Google has discontinued the Nest Secure alarm system

Google has confirmed that the Nest Secure alarm system it launched in 2017 has been discontinued. The product, made up of a combination keypad and siren called the Nest Guard and a series of sensors has been unavailable on the Google Store for a week or so, and now we have confirmation that it’s gone for good.

Google has confirmed that although the Nest Secure system is no longer available, it will continue to service customers’ existing devices including the Nest Guard, Nest Connect motion sensors, Nest Tags, and Nest Detect door/window sensors. You may even find products still in stock in some places and can rest assured they will be supported.

Google recently confirmed that its Nest Hub devices will gain presence detection for Google Home in a coming firmware update. Although not a direct successor, it seems that Google is banking on a house full of Nest Hubs and cameras to replace the sensors. Additionally, Google Assistant will accept a PIN-code by voice and emit a siren, negating the need for Nest Guard.

The reality is that Nest Secure was a “legacy” product designed to appeal to those who wanted a smart alarm system that was in a more familiar form factor. But with smart speakers and mobile handsets capable of filling all of Nest Secure’s features, it has become somewhat superfluous. The danger with this direction of travel is that it assumes customers will embrace smart assistants, and yet many people want the benefits of a smart home without any reliance on Google Assistant, Siri, or Alexa.

Google is not the only smart home player not to have fully supported its traditional alarm system. Arlo’s equivalent product was quietly withdrawn earlier this year without a replacement, and without ever reaching beyond the US market.

Amazon-owned Ring offers its alarm system and accessories worldwide, but its products remain stubbornly incompatible with the Google Home ecosystem. Other third-party products exist, offering different features and compatibility.

Last week, Google announced its latest Nest thermostat, which also features presence detection which can be applied to an environment protected by Nest.

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Source: AndroidPolice

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Chrome OS is finally getting a Trash folder to undelete files

Google’s Chrome OS is getting a trash folder. While that sounds like a minor detail, ask anyone with a Chromebook and they’ll tell you it’s really quite exciting. Users of other operating systems running the Chrome browser never had this problem as they can use the native Recycle Bin/Trash functionality.

Although the vast majority of Chrome OS files are held in the cloud, there are plenty of occasions where you might want to restore or ‘undelete’ a physical file you’ve received, only to find you can’t – once you hit that delete button, they’re gone.

However, in the last two weeks, a new flag has appeared in Canary builds of Chrome OS. It’s called #files-trash, and is labeled “Enable Files Trash. Enable trash for My files volume in the Files App. – Chrome OS”. According to 9to5Google, the flag appears to have been submitted by a contributor, rather than being an official Google feature, but has since been reuploaded by an official account.

If you’re on the Canary channel of Chrome OS, be warned, the beta version of the Trash folder will be moving in the coming days, from being a sub-folder of My Files, to being its own virtual volume, in the same way as the Downloads folder already operates. At a later date, there’ll be a second Trash folder added for use by Linux apps run inside Chrome OS, which should allow it to work with Linux file managers without lots of configuration.

At the moment, the only way to find Trash folders, even if the flag has been activated, is to hit Ctrl+. to display hidden folders and files. We’d expect that by the time the Trash folder reaches the Stable channel, it’ll be a lot easier to access. It’s presumed that deleting files will trigger a toast with an option to “Undo”, much as happens within GMail.

As exciting as all this is, it’s most definitely a work in progress. The current Canary builds are version 88 and even if development is completed, we won’t see that in the stable channel until January at the earliest. The current stable version – ChromeOS 86 – doesn’t include the flag.

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[Update: Rolling out] Samsung brings Galaxy Z Fold 2 features to Galaxy Fold in new update

Update 1 (10/20/2020 @ 05:26 AM ET): The Galaxy Fold’s update is now rolling out, bringing along One UI 2.5 as well. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on October 14, 2020, is preserved below.

Samsung is rolling out an update that will bring the latest features from the Galaxy Z Fold 2 to the original Galaxy Fold, including new productivity capabilities and camera experiences. Previously, Samsung updated its original foldable to Android 10 with One UI 2.1.

One of the biggest new features in the update is App Pair, which lets users launch up to three apps at once. Users can access App Pair via the Edge Panel, which can display 22 of your favorite apps.

Users can also choose their preferred split screen layout, so you can launch YouTube, a web browser, and an email in a Multi-Active Window. Speaking of which, Samsung said the arrangement of the Multi-Active Window layout can now also be done horizontally.

The update also now allows the Galaxy Fold to connect to Smart TVs wirelessly via Samsung DeX. With your foldable connected to a Smart TV, you can use it as a touchpad to control the second display with multi-finger gestures, Samsung said.

