Google Search adds Full Coverage feature to help you better understand topics

When Google revamped News in 2018, it launched with a “Full Coverage” feature that brought together a wide range of perspectives into a single feed. The idea was to provide readers with a well-rounded understanding of big topics. Now, Full Coverage is coming to Search.

“When you’re searching for information on a timely topic, you see a carousel of articles at the top of your Search results highlighting relevant news,” Google said in a blog post. “Now for big, developing news stories, you can tap into a Full Coverage page after scrolling to the end of the top stories carousel or by selecting ‘More news on…’ right below the carousel.”

Google said Full Coverage in Search will use a new technology capable of detecting long-running news stories that span many days, such as the Super Bowl, to many weeks and months, like the COVID-19 pandemic. This will keep readers constantly up-to-date with new stories and information.

“We then organize the Full Coverage page to help people easily find top news along with additional content like explainers and local coverage that are helpful to understanding these complex stories,” Google said.

I know I typically stick to one or two news sources when catching up on current events. Search’s new feature will help broaden my horizon, so I can understand the perspective of more people who are effected by the same issues. You may not always agree with the opinions or coverage of outlets you don’t normally read, but it still might give you an opportunity to learn something. The GIF above does a good job demonstrating how the Full Coverage feature will work in Search.

Google said Full Coverage in Search is available today on mobile devices, beginning with English in the U.S. It will roll out to more languages and locations in the coming months.

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Nearly 1 in 5 Android devices in the U.S. run Android 11, 6 months after release

Google has said that adoption of Android 11 is the best it’s ever been, and six months after release, new data suggests nearly 1 in 5 Android devices have been updated to the new software.

According to data from StatCounter (via derStandard), Android 11 adoption has really picked up over the last few months. In the U.S., where we’ve seen devices from Google and Samsung launch with the new OS, over 20 percent of phones run Android 11. The software has almost surpassed Android 9, with Android 10 taking the biggest marketshare.

Data via StatCounter

StatCounter shows data from other parts of the world, too, including Canada, U.K., Germany, and Oceania. Android 11 adoption is on an upward trajectory no matter how you look at it. Six months after release, the numbers probably aren’t as high as Google would hope. But there’s such a high volume of Android phones on the market that getting a significant amount updated is a major challenge.

The latest versions of Android historically have a difficult time being distributed, at least early on. But things appear to be improving, with adoption likely to continue going up over the next several months.

Official Android distribution statistics are now only available in Android Studio, so they’re not available for everyone to see. Google has worked hard to speed up software updates through initiatives like Project Treble, and has also partnered with Qualcomm to support four Android versions for new Snapdragon chipsets. That means when consumers get a new Android device, that’ll get something like Android 11 plus 3 more years of Android OS updates.

That doesn’t mean manufacturers will definitely upgrade your old device with four different Android versions. But the framework is there, hopefully meaning that adoption for new versions of Android — such as Android 12, which has already been announced — will continue to trend up a lot quicker than we’ve seen in the past.

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Google Chat is rolling out support for classic Hangouts users

Update 1 (03/08/2021 @ 03:37 PM ET): Google has begun migrating group chats from Hangouts to Chat. Click here for more information. The article, as published on February 24, 2021, is preserved below.

Google Chat appears to be rolling out a preview of support for Hangouts to some lucky users. Google previously announced that Hangouts users would be migrated to a free version of Google Chat, which is essentially a competitor to Slack, in the first half of 2021.

Ars Technica’s Ron Amadeo was among the first to spot a Hangouts “Preview” message when opening Google Chat. We received the same prompt in the Chat app. Google said it will automatically migrate Hangouts conversations during the transition, along with contacts and saved history.

My Google Chat is now showing this Hangouts "Preview" message.

It looks like all my individual contacts work and are accessible via the search bar.

The only missing feature now is group chat. pic.twitter.com/Vf8mLahrbE

— Ron Amadeo (@RonAmadeo) February 24, 2021

There is one big issue with this “Preview,” and it’s that group chats from Hangouts still haven’t been migrated. You can, however, create a “Room” in Chat and invite everyone over. Even better, the Room you create also shows up as a group chat in Hangouts.

Amadeo notes that there also doesn’t seem to be a way to do a 1-on-1 video call. “Google Chat always wants to paste a URL for a corporate ‘video meeting’ into the chat,” Amadeo said. In Hangouts, starting a video call with someone made the recipient’s phone ring.

The Google Chat preview for Hangouts doesn’t appear to be available for all free users just yet, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t see the prompt. Remember, Google previously said the transition would officially happen in the first half of 2021, so there’s still time for a wider rollout to occur.

