Apple also pushed out new versions of iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS.

Apple releases iOS 15 with Focus mode and more

Rumors say Google will combine Samsung-style foldables with an iPad-style app dock.

Google’s foldable phone plans include two devices, Android 12.1 release

The FCC has however spoiled their surprise somewhat, revealing the Surface Duo 2 is a significantly updated device that finally matches the standard of other modern-day flagships.

The listing confirms that the handset will feature 5G, WIFI 6, UWB, NFC and “wireless power transfer”, all technologies missing from the current version of the device.

The WC, who spotted the listing, notes that the Wireless Transfer may however not be wireless charging, but may have to do with charging a Surface Pen wirelessly.

An earlier leaked Geekbench listing shows the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 will be powered by Snapdragon 888 chipset coupled with 8GB of RAM, though it doesn’t mean the Duo 2 won’t have a higher RAM variant. It’ll also pack a Adreno 660 GPU for graphics performance and is powered by Android 11.

Earlier leaked photos have also shown the device will have 3 rear cameras and a front-facing camera.

The full FCC listing can be seen here.

via the WC

Surface Duo 2 FCC listing confirms 5G, WIFI 6, UWB, NFC and “wireless power transfer”

Microsoft is now pushing the September 2021 update to the Surface Duo smartphone, taking the build number 2021.817.35(North America), 2021.817.37 (Europe). The update adds no new features, as you’d expect from a monthly security update.

The update weighs in at 76.18 MB and contains the September 2021 Android security update. You can read the official changelog below.

Changelog

It’s worth noting that the Surface Duo is yet to get the Android 11 update. What’s even worse is that Microsoft didn’t share anything about the availability of Android 11 for the Surface Duo smartphone.

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.

Surface Duo starts getting September 2021 update

Google Play Services update will soon strip unused apps of their permissions.

Android 6 and up will start stripping unused apps’ permissions

Google blazes its own trail for its first SoC design.

Google's best image of the Pixel 6 Pro.

First image of article image gallery. Please visit the source link to see all images.

What in the world is going on?

Google is building the Pixel 6, and with it, the company is dumping Qualcomm and introducing its first in-house main SoC (with help from Samsung): the "Google Tensor SoC," aka "Whitechapel." Other than some talk about Google's special AI sauce, there's hasn't been much info about the core parts of Tensor like, say, the CPU. A reasonable expectation for a company building its first SoC is that it won't be too ambitious—we would expect Google to play within the guardrails set up by ARM, and after shipping a modest, cookie-cutter SoC, the company would learn from its first design and iterate. But a new report from XDA Developers' Mishaal Rahman claims that even with its first design, Google isn't afraid to blaze its own trail in SoC design.

Recall how ARM SoCs generally come with three tiers of CPU cores: a big CPU for bursty processing tasks like app-launching, medium cores for sustained performance, and small cores for background duty and low-power processing. Rahman says he has a source with a real-life Pixel 6 Pro and offers the following CPU specs: two 2.8GHz Cortex-X1 cores, two 2.25GHz Cortex-A76 cores, and four 1.8GHz Cortex-A55 cores.

If that information is true, Google's lineup of CPU cores will be unlike anything else on the market. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 and Samsung's Exynos 2200 both have one Cortex X1, three Cortex A78s, and four Cortex A55s. You aren't supposed to have two X1 cores. These are the big cores that can do some serious processing, and cramming two of them into a smartphone could lead to incredible performance. Or it could lead to extreme overheating. You're also not supposed to use A76 cores, which are from last year. Every other company's "medium" cores are the newer, faster A78 cores.

Compared to the typical design, Google swapped out one of the medium cores for a second big X1 core and then turned down the remaining medium cores by switching to cores from last year. Maybe downgrading the remaining medium cores is an attempt to balance the heat output? At launch, ARM said a 5 nm Cortex A78 had 20 percent better-sustained performance in the same thermal envelope as a 7 nm Cortex A76. But since Google is using 5 nm A76s, the A76 cores should be putting out less heat than the A78.

Frankenchip

So what exactly is the goal here? Is Google trying to seize the Android benchmark crown with this dual X1 Frankenchip? It would be a shame to spend all these engineering resources on a custom solution and turn in a medium-performance benchmark when chips with medium-performance benchmarks are readily available, out of the box, from several vendors. There's a lot of effort being spent here that will hopefully pay off somehow.

