Pre-Register For Google Allo and Google Duo

A few weeks ago at Google I/O we saw the announcements from Google on Google Allo and Google Duo.  For those who may not recall, Allo is the new messaging app from the company that brings a significant amount of personalization and leverages Google’s machine learning on the back end to allow you to get quick replies that are more personal to you.  Duo is the company’s new one-on-one video app that allows you to make video calls seamlessly with other people, even if they are on iOS.

A few days after I/O, Google set up Allo and Duo in the Google Play Store so that you could add them to your Wishlist.  They moved it up a level now and you can pre-register for both apps in the Store today.

SanDisk 200GB MicroSD Card Back On Sale at Amazon

It seems like every week there is a sale going on at Amazon on SanDisk MicroSD storage but the 200GB model is often left out of the loop.  Not today.  If you have been wanting to pick up the top-end card you can do it, today only, for $59.99 on Amazon.  That’s a massive different from when the card was released last year at over $200 but more recently has been in the $80 range.  Obviously, if you are planning to put this into your Android phone or tablet, make sure it can support this big of a card.  Many devices, especially those over a year old, can’t do it so make sure before you make the purchase.  If it is too big, you can still pick up a great deal on the 128GB card.

Google Maps Update Allows Walkers and Bikers To Search Along Their Route

Google Map is receiving another update for Android users with this update more or less aimed at those who do a lot of walking or bicycling.  The updated build, version 9.26 for those keeping score at home, brings the ability for you to search for other places to stop along your walking or biking path.  Say, for example, you need to stop at the pharmacy while you are biking home, you can search for a CVS or Walgreens along the way and build in that stop on your commute home.  If this sounds familiar, it should.  Google Maps had this feature for those who drive but it was not available for those who were walking or riding.  Give the number of people who walk or ride bikes to and from work, especially in urban areas, this was a real miss up to this point.

Asus Launches The ZenFone 3 Lineup

If you want a humongous phone, Asus has you covered.  The company over the weekend launched their new ZenFone 3 series of phones with the top-end Ultra coming to market with a massive 6.8″ display.  All three phones are aimed at meeting consumers where they want on both a performance level and a display size and while no release date was given on the new lineup, you should expect to seem them at some point over the course of this summer.

The entry level ZenFone 3 is powered by Snapdragon 625 processor, has 4GB of RAM, 32GB of Storage and 16MP rear camera.  It also sports a fingerprint scanner and a 5.5″ display that renders at 1920 x 1080.

Google Photos Turns 1 Year Old Today

Today marks the first birthday of Google Photos, the photo backup and sharing service-meets-app.  It was announced at Google I/O 2015 and was officially launched on May 27, 2015 as a website and an app for Android with iOS being added shortly thereafter.  In that year, the service has grown tremendously as have the functionality of the apps and the website.  Today, as part of the celebrations, Google has released some facts and figures on how the service is used and how much it has grown in popularity.  We knew of course that it had grown to over 200 million active monthly users based on comments from I/O this year.  But there are even more interesting figures to discuss.

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