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.
In this week’s top stories: we compare the Apple TV versus the Chromecast with Google TV, Android 12 gets its third developer preview, the Pixel 5a’s chipset gets leaked, and more.
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In honor of the United Nations’ annual “Spanish Language Day” on April 23, Google is celebrating the letter “Ñ” — or “eñe.”
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Chrome OS will soon be testing a frequently requested feature, the ability to have the current date and notification icons displayed in the corner of the shelf.
Update: Google has changed the flags that are used to add the date to your Chrome OS shelf.
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9to5Google’s Game of the Week is brought to you by GeForce NOW. GeForce NOW Instantly transforms nearly any laptop, desktop, Mac, SHIELD TV, Android device, iPhone, or iPad into the PC gaming rig you’ve always dreamed of. And, every GFN Thursday, new games are added to the GeForce NOW Library.
Loop Hero is one of the most innovative indie games that has been released in years, reversing the usual focus of “gameplay” to create a fantastically ambient experience. This reversal makes Loop Hero a perfect fit for playing from mobile.
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Android 12 Developer Preview 3 has brought the new “Conversations” widget for some, allowing you to keep tabs on your most important conversations — in style.
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Earlier this month, Google confirmed that their next budget smartphone, the Pixel 5a 5G, would be releasing later this year. Thanks to the latest Android 12 Developer Preview, we can report that the Pixel 5a 5G will run on the same chip as the Google Pixel 5.
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Following the recent popularity of homescreen widgets after their launch on iOS, Android 12 is giving some love to the OS’s long-existing widgets system, including a new menu, forced rounded corners, and more.
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The Stadia app now allows you to directly subscribe to Ubisoft+, giving access to 20 games for just $14.99 per month.
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Google is honoring soul singer Luther Vandross, on what would be his 70th birthday, with a video Google Doodle.
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This morning, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter achieved controlled flight on Mars, a first for mankind. Interestingly, Ingenuity runs on the same Qualcomm chip as some Android phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S5.
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One fundamental feature of the web browser is the ability to find sites you’ve viewed before in your history. Google Chrome is set to gain “Memories” as an alternative way to look through your browser history.
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In this week’s top stories: Play Movies & TV app to be shut down on Roku and other smart TVs, Android Auto gains a manual day/night toggle, we offer first impressions of the OnePlus Watch, and more.
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The latest update to the Stadia app for Android, version 3.12, includes references to new referral bonuses, an exclusive avatar, and continued work on Google TV support.
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Google is replacing their homepage logo with a Doodle honoring Italian physicist Laura Bassi, the first woman to obtain a doctorate in science.
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The latest update to the Google Pixel Buds app hints that the upcoming Pixel Buds A may ditch the series signature swiping gesture for adjusting volume.
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Capcom has announced a release date for the Resident Evil Village demos, which will be available for free on Google Stadia.
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Google has announced that they’re delaying their original plans for Chrome to enforce Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) to have functioning offline support.
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The latest beta version of the Google app includes a redesign of the homescreen Discover feed on Android 12 that revamps the header and removes the search bar.
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While Chromebooks have long been used as affordable, low-power computers, there’s also a growing market for premium, high-end devices running Chrome OS. To that end, Nvidia and MediaTek have announced that they are now working together on bringing RTX graphics to future Chromebooks.
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Google has replaced their homepage logo with a Doodle honoring Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the movable type printing press, which led to “The Printing Revolution.”
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A new YouTube experiment will occasionally play 15-second “media literacy” ads before videos to “prompt critical thinking.”
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Google is celebrating the 151st anniversary of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with an animated homepage Doodle.
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In this week’s top stories: Google Play Music gets one last update on Android, Apple explains why they haven’t brought iMessage to Android, “Pixel 5a 5G” confirmed by Google for later this year, and more.
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Last week, we exclusively reported that Google’s two phones for fall 2021 would run on a Google-made chip. Here’s everything we know about the Whitechapel GS101 chip that will be used in the Google Pixel 6.
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