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For most who follow the Android community, this will fall under the “duh” category but it is still good to have confirmation.  Essential’s company Twitter posted last night that the Essential PH-1 will be getting updated to Android Oreo “in the next couple of months”.

Get your milk ready–#AndroidOreo is coming soon to Essential Phone. Watch for updates in the next couple months. pic.twitter.com/GEV1ntvDao

— Essential (@essential) September 18, 2017

The news certainly isn’t a surprise and reading between the lines, it looks like the update to Oreo could come at some point before year’s end. That would be great to see and would fall in line with the company’s commitment to rolling out updates quickly – both major and minor updates.

For the second time in four days, the Chromium team within Google has released a minor update to Chrome OS.  The updated version is build 60.0.3112.114 (Platform version: 9592.96.0).  That’s the same build number as the release on September 15th but the Platform version has incremented.  Like the release last week, it is for all devices except the Acer Chromebook 15 (CB3-532) and the Samsung Chromebook 3.

The update is more-or-less a copy of the release last week when it comes to what is addressed.  There are no new features but rather a collection of small security fixes, performance improvements and other bug fixes.  What exactly was addressed or fixed has not been released.

Google is rolling out an update to Gmail and Inbox for both Android and the web that will create links for physical addresses, email addresses and phone numbers that are found in your email messages.  The update is on the fast track which means it should roll out to all users over the course of the next few days.

How it works is pretty straightforward and should save time for users.  If there is a physical address in an email message, the link will take you to Google Maps.  If there is an email address found, the link will open up your default email client and set you up to compose a new email to that address.  Finally, when you are on your Android phone, if there is phone number found, clicking the link will open up your default phone app to place a call to the number.

The Android team has issued an update to the Material Design guidelines for developers.  The update is primarily aimed at the new features that have come to the platform in Android Oreo.  The guide adds a new Offline States section which covers how to customize apps to work for users when they do not have an Internet connection.  This is a big emphasis for Google, particularly in developing markets.

For those who don’t know, the Material Design guidelines is aimed at developers to assure that their app has the look and feel of what Google expects in Android.  Even if you are not a developer, the guide is great insight into the functions and looks of apps.