Stephen is Growth Director at 9to5. You can find his current work at 9to5Mac, 9to5Google 9to5Toys, Electrek, and more. If you want to get in touch, follow me on Twitter. Or, email at stephen (at) 9to5mac (dot) com, or an encrypted email at hallstephenj (at) protonmail (dot) com.
Undo Send was long a popular Google Labs feature, and was just recently added to ‘Inbox for Gmail’ for Android. Starting today, Google says that the feature, which lets users cancel the sending of an email within a pre-specified number of seconds after the email is sent, will be publicly available to all users of Gmail on the web.
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Google has announced today that it is expanding the types of images it supports when converting Microsoft Office files to Google Docs. Previously, supported image file types included JPEG, PNG, EMF, and WMF. Now, a greater number of less common image types are also supported. Google Docs can now convert larger images, more file formats (specifically including TIFF), and images with color profiles other than RGB.
Starting today, larger images, images in less common formats (like TIFF), and images with non-RGB color profiles (like CMYK), can also be imported to and exported from the Google Docs editors on the web successfully. Check out the Help Center for more information on converting files in Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
This is a useful update if you commonly find that your Microsoft Office documents aren’t being properly converted when moving them to Google Docs — or, likewise, when you’re exporting them to use in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. You can head over to the Google Apps blog to read the original post, and Google sends you to the Help Center if you need more information about importing and exporting documents.
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Take 20% off GoPro’s HERO4 Black 4K Action Camera: $399 (Reg. $500) http://t.co/b0zCGYoPs5 pic.twitter.com/nkJA1OXOAx
— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) June 22, 2015
Free Redbox video game rental http://t.co/b0zCGYoPs5 pic.twitter.com/FhSnrY4XSQ
— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) June 22, 2015
Update: Images of the company’s USB-C cable have now been leaked online by the company itself…
Here comes the next little detail about the OnePlus 2. According to a tweet this afternoon from OnePlus, the company’s upcoming OnePlus 2 flagship phone will be one of the first — if not the first — to sport a USB Type-C port.
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Google has today announced the introduction of 17 brand new watch faces for Android Wear, spanning brands such as Rubiks, Hello Kitty, Angry Birds, and more. Google says that there are already more than 1,500 watch faces available to customize your device, and now — lucky you! — there are 17 more options to choose from…
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We told you last week that an Android 5.1 soak test was beginning for the Verizon Moto X, and now it looks like the update has been made official. Motorola has today announced the rollout of Android 5.1 to both the original Moto X and the Moto X (2014), both of which should be rolling out imminently.
In Android 5.1, there are improvements across the board, including changes to how notifications are handled, drop-down menus for both Bluetooth and WiFi in the quick settings shade, device protection, system-wide performance improvements, and more.
We are excited to announce a new software update for Moto X (2nd Gen.) by Motorola. This update brings Android™ 5.1 Lollipop to your phone along with other improvements. Android™ 5.1 Lollipop improves stability and provides better control over notifications.
If you have the 2014 Moto X “Pure Edition,” then you’ve probably had Android 5.1 running on your device for about a month now. For those unfortunate enough to be stuck with a carrier version of the first- or second-generation Moto X, keep an eye out for the update to hit your device in the coming days.
Pebble has a long-time friendship with Best Buy, and now the smartwatch maker is launching the first widespread availability of its new Pebble Time through the retailer. Available for $200, the standard 22mm non-steel version of the watch is now available for consumers to put their claim on red, black, and white models.
While the Kickstarter Edition just recently began shipping to those who backed the watch, those just now realizing that they would actually like a smartwatch that has a color e-paper display, more than 5 days of battery life, and cross-platform compatibility are in luck:
We recently reviewed the Pebble Time, saying that while it does have its upsides, it still feels stuck in the past compared to the currently-available Android Wear devices and the Apple Watch. Long battery life is nice, but the lack of a touch screen and sketchy compatibility with iOS hold the device back—especially at this price point.
Looking to buy an Android Wear smartwatch? Check out our comparison and buying guide.
