more broadly in the coming days.


Source: OnePlus



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Leaked Alcatel 5 Press Renders Show Dual Front-Facing Camera

TCL previewed the Alcatel 5 alongside the Alcatel 1 and Alcatel 3 at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in January, revealing that the $300 smartphone would feature a "borderless" 18:9 screen, facial recognition technology, and a battery that'd supply up to "a day's worth" of power. The company promised to show more at Mobile World Congress 2018 in late February, but leaked press materials spilled the beans a little early.

WinFuture published a promotional video and product renders of the Alcatel 5 on Wednesday, and they show a brushed metal smartphone with a unique front camera. Above the 5.7-inch FullView HD+ (1440×720) 18:9 IPS display is a dual front-facing module consisting of a 12MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture, and a 5MP sensor with a 1.4μm pixel size, "six-part" optics, and a 120-degree field of view. The "Selfie" mode in the Alcatel 5's camera app automatically switches to the wide-angle sensor when a group of people enters the frame, according to WinFuture, and TCL's software taps the cameras for speedy facial recognition.

alcatel 5 alcatel 5 alcatel 5

On Alcatel 5's rear is a 12MP camera with a f/2.0 aperture, but it's a single-module sensor. Next to it's an LED flash and a fingerprint sensor, and near the bottom is the phone's USB 2.0-capable Type-C port.

Under the hood, the Alcatel 5 packs a MediaTek MT6750 octa-core system-on-chip, with eight ARM Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.5GHz. It's got 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot for expandable storage, and a 3,000mAh battery.

alcatel 5 alcatel 5 alcatel 5

The Alcatel 5 supports Bluetooth 4.2 and LTE Cat. 4, which maxes out at 150 Mbps down and 50 Mbps up. It'll launch with Android 8.0 Oreo, according to WinFuture, and come in gold and black color configurations.

The phone's pricing is still a bit fluid, but WinFuture pegs it at €229.99 (~$284.34). That's roughly in line with TCL's past statements, but we'll likely have to wait until MWC 2018 for confirmation.


Source: WinFuture



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Huawei Partners with UnionPay International to Accelerate Huawei Pay’s Roll Out Worldwide

These days, it's tough to think of a major smartphone manufacturer that doesn't have its own mobile payments service. Apple has Apple Pay, Google has Google Pay, Samsung has Samsung Pay, and LG has LG Pay. Huawei is no exception — Huawei Pay launched in China in March 2016, and it gave Huawei the distinction of being one of the first Chinese mobile hardware vendors with a payments platform. But the company has grander ambitions. This week, Huawei announced that it's teaming up with UnionPay International to help roll out Huawei Pay worldwide.

Huawei Pay, which is currently compatible with 20 of Huawei's smartphones, is supported by 66 banks and was used to make 4 billion yuan (~$635 million) in payments last year. Its first new market will be Russia, which UnionPay dominates — the payments processor's cards are accepted at 85 percent of terminals and ATMs in the country, 400,000 of which support NFC tap-and-pay technology. And next in line is Eastern Europe.

Huawei declined to provide a timeline for either launch.

Huawei also announced that in the future, Huawei and Honor phone users outside of China will be able to make contactless payments by adding their UnionBank cards in the Huawei Pay app.

"Open sharing is an important direction for the future of the digital economy and intellectual interconnection, which is why Huawei's end-user cloud services built an open and globalized smart mobile ecosystem for the end-user experience" said Alex Zhang, president of Huawei's Consumer Cloud Service, in a statement. "Huawei hopes to work with partners such as UnionPay International to provide more secure and convenient mobile payment services for every user of Huawei smart devices around the world."

So why is Huawei pursuing Huawei Pay instead of adopting a cross-platform solution like Google Pay? While it might make sense for companies like Huawei to rely on Google services, there's a lot of incentive for them to create their own. Android as is today relies heavily on Google and its services, and not every OEM is comfortable with the status quo. Some of them, such as Samsung, have resisted by creating apps and services that duplicate the functionality of Google's own, and Huawei reportedly went so far as to develop its own mobile OS.

There's also a lot of money in mobile payments. According to one study, the contactless payment market will be worth $17.56 billion by 2021. With Huawei Pay, Huawei's hoping to get in on the ground floor.


Source: Huawei



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Spotify Experiments with a Free Playlist-Only App Called Stations

Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming subscription services in the world. It's constantly expanding old features and introducing new ones, which is one of the reasons it's the platform of choice for more than 100 million users. But it's not resting on its laurels. This week, Spotify published an experimental Android application in the Play Store called Stations, and it's a radical departure from the company's flagship app.

"Stations is the easiest way to listen to the music you love. Totally free," according to the app's Play Store description. "Stations is an experiment by Spotify that makes it easy for anyone to listen to great music. When you have access to all the music in the world, finding the right thing to play can feel like a challenge. With Stations, you can listen immediately, and switching stations is simple and seamless — no searching or typing needed."

Stations, which is being piloted in Australia and was first spotted by app analytics firm Sensor Tower, doesn't require a subscription, but only lets you listen to playlists. The curated collection, which is displayed in large title text you switch between by scrolling, includes Spotify's top picks and personalized playlists such as Discover Weekly and Release Radar. Spotify says Stations will learn your musical tastes over time, and create personalized stations based on the data it collects.

Spotify has both a paid and free music streaming tier, and recent stats show it's surpassed 70 million paying subscribers around the world. Naturally, free accounts are limited in a number of ways. Ads are injected every couple of songs in playlists and albums, and some songs aren't available. In addition, Spotify caps audio quality at 160kbps on desktop, while paid subscribers get access to 320kbps streams.

Stations, just like Spotify's free tier, seems like an attempt to get people to check out what the company has to offer — a gateway, if you will. It's not a bad strategy. If they like what they see, chances are they'll upgrade to a paid subscription.

Stations by Spotify (Free, Google Play) →



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Reliance Jio and MediaTek Team Up to Build an Android Go Smartphone

In some regions, high-end and mid-range smartphones reign supreme, but in emerging markets, low-end phones tend to be much more popular. For a while now, Google has been talking about bringing the "next billion users" online, and central to its plan is Android Go, a configuration of Android Oreo optimized for low-end devices. A number of companies have expressed enthusiasm over Android Go since it was unveiled last year, and one of them, MediaTek, announced that it's partnering with India-based carrier Reliance Jio to launch an Android Oreo Go Edition smartphone.

Unless you live in or around India, you might not have heard of Reliance Jio. It's an LTE mobile network operator that made headlines in 2016 by offering free voice calls. It's one of the fastest-growing carriers in the country, and it sells a low-cost phone, the Jio Phone, that starts at just 1,500 Rs. ($~23).

