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 latest OxygenOS OTA for the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T is rolling out with the regular bug fixes and system improvements. This update also includes the January security patch and some deeper integration with Google Duo.
Google has released 12 official color themes for Chrome (via Techdows) that includes a Chrome dark mode-lite ‘Just Black’ colorway.
Expand
Expanding
Close
We’ve known that OnePlus want to be one of the very first smartphone OEMs to release a 5G-connected device in 2019. Now we have some sort of confirmation (via XDA Developers) of OnePlus’ intent to show the prototype device at MWC 2019.
We’re just over a week from the official unveiling of the Samsung Galaxy S10, but Samsung could upstage themselves if their latest Twitter teaser for the Samsung Galaxy F is anything to go by.
The latest carrier-locked Samsung device is now receiving the latest Android OS update with the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ now seeing the Android Pie update rollout.
At its release, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 was almost totally unrivaled. The problem is that since August 2018, we’ve seen a ton of flagships release which tackle the Note 9.
Quite a few have even come close to beating the best phone of 2018, however, how does the Note 9 hold up in early 2019? Let’s dive in.
After weeks of leaks, the Moto G7 family has finally taken a step from behind the curtain into the spotlight with a four device lineup that includes the Moto G7, Moto G7 Play, Moto G7 Plus and Moto G7 Power.
There is a weird issue with Google Play Music right now that prevents users from casting any 2019 tracks from the music streaming application from your phone to your Google Home connected devices.
Expand
Expanding
Close
LG has announced officially that the upcoming LG G8 ThinQ will introduce Time-of-Flight technology to the front-facing selfie camera when unveiled at MWC 2019. The biggest question I’m sure that many of you are wondering: “What is ToF technology?”
Qualcomm has unveiled the latest in its constantly growing chipset platform in the form of the Snapdragon 712. It offers increased performance, support for QuickCharge 4.0+, and improved Bluetooth audio among a few other minor improvements.
Expand
Expanding
Close
A third Android Pie beta is now rolling out to the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 shortly after we saw the Samsung Galaxy S8 receive a third build of its own just last week.
The Nokia 9 PureView has leaked yet again, this time essentially in full thanks to a series of press renders courtesy of 91Mobiles.
Often when reviewing a smartphone it’s easy — though perhaps lazy — to compare one phone to another in the “X is a Y killer” format. The problem is that this makes it much easier to give you a frame for the performance of a device if you were unaware of the product at all. With that damning verdict in mind, the Honor View 20 is not a OnePlus killer no matter how hard it’s pushed as one.
Expand
Expanding
Close
With MWC on the horizon, invites and announcements are now being lined up ahead of the key calendar event in Barcelona. It seems that OnePlus is sending out invites for a closed-door event according to Digit.in (via AllAboutOnePlus).
We know quite a bit about the Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ already, heck we know almost everything worth knowing at this point. We haven’t really had a proper glimpse at the Samsung Galaxy S10e up until now though. But now that’s changed thanks to leaked real-life images.
The Ticwatch E2 is the sequel to one of my favorite (and first proper) Wear OS watches — the Ticwatch E. Unlike its predecessor though, the Ticwatch E2 improves upon a vast swathe of issues that plagued the original to make it a great purchase for anyone wanting a cheap, yet decent quality Wear OS option.
Everyone waxes lyrical about what the Essential Phone offers and one of those things is most definitely the rapid security and OS updates. Right on cue, the Essential Phone has also received the February security patch practically at the same time as Pixel devices.
Firefox 66 will now block auto-playing video and audio when pages launch on Android thanks to the latest update to the popular desktop and mobile browser.
Back in November 2018, OnePlus stopped the seeding program for custom ROM and kernel developers which naturally, was not very well received.
Expand
Expanding
Close
OnePlus is yet again opening the floor to their users with what they are calling the #PMChallenge, which will allow you the chance to potentially design brand new OxygenOS features.
More Android Pie update news for Samsung Galaxy Note 9 users in the US, as Sprint is now rolling out the update across the board.
Microsoft has ported a number of its most popular services and applications to Android and iOS over the past few years since the entire Windows Phone ecosystem ground to a halt.
At GDC 2019, Microsoft now looks set to announce that further cross-platform Xbox Live support will be coming to Android, iOS, and Nintendo Switch.
The Moshi Mythro C USB-C headphones are great headphones, but they are most definitely not the solution to the loss of the headphone port. That said, they are probably the best USB-C earbuds available right now.
A brand new pricing leak for the Samsung Galaxy S10 has emerged courtesy of serial leaker Ishan Agarwal, who revealed a list of supposed device configurations and pricing for the Netherlands.
Expand
Expanding
Close