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.
It appears that some OnePlus 7 Pro owners are having intermittent issues with random shutdowns. For the relatively small number of affected owners, their OnePlus 7 Pro’s appear to be randomly shutting down even when they are in use.
While it’s common for carriers to launch their own branded devices, they often don’t grab much attention due to lackluster specs and end up being horrible. T-Mobile is looking to change that after announcing their own-brand Android-powered Revvlry smartphones.
Listen to a recap of all the top 9to5Google stories of the day. 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.
Despite being part of the Android One program in some regions, the LG G7 ThinQ hasn’t had quite as much love as it should have in the software stakes. The device is still stuck on Android Oreo but that is about to change as the long-overdue Android Pie update for the LG G7 ThinQ is now rolling out (via Reddit).
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While the budget phone category continues to grow in the United States, the rest of the world already offers a wealth of options for affordable, high-quality hardware. The Xiaomi Mi 9 SE is another such device that is genuinely superb for the money, yet lacks wide North American availability.
One of the biggest improvements made to the Android Q Beta program is the “fully gestural navigation” method. It takes the half-baked Android Pie semi-gestures and adds a little of what makes the iOS gestures so fluid. But if you plan on using a third-party launcher in future, it appears that you won’t be able to use full gestures on Android Q Beta 5.
Listen to a recap of all the top 9to5Google stories of the day. 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 dark modes are en vogue, they do offer less eye-straining bonuses as well as potential battery life extensions. Google is slowly and steadily increasing its core apps to include proper dark themes, but it appears that has extended to the Pixel boot animation with Android Q Beta 5.
Music streaming platform Spotify has launched a Lite version of its Android app to help those using low-powered devices stream music on poor connections.
According to a report presented at PrivacyCon 2019, there are over 1,000 popular Android apps on the Google Play Store that still take your personal data, even despite not having the correct permissions to do so.
Despite only offering updates via official channels, over 10 million Samsung owners installed a scam app claiming to offer OEM builds of the latest Android OS. The “Updates for Samsung” app masqueraded as a one-stop shop for OS updates. Instead, it redirected you to an ad farm that would then charge real money to download firmware updates.
Listen to a recap of all the top 9to5Google stories of the day. 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.
Google appears to be testing global media controls on the Chrome browser, which would allow you to control videos or music right from your browser toolbar.
Just over a month ago we caught a glimpse of our first credible Pixel 4 renders, and now we’ve got our first credible Pixel 4 XL renders and even a 360-degree video.
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The OnePlus 7 isn’t officially coming to the North American market and that is a disappointment because this is a fantastic follow-up to the OnePlus 6T, even if it feels very much like a retread.
Listen to a recap of all the top 9to5Google stories of the day. 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 SwiftKey isn’t as popular as it once was, the third-party keyboard for Android is still a big hitter with a massive number of people that use it. The Microsoft-owned app has now added AR-powered ‘Puppets’ or Animoji that can be used on all Android phones.
The gaming phone market is a strange one, one that I don’t think I will ever fully understand unless new dedicated hardware emerges. That said, Asus is doubling down on their commitment to gaming phones as a launch date for the ROG Phone 2 has now been confirmed for July 23rd.
Listen to a recap of all the top 9to5Google stories of the day. 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.
Did you know that you can add your favorite podcasts to your Google Home routines? Amazing, isn’t it? What is more amazing is that you might not have known this little tidbit.
While the Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro is a fantastic device that you could consider a spiritual successor to the popular budget beast Pocophone F1, it’s about to get even better thanks to a very special Avengers-themed limited edition.
Samsung has been taken to court in Australian over claims that a number of its ads misled customers about the water resistance levels of its popular Galaxy phone line.
After an extensive Twitter Q&A, Google Photos product lead, David Lieb, was tasked with fielding a ton of inquiries. The net result was confirmation of a few upcoming Google Photos features.
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Listen to a recap of all the top 9to5Google stories of the day. 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.