Google has this morning announced a new effort called News Lab, which is the company’s attempt at using its many resources and technologies to help usher in a new age of innovation in journalism. There are three basic tentpoles to what the company is doing here to empower journalists: tools, data, and programs.
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The 3rd generation Moto G (2015) is likely to be just around the corner, along with the much-rumored 3rd generation Moto X (2015). And while we got what is probably a nice peek at the upcoming Moto X thanks to Upleaks last weekend, this weekend a couple of other sources are sharing some information about the lower-end budget phone from the Lenovo-owned company. Sadly, at least based on this information, the Moto G (2015) seems to be a bit of a snooze fest…
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DODOcase is known for their cases, but you may not have known that they also make a line of Google Cardboard viewers (which I guess could also be considered “cases” using a looser definition of the word). A couple of newly-revised viewers, models G2 and P2, are scheduled to start shipping in the next few weeks, and we thought we would give them a look. And while we can’t say that DODOcase is bringing anything revolutionary or groundbreaking to the VR scene with these pieces of cardboard, they’re definitely good options if you’re wanting to get started with Cardboard-enabled apps…
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I first took a look at the ZenFone 2 when it was announced back at CES, and I remember standing at the ASUS press conference actually very impressed with what ASUS managed to do here. While many that I talked to immediately discounted the device — because, well, it is another ASUS ZenFone — I stood behind it as someone who had actually tried it out first-hand. The phone packs some great hardware, and while it was assumed that this was just going to be another underwhelming mid-range handset to clutter the 2015 lineup, I thought this one actually deserved a second look.
Four months after the phone’s announcement in January, it finally went up for sale for North American customers on Amazon. There are two variants here, the first being a lower-end model that costs just $200 and sports 16 GB of storage, and the second is the 64 GB model, coming in at $300. We’re going to be taking a look at the higher-end model in this review, and that’s worth noting because storage space isn’t the only differentiator between these two devices. The high-end $300 model also sports a better processor, as well as that record-breaking 4 GB of RAM…
Samsung has launched its first two phones with front-facing camera flash, a feature aimed at a younger crowd that might want to take selfies in lower light. The phones were announced in China today, and are scheduled to be released over the coming week.
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Many OnePlus One owners have been settling lately, and it looks like OnePlus — after many attempts — is still trying to finally put the phone’s touch screen issues to rest. A new build of Cyanogen OS was pushed just a couple of days ago to fix issues for those on that OS, but now OnePlus is pushing out an update to its OxygenOS as well, bumping it to version 1.01.
The announcement post, sadly, doesn’t have a full change log. It only mentions this one touch screen fix that many OnePlus One owners have been waiting for. You can head over to the OnePlus forums to grab the firmware. The company did, however, mention a new tool that lets those on Cyanogen OS easily flash a build of OxygenOS without losing your data:
In addition, our friends over at Fastboot Mobile and XDA actually worked on a migration tool that will allow those of you who haven’t tried OxygenOS yet to easily flash from CM 11 or 12 without losing your data. The tool is in beta but we thought it was pretty cool so why not share it and let you play with it.
Proceed with caution and follow the instructions carefully. It’s beta so it’s not guaranteed to work 100%.
Prerequisite:
- .Net 4.5 download – https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/Download/details.aspx?id=30653
- You must be running this on a locally installed version of Windows 7 or Windows 8
Tool download:
http://eu-oxygen.cust.fastbootmobile.com/OnePlusOneMigration-logging-Beta1.zipSteps:
- Unzip the above into its own folder
- Copy the flashable OxygenOS zip and MD5 into the “download” folder contained in the above
- On the device go to Settings > Developer options and uncheck Update CM Recovery (CM has this checked as default which causes issues)
- Make sure the device is plugged into the computer
- Run the “OnePlusOneMigration.exe” file as Administrator
- Accept any prompts to confirm the drivers – they are ours and are signed
- Follow the prompts (as prompted) and you should end up with OxygenOS installed. The ADB sideload process can take awhile to finish.
