At the Unpacked event, Samsung has announced the Galaxy Watch5 and Galaxy Watch5 Pro. The new smartwatches will be the successor to the Galaxy Watch4 series that was introduced last year.

The new smartwatches take the design inspiration from the Galaxy Watch4 series, with edge-to-edge display and a circular display. Samsung is also bringing over the BioActive Sensor from the Watch4 series. For those who do not know, BioActive Sensor is a unique chip designed by Samsung to combine Optical Heart Rate, Electrical Heart Signal and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis into one sensor. With the Galaxy Watch5 series launch, Samsung is also expanding the monitoring blood pressure and ECG to five new markets including Bolivia, Nicaragua, Réunion Island, Türkiye and Venezuela. Along with this, Samsung is also introducing a new temperature sensor that will use infrared technology to capture the data and provide details about the surrounding temperature changes as well.

Samsung has also increased the battery size with Galaxy Watch5 series coming with 13% larger battery. The smartwatch will be able to provide eight hours of sleep tracking with just eight minutes of charging.

Samsung has also improved the overall design of the watch with Galaxy Watch5 series becoming the first one from Samsung to feature a Sapphire Crystal display, which offers a 60% harder outer layer.

The Galaxy Watch5 series will be powered by a Exynos W920 Dual-Core SoC which is paired with 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The smartwatch will come with WearOS 3.5 powered by Samsung's own OneUI interface.

The Galaxy Watch5 will start at $279 for the 44mm Bluetooth variant while the Galaxy Watch5 Pro will start at $449 for the 45mm Bluetooth variant. Along with the Galaxy Watch5, Samsung is also introducing Galaxy Watch5 Bespoke Studio which allows users to customize watch faces and straps as per their liking.

Samsung announces the new Galaxy Watch5 and Galaxy Watch5 Pro

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Z Fold4 at its Unpacked event. The Korean firm said that the phone will be available for pre-order today, with general availability starting on August 26 in select countries. The Galaxy Z Fold4 is the first device to ship Google’s Android 12L, which has been designed especially for foldables.

Commenting about the launch of the new devices today, including the Galaxy Z Fold4, Dr. TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics, said:

"Samsung Galaxy foldables are built on the foundation of our openness philosophy, enabling new possibilities with complete customization both inside and out. Created in collaboration with our world-class partners, the next foldable devices offer unparalleled mobile experiences that meet the needs of our most dynamic users. Through our unwavering focus and industry leadership, excitement for the foldables continues to grow. We’ve successfully transformed this category from a radical project to a mainstream device lineup enjoyed by millions worldwide."

The Galaxy Z Fold4 is a beast of a device, it’s powered by a 4-nanometre Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and comes with a massive 12 GB RAM to ensure that you can switch between apps without any sort of lagging. Depending on how much money you want to spend, you’ll be able to customize your device’s storage space, with options ranging between 256 GB and 1 TB of internal storage.

It features a 4,400 mAh dual battery and supports Super Fast Charging, which lets you get your phone’s battery to 50% charge in just 30 minutes when using a 25 W adapter. It also has support for fast wireless charging 2.0.

The main display on the Galaxy Z Fold4 is a 7.6” QXGA+ display with Dynamic AMOLED and has a 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate. The cover screen measures in at 6.2” but is only an HD+ display. It also supports Dynamic AMOLED and has a 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate.

For those who like using social media and need cameras, the Fold4 includes a 10 MP selfie camera, a 4 MP under display camera, a 12 MP ultra-wide camera, a telephoto camera, and a 50 MP wide-angle camera. You can shoot video up to 4K@60 fps, and there’s support for HDR10+. The front cameras support up to 4K@30 fps video and HDR.

On the connectivity front, the Fold4 supports 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E 801.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, and Bluetooth 5.2. Regarding sensors, it features a fingerprint sensor on the side, an accelerometer, barometer, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, hall sensor, proximity sensor, and a light sensor. Those who like travelling to other countries are also looked after as this phone support two Nano SIMs and one eSIM.

The Galaxy Z Fold4 comes in Graygreen, Phantom Black, Beige, and exclusively from Samsung, in Burgundy. If you’re planning on pre-ordering the device from Samsung, you’ll get one year of Samsung Care+ for free, which protects your phone against drops and cracked screens in 51 countries.

In the United States, the Galaxy Z Fold4 starts from $1,799, but you can knock up to $1,000 off with an eligible trade-in.

At its Unpacked event, Samsung introduced the upgraded Galaxy Z Flip4 smartphone. The phone will be successor to the Galaxy Z Flip3 that was launched last year. The Galaxy Z Flip4 will feature an improved camera which is paired with Super Fast Charging and a bigger battery.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 features a 6.7-inch FHD+, Dynamic AMOLED 2X primary display with a resolution of 2640 x 1080 and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Furthermore, the device also comes with a 1.9-inch Super AMOLED Display with a resolution of 260 x 512. This display sits at the back of the phone and offers additional screen real-estate to the user.

The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC which is paired with 8GB of RAM and 128/256/512GB of storage. Samsung has also added a 10MP front camera for selfies. On the back, there is a 12MP Ultra Wide Camera and a 12MP Wide-angle Camera. The Galaxy Z Flip4 also gets an upgraded 3,700mAH battery and support for Super Fast charging which promises up to 50% charge in 30 minutes using a 25W or higher adaptor.

