Tag: Android

Google is taking another step forward when it comes to manufactures and Android security updates.  In a session at Google I/O this week, the company indicated that changes would be coming soon to the OEM agreement for Android, requiring more regular security updates.  While the exact details weren’t laid out in the session nor what is meant by “regular”, it is clear that Google is trying to make sure that manufactures keep devices up to date with the latest security updates.

This also, in a roundabout way, would encourage manufactures to offer the latest versions of Android as the security updates are regular on the new versions.

A second Chrome 67 based build has arrived in the Chrome for Android Beta app.  The app update, which is now live in the Google Play Store, is build 67.0.3396.42.  Unlike other beta builds of apps in the Play Store, you don’t have to join a beta program to try it out on your phone.  Just download it here and you can run it at the same time that you run the stable version on your device.

To a large extent, Chrome 67 is a bit of a maintenance release with not a lot of new features expected.  The only real notable change is the Home button near the omni bar at the top of the display.

It hasn’t taken Google long to bring some great new features to Google Assistant.  After announcing both new voices and customized routines yesterday at Google I/O, both are now live and available.  You can find Routines in the Google Assistant App under Settings>Routines.  There you will find a Floating Action Button (FAB) that will allow you to create a personalize routine for your Assistant.

The customization allows you to tell Google Assistant what to do when you give a particular command.  There are a lot of pre-built command that can be setup with just a couple of taps.

Yesterday at Google I/O it was announced that Google Assistant would be receiving six new voices that you could use to suit your personal preferences with as you interact with it on your phone or Home devices.  Just a day later, those new voice models are now live in the Assistant or Home app on your Android phone.

You can find the new voice models under Settings>Preferences>Assistant Voice.  There you can listen to a script read by each of the voices to pick the one you like the best.  There are three male and three female voices to chose from in addition to the stock male and female voices that have already been in Assistant.

The latest Android Distribution Report has been made available and the numbers for Android Oreo are still anemic.  After being available for 8 months, the latest version of Android is on only 5.7% of devices that came to the Google Play Store for the 7-day period ending May 7, 2018.  That is an improvement of 1.1% over the April report but still shows the significant upgrade challenge Android faces.

If there is good news it is that the last two version of Android, Nougat and Oreo, are the only two in this month’s report that gained any usage.  Nougat was up .3% and remains the most widely used version of Android at 31.1%.

If there is one app outside of Google Photos that shows the power of Artificial Intelligence in Googleville, it is Google Lens.  The AI-driven camera feature allows you to quickly identify objects simply by pointing your camera at them and tapping that object.  At Google I/O yesterday, Google announced some of the next steps for Lens and they are going to be impressive when the land over the next few months.

First, and perhaps the biggest news, is that Lens will be available in the native camera app for several manufactures.  That means the feature will be available a lot more people right out-of-the-box.  If you have a device from LGE, Motorola, Xiaomi, Sony Mobile, HMD/Nokia, Transsion, TCL, OnePlus, BQ, or Asus, you can expect an update to the native camera app on your phone to support Google Lens.