If you found moving to OxygenOS daunting before, this might be your opportunity to try out OnePlus’ almost-stock OS.
Update: It looks like the Amazon Appstore actually began rolling out to devices with the 10.3.1 update, and that BlackBerry was simply re-highlighting the feature it added previously. Perhaps humorously, it looks like not enough people use BlackBerry devices to even know if the addition is new or not. Some users have told us that they’ve had the Appstore by default since 10.3.1, which makes us think this feature is old. Move along.
BlackBerry is rumored to be going with an Android OS for its next hardware release, according to a report from Reuters last week. But while we haven’t heard anything about that handset quite yet, it looks like BlackBerry is already giving in to the inevitable fact that it just can’t keep up with the competition — on the software front, at least. Starting today, owners of some BlackBerry devices will be receiving an update that gives access to Android apps by way of Amazon’s Appstore…
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IDEAA, the International Developer Education and Advocacy Alliance, has for several years now been running the Big Android BBQ in Hurst, Texas. Featuring sessions run by some of the most knowledgable people the field, challenges, and — of course — some great food, the event has a reputation as one of the biggest and best Android developer events of the year. Now, the company says it’s taking BABBQ to new heights, as Google Developers has officially gotten on board to team up with IDEAA to make the event better than ever…
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According to The Information, Google secretly bought “app streaming” startup Agawi late last year, an acquisition that wasn’t reported until today. The company built technology that is basically the Netflix or Spotify of apps—letting users stream games and apps to their phone without having to necessarily “download” them:
The search giant last fall secretly acquired an “app streaming” startup called Agawi whose technology allows people to access apps on their smartphone without downloading them first.
The acquisition, which hasn’t been previously reported, provides strong clues about the direction that Google is trying to move mobile software development.
Google has today released its stock Android Clock app on the Play Store, providing a new avenue to update it on devices that include it. The app is following in the footsteps of many other Google apps and services that have made their way to the Play Store, and — as is the case with the rest of them — the app is completely free.
Also, as you may already know, this means that those with devices that don’t ship with this app can simply download it from the Play Store. It’s well-regarded as being one of the best Clock apps available, sporting the ability to set alarms and timers, add cities to the World Clock, and connect with Android Wear for alarm snoozing.
It seems that the app is the same as the version currently available, albeit with a minor upgrade to version 4.0.1.
The OnePlus One, despite its well-deserved praise and renown, has some shortcoming. Besides the fact that OnePlus has some of the most ridiculous — although effective — marketing of any tech company today, the flagship phone itself has been plagued with some pretty nagging problems . Most notably, OnePlus has some pretty sketchy Bluetooth connectivity with in-car systems, problems sending MMS on some carriers, and — most notoriously — problems with touch screen sensitivity. Now, though, it looks like these problems are finally fixed…
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Update: Motorola has officially announced the update on its blog, and you can find videos below.
The Moto 360 update to Android Wear 5.1.1 is starting today, according to Google’s Wayne Piekarski on Google+:
Just to let you all know, the latest version of Android Wear is going to start rolling out via an over-the-air (OTA) update to the Moto 360 today! OTA rollouts are always done over a period of many days, so it will take some time to receive your update.
We told you on June 4th that Motorola was still working on the update because performance just wasn’t quite up to speed.
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Following the Nest Cam outed by Best Buy earlier today, Nest did in fact take the stage this morning to announce its new lineup of products. Besides the Nest Cam, Tony Fadell and company showed off the 2nd generation Nest Protect smoke detector, a new mobile app for Android and iOS that brings all of the company’s new products together, and more. Unfortunately, the company’s flagship Nest Thermostat didn’t get any hardware upgrades today…
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Best Buy has just outed Nest’s new Nest Cam hardware before the company’s event set to kick off at 10 AM PDT. As you can see right now on Best Buy’s website, the device is available to pre-order for $199.99 with free shipping, and mentions the previously-leaked new Nest app as well as more previously-unknown details on the product.
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