The Android community's collective head-scratching Tensor journey started with this surprise entry in the Geekbench 5 database, which lists a "Google Pixel 6 Pro" with that unprecedented 2 x 2 x 4 core layout. Geekbench info reads from an easy-to-fake file, but this entry didn't seem like a fake since it was already completely unbelievable on its own. Rahman says, "The build fingerprint, kernel version string, CPU frequencies, CPU clusters, GPU info, and more match the values from our source’s Pixel 6 Pro." So it is very likely that this entry shows a legit Geekbench run.

And for a flagship smartphone, this Geekbench 5 score is terrible. A Snapdragon 888 scores somewhere in the range of 3300-3500, while Google's Pixel 6 is scoring lower than a Pixel 4. We would guess that this is due to lots of optimization and configuration work that still needs to be done and that it would be wrong to draw any conclusions from the score.

We're starting to get a clearer picture of what's in the Google Tensor SoC, even if the real-world performance is still a wild card. Samsung's Exynos unit is helping design the chip, and the other core components are very Samsung-y. The GPU is reportedly the same as the Exynos Galaxy S21, an off-the-shelf ARM Mali G78. The modem is also from Samsung (an Exynos 5123), which will mark the first time in a while that an Exynos modem has come to US shores. Google is hyping up the AI-centric parts of the chip design and promises that the chip will power onboard voice transcriptions.

Because it has access to someone with a Pixel 6 Pro, XDA was also able to corroborate plenty of the other specs that have been floating around. The Samsung-made 50MP "GN1" image sensor for the main camera represents the Pixel line's first image-sensor upgrade in several years. That rectangular camera part is a 4x optical telephoto lens powered by a Sony 48 MP IMX586, while the wide-angle camera continues Google's love affair with Sony image sensors from 2016—it's a 12 MP IMX386.

Other reported specs promise a computing powerhouse with a huge 5000 mAh battery, 12GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and Wi-Fi 6E. After taking a year off with the Pixel 5, Google seems to be returning to the flagship race.

Google is certainly hyping the Google Tensor SoC in its advertising. In Japan (which is apparently Google's new second-favorite country), the company is celebrating its first-ever in-house SoC by selling "Google Original Chips" on the Google Store—these are literally bags of edible potato chips, styled after each color of the Pixel 6. They all come in a "Googley Salty Flavor" and even have a big stripe across them to match the camera block. The video ad for the chips—in which a woman charges a bag of Pixel potato chips with a USB-C plug—is really something.

We still have no idea when this phone is actually coming out. Android 12 is rumored for October 4—so a release would presumably be sometime after that.

Listing image by Google

Shocking Pixel 6 rumor lists Google SoC with two ARM X1 CPU cores

(To view the article's image gallery, please visit the above link)

The mystery of Google’s upcoming SoC gets stranger

 

Google’s rumored Pixel 6 Tensor processor sounds extremely weird

Previously it was only available to WhatsApp Testflight users on iOS, which is an extremely limited and mostly closed group of users.

If you have version 2.21.180.14 of the app, you may be offered the prompt to link devices.

You can link up to 4 devices, including a macOS/Windows computer, a WhatsApp Web session, or a Portal, but only one, your main device can be a phone.

Once linked, you can send messages without your phone needing to be connected to the Internet.

The feature may be rolling out gradually to users, so be sure to update your app regularly.

via XDA-Dev

WhatsApp multi-device support now available on iOS

The tech giant unveiled the final version of iOS 15 on stage during the launch of its newest devices, including the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPad 9th gen and iPad Mini 6th gen.

IOS 15 adds a slew of new features including SharePlay, which allows you to FaceTime with your friends while watching shows and movies, listening to music. It's sort of like Teleparty (formerly Netflix Party), in that you can watch movies in sync with your group. The new feature also supports screen-sharing.

Toggle Focus mode to work on a particular task, without being distracted by notifications. Speaking of notifications, iOS 15 improves alerts by adding contact photos and app icons on the lock screen. The improvements added to Safari in iOS 15 are quite good too, the browser's tab bar has been moved to the bottom, which makes switching between tabs easier.

The Tab Groups feature allows you to save your tabs in groups, and also syncs across devices. iOS 15 also brings support for Safari extensions. Don't get your hopes up for using uBlock Origin on iOS 15, Safari does not allow web extensions to access blocking requests.

App Privacy Report helps you analyze how apps are accessing your permissions, and how they connect to third-party servers, i.e. to track you. The Mail app's privacy protection hides your IP address, and also prevents senders from knowing if you've opened the message.

