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The awesome podcast app Pocket Casts has a new update rolling out that Android Oreo users are going to love.  The update, version 6.4 for those keeping score at home, brings a plethora of updates, many aimed at users who have the latest version of Oreo on their devices.

The biggest Oreo feature in this update is the support for Picture-in-Picture.  Now you can start a video podcast in the app, tap your Home button and the video will be minimized to your Home screen.  There you can keep watching while doing other things on your phone or tablet.

Additionally, support for Adaptive icons and Notification channels, both Oreo features, are supported in this latest update.

If you don’t have Oreo just yet, there are still plenty of things to love about this update.  Battery and Background improvements have been made to the app as well as improved image loading and other general performance fixes.  Show notes are now updated too when they are updated by the podcast’s author.

OnePlus has begun rolling out a new update to their OxygenOS platform for the OnePlus 5.  The new build is version 4.5.14 and has begun rolling out to a select number of users today.  A broader distribution will happen later once it is confirmed all is okay with the OTA.

There are several improvements in this update to OxygenOS but the big one is the patching of the KRACK vulnerability that impacted WPA2 security on WiFi.  This makes OnePlus one of the latest to update their flagship device with the patch.

Here is the full rundown of changes and improvements in this update:

• Supported Airtel VoLTE in India
• Supported Band 66 of Freedom in Canada
• Fixed Wi-Fi WPA2 security issue
• Optimized battery usage in some cases
• Optimized GPS accuracy
• General bug fixes

As is usually the case, we don’t know exactly what falls under the category of “General bug fixes” but knowing OnePlus, it probably has a lot of performance tweaks for the 5.

The number of services that have come to Google Assistant has grown exponentially in 2017 but really over the course of the last few months.  Dozens of new services have come to the digital assistant and one of the newest is HP.

When you link your Google Cloud Print enabled HP printer to Google Assistant, you will be able to have it print things for you without having to touch your phone or PC.  Admittedly, the service is somewhat limited now but you get a great idea of what can be done in the future.

First, you have to have an HP printer that works with Google Cloud Print natively.  The vast majority of their printers that have WiFi functionality do but double-check yours.  I have an OfficeJet Pro 8650 and it works with no problem.  Next, you will need to setup Google Assistant to link with your HP Printer.

After weeks of rumors and speculation, the Razer Phone is official.  Razer, who acquired Android phone maker startup Nextbit earlier this year, makes their first named device in the Android space and it spectacular from a specifications perspective.  The phone will be $699 and pre-orders are being accepted starting Friday.  And, get this, it will be in Microsoft stores nationally.

Okay, to the nitty-gritty.  The Razer Phone is powered by the Snapdragon 835 SoC, has an impressive 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB of onboard storage.  The phone will support a MicroSD card so you can expand that storage up to 256GB.  Display wise, it is a 5.7″ LCD that renders at 2560 x 1440 at, wait for it, 120Hz.

If you haven’t put it together yet, this phone is squarely aimed at being an entertainment device, both for gaming and for video watching.

Camera wise, the rear camera configuration is a dual camera with a 12MP f/1.75 wide angle shooter and a 13MP f/2.6 normal with both supported by PDAF.

Powering all of this is a 4000mAh battery that supports Quick Charge 4 technology.