The device will also carry an IPX8 water resistance rating but will not have a dust-resistance rating. The Galaxy Z Flip4 will feature OneUI 4.1.1 out-of-the-box and will have support for up to two Nano SIM* and one eSIM.

In terms of availability, the Galaxy Z Flip4 will go on pre-order later today with shipping starting from August 26. The device will come in Bora Purple, Graphite, Pink Gold and Blue. Samsung is offering one complimentary year of Samsung Care+ to users who will pre-order the Galaxy Z Flip4. For those in the United States, pricing starts at $999.99.

Samsung introduces the new Galaxy Z Flip4 foldable smartphone

This move coincides with a key concern from Indian manufacturers, who are worried that these manufacturers are undercutting them on price and performance. Xiaomi and other similar brands have significantly benefitted from the Indian market in recent years, with a third of India's sales volume for the quarter through June 2022 being under $150, and Chinese manufacturers taking up 80% of those shipments according to Counterpoint.

At present, there isn't any official timeline for when this move will be implemented. The Indian government continues to privately ask Chinese executives to help support local businesses. This suggests that they do not want China to completely pull out of the Indian market altogether, but is trying to appease the businesses closer to home.

In the past, the Indian government has already banned Huawei and ZTE equipment from the country. Even though there is no official policy on this, wireless carriers in India are already advised to consider alternatives to these suppliers, as well as banning other Chinese apps in moves to further remove Chinese providers from their markets.

Source: Bloomberg

India is planning to ban Chinese phones that cost less than $150

New customization options in the One UI 5 beta. Image: Samsung

Samsung has officially started to roll out its One UI 5 open beta to Galaxy S22 owners in the US, Germany, and South Korea. The update comes only a few weeks ahead of Android 13’s expected release, and just a few days before Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event. Like the operating system it’s powered by, the One UI 5 beta looks like a relatively small update that adds some customization options, tweaks to notifications, as well as new accessibility and security settings.

One UI 5 builds off of Android 13’s theming options by offering up to 16 preset color themes based on your wallpaper and 12 additional color options for your home screen, icons, and quick panels. It also introduces a way to stack similarly-sized widgets on top of one another that’s supposed to help create a less cluttered look.

The One UI 5 beta lets you stack widgets on top of each other. Image: Samsung

There are some new accessibility features as well, including a Magnifier tool that uses the phone’s camera to zoom in on real-life objects and text, as well as options to have your phone read your keyboard input aloud.

Samsung details several other features that One UI 5 has adopted from Android 13, such as new notification settings that require app developers to ask for your permission before sending you notifications. The One UI 5 beta also lets you set your preferred language on an app-by-app basis, and gives you access to a redesigned security dashboard that scans your phone for potential issues.

One UI 5’s new security dashboard is adopted from Android 13. Image: Samsung

When Samsung released its One UI 4 beta last year, it highlighted how it’s getting updates out earlier each year. This time around, Samsung widened the gap between its previous update even more, beating its One UI 4 beta’s September 2021 launch date by a little over a month. As was the case with Samsung’s previous One UI betas, you can access the One UI 5 update by registering through the Samsung Members app.

While the One UI 5 beta is only available on S22 devices in the US, Germany, and South Korea right now, Samsung plans on rolling it out to more devices and regions in the near future. We might hear more about what One UI 5 has to offer at Samsung’s Unpacked event on August 10th, where Samsung’s rumored to launch a range of new devices, including the Galaxy Z Flip 4, Z Fold 4, Galaxy Watch 5, and Galaxy Buds Pro 2.

Samsung launches its Android 13-based One UI 5 beta on Galaxy S22 phones

It starts innocently enough. You download an app, and the app asks for your permission to send you push notifications. Sure, you think. What harm could come of it? I’d like to know when my package arrives or my burrito is ready. But then you download more apps, and they all need your permission to send you notifications, and before you know it your lock screen is awash with apps clamoring for your attention.

The apps never shut up. They’re hungry for engagement. They want you to know that your favorite items are on sale, that you haven’t practiced your Spanish today, that your delivery driver is five stops away, that your child at daycare just had a blowout – all day, all at once. Welcome to a place we all live, a place called Notification Hell.

We haven’t always lived here. For a while, companies like Apple wouldn’t let app developers run all willy nilly with the power to request our attention at any moment of the day. They insisted that the power should be used for good, not evil. That didn’t last long. App developers are now permitted to send us marketing notifications as long as we’ve opted into them. And guess what: if you’ve opted to have any notifications at all, you’ve opted into a lot of them. The call is even coming from inside the house now – Apple is promoting its services in settings menus and Samsung is trying to sell you a new phone… while you’re using your Samsung phone. There is truly nowhere to hide.

It’s not just ads that are the problem. Our phones’ digital assistants are trying hard to learn our behavior and predict our every move. Probably because they’re robots, they don’t really understand what’s helpful and what’s not. Like when Siri sees that I have a flight on my calendar, so it suggests a shortcut to put my phone in airplane mode. Immediately after that, it asks if I want to dial into the meeting on my calendar: my flight. The road to Notification Hell is paved with digital assistants with good intentions.