IPadOS 15 improves multi-tasking with a new menu, that lets you switch to full screen mode, slide over and Split View (side-by-side) modes. The layout is customizable, so you may choose which apps you want to work with.

Jump between open windows by tapping the shelf, which is like the Windows Taskbar or Task View. While we're on the topic of switching apps, you can use Split View in the App Switcher screen too.

If you like Widgets, you're in for a treat. iPadOS 15 lets you place widgets on your home screen, and there are plenty to choose from. The operating system introduces a new gesture, where you swipe up from the corner, to bring up the Quick Note panel, that you can use to jot down notes, it also supports the Apple Pencil.

If you're wondering whether your iPhone or iPad will get the latest OS update, we've got you covered.

List of iPhones eligible for the iOS 15 Update

• iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus
• iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone X, XR, XS, XS Max
• iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone SE 1st and 2nd gen
• iPod Touch 7th gen
•  

List of iPads that will get iPadOS 15

• iPad Air 2
• iPad Air (3rd and 4th gen)
• iPad (5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th gen)
• iPad Mini 4
• iPad Mini (5th and 6th gen)
• iPad Pro (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th gen)
•  

In case you missed it, Apple rolled out an emergency update for iOS and MacOS devices yesterday, to fix an exploit related to the Pegasus spyware.

References and Image Credits: Apple 1, 2

Apple has been really impressive when it comes to OS updates. OS Fragmentation has always been a thorn in Google's side, thanks to the difference in hardware in Android devices. But Android OEMs are playing catch up, a few have promised to deliver 3 major OS upgrades, but even that's limited to flagship devices.

iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 to release on September 20th; here are the list of devices that will get the update

Xiaomi today announced Pad 5, a new Android 11 tablet with premium features and an affordable price tag. The Xiaomi Pad 5 comes with an 11-inch WQHD+ LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 500 nits brightness, and support for HDR 10 and Dolby Vision. For a  great audio experience, Xiaomi has included quad speakers and Dolby Atmos support.

Xiaomi Pad 5 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 processor, up to 8GB RAM, and 8720mAh battery with support for fast charging. The Pad 5 also comes with a 13MP rear camera with flash and an 8MP selfie camera. Despite packing all these technologies, the Pad 5 is just 6.85mm thick and weighs just 515 grams.

You can buy Xiaomi Pad 5 in Cosmic Gray and Pearl White colors.

Pricing:

• 6GB RAM/128GB – €349
• 8GB RAM/128GB – €399

Source: Xiaomi

Xiaomi announces Pad 5 Android tablet with premium features and an affordable price tag

Google's document for device manufacturers lists a launch day and support timelines.

Android 12 is reportedly due out on October 4

Users of the Pixel 3, 4a and 5 reported that despite setting alarms, the app appears to be forgetting them, with the alarms not showing as “upcoming” and not going off as scheduled. For some reason, they still show up as “missed” afterwards, however.

At the time we reported that Google was aware of the issue and is working on a fix.

Now Google support on Reddit has announced the fix is available, though it would require an update to both the Google Clock app and Spotify.

Google earlier confirmed the Spotify integration was causing the missed alarms.

The latest version of the Google Clock app is version 6.41 and it can be found in the Google Play Store here.

via XDA-Dev

Google release fix for unreliable Google Clock app

Apple’s app store policies have caused controversy and consternation many times over the years, but few periods have been as active and strange as the last two weeks. For the first time, we are seeing Apple being forced to react directly to lawsuits and regulators with substantial policy changes.

The biggest example has of course just happened today: a ruling from judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Epic v. Apple case. Apple must now allow apps to link out to other purchasing options in addition to in-app purchases. But that follows two court case settlements and a new law in South Korea that also have implications for how Apple treats developers. The pace of change is increasing and instead of leading, Apple is reacting.

Apple will surely appeal the Epic ruling, but even if it ultimately loses, there’s a good chance that it won’t be enough to appease the legislators and lawyers who are circling Apple’s store as the main way to rein in Apple’s power. And there’s an even better chance that the developers who must try to navigate all those rules will also continue to feel like Apple is spending more effort protecting its profits than empowering developers.

Here, then, is a very brief history of the major policy changes and statements Apple has made about the App Store over the years. The impetus for these different changes (or, as Apple tends to call them, “clarifications”) has varied, but the trend has remained the same. Apple has worked hard to keep the fundamental, central model of a 30 percent cut intact while softening it around the edges to appease various constituencies.

