Back in September, it was reported that Apple is introducing the capability to add digital IDs such as state-issued identification and driver's license to its Wallet app. The feature was slated to arrive in late 2021 according to the company's website and there were also reports that taxpayers would be footing the bill for it. Now, it seems that Apple has delayed the capability to early next year.

As spotted by MacRumors, Apple has quietly updated its dedicated iOS 15 website to indicate that the ability to add a state ID or a driver's license to Apple ID has been delayed to "early 2022". No official reasoning has been provided for the delay. The time frame is a bit vague as well but at this time, it's safe to say that the feature will be rolled out in the first half of 2022. That said, it is important to note that the latest iOS 15.2 beta does not include this capability either.

Apple had previously stated that the first states to support digital IDs in Apple Wallet would be Arizona and Georgia, with Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah to follow later. The company had highlighted that due to its integration, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will enable select checkpoints at airports where Apple Wallet users can verify their identity before boarding a plane.

Apple said that this gives people a more secure and convenient way to present their driver's license and state IDs to authorities. The Cupertino firm has emphasized that IDs are encrypted so they cannot be tampered with, and that Apple Wallet will communicate with identity readers using secure channels. It remains to be seen when the capability will eventually become available to Apple customers.

Apple Wallet's digital ID capability delayed to 2022

An APK teardown by 9to5Google has revealed details regarding its cameras and processor.

The Google Pixel 6a will feature 3 cameras, 2 rear and one front-facing:

• 12.2-megapixel IMX363 primary – the same camera sensor as the Google Pixel 5a.
• 12-megapixel IMX386 ultrawide
• 8-megapixel IMX355 front-facing – this is the same sensor as the Google Pixel 6

The team was also able to confirm the Google Pixel 6a will use the same Google Tensor GS101 chip as the Pixel 6, meaning good performance at a much lower price.

Renders of the device have already been leaked, courtesy of tipster @OnLeaks(via 91mobiles).

Pixel 6a design

According to the leaked renders, the upcoming Google Pixel 6a looks no different than the original Pixel 6 smartphone. The smartphone features the same camera bar like the one in Pixel 6. It also features a glass back and a dual-tone design, similar to its elder brother.

Google Pixel 6a confirmed to have Google Tensor processor

When your phone's battery level is low, you probably only have yourself to blame. But it's nice to have someone else to pin it on, too—or rather, something. Phone-storage app company pCloud decided to help out by analyzing app permissions to find which are operating in your phone whether you're using them or not.

The methodology involved looking at which functions the apps used (such as location or camera), how much battery power those require, and whether the apps in question have a dark-mode setting. By those standards, the top five biggest drains are Facebook, Fitbit, Skype, Uber, and Verizon.

Not so coincidentally, the apps that are the biggest time sucks are also among the biggest battery drainers. Social media and dating apps are the most guilty of this. Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Snapchat, YouTube, and WhatsApp are in the top 20, and all permit 11 features to run in the background. Online dating can be emotionally exhausting, and your phone feels the same way. Bumble, Grindr, and Tinder account for 15% of the top battery-draining apps. They let about 11 features run while you swipe on potential matches.

You can see which apps are using the most battery power on your own device by going into settings, selecting battery, and looking at battery usage by app. You just might find that your Twitter habit is 59% of your phone activity. (I'm not naming names here. OK, it's me.)

Changing your behavior is obviously one way to save battery life, but if you want to go the path of least resistance, we've got easy battery-saving tips for iPhone and Android users that are more set-it-and-forget-it.

Source

 

Image: Google

 

Google announced it’s updating the Gmail iOS widget with a new one that’s actually useful, showing you the subjects and senders of the emails sitting in your inbox. The company says the new widget will be “launching in the next few weeks,” to replace the previous version that wasn’t particularly well-received. This also means that, as 9to5Google points out, this means that Gmail’s iOS widget will have the same functionality as the current Android one.

