Huawei Mate 9 Update Brings Performance Improvements

For those of you who have the Huawei Mate 9, there is a significant software update waiting for you today.  The update brings a lot of performance and battery improvements to the 5.9″ phablet that is recommended for all users.  Specifically, you are looking for build MHA-L29C185B172.  It is just over 500MB in size so you will want to make sure you can download it via Wi-Fi and have plenty of battery left on your phone if you are not connected to AC.

The update primarily focuses on performance improvements on the Mate 9, particularly around the touchscreen.  It also improves the battery optimization which, based on my review, were already pretty solid.  This update will only improve them.

Pre-Ordered LG G6’s Already Being Received Ahead of the April 7th Release

Based on postings on Google+ and reports from other sites, it looks like many of those who pre-ordered the new LG G6 have started to receive their new phones.  The official launch date for the phone here in the United States is April 7th but AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint users are reporting they are already receiving the new phone.  Verizon? Not so much.

Pre-orders for LG’s latest flagship started just last week and if you did pre-order, you would also receive a Google Home too.  Remember that the LG G6 is the first phone to launch with Google Assistant built in outside of Google themselves so the promotion, which goes through orders made until April 30th, makes sense.

Android App Revenue Expected to Outpace iOS in 2017

The mobile analytics firm App Annie has pegged, for the first time, that the combined Android app stores in the market will out earn Apple’s App Store this year.  According to their report, they project that Android based stores will earn about $41 billion in 2017 compared to the $40 billion that Apple will earn with their app store.  The report is quick to point out that the Android numbers are a combination of the various app stores for Android that exist, such as Amazon’s Underground and Samsung’s app store.

If you strip down the report to just the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, Apple still leads the way.  The Google branded store will account for $20 billion of the projected $41 billion this year but the Apple store alone churns $40 billion in earnings.

Chrome OS Update Brings a Handful of Security Fixes

A small but important security update is rolling out to Chrome OS devices this morning that brings a handful of high priority security updates to the platform.  The new build is 57.0.2987.137 (Platform version: 9202.60.0) and it is for the vast majority of devices out there.  The only devices you won’t find it for is the AOpen Chromebase Mini, AOpen Chromebox Mini, Google Chromebook Pixel (2015), ASUS Chromebook Flip C100PA, Samsung Chromebook Plus.  If you have one of these devices, this update won’t be coming to you, at least not yet.

Unlike the last Stable channel update to the platform, this update is purely focused on security updates.  The Chromium team called out five specific issues that the build resolves in their release notes.  If you have a Chrome OS device, you will want to get this update ASAP.

Google Maps Location Sharing Rolls Out to The Masses

After being announced last week followed by a limited roll out, the new location sharing feature of Google Maps has rolled out to the masses.  Users can expect the feature to be enabled in the Google Maps app shortly if it isn’t there already.  You will find the new feature located on the menu of the app.

The feature works cross platform (and on the web) and allows you to share your location or your status on a journey with others that you choose.  That sharing can be limited to a specific time period for sharing while the sharing of your journey will automatically end when you arrive at your destination.  It is more-or-less a return of the old Latitudes product but is more refined.

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