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.
When Samsung released the DeX solution alongside the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ it seemed like a big stretch. Would people would want to tether their Android phone and create a pseudo-desktop experience that relied solely on the mobile OS? The announcement of Linux on DeX and subsequent beta for this might finally give the hardware a new lease of life.
The EU’s copyright directive, Article 13 has come under scrutiny yet again from national and international media. Now an official response from YouTube was recently published on the official YouTube Creator Blog. In the post, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki pushed back against these proposed European copyright legislation changes.
We covered a great deal of what makes the OnePlus 6T such a superb device in our full review, but that was only a minor dive into some of the extra features that have been brought about with the update to Android 9.0 Pie. Let’s take a look at some tips and tricks for getting the best out of your phone.
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After the recent Samsung Developer Conference saw the South Korean tech giant show off its Infinity Flex foldable display, we were left in the dark about when this new foldable display tech would find its way to devices. Now, a new report out of South Korea has touted a March 2019 release schedule for the Samsung foldable smartphone along with a jaw-dropping price tag.
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At the official launch of Xiaomi in the United Kingdom yesterday, the company announced that only one of their latest flagship devices — the Mi 8 Pro — will be made available to European users officially for the first time. That said, we are a little disappointed that the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 slider phone was nowhere to be seen at this launch. This might be of interest with the company heading to New York next month for a user taster session, which will no doubt include this device amongst the handsets that you can get to grips with.
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A solitary leaked press render courtesy of MySmartPrice has shown off the supposed LG Q9, with the device following a somewhat by-the-numbers notched design and a 6.1-inch display. However, there isn’t yet any information regarding the resolution of the display.
Xiaomi might have made waves in the Far East, but until now they haven’t officially been available in many Western nations. At the official UK launch of the brand, Xiaomi announced the global release of the powerhouse Xiaomi Mi 8 Pro and that it will be available in the UK from £499.
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Today marks the first steps in Xiaomi’s big move into the Western market with what the Chinese company is calling the ‘global launch’ of their popular Mi 8 Pro devices amongst almost all of the Xiaomi product lineup.
The OnePlus Switch application makes the often frustrating process of swapping or upgrading your phone a bit more simplified. But until now, those switching from iPhone to a OnePlus device couldn’t switch as conveniently. Now, a new update today changes that. iPhone users can now download the OnePlus Switch on their phone and use it to transfer contacts, photos, videos and even messages.
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We’ve heard it rumored for years, bendy displays have been almost everywhere for some time now but we still haven’t really seen a big mobile player implement a foldable display in a smartphone. Now Samsung is set to unveil a device — we’re not quite sure what — at their annual developer conference. If you’re even a tiny bit interested in what could be a pivotal moment for mobile tech, then you can watch the Samsung Developer Conference livestream at the embed below.
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The OnePlus 6T is a fantastic phone, but that doesn’t stop the device from getting performance tweaks courtesy of the OxygenOS OTA updates. The latest iteration, OxygenOS 9.0.5 has been announced via the OnePlus official forums and includes a series of bug fixes and improvements.
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Ahead of the official UK launch event tomorrow, Xiaomi has made their offshoot enthusiast device — the Pocophone F1 — officially available for purchase on Amazon UK. Whilst this might not seem like a big deal, with Xiaomi hosting a US taster event on December 8th, maybe this is an indication that we could see Xiaomi devices available on Amazon in the US as well.
As part of Google’s three-year update plan, the last Nexus devices have now received the final guaranteed OTA update. That means that build number OPM7.181105.004 will be the final official build on both the Nexus 6P and the Nexus 5X and signals the true death of the Nexus line.
This year’s deluge of smartphone releases is slowly coming to a close. The OnePlus 6T is one of the very last so-called ‘flagships’ of the season having been announced at the very tail end of October. In short, you should take a look at this OnePlus phone for the same reasons you’ve considered its predecessors — it’s simply good value.
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Whilst Xiaomi devices and products aren’t officially available in the United States, the company is holding a December 8th New York taster event for all of the brands latest and greatest gadgets — which will likely include the recently launched Mi Mix 3.
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After such a positive launch of the Nokia 7.1, HMD Global seems to be on a roll with the Nokia brand at the moment. They are no doubt hoping this ‘roll’ continues with the launch of their reported upcoming flagship — the Nokia 9. We’ve previously had a glimpse of the device during its prototype stages. But now, thanks to leaks from @OnLeaks and 91Mobiles, we’re getting a look at what the trypophobia-inducing device could be bringing to the table.
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Last week, alleged images of the Asus ZenFone 6 prototypes leaked which showed some odd experimentation with display notch placement. But the device has surfaced again, this time showing the notch on the upper right corner of the display.
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Motorola’s very iPhone-esque Android One smartphone, the Motorola One, will officially be available in the United States soon for $399 unlocked. The black variant can be ordered online from November 9th, while the white variant can be found in stores starting November 11th.
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As initially spotted by PetaPixel, Chinese camera company Yongnuo has announced the YN450, an Android-powered 4K mirrorless camera that supports the usage of Canon EF lenses.
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We recently gave you a taste of what to expect from the newest night mode on the market in the form of OnePlus’ Nightscape, but how does it stack up against one of the other best night shooters that aren’t from Google?
Despite a few minor leaks, the Samsung Galaxy S10 has still managed to mostly remain a mystery at this point. While there’s still no solid evidence on what the device will look like, there are strong suggestions that it will ditch the iris scanner and instead rely on an in-display fingerprint reader.
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The OnePlus 6 is already capable of using the company’s new Nightscape mode thanks to Android Pie beta 6. Naturally, that meant I had to head out into the darkened streets to see if it actually makes any difference to the night-photography capabilities of the device.
Yesterday we saw the retail packaging of the Lenovo Z5 Pro, which unearthed the rumored sliding front-facing camera module. Now the device has been officially unveiled and laid bare all of the specifications.
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The OnePlus 6T has barely been announced, let alone made available, but OxygenOS has already received an update to tweak a few of the new software additions as well as some general bug fixes.
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