Author: Clinton

A new commit found in the Chromium Gerrit for Chrome OS suggest that Android Oreo style App Notifications are going to be making their way to Chrome OS.  The commit indicates that the notifications would be for apps that are pinned to your Chromebook’s shelf and would work with both Chrome-based apps as well as Android apps.  Further, there is also a file associated with the commit that suggests app shortcuts could be coming to Chrome OS too.

The commit for these new features appears to be well down the path of being implemented with bug reports being filed within the Chromium team.  What that means for end users is that we could see these new features show up in the beta of Chrome 65 or 66 with a stable channel release later this year, possibly in the first half of the year.

If there is a flagship app from Microsoft on Android, outside of the Office 365 apps, it is Microsoft Launcher.  The launcher has proven to be very successful for the Redmond company, especially for those who are tied closely to the Microsoft ecosystem of other apps.  Now the company is rolling out an update to Launcher that brings more enterprise ties and other creature comforts to let you customize things more in it.

The update is version 4.5 for those keeping score at home and is rolling out now in the Google Play Store.  From an enterprise perspective, if you work for a company that leverages Microsoft Intune for data protection policies, you can now configure Microsoft Launcher to view that corporate data.  While you have always been able to add a corporate Office 365 account to the launcher, this new addition will give users with more strict data protection policies to leverage it on their phones.

OnePlus appears to be poised to start talks with US carriers about finding a home for its devices in the US market.  The company’s CEO, Pete Lau, said in a recent interview with CNET that exploring a US carrier deal is of interest if the timing and terms are right.

With purchasing plans and far reaching marketing arms, the US carrier market amongst the top four of AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint is a lucrative and attractive opportunity for phone manufactures.  Getting even one phone into a carrier’s store will almost certainly bump sales up for that phone.  But, as other manufactures have found, it is a tough sell to get in with a US carrier.

For the second time in less than six months, it looks like Google is going to be revamping the online Google Store.  A report from Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources within Google, suggests that the revamp will have Google Assistant front-and-center in the redesign where Google will sell their devices and those of sister Alphabet companies like Nest.

The move is in response to Amazon and their own digital assistant, Amazon Alexa.  Amazon had a two year start on Google when it came to personal AI-driven assistants, with Amazon still holding an estimated 68% market share with their Amazon Echo devices compared to the 25% for Google with Google Home.  The disparity has the Mountain View company worried and they are going all out to meet Amazon head on in the space.

Samsung looks to be the next manufacture to unlock the FM Chipset in their upcoming phones.  The news came via NextRadio, developers of a FM radio app for Android.  It will mean that going forward, Samsung phones will be able to access the app to listen to local FM stations but also potentially have access to emergency information when data and mobile networks are congested or unavailable.

Samsung joins the likes of LG, Alcatel and Motorola in unlocking the FM chipsets on their phones.  Almost all smartphones today have the ability to tune FM radio built into them but manufactures have locked them down, forcing customers to go to streaming services for music.  The bigger issue however is by doing so, it has cut off users from potentially life saving broadcast information.  If mobile networks are down, users can be cut off from any news and information that they may need in a disaster or emergency situation.

The Google Play Games app for Android has an update rolling out that brings a fresh look to the gaming hub and a much improved way of finding your games that you have installed or have purchased/played in the past.  The new build is version 5.3 for those keeping score at home (pardon the pun) and should be coming to everyone over the course of the next few days via an OTA update.

The first thing you’ll notice after the update is the game carousel.  Here you can swipe to find games that Google has built into the app like Cricket, Pac-Man and Solitaire but also games that you have installed on your phone.  If you want to play any of these games, simply tap the Play button below them and off you go.