But just take a look at the timing and cadence of these changes. After a development period from 2007 to 2011 when Apple fills out the features, there’s a large gap when Apple made few notable policy changes. Then, a major shift in 2016 to address some growing discontent among developers. And then, starting in the summer of 2019, there is an ever-increasing cadence of controversies and policy tweaks to address them.

As time goes on, policy changes are coming faster and the hairs Apple is splitting are getting thinner. My instinct is to say that enough is enough: Apple should just make a couple of sweeping changes and get it all done at once.

Clearly, Apple doesn’t agree.

Instead, the company is in a defensive crouch, stepping back only when forced and as little as possible. That might be a good strategy to make sure every regulator feels like it got its pound of flesh and thus minimize the change Apple will have to make, as Steven Sinofsky speculated, but it’s a terrible strategy for making developers — and customers — feel good about the App Store.

June 11th, 2007
At WWDC, Steve Jobs says that Apple won’t have the ability for developers to install “native” apps, but instead will need to use web apps. It was the infamous “sweet solution.”

Oct. 17th, 2007
Apple changes its mind as it becomes clear that the demand is there (and as the home brew app movement gains momentum). It announces it will release an SDK for the iPhone.

July 10th, 2008
The Apple App Store for the iPhone launches with 500 apps and a 30 percent cut of all sales going to Apple.

August 7th, 2008
In an interview with Nick Wingfield, Steve Jobs says of the App Store that “we don’t expect this to be a big profit generator.”

June 8th, 2009
Apple announces that developers will be able to add in-app purchases using Apple’s payment processing (and 30 percent cut). It limits in-app purchases to paid apps, however.

Oct. 15th, 2009
Apple changes its mind and allows in-app purchases to be extended to free apps. It drives a huge shift in business models for many games.

Feb. 1st, 2011
Apple begins rejecting apps that don’t use its in-app purchasing system. It rejects Sony’s e-reader app. Apps are not allowed to link out to purchase or subscription pages within their apps, even if the user completes the purchase in a separate browser window.

Feb. 15th, 2011
In a big new push to bring news and magazines into Apple’s ecosystem, it launches subscriptions on the App Store for publishers. Fees are still 30 percent, and Apple makes it easy to unsubscribe — and hard for publishers to gather data about their readers.

July 28th, 2011
As we learned in discovery for the recent Epic v. Apple case, an Apple executive suggests cutting App Store commission in an internal email on this date. As we all know, that didn’t happen.

Jan. 15th, 2014
Apple settles a case with the FTC over in-app purchases and offers consumers $32 million in refunds. It’s a response to a raft of apps using tricky tactics to get in-app purchases. Over time, more parental controls, restraints on those purchases, and oversight on apps are added.

Nov. 9th, 2014
Apple changes the button naming on the App Store from “free” to “get,” to better reflect that some games have in-app purchases.

June 16th, 2016

In a massive and consequential change to the app economy, Apple introduces a much-expanded model for subscriptions for apps. It was big enough that our article on the event dubbed it App Store 2.0. The changes included dropping Apple’s fee to 15 percent after the first year of subscription revenue. This is also when Apple introduced the concept of the “reader app”, a controversial category that allowed users to access subscription content purchased elsewhere (like Netflix or Kindle) but disallowed linking out to those purchase options. Finally, Apple announced it would begin introducing ads in App Store search.

The change was so big that at that year’s WWDC, Apple commissioned a graphic novel where the art told one story but all the text was literally the App Store rules. In one section, we see the story of a son getting a haircut for his father’s funeral while the captions list the “acceptable” business models in the App Store.

Nov. 1st, 2016
A 2020 House subcommittee investigation revealed that in 2016, Amazon has a secret deal with Apple that grants it lower fees than were available to other developers. Earlier in 2020, Apple had attempted to claim the deal was an “established program for premium subscription video entertainment providers.” Even if it was “established,” it certainly wasn’t widely known.

June 5th, 2018
During its Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple quietly updates its guidelines to allow for so-called remote mirroring apps like Steam Link. It didn’t allow for full game services on the App Store, but carved out the ability to mirror a PC on an iPhone or iPad.

April 28th, 2019
A controversy grows over Apple’s crackdown on developers who use enterprise tools for managing iPhones to offer parental controls to consumers. Eventually, Apple needed to publicly explain why it was banning those apps. The move was viewed as anti-competitive because Apple had its own parental controls. Apple countered that those enterprise tools could be misused by hackers in a consumer context.

May 29th, 2019
Apple publishes a new webpage (since changed) titled App Store Principles and Practices. It was essentially a marketing page designed to explain Apple’s rules for the App Store and why it believed those guidelines protected consumers.

