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Stephen Hall

stephenjhall

Stephen is Growth Director at 9to5. You can find his current work at 9to5Mac, 9to5Google 9to5ToysElectrek, 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.

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068: New Android phones, Google hardware updates, Pixel 3 notch | 9to5Google Daily

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Today we’ve got a couple new Android phones from Honor and HTC, software updates for Google Wifi and Google Pixel Buds, and my thoughts on the Pixel 3 and whether or not it should follow in line with other notch + chin Android phones.

9to5Google Daily is available on Google PlayiTunes and Apple’s Podcasts appStitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.


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Opinion: Google, please make Pixel 3 stand out from these notched abominations

In the wake of the iPhone X’s announcement, there’s a particular smartphone aesthetic sweeping the industrial design departments of just about every Android OEM. That design: A notched display on the front with a sizable bottom chin. It doesn’t seem like many Android phone makers are immune from the disease — OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, ASUS, Honor, and even LG are all infected.

As we look toward the coming fall and Google’s presumed launch of the Pixel 3, I’m hoping that the Mountain View company has the courage not to blindly follow the pack…


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067: Google One, more Android P features, John Legend as Assistant | 9to5Google Daily

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Today we’ve got the introduction of Google One, more Android P stories rolling in, AI-powered Nudge feature in the new Gmail, and thoughts on John Legend’s voice in Assistant.

9to5Google Daily is available on Google PlayiTunes and Apple’s Podcasts appStitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.


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Google’s Material Design grows up at I/O — here’s everything you need to know

Material Design has been around for about four years now, and while it has accomplished a lot in unifying the appearance and core functionality of Google’s own apps across its platforms, Google wants to take its approach to design to a whole new level. This year at I/O 2018, Google introduced the next stage for Material Design, and they’re thinking much bigger this time…


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That obstruction removal feature in Google Photos probably isn’t coming any time soon

Back at Google I/O 2017, the company showed off a cool new image obstruction removal feature that Sundar said would be coming “very soon.” Obviously, it never shipped. And today, with I/O 2018 behind us, there’s still no solid word on when it will arrive. We did get a chance to talk to Google about it, though, and they gave us some answers — although we’re not sure how valuable they are.


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Now we know: Google Sans is actually a size-optimized version of Product Sans

We’ve talked a lot about Google Sans over the last few weeks, most notably in our speculation about so-called “Material Design 2”. It’s popped up in the source code for lots of Google’s more recent website updates, as well as within many apps using what we now know is Google’s new Material Theme.

But until today, we didn’t know what the difference was between it and Product Sans…


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Hands on: Building with the Labo-like NXP i.MX7D dev kit for Android Things [Gallery]

Google announced on Monday that Android Things is finally ready for production, and to back that up they’re sending all Google I/O attendees home with a nifty dev kit to get started. Google also sent the press home with the same kit for us to check out and tinker with, and tinker we did. We put it together, booted it up, and took some shots so you can see everything in the box…


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Alphabet Scoop 009: Google I/O 2018 Reactions! [Video]

9to5google alphabet scoop podcast

This week, we talk all about what Google announced at I/O 2018, including Android P gesture nav, Google Assistant features, Material Design Themes, Android TV updates, Android Things 1.0, Android Auto, Google Photos news, and more!

Alphabet Scoop is available on Google PlayiTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, and through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.

Thanks for tuning in, and check out the archived livestream at the bottom of the post! You can also listen to the audio-only version at the platforms listed above or via the below embed.


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Exclusive: Some new Google app icons, and what they might mean for I/O 2018 [Gallery]

You may have noticed that we got our hands on some as-yet unreleased Google app icons this week, and we’ve slowly been trickling them out as we’ve become a little more confident on what they might mean. While all we have are these little icons and their names for now, here’s the full gallery of all the ones we have and what they might mean for announcements at Google I/O next week…


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066: Google Photos I/O predictions, Podcasts, Assistant, Fuchsia Friday | 9to5Google Daily

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Today we’ve got Google Photos predictions for I/O, offline podcasts in the Google app, movie tickets in Assistant, and Fuchsia Friday, where our Kyle talks about Fuchsia at I/O.

9to5Google Daily is available on Google PlayiTunes and Apple’s Podcasts appStitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.


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Alphabet Scoop 008: Google I/O 2018 Predictions! [Livestream]

9to5google alphabet scoop podcast

This week, we talk all about what we’re expecting from Google I/O 2018. Android P, Google Assistant, Material Design 2, Android TV dongle, Android Things, Android Auto, Google Photos, and more surprises are all in store for Google’s big annual festival.

Alphabet Scoop is available on Google PlayiTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, and through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.


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google one today

Google might be planning to revamp its long-forgotten ‘One Today’ app at I/O 2018

Google I/O 2018 kicks off next week, and now we’ve managed to get our hands on a new app icon for what we believe could be an entirely new version of a Google app you’ve probably never heard of: One Today. All we have is the icon for now, but a dramatic refresh of an app icon design like this one could point to a full revamp of the app itself — especially since it’s one that’s long been forgotten…


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Here’s what Google might have planned for Google Photos at I/O 2018

Google Photos

Google Photos is undoubtedly one of Google’s most successful software products of the last few years; it has quickly become the go-to photo storing and sharing platform for many iOS and Android users alike. And with that, a notable presence at I/O, as has been the case in years past (Photos was announced at I/O 2015, by the way), is perhaps expected for I/O 2018.

Here’s some of what we think might be coming for Photos this year based on information from our APK Insight series and various sources familiar with the company’s plans…


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065: 5,000+ Assistant devices, YouTube Music update, LG G7 availability | 9to5Google Daily

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Today we’ve got Google announces Assistant works with 5,000 different devies, YouTube Music getting a new Queue feature and redesigned player UI, Google Assistant on Wear OS gains some key features, and LG G7 availability.

9to5Google Daily is available on Google PlayiTunes and Apple’s Podcasts appStitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.


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064: LG G7, ‘Arcade’ in Area 120, Assistant startup investments | 9to5Google Daily

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Today we’ve got the debut of the LG G7 ThinQ and LG’s teasing of new Lens features coming to I/O, Google is making social games at a new ‘Arcade’ startup in Area 120, and Google is investing in startups working on Assistant apps.

9to5Google Daily is available on Google PlayiTunes and Apple’s Podcasts appStitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.


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063: New .app TLD, Android Auto updates, I/O 2018 expectations | 9to5Google Daily

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Today we’ve got Google introducing a new .app HTTPS-default TLD, the Google I/O 2018 app for iOS seemingly leaks a ‘new media experience’ coming to Android Auto, and our I/O 2018 expectations.

9to5Google Daily is available on Google PlayiTunes and Apple’s Podcasts appStitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players.


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What to expect from Google I/O 2018: Android P, ‘Material Design 2,’ Android Things, and more

Another year, another Google I/O. This year, we’re headed back to the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, to hear and see yet again what Google has in store for developers (and the rest of us!). But as is the case every year, we’re not entirely in the dark on what kinds of announcements and products we’ll see on the Shoreline stage, so let’s take a quick tour through some of the most obvious — and not-so-obvious — expectations we have for this year.


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