Microsoft has begun rolling out dark mode for the unified Office app on Android. The theming option for the app was spotted earlier this year and is now being made available to all users, bringing to the app a feature that the Redmond firm says was “highly requested”. Interestingly, there is no word on whether the update with the theming option is heading to the other productivity apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

When Opera Software launched its new Opera GX web browser last year, it did so only for desktop operating systems and not mobile operating systems.

Opera GX turned out to be quite the success for Opera Software, and the company released several updates since the initial release that extended the browser's functionality. Updates introduced a network limiter, Discord support, background music playback, and more.

The main idea behind Opera GX was to create a browser for gamers. Distinguishing factors are the colorful interface of the browser and the integration of game news and information.

Today, Opera Software announced the beta launch of Opera GX Mobile for Android and iOS. Interested users can download the browser for their devices directly from the announcement blog post on the Opera website.

The announcement highlights the following features:

Looking beyond the bold, gaming-inspired design and different color themes, Opera GX Mobile comes with some truely unique features. First off, you get custom navigation with the Fast Action Button (FAB) and haptic feedback (vibrations).

On top of this, you can easily sync your mobile and desktop browsers with the Flow feature – it lets you share files, notes, videos and gaming content like walkthroughs, tutorials and character builds between your devices. Plus there’s instant access to GX Corner – a one-tap space for gaming news, deals and a game release calendar.

Opera GX Mobile displays a handful of important options on first start. You may enable ad-blocking and the blocking of cookie dialogs next to the blocking of cryptomining scripts, switch to another theme, and choose between standard navigation and what Opera Software calls Fast Action Button. All of these options can be changed in the settings later on.

Tip: consider disabling the "extended usage statistics" option while you are in the settings, as it is enabled by default.

Fast Action Button adds a button to the browser that enables users to control various features using it with a single activation of the button. Just long-tap on it to display its menu and search, open or close tabs, or switch to tabs quickly using it. Everything is in reach of the user's thumb. Vibrations are used when you activate the button.

Opera GX Mobile displays game release information, news and other game related information on its new tab page just like the desktop version of the browser.

The browser supports Opera Flow, a synchronization feature to sync data between different mobile and desktop versions.

Here is a release video in case you are interested

Closing Words

Opera GX users who use the desktop version already may be inclined to switch to the mobile version of the browser as well. Maybe not right away, since it is a beta version, but eventually when the first final version is released.

Source: Opera GX Mobile Beta for Android and iOS released

It isn’t Google Reader, but it could be the start of something

Google is testing a new feature for its Chrome browser on Android that lets users “follow” sites to create an updating list of new content they publish. The feature is based on RSS, an open web standard that’s been the backbone of many popular web aggregation tools in the past. That includes Google’s own, much beloved (and now defunct) Google Reader.

The test is small-scale: following sites will only be an option for some US users of Chrome Canary (the bleeding-edge version of Chrome that lets enthusiasts access beta features). Users will be able to follow sites from the browser menu, and updates will be aggregated in a card-based feed that’s shown when users open a new tab. It’s not clear whether this feed is wholly dependent on sites providing RSS support, or if Google will fill in the gaps itself.

Although this is just an early test, it’s nonetheless exciting for a certain sort of web user who misses the glory-days of RSS (and, by extension, a mode of internet discovery and distribution that faded years ago). At its core, RSS allows users to maintain a personalized feed of new content from favorite sites, blogs, and podcasts. And although tools that utilized these feeds were briefly very popular, they were eclipsed for numerous reasons.

Exactly why RSS fell from prominence is complicated. (Here’s a story from Vice and one from TechCrunch that help explain.) But whatever the ultimate cause, many see its demise as a turning point for the web: the moment when decentralized, chronological feeds were replaced by the engagement-driven algorithms of social media giants.

The halcyon days of 2013: the year of Google Reader’s death. 

Image: The Verge

Earlier in March, Qualcomm refreshed the Snapdragon 7 series lineup with the launch of the Snapdragon 780G. While the new chip has only found its way to a single commercial device (the Mi 11 Lite 5G), the San Diego-based chipmaker is adding one more 7 series chip to its portfolio. Meet the Snapdragon 778G: the successor to last year’s Snapdragon 768G.

The Snapdragon 778G retains many of the key aspects of the Snapdragon 780G but settles for a slightly lowered binned GPU and less powerful ISP. At the same time, the chip also boasts a faster CPU, better modem with support for mmWave 5G, and support for faster memory. Just like other Snapdragon 7 series chipsets, the goal with the Snapdragon 778G is to deliver some of the premium features from the top-tier Snapdragon 8 series portfolio in a more affordable package.

In terms of technical details, the Snapdragon 778G isn’t overall that different from the Snapdragon 780G. It has a similar CPU architecture, with an octa-core CPU clocked at up to 2.4GHz with a claimed 40% performance boost over Snapdragon 768G. On the GPU side, the Snapdragon 778G comes with the Adreno 642L, which Qualcomm claims offers up to 40% faster graphics rendering than its predecessor. Qualcomm isn’t detailing the clock speed of the GPU, but it’s most probably clocked at a slightly slower frequency than the Adreno 642 in the 780G.

As for gaming, the chip supports select Snapdragon Elite Gaming features such as Variable Rate Shading (VRS) that helps game developers offer higher visual fidelity while reducing the GPU workload, and Qualcomm Game Quick Touch, which offers up to 30% faster touch response rate in games.