The Galaxy Fold is also gaining new camera capabilities, including Auto framing, which can track motion and automatically zoom in or out depending on how many people are in frame. There’s also a Capture View, Dual Preview, and Rear Cam Selfie, the last of which will allow users to use the rear camera for selfies while previewing the image on the cover display.

On the video side, Samsung’s original foldable is getting a new setting in the Pro Video Mode, allowing users to shoot 21:9 and 24fps video, along with more assistant functions and a Single Take feature.

Samsung Galaxy Fold Forums ||| Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 Forums

Finally, the update will allow users to directly share WiFi passwords, making it much easier for guests to get connected when they visit your home. The update should be rolling out to the Galaxy Fold starting today.

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Update: One UI 2.5 update rolling out to the Samsung Galaxy Fold

The update for the Samsung Galaxy Fold is now rolling out, bringing along One UI 2.5 as well.

Here is the full changelog of the update:

• October security patches
• OneUI 2.5
• The security of your device has been improved
• Samsung DeX
  • Wireless DeX connection support.
  • Wireless connection with TVs through Wi-Fi Direct (compatible with Miracast).
  • Quick panel – DeX
  • Usage of Samsung Smart TVs released after 2019 is recommended.
  • Screen Zoom and Font Size options are supported to allow customization in various display sizes.
• Wi-Fi
  • If quality information on nearby Wi-Fi routers can be measured, this information will appear as Very Fast, Fast, Normal, or Slow.
  • This feature can be turned on or off in “Network Quality Information Display” settings.
  • When attempting to access a Wi-Fi router with a password, a newly added feature now allows the user to request the password of the Wi-Fi router from someone nearby who is saved in their contact list and has already connected to that router.
  • The “Request Password” button will appear on the Wi-Fi password input screen when you can request a password.
• Always On Display
  • Bitmoji Stickers are supported on Always On Display. (Clock style)
• Samsung keyboard
  • A new feature has been added to the keyboard search feature that allows the user to search YouTube.
  • The search function of the “Manage Input Languages” screen in the Keyboard Settings page has been newly updated to make it easy to find keyboard input languages that the user wishes to add or delete.
• Camera
  • The Pro Video feature has been enhanced.
• Messages
  • A feature has been added that allows the user to call a person who is saved as a pre-configured SOS message contact.
  • A feature has been added that allows the user to send SOS location-sharing messages every 30 minutes for 24 hours.

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Microsoft clears the air on recent Office PWA outcry

Microsoft recently pushed a Windows 10 update that covertly installed PWAs (progressive web apps) of Microsoft Office apps without asking users for permission. The update installed Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook PWAs, which are essentially shortcuts to the web versions of these office apps that open up in a browser window. Due to the manner in which the update was pushed, several disgruntled users took to social media to call out Microsoft on its poor practices. As a result, the company has now paused the rollout.

In a statement to The Verge, Microsoft said that the idea behind the update was to convert pinned websites in the Start Menu to more visible tiles and a ‘bug’ resulted in the update adding Microsoft Edge PWAs of Office apps to the Start Menu in the process. The company further revealed that it’s pausing the “migration” that brought web apps to the Start Menu. However, the statement fails to answer a pressing question about the manner in which the update was pushed.

Windows 10 typically alerts users whenever a new update is ready and gives them the option to install the update during off-hours unless it includes a fix for a critical issue. Since the aforementioned update wasn’t critical in nature, it doesn’t make sense for Microsoft to force restart systems during active hours. Not only does this practice of forcing updates detract from the user experience, but it also gives us a clear look at Microsoft’s high-handedness when it comes to Windows updates. As The Verge points out, the move is another “proof that it (Microsoft) doesn’t respect your ownership of your own PC.”

In case you’re one of the several users who received the update before Microsoft paused the rollout, there is some good news. You can easily uninstall the Microsoft Office PWAs from your system by following a few simple steps. To do so, head over to the Apps & Features page in the Settings app, locate the PWAs in the list of installed apps and then click on Uninstall to remove them from your system.

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Via: The Verge

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MX Player is adding YouTube support and pinch-to-zoom for videos

While there is no dearth of video players on Android, there are a few options that are way more popular than the rest. MX Player is one such example, which rose to popularity because of its useful feature set. The video player includes several useful features, like picture-in-picture mode, subtitle gestures, file sharing, casting local files, and more, that make it one of the best video players on the Google Play Store. Now, with a recent beta release, MX Player is getting even more handy features like YouTube support and pinch-to-zoom for videos.

