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.
The Samsung Galaxy Fold was arguably one of the most notable devices unveiled at Unpacked 2019. Despite the headlines and show intro slot, we haven’t seen a great deal of the device apart from behind two inches of glass at MWC 2019 — that is until now.
Call of Duty Mobile will be Activision‘s latest attempt at expanding the massive FPS franchise once more on both Android and iOS.
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The smartphone industry has certain trends and traits that come and go. The Razer Phone 2 is part of what was the growing, but now shrinking gaming phone trend.
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We reported just a few days ago that the Magisk developer John Wu tweeted some bad news for anyone looking to root Android Q. Well, despite the difficulties in rooting Android Q anyone with the original Google Pixel or Pixel 2 can now root their devices.
The Active Edge feature is a neat addition to the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3, allowing both devices to go without a dedicated Google Assistant button. Should you be willing to root or install a third-party app, a new hidden setting gives you the ability to reassign the squeeze function to another assistant on your Pixel 2 or Pixel 3 handset.
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A Qualcomm executive has made claims that we could see smartphones that pack 64-megapixel and 100-megapixel+ camera sensors as early as the end of 2019.
The Chinese tech giant, that continues to grow at a staggering rate is worried about losing access to Android. Huawei has therefore developed its very own operating systems for both mobile and desktop should they be banned from using US-made products and services in the form of Android and Windows.
It’s unlikely that the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro will officially be available in the United States, but that doesn’t mean they will end up being bad devices — far from it. New P30 device information leaks courtesy of WinFuture.de have unearthed much of the what we will see come the March 26 launch.
The Android Q developer preview is here, which means you’re going to be spammed with a healthy dose of everything related to the tenth full release of the mobile OS.
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The Google Play Store has had its fair share of security issues. In this latest instance, the SimBad rogue adware was found by the Check Point research team to have infected over 200 now-gone apps on the Google Play Store (via Android Police).
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The Continued Conversation feature that was rolled out not too long ago to US users has now made the short hop over the pond meaning that we UK users no longer have to keep asking to activate Google to get answers (via Android Police).
The Sony Xperia 1 is a bit of a mystery, we were unable to get to grips with it after it was officially unveiled at MWC 2019. Now thanks to an Amazon US listing, we’ve got an indication of the pricing at least — which is pegged at $999 (via XperiaBlog).
Where on earth is Carmen Sandiego? Well, it appears that we can finally answer that for ourselves as the slippery video game protagonist and Netflix star is now heading to Google Earth in the form of a throwback video game that uses the Google software.
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Google’s premier streaming services, YouTube Music and YouTube Premium have now rolled out to a further 14 nations as the service continues to expand since launching in May 2018.
Whether you are interested in watches or not, it’s hard to argue that Italian brand Emporio Armani makes some of the most stylish options for those with a middling to high-end budget.
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The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy S8+ are now seeing the March 2019 security patch rollout in a few international regions for users in Taiwan, Bulgaria, Romania, Switzerland, and the Nordic regions.
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Samsung has really ramped up the speed of their updates during the first quarter of 2019, but two notable absentees were the Verizon version of the Galaxy Note 9 and the unlocked US variants. Well, now the Verizon Galaxy Note 9 finally has Android Pie ready to download alongside the unlocked US model.
The OxygenOS open beta program is a great way for the company to tweak and adjust parts of the OS and simultaneously gather plenty of real-world user feedback. Now the latest OxygenOS open betas have been released for the OnePlus 6/6T and 5/5T.
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As far as Android tablets go, there really aren’t too many that warrant a closer look unless the cost is low enough. The Huawei MediaPad M5 Lite is a solid tablet that is decent enough but suffers from much of the same problems that have plagued Android tablets since day one.
The Huawei Mate 20 family is pretty fantastic. The build, the overall package, and the pricing are all on point. It seems that this has resonated with smartphone buyers globally as the Huawei Mate 20 line has now sold over 10 million units without ever needing for the Chinese brand to ‘break America’.
LineageOS is the offshoot of the original and immensely popular CyanogenMod ROM that was likely one of the, if not the most popular ROM on smartphone across the globe.
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For anyone with a T-Mobile OnePlus 6T, the latest carrier locked device update is bringing with it RCS Messaging support and the January 2019 security patch alongside a few other extras.
At a time when device manufacturers scramble to remove the headphone port and tell us that Bluetooth audio is the answer, there are very few truly decent pairs of wireless earbuds to fill the gaping hole left behind.
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For anyone who has pre-ordered or already has a hold of any of the Samsung Galaxy S10 models on T-Mobile or Verizon networks, you can expect an update not long after you turn on the device.