MediaTek, meanwhile, creates system-on-chips for smartphones, tablets, set-top boxes, and more. They've also shown an interest in the Android Go platform — the company's MT6739, MT6739, and MT6580 chips fully support it.

Reliance Jio and MediaTek declined to reveal the price, specifications, or availability of the new smartphone at MediaTek's Curtain-Raiser for 2018 event in New Delhi on Tuesday, where the two companies made the announcement. But MediaTek showcased the features of its MT6739 chip, which supports dual cameras, facial authentication, and dual 4G VoLTE even on Android Oreo Go Edition devices.

At any rate, MediaTek and Reliance Jio's phone won't be the first Android Oreo Go Edition device on the market. Micromax recently announced that the affordable Bharat Go.

"India is growth intensive, a market of immense opportunities with its own set of aspirations and needs," said T L Lee, general manager of MediaTek's Wireless Communication division, at the event. "We continue to intensify our technology collaboration in India, even beyond smartphones, and recognize its importance in the global marketplace."


Source: Gadgets 360



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Learn C from Front to Back with This Ten-Course Bundle

In the world of web and software development, few programming languages are as relied upon and revered as C. Yet, far too many programmers shy away from learning this go-to language due to its perceived complexity and steep learning curve.

The Complete C Programming Bonus Bundle breaks down the mystery and intimidation surrounding this powerful language, and it's available for $19.

With ten courses and 84 hours of content, this extensive bundle walks you through everything from the absolute basics to the most advanced programming techniques used with this general-purpose language. You'll cover pointers, header files, null-terminated strings, buffers, and more—all while using hands-on source code examples that let you learn at your own pace.

There's even a course module dedicated to teaching you how to craft advanced algorithms in C, by breaking down everything from the overarching command logic to the nuances of the code itself.

Add C to your programming toolkit with the Complete C Programming Bonus Bundle—on sale for $19.



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OnePlus 5T Android Oreo Update Now Officially Rolling Out With OxygenOS 5.0.2

This month, we've seen the OnePlus 5T receive two new beta builds. Open Beta 2 brought new clipboard features and performance optimizations, and Open Beta 3, which was announced just yesterday, introduced iPhone X-style navigation gestures. But the next Oreo-based update is expanding beyond the beta channel: This morning, OnePlus announced that OnePlus 5T customers who've stuck to stable firmware will soon get an upgrade to OxygenOS version 5.0.2.

OxygenOS 5.0.2 for the OnePlus 5T updates some of OnePlus's in-house applications and contains a couple of system-level changes, including a new design for the Quick Settings menu. It's also the first official Android 8.0 Oreo-based update for the OnePlus 5T's stable firmware branch, and brings AOSP Oreo features like picture-in-picture mode, Notification Dots, Smart Text Selection, and more.

When it comes to the aforementioned application updates, you'll notice that the launcher has been updated to version 2.2, the gallery has been updated to version 2.0, the weather application has been updated to version 1.9 and the file manager has been updated to version 1.7.6.

Finally, OxygenOS 5.0.2 has a CPU security patch (CVE-2017-13218) and "general bug fixes and improvements".  Here's the full changelog:

OnePlus 5T OxygenOS 5.0.2 Changelog

System

  • Upgraded Android version to Oreo(8.0)
    • New design for Quick Settings
    • General bug fixes and improvements
    • Applied CPU security patch: CVE-2017-13218

Applications

  • Updated Launcher to v2.2
  • Updated Gallery to v2.0
  • Updated Weather to v1.9
  • Updated File Manager to v1.7.6

OnePlus's Open Beta program tends to see updates more frequently than the stable channel, which gives the team time to test new features and squash bugs. Beta updates tend to focus on flashy new features, but the stable updates are much more refined. Since most of the people who own a OnePlus smartphone are on a stable build of OxygenOS, the company tests them much more thoroughly.

OnePlus says OxygenOS 5.0.2 will roll out to a small percentage of users starting today, and begin to roll out more broadly in a few days.


Source: OnePlus



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Essential Phone Will Skip Android 8.0 and Go Straight to Android 8.1 Oreo

Andy Rubin-backed startup company Essential started talking about Oreo beta builds for the Essential Phone in October 2017, and a little over a month later, the phone received its first Oreo beta firmware. Since then, it's gotten not one, but two additional beta Oreo updates, but they've both been based on 8.0 Oreo — until now, there hasn't been much talk of 8.1 Oreo. However, the team announced this week on Twitter that it still has "stability issues" to work out with Oreo that 8.1 will address, and that it's made the decision to focus its energy on Oreo 8.1 instead of releasing 8.0.

In the meantime, Essential's working to make available a beta update based on Android 8.1 Oreo by the end of next week. Essential Phone owners who haven't sideloaded any of the Oreo beta builds will get an update to Android 8.1 Oreo when it's released in the next few weeks.

Throughout the Oreo 8.0 beta, a number of issues pushed back the company's update timeframe and necessitated subsequent patches. But the company took advantage of the prolonged development to add full support for Project Treble, improve the phone's battery life and speed up its boot sequence, and ship fixes for Spectre and Meltdown.

"We appreciate your continued patience and support," Essential said. "We're just as eager to release Oreo as you are to receive it, and we're confident these extra couple of weeks will help ensure that you're delighted with Oreo on your Essential Phone."

Of course, like most update schedules in the smartphone industry, the Oreo update's release window could be pushed back again if the team runs into issues. We'll likely learn more about the stable 8.1 Oreo build a week or two after the community's had a chance to test it.



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Google Removed Over 700,000 Copycat, Malicious, and Inappropriate Apps from the Play Store in 2017

When people talk about the advantages of the Google Play Store compared to the iTunes App Store, they almost always bring up how quick and easy it is to get applications or games published. That's partly because Google, unlike Apple, doesn't rely on humans to individually test and approve every submission, but that doesn't mean there aren't various security checks that apps and games must pass through. In a 2017 retrospective on Tuesday, Google Play Product Manager Andrew Ahn revealed that the Play Store's protection features were responsible for taking down over 700,000 apps that violated Google's policies.

Mr. Ahn said that the Play Store team took down 70 percent more apps in 2017 than in 2016, and that 99 percent of those apps were "identified and rejected" before anyone could install them. The speedy review process owed to the fact that the Play Store uses machine learning models and automated scans to identify "abuse" such as impersonation, inappropriate content, and malware. Mr. Ahn said that thanks to "new detection models" and "techniques" that can "identify repeat offenders and abusive developer networks at scale", Google was able to ban 100,000 bad developers and make it more difficult for those developers to create new accounts.

Mr. Ahn shared a few of the most common reasons Google took down applications or games from the Play Store in 2017. One was impersonation — keyword-targeted copycat apps and games from developers attempting to leverage the popularity of legitimate apps. They typically use confusable unicode characters or hide app icons in a different locale, but Google was able to flag and take down over 250,000 of them.