As per Android Police, the latest beta update for MX Player (v1.30.2 beta) brings support for pinch-to-zoom for videos. The feature will let you easily zoom into videos using the familiar pinch gesture on your device. The update also includes video playback speed controls, that will let you speed up or slow down video playback.

Additionally, the update also brings YouTube support to the app, which will let you easily search and play YouTube videos without the need to open up the YouTube app. And finally, the beta update also includes improvements for the file management feature on the app, which will now let you copy and move your audio and video files easily.

MX Player XDA Forums

Since MX Player is currently testing these features in a beta update, it might be a while before they roll out to users on the stable channel. However, in case you want to use the features right away, you can download the beta release from APK Mirror by following this link.

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Via: Android Police

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Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 launched in 32 variants for as low as $25

The all-new Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 has launched officially. A successor to the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3+, the new variant comes more than a year after the Raspberry Pi 4 was introduced. According to the company, it will be offered in 32 variants and you can order one today starting at $25. The new Compute Module 4 is built on the same 64-bit quad-core BCM2711 application processor as the Raspberry Pi 4. It is said to offer faster CPU cores, better multimedia, and more interfacing capabilities compared to the previous-gen Compute Module 3+. For the first time, the company is also going to offer a choice of RAM densities and a wireless connectivity option.

The Compute Module 4 comes is said to bring in a new form factor and a compatibility break with earlier Compute Modules. Instead of the JEDEC DDR2 SODIMM mechanical standard that came with I/O signals on an edge connector, you now get I/O signals on two high-density perpendicular connectors — one for power and low-speed interfaces, and one for high-speed interfaces. In doing so, Raspberry has managed to reduce the overall footprint of the module letting users achieve smaller form factors for their products.

Coming to specifications, the Compute Module 4 offers support for dual HDMI interfaces at up to 4K resolution, a single-lane PCI Express 2.0 interface, 28 GPIO pins, dual MIPI DSI display, and dual MIPI CSI-2 camera interfaces. It will be offered in 1GB, 2GB, 4GB or 8GB LPDDR4-3200 SDRAM, and optional 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB eMMC flash storage.

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Lite without eMMC Flash Memory

For graphics, you get VideoCore VI, OpenGL ES 3.x, 4Kp60 hardware decoding of H.265 (HEVC) video. There is also support for 1080p60 hardware decoding and 1080p30 hardware encoding of H.264 (AVC) video. Apart from Gigabit Ethernet PHY with IEEE 1588, the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 has optional 2.4GHz + 5GHz 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless connectivity.

IO Board

Additionally, there is a new IO Board that has been launched alongside the Compute Module 4. According to the company, this will break out all the interfaces from the Compute Module to standard connectors. You get two full-size HDMI ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a MicroSD card socket, Gigabit Ethernet jack, PCI Express socket, 40-pin GPIO connector, 12V power input jack, camera and display connectors, and a real-time clock with battery backup. The IO board will cost $35.

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 with Antenna Kit

There is also the new Compute Module 4 Antenna Kit that comes with a whip antenna, a bulkhead screw fixture, and a U.FL connector to attach to the socket on the module.

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WhatsApp Web prepares to add support for making voice and video calls

WhatsApp will soon add support for making voice and video calls on the web, two features that have existed for years on mobile clients. WABetaInfo tore into a recent update to the web/desktop client (version 2.2043.7) and enabled the feature while it’s still in-development.

Image credits: WABetaInfo

As of now, voice and videos calls on WhatsApp Web appears to be in a beta stage. Luckily, WABetaInfo still managed to get the feature working, bringing us some screenshots to demonstrate what calls will look like on the web/desktop. When users receive a call on the web, a popup window will appear, allowing users to accept or decline the call. A different window appears when you make a call; it’s smaller and features controls to mute your mic and hang up.

WABetaInfo also said that Group Voice and Video calls are being tested for WhatsApp Web, which will be a great way to communicate with friends and family.

Image credits: WABetaInfo

Of course, voice and video calls are already available on WhatsApp for Android and iOS, so bringing the features to the web would merely bring parity. It would also bring more convenience to users, especially with so many people spending more time on computers while working from home. Updating WhatsApp Web would make users less reliant on their mobile devices.

Keep in mind that WABetaInfo isn’t affiliated with WhatsApp, so the features mentioned haven’t officially been announced. However, the website regularly uncovers features coming to WhatsApp before they’re widely available, giving users an idea of what to expect. Recently, WABetaInfo uncovered that WhatsApp was testing a redesigned Storage Usage section, along with several other new features.

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