It’s not an assistant, but Google Photos frequently commits notification crimes. It’s always learning new tricks, like how to identify a beer or a latte in a photo, and then pestering you to look at how it can identify all the photos you took of beer and lattes. It also really wants me to know when it finds a bunch of similar shots of my cat sleeping on different pieces of furniture, bringing them to attention unbidden, like a dog that found a stick. My brother in Christ, I took the photos. I know they’re similar.

Our operating system developers aren’t totally indifferent to our suffering; they cast us a couple of lifelines. On iOS, you can have non-time-sensitive notifications gathered in a daily digest and delivered once a day. You can also set up focus modes – the UI for which is its own kind of hell – or have some apps deliver notifications quietly unless they’re time-sensitive. But if you do that, you have to kind of solve a riddle first.

Answer me these questions three...

Not the user-friendliest interface.

I tried this once with Amazon. I thought I’d configured it so that I’d only get notifications when a package arrives. I did this wrong, apparently, because a grocery order sat outside my house for five hours the night of the Fourth of July. I now let Amazon send me as many notifications as it wants.

That sums up our situation: we are trapped in notification hell, and there will be no rescue. We have a couple of meager tools at our hands, but the onus is on us to find our way out. Until I figure out my notification settings, I know I’m here for the long haul. For now, it’s just a comfort to know that there are others with me too, because misery loves company.

We live in notification hell

The renders obtained by MySmartPrice for the iPad 2022 are similar to the 9th Gen iPad from 2021; however, notable differences are visible. The newer iPad is rumored to be wider than its predecessor, with measurements of 248.62 x 179.50 x 6.98mm. The iPad 2022 is also expected to have a camera island and an LED flash. While the iPad will come with a single camera, it does have a protruding appearance which 9to5mac suspects to be due to Apple planning to upgrade its camera sensor.

Like its predecessors, the iPad 10th Gen will likely continue to comprise sizeable bezels on all edges, TouchID, and the Home Button at the top, as the render shows. However, the charging port is highlighted in red, reinforcing speculations about the iPad getting a Type-C charging port. The images also display a quad-speaker setup. You can see more photos on the MySmartPrice website.

According to previous speculations, the 10th Gen iPad will come with 5G support and will include the A14 Bionic chip. The iPad would supposedly ship with a larger Retina display as well. Official announcement regarding the iPad are likely to become known in the fall of 2022, it is expected to retain its starting price of $329.

Source: MySmartPrice via 9to5mac | Images via MySmartPrice

The 2022 iPad is rumored to have a larger display, quad speakers, and more

Bloomberg reported that Apple might push the release of iPadOS 16 by about a month. The decision to delay the release seems to be because of “Stage Manager”, a platform that enhances multitasking on the M1 iPad. Apple has traditionally delivered new versions of iOS and iPadOS in September.

Stage Manager lets users operate several tasks on the iPad at the same time. The feature will allow resizing windows and quickly switching between different clusters of apps. Needless to mention, the feature will also keep applications alive and functioning in the background.

Previous iterations of the iPadOS were rather restrictive and preferred to prioritize battery life and optimize memory. Apple has been quite forgiving towards apps that prefer to stay alive and functioning in the background since iPadOS 15. The company introduced a new multitasking menu at the top of apps, letting users enter Split View or Slide Over apps easily. iPadOS 15 even has a dynamic “Multi-window Shelf” which simplifies multitasking.

The Stage Manager feature was supposed to take multitasking to the next level. A flagship feature in iPadOS 16, Stage Manager is supposed to intelligently organize open apps and windows. Using the feature, users can group windows together when working on specific tasks.

It appears Stage Manager has some flaws and glitches. The feature can even crash apps or make them behave erratically. Moreover, if a user accesses an app that must occupy the entire screen, Stage Manager seems to end abruptly. Delaying the release of iPadOS 16 could allow developers to iron out the bugs. Apple could release the latest update alongside new iPad tablets, in October.

Via: Bloomberg

Latest update for iPad won't arrive with iOS 16 as Apple struggles with software issues

Microsoft has made Outlook Lite available in select markets for low-powered Androids.

“Outlook is used by millions of people daily for their email and calendaring needs across the world. Yet, there are a wide range of devices that do not have all the capabilities required to get the best Outlook experience on their smartphone,” said Microsoft on its Outlook blog.

The streamlined version of the famous email service, used often begrudgingly for work matters, is said to come with what Microsoft calls all the main features of the original, including emails, calendar, contacts. The difference, according to Microsoft is that the app is just 5MB, can run on low-end devices like those with only 1GB RAM and doesn’t demand much battery.

It’s also designed for use on “all networks.” Among those networks, Microsoft name-checked 2G and 3G, a detail it left out in its Windows 365 Roadmap.
Outlook Lite was rolled out in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela. Microsoft promises more locations in the future.

It makes sense the United Kingdom didn’t get an invite to the rollout as the government announced it would phase out both 2G and 3G networks by 2033, with companies like BT going for the chop on 2G an entire decade sooner.

Many countries that made the rollout list, like India, still typically carry a significant number of 2G users. The subcontinent’s carriers are yet to operate a 5G network and the country includes more than a 100 million who rely on 2G.

Microsoft said Outlook Lite will “empower more individuals, schools, universities, and small businesses with a solution for their lightweight mobile devices,” which seems like a decent way to establish at least some following and compete with the likes of Gmail.

For its part, Google offers the minimalist Gmail Go, which lacks many of the more sophisticated features found in the mainstream version of Gmail (there's no Google Meet, for eg) while keeping the most essential of functionality. It's just under 10MB in size and can only be downloaded on low-end handsets.