June 4th, 2019
In another quiet update during WWDC, Apple updates its guidelines to allow enterprise tools to be used for parental controls, allowing them to use mobile device manager and VPN APIs.

July 12th, 2019
Apple begins restoring banned parental control apps to the App Store following the controversy earlier in the year.

April 1st, 2020
This is the date we officially learned about the so-called “established” program for video streaming providers to bypass the 30 percent fee for individual video rentals and purchases.

June 22nd, 2020
In what turned out to be a big controversy for the App Store, an email app called Hey is banned because it did not offer a way to sign up for the $99 / year service inside the app itself. At issue was that “reader” app category — only those types of apps were allowed to use that business model and Apple said email didn’t count. On this date, Hey made a minor change to its app to skirt Apple’s requirement that apps provide functionality without an outside subscription and so Apple approves the Hey email app.

August 6th, 2020
In a new battle, streaming games platforms like Stadia and Microsoft’s xCloud are officially banned from the App Store. Apple’s ruling requires every game on the services to be submitted individually — a nonstarter for those services. Ultimately both would eventually return as browser-based apps after Apple quietly added the necessary Safari support for them to work.

August 13th, 2020
Apple kicks Fortnite off the App Store following Epic’s gambit to add its own in-app purchases to the game. It would kick off a huge battle — both in the court of public opinion and in actual court. The Epic v. Apple case would turn out to be a major event in the App Store saga, revealing all sorts of internal emails and ultimately leading to consequential rulings.

Nov. 18th, 2020
In an attempt to hang on to its 30 percent cut but still grant smaller developers some concessions, Apple introduces the “App Store Small Business Program.” Developers who make less than $1 million per year were allowed to apply to join the program and have their cut reduced to 15 percent.

Sept. 11th, 2020
Apple makes it official that streaming game services are allowed in the App Store, but only if each game inside the services are submitted individually. It is still not enough for Stadia and xCloud.

June 23rd, 2021
In a new 16-page report, Apple lays out its arguments against allowing sideloading iPhone apps in a report titled “Building a Trusted Ecosystem for Millions of Apps,” claiming the practice would make its phones less secure and trustworthy for users.

August 26th, 2021
Apple announces another new program offering a lower rate to a subset of developers. Under the new program, news publishers that participated in Apple News to a sufficient degree qualify for a 15 percent cut on their other apps instead of 30.

August 26th, 2021
Apple settles a class action lawsuit with developers. In the proposed settlement, the company “clarifies” that developers are allowed to email their users directly with information about how they could subscribe to services outside the App Store. It’s unclear if this is actually a change and even if it is, it’s a tiny one.

August 31st, 2021
A new law in South Korea requires both Google and Apple to allow for third-party payment systems on apps in their respective app stores. It’s too soon to see how the companies will react and what the law’s effect both inside and outside South Korea will be.

Sept. 1st, 2021
In another lawsuit settlement, Apple concedes to let apps like Netflix, Spotify, and Kindle have a single link out to their payment services inside their apps. It’s a tiny crack in the so-called “anti-steering” rules, but it’s limited to a single link and limited to the so-called “reader apps” category that Apple itself has defined.

Sept. 10th, 2021
Apple rules that it won’t allow Fortnite to return to the App Store in South Korea, despite the new law there.

Sept. 10th, 2020
In a huge ruling in the Epic v. Apple, the judge says that Apple is “permanently restrained and enjoined from prohibiting developers from including in their apps and their metadata buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms, in addition to In-App Purchasing and communicating with customers through points of contact obtained voluntarily from customers through account registration within the app.” It is also established that Apple does not have an illegal monopoly.

Appeals from both Epic and Apple are expected.

The Apple App Store: a brief history of major policy changes

Google has released the final beta build of Android 12 adding a couple of changes to the overall design of the OS. A new lock screen shortcut, a new clock widget, and a redesigned calculator app, a new widget called “Paint Chip” are some of the headline features of the Android 12 Beta 5 update.

 

As pointed out by 9to5Google, the Clock app now respects the Material You colors — it’s now responsive to your wallpaper’s color. The Clock app also has a revamped timer, and it looks beautiful. The final beta update extends the availability of the Material You design to the Calculator app as well. The buttons in the Calculator app are now circled, and that makes it a lot like the iOS Calculator app.

