Google’s messaging and communication apps are now led by a single team

If you are a person who follows technology news, you’re likely familiar with Google’s messaging problem. The company has launched many messaging services and several of these attempts have ended up abandoned, merged into different services, or rebranded. Google has repeatedly stated that they’re aware of this issue and they’re trying to clean things up. Its latest move is putting all of its communication apps under the same leadership.

Currently, Google has three main communication apps:

• Google Phone – Pre-installed dialer on Pixel and Android One devices.
• Google Duo – Video-calling for consumers, available to everyone in the Play Store.
• Google Messages – Default SMS and RCS app on some devices, available to everyone in the Play Store.

In addition to these three apps, Google also has Meet and Chat for G Suite customers. Javier Soltero was made the VP and GM of G Suite last year, which put him in charge of Meet and Chat. Soltero is behind the recent rebranding of Hangouts Meet and Chat. Now, Google is also putting him in charge of Phone, Duo, and Messages.

Previously, each of these services had a team that was operated largely independently from the others within Google. That’s why it’s not uncommon to see key features come to one service before the others. The apps themselves won’t be merging together, but the teams behind them will be combined under Soltero’s leadership.

The new team hopes to “drive more innovation and more clarity around how these products can fulfill their specific missions.” It doesn’t sound like Soltero plans to make any major changes right away. He even says it would be “irresponsible” to make rapid changes. It is worth noting, however, that it’s common at times of big change to say nothing will change, so we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out.

Google’s statement:

We are bringing all of Google’s collective communication products together under one leader and unified team that will be led by Javier Soltero, VP and GM of G Suite. Javier will remain in Cloud, but will also join the leadership team under Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP of Platforms and Ecosystems. Outside of this update, there are no other changes to the personnel and Hiroshi will continue to play a significant role in our ongoing partnership efforts.

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Source: The Verge

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Google Lens can now copy text from your phone to computer, pronounce words, and more

Google Lens is one of the company’s products that has improved impressively since launch. Lens seems to be constantly getting new features and abilities. Today, Google showed off several additions to Lens that should make it an even more powerful tool.

First up is a feature that will be very welcomed to anyone who works with physical and digital documents. Google Lens already had great text recognition and now, not only can it copy the scanned text to your phone’s clipboard, it can also send it to another device. After you scan a document and select text, tap the “Copy to computer” option and choose another device with Chrome. The text will now be in that device’s clipboard.

Next up is a feature to help you pronounce words. Google Lens can already translate words, but now you can also use it to hear these words recited out loud. Of course, this doesn’t have to be only for words in different languages. It can be used to hear any word that you may not know how to pronounce. Simply select text with Lens and tap the “Listen” button to heart it.

Lastly, in-line Google Search results can help you define words and phrases. Select text in Google Lens and then you’ll see a Google Search tab slide up from the bottom with more information. No more opening a separate app to look something up. All of these features are rolling out to Android today.

Google Lens (Free, Google Play) →

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Source: Google

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NVIDIA announces 19 new games for GeForce NOW

NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW game-streaming service enjoys its share in the now-crowded game streaming market on the fact that it was one of the first to appear for end consumers. The service started beta testing for Android last year and opened up for everyone in February. NVIDIA had pledged to announce new games for GeForce NOW every week, and over the past weeks, it has kept to that promise on multiple occasions. Today, NVIDIA is announcing 19 new games that will now be available on GeForce NOW.

GeForce NOW  incorporates technology that utilizes AI and RTX GPUs to enable “the next generation of performance and visuals”. It’s NVIDIA’s improved deep learning neural network that “boosts frame rates while generating beautiful, sharp images for games”. Since the base technology is game streaming, games begin playing instantly when you fire them up. They also include an experience that has been optimized for cloud gaming and includes Game Ready Driver performance improvements, managed directly by NVIDIA.