 

When the first version of the Gmail widget launched, we pointed out that it isn’t particularly helpful. It really only provides shortcuts to different screens on the app like your inbox and the email composer. Critically, it doesn’t actually show you much information about the emails you’ve received, though it does tell you how many are sitting unread in your inbox.

Part of the old widget’s lack of functionality was due to Apple’s limitations. You’re currently not allowed to build interactivity into your widget, and any tapping the user does has to be handled by launching the app. Those rules haven’t substantially changed since the first widget was introduced, but the new design shows that there’s still room for useful information. You may not be able to archive an email from your home screen, for example, but you’ll at least be able to get a feel for what’s waiting in your inbox.

  Image: Google

Google also announced other upcoming improvements to its apps that could be useful for heavy users of its services. Meet (it’s business-focused video chat app) is getting support for iOS’s picture-in-picture feature, so you can still see your co-workers or the presentation while you switch apps to check on a file or email. Google also says it’ll expand the keyboard shortcuts available for people who use Google Sheets with an external keyboard (including Apple’s Magic Keyboard case).

Gmail’s upcoming iOS widget could actually be useful

Judge orders Apple to allow external payment options for App Store by December 9th, denying stay

A collection of 151 scam apps have been discovered and removed from the Google Play Store, but Android users need to check they don't have any of them installed (or did in the past).

As BGR reports, the cybersecurity software company Avast recently discovered a widespread premium SMS scam operating on the official Play Store. Avast has dubbed it the UltimaSMS campaign (because the first scam app the firm discovered in its investigation was Ultima Keyboard 3D Pro), and it consists of 151 fake apps that have been downloaded over 10.5 million times in more than 80 different countries.

The apps disguise themselves as legitimate tools across multiple app categories including custom keyboards, QR code scanners, video and photo editors, spam call blockers, camera filters, and games. However, they all ultimately have the same aim of signing users up to premium SMS services.

Each app follows the same pattern: Once installed, the phone's location, International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), and phone number are checked to discover the area code and language to use. Prompts then ask the user for their phone number and sometimes their email address, too. This information is then used to subscribe the user to premium SMS services without them realizing. The charges are typically $40 or more a month and it can take weeks or months for a user to realize.

Once an UltimaSMS app has achieved its goal it either stops working or offers more subscription options rather than the promised functionality it was downloaded for. The problem is, even if a user uninstalls the app at this point the premium subscriptions will continue to take money from their accounts.

Avast created a list of all 151 apps that are part of this scam, and they are listed in the chart below; every Android user should take a look. If you have any of these apps installed (or did in the past), uninstall them immediately, but also check your statements and contact your carrier if you spot any unusual charges. It should also be possible to ask your carrier to disable premium SMS options on your account if you want to avoid this type of scam in the future.

This isn't the first time and certainly won't be the last time we see phone users targeted with scam apps. Malware is also a serious problem, with over 10 million Android phones found to be infected with the GriftHorse malware last month.

< View the list of 151 apps on the source page. >

Source

Steve Wozniak on Apple’s iPhone 13: “I can’t tell the difference”

The Google Pixel lineup of smartphones has had a history of issues, including the original Pixel, Pixel 2 XL, and last year's Pixel 5 as well. This year, however, Google says that the flickering issue can be fixed with a software update on the Pixel 6 Pro.

Pixel 6 Pro users noticed that when the device is off, pressing the power button with even a slight pressure activates a strange flicker on the screen. Do note that this pressure is very slight and does not actually turn the phone on. Google acknowledged this issue on its support website.

In order to avoid seeing this, according to Google, do not cycle the power button. Hold the power button down long enough to turn it on. Additionally, the company notes that it's not a hardware issue.

Google says that the issue will be fixed with the December software update for the Pixel 6 Pro. The Pixel 6 Pro comes with a 6.7-inch QHD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It is slightly curved at the edges and blends with the aluminium rails along the sides.