Another big category of offender Google saw in 2017 was apps and games with inappropriate content. Whether the content was in the form of pornography, extreme violence, hate, or illegal activities, Mr. Ahn said that the Play Store improved its machine learning models to filter for policy violations.

Finally, Mr. Ahn highlighted the ways that Google's continued to improve detection of Potentially Harmful Applications (PHAs) — applications that perpetrate SMS fraud, act as trojans, and steal personal information. We've talked about these apps and detection methods in the past, and the search giant says it was able to reduce annual PHA installs rates on Google Play by 50 percent year over year.

"Despite the new and enhanced detection capabilities that led to a record-high takedowns of bad apps and malicious developers, we know a few still manage to evade and trick our layers of defense," said Mr. Ahn. "We take these extremely seriously, and will continue to innovate our capabilities to better detect and protect against abusive apps and the malicious actors behind them. We are committed to make Google Play the most trusted and safe app store in the world."


Source: Android Developers Blog



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Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Honor announces the first developers to receive the Honor View 10

The Honor Open Source Program was announced earlier this month and kicked off with the Honor View 10. Honor promised timely kernel source releases and API access to the AI capabilities of the Kirin system-on-chip, and it reached out to the huge community of talented developers on XDA, selecting the first crop of users who'd receive an Honor View 10 for testing and development purposes.

On Tuesday, as promised, Honor announced the first developers who will be receiving Honor View 10 units. The kernel sources aren't available yet, but will be released in the next week or two (for the EU model) once Honor finishes working on them and provides proper translations. Keep in mind that this is only the first batch of developers, and that more will be announced over time.


Developers who'll be receiving an Honor View 10

luk1337 and luca020400

You might not have heard of XDA Recognized Developer luk1337 and XDA Recognized Developer luca020400, but they've been working on bringing LineageOS to lesser-known devices such as the Lenovo Moto G (2014), ASUS ZenFone 2, Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 WiFi (2016), and others. Supporting such a huge number of devices shows dedication and a high level of workmanship, and their recognition from Honor is absolutely warranted.

topjohnwu

XDA Recognized Developer and Recognized Contributor topjohnwu needs no introduction. He's the father of Magisk, the systemless root solution that's been circumventing SafetyNet for years now. His work has enabled people to play games like Pokémon Go and use apps like Android Pay without having to sacrifice root access, and his award from Honor is well deserved.

franciscofranco

Recognized Developer franciscofranco, another name which doesn't need explaining, develops a kernel — Franco Kernel — that's available across a vast and growing list of devices. With an ever-expanding Android development résumé and passion for the community, it's no surprise that he'll be receiving an Honor View 10.

rovo89

The developer of Xposed, XDA Senior Recognized Developer rovo89, only recently announced a new version of Xposed for Android Oreo, and he's occasionally run into issues with third-party OEM skins such as Huawei's Emotion UI (EMUI). As a result, he'll be receiving an Honor View 10 to ensure that Xposed is fully compatible with Honor devices and EMUI going forward.

oldDroid

XDA Recognized Developer oldDroid is a member of Team OpenKirin, which has worked to port multiple ROMs such as AOSPA and LineageOS to Honor and Huawei devices like the Huawei P9 Lite, Honor 8, and Honor 9. He joins the list of talented developers who will be receiving an Honor View 10.

phhusson

It'd be a tragedy if XDA Senior Member phhusson, one the first developers to realize the promise of Project Treble, did not receive the Project Treble-compatible Honor View 10. He was the first to get a unified AOSP system image booting across multiple Project Treble-supported devices, and with a new View 10 in hand, he'll be able to squash the last few remaining bugs.

Myself5

CarbonROM developer and XDA Recognised Developer Myself5 has had a hand in bringing CarbonROM to many different devices. Now that he's receiving an Honor View 10, chances are good it'll join the list of supported phones.

Dees_troy

XDA Senior Recognised Developer Dees_troy, the lead developer of TWRP, will be receiving an Honor View 10 in order to help bring his much loved and ever-popular Team Win Recovery Project to the device. It's only fitting — without TWRP, much of the custom ROM development on XDA wouldn't be possible, or at the very least much more challenging.


Official Announcement on our Forums



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[Update: Pricing and availability] The Sony Xperia XA2, Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra and Sony Xperia L2 Will Carry Fingerprint Sensors in the US

Update 1/30/2018: Sony announced pricing and availability information for the Sony Xperia XA2, Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra, and Sony Xperia L2 on Tuesday. The Xperia XA2 and Xperia XA2 Ultra will go on sale February 16 for $349.99 and $449.99, respectively, and the Xperia L2 will start shipping February 9 for $249.99. All three phones will be available from Amazon.com and BestBuy.com initially, and come to brick-and-mortar stores on March 4.

Sony has just unveiled two new mid-range devices which promise to offer a lot for the price, dubbed the Sony Xperia XA2 and the Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra. Sony has also unveiled a new, low-end device called the Xperia L2 which also features a rear-facing fingerprint sensor.

The Xperia XA2 and the Xperia XA2 Ultra are very similar devices, but the Ultra has a few more tricks up its sleeve. It features an extra gigabyte of RAM, another storage option (64GB), a slightly bigger display at 6 inches, a better selfie camera and a slightly bigger battery. They both have the same back cameras and the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 SoC powering them. The Xperia L2 is launching with a MediaTek MT6735P, a less impressive camera module, and 3GBs of RAM.

sony xperia xa2

Sony Xperia XA2

What's most significant about these devices is that all will be launching in the U.S. with fingerprint sensors, which marks the first time in a long time that a Sony device sold in the U.S. has a working fingerprint sensor. Previously, all Sony devices in the U.S. had them disabled at launch. It was unknown for a long time why this was the case until Android Central spoke with the head of marketing at Sony US, Don Mesa, who alluded to previous deals made by Sony causing them to have to be legally disabled.

xperia xa2

Sony Xperia L2

Of course, these fingerprint sensors aren't in the usual place on Sony devices either, but it's unclear if this is just a design change rather than a compromise to get around any legal restrictions. Prior Sony devices featured a fingerprint sensor integrated in the power button, but the new phones have now moved it to the back of the device like many other phones.

The devices will be launching soon enough in both single and dual SIM variants, with the Xperia XA2 and Xperia XA2 Ultra launching with in February with Android Oreo. The Xperia L2 will be launching with Android Nougat 7.1.1 in late January.


Source: Sony



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Amazon Alexa Can Now Send Text Messages to Any Number in the US

In recent months, competition in the virtual assistant space has picked up. At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, Google launched Smart Displays — new lineups of screen-equipped, Google Assistant-powered speakers by LG, Sony, and others designed to rival Amazon's Echo Show and Echo Spot. Amazon, for its part, recently updated the Alexa app for Android with voice controls, and on Tuesday rolled out support for SMS messaging.

