Category: Android

NVIDIA has released a significant update to their Android TV device, the NVIDIA SHIELD.  What the company is calling Experience 6.3 brings a lot of features and fixes to the device.  For US owners, the headliner is support for Nest Cameras.

Now through your SHIELD, which already has Google Assistant built-in, you can ask the device to show you various Nest cameras that you have throughout your house and it will be displayed on your television.  There is also improved Google Assistant support with the NVIDIA SHIELD now able to control over 1000 devices through Assistant.

With virtually nothing other than the name revealed, Nintendo has Tweeted that a new Mario Kart game is heading to mobile devices sometime this year.  Mario Kart Tour will be the name of the mobile centric game and it can only be assumed that, like Super Mario Run, it will be a unique, mobile twist on a classic game.

The checkered flag has been raised and the finish line is near. A new mobile application is now in development: Mario Kart Tour! #MarioKartTour Releasing in the fiscal year ending in March 2019. pic.twitter.com/8GIyR7ZM4z

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 1, 2018

Obviously, a 13 month window to get an app out is a huge window but clearly Nintendo was wanting to keep expectations low on timing of the release, citing their financial year end of March 2019.

A new update to Chrome for Android has been released into the Play Store, bringing a fix to a rendering crash that was impacting some users.  The new version is build 64.0.3282.137 for those keeping score at home.  This update follows the original release of Chrome 64 for Android last month.

This update is purely a bug fix release, addressing a rendering crash that was impacting a small number of users as well as a fix for issues around geo location notifiers.  Otherwise, there are general bug fixes and improvements in the update.  You can read the full change log here but there are not any new features.

Huawei has begun sending out press invites to an event being held on March 27 in Paris.  The event is likely the launch event for the follow up to last year’s P10, the Huawei P20.  The invite does not specifically call out the P20 but only references “new flagship devices”.  Given that the Mate 10 Pro has already been announced, the P20 is the logical answer to what will be shown at the event.

Not much is known about the Huawei P20.  Rumors suggest it will have a triple rear camera configuration and will likely be powered by the new Kirin 970, the Huawei built SoC that powers the Mate 10 Pro.  There will also likely be three devices in the lineup:  The P20, P20 Light and P20 Plus.

Reading much into code commits in the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) Gerrit is risky business, much like it is for the Chromium Gerrit for Chrome OS.  But it all indications are that the next major release of Android, Android P, is getting ready to hit the Developer Preview 1 stage.

A new commit simply states The future is now (2018 edition) and diving deeper into the platform Bionic, there is complete file structure that suggests everything is ready for a build of Android P to be completed.

After several months of beta testing, OnePlus has released the new OxygenOS 5.0.2 build for the OnePlus 5T, bringing Android Oreo to the flagship phone.  The update is a comprehensive one, bringing a new launcher and several other improved apps along with it.

The update is big at over 1GB in size so you will want to make sure you download it via WiFi.  The update also contains the January Android Security Update patch so your OnePlus 5T will be protected against the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities.