In this week’s top stories: Sony is kicking off the year with revamps to its low and mid-range Xperia lineups, Google is testing another search bar redesign for Google Feed, and we show you how to find out if your phone is getting an update against new CPU vulnerabilities.
We kick things off this week with revamps to Sony’s low and mid-range Xperia lineups. At CES 2018, the company launched the Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra, and L2 that all share the same general metallic design and wide-angle selfie camera.
Also, it appears that Google is A/B testing another search bar design for Google Feed on the Pixel Launcher. This new design very notably drops the search bar. And we show you how to check if your phone will be updated to protect against the CPU vulnerabilities Meltdown and Spectre.
These and the rest of this week’s top stories below:
Android |
- Sony revamps mid-range w/ Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra, adds new fingerprint sensor, metal design
- How-to: Check whether your Android device will get updated against Meltdown and Spectre
- Google Pay merges Android Pay and Google Wallet into a unified payment solution
- Google Pay rollout begins with latest Play Services beta
- Verizon apparently planning to cancel Mate 10 Pro deal w/ Huawei due to ‘political pressure’
- Motorola unveils full-sized sliding keyboard Moto Mod w/ backlit keys for $99
- Kinda Blue Pixel 2 drops Verizon exclusivity, available unlocked on Google Store, Project Fi
- Samsung’s rumored foldable smartphone said to be moving into mass production
Accessories |
- Google Assistant is fully coming to Android Auto this week
- Android TV goes big at CES 2018, which one looks best to you? [Poll]
- Hands on: Razer’s ‘Project Linda’ is the Samsung DeX laptop we always wanted, and it could be so much more
- Android TV and Google Assistant enter the kitchen with 24-inch Philips kitchen TV
- iHome’s iGV1 Assistant smart speaker is essentially a Google Home with an alarm clock
- Hands-on: New Westinghouse 4K TVs with Android TV built-in start at $350 [Gallery]
- Hands on: The Skagen Falster brings minimalistic Danish design to Android Wear
Apps |
- Pixel Launcher’s Google Feed tests dropping the search bar for a logo
- Google Feed on the Pixel Launcher testing redesigned search bar
- You can now make Duo calls to (some) users who don’t have the app installed
- Google Play names the best Android apps and games for Q1 2018
- YouTube 13.01 preps app-wide dark theme, Incognito mode, more [APK Teardown]
- Google’s Assistant smart displays are powered by Android Things w/ devices from JBL, Lenovo, LG, and Sony coming this year
- Redesigned Google Search Console now rolling out w/ revamped performance, indexing reports
Google |
- 9to5Google’s Best of CES 2018 Awards
- Check if your Chromebook is protected against Meltdown w/ Google’s official mitigations list
- Google sent Justice League figurines to those who completed Android Pay promo in the U.K.
- Lawsuit alleges Google kept ‘blacklists’ of conservative employees, one even pondered a ‘trial’
- At the most Google-y CES in years, what were your favorite announcements? [Poll]
- AMP addresses will soon show full site URL and drop ‘google․com/amp’ prefix
This week’s top videos |
- Hands on: Android Auto Wireless and Google Assistant double down on convenience [Video]
- Hands on: Google Assistant’s new ‘smart displays’ are a must-have [Video]
- Hands on: Sony’s latest Xperias will finally have working fingerprint sensors in the US [Video]
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