Alexa is now able to send SMS messages to contacts in your smartphone, according to VentureBeat. The feature is limited to the US for now, and only works on Android devices  the company doesn't plan to add iOS support because of the restrictions Apple places on its messaging API for third parties. As of publication time, the company hasn't provided details about when international users might be able to send SMS messages or if Alexa will be able to read incoming messages.

To enable SMS messaging on Alexa, open the Alexa app, go to the Conversations tab, select Contacts > My Profile, and enable the Send SMS toggle.

SMS Alexa messages SMS Alexa messages SMS Alexa messages

Alexa has been able to send messages since last year, VentureBeat notes, but not via SMS. Messages sent from the Alexa app could only be received by other Alexa app users. Now, when you say, "Alexa, send a message", you'll be prompted to choose between sending an SMS message or an Alexa app message.

Amazon's Echo speakers have provided free phone calls to landlines and mobile phones in the US, Canada, and Mexico since September, and the Alexa app's text and video messaging features were introduced in June ahead of the launch of the Echo Show. Google Home users, meanwhile, have been able to send SMS messages since landline phone calls became available in August.

Amazon Alexa (Free, Google Play) →


Source: VentureBeat



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Google Photos v3.13 adds Search Filter for Motion Photos, Auto-Sharing, Notifications for Photo Books, and More

Google Photos received a major update today, bringing it to version number v3.13. The new features include search filters for Motion Photos and new Photos Books notifications, and an APK teardown of the app reveals that Google might be readying a new dialog messages related to Photo Books and the app's selective backup feature. Strings in the new Google Photos also hint at changes to the sharing tab.

Without further ado, let's take a look at the features one by one:

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by Google in a future build.


Filter for Motion Photos

Motion Photos is Google's take on the animated photos format popularized by Apple's Live Photos. Google originally intended the feature as an exclusive for Nexus and Pixel devices, but thanks to the unofficial Google Camera HDR+ app, it's been ported to other Qualcomm-based and some Exynos-based devices.

Previously, Google Photos didn't have an option to filter Motion Photos in the gallery, so if you wanted to view a Motion Photo, you would have to remember the date when the photo was taken and scroll to it. Now, in v3.13, there's a category search filter (in Search Bar > Show More > Motion Photos) that pulls up all of the Motion Photos you've captured. It's not a groundbreaking feature, but it's a nice convenience.

Here's the string for the feature:

  <string name="photos_search_explore_category_motion_photos">Motion Photos</string>  

Automatic sharing management

Google Photos v3.13 adds automatic sharing management in the form of reciprocal photo sharing. If someone shares a photo with you, you can choose to "share back" the photo by tapping a new option in the app's overflow menu. It automatically fills in the email address of the person with whom you're sharing, making the process much simpler.

Here are the relevant strings in the APK:

  <string name="photos_partneraccount_grid_actionbar_partneraccount_reciprocate_title">Share back to %1$s</string>  <string name="photos_partneraccount_grid_actionbar_partneraccount_reciprocate_title_no_name">Share back to partner</string>  <string name="photos_partneraccount_onboarding_confirm_automatic_share_learn_more">New photos will be shared automatically. &lt;a href=help:>Learn more&lt;/a></string>  

New Photo Books notifications

As of right now, Photo Books —  hardcover photo albums created from your Google Photos collection —  are only available in the US and Canada. Google Photos v3.13 adds new notifications for Photo Books. One will remind you about expiring drafts you have created, and another will suggest ideas for Photo Books and alert you when you've received new suggestions. A third third notification, Printing promotions, will pop up with limited-time offers and discounts on Photo Books.

Here are the strings for the notifications:

  <string name="photos_settings_drafts_description">Reminders about expiring drafts you have created</string>  <string name="photos_settings_drafts_title">Photo books drafts</string>  <string name="photos_settings_promos_description">Limited time offers and discounts for printed products</string>  <string name="photos_settings_promos_title">Printing promotions</string>  <string name="photos_settings_suggested_books_description">When you have received a new suggested book</string>  <string name="photos_settings_suggested_books_title">Suggested photo books</string>  

Create album option

It's a minor thing, but Google Photos now shows a Create album option in the app home screen if you're signed in to your Google account. It's gone live — here's the string:

  <string name="photos_albums_empty_create_album_button_text">Create album</string>  

New dialog messages in the selective backup and Photo Book screens

There are hints in Google Photos v3.13 at new messages in the app's selective backup UI. New strings contain confirmation messages indicating a successful backup. And in the Photo Book editing UI, there appear to be new dialog options intended to prevent you from losing changes you've made:

  <string name="photos_backup_selectivebackup_view_emptyview_caption">Your photos &amp; videos are backed up. You can view them at photos.google.com.</string>  <string name="photos_backup_selectivebackup_view_emptyview_title">Backup complete</string>  <string name="photos_backup_selectivebackup_view_title">Selective Backup</string>    <string name="photos_photobook_impl_discard_button">Discard</string>  <string name="photos_photobook_impl_keep_editing_button">Keep editing</string>  <string name="photos_photobook_impl_save_layout_edits_dialog_message">Exiting will discard your recent changes</string>  <string name="photos_photobook_impl_save_layout_edits_dialog_title">Discard changes?</string>  

Finally, there's a hint at a new Tap to add recipients option in the sharing tab.

  <string name="photos_sharingtab_picker_impl_tap_to_add_recipients">Tap to add recipients</string>  

We will update this post if we find any more interesting features in Google Photos v3.13.

Google Photos (Free, Google Play) →

Let us know in the comments if you spot anything new, and follow our APK Teardown tag for more articles like this!



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Google Completes Acquisition of HTC Engineers Who Helped Build the Google Pixel 2

Just because two companies announce an acquisition doesn't always mean the deal's closing right there and then. Typically, it just means that both sides have agreed to terms — there's usually paperwork to file and regulatory hurdles to overcome. That was the certainly case with Google's acquisition of smartphone employees and intellectual property from HTC, and on Tuesday, months after the buyout's announcement, the employees officially joined Google's hardware division.

"[We've] officially closed our deal with HTC […] and are welcoming an incredibly talented team to work on even better and more innovative products in the years to come," Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President of Google's hardware division, wrote in a blog post. "These new colleagues bring decades of experience achieving a series of 'firsts', particularly in the smartphone industry—including bringing to market the first 3G smartphone in 2005, the first touch-centric phone in 2007, and the first all-metal unibody phone in 2013. This is also the same team we've been working closely with on the development of the Pixel and Pixel 2."