As for Microsoft's Lite version, it won’t be supporting Android Work Profile and Mobile Application Management (MAM) for work accounts. For those who need that functionality, they'll have to use the original Outlook, making the Lite app a moot offering no matter where they reside. ®

Source

First hinted at earlier this year, the company has now officially revealed a stripped-down version of its Outlook email service that it says can run smoothly on even the most basic of Android smartphones.

Available now, Outlook Lite offers all the key ingredients of the popular platform, but without the drain on battery life and system resources for those with low-end phones.

Outlook Lite

The Outlook Lite app comes in at just 5MB, and was designed to run on devices with as little as 1GB RAM and also perform well on older 2G and 3G networks found in many undeveloped countries.

Despite that, Microsoft says it has packed all the most important part of the service into Outlook Lite, whilst making sure the app runs smoothly and speedily for users everywhere.

(Image credit: Microsoft)

"Outlook is used by millions of people daily for their email and calendaring needs across the world," Microsoft senior product manager Pradeep Elavarasan wrote in a blog post (opens in new tab) announcing the launch. "Yet, there are a wide range of devices that do not have all the capabilities required to get the best Outlook experience on their smartphone."

Elavarasan noted that the new service would be able to empower more individuals, schools, universities, and small businesses with an effective and efficient offering for their lightweight mobile devices.

Microsoft also notes that the new service will support Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live, MSN, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft Exchange Online accounts - so won't work with Gmail just yet.

Outlook Lite will initially be available to users in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela - with more countries possibly coming soon.

The launch comes as Microsoft also continues work on its future of the desktop Outlook service. Nicknamed One Outlook, the new release is aimed at business and education customers who subscribe to Microsoft 365 or Office 365.

Microsoft has added a number of updates and changes, including a new look and feel, message reminders, a single view for calendar, email, and to-do items, and the ability to more easily attach cloud files.

Source

Also:  Outlook Lite is now available, weighs in at only 5MB.

Initially, the kits will only cover a limited number of repairs for the said Galaxy devices, including replacing display assemblies, back glass, and charging ports. Each one will come with dedicated step-by-step repair guides and handy tools, such as precision bits, suction handle, magnetized driver, opening tool, spudger, and ESD-safe tweezers. On a side note, the prices of the kits will vary depending on the device’s repair parts you will order.

Users who will avail of the kits can also send back the used and broken parts to Samsung for recycling, helping the company push for its sustainability efforts.

“Working together with Samsung, we are making it easier for Galaxy owners to take product repair into your own hands,” iFixit says on its website promoting the new repair option, in addition to Samsung’s repair appointment service. With this offering, you can prolong the use of your devices, promote a circular economy and minimize e-waste.”

And while the repair parts and devices covered by this new offering from Samsung and iFixit are very limited, both companies promise to expand the service options in the future.

Samsung partners with iFixit to offer Galaxy self-repair kits

Outlook Lite is available in the following countries only at the time of writing: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela.

When you visit the official Google Play Store listing, which is available here in any modern web browser, you are informed that the app is not available, unless you are connected from one of the official launch countries.

Outlook vs. Outlook Lite

Before we tell you how to get your hands on the Outlook Lite app, regardless of the region you are in, we will take a look at the differences between the Outlook app for Android and its Outlook Lite sibling.

First thing you will notice is that the Outlook Lite app is much smaller than the official Outlook app. At about 5 Megabytes, its size is about 18 times smaller than the Outlook apps' 88 Megabytes.

That is not all though. Outlook Lite is optimized to run on devices that have less than 1 Gigabyte of RAM and will use less battery when it is used on a device.

Outlook Lite supports Outlook.com, Hotmail, MSN, Live, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Exchange Online accounts. That is less than what the main Outlook app can do, as it supports Microsoft Exchange Server, GMail, and Yahoo! Mail, as well as OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, Dropbox, Google Drive and Box besides those.

If you require one of the missing services, you can't use the Outlook Lite app for that as these are not supported by it.

How to get the Outlook Lite app for Android

If you live in one of the supported regions or are there right now, visit the Google Play Store to download the app from it.

While you may be able to use a VPN connection to one of the supported countries to download the Outlook Lite app this way, you may also download it from an APK download site.

APK Mirror is a popular and well respected site. Please note that there is always a risk involved when downloading Android APK files from third-party sites.

Visit the Microsoft Outlook Lite profile page on APK Mirror and download the latest version of the application to the Android system.

You need to enable the installation of Android apps from unknown sources in the Settings to install the app. There is no regional block in place during installation or afterwards.

Now You: do you use email apps on your Android device? If so which, and why?

Microsoft Outlook Lite: core differences to Outlook, how to get the app

The top five tablet companies, and their year-over-year performance, are as follows:

The same figures for Chromebooks were:

While Chromebook manufacturers will definitely be feeling the pain, Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager at IDC, was hopeful. He said that schools are likely to continue buying laptops for every student and because Chromebooks are popular in schools, they should continue to do well in the future.

With schools set to resume in September, Chromebook manufacturers could see a boost in sales as educational institutions buy in the hardware they need. Only time will tell.