The Snapdragon 778G comes with the Spectra 570L Image Signal Processor. The triple 14-bit ISP can capture concurrent video or image feeds from a primary, ultra-wide, and telephoto sensor. OEMs can configure up to three 22MP triple cameras with Zero Shutter Lag (ZSL), up to 36MP+22MP sensors with ZSL in a dual-camera setup, or up to a single 64MP sensor with ZSL. The Spectra 570L also supports Staggered HDR image sensors for computational HDR video capture, HDR10+ video capture, and burst capture at up to 120fps.

Although the Snapdragon 778G offers similar performance when compared to the Snapdragon 780G, there’s one area where it’s actually superior to its more powerful sibling: memory. The Snapdragon 778G supports LPDDR5 memory chips with a capacity of up to 16GB. In comparison, the Snapdragon 780G only supports LPDDR4 memory chips.

The Snapdragon 778G is also fabricated on TSMC’s 6nm process while the Snapdragon 780G is fabricated on Samsung’s 6nm process. Due to the ongoing global chip shortage affecting many different vendors, including Qualcomm, it seems that Qualcomm is upping the production of its upper mid-tier products to meet demand from smartphone manufacturers.

On the connectivity front, the Snapdragon 778G supports the FastConnect 6700 system, which enables support for WiFi 6/6E, 8×8 MU-MIMO, Bluetooth 5.2, and Snapdragon Sound suite. As usual, OEMs are free to utilize alternative WiFi/Bluetooth chips, so these features aren’t guaranteed to be supported on any given device. On the other hand, mobile data connectivity is handled by the integrated Snapdragon X53 5G modem with peak download speeds of up to 3.7Gbps, 5G mmWave and Sub-6GHz support, Dynamic Spectrum Sharing, 5G SA and NSA, and more. The mmWave 5G part is interesting as the Snapdragon 780G doesn’t support the higher-speed 5G technology.

Availability

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G is expected to arrive in smartphones launching in Q2 2021. Motorola, Realme, iQOO, Xiaomi, Honor, and OPPO are among the list of OEMs who have confirmed to launch a phone with Snapdragon 778G.

In a statement, Motorola says its Snapdragon 778G-powered device will feature the company’s “Ready For” platform. “Ready For” is Motorola’s desktop mode-like feature that debuted with the Android 11 update for the Edge+. While Motorola, Xiaomi, iQOO, and OPPO have not confirmed specific device models, Honor and Realme have commented on which upcoming smartphone models will be powered by the new chipset. Honor has said that its upcoming Honor 50 series will feature the new chipset, while Realme says the “new realme X series” device will feature it. Given that the last Realme X series was the Realme X3, we suspect that the Realme device(s) in question with the chipset will be part of the Realme X4 series.

Source: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G 5G will power a new generation of mid-range 5G phones

That’s a lot of smartphones

There are over 3 billion active Android devices in the wild now. Sameer Samat, VP of product management at Google, announced the news at Google I/O 2021, which is live, but totally online, this year.

Google added over 500 million active Android devices since its last developer’s conference in 2019 and 1 billion devices since 2017. (That was when it hit the 2 billion mark.) The number is taken from the Google Play Store, which doesn’t take into account devices based on Android but that use alternative stores, including Amazon Fire devices and the myriad of Chinese Android-based devices that avoid using Google’s apps altogether. That means the number of active Android devices is likely much higher than what Samat announced on the live stream.

The news feels like a flex against Apple, too. Apple announced over 1 billion active iPhones in the wild earlier this year — a mere third of the number of Android devices. It’s a bold reminder that Apple’s smartphone and tablet dominance is largely limited to the United States and a few other regions. For everywhere else, it’s Android.

Source: There are over 3 billion active Android devices

Google shocked everyone and announced a partnership with Samsung as the companies are joining forces to work on the new ‘Wear’ wearable operating system. The plan is to bring the best things from Google’s Wear OS and Samsung’s Tizen OS, along with some Fitbit sprinkled in. Samsung even went so far as to confirm that its next smartwatch will be powered by Wear, and not Tizen OS.

But what does that mean for Samsung’s existing smartwatches, including the likes of the Galaxy Watch 3 or Galaxy Watch Active 2? Well, Samsung isn’t ready to just leave its customers in the dark, at least, not yet.

Samsung has confirmed that it will continue to support Tizen Galaxy Watches for up to three years, ensuring that your investment doesn’t end up as a paperweight. Truthfully, it wouldn’t be a good look for Samsung or Google if the $400 Galaxy Watch 3 was just thrown to the way-side and never saw another update again, despite not even being a year old yet.

At Samsung, we always put customers at the heart of everything we do. That’s why we are committed to bringing them the best possible smartwatch experiences. For customers who already own the Tizen OS based Galaxy smartwatches, we are continuing to provide at least three years of software support after the product launch.

Thankfully, that’s not the case as the Watch 3 will see updates at least until August 2023. Unfortunately, we don’t have a specific timeline for Samsung’s currently available smartwatches, which also includes the Samsung Galaxy Watch which is a couple of years old at this point.

We’re not exactly sure as to when Samsung and Google will launch the first Wear-powered device, but it’s safe to assume that it would be the Galaxy Watch 4. With Samsung being rumored to launch the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 in August, it would make sense for a new smartwatch to accompany these smartphones.

Source: Despite Wear partnership with Google, Samsung's not giving up on Tizen yet

Google today announced new updates for Google Maps at its ongoing I/O developer conference. The first of the improvements is mainly aimed at reducing hard-braking incidents while driving. Google Maps will use AI to find routes that