Apart from extending the availability of the Material You design to some of its stock apps, Google has also added changes to other areas of the OS. For example, the final beta build adds a universal search bar within the app drawer of the Pixel launcher, enabling users to search for items like system settings, apps, contacts, and pretty much everything that’s in your phone. Also, the final beta update has added some changes to the lock screen. The updated lock screen now has all your smart home shortcuts and Google Wallet shortcut.

Talking about the Paint Chip widget, it can only be unlocked after dialing the clock in Android 12’s Easter egg to midnight(via XDA). It shows you the color palette, which is generated by monet, of your wallpaper. Tapping on each item will show you the exact color value and framework entry.

The latest beta update also includes other minor changes, you can learn about them in this post published by XDA-Developers. Meanwhile, Google will release the stable Android 12 update in a few weeks, but if you cannot wait to try out the latest version of Android, you can install the beta update on your supported Pixel smartphone. You can follow The Verge‘s guide on how to install the beta update.

Android 12’s last beta build released: new animation and Material You makeover

Google’s latest Instagram post may have revealed Pixel 6 launch date

Last month, Google officially announced that Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro would be the company’s flagship smartphones for this year. The company also gave us a glimpse of how the smartphone will look like, confirming the previously leaked renders. And now that we’re only a few away from the official release date of the Pixel 6 series, the company has released its first Pixel 6 advertisement, showing the smartphone in people’s hands.

 

The advertisement shows the Google Pixel 6 smartphone from every angle, giving us a detailed look at what the smartphone looks like in different colors. However, what we saw in the advertisement is already known to us, thanks to the previous leaks. What is really catchy in the ad is the tagline, which says, “For all you are.” The teaser starts by asking “What if smartphones weren’t just smart.” It’s accompanied by another question: “What if your phone saw you for who you are.” Then the teaser then goes on to show people holding the Pixel 6 smartphone. The end part of the ad reveals a tiny clip of the new Tensor chip and that the Pixel 6 series is “Coming Fall 2021.”

 

GOOGLE PIXEL 6 RUMORED SPECS

According to previous rumors, the Google Pixel 6 Pro measures roughly 163.9 x 75.8 x 8.9 millimeters (11.5 millimeters thickness if you take the camera bump into account). The smartphone features a 6.67-inch curved AMOLED display, in the top middle of which a single punch-hole cutout resides. It’s currently not known whether or not the display will have support for a high refresh rate.

Talking about the camera, the Pixel 6 Pro rocks a triple camera setup, a primary wide-angle camera, a periscope telephoto camera, and an unknown camera, which are accompanied by an LED flash. The camera module also includes a couple of sensors, about which we have no information as of yet. Other features include dual stereo speakers, wireless charging.

Rumor has it that Google will use its own processor called Whitechapel for its Pixel 6 devices. If true, this will be the first time Google will use its own chipset in a Pixel smartphone.

via 9to5google

Google releases its first Pixel 6 advertisement

Google says that the feature will enable spontaneous connections with colleagues that you otherwise would make by casually bumping in the hallway or a break room, back in the pre-pandemic days.

Google Meet calling is a seamless experience of initiating a video or audio call between one or more participants, complementing more structured, scheduled video meetings. Our intention is to bring Meet calling to all the natural endpoints in Workspace where you’d initiate an ad-hoc call including chats, people cards, and spaces, but this will come first to one-to-one chats within the Gmail mobile app.

Once the feature is rolled out, users will be able to call their Workspace colleagues directly from the Gmail app. Doing this will ring their colleague's device, presuming that they already have the Gmail app installed. It might not seem quite the same as a spontaneous hallway conversation, but it is definitely a great way of learning about topics that might not come up in structured meetings.

Google also added a bunch of other updates in Workspace. It introduced "Spaces" which is an expanded version of Rooms. Instead of starting an email chain or scheduling a meeting, teams can come together and collaborate in Spaces to move projects and talk about topics. Google is also streamlining the user interface of Gmail for easy access of inbox, chats, spaces and meetings, all from a single location.

The company also unveiled two new all-in-one video conferencing devices. The One Desk 27 is a 27-inch device that is perfect for small shared spaces while the One Board 65 is a 65-inch 4K device that turns any room or space into a video collaboration hub.

With all these updates, Google is turning Gmail into a complete tool for collaboration, similar to what Microsoft has been doing with Outlook all these years. However, this makes dedicated apps like Google Meet seem obsolete. Whichever might be the case, Google has been putting a lot of work into Gmail in recent years which is great news for both companies and consumers.

Google is adding support for voice calls in the Gmail app

Latest Microsoft Launcher update brings new features and bug fixes

It has Android 11 and an SoC that would be at home in a 2020 flagship smartphone.

