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.
According to a report this morning from The Wall Street Journal, Italian eyewear giant Luxottica is moving forward with work in partnership with Google on the next generation of Glass. The next version is “in the works,” and will be “out soon,” according Statements from Luxottica CEO Massimo Vian on Friday.
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It had a great run, but Google has today discontinued the 2013-edition Nexus 7. The device was arguably—and is still to this this day—one of the best options when it comes to mid-range Android tablets. You may not be able to grab it on the Google Store anymore, but several places are offering the device at decent prices. On eBay, you can find several options including one that’s $185 refurbished.
SwiftKey is one of the most popular third-party keyboards across both iOS and Android, and the company today released the latest beta version of its Android app. The app’s main functionality hasn’t changed, but this update brings a completely redesigned options menu—and I think it suits the keyboard pretty well…
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Hurry! Get two Philips LED Light Bulbs for $4.97 (backordered, but finally avail for order!) http://t.co/QiNSIcu0Fx pic.twitter.com/vmnEQJlyqB
— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) April 23, 2015
Google has bumped the Chrome OS beta channel to version 43 this afternoon, and it’s actually a pretty substantial update. Among other features, the new version includes credit card autofill from Google Wallet, always-on “OK Google” on the new Chromebook Pixel, a new Material Design overhaul for the virtual keyboard user interface and more.
Here’s the full change log:
Some highlights of these changes are:
- Autofill settings for credit cards from Google Wallet
- Enable always-on “OK Google” from anywhere when screen is unlocked on new Chromebook Pixel
- Physical keyboard auto correction
- Material design for Virtual keyboard UI
Update: Chrome 43 beta for Android has rolled out too.
Google has announced today that its Keep note-taking app has now received full Android Wear support, letting you view your check lists, photos, and notes straight from your wrist…
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Twitter has today announced that it’s bringing a new feature called “Highlights” to its official Android app. The feature aims to condense your Twitter feed to be much more easily digestible, giving you only the tweets and stories that you really want. When you don’t have time to flick through your entire timeline, Twitter hopes you’ll go to Highlights for a grab-and-go fix…
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It was a year ago today that the OnePlus One was announced, and the company behind the phone is taking this occasion to celebrate its first anniversary with some neat product giveaways and discounts. Oh, and they uploaded an emotional video to promote their #NeverSettle mantra, too.
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Google for Work’s Chrome Live event happened today, and the Mountain View company took this opportunity to announce many new Chrome-related products for the workplace…
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Headphones: JBL powered over-ears $70, Sennheiser HD 518 over-ears $60, more
Google has just announced Project Fi, its much-rumored MVNO and the company’s attempt at bringing a new way for customers to get better cellular service at a better price…
Google is hard at work designing the next hardware iteration of Glass, but not many details have surfaced regarding what the next generation be capable of nor what it will look like. Patents are definitely not the most reliable source of “leaks,” but sometimes they can give us a good overarching idea of the direction a company might be headed. A new patent published recently gives us yet another peek at what the next Google Glass might look like, and this looks more believable than anything we’ve seen up to this point…
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Apple may be making its leaves green, but Google is celebrating Earth Day too. They’ve of course changed the homepage logo into a Google Doodle, but Mr. Jingles—the Google+ notifications mascot—is also dressing up to celebrate.
As we told you yesterday, clicking today’s new Google Doodle will take you to an “Earth Day Quiz” that… tells you which animal you’re most like. It’s a “totally scientific and 1,000% accurate personality quiz,” Google says.
Google has today announced several updates to Google Classroom, including the ability to add more than one teacher to a Classroom class, and new automatically-saving drafts for class announcements and assignments…
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Google has just pushed the first build of Android 5.1.1, and it looks like the first device to get the update is the Nexus Player. We have still yet to see Android 5.1 for the Nexus 9 (and only last week saw it arrive for the Nexus 4), but Google seems to be charging ahead regardless. Rumors said that the Nexus 9 would be skipping 5.1 in favor of 5.1.1, so maybe this is a sign that the update for Google’s flagship tablet is right around the corner.
Download the new factory image straight from Google’s servers:
Alternatively, you can head over and download this image and more from Google’s developers website. If you’re wondering how to install the update, be sure to check out our nifty guide.
Google has today started sending out a new round of invites for the “Contributor by Google” program it announced in November of last year. The service, which removes AdSense ads from your daily browsing for the price of a $2-10 monthly subscription, also saw some notable changes from when it was first shown to the world. Google has now detailed new tiers which will be available to those who have been invited to try out the expanded program…
The annual Big Android BBQ is scheduled to take place October 22nd and 23rd 2015 in Hurst, Texas. The developer-focused event, which is sponsored by Google Developers, brings several programming and networking sessions across two days and—obviously—plenty of BBQ.
The Big Android BBQ (BABBQ) is a developer event like no other; an Android combo-meal that delivers super-sized portions of education and entertainment.
Learn ‘tricks-of-the-trade’ from thought leaders and senior developers in our mouth-watering sessions and get your hands greasy with newly acquired knowledge in the Code Kitchen. End each evening with fellow developers and sponsors at our exciting networking sessions filled with happy meals and frosty beverages. The 2015 Big Android BBQ delivered by Google Developers will leave you exhausted and inspired.
You can pre-order tickets for the event on Eventbrite now, with Early Bird pricing (which is $55 + fees) running until May 22nd. We’ll be there to make friends, eat some food, and have some healthy Android and tech-related discourse. It should be a good time.
Google this morning announced a huge update to its Android Wear wearable operating system, but we’ve noticed a few things that Google might have forgotten to touch on in its release notes. The company has of course confirmed that WiFi support, always-on screen support for apps, and more features that are on the way. But there are other features, including what looks to be an actual Google Maps app and pop-up notifications, that might be coming to Android Wear as well…
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Google announced today that it is beginning the retirement process of YouTube’s Data API v2, and that means that some older devices, including older Apple and Google TV set-top boxes, will no longer be able to access the video streaming site. The change is also going to affect users of older gaming consoles and iOS devices as the deprecated built-in YouTube apps will be unable to access the service…
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AT&T has today announced that the ZTE Spro 2 smart projector will be available through the carrier on April 24th. Featuring a 5-inch touch screen that basically acts as a built-in smartphone, the device easily lets you project your content straight from the projector itself and can even double as a handy WiFi hotspot…
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Update: Various reports have confirmed that certain Android Wear devices, including the LG G Watch and G Watch R as well as the Asus ZenWatch, will not be getting WiFi support.
Android Wear is getting a pretty big update. Over at the official Android blog, Google this morning showed off the latest version of its mobile OS, packing several useful new features including wrist gestures for flicking through cards hands-free, WiFi support to free your watch from needing to be directly connected to your phone, support for quickly drawing emoji replies to messages, always-on screen support in apps, and a lot more…
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The Xperia Z4 smartphone isn’t exactly a secret, but now Sony has come out to officially announce the device in Japan. It’s basically the smartphone version of the Xperia Z4 tablet that was announced in March, and like that device, it doesn’t seem to be much of a visual overhaul compared to its predecessor. It does pack some pretty hefty upgrades on the inside, though, including an upgraded SoC and front-facing camera…
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