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.
As smartphone charge speeds have increased, so have our charging habits. Which is why we had some interesting responses when we asked you how often you charge your smartphone.
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As we steadily edge toward the stable launch of Android 12, more first-party apps are gaining Material You tweaks including the Google Assistant.
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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 Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.
After a few rebrands over the years, the wireless payment and loyalty card manager Google Pay has now surpassed the 500 million download milestone on the Play Store.
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The number of apps that support Material You theming is growing slowly but surely, and we’re seeing more first-party and even a few third-party apps adopt the new Android aesthetic.
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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 Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.
Formerly a Pixel exclusive feature, the safety-focused “Heads Up” mode is now coming to more Android devices with an update to the Digital Wellbeing app.
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Smartphone fast charging should have completely altered the way in which we charge our Android devices, but it’s not clear just if that is the case.
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The upcoming Pixel 6 and 6 Pro passed through the FCC and with some interesting information on the duo and connectivity. However, a recently updated Google support page detailing 5G connectivity for Pixel devices only lists the smaller Pixel 6 with sub-6 5G support on all US carriers — which is likely in error.
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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 Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.
Although we’re almost ready for the stable Android 12 update to arrive on Pixel devices, the rest of the industry is just beginning to roll out their own flavors of the latest stable OS. Samsung is next with One UI 4.0, and although effectively Beta 1, we’ve been working out what the top new features are for intrepid Galaxy device enthusiasts.
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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 Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.
We’ve been waiting a long time for a major update to VLC for Android, and v3.4 might not seem like it at face value, but it adds a number of important tweaks and improvements to the popular multi-format media player.
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Although still technically running Android 10, the Chromecast with Google TV can get a taste of Android 11 via an unofficial LineageOS 18.1 port for the streaming dongle.
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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 Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.
OnePlus has confirmed that not only is any potential 9T off the table for 2021, but that the firm’s 2022 flagship will run a merged ColorOS and OxygenOS.
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Last week and ahead of the Pixel 6 series set to come (hopefully) very soon, we asked you just what you think the “best” Google Pixel device has been so far. Well, the results were not too unsurprising overall but interesting nonetheless.
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YouTube on Android has gone through numerous changes and tweaks, and has plenty of ongoing UI tests. The latest looks to be a floating window for YouTube comments section when viewing videos on Android.
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Google’s upcoming Tensor chipset may end up lagging behind the current top-tier Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and even Samsung’s own Exynos 2100 chips and that is absolutely fine. The idea that Tensor needs to rival the best in the business is at best a fallacy.
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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 Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.
The high-profile partnership with Hasselblad made a big difference to the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro camera setups, but with the latest OxygenOS 11.2.9.9 update, the device duo is gaining XPan mode.
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The Pixel exclusive “Hold for Me” feature that allows you to utilize the Google Assistant to hold the line until you are ready now appears to be expanding into Canada.
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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 Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.
The Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro could very well be the best Pixel devices to date, but we’re still waiting to see them unveiled — and then get our greasy mitts on the duo when they launch (hopefully) soon.
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