Once Hangouts users are migrated over to Chat, they’ll be able to access faster search, use emoji reactions, and also share and collaborate on files. The free version of Google Chat will still include extra phishing protections as part of Google’s Safe Browsing initiative.

Speaking of Hangouts, Google recently said that starting March of 2021, Fi users won’t be able to use the service anymore to send or receive text messages or make and receive voice calls and voicemail.

Google Chat (Free, Google Play) →

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Update 1: Hangouts Group Chats Migrated

One of the missing pieces of the puzzle for the long-awaited Hangouts –> Chat migration is what’ll happen to group chats, but we can confirm that Google is in the process of migrating all group chats over. ArsTechnica‘s Ron Amadeo says his Chat experience is now “fully operational” after about 70 group chats moved over from Hangouts. All group chats with custom names were migrated over to the “Rooms” tab in Chat, while the ones without names show up in the regular “Chat” tab.

My Google Chat is now FULLY OPERATIONAL. About 70 Hangouts group chats have moved over.

It looks like the ones with custom names went to the “Rooms” tabs while the ones without names are in “Chat.”

This is going to be a lot of cleanup. pic.twitter.com/2VRmPlP38G

— Ron Amadeo (@RonAmadeo) March 6, 2021

For most regular users, this means that Chat can fully replace Hangouts. However, as Amadeo points out, there are still a few holdups. For one, SMS sent to Google Voice numbers still appear in Hangouts for him, so some Voice subscribers will need to hang onto the app for the time being. Second, there doesn’t seem to be a way to start a video call from the web app for Chat. Those are both minor issues that won’t affect many users, though, and it’s only a matter of time before all unique functionality of Hangouts gets ported over to another service.

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Microsoft Office suite on Android is finally getting a dark theme

Microsoft has been busy adding dark mode to its suite of apps on desktop, and the company is now doing the same for Office on Android.

According to Alessandro Paluzzi, who regularly reverse engineers apps to uncover new features, Microsoft is working to bring dark mode to Office and Office Hub on Android. Paluzzi shared screenshots of what this might look like, giving users an early glimpse before the update goes live. When the feature does go live, users will apparently have the option to choose from Light, Dark, and System Default.

#Microsoft is working on something interesting on Word, PowerPoint and Excel for #Android

— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) February 5, 2021

Paluzzi notes that although his screenshots show a blank Word document as being white, that could change before an official release.

“Currently the background of the document is white but they may decide to make it black before the official release,” Paluzzi said.

Microsoft has already rolled out a dark theme to some of its Android apps, including Outlook, OneDrive, and a few others. It was only a matter of time before the same was done for Office on Android.

Images via Alessandro Paluzzi

Unfortunately, it’s unclear when the update will roll out to Android users. But when it does become available, it’ll apply to Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

If you’re not a user of Microsoft’s suite of Office apps, Google offers great alternatives. The company has already rolled out support for dark mode on Android for Docs, Sheets, and Slides, making the apps easier on the eyes.

As we wrote at the time, the dark theme applies to document browser front page and the actual editing view.

“The dark theme in the editing view only applies to Docs and Sheets, though, as Slides already supports changing background colors. The dark theme itself is the typical dark gray that Google uses, and the apps all maintain their respective accent colors,” we said last summer.

Whichever suite of apps you end up using, we’ll let you know when dark mode comes to Microsoft’s Office on Android.

Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint & More (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Google adds Kid Profile support to the Chromecast with Google TV

Update 1 (03/08/2021 @ 02:13 PM ET): Google announced today that it’s rolling out kids profiles to Google TV, starting with the Chromecast with Google TV. Click here for more information. The article, as published on February 12, 2021, is preserved below.

Google said it plans to add support for Kid Profiles to the Chromecast with Google TV following an outcry from users.

When the Chromecast with Google TV launched, the experience introduced a more polished UI that emphasized personalized recommendations. Essentially, it shows you content based on what you’ve watched and the genres you like. Overall, it’s a suitable replacement for Android TV. But users felt it fell short in multi-user support, specifically for parents who want to restrict access to certain apps and content.

In a support thread, a Google spokesperson said it’s working to address this with a new feature that should be available for Chromecast with Google TV in the “next month (or so).”

Just wanted to post an update that Kids Profiles should be rolling out in the next month (or so). Restricted profiles are indeed deprecated in [Google TV] and replaced by the new feature “Kids Profiles”, which allows you to setup a safe space for kids in google TV. During onboarding you can chose what apps to make available to kids. Youtube kids is available by default and other installed apps required parent opt-in before they are made available to the kid. Leaving the kids profile can be restricted by a PIN to prevent kids from accidentally going back to the parent account.