In exchange for $1.1 billion, Google's getting 2,000 engineers from HTC's smartphone division, which represents half of its research and development group.

HTC has lost a lot of money — in recent years, it's posted quarterly declines of around $75 million. It got to the point were we suggested it would be a good idea for Google to acquire HTC so the search giant could fill out its new hardware division, and that more or less happened. Google bought a part of HTC and not the whole company, but the engineers headed to the company's Mountain View campus are a substantial portion (20 percent) of its workforce.

The influx of talent puts Google in an excellent position going forward. It just recently launched the second generation of "Made by Google" products, which include the Google Home Mini, Google Home Max, Google Clips, and others. Now, on the cusp of its hardware division's third year, HTC's engineers are poised to help create and refine the company's upcoming portfolio.

The deal also enables Google to expand its footprint in the Asia Pacific region, according to Mr. Osterloh. "Taiwan is a key innovation and engineering hub for Google," he wrote, "and Taipei will now become the largest Google engineering site in APAC."


Source: Google



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VLC Beta for Android Adds Experimental Chromecast Support

The developers behind popular media player VLC recently pushed out an update to the app's Play Store beta channel, and it's a doozy. The newest Android beta (version 2.9.0) comes with a lot of features and changes, the most significant of which is experimental support for Chromecast.

Google struck gold with Chromecast, an HDMI streaming dongle that lets you wirelessly cast videos and music to your TV. The company has sold 55 million units as of October 2017, and while the technology has undergone a few rebrands, the underlying idea remains the same: Incredibly easy media streaming (or "casting") from one device to another over a local network.

Chromecast support has become something of a requirement for media player apps, and it's a feature that the VLC community has been asking about for quite some time. While the current implementation isn't completely stable yet, the latest VLC Beta update for Android adds a fully functional Chromecast menu to the app's main screen and video player. Tapping on the icon brings up a list of Chromecast-compatible devices, as you'd expect.

Experimental Chromecast support is only one of the new features included in the latest VLC Beta for Android update, though. It also adds support for playlist files detection, an option to disable subtitles from automatically loading, bug fixes for file deletion on Android Oreo, support for Chromebooks and Samsung's Dex dock, and more.

Here's the full changelog:

VLC Beta 2.9.0 changelog

  • Playlist files detection
  • Faster seek
  • SDCard files deletion
  • Fixed deletion on Oreo
  • Option to disable subs auto-loading
  • Fixed artists/Album classification
  • Chromebook and Samsung DeX support
  • Misc. fixes

To enroll in the beta, download VLC from the Play Store. Then head to the signup page and select Become a tester, and in the next few hours, the app will automatically update to the latest beta version.

VLC for Android (Free, Google Play) →


Source: Play Store Via: Droid Life



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Honor 7X Update Brings Face Unlock and AR Lens Camera App Feature

Huawei unveiled the Honor 7X in October 2017 to mostly positive reviews. Some in the community were disappointed it shipped with Android Nougat instead of Oreo, but others appreciated that it delivered high-end specifications at a reasonable price point. In any case, it's gotten excellent software support from Huawei: On Tuesday, we learned about an over-the-air update rolling out to the Honor 7X that brings the company's promised facial recognition feature, an augmented reality (AR) camera app tool, and more.

In early January, the Honor 7X started to receive Oreo-based firmware which also included version 8.0 of Huawei's EMUI custom Android skin (the Honor 7X shipped with EMUI 5.1). Not even three weeks later, we're seeing another OTA update for the Chinese variant (which carries the model number BND-AL10) that brings the software up to build B192.

One of the firmware's headliners is face unlock, which uses the phone's front-facing camera to verify your identity, and Smart lock screen notifications, which protect your privacy by preventing prying eyes from reading your notifications. You'll find the new features in Settings -> Security and Privacy -> Face Unlock.

The update also adds an AR lens effect to the Honor 7X's camera application that lets you add layers to selfies and change the background of photos. It's in Camera -> Modes -> AR Lens.

Finally, the new firmware "optimizes" the accuracy of several city names in the Weather app and ships with Android's January security patches.

Honor waited a few months before launching the international version of the Honor 7X, but it was able to hit the Chinese variant's $200 price tag. We reviewed the unlocked Honor 7X in December of last year, and came away impressed by the phone's 5.93-inch (2160×1080) edge-to-edge screen and speedy HiSilicon Kirin 659 system-on-chip.

While it isn't guaranteed yet, it's possible that the international Honor 7X will get the OTA update in the near future.



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Verizon Reportedly Drops Plans to Sell Huawei Mate 10 Pro

Huawei has substantial traction in markets like Europe and China, but hasn't managed to get a foothold in the United States. It's sold smartphones from US retailers including Best Buy, Amazon, B&H, and others for years, but that's no substitute for shelves in wireless carrier stores. To that end, it planned to launch a flagship smartphone, the Mate 10 Pro, on AT&T this year, but those plans fell through at the last second. And according to Bloomberg, a separate partnership with Verizon Wireless is off the table, too.

Verizon was pressured by the US government not to sell smartphones from Huawei, according to the report. The companies declined to comment.

Before the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, we heard reports that Huawei had been in talks with both AT&T and Verizon Wireless to get its phones on store shelves. The company was so confident in a deal that it told the public it had "big plans" to announce at CES 2018. But things didn't go according to plan, which seems to have really hurt Huawei's momentum.

Huawei was hit with more bad news in early January when a new bill in Congress proposed banning government agencies from using Huawei and ZTE equipment. And this week, a leaked memo from the White House Security Council floated the idea of a nationalized 5G network designed to protect against "foreign actors" like Huawei.

They aren't the company's first run-ins with the government. Huawei came under US scrutiny in 2003, when Cisco accused it of stealing router firmware code. In 2012, the government blacklisted Huawei and ZTE, and the House Intelligence Committee urged US companies to avoid entering into contracts with the companies. Huawei was subsequently labeled a "spy threat".

"We serve 170 countries," Richard Yu, Huawei's consumer products chief, said in an impassioned speech during the company's CES press conference. "And for 30 years we've proven our quality and we've proven our privacy and security protection."


Source: Bloomberg



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ELEPHONE U/U Pro Reservations Now Open

On February 8, in Madrid Spain, Elephone plans to launch their newest phones which include the Elephone U and U Pro. Right now you can reserve one of these phones for yourself, and even claim a free gift to go along with your purchase.

Specs Elephone U Elephone U Pro
CPU Helio P23 Snapdragon 660
RAM 4/6GB 4/6GB
Storage 128GB 128GB
Camera 13MP+13MP dual camera 13MP+13MP dual camera
Display FHD+ AMOLED display FHD+ AMOLED display
Battery 3620mAh 3550mAh

The new U and U Pro will feature curved infinity AMOLED displays which bend over the sides of the phone, creating a true bezel-less design.

