Second Chrome 67 Build Comes to The Chrome OS Dev Channel

After the initial release earlier this week, the Chromium team has already released a second Chrome 67 build for the Chrome OS Dev Channel.  The new build is 67.0.3381.0 (Platform version: 10525.0.0) for those keeping score at home and should be rolling out to devices in what is essentially the Alpha testing channel already.

For those who have Chromebooks in the Dev channel, you can manually check for the update by typing chrome://help in the browser bar and checking for the update.

Razer Phone to get Android Oreo 8.1 Update in April

Good news for those of you who have the Razer Phone:  Android Oreo 8.1 is coming your way in just a few weeks.  The company, who bought Nextbit to get their first phone out the door last year, has announced that they are skipping Oreo 8.0, going straight to 8.1, and that a developer preview of the build is now available too.

The preview is only available for sideloading at the moment so unless you are comfortable with that process (unlocking the bootloader, ADB commands, etc), I recommend you wait until it is officially released next month.

Google Play Books Update Brings Improved Audiobooks Controls & Sharing

About two months ago, Google Play Books picked up the ability to play audiobooks natively and overall, the experience was pretty good.  But Google is wanting to make the experience better, especially when audiobooks are played in conjunction with Google Assistant.

First, you now have what Google is calling Smart Resume.  When you are interrupted by something on your phone and you need to pause your audiobook mid-sentence, when you return, Smart Resume will rewind you back to the beginning of the word or sentence you were on so you can pick back up where you left off.  Prior to this update, you had to manually rewind so this make that feature far more helpful.

SwiftKey Update Adds Ability to Instantly Share Your Location

SwiftKey, the Microsoft keyboard alternative for Android, has a new minor update rolling out that brings the ability to instantly share your location when using the keyboard.  The update, version 7.0.1.21 for those keeping score at home, is rolling out now in the Play Store.

Once you have this new version installed on your phone, you will have the ability to share your location while using the keyboard.  Sharing your location will share the current address of your location with whomever you are texting messaging while using the keyboard.

Third Chrome 66 Beta Build Arrives for Chrome for Android

A third Chrome 66 update to the Chrome for Android beta app has arrived in the Google Play Store.  The new build of the app is 66.0.3359.67 and it arrives just shy of a week after the 2nd beta last week and is the third update in as many weeks to the beta app.

As a reminder, with the Chrome Beta app is a seperate app in the Play Store which you can download without having to join a formal beta program.  You can use it along side your stable version of Chrome on your phone with no problem.

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