Google: Pixel 6 Pro screen flickering will be fixed with a software update

Apple is always keen to add health and safety features to its devices, and it looks as though car accident detection could be the next one rolled out.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, documents reviewed by the newspaper and people familiar with the feature have revealed a "crash detection" system for iPhones and Apple Watches. Either device would gain the ability to detect when a car accident occurs and react to it by automatically dialing 911, potentially saving lives.

The detection would rely on data collected from the sensors contained in both Apple's smartphones and smartwatches. In order for it to be reliable, Apple's engineers must have discovered a way to accurately detect a car accident from motion sensing data, most likely from the accelerometer. A sudden spike in gravity forces is one example given as a way of detecting such an accident.

Apple has apparently been testing the feature for a year using data collected anonymously from iPhone and Apple Watch users. Over 10 million vehicle impacts have been detected this way, 50,000 of which resulted in a call to 911. The information from the impacts and emergency call is fed back into the crash detection system to improve its accuracy.

It's unclear when exactly Apple will introduce the new detection feature, but it's expected to be next year. The company may wait until the launch of the iPhone 14, but a lot will depend on how reliable the system already is in testing and how many existing generations of iPhone and Apple Watch it's capable of working with.

Source

Microsoft is working on an update for email service Outlook that will help users eliminate mistakes from their messages.

As per a new entry in the company’s product roadmap, Outlook will soon benefit from Microsoft Editor functionality on mobile platforms.

“This feature brings the goodness of Microsoft Editor to Outlook mobile,” Microsoft explained. “We’ll offer users spelling, grammar and refinement suggestions as they type.”

The new integration is currently still under development, but is scheduled to roll out to users of the mobile email clients by the end of next month.

Microsoft Outlook on mobile

With many workers still preferring to work from home than return to the office, the number of emails flying back and forth is still at an all-time high. The latest data from Statista suggests 319.6 billion emails are currently delivered each day, up from 306.4 billion in 2020.

Inevitably, with many of us composing a larger number of emails (and working a greater number of hours), mistakes are more likely to creep in - sometimes with embarrassing or even disastrous consequences.

Although Outlook on desktop (along with the rest of the Microsoft 365 suite) has benefited from Microsoft Editor functionality for a while now, the move to bring spelling and grammar checks to the mobile client will hopefully minimize the opportunity for typos and other mistakes.

In a similar vein, Microsoft also recently announced it is bringing text predictions to Outlook for Android and iOS. In addition to providing an efficiency boost for users in a hurry, the text predictions feature also acts as another route to eliminating language errors from emails.

This pair of updates also caters to the large section of employees that have transitioned to a hybrid working model, whereby their time is split between the home, office and any other location. With the partial return of the commute, a larger number of people are likely to be using the Outlook mobile clients, and will therefore benefit from the new facilities Microsoft is rolling out.

Source

iOS 15.1 and iPadOS 15.1 most notably add SharePlay, a flagship feature intended for iOS 15 that didn't make the annual release's launch last month.

SharePlay is Apple's word for a suite of features that allows consumption of content with other callers inside a FaceTime call, like watching synchronized streams of Apple TV+ shows and Apple Fitness+ workouts. There's also an API to allow third-party applications to offer the same features.

The update additionally brings ProRes video-capture support to the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max—another feature that missed the initial launch window.

Other additions include the ability to store proof of COVID-19 vaccination in the Wallet app, a toggle for automatic camera switching when taking macro photos, and several bug fixes.

Here are the full release notes for iOS 15.1:

iOS 15.1 adds SharePlay, an entirely new way to have shared experiences with family and friends in FaceTime. This release also adds the ability to capture ProRes video using iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, as well as verifiable COVID-19 vaccination cards in Apple Wallet, and includes other features and bug fixes for your iPhone.

