Arrow Launcher Update Brings Contact Management Improvements

Microsoft has a new update rolling out to Arrow Launcher in the Play Store that is bring some nice improvements to the launcher.  The update is version 3.7 for those keeping score at home and this build has been in beta for a few weeks with testers.  The update has some good improvements around contact management (or as Microsoft calls it, People) as well as some other fixes.

The People card on the Utility page in this update will now allow you to choose between multiple actions for contacts and Arrow can now deal with merging and de-duping of contacts within the contacts on your phone.  The multi-action feature is a long requested one of the launcher.

Chrome OS Stable Channel Sees Minor Updates

An update for Chrome OS is currently rolling out to the stable channel.  The update is build 59.0.3071.134 (Platform versions: 9460.73.0, 9460.73.1) for those keeping score at home and should be hitting devices over the course of the next few days.  Unlike similar releases over the course of the past few months, Google did not indicate any specific devices this update would not be coming to this week.  Rather, they simply indicate “most devices” will see the update.

To check to see if the update is coming to your Chrome device, go to chrome://help in the browser on your Chromebook or Chromebox and check for the update.  If it is available to your device, it will start downloading and after a restart, will be installed.

Google Home Coming to Australia and Germany

The slow but steady global availability of Google Home continues with the Google Assistant powered smart speaker coming to Australia and Germany.  For Aussies, Home as well as Google WiFi will be available on July 20th while Germans will have to wait until next month before Home comes to your country.  The expansion follows it coming to France and Canada earlier this year.

In Australia, Home will be available from the Google Store, JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Officeworks, The Good Guys, Telstra, Optus and Qantas Store.  It will be $199 AUD, about $157US.  Google WiFi will be $199 for a single unit while the 3-pack will be $499.  For those in Germany, Home will be €149.

Google Keep Update for Android Brings Undo & Redo Controls

Google Keep, the lightweight, cloud-based note taking app, has an update rolling out for Android users.  Version 3.4.803.02 doesn’t bring a massive amount of changes but it does bring the ability to undo & redo text editing controls to the app.  Now when you are editing a note and adding text, you have the ability to more quickly edit your notes with this new feature.

The feature is only available when you are editing a note and if you change notes or close and reopen the same note, the cache for being able to undo/redo is emptied so it won’t be available.

If you haven’t tried Google Keep, it is a free app (and is available on the web at keep.google.com) designed for lightweight note taking and editing.  Keep isn’t going to give you the flexibility of apps such as Evernote or OneNote, but if you need a quick note taking app that leverages cloud storage, it’s one to consider.

Blackberry KEYone Available from Sprint Starting Today

Today, Sprint here in the United States has become the first carrier to sell the Blackberry KEYone.  The announcement came from TCL, the company who licenses the Blackberry name, with the price starting at $22 per month for 18 months.  Outright, the phone is $528.

The KEYone drew a lot of attention when it was announced back in January with its keyboard and after a couple of delays, it is finally available for ordering.  The GSM version of the phone is $619.99 on Amazon.

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