However, Kid Profiles doesn’t really address the problem users have with the lack of real multi-user support. But for households who want to restrict their child’s activity, the Kid Profile feature sounds like a good solution. In a separate comment about multiple user accounts, the official Google Nest account hinted the feature is coming but refrained from sharing further details.

At just $49, the Chromecast with Google TV is a solid streaming device that does a good job of aggregating all of your favorite services. But it clearly has its limitations. The good news is Google is working to address customer complaints. Let’s hope these features are released sooner rather than later.

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Update 1: Kids Profiles rolls out for the Chromecast with Google TV

On The Keyword, Google’s official blog, the company announced that it’s “taking [its] first step in delivering family features on Google TV” by introducing kids profiles. You can add an existing Google account for a child or create a new one. Parents can choose which apps to add to their child’s profile. Kids profiles feature rows with recommendations from child-friendly apps and are designed with bright colors and fun illustrations. Parents can share access to TV shows and movies in their Google Play Family Library and can manage screen time with daily watch limits and bedtime schedules. Other content controls can be managed from the Family Link app.

Google says support for kids profiles on Google TV will roll out on the Chromecast with Google TV and other Google TV devices in the U.S. this month. The feature will roll out globally over the next few months.

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Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 specs and launch details allegedly leaked

Microsoft will reportedly launch the Surface Laptop 4 as early as April, according to a new report. The new device is expected to launch in two iterations, with the same design carried over from its predecessor.

WinFuture reports the Surface Laptop 4 will launch 13.5-inch and 15-inch models, with both models being available in Intel and AMD variants. Microsoft will allegedly use AMD Ryzen 5 4680U and AMD Ryzen 7 4980U processors. The AMD Ryzen 5 4680U variant will allegedly feature a base clock of 2.0GHz and a maximum 4.4GHz. They will also allegedly feature up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, and sport “Surface Edition” branding.

Alleged Surface Laptop 4 specs via WinFuture

“With the use of the AMD Ryzen 4000 series, which is commonly referred to as AMD ‘Renoir,’ Microsoft is again using ‘outdated’ chips that do not come from the new Ryzen 5000 series,” WinFuture said. “They use the ‘Zen 2’ architecture and, like their predecessors, should come with a power loss of 15 watts. The production is certainly on a 7 nanometer scale.”

As for the Intel models, Microsoft will reportedly use Intel Core i5-1145G7 and Intel Core i7-1185G7 processors, with the Intel variants supporting up to 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. Both devices are expected to support other typical Surface Laptop features, including Windows Hello, Surface Pen, and more.

It’s been over a year since the Surface Laptop 3 was introduced, so we were due a new model. By all accounts, the laptop’s design was already really good, so we’re not too disappointed Microsoft isn’t changing much with the Surface Laptop 4. What we’re hoping for is improved battery life and maybe a few more ports for getting work done.

WinFuture doesn’t provide any pricing for the Surface Laptop 4, but if history is anything to go by, we can expect the base 13.5-inch model to retail for around $999.

Featured image Surface Laptop 3

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Samsung Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A50s get updated to Android 11 with One UI 3.1

Over the last few weeks, Samsung has rolled out the One UI 3.1 update on top of Android 11 for several of its mid-range models. Even though the Korean OEM is working hard to bring the latest version of One UI to the masses, some of its popular mid-rangers are stuck on older versions of Android. The Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A50s, for instance, are still running Android 10 with One UI 2.5. Thankfully, the company is finally getting around to releasing software updates for both the devices that bring a host of new features for users, that too in the form of One UI 3.1.

According to recent user reports from the official Samsung India community website, the OEM has now started rolling out One UI 3.1 atop Android 11 for the Galaxy A50 (model number SM-A505F). The update measures in at about 1.8GB and the build can be identified by the firmware version A505FDDU7CUBC. While the OTA is only available on a limited basis, expect it to roll out to more markets soon.

Samsung Galaxy A50 XDA Forums

The Samsung Galaxy A50s, on the other hand, has picked up the One UI 3.1 update with Android 11 in the form of software version A507FNXXU5DUB6. The update is currently available in the XXV region, which is Samsung’s code for Vietnam.

Samsung Galaxy A50s XDA Forums

Along with One UI 3.1-specific features, the updates bring security patches for March 2021, system stability improvements, security enhancements, and bug fixes to the device duo. In case you haven’t received the update notification on your Galaxy A50 or Galaxy A50s yet, you can head over to the Software Update section in the Settings app to check if the new build is available for your device or directly download the Odin-flashable firmware using one of the community-developed tools.

It is worth mentioning that the underlying bootloader version remains unchanged in both the cases. As a result, experienced users can perform a manual downgrade to an older Android 10-based firmware, but we would still advise caution before doing so.

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