IDC says tablet shipment growth remained flat in Q2 YoY while Chromebooks declined sharply

Apple Pay could finally be compatible with Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox in iOS 16. MacRumors contributor Steve Moser found that Apple Pay works with Edge and Chrome in the iOS 16 beta 4, and shared his findings on Twitter.

Moser’s screenshots show a “Continue with Apple Pay” option on Apple’s checkout page when using Edge. Apple Pay only works in Safari on iOS 15 and older, preventing you from using any other browser if you want to pay with Apple Pay when shopping on the web.

Although Moser doesn’t mention Firefox, other users noticed Apple Pay compatibility with the browser before the release of iOS 16 beta 4. A post on Reddit from earlier this month shows an option to pay with Apple Pay in iOS 16 beta 2 while using Firefox. Another user on iOS 16 beta 3 says they have the option to pay with Apple Pay on Firefox as well. We’re not certain of when Apple started expanding support for Apple Pay, and to which browsers. Apple didn’t immediately respond to The Verge’s request for comment.

Apple Pay still isn’t available in the latest macOS beta, however. As Moser notes, this is likely because Chrome, Edge, and Firefox all use Safari’s rendering engine, WebKit, on iOS due to Apple’s requirements. Third-party browsers are free to use their own engines on macOS, so we might not see support for Apple Pay outside of Safari on Macs anytime soon.

But Apple’s change of heart on iOS might be related to the European Union’s plans to crack down on big tech’s anticompetitive practices. The Digital Markets Act is set to go into effect in spring 2023, and imposes a set of rules on large companies, like Apple, Meta, and Google, to promote competition with smaller entities. A draft of the new legislation obtained by The Register specifically goes after companies that force app developers to use their own rendering engine. While this change could be an indication that Apple’s at least attempting to bend to the upcoming rules, the company isn’t likely to go down without a fight — it incurred millions in fees before complying with the Netherlands’ rules on in-app payment systems in Dutch dating apps.

Apple Pay may finally work on Chrome, Edge, and Firefox in iOS 16

Google has finally rolled out the immersive Google Maps views it promised back in May, along with a few other helpful features for cyclists, and travelers in groups.

First announced at the Google I/O 2022 developer conference, immersive views will combine Google Map’s Street View, satellite, and aerial images to create 3D recreations of landmarks. This first iteration of the feature is currently incomplete, but still supports over 100 locations across major cities including London, San Francisco and Tokyo.

Eventually, the feature will go beyond traditional landmarks, and will be used to bring to life local hotspots like restaurants, to give potential tourists a better feel of the place they’re looking to visit.

This comes as Google is trying to fight back against apps like TikTok and Instagram, which have become the most popular tools for young people looking to discover new places, ahead of Google’s services.

With Instagram itself capitalizing on this trend with its own searchable maps feature, we’ll have to see whether Google Maps’ immersive views and other future features will be enough to win back lost users.

Two phones showing Google Maps Immersive View (Image credit: Google)

Improved bike navigation

Google Maps is also getting better navigation tools for cyclists. While Maps has offered bike navigation for a long time now, this update aims to make it more like its car navigation, giving cyclists more information about their route.

Specifically, it means that cyclists will be able to see if their route is impacted by car traffic, as well as if the route includes bike lanes, how steep or windy a route is, and what kind of roads they’ll be riding on. Users can use this information to choose alternative paths; in some cases, Google Maps will offer riders multiple possible routes other than the fastest, including a path with more bike lanes, or one that requires fewer turns.

(Image credit: Google)

Location-sharing upgrades

Google is also upgrading location sharing. Now, in addition to sharing your location, you can ping notifications to a friend to let them know you’re leaving one location, and automatically send another when you arrive at your destination. The app will also be better at warning you that you’ve left the feature turned on if you didn’t set a time limit when you started sharing your location.

If you think location sharing and the other updates are neat features, here are a few other hidden Google Maps tools that you might not know about.

Source

Pixel 6a teardown shows off bendy, plastic back, soldered-in USB-C port

In a blog post, Google has highlighted the success of its major Google Play features such as Google Play Pass, Google Play Instant, Google Play Points, and many more. The search giant has also highlighted how Google Play has become a secure and trusted space with Google Play Protect, the company’s in-built malware protection solution for Android devices. It also points out how it helped developers of all sizes grow their businesses, made investments in local economies, and enabled the developer community to bring better apps and games to people worldwide.

As part of the celebration of 10 years of Google Play, Google has also launched a new logo to match the branding shared by many of the company’s products — Search, Assistant, Photos, Gmail, and more. Also, to celebrate the milestone, Play Points members can now get 10x points on everything they buy by activating a points booster. The official start date varies by country, so you can visit the “Earn” tab of Play Points Home to learn more.

New Google Play logo

If you are an Android user, do you get all your apps from Google Play? Let us know in the comments.

Google celebrates 10 years of Google Play

Google says it’s rolling back its decision to remove a section from the Play Store that listed which permissions an app uses. The company had more or less replaced that info with its Data Safety section, which is supposed to give you an idea of what data apps are collecting and how that data is used.

The problem, as several commentators pointed out, is that the information in the Data Safety section came from developers, whereas the app permissions section was generated by Google. By removing it, Google made it impossible for users to do a quick fact-check by comparing the two sections or to use the info from both to get a more complete picture of what an app is up to and what it has access to.