The U Pro will feature some more premium functions, like wireless charging, a Snapdragon 660 chipset, and NFC. Both new phones will also have face unlock, which has proven to be a new favorite feature among smartphone users. Dual 13MP sensors will be found in the cameras of these phones, which should produce some impressively high quality photos.

If you reserve your U or U Pro now, you'll get access to a free gift that will be shipped out with your phone.

  Reserve the Elephone U/U Pro Now



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OxygenOS Open Beta 5/3 for the OnePlus 5/5T Released with Bug Fixes and Other Improvements

OnePlus launched the Android Oreo-based OxygenOS Open Beta programs for the OnePlus 5 and the OnePlus 5T in late 2017, shortly after it kicked off the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T Oreo betas. They've generally enhanced or added to features in the stable releases of OxygenOS, and these are no exception.

In the latest OxygenOS Open Beta — Open Beta 5 and Open Beta 3 for the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T, respectively —  OnePlus focused mainly on bug fixes and improvements, addressing common complaints like the direction you swipe with your finger to answer an incoming phone call. It also removed OxygenOS's Clipboard function, and added new touch-based getures to the navigation bar.

You can check out the changelog below.

OxygenOS Open Beta 5/3 for the OnePlus 5/5T Changelog

Phone

  • Added pick-up gesture switcher
    • You can now choose which way you slide (up or down) to pick up a phone call

System

  • General bug fixes and improvements
  • Removed Clipboard function
    • Thanks for your feedback, we removed this feature based on that.
  • Applied CPU security patch: CVE-2017-13218
  • Added new Navigation gestures that you can enable by going into settings and disabling the nav bar.

India only

  • Added SMS categorization function for India only
    • This is an India only feature that auto-sorts your SMS messages into categories

You can install the Open Beta by following the instructions in the announcement posts, where you'll also find survey forms you can use to provide OnePlus with details of your experience.

If you are already enrolled in the OnePlus Open Beta on the OnePlus 5/5T, you should receive a notification to update over-the-air to Open Beta 3 or Open Beta 5, depending on which phone you're using. If you choose to install the updates, be forewarned that it is possible you will run into bugs and other instabilities. If that's a problem, you might be better off waiting for the stable release, which is likely to come in weeks or months.

You can read the announcement below. Be sure to give it a try if you're interested!


OxygenOS Open Beta 5 for the OnePlus 5 OxygenOS Open Beta 3 for the OnePlus 5T



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Android One Xiaomi Mi A1 Kernel Sources Finally Released

Four months after the launch of the Xiaomi Mi A1, Xiaomi's first Android One smartphone, the company finally released the kernel source code in compliance with the GPLv2 license. It has taken a lot to get to this point, but what makes it worse is these are kernel sources for Android Nougat. The phone is already on Android Oreo.

The Linux kernel's GPLv2 license requires that Android manufacturers publish kernel sources in a timely manner, but it took Xiaomi nearly half a year to release the Xiaomi Mi A1's code. Earlier this month, XDA Recognized Developer franciscofranco, took to Twitter to demand the kernel source release, and publications including Ars Technica and Android Police joined in.

Even without the kernel sources, the community persevered and developed custom ROMs for the Xiaomi Mi A1, albeit with pretty major compatibility issues.

The impetus for the source code's publication on Tuesday isn't clear. It might have been public pressure, or perhaps it aligned with the company's roadmap. (In January, Xiaomi's Lead Product Manager Jai Mani said that the company's internal goal was to release the Xiaomi Mi A1's source code within three months of the device's launch.) It's also not yet clear why Google didn't step in, given that it exercises a greater degree of control over devices in the Android One program than stock Android smartphones.

It's a shame the source code is being released so late, as the phone is unlikely to receive the kind of time and attention from developers it might have in the weeks after its debut. At the phone's launch event last year, Xiaomi called it a "milestone" in its global expansion, and said that it hoped for it to be one of the first devices to receive Android P when it's eventually announced an launched.

It's now far into the Xiaomi Mi A1's lifecycle, and some developers might no longer wish to develop for it — the initial hype for custom ROMs and development is bound to be many orders of magnitude smaller than it would have been at the Xiaomi Mi A1's peak. Still, it's certainly better late than never — even if the kernel sources are for Android Nougat and not Android Oreo.

Developers interested can take a look at the kernel sources below.


Xiaomi Mi A1 Kernel Sources



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Monday, January 29, 2018

Lenovo announces Moto X4 variant with 6GB of RAM for India

Motorola teased the launch of a new India-exclusive Moto X4 variant on its official Twitter account in early January, and on Monday, the Lenovo-owned company revealed the specifications, availability, and pricing of the new model.

The most notable difference is the RAM, which has been bumped to 6GB of RAM from the original Moto X4's 3GB/4GB. But in terms of other hardware, the new Moto X4 variant isn't all the different from current-gen models. It has a 5.2-inch Full HD (1920×1080) IPS display and comes with 64GB of internal storage, with support for expandable storage up to 2TB via a microSD card slot. It's got a 2.2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 system-on-chip and a 3,000 mAh battery onboard that supplies a "full day's worth" of power. And Motorola says it comes with Android Oreo out of the box, which isn't too surprising considering the Oreo soak tests the company has been conducting around the globe.

Other features of the new Moto X4 include IP68 water- and dust-resistance, which means it can withstand up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes; a 12 MP + 8 MP dual camera system; and the ability to stream audio to up to four devices simultaneously. To round it all off, the new Moto X4 also has Motorola's suite of custom Android software features, such as Moto Voice, Moto Access, Attentive Display, and one-button navigation.

The upgraded Moto X4 will be available from Flipkart from February 1 at a price of Rs 25,000 ($392.75). As of right now, Super Black is the only confirmed color configuration. A wide variety of EMI options are available for the smartphone, and customers with an Axis Bank Buzz Credit Card are eligible for a 5 percent discount.



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Google app v7.20 beta hints at new Assistant Hotword, Duo Integration for Smart Displays, and more

Google App v7.20 beta is now rolling out to users enrolled in the Google App beta on the Play Store, and while Google hasn't published an official changelog for the update, we did an APK teardown and found some changes related to the Google Assistant, Google Duo support for Smart Displays, and more in the strings file. We've noted them below.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by Google in a future build.


Google App v7.20 beta APK teardown

"Jasper" is the codename for Smart Displays powered by the Google Assistant. They're new smart speakers from companies such as LG, Sony, JBL, and Lenovo with touchscreen-enabled displays that can play videos, pull up pictures from Google Photos, and more, and strings from the Google App v7.20 beta show that they'll be able to perform video calling via Google Duo. There's built-in support for Knock-Knock and a new Video calls menu that'll allow users to sign into, sign out of, or unlink a Duo account.

