Google Home and Home Mini Now Available in Italy

Earlier this week I posted about Google Assistant now supporting the Italian language.  The question, as I posed in that post, was if it was a prelude to the Italian Google Store seeing Google Home coming soon.  Now we know the answer is yes.

On the Google Store site in Italy, you can now purchase a Google Home or Google Home Mini.  Home is €149, about $183 while the Home Mini is €59 or about $72 US.  They are on sale now and both models are available.

Google Confirms Overcurrent Bug on Pixel XL With Oreo 8.1 to be Fixed

Google has confirmed that a bug impacting the original Google Pixel XL in Android Oreo 8.1 will be fixed in the coming weeks.  The bug can cause the phone to overcurrent, meaning it takes on too much power during recharging, and in theory could pose a fire hazard.

Google’s John McNulty, Head of Safety and Compliance Engineering for Google Consumer Hardware, took to the product forums for Pixel users and assured the bug would be fixed but thanks to multiple layers of protection, a fire risk remained very low.

Google Play Music Gets Shuffle and Next Track Preview on Wear OS

For those of you who like to control their music from their Wear OS watch, today is a good day for you.  The Wear OS team, via the product forums, has announced that new features have rolled out to the Wear version of the Google Play Music app that allows for things like Shuffling music and previewing the next track to be played.

The new features impact the Google Play Music app that is installed on Wear OS devices and is rolling out now.  When you get the update (likely you already have you will be able to slide up when music is playing and enable a Shuffle feature on the playlist or album that you are listening to at the time.  Further, you will be able to swipe to see which track is next so you can decide if you want to play it or skip it.

Best Buy to Stop Selling Huawei Phones After Inventory Depletes

Huawei has suffered yet another blow in their efforts to break into the US smartphone market.  Retailer Best Buy is reportedly not replenishing their current inventory of devices such as the Mate 10 Pro and will cease selling them once inventory is gone.

The news adds to what has already been a very rough start to 2018 for the Chinese manufacture in the United States.  In January both AT&T and Verizon pulled out of carrier deals with the company after being pressured by the United States government to do so.  This forced Huawei to look to retail channels like Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg and B&H Photo.  So far, only Best Buy has indicated they will not be selling the device any longer.

G Suite to Enabled Basic Mobile Management by Default This Year

Google has announced that by the end of 2018, the basic mobile management feature on G Suite domains will be enabled by default.  The announcement comes as part of a series of announcement the company has made regarding data and device security.

When the change is enabled, it will require that all users of Android and iOS phones associated with a G Suite domain to have, at a minimum, a password or PIN to unlock their phones.  Without it, users will not be able to access G Suite associated apps and thus, the data associated with those apps.

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