In a Twitter thread on Thursday spotted by Android Police, Google says the app permissions section will return soon and that it made the decision to bring it back because of user feedback. At time of writing, I wasn’t able to see it on my device, but when the section returns, it should be available along with the Data Safety section.

Google’s Data Safety section, which it announced in May 2021 and started rolling out in April this year, is similar to Apple’s privacy labels. Developers have to tell Google what they do with users’ data (such as whether it’s shared with third parties and what kind of data the app collects) and provide other info, like whether users can ask that their data be deleted and if the data is encrypted. While Google says that only developers know those details, it does say that it will take action against an app if it finds inaccuracies in the Data Safety info.

Google’s adding the app permissions section back to the Play Store after removing it

Recently, Twitter users noticed that the app has started making a new sound — when you pull down to refresh your timeline, notifications, DMs, or pretty much anything else in the official app, there’s a robotic chirp sound that sounds like a futuristic bird or frog. The sound has been polarizing — some people have been mesmerized by it, while others hate it.

Thankfully, there are a few ways to make sure you don’t hear it, which I’ll cover in this article.

Set your phone to silent

The first is astoundingly simple: according to my tests, turning your phone to silent mode makes it so that the sound doesn’t play. On iPhones, that means flipping the ringer switch on the left side of the phone above the volume buttons so the switch is closer to the back of the phone.

The pull-to-refresh sound doesn’t appear to have rolled out to every Android phone (and indeed, it appears to be a different sound). If you do have it, though, you can generally silence your ringer through the menu that shows up after you use the volume buttons or by going to settings and setting your phone to vibrate or mute.

Samsung’s current interface for managing volume — turning the third slider down all the way puts your phone on vibrate, silencing Twitter’s refresh noise.

Setting a Pixel 2 to vibrate, then silent.

Turn off Twitter’s sound effects

Of course, muting your phone isn’t an ideal solution if you want your phone to make other noises, like when you get a call or text. The good news is that Twitter spokesperson Trenton Kennedy shared a video on Wednesday showing an option in the Twitter app that lets you turn off the sound.

On iOS, you can access it by going to the Twitter app and tapping on your profile picture in the top left. Then, go to Settings and Privacy > Accessibility, display, and languages > Display and Sound. Under the Sound heading, toggle Sound effects off.

The sound effects toggle in the iOS (left) and Android (right) versions of the Twitter app.

In the Android version of the app, the menu has slightly different labels and options. In the Twitter app, go to Settings and Privacy > Accessibility, display and languages > Display, and toggle Sound effects off.

After you’ve turned off the toggle, you should no longer hear the sound when you refresh a page. While, in theory, this will turn off other sound effects in the app, I wasn’t able to find any prominent ones that played when I had the toggle on, apart from the pull-to-refresh one.

Enjoy your silent refreshing!

Here’s how to turn off Twitter’s weird new refresh sound

VLC users who do not want to wait for that to happen may download the latest version directly from the VideoLAN website.

VLC 3.5 for Android

VLC 3.5 for Android is a new major release. It is the first stable release of the media player in 2022; the last release, VLC for Android 3.4.0, dates back to September of 2021.

VLC for Android 3.5 includes several major improvements and changes. Widgets, for one, have undergone significant changes and improvements.

Widgets support Material You now and include customization options, such as setting the opacity or forward and backward time delays. Another new feature is the ability to create shortcuts to media files directly on the home screen.

Just select the settings icon of the media file and then "create a launcher shortcut" from the menu that opens to do so.

VLC supports all major media formats, which means that it can be used to play audio files. When you play audio files for the first time in VLC 3.5 for Android, you may notice audio screen improvements. The album screen, for instance, displays more information than in previous versions of the player.

One interesting new feature is the ability to customize player controls. A tap on the settings icon while media plays and the selection of control settings displays the customization options.

Here you get access to the following configuration options:

• Audio-boost (enabled by default).
• Volume and Brightness gesture. These are available while the video plays to change the volume or brightness with a single swipe.
• Double-tap to seek or play/pause.
• Swipe to seek.
• Double tap time delay.
• Show rewind and fast forward seek buttons.
• Define seek button delays and long tap functionality.
• Video player controls hiding delay.

Other new features in VLC for Android 3.5 include improved tablet and foldable devices support, automatic detection of a device's form factor to adjust the interface accordingly, and Samba shares network indexation support.

The developers of VLC for Android improved the performance and resource usage of the player in the new version, especially on low-end and older devices.

There is also a new permissions dialog that explains the three different options and functionality of the player depending on the choice made.

• No Permission -- auto-discovery of media is not available.
• Standard permissions -- auto-discovery of regular media files supported.
• Manage all files permission -- auto-discover all file types, including compressed files and less popular ones.

Closing words

VLC for Android 3.5 is a huge step in the right direction for the media player. It adds customization options and a lot of polish to VLC, and improves playback on older and low-end devices.

Now You: which media player do you use on your mobile devices?

Media Player VLC 3.5 for Android has been released

HTTP/3 is the third major version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, which relies on QUIC, a multiplexed transport protocol built on UDP, rather than TCP like previous versions.

The new protocol fixes the problem of "head-of-line blocking," which slows down internet data transactions when a packet is lost or reordered, something quite common when moving around on mobile and switching connections frequently.

Android previously supported DNS-over-TLS (DoT) for version 9 and later to bolster DNS query privacy, but this system inevitably slowed down DNS requests due to the encryption overhead.