SharePlay

- SharePlay is a new way to share synchronized experiences in FaceTime with content from the Apple TV app, Apple Music, Fitness+, and other supported App Store apps
- Shared controls give everyone the ability to pause, play, rewind or fast forward
- Smart volume automatically lowers the audio of a movie, TV show or song when your friends speak
- Apple TV supports the option to watch the shared video on your big screen while you continue the FaceTime call on iPhone
- Screen sharing lets everyone on a FaceTime call look at photos, browse the web, or help each other out

Camera

- ProRes video capture using iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max
- Setting to turn off automatic camera switching when taking macro photos and videos on iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max

Apple Wallet

- COVID-19 vaccination card support allows you to add and present verifiable vaccination information from Apple Wallet

Translate

- Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan) support in the Translate app and for system-wide translation

Home

- New automation triggers based on the current reading of a HomeKit-enabled humidity, air quality, or light level sensor

Shortcuts

- New pre-built actions let you overlay text on images or gifs, plus a new collection of games lets you pass the time with Siri

This release also fixes the following issues:

- Photos app may incorrectly report storage is full when importing photos and videos
- Weather app may not show current temperature for My Location, and may display colors of animated backgrounds incorrectly
- Audio playing from an app may pause when locking the screen
- Wallet may unexpectedly quit when using VoiceOver with multiple passes
- Available Wi-Fi networks may not be detected
- Battery algorithms updated on iPhone 12 models to better estimate battery capacity over time

On the iPad, the update adds the above listed features and support for Live Text in the Camera app. With Live Text, the Camera can detect text, phone numbers, addresses, and more, with the feature available on iPads that have an A12 Bionic chip or later. Live Text was already available on the iPhone.

For information on the security content of Apple software updates, please visit this website: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT201222

Apple also launched watchOS 8.1, which mostly fixes bugs, but which also adds the same COVID-19 proof-of-vaccination feature we just saw in iOS. It also includes support for SharePlay on Fitness+ content.

Likewise, tvOS 15.1 is a minor update that fixes bugs and implements SharePlay support in tandem with iOS.

All three updates should be available globally to most users on supported devices today.

iOS 15.1 brings delayed SharePlay feature to iPhones and iPads

October 23rd, 2021 marked the 20th anniversary of the most iconic music player in history, the iPod. Apple's once leading music product has seen sales of over 400 million units to date as reported by Cult of Mac. Although there had been rumors swirling about a Fall 2021 revision of the iPod Touch, nothing has come of it quite yet. Even though the iPad has been relegated to a product buried in the Apple Store online not immediately apparent to purchase, it has seen such popularity through the years that more than 10 models in total ranging from the original iPods, iPod minis, iPod shuffles, and iPod nanos have been released.

Blog writer from Panic, Cabel Sasser, has shared a first look at a very early prototype of the original iPod intended to mask the actual product design while development was occurring. Having seemingly aged through the years, what was most likely a white body has now taken on a yellowish appearance.

Despite the behemoth size of this unit, it shares a display identical in size to the original consumer iPod. The prototype unit also included a standard headphone port as well as FireWire like the original iPod. A large scroll wheel was featured at the top left of the unit which, according to one of the founders of the iPod Tony Fadell, was poorly functional.

Other parts of the button interface include an Up, Down, Left, and Right selection that may have corresponded to Menu, Play/Pause, Back, and Forward respectively.

Despite the lack of similarity in physical aesthetics between this prototype and the original iPod released, the unit does date to September 3rd, 2001 indicating a date close to the release of the original iPod on October 23rd, 2001.

For more pictures, and a much more detailed look at the prototype unit, check out the Panic's blog.

20th Anniversary of iPod and a look at an early prototype

The design appears to be similar to the original AirPods Pro, except it is missing the optical sensor, corroborating the move to a new skin sensor as found in the AirPods 3. If this design proves accurate it appears Apple has abandoned its plans to go stem-less.

The case also has speaker holes, reportedly because Apple will introduce Find My for the case and buds separately, allowing the case to play a sound when you can not locate it.

The case also appears to feature a metal loop which would allow a strap, a new feature for Apple’s bud cases.

The AirPods 2 are expected to launch some time in 2022.

via MacRumors.

