Damien is 9to5Google‘s resident Video Producer and has over a decade of UK media experience. He worked within the sports industry and with numerous sports-focused publications — including golfing publication National Club Golfer — prior to joining the 9to5Google team.
After completing a BSc in Computer Science at the University of Hull with a major focus on data analytics and UX, he joined the Press Association (now PA Media), developing growing sports data products for the Barclay’s Premier League. These’s data packages included the now-defunct ACTIM Index which eventually evolved into the EA Sports Player Performance Index.
While working with the UK’s largest media agency, he attained a MA in Journalism at Sheffield Hallam University after completing his studies in 2014. This is where a love affair with all things videography surfaced after a brief stint in student TV. A major interest and constantly growing know-how of technology and videography have seen Damien lead 9to5Google’s official YouTube channel since 2018. He previously hosted the 9to5Google Daily podcast from 2019 to 2021.
Damien’s expertise and focus area lie in a number of beats including Android and OEM software updates, mobile applications, smartphone and accessory reviews, and just about anything that makes a modern mobile nerd tick. He says that he is “platform agnostic” despite primarily using Android devices and attempts to regularly test the iOS waters to better understand the nuances of the tech he covers on a day-to-day basis.
Outside of the tech space Damien is an avid supporter of his boyhood soccer team Hull City and is even a fully qualified Barista — with 3 years of experience making speciality coffee. Be sure to follow him on Threads, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Instagram for insights and upcoming video updates and tidbits. If you are interested, you can also check out just what video gear he is currently using on his dedicated Kit.co page.
OxygenOS 11 has landed on OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro devices as the Android 11 Beta 3, but it might prove to be the biggest overhaul the third-party skin has seen for some time.
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Xiaomi has decided that for the firm’s 10th anniversary the Mi 10 Ultra needed to 120 “all the things” with the official release of its latest handset.
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Microsoft has quietly and most importantly officially confirmed the asking price and release date of its first foldable Android device — the Surface Duo.
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A sequel to one of our favorite Wear OS smartwatches, the TicWatch C2+ is essentially a minor bump to what was formerly a solid wearable.
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Listen to a short-form recap or roundup of all the top 9to5Google stories of the previous 24 hours. 9to5Google Daily is available on Google Play, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.
As we use our smartphones for more and more, the ability to grab detailed information and make informed decisions based upon the world around us is more important than ever. The latest attempt by Google to enhance this is by updating Lookout, which is a lesser-known application designed to help “pull” information from things such as food labels, documents, and more.
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Samsung has started to roll out an update to Galaxy A51 and A71 devices in India with a number of enhanced privacy features under the AltZLife branding.
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Google People Cards — which are essentially virtual business cards — have now started appearing in Google Search in India.
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If you’re driven by full device control, you’ll be pleased to hear that TWRP support is now officially available for a flurry of Nokia devices plus the several Xiaomi handsets — including the popular Mi 9T.
Listen to a short-form recap or roundup of all the top 9to5Google stories of the previous 24 hours. 9to5Google Daily is available on Google Play, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.
Even though YouTube is still the largest online video-sharing site by a massive margin, a new report has uncovered that almost 90% of video uploaded to the service generates fewer than 1,000 views.
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According to a new report, Qualcomm is pushing the Trump administration to allow sales of the Snapdragon chips to Huawei.
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Despite being at the top of the Android hierarchy for a long period in the early-2010s, HTC has fallen on hard times in the smartphone space. Each launch feels like the firm is simply treading water at this stage. Enter the HTC Wildfire E2, a budget smartphone from the Taiwanese firm that likely won’t change that any time soon.
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The very first update for the recently released Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is adding a couple of new features including blood oxygen monitoring.
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If you’re a OnePlus 7 or 7T series device owner, you’ll be pleased to hear that the OxygenOS Open Beta 17 and Open Beta 7 updates are now rolling out with plenty of neat fixes and additions.
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OxygenOS 10.5.4 is now rolling out for the affordable OnePlus Nord, which includes fixes for the display with some added camera improvements too.
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If you were unaware, OnePlus has a separate skin exclusively for China called HydrogenOS. With the full release of Android 11 for Google Pixel hardware expected in early September, OnePlus has now confirmed that its Android 11-based HydrogenOS is set to be showcased on August 10.
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The final addition to the testing phase of Android 11 has dropped with Beta 3. As the last in the trio — not including the 1.5 and 2.5 updates — don’t go in expecting huge wholesale changes. We’re on countdown now until the full OS release in early September 2020 but even so, we’ve still done plenty of digging since the preview dropped to find out just what new features you might be interested in.
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Listen to a short-form recap or roundup of all the top 9to5Google stories of the previous 24 hours. 9to5Google Daily is available on Google Play, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.
While we dig through the last Android 11 Beta update, one thing that might make you more inclined to download is the addition of Google’s brand-new emoji designs.
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Thanks to the Android 11 Beta 3 update you can now force your device to adopt the 90Hz refresh rate wherever possible on your Pixel 4 or 4 XL.
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If you are not content with the most recent Android 11 Beta build on your Google Pixel, it’s probably music to your ears knowing that you can downgrade your OS to a stable version of Android 10 if you encounter any major problems.
Finally, after a couple of years, we have some Nest Hub and Smart Display games that take advantage of both your Google Assistant and the color displays.
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Listen to a short-form recap or roundup of all the top 9to5Google stories of the previous 24 hours. 9to5Google Daily is available on Google Play, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.