Moreover, DoT requires a complete renegotiation of the new connection when changing networks. In contrast, QUIC can resume a suspended connection in a single RTT (time needed for a signal to reach the destination).

With DoH3, many of DoT's performance burdens are lifted, and according to Google's measurements, achieves a 24% increase in performance for median query times. In some cases, Google has seen performance increases up to 44%.

Additionally, DoH3 may help with unreliable networks, even outperforming traditional DNS thanks to the proactive flow control mechanisms that immediately generate package delivery fail alerts instead of waiting for timeouts to elapse.

DNS-over-HTTPS is already widely supported by many DNS providers to provide increased privacy when performing DNS requests.

With Google supporting DNS-over-HTTP/3 Android and DNS-over-QUIC now a proposed standard, we will likely see increased adoption by DNS providers shortly.

However, as part of this feature's launch, Android devices will use Cloudflare DNS and Google Public DNS, which already support DNS-over-QUIC.

In the future, Google plans on adding support for other DoH3 providers through the use of Discovery of Designated Resolvers (DDR), which automatically selects the best provider for your specific configuration.

Secure and lean implementation

Another point of superiority of DoH3 is the use of Rust in its implementation, which resulted in a lean system comprising 1,640 lines of code that use a single runtime thread instead of DoT’s four.

The result is a performant low-level system with a few dependencies, is light, and uses a memory-safe language that reduces the number of bugs attackers can leverage to abuse it.

Roll-out

At the time of reading this, all Android devices running Android 11 and later should use DoH3 for Google DNS and Cloudflare DNS (more to be added soon).

In addition, a subset of Android 10 devices whose vendors adopted Google Play system updates early will also receive this new feature.

The end-users don’t have to take any action to enable the new feature, as Android will handle this part automatically.

Google boosts Android privacy with support for DNS-over-HTTP/3

Tired of recharging your smartwatch every night? Qualcomm has a solution: a more efficient chip built specifically for smartwatches. If it sounds familiar, that's because Qualcomm has been releasing new smartwatch chips every two years with the same premise. But this year's processors—the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 and W5 Gen 1—just might be the biggest leaps to date (if not the biggest mouthfuls).

The new chips, which are also being rebranded and ditching the previous “Snapdragon Wear” name, are built on a 4-nanometer process. The last generation of Qualcomm’s chip for wearables was built on a 12-nanometer process. Processors are made up of transistors, and the size of those transistors is measured in nanometers. As you go smaller, you decrease the distance that electrons have to travel inside the chip, so you end up with speedier processing, less heat, and lower power consumption.

Tiny Chips

Going from a 12-nm process to 4 nanometers is a startlingly big jump. Apple hasn't shared the transistor size on its latest S7 chip powering the Apple Watch Series 7, but it's likely built on a 7-nm process, potentially making the new W5 chips some of the most efficient wearable processors on the market.

Qualcomm claims the 30 percent reduction in size halves the chip's power consumption while doubling its performance. This means you can expect smartwatches utilizing the chips to be smaller (or the same size with room for beefier batteries). But the more important metric is that Qualcomm says battery life is 50 percent longer when compared to smartwatches using its prior Wear 4100+ chipset, which usually lasted a little more than a day, depending on the watch.

“This is not another chip launch,” says Pankaj Kedia, global head of Smart Wearables at Qualcomm. “This unleashes a new era in wearable computing. We hope to change the dynamic in the industry in wearables and make them indispensable because you can do all the things you ever wanted to.”

The second piece of big news is that Qualcomm says it has moved several core functions off the main processor and on to a 22-nm coprocessor. Wearable chips of late come with a primary processor and a coprocessor, the latter of which manages most of the ambient tasks (like the always-on display), allowing the main processor to kick in only when you interact with the device. This strategy reduces overall power consumption.

One such example is moving Bluetooth (5.3) into the coprocessor, which no longer needs to wake the main processor up when you simply receive a notification alert from your smartphone. Qualcomm says this translates to 57 percent lower power consumption for notifications compared to the last-gen Wear 4100+ chip. Some always-on health features can also rely on the machine learning core in the coprocessor, such as activity recognition, sleep tracking, and fall detection, meaning these functions might not cost you as much battery life as before.  

Only the W5+ Gen 1 has a coprocessor; the W5 Gen 1 omits this and is primarily meant to be used in watches for seniors and kids, where you'll want some of the primary functions—like GPS—to be on all the time so you can check whether your loved one made it home on time.

These chips also have a modem that has all the radio-frequency bands necessary to work anywhere in the world. Most smartwatches with an LTE (or 5G) connection today won't connect universally in every country as the modem has limited band support, but that won't be the case here.

Tick Tock

The big question is how well the W5+ Gen 1 will work with Google's Wear OS operating system. Many Wear OS watches use Qualcomm's processors, and those devices that have the Wear 4100 chip have yet to receive the latest version of Google's Wear OS. There is some good news here. Qualcomm says it's been working with Google to optimize Wear OS for its newest chip family, and Google confirmed that smartwatches with W5+ Gen 1 will only launch with the very latest version of its software.

The first smartwatch to use the W5 Gen 1 will be from the Chinese phone manufacturer Oppo, which will be launching the Oppo Watch 3 in August. Device maker Mobvoi will be releasing a new TicWatch running Google's Wear OS powered by the W5+ Gen 1 later this year. Qualcomm says there are more than 25 other designs in the works utilizing these chips from a variety of different manufacturers. 