Here is the complete list of new games that have been added to GeForce NOW this week:

• Population Zero
• Age of Conan: Unchained
• Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition
• Cube World
• Darksiders II
• Door Kickers: Action Squad
• EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1 The Shadow of New Despair
• Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition
• Hitman: Blood Money
• King’s Bounty: Warriors of the North
• Sacred 2 Gold
• Space Hulk: Deathwing – Enhanced Edition
• STEINS;GATE
• Styx: Shards of Darkness
• The Guild II: Renaissance
• This Is the Police 2
• WORMS Armageddon
• WRC 7 FIA World Rally Championship
• X3: Terran Conflict

In addition to these, the service is also in the process of gaining access to the new Ghostrunner demo, the trailer of which was recently released by All In! Games.

Population Zero, from Emplex Games, has also been released on GeForce NOW at the same time as its PC launch via Steam.

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NVIDIA GeForce NOW (Free, Google Play) →

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A new version of Android TV may be coming, and it could be called Google TV

The market for Android TV Box is pretty erratic and confusing. Since the Nexus Player, Google’s efforts have been devoted to either making Chromecast dongles or enabling other OEMs to create their own smart TVs portfolio with devices running on the Android TV platform. Google, however, has been working on a 4K Android TV dongle for quite some time and even announced a new streaming device called ADT-3 for developers along with Android TV 10 in late 2019. Now, a recent report suggests that Google is working on a new streaming device actually available for consumers and running on the Android TV platform. Meanwhile, another suggests the platform could also be rebranded to Google TV.

The upcoming version of Android TV might come with significant improvements to the UI, lower hardware requirements, and more emphasis on movies and shows instead of apps. This content-focused approach is to ensure that the rumored streaming device can stand the competition from the likes of Amazon Fire Stick and Roku. Several of Protocol‘s sources confirmed these changes while one suggested that the upcoming device might be listed under the Nest brand, which is also owned by Google.

Protocol reports that Google is mulling the exact branding for the upcoming Android TV device and the addition to the Nest portfolio is quite possible. Meanwhile, 9to5Google also floats the idea of Google dropping the Android branding from Android TV and renaming it to Google TV. This is supported by a similar name change that a horde of other services such as Android Pay (now Google Pay), Android Wear (now Wear OS), Android Messages (now Messages) have gone through.

While Google I/O 2020 could have been the perfect platform to introduce the purported product, the conference had to be canceled due to COVID-19. Instead of an on-ground event, Google will be hosting an online event in June to announce the Android 11 Beta 1 but we can’t say for sure if this TV box would be announced then. While it’s natural to link the TV remote that passed through FCC back in March with this device, that remote might be for another telecommunication hardware (perhaps a video conferencing equipment) that Google is building.

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Samsung Galaxy A51 receives One UI 2.1 with April 2020 security patches

The Galaxy S20 series and Galaxy Z Flip were the first phones to run the latest revision of One UI. Since then Samsung has brought the new update to several of its high-end phones such as the Galaxy S10, Galaxy Note 10, and Galaxy Fold. After updating the Galaxy Note 10 Lite and Galaxy S10 Lite last month, Samsung has now begun rolling out One UI 2.1 to the Galaxy A51 in multiple regions, giving the same update treatment to its upper mid-range phone.

Galaxy A51 XDA Forums || Buy Samsung Galaxy A51 from Amazon.in

Coming in at over 1.2GB in size, the update bumps the software version from A515FXXU2ATB1 to A515FXXU3BTD4 and also brings along April 2020 security patches. In terms of new features, the update adds new AR emoji, Quick Share feature for local file sharing, improvements to Samsung Keyboard and the Gallery app, and many other under-the-hood changes. As pointed out by our resident firmware expert Skanda Hazarika, this update has also bumped the bootloader version from v2 to v3, meaning it will not be possible for users to downgrade to previous software versions after installing this update.

The update is reportedly rolling out to Galaxy A51 users in parts of Egypt, Israel, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey and will likely extend to more markets including India in the following days.