  <string name="assistant_device_id_jasper_duo_preference_category_title">Video calls</string>  <string name="assistant_device_id_jasper_duo_preference_category">assistantDeviceIdJasperDuoCategory</string>  <string name="jasper_duo_account_title">Duo Account</string>  <string name="jasper_duo_knock_knock_summary">See the caller's video before you pick up. And let people you call see your video while their phone rings. &lt;a href=\"https://support.google.com/duo/answer/6376115\"&gt;Learn more&lt;/a&gt;</string>  <string name="jasper_duo_knock_knock_title">Knock-knock</string>  <string name="jasper_duo_not_signed_in">Not signed in</string>  <string name="jasper_duo_signed_in">Signed in</string>  <string name="jasper_duo_unlink">Unlink</string>  

The teardown also hints at the possibility that Google will soon enable a third hotword alongside "OK Google" and "Hey Google". However, we can only speculate at this point.

  <string name="hotword_enrollment_enroll_listening_talkback_assistant_device_again">Say it again</string>  <string name="hotword_enrollment_tgoogle_summary_header_title">\"%1$s\" is now available</string>  <string name="hotword_enrollment_tgoogle_summary_usage_example_first">"%1$s, what's my name?"</string>  <string name="hotword_enrollment_tgoogle_summary_usage_example_second">"%1$s, what's the traffic to work?"</string>  <string name="hotword_enrollment_tgoogle_summary_usage_example_third">%1$s, tell me about my day.</string>  <string name="hotword_enrollment_tgoogle_summary_usage_sample_end">You can also still say \"%1$s\" and \"%2$s\" to talk to your Assistant.</string>  <string name="hotword_enrollment_tgoogle_summary_usage_sample_title">Your Assistant will now respond when you say things like:</string>    <string name="user_defined_action_task_custom_query_query_summary">You can enter any Google Assistant command.</string>  <string name="user_defined_action_task_custom_query_query_title">What custom command would you like to run?</string>  <string name="user_defined_action_task_custom_query_title">Custom command</string>    

It also shows developments in the software platform which will power Smart Displays, known as "Quartz". We're seeing placeholders for notifications, alert badges, reminders, and playback controls (e.g., pause and play).

  <string name="quartz_badge_view_less_than_ten">%1$d</string>  <string name="quartz_badge_view_ten_or_more">9+</string>  <string name="quartz_notification_list_title">Notifications</string>  <string name="quartz_notification_type_other">Notification</string>  <string name="quartz_notification_type_reminder">Reminder</string>  <string name="quartz_photo_list_slideshow_button_pause_content_description">Pause</string>  <string name="quartz_photo_list_slideshow_button_play_content_description">Play</string>  

Google also appears to be working on more detailed order-tracking messages. The new strings contain labels indicating when items have shipped, when they're expected to be delivered, and whether the delivery's been canceled or delayed.

  <string name="order_group_header">Orders</string>  <string name="shipped">Shipped</string>  <string name="shipped_with_estimation">Shipped, delivery expected %s</string>  <string name="expect_delivery_day">%s</string>  <string name="out_for_delivery">Out for Delivery</string>  <string name="delivered">Delivered</string>  <string name="available_pick_up">Available for Pickup</string>  <string name="delayed">Delayed</string>  <string name="cancelled">Cancelled</string>  <string name="returned">Returned</string>  <string name="action_required">Action Required</string>  <string name="more_orders">More Orders</string>  

Finally, we see some developments on the podcast front. Currently, the Google App doesn't have a native podcast manager, and it's unclear when (or if) Google will launch this feature. But the new strings show the beginnings of a podcast downloader, subscription manager, and more.

  <string name="sign_in_message">Sign in to subscribe to podcasts and access your listening history on other devices</string>  <string name="sign_in_reject">Not now</string>  <string name="sign_in_accept">Sign in</string>  <string name="downloads">Downloads</string>  <string name="downloaded_episodes">Downloaded episodes</string>  <string name="download_setting_message">Downloaded episodes are removed after 30 days or 24 hours after completion</string>  <string name="all_downloaded_episodes">All downloaded episodes</string>  <string name="homebase_link_tool_tip_message">See your subscriptions here</string>  <string name="opt_in_message">Web &amp; App Activity is turned off. Turn it on to access your podcasts and listening history on other devices.</string>  <string name="remove_completed_episodes">Remove completed episodes</string>  <string name="remove_unfinished_episodes">Remove unfinished episodes</string>  

We will update this post if we find any more interesting things in the teardown.

If you're looking for the latest Google App beta, enroll in the preview program and update the Google App from the Google Play Store.

Google (Free, Google Play) →



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[Update: Reverted] Chrome for Android will soon support Chrome’s DNS Prefetching for Faster Web Browsing

Update 1/29/18: The Asynchronous DNS feature has been reverted due to an unspecified bug.

Chrome for Android will soon support DNS prefetching, a technology that allows for faster web browsing, according to a merged commit in the Chromium Gerrit.

DNS prefetching, which is also known as asynchronous DNS, has existed as a flag in desktop Chrome since 2012, when it was introduced as an experimental feature and disabled by default. Since then, it's gotten some development attention, and in some cases can now cut page loading times by a few seconds.

Here's how it works: When you visit a webpage using any web browser, your browser queries a Domain Name Server (DNS) to get the IP address of that webpage. It's to eliminate the need to remember IP address numbers for different websites — imagine having to type "209.85.203.94" into your browser's URL bar every time you wanted to visit Google! It's impractical, and a much easier alternative is assigning names to web pages and having those names resolve back to an IP address.

DNS servers around the world keep a database of websites and their associated IPs, but there's a problem: When you're browsing the web, the DNS lookup process can take a few whole seconds in some cases. That leaves folks with perfectly capable connections waiting for servers to finish name resolution and return a website's IP address, which is where Chrome's asynchronous DNS feature comes in.

With the DNS prefetching flag in Google Chrome on Android enabled, Chrome scans the page for clickable links and resolves the URLs to IP addresses. By the time you head to any of the pages, their addresses will have been returned to your device, mitigating any DNS speed issues — the only bottleneck will be your own connection. (Optionally, it will use your device's own DNS servers and won't touch Google's unless you want it to.)

DNS prefetching should be coming to the stable branch of Google Chrome for Android soon.

Google Chrome: Fast & Secure (Free, Google Play) →



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Progressive Web Apps can be enabled on Desktop Chrome right now—here’s how

Apps on Chrome generally offer a good user experience, but they can be nightmares for developers who have to navigate the browser's proprietary APIs. Luckily, Google's moving to adopt a platform — Progressive Web Apps — that does away with many of the complexities, and it's supported in the latest stable version of Chrome.

