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.
Today marked the release of the first Android N developer preview, and factory images are now available if you want to install the update on your device. If you’re anything like me, though, you would rather not completely wipe your daily driver (Nexus 6P, in my case), just to get some hands-on time with some buggy software. That’s why we’ve compiled this huge list of new features and a gallery of Android N screenshots for your perusal…
Google introduced to the world the next version of Android, dubbed Android N, oddly early this year compared to the usual announcement at its I/O developer conference. And while the currently-available version may be a developer preview, many who aren’t as familiar with how to flash factory images might want to try the latest build of the mobile OS as well.
If you have the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 9, Nexus Player, or Pixel C, there’s a build of Android N available for you to install prior to the update’s official unveiling later this year. Be warned however, as this is a very early build of the OS and is riddled with bugs, glitches, and overall performance jankiness. If that doesn’t sway you, though, keep reading…
Update: It’s out!
If a now-pulled Arstechnica report is to be believed, Google is set to release the first preview build of Android N to the public soon. This seemingly confirms a tip we received a few days ago suggesting that Google wouldn’t be announcing a major version of Android at I/O later this year. The new version is said to bring a native split screen mode, a completely redesigned notification panel, improvements to Android M’s “Doze” feature, among other features…
Update: It looks like the update also has a new “Cool color temperature” toggle for using cooler display colors.
I wrote my thoughts on the Nexus 5X all the way back in November, and the gist of it was this: the Nexus 5X is great, but its performance just leaves a lot to be desired — especially for a phone with such better-than-average specs. People familiar with its development told me that there was a lot of internal strife regarding the Nexus 5X and its performance issues, but it seems that drama has finally resulted in some good. The March security update that was issued yesterday packs some extra goodies for Nexus 5X owners…
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Google said that registration for I/O 2016 would be opening on March 8th, and today is March 8th! You can now head over to the Google I/O website and register to attend the event. There’s no need to be in a hurry, though. Just like previous years, I/O 2016 attendance will be determined based on a lottery system. Register any time between now and March 10, 2016 at 5:00PM PST, and you’ll be on the list…
According to the latest data from Strategy Analytics, Google’s acclaimed Chromecast streaming dongle made up as much as 35% of the streaming device market in 2015, besting competing devices from Roku, Apple, Amazon, and other manufacturers. Compared to 2014, Chromecast is showing a growing dominance in the market, likely thanks in part to the launch of the 2nd-gen model…
Google acquired satellite imaging company Skybox two years ago for $500 million, and now the Mountain View company has rebranded the group as Terra Bella. The company, whose goal is “pioneering the search for patterns of change in the physical world,” also says that it has “more than a dozen satellites under development” that are scheduled to launch over the next few years…
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Since they can’t really run typical full-fledged desktop apps, the absence of any real programming IDE for Chromebooks has long been one of many reasons not to buy into Google’s laptop platform. The lack of apps is a problem that is soon to be remedied for many thanks to the addition of the Google Play Store (and there are indeed some barebones IDEs available for Android), but it looks like Google has been thinking about programming on Chrome from another angle.
With “Coding with Chrome,” students can create programs in a variety of languages — albeit only markup and script languages, not object-oriented ones — straight form their Chromebook without an internet connection…
Google+ may not be the biggest success ever (and its recent redesign doesn’t seem to be doing it any favors), but Google’s apparently not done with trying to break into the social space. A new product called “Google Posts” has started adding announcements directly to search results, and those posts only come directly from a certain group of people with special access to the “experimental” service…
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If you open Google Maps today, you might find a pleasant little surprise waiting for you. In order to celebrate the launch of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD on Wii U, Nintendo and Google have partnered up to replace the usual “Pegman” Street View guy with a miniature version of Link…
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Google might just be admitting a notable defeat in its battle with Amazon, with the latter company today saying that Nest thermostats will soon work with Alexa-powered devices. According to a report from Re/code, people familiar with the matter have said that Alphabet’s Nest unit explored the idea of building an Echo-like device at some point, but eventually came to the conclusion that customers wouldn’t be able to trust such a device that was built by the search engine behemoth…
We heard a couple of months ago that Amazon was working on a smaller, more portable version of its Echo voice assistant speaker, and now it’s here. Actually, Amazon has announced today two new Alexa-enabled devices, the Echo Dot (which is the aforementioned smaller version of the larger Echo), and the Amazon Tap, which is essentially an Alexa-enabled portable speaker…
It goes without saying that the American people aren’t exactly ecstatic about the prospective options for the US presidency, but just how unexcited are they? In response to the Super Tuesday results, which showed both Republican frontrunner Donald J. Trump and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton both winning 7 of 11 states, it looks like many Americans are looking for a way to jump ship. And by jump ship, I mean head north to Canada…
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Today, United States Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced plans to establish a Defense Innovation Advisory Board made up of about a dozen technology leaders from Silicon Valley and beyond. Representing “Secretary Carter’s enduring commitment to building lasting partnerships between the public and private sectors,” the board “will provide advice on the best and latest practices in innovation that the department can emulate.”
And who better to lead such a group than Alphabet Chairman and ex-CEO of Google Eric Schmidt?
Today, Google announced ahead of International Women’s Day two new initiatives the company is using to “champion” female voices on YouTube. The first of which is a partnership with the United Nations that puts some female content creators in place to be “Change Ambassadors” for gender equality in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Action campaign, and the second is a “global production program” that puts women in front of and behind the camera at YouTube Spaces…
If you’re a Huawei Watch owner, you’re likely to be glad to hear this one: the latest version of Android Wear, bringing the software up to Marshmallow level, is set to roll out to the Chinese company’s flagship smartwatch offering beginning today…
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We told you about SoundHound’s “Hound” voice assistant when it was first released in beta in June of last year, and now the company has pushed version 1.4 — its first public release…
In case you missed it, John Oliver took 20 minutes on Last Week Tonight to roast Donald Trump, finishing the skewering with mentioning that one of Trump’s ancestors actually changed the family name from “Drumpf”. Tying this in with his opinion that “Trump” is little more than a brand (and that it’s that brand that has given him this much success thus far), Oliver says that we have to decouple the man from the name so that we can see Donald for who he really is.
Enter the Drumpfinator Chrome extension…