Don’t buy the AirPods 3, the AirPods Pro 2 are coming soon

The Microsoft Surface Duo 2 has only been officially released two days ago, and Microsoft is already ready with its first post-launch firmware update.

As can be expected the update is designed to address any bugs not caught before shipping.  It takes the firmware to version  2021.827.34 and has the following changelog:

• 2021.827.34 – Improves the stability of the device

Like the Surface Duo, Microsoft has promised 3 years of software updates for the Surface Duo 2, though we know when it comes to OS updates Microsoft has been rather lacklustre, still not shipping Android 11 for the original device of course.

Three years is also not the best in the industry with all the latest Galaxy smartphones eligible to get the benefit from fours years of software updates. To put it in perspective, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 will get fours years of updates, while Surface Duo 2 will stop receiving them three years after launch.

On the bright side, however, Surface Duo is confirmed to get the Android 11 update by the end of this year, though the exact release date is still not known.

The new Surface Duo 2 features Dual PixelSense Fusion Displays (5.8” touchscreens open to 8.3”). The displays also support a 90Hz screen refresh rate and are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. The dual-screen smartphone is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor and has a triple camera setup, which is consists of a 12 MP telephoto, a 12 MP wide-angle, and a 16 MP ultra-wide. The Surface Duo also has what is called a Glance Bar, allowing you to check incoming calls and messages, adjust the volume, and check battery life while charging. You can check the full Surface Duo specs here or purchase one starting from $1499 at Microsoft here (Microsoft Surface Duo 2).

via WBI

The Microsoft Surface Duo 2 gets its first post-launch firmware update

For the first time ever, Google’s new phones are powered by a Google-designed chip, giving the company an Apple-like level of control over the inner workings of the new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. But if you were hoping that meant they’d also get an Apple-like level of new OS updates, the company is throwing a bit of cold water on that. Google’s support page shows it’s only promising to offer Android updates through October 2024 (via Android Police), a total of three years after release.

“Users will still get at least 3 years of OS updates, after which we’re committing to ensure that Pixels will stay up-to-date and secure,” Google tells The Verge. “The frequency and categories of updates will depend on the capabilities and needs of the hardware.”

While Google prominently announced during its Tuesday keynote that the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro would get five years of security updates — two years more! — it seems that Android version updates (like Android 11, Android 12, etc) are another story. And though Google is technically saying it will offer new versions of Android until “at least” October 2024, the company hasn’t historically gone above and beyond those sorts of promises.

Meanwhile, the six-year-old iPhone 6S recently got an update to iOS 15.

Google’s Pixel 6 doesn’t come with five years of Android updates — only three

Google has already outlined the new abilities of its Tensor chip so now it’d be an ideal time to focus on what the Camera Bar delivers. Both phones feature a 1/1.3 inch sensor on the back which captures up to 150% more light compared to the primary camera on the Pixel 5. This ensures that your pictures and videos pick up greater detail and use richer colours.

Accompanying the main camera are new ultrawide lenses that feature larger sensors meaning your photos still look great when you want to fit more in. If you’re lucky enough to pick up a Pixel 6 Pro, you’ll also get a telephoto lens with 4x optical zoom and up to 20x zoom with Pixel’s improved Super Res Zoom. In terms of video, both models are capable of capturing in 4K.

While the hardware is nice, Google has included several software solutions that professional photographers will find very helpful. Probably the most impressive software tool is Magic Eraser which Pixel 6 owners can use through Google Photos. It lets you make a ring around items that you wished weren’t in your shot and as if by magic they’re removed from the photo.

Other nice features available with these cameras include Motion Mode which offers you tools such as Action Pan and Long Exposure which bring movement to shots and Real Tone which attempts to take more equitable photos. According to Google, cameras have been designed to take photos of people with light skin for decades and with Real Tone it hopes that photos will look good no matter a person’s skin colour.