Enabling Progressive Web Apps in Chrome is easy. Assuming your client's up to date, all you have to do is toggle three development flags: App Banners and Experimental App Bannerswhich enable the prompts that let you install web apps; and Desktop PWAs, which adds windowing and banner support for PWAs.

Progressive Web App flags in Chrome.

It's all downhill from there. Once you've enabled the relevant flags and typed in a PWA's web address, you'll see an Install to desktop option in Chrome's drop-down menu.

Then you'll get an Install to desktop pop-up prompt. Clicking on Add will save the PWA to your PC's desktop, where you can launch it just as you would any Chrome app.

PWAs, if you haven't heard, are web apps designed with the flexibility of desktop apps in mind. They launch from icons and shortcuts just like native apps, but their reliance on CSS3, JavaScript, and other open web frameworks allows them to work across browsers and platforms with minimal porting. By using a combination of plugins, web APIs, and scripts, they're able to juggle tasks like network requests, push notifications, content fetching, and more.

There's a lot to like about PWAs. They have the potential to reduce load times and data usage, and some even have better user interfaces than their native counterparts. But they're not perfect. Chrome lacks a first-party storefront for PWAs, for example — to find apps, you'll have to scour community showcases like PWA.rocks. And PWAs can't use Chrome to its fullest just yet. In a statement late last year, Google said that it's been "investigating ways to simplify the transition for developers that depend on exclusive Chrome App APIs."

Like or not, though, Google's going full steam ahead with PWAs. In 2017, the search giant announced that it'd phase out support for Chrome apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux in favor of PWAs by "mid-2018".



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Razer Phone Update Adds HDR in Netflix, Dolby 5.1 Audio, and Meltdown/Spectre Patches

The Razer Phone has been praised for its 120Hz refresh rate, which delivers an incredibly smooth user experience when the software supports it. It was a little disheartening to learn, then, that the top-of-the-line smartphone couldn't display high dynamic range (HDR) videos from Netflix. But Razer heard those complaints loud and clear, and it's rolling out an over-the-air update to address them. It adds support for Netflix HDR and Dolby 5.1 audio, and includes patches for both Meltdown and Spectre.

The list of smartphones that can show HDR content from Netflix is rather small, as we've covered previously. The LG G6 is the only phone that supports Dolby Vision on Netflix, and the LG V30, Galaxy Note 8, Xperia XZ Premium, Xperia XZ1, and now the Razer Phone are the only ones compatible with the streaming service's other HDR codecs. Not every show and movie is HDR-enabled, but the ones that are boast superior brightness and color contrast.

The over-the-air update puts the Razer Phone's front-facing stereo speakers, which Razer heavily emphasized during the phone's launch, to good use. They've been certified by THX and support Dolby Vision sound, and feature a pair of dedicated amplifiers — one for each speaker. If they didn't sound great before, the update's support for Dolby 5.1 surround sound will surely make them better than ever.

Other changes packed into the new Razer Phone firmware include camera optimizations that tune and improve photo quality and fix an issue that caused some images to appear yellow, plus squash miscellaneous bugs and improve the camera app's performance. The Razer team has updated the theme icons to a dark style, and included January's Android security update, which contains patches for Meltdown and Spectre.

The update's rolling out now. If you're the lucky owner of a Razer Phone, check your handset for a notification.



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First Intel Cannon Lake Chromebook may be a Detachable

It's been pretty quiet on the Chromebook front lately, but that doesn't mean developments aren't happening behind the scenes. Recently, an Acer Chrome OS tablet was discovered at Bett 2018; Chromebooks powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 and Intel's Apollo Lake platform might be on the way; Samsung's detachable "Nautilus" Chromebook is rumored to get a Sony IMX258 camera sensor; and we've seen evidence of wake on voice support in detachable Chromebooks Soraka and Poppy.

In November, Chrome Unboxed reported that a new Chromebook codenamed "meowth" was in development. It's said to be the first powered by Intel's 10nm Cannon Lake platform, which hasn't been released yet. There weren't (and still aren't) any details about the laptop's specifications or release timeframe, but new commits on the Chromium Gerrit hint that it might be a detachable Chromebook.

Commit number 888222, titled, "common: Add base detection support", mentions a "detachable base" and "ADB pins". Here's the description:

This commit adds a common framework for detecting a detachable base. The framework requires two ADC pins which are for attach and detach detection. It implements a basic state machine and a valid detach or attach is left for board specific code to decide. This may simply be comparing the read values with given thresholds.

BUG=b:69140200
BRANCH=None
TEST=Add base specific code to meowth; enable base detection, verify it works as expected.

And commit number 888223, titled, "meowth: Add support for base detection", states:

TEST=Verify that we can detect a base attach and detach.

The launch of Intel's Cannon Lake platform is probably some time away, given that it's Intel's first 10nm microarchitecture. (The company released Kaby Lake Refresh as its 8th Generation Intel Core platform in 2017.) It's more likely than not that "meowth" won't see the light of day for some time, but we expect to learn more in the coming months.



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Nokia 3 to Get Android Oreo Beta Soon, while Nokia 2 will Jump to Android 8.1 Oreo

It's been less than a year since HMD Global entered the Android smartphone market with the launch of the Nokia 6, Nokia 5, and Nokia 3. The company later released the Nokia 8 as its flagship smartphone in 2017, and the entry-level Nokia 2 soon after. Notably, all of HMD Global's smartphones last year shipped with stock Android, and the company promised that they would receive quick updates.

So far, it's kept its word. The Nokia 8 recently received an update to Android 8.0 Oreo, and beta programs are underway for the Nokia 6, Nokia 5, and Nokia 9. Now, HMG Global Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas said via Twitter that a beta labs program for the Nokia 3 is "around the corner", and that the Nokia 2 will skip Android 8.0 Oreo in favor of Android 8.1 Oreo.

HMD Global previously confirmed that the Nokia 2 would receive Android Oreo, and according to Mr. Sarvikas, Android 8.1 includes memory optimizations that'll benefit the phone's 1GB of RAM.

Previously, we have explained how Android Go can help older phones run Android 8.1 Oreo. The Nokia 2 doesn't have specifications that rival devices such as, say, the Xiaomi Redmi 4, but Android 8.1 has the potential to improve its software performance.

Mr. Sarvikas didn't offer a timeframe for the Nokia 2's Android 8.1 update, but it's not unreasonable to expect it to be rolled out after the Nokia 8 receives an update to Android 8.1.

When it comes to Android Oreo updates, HMD Global has established itself as one of the forerunners. It likely helps that the company's phones run stock Android — it doesn't have to make major software changes or customizations when it's packaging firmware for its devices. In any case, we applaud it for its prompt update rollouts and hope that the trend continues.



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