The Lenovo P12 Pro, pictured with its keyboard, pen, and kickstand case.

First image of article image gallery. Please visit the source link to see all images.

Android tablets are coming back—honestly—and next out of the gate with a flagship iPad Pro-style tablet (after Xiaomi) is Lenovo. Say hello to the Lenovo Tab P12 Pro, a $609.99 high-end Android tablet with an optional pen, kickstand case, and clip-on keyboard.

In the low-competition world of Android tablets, the P12 Pro looks pretty good. A 12.6-inch, 2500x1600 (16:10) OLED display dominates the front of the device, while the frame and back are aluminum. It's rare to see the Snapdragon 870 SoC that powers the device, but the chip represents a small clock increase to the Snapdragon 865 from 2020 flagship smartphones. It's a 7 nm chip with four Cortex A77 cores and four Cortex A55 cores. The starter model comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and an upgraded SKU comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

There's a 10,200 mAh battery, a fingerprint reader integrated into the side power button, a USB-C port with 45 W Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 compatibility, Wi-Fi up to version 6 (802.11ax) with a 2x2 MIMO antenna, and a microSD slot. There are four speakers, but you'll need to use the included USB-C-to-3.5 mm adapter if you want to use normal headphones. For cameras, you get a front 8 MP sensor and a ToF sensor (presumably for face unlock), plus two rear cameras, a 13 MP main camera and a 5 MP wide-angle. The device ships with Android 11.

If you can't tell from the pictures, there are a few accessories for the P12 Pro, none of which we have pricing info for. Four pogo pins on the bottom of the tablet handle power and communication with the clip-on keyboard. This is a full-size keyboard and trackpad combo, and Lenovo is promising "a satisfying 1.3 mm key travel with a compact 19.0 mm key pitch reminiscent of our beloved, bouncier keyboard technologies." That's on par with many of Lenovo's laptop keyboards. The "Lenovo Precision Pen 3" can magnetically attach to the side of the tablet, where it can be wirelessly charged. You can also use the pen buttons as a remote control for the camera or music player. A kickstand folio case is available as well.

With the P12 Pro, Lenovo is also launching "Project Unity," a Windows and Android pairing system that lets you use your Lenovo tablet as a wireless second monitor for your Lenovo Windows PC. If you're wedded to the Lenovo hardware ecosystem, you can do things like sharing documents across devices or using pen input on your Windows PC via the Android tablet.

There are still a lot of pricing questions for the P12 Pro and its accessories. The base model—Wi-Fi only, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage—will be $609.99 in North America and launches in October. Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will get a cellular version of the tablet, which is not coming to North America, starting at €899.

Lenovo clones the iPad Pro with the $610 P12 Pro

(To view the article's image gallery, please visit the above link)

The update does not bring any UI changes to the browser, unlike on the desktop where it brings Vertical Tab improvements, but it does bring a number of under the hood changes, such as the removal of 3DES in TLS and policies to bypass ClickOnce and DirectInvoke prompts, and of course a number of security improvements.

Microsoft has recently merged the code base for the desktop and mobile versions, meaning features can flow more easily from the desktop to the mobile client. Previously the Edge for Android browser was stuck on Chromium 77, which is far from ideal for security.

You can download the latest version of Edge for Android from the Google Play store here.

via Techdows

Microsoft updates Edge for Android to Edge 93

You can see the image and copy that accompanied the invitation above. As usual, the invitation doesn't reveal much about what to expect. It does note that the event will be an online video stream and not an in-person gathering.

That said, we know more or less what to expect. Apple has held an event like this during the same week every year for a while now, and the announcements have always focused primarily on two products: the iPhone and the Apple Watch. This year, rumors abound of an updated version of Apple's AirPods wireless earbuds, too.

The new iPhones are expected to come in the same four sizes as last year's models: 5.4 and 6.1 inches for the standard iPhone, and 6.1 and 6.7 inches for the "Pro" models, which have to date included improved camera systems and more expensive materials. Each of the new phones is expected to come with a new, faster A15 processor designed by Apple.

Some leakers have claimed that there will be a smaller notch in the screen than other recent iPhones and that at least some of the new phones will sport 120 Hz displays similar to the iPad Pro and some high-end Android smartphones.

The new Apple Watch isn't expected to have any major new sensors, but it is due for a modest redesign.

While there have been several reliable reports that Apple is also preparing to release new Macs and iPads, the company has in the past often announced those products at another event later in the year, so as not to steal thunder from the iPhone, arguably Apple's most important product.

