Chrome OS Stable Channel Sees a Minor Update

The Chromium team has released a minor update to Chrome OS for the majority of devices today.  The update takes the build version up to 54.0.2840.93 (Platform version: 8743.83.0) for those keeping score at home.  If you remember, the first major build of the 54 train was released a couple of weeks ago.  This update is much smaller and generally addresses some security fixes which Google did not disclose the full details of in the release.

The update however is not for all devices.  If you have a HP Chromebook 13 G1, Acer Chromebook 14 for Work and Thinkpad 13 Chromebook then the update will not be coming to your devices – not yet at least.  If you remember, these are the same models that didn’t get the original 54 train so it stands to reason on why this minor update didn’t touch these devices as well.

Google Home Devices Starting to Ship

It appears that shipments for the new Google Home device have started for readers.  Multiple readers have either emailed or commented on Google+ of receiving shipment notifications of the $129 Google Assistant-powered device.  I too have received a shipment notification with it expected to arrive at the end of the week.

Aimed at competing with the Amazon Echo, Google Home brings the power of Google Artificial Intelligence to give you detailed information about your day, upcoming events, search information, travel information and the like.   While it is for everyone in the family, it tied to a single primary Google account.  Like Google OnHub, Home is aimed at sitting out in the open and doesn’t look like a piece of techno-kit sitting on a shelf.

Huawei Announces The Impressive Mate 9

Today Huawei pulled back the covers on their latest flagship Android phone, the Mate 9.  The 5.9″ display device has some impressive specs that will meet most power user needs when it hits the market in December.   It is the first phone that will have Huawei’s new Kirin 960 octa-core process and it will have the new ARM Mali-G71 GPU coupled with it.  Add to that 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and a 20MP dual camera setup, you have all the makings of a solid device that will be priced at around $776.

Today’s Deal – Nextbit Robin for $169 on Amazon

Today’s Deal over at Amazon is on the fantastic Android phone, the Nextbit Robin.  Right now you can pick one up in their Midnight color for just $169.  That is a phenomenal price for such a power packed phone.

For those that don’t recall, the Nextbit Robin has some great features and offers a unique device-meets-cloud storage solution.  It has 32GB of onboard storage merged with 100 GB online storage, so you always have the space you need. Robin seamlessly backs up your apps and photos, intelligently archives the stuff you’re not using, and easily restores items when you need them.  The idea is that you never run out of space.  Those less used apps are backed up into the cloud but then are instantly available when you want them.  You’ll know an app has been backed up into the cloud as it will be grey on your Robin.

PowerPoint Update Brings Shape Recognition

Microsoft has started rolling out an update to PowerPoint for Android that has a new Shape Recognition feature.  The update now gives you the option to have the app recognize any shape you draw with your finger or stylus in free form and snap that into a perfect version of that shape.  So, for example, if you draw a square, with this feature enabled, you will get a perfectly formed square on your slide instead of your free form version.  You can, of course, not enable this, but it is super handy and is something that until now hasn’t been in the mobile version of the app.

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