Both the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro come with Android 12 which has received a significant revamp compared to Android 11. Both phones also have great security features with the inclusion of the next generation Titan M2TM which works to protect your data, PINs and passwords. To ensure you get more bang for your buck, Google has promised to supply five years worth of security updates to these devices, although, it’s not clear how many Android upgrades that includes.

You can pre-order these devices now from the Google Store, they will ship out on October 28.

Google's Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro will cost $599 and $899 respectively

Learn more about the Google Tensor from the people that designed it.

The Pixel 6 is official, with a wild new camera design, incredible pricing, and the new Android 12 OS. The headline component of the device has to be the Google Tensor "system on chip" (SoC), however. This is Google's first main SoC in a smartphone, and the chip has a unique CPU core configuration and a strong focus on AI capabilities.

 

Since when is Google a chip manufacturer, though? What are the goals of Tensor SoC? Why was it designed in its unique way? To get some answers, we sat down with members of the "Google Silicon" team—a name I don't think we've heard before.

 

Google Silicon is a group responsible for mobile chips from Google. That means the team designed previous Titan M security chips in the Pixel 3 and up, along with the Pixel Visual Core in the Pixel 2 and 3. The group has been working on main SoC development for three or four years, but it remains separate from the Cloud team's silicon work on things like YouTube transcoding chips and Cloud TPUs.

 

Phil Carmack is the vice president and general manager of Google Silicon, and Monika Gupta is the senior director on the team. Both were nice enough to tell us a bit more about Google's secretive chip.

 

Most mobile SoC vendors license their chip architecture from ARM, which also offers some (optional) guidelines on how to design a chip using its cores. And, apart from Apple, most of these custom designs stick pretty closely to these guidelines. This year, the most common design is a chip with one big ARM Cortex-X1 core, three medium A78 cores, and four slower, lower-power A55 cores for background processing.

 

Now wrap your mind around what Google is doing with the Google Tensor: the chip still has four A55s for the small cores, but it has two Arm Cortex-X1 CPUs at 2.8 GHz to handle foreground processing duties.

 

For "medium" cores, we get two 2.25 GHz A76 CPUs. (That's A76, not the A78 everyone else is using—these A76s are the "big" CPU cores from last year.) When Arm introduced the A78 design, it said that the core—on a 5nm process—offered 20 percent more sustained performance in the same thermal envelope compared to the 7nm A76. Google is now using the A76 design but on a 5nm chip, so, going by ARM's description, Google's A76 should put out less heat than an A78 chip. Google is basically spending more thermal budget on having two big cores and less on the medium cores.

 

So the first question for the Google Silicon team is: what's up with this core layout?

 

Carmack's explanation is that the dual-X1 architecture is a play for efficiency at "medium" workloads. "We focused a lot of our design effort on how the workload is allocated, how the energy is distributed across the chip, and how the processors come into play at various points in time," Carmack said. "When a heavy workload comes in, Android tends to hit it hard, and that's how we get responsiveness."

 

This is referring to the "rush to sleep" behavior most mobile chipsets exhibit, where something like loading a webpage has everything thrown at it so the task can be done quickly and the device can return to a lower-power state quickly.

 

"When it's a steady-state problem where, say, the CPU has a lighter load but it's still modestly significant, you'll have the dual X1s running, and at that performance level, that will be the most efficient," Carmack said.

 

He gave a camera view as an example of a "medium" workload, saying that you "open up your camera and you have a live view and a lot of really interesting things are happening all at once. You've got imaging calculations. You've got rendering calculations. You've got ML [machine learning] calculations, because maybe Lens is on detecting images or whatever. During situations like that, you have a lot of computation, but it's heterogeneous."

 

A quick aside: "heterogeneous" here means using more bits of the SoC for compute than just the CPU, so in the case of Lens, that means CPU, GPU, ISP (the camera co-processor), and Google's ML co-processor.

Carmack continued, "You might use the two X1s dialed down in frequency so they're ultra-efficient, but they're still at a workload that's pretty heavy. A workload that you normally would have done with dual A76s, maxed out, is now barely tapping the gas with dual X1s."