New iPhones also herald the release of a new version of iOS. Apple teased iOS 15 at its developer conference earlier this year. It's currently in beta, but we wouldn't be surprised to see a Golden Master release candidate hit in close proximity to the event.

As always, we'll be covering the event live next Tuesday.

California streaming: Apple’s next big event is on September 14

WhatsApp is working on a way to make it easier to search by date, meaning you can cut down on extraneous hits and zero in faster on important information.

The company has been working on the feature since November last year, and the development is ongoing.

Here is how it works.

 

 

 

 

When doing a search, users will be able to press the calendar icon, and can then use the date scroller to scroll to hits on a particular date.

The feature is being developed on iOS but will presumable also come to Android in due time.

WhatsApp is working on a Search by Date feature

Most Android smartphones receive security and software updates for about two to three years before users are urged to buy new devices. And while Google and Samsung are trying to release these updates more frequently, there are times when these updates can be quite delayed.

Apple sometimes provides updates more regularly for a slightly more extended period. However, neither provides support for up to five or even seven years.

This move from the EU to extend the support period to five years is meant to help the environment by keeping your phone for a longer period. Research has shown that extending the smartphone lifespan by even one year can save as much carbon emissions as removing two million cars off the road.

If we remove the environmental reason for this request for a moment, we can consider the security implications. Setting a longer period for security and software updates can heavily bolster mobile security. According to StatCounter's August 2021 usage share data, slightly more than 40% of Android users run 9.0 Pie or older on their smartphones. This is a substantial number of people who are now vulnerable to attacks because their phones no longer receive the relevant security patches.

However, the EU and now the German Federal Government's proposals are not being met with a lot of enthusiasm. DigitalEurope, which consists of Apple, Samsung, and Google, is actively arguing against both the EU and German proposals. While Apple usually releases about five years' worth of updates, Google Android devices are generally closer to 2.5 years of updates. Even Samsung only agreed to four years' worth of updates at the beginning of 2021.

DigitalEurope is actively pushing for less strict requirements. Among other things, they want to cap software updates at three years and require that only batteries and screens be sold as parts instead of providing camera modules and other spare parts as well.

The EU's proposal to include support, security, and software updates for five years will take effect in 2023. We will have to monitor the situation to see if it will be five or seven years in the end or if DigitalEurope gets some leniency on these proposed extensions.

Closing words

This new requirement for phone makers to provide at least five years worth of security and software updates can mean that you can keep your phone for much longer. This, in turn, can have significant benefits for mobile security and the environment. It remains to be seen for how long the period will be extended, and I look forward to seeing how this matter unfolds.

Germany is pushing phone makers to offer at least 7 years of updates

The processor is expected to be built on a 4nm process and to feature a much-upgraded GPU.

Now some benchmarks for the processor has shown up on Geekbench.

 

 

 

The benchmark shows the processor features a Cortex-X2 Super Core running at 2.42GHz, three 2.17GHz Cortex-A710 Power cores, and four efficiency 1.79GHz Cortex-A510 cores.

It confirms the GPU is the Andreno 730, which is expected to be a big step up from the Andreno 660 in the Snapdragon 888.

The scores are considerably lower than for the Snapdragon 888, but this likely because the processor is being severely throttled.

The chipset appears to be tested on a Vivo device, but there are rumours that the device will show up in the upcoming Huawei P60.

Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 888 processor in December 2020, and will likely announce their new flagship around the same time this year.

via Techradar

Next generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 898 benchmark shows up on Geekbench

Google Clock users are complaining that the app on their Pixel handsets is unreliable, often failing to register alarms.

Users of the Pixel 3, 4a and 5 report that despite setting alarms, the app appears to be forgetting them, with the alarms not showing as “upcoming” and not going off as scheduled. For some reason, they still show up as “missed” afterwards, however.

The issue is showing up on Reddit and also in reviews of the app. One review notes:

“This was my favorite alarm app for years. The last two weeks I have been late to school and work because it stopped working. I even set an alarm and sat there and watched for it to go off… all that happened was my phone screen turned on. (Yes my volume was up). No notification, nothing. I have no other choice than to delete it and find a new alarm app. I am surprised that Google hasn’t fixed this bug yet. Obviously by the number of bad reviews in the last few days I’m not crazy.”

Google appears to be aware of the issue and is working on a fix.

via PhoneArena, SamMobile

Unreliable Google Clock app is letting users sleep in