Notably, Samsung has left out many of the One UI 2.1 specific features in this update such as Android 10’s Live Caption mode, AR Zone app, a Pro mode for video shooting, and Night Hyper Lapse Mode.

Launched in late December last year, the Galaxy A51 is an upper mid-range smartphone from Samsung, packing a 6.5-inch AMOLED display, Exynos 9811 octa-core SoC, quad cameras, 6GB of RAM, and a 4,000 mAh battery. It was launched with Android 10 with One UI 2.0 on top.

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Via: SamMobile

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OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro receive OxygenOS Open Beta 13 with April 2020 patches and camera dirt detection

OnePlus has started rolling out OxygenOS Open Beta 13 for the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro. This particular build comes nearly three weeks after the previous Open Beta update, but there is a catch. OnePlus had to pull back Open Beta 12 due to a showstopper bug that crippled the device unlock function on these phones. The new Open Beta build basically takes the place of the older version, as users stuck with Open Beta 11 are now getting incremental OTA to Open Beta 13.

OnePlus 7 XDA Forums ||| OnePlus 7 Pro XDA Forums

There is virtually no difference between the changelogs, which means the owners of the OnePlus 7 family once again get the chance to be on the April 2020 Android Security Patch Level (SPL) via Open Beta 13. In comparison, the latest stable channel of OxygenOS for the phone duo is still running the March 2020 security patches. The camera lens dirt detection feature also made its way to the revised update.

The complete changelog of the update is as follows:

• System
  • Optimized the volume adjustment to improve user experience
  • Added the missing recording icon in call screen
  • Updated Android security patch to 2020.04
  • Fixed known issues and improved system stability
• Phone
  • Added the ringing duration info for missed calls
  • Now you can switch your mobile data on phone calls supported with VoLTE
• Camera
  • Added a feature which can now detect dirt on the camera lens, prompting a quick cleanup for better image and video quality

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Download OxygenOS Open Beta 13

Unlike the stable channel of OxygenOS, the Open Beta builds are not compiled separately for different regions. You can straightaway download the incremental OTA file or the full OTA package from the links below for your device model. For installing, just point the “Local upgrade” option in the System Update screen under Settings to them.

Download OxygenOS Open Beta 13 for OnePlus 7:

• Incremental OTA from Open Beta 11
• Full OTA

Download OxygenOS Open Beta 13 for OnePlus 7 Pro:

• Incremental OTA from Open Beta 11
• Full OTA

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Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for providing the download links!

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OnePlus might include 65W fast charging support in a future flagship

After months of leaks and teasers, OnePlus finally launched its latest flagships — the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro — early last month. As expected, the devices featured top-of-the-line specifications, including Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 865 chip, up to 12GB LPDDR5 RAM, up to 256GB UFS 3.0+ storage, and more. However, much like its previous flagships, the company only included 30W fast wired charging on the OnePlus 8 series. Since several other manufacturers have already released devices with support for even faster wired charging, we expected the company to also opt for a 50W or 65W charging solution in its latest flagships. But it seems like OnePlus has reserved that for a future device.

According to a recent report from MySmartPrice, OnePlus has already been working on a 65W fast charging solution and its 65W fast charger was recently spotted in a TÜV Rheinland safety certification. As you can see in the image below, the 65W fast charger goes by the model numbers VCA7JA, WC1007A, and S065AG, and it supports a maximum output of 6.5A at 10V.

We suspect that this new 65W fast charging solution from the company is based on OPPO’s 65W SuperVOOC 2.0 which recently debuted with the OPPO Find X2 and Find X2 Pro, as the company is known for sharing charging technologies with OPPO. The 65W fast charging solution from OPPO is capable of charging a 4,000mAh battery to full in just 30 minutes and it would be a great addition to the next OnePlus flagship, which could be either the OnePlus 8T Pro or OnePlus 9 Pro. As of now, the company has released no official information on the matter.

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Via: MySmartPrice

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