 

The camera is a great case study, since previous Pixel phones have failed at exactly this kind of task. The Pixel 5 and 5a both regularly overheat after three minutes of 4K recording. I'm not allowed to talk too much about this right now, but I did record a 20 minute, 4K, 60 FPS video on a Pixel 6 with no overheating issues. (I got bored after 20 minutes.)

 

So, is Google pushing back on the idea that one big core is a good design? The idea of using one big core has only recently popped up in Arm chips, after all. We used to have four "big" cores and four "little" cores without any of this super-sized, single-core "prime" stuff.

 

"It all comes down to what you're trying to accomplish," Carmack said. "I'll tell you where one big core versus two wins: when your goal is to win a single-threaded benchmark. You throw as many gates as possible at the one big core to win a single-threaded benchmark... If you want responsiveness, the quickest way to get that, and the most efficient way to get high-performance, is probably two big cores."

 

Carmack warned that this "could evolve depending on how efficiency is mapped from one generation to the next," but for the X1, Google claims that this design is better.

 

"The single-core performance is 80 percent faster than our previous generation; the GPU performance is 370 percent faster than our previous generation. I say that because people are going to ask that question, but to me, that's not really the story," Carmack explained. "I think the one thing you can take away from this part of the story is that although we're a brand-new entry into the SoC space, we know how to make high-frequency, high-performance circuits that are dense, fast, and capable... Our implementation is rock solid in terms of frequencies, in terms of frequency per watt, all of that stuff. That's not a reason to build an all-new Tensor SoC."

 The “Google Silicon” team gives us a tour of the Pixel 6’s Tensor SoC

At its event today, Google announced the release of Android 12, one of the biggest upgrades to the mobile operating system in a few years. As is typical with Android releases, owners of a Pixel 3 or above are being prioritised and will get the upgrade on their devices today.

This update focuses on three main areas: personality, privacy and ease of use. In terms of making the experience personal, the entire Android 12 experience changes to match whichever wallpaper you pick. The new design language is called Material You, it updates all aspects of the phone to match the wallpaper you pick. You’ll notice alterations on your lockscreen, notifications, settings, widgets and even in apps to make the Android experience feel a lot more coherent.

In order to make Android 12 more personal to those with disabilities, Google has added new accessibility settings such as a window magnifier that lets you zoom in on a part of your screen while preserving the rest of the screen context. If your minimum brightness setting is still too bright, you can turn on extra dim screen lighting and if you’re having trouble reading text, you can enable bold text or turn on grayscale to make the job a bit easier.

The next big change to Android 12 is the improvements to privacy that it brings. For example, you can now see when an app is using your microphone or camera with a new indicator in the status bar, you can stop either of these sensors from being used via toggles in Quick Settings. Other options allow you to provide a fuzzy location, check your privacy permissions at a glance through the privacy dashboard and unused apps will have to ask you to approve permissions again.

In terms of making things easier, Android 12 allows you to take scrolling screenshots so you can grab a whole app in one shot, you can play games while they download, Wi-Fi credentials can be shared with Nearby Share and it’s now easier to switch to Android using just a Wi-Fi connection or a cable if you’re switching from iPhone.

To learn more about Android 12, head over to the Android website. Samsung Galaxy, OnePlus, Oppo, Realme, Tecno, Vivo and Xiaomi devices will start to get Android 12 later this year.

Google releases Android 12 for Pixel 3 devices and above

Google Pixel 6 USA pricing leaks online, cheaper than its predecessor

A 20 minute hands-on video with the Microsoft Surface Duo 2

Microsoft is now pushing the October 2021 update to the Surface Duo smartphone, taking the build number 2021.913.25 (North America), 2021.913.26 (Europe) and 2021.913.27 (AT&T Locked Device). The update adds no new features, as you’d expect from a monthly security update.

The update weighs in at 51 MB and contains the October 2021 Android security update. You can read the official changelog below.

Changelog

Meanwhile, Surface Duo users can wait for the update to be pushed out to them, or they can download it by Checking for Updates in the System Update section of the Settings app. It’s worth noting that the Surface Duo is yet to get the Android 11 update but Microsoft has promised to deliver it some time this year.

Surface Duo starts getting October 2021 update

One of the advantages of buying a Pixel phone is that you get software support for a long time, and more importantly, you get them in a timely manner. However, when it comes to software support, it’s Samsung that promises to deliver updates for four years, which is more than what others are currently offering. This may change soon as Google will reportedly push four major Android updates to the Pixel 6 series and one year of extended security updates—that’s five years of software support if you do the math.

Rumors of the Pixel 6 getting five years of software support have been doing the rounds for the last couple of days, but we didn’t have the clarity on what the rumors actually mean until reliable tipster SnoopyTech did the hard work for us. Confirming the rumors to be true, the tipster says that Google Pixel 6 series will get four OS upgrades and five years of security patches. The tipster also claims that multiple sources verified the information.

However, we don’t know whether the new update scheme covers old Pixel smartphones as well. But as for the Pixel 6 series, it will get Android 13, 14, 15, 16, and it’s expected that Google will deliver these updates in a timely manner, thus continuing the tradition.

If Google manages to pull it off, the company will have an edge over its competitors like Samsung primarily because of two reasons: Samsung currently offers two to three major updates to some of its Galaxy smartphones and four years of security patches, and the other reason is that Samsung has earned notoriety in delaying the delivery of security patches. Pixel smartphones are unlikely to face any of the issues.

Meanwhile, Google will hold a special event on October 19 to launch a plethora of new devices, including Pixel 6, the new Pixel Watch, new Nest speakers. Rumors also suggest that Google also has plans to showcase the much-hyped Pixel Fold at the event. Of course, only time will tell whether these rumors are true.

via 9to5google

Google Pixel 6 to reportedly get four major Android updates and five years of security patches

Currently, WhatsApp allows you to create backups of all your chats and store them on online storage services. For iOS users, your backups are stored on iCloud, and for Android, they are stored on Google Drive.

While conversations on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted (e2ee), the backups stored on cloud services are not and could theoretically be accessed by anyone who has access to your phone or takes it over via a SIM swap attack.

By backing up your chats, if WhatsApp is ever installed again on your current device or a new one, the app will restore your backed-up chat messages.

WhatsApp gets end-to-end encrypted chat backups

Starting today, Facebook announced that WhatsApp is rolling out a new feature where you can perform end-to-end encryption of your chat backups, regardless of where they are stored.

While this feature is not rolled out to everyone yet, users will be able to assign a password that only they know to be used to encrypt backups before they are uploaded to iCloud or Google Drive.

"You can now secure your end-to-end encrypted backup with either a password of your choice or a 64-digit encryption key that only you know," Facebook announced today.

"Neither WhatsApp nor your backup service provider will be able to read your backups or access the key required to unlock it."

Users must also use this same password to restore any backups in the future, preventing them from being accessed by anyone else.

Facebook states that they are rolling this feature out slowly to those running the latest version of WhatsApp, so it may take some time before it reaches everyone.

When it is rolled out to your device, you can enable WhatsApp end-to-end encrypted backups using these steps:

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Open Settings.
3. Tap Chats > Chat Backup > End-to-end Encrypted Backup.
4. Tap Continue, then follow the prompts and enter a password or key when asked.
5. Tap Done, and wait for WhatsApp to prepare your end-to-end encrypted backup. While creating an encrypted backup, the app may prompt you to connect your device to power.

Once end-to-end encrypted backups are enabled, you will not be able to restore any backups to your device without knowing the password.

You can always disable this feature by going back into the End-to-end Encrypted Backup setting and turning it off.

WhatsApp rolls out iOS, Android end-to-end encrypted chat backups

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