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.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles published its Autonomous Vehicle Disengagement Reports for 2016 today, which include statistics on disengagements for all of the companies currently testing self-driving cars in the Golden State. Importantly, Alphabet’s Waymo reported far fewer safety-related disengages and far more miles driven in 2016 compared to 2015, signaling that the company’s system is — as it should — continually getting safer…
Yesterday, several publications across the web reported that T-Mobile — which launched its own RCS platform in the form of “Advanced Messaging” all the way back in 2015 — has begun rolling out support for Google’s RCS offering in the Messenger app for Android devices. Sadly, it seems that this was just a wild and substanceless rumor that has no actual basis in reality…
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We told you yesterday about the teaser images/press invitations that Samsung shared of its forthcoming Tab S3 tablet (which we now know will be officially announced at MWC in just a few weeks), but it looks like the Korean company has more teasing up its sleeve. In the Korea Herald’s report about the above press invite, the publication notes that it has heard that Samsung plans to tease its forthcoming Galaxy S8 flagship in a one-minute trailer…
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been very outspoken about President Donald Trump’s recent immigration executive order, having just a few days sent a memo to Google employees saying that “it’s painful to see the personal cost of this executive order on our colleagues.” Now he has come out (via an interview with Walt Mossberg at The Verge) to speak more broadly — albeit briefly — about immigration in Silicon Valley…
We learned yesterday that Nintendo’s Animal Crossing – originally expected to make it onto Android devices in March – has been delayed until later in the year. If you were hoping for any further games from the company this year, though, you may be disappointed …
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Google acquired Webpass — another longtime provider of gigabit internet — last year, and now Google has added six cities where you can get super-fast internet through the service to its Google Fiber map. You’ll now see the option to get Webpass for Boston, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Diego…
You’ve long been able to quickly create a Google Doc from within Google Drive, but if your intention was to create a Google Doc from one of Google’s many readily-available templates, that required a few more annoying clicks. Now, Google is adding a button to Google Drive that lets you hope right on over to the template selection page to save you some time…
The Google Pixel ships with the Pixel Launcher, but — as with any Android device — you’re not stuck with it if you don’t want to be. Actually, you have plenty of options, including Google’s own Now Launcher, Apex Launcher, Nova Launcher, and more. If you’re looking to find out how you might use one of these third-party home screen replacements, keep reading…
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We were recently told by a source that has been reliable in the past (they also tipped us off on VoIP integration coming to Voice, which Google confirmed) that Project Fi support/integration would be one keystone feature for the new Google Voice. That feature obviously didn’t launch last week with the redesigned version 5.0 of the app, but we now have reason to believe that it’s still in the plans…
In a memo sent to employees Friday (first obtained by Bloomberg), Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai criticized President Donald Trump’s recent immigration order, which restricts citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, and Libya from entering the US. Pichai said that more than 100 Google staff are impacted by the order, and recommended they get back the US as soon as possible.
Update: The winner of our Huawei Mate 9 giveaway is Jordan Carter from Chicago, Illinois, who tweeted out one of our articles.
We announced 9to5Rewards over at 9to5Mac back in August of last year, and now — after a brief time in what we’d like to call a “beta” — it’s ramping up full time and coming over to 9to5Google! For our first giveaway, we’re giving away the Huawei Mate 9. It’s Huawei’s first flagship Android phone to officially come to the United States, and it could be yours — all you have to do is be an active reader!
We reviewed the international version of the phone when it launched last fall, and called it the first non-Nexus Huawei phone that’s great across the board. Huawei had a hit with the made-with-Google Nexus 6P a couple years ago, but now the company’s diving head-first into the US market with a flagship phone that we believe can rival Google’s own Pixel — which is one of the best phones ever.
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MailButler Professional Lifetime Subscription: $35
We have exclusive discounts on Anker’s popular Powerline+ Lightning, USB-C and microUSB cables from $8 Prime shipped
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We have exclusive discounts on Anker’s popular Powerline+ Lightning, USB-C and microUSB cables from $8 Prime shippedMailButler Professional Lifetime Subscription: $35
It feels like the first Google Pixel was just announced, but now we’re hearing more about the next-generation ‘Pixel 2’ from a source that has been reliable in the past. I mentioned yesterday that we previously heard Google Pixel would bring ‘waterproofing,’ a feature we’re now told is “still on the table.”
We’re also now being told, however, that Google is once again focusing intensely on the camera with Pixel 2, that the device is currently being tested with improved chipsets from two different manufacturers, and that it will bring a higher price. Finally, the same source says Google has lately been testing lower-end Pixel devices which would bring lesser specs and a much lower price tag.
Google just keeps adding cute features to its new Allo messaging app that are just that — cute. Recently, we’ve seen the addition of Allo themes and Fantastic Beasts stickers, Chrome Custom Tabs, selfie-generated sticker packs, and more. What better to continue the trend of surface-level features that don’t improve the experience than a new chat bot called “Lucky” that gives you GIFs?
Sometimes things go wrong with your device, and the Google Pixel is no exception. One way to remedy many issues is to do a Factory data reset. While this definitely shouldn’t be your first course of action when having trouble with your phone (be sure to check our Android Basics guide for that!), it’s a good last-resort if you think you might need to send your phone in for repair. Sometimes your problem could be as simple as a software glitch…
Despite recent reports from the Associated Press and The New York Times saying that Trump moved on from his personal Samsung Galaxy phone, the latter publication has now published a piece saying that the President of the United States is still using his old Android phone — the one he has long been known to tweet from. The publication says that Donald Trump is still using “his old, unsecured Android phone, to the protests of some of his aides.”
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Onkyo’s 7.2-Ch. A/V Receiver does it all – 4K, AirPlay, Bluetooth, Hi-Res Audio and more: $299 shipped (Reg. $400+)
We’ve been sitting on a tidbit about that HTC Halfbeak Android Wear smartwatch (which actually first leaked all the way back in October) for a while, and now it’s apparent that our source was right on the money. A quote that surfaced from an HTC exec this morning (via tbreak) says “we’re not going to have an Android watch,” and apparently, HTC has now confirmed that that’s accurate…
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Smartphone Accessories: Aukey Dual-USB Port Quick Charge 3.0 Wall Charger $11 Prime shipped, more
Onkyo’s 7.2-Ch. A/V Receiver does it all – 4K, AirPlay, Bluetooth, Hi-Res Audio and more: $299 shipped (Reg. $400+)
In a somewhat non-traditional manner, Google has today made official the dates and location for Google I/O 2017. This year’s developer conference will take place, once again, at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, and will be three days: May 17, 18, and 19.