Jitesh Ubrani, an analyst at the International Data Corporation, says all eyes are on Qualcomm for this wearable chip release. “When the 4100 launched, Qualcomm faced an uphill battle and there were things working against them because Wear OS wasn’t ready. The latest version of Wear OS came out late last year and some vendors held off on adopting the latest processor because they couldn’t get the latest version of the operating system to work on that chip. But Wear OS is ready for prime time now.” 

Apple, however, still maintains a sizable lead in the smartwatch space. In the first quarter of 2022, it shipped more than 8.5 million units, with Samsung in second at 3.2 million and Google in fifth at 607,000. But competition is ramping up. Not only are new smartwatches on the way with Qualcomm's chips, but Google is set to release a Pixel Watch later this year (notably powered by a Samsung processor) and Samsung is expected to announce a new Wear OS-powered Galaxy Watch in August.

Qualcomm’s New Smartwatch Chips Promise Big Battery Life Gains

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While the official launch date is still under wraps, the Pixel 6a India pricing seems to have leaked before its official launch. Leakers based in India have somehow managed to unveil the box price of Google Pixel 6a. The box price is INR 43,999, and according to leaker Abhishek Yadav, the Indian variant could launch at a retail price of around INR 37,000. In the US, it starts at $449 (? INR 35,000).

The original Google Pixel 6 skipped the Indian markets, leaving Pixel fans in the country disappointed. But a more budget-friendly Pixel 6a could be the best bet for price-sensitive markets like India. Below are the specifications of the 6a.

GOOGLE PIXEL 6a SPECIFICATIONS

Google Pixel 6a features a 6.2-inch flat OLED display with a single centered punch-hole camera. The 6a is also expected to have dual rear cameras and a single LED flash. The Google Pixel 6a has a dual rear camera setup, consisting of 12.2 MP, f/1.7, 27mm, (wide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, and 12 MP, f/2.2, 17mm, 114? (ultrawide), 1.25µm. It also has a single selfie camera of 8 MP, f/2.0. For computational power, the 6a will use the Google Tensor chip based on the 5nm process.

It is equipped with 128GB UFS 3.1 storage and 6GB RAM. The phone is powered by Li-Po 4410 mAh battery, with support for up to 18W fast charging.

Other features include a USB Type-C and an in-display fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, and barometer.

This is how much the Google Pixel 6a could cost in India

Up until now, Google Play displayed permissions that an application needed to function. All applications have access to a base set of permissions that are not highlighted, but anything that goes beyond that needs to be specified in the application's manifest.

When you browse apps or games on Google Play now, you may notice that the permissions listing is no longer available. It appears that Google decided that the new data safety listing is sufficient in this regard.

Publishers are required to provide data safety information, as Google made it mandatory. It is up to the publisher to fill out the information though. Neither the Google Play application nor the Google Play store website list permissions anymore.

Google has not revealed why it decided to remove the option to view application and game permissions on its Android store. It is possible that Google thought that the new Data Safety listing is sufficient, or that permissions could scare users.

There are still options to display permissions.

How to display Google Play Store permissions

Android users have some options when it comes to displaying application permissions. One option would be to analyze an application's manifest file before installation, but this is time consuming and not really that practical.

A better option, highlighted by Mishaal Rahman on Twitter, is to use the open source Aurora Store application. Aurora Store is available on F-Droid, a free and privacy focused Android marketplace.

Aurora Store is a frontend for Google Play, which means that it pulls data directly from Google's Store. Unlike Google Play, it provides users with important information, including permissions that applications request. The app lists trackers that are included in applications and games as well, which is another useful information.

A click on the permissions listing of an app in Aurora Store displays all the permissions that it requests. Note that Aurora Store does not display the Data Safety information yet in the interface.

With Aurora Store installed on the Android device, you could use it to look up the permissions of an app or game. Whether you install it from Google Play or through Aurora Store then is up to you.

Closing Words

The removal of permissions from Google Play is a step in the wrong direction. Google is still focused on limiting information and functionality to create a frictionless yet limited experience for its users. Users who need more information or options need to look elsewhere once again to obtain those.

Now You: what is your take on the removal of permissions on Google Play?

App Permissions are no longer displayed on Google Play

ETNews has reported the first details of Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 devices. According to the publisher, The Z Fold 5 will have a triple rear camera setup, with 50MP ISOCELL GN3 as the primary camera. It will also use a 12MP selfie front camera. However, the company may either upgrade the under-display selfie camera or completely remove it. The camera details of the Z Flip are not available at the moment.

Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 both will use Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, whereas the Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 will be powered by Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. And that’s all details the news outlet has published about their specifications.

Aside from the specifications, the publisher has revealed that Samsung is planning to sell over 10 million units of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Flip 5 in the second half of 2023 alone. Of these 10 million total units, eight million units will be the Galaxy Z Flip 5, while the Z Fold 5 will sales target is only 2 million units. The combined sales target of Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Z Fold 4 is 15 million units.

Samsung is expected to host an event in August to launch Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4. As per various rumors, the official launch will take place on August 10. Samsung will announce the official launch date in the coming days, hopefully before the end of July.

Let us know in the comments if you are excited about Samsung’s next-generation foldable phones.

via 9to5google

Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 details leak for the first time