Kyle Bradshaw joined 9to5Google in 2018 with a special interest in Google’s Fuchsia OS, rooted in his experience of being the first to offer a visual preview of the revolutionary design of the in-development operating system. Since then, his attention has broadened to include the secrets hidden within other areas of Google’s public codebases.
By reading the public Fuchsia code, Kyle was able to prove the existence of the Nest Mini and the Nest Hub Max months ahead of their respective announcements. With evidence from Chromium, he reported on Google’s since-canceled efforts to create an offshoot of Android designed for “touchless” feature phones.
In 2018, Kyle reported on three distinct Made by Google Chromebooks in development, the Pixel Slate, the Pixelbook Go — a full year before its release — and “Meowth,” the original version of the Pixel Slate that was canceled due to Intel’s delays that year. For ChromeOS itself, Kyle was the first to demonstrate the upcoming light theme redesign in action.
Looking at the early evidence of the Pixel 5’s specs, Kyle accurately predicted in February 2020 that the Pixel 5 might not be a traditional “flagship” phone. In 2021, he reported that Google’s next headset would be the “Pixel Buds A.”
Kyle was the first to report that the Pixel 6 would mark the debut of Google’s in-house processors, later revealed to be the Tensor chips.
Kyle contributes to the APK Insight column at 9to5Google, discovering the hidden changes in Google’s apps. These efforts have revealed hotly anticipated features, details about upcoming devices, and unexpected connections between companies.
He can be reached for tips or just friendly chat by Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky, or email. If you’re looking for his other works or side projects, head over to Kyle’s personal portfolio.
Google is working with Antmicro on a “Human Presence Sensor” for upcoming Chromebooks, which could be used for face unlock or other long-awaited Chrome OS features.
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Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the 138th birthday of Polish biologist and inventor of the epidemic typhus vaccine, Rudolf Weigl.
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Fitness tracking service Strava has updated its Wear OS app this week, and in doing so, it’s decided to leave Wear OS 2.0 watches behind.
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In the midst of Hurricane Ida, I’ve found that RCS is not ready to be depended upon, while Google Messages has not thought out all the edge cases for the future.
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One of the downsides of Google’s second-gen Pixel Buds, as well as their mid-range successor the Pixel Buds A, is that there’s no noise cancellation. With powerful competition like the AirPods Pro and the Galaxy Buds Pro both packing noise cancellation, it was a shame to see the Pixel Buds skip it.
In its place though, the most unique aspect of the Pixel Buds series is their ability to respond to the “Hey Google” hotword, which up to this point had not been replicated on any third-party earbuds. That is, until now. JBL’s latest true wireless earbuds, the JBL Tour Pro+, are the first third-party earbuds to have full Google Assistant integration, including audible notifications and “Hey Google” support.
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Netflix is taking its first steps into the world of gaming, relaunching two Stranger Things games for Android exclusively for subscribers.
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The latest update to the Stadia app, version 3.31, includes continued work toward a touch gamepad for Android TV, a new “magic linking” method for controllers, and more.
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The latest version of the Pixel Buds app for Android adds a home screen widget that Pixel owners may find particularly useful.
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Early adopters of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 have found that Samsung is intentionally disabling the foldable phone’s cameras when the bootloader is unlocked.
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Destiny 2, one of the first entirely free-to-play games on Stadia, is gaining full cross-play support sometime this fall.
Update 8/24: With the launch of Season of the Lost, cross-play is now fully live in Destiny 2.
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The Pixel 5a has not even had its proper release yet, but all eyes are firmly on the horizon to Google’s next phones, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. A newly tweeted screenshot from Google’s Hiroshi Lockheimer gives us a potential glimpse at the Pixel 6 Pro, its screen resolution, and its under-display fingerprint sensor.
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The Tokyo Olympics are set to begin on Friday, and keeping in that friendly competitive spirit, Google is launching “Champion Island,” their largest-ever Doodle game, letting you compete for one of four teams across seven different minigames and explore a fantastic world.
Update: Google has brought back and updated the Doodle Champion Island Games to honor the 2020 Paralympics.
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In this week’s top stories: Google Chrome redesigns its Incognito landing page, Pixel 5a hits reviewers hands, Android Auto wireless dongle seeks crowdfunding, and more.
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The latest update to the Peloton app confirms that a rower is on the way and offers hints of what sorts of rides you’ll be able to take and what metrics will be saved.
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While Android was first unveiled to the public in 2007, its history dates back to 2003. To highlight the early development of Android, and especially the team who worked so hard to make it happen, Googler Chet Haase has written a new book.
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More owners of the first-generation Nest Hub are receiving the update to Google’s Fuchsia operating system as it expands beyond the Preview program.
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Today, Google officially unveiled the Pixel 5a with 5G, its best affordable phone to date. To whet your appetite before you get your hands on it, you can download the official wallpapers for the Pixel 5a.
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Ahead of its launch, many believed the Pixel 5a would simply be a rehash of the Pixel 4a 5G. However, having used it, I now believe the Google Pixel 5a with 5G carries the torch of the Pixel 5 to counteract costly flagship phones.
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WhatsApp made an appearance during Samsung’s Unpacked event, revealing that it would soon be possible to transfer messages between iOS and Android devices, starting with Samsung Galaxy phones.
Update: The ability to transfer messages has begun to roll out with the latest beta updates to WhatsApp.
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In this week’s top stories: Pixel 6 hinted to have a 50MP camera, Android 12 shows an “Ongoing call” chip, Fossil teases Gen 6 watches, and more.
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Upcoming 4X game, HUMANKIND will introduce a new “direct touch” control method to Stadia for mobile, along with an in-depth integration of Stadia’s State Share.
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The highly-rumored trilogy of Grand Theft Auto remasters is now reportedly coming to more platforms, including Google Stadia.
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After months of anticipation, Stadia has finally become available on Android TV, and in the first two weeks, the app has seen a fantastic turnout in terms of the number of downloads.
Update: Stadia for Android TV has continued to grow, reaching another milestone ahead of the two month mark.
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Google is preparing to upgrade its “Find My Device” system to use other Androids to anonymously find your lost phone, as well as gain the ability to protect data on a lost vehicle.
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