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Google has quietly released Developer Preview 4.1 of Android Things, the Android-based Internet-of-Things (IoT) platform, to developers.  The update primarily focuses on adding new hardware that is supported to the platform as well as addressing bug fixes and performance improvements.

On the new hardware front, the new Pico i.MX6UL revision B board is now supported.  That board supports external peripherals from the likes of Adafruit and Pimoroni which dev’s can use to build their IoT solutions.  The release notes point out that the beta version of this board is not supported.

Yesterday, through some estimates made from the downloading of the Pixel Launcher from the Play Store, several reports surfaced on the number of Google Pixel phones that have been sold.  Based on the listing of the launcher in the Store, it is estimated that 1 million units have been sold since the phone launched in October 2016.

On the surface, given the vast number of Android devices in the market, this seems like a low sales number.  And it is frankly.  Samsung has sold some 5 million Galaxy S8 units in just a handful of months while other phones like the Huawei P10 have also pushed well past 1 million units.

But who cares?  While many will get wrapped around the axle on this low number, it is important to keep in mind Google never intended this device to be for the masses.  It is a flagship device with a premium price and I suspect that Google themselves aren’t too flustered over the low numbers.  Neither should you.

Ah, to be young and nimble.  LineageOS is already steps ahead of many phone manufactures by updating their software packages with the June Android Security update.  The company announced on their blog that all builds starting June 6th will include the patch.  It means that once you have updated to these new builds, you will have the latest security patches for the platform.

This isn’t the only change in this update to the platform.  In the latest build, you have the ability to prevent tasks from being removed when clearing all apps in the recent app view.  The System WebView has been updated to Chromium 59, the latest version of that service.  Also, you can now disable the lock screen album background when you are playing music.

Following the updates to the Chrome browser and Chrome for Android updates last week, Chrome OS has now been updated to the Chrome 59 train.  Builds 59.0.3071.91, 59.0.3071.92 (Platform version: 9460.60.0, 9460.60.2) have been released for all devices running the platform with the exception of the Chromebook Pixel 2015 model.  The update is rolling out now and should be hitting devices over the course of the next few days.

Like the Chrome 59 update for Android and the browser, Material Design is now enabled by default on the Settings in Chrome OS.  Native printer support is also available now, not just Google Cloud Printing.  You can now setup a printer via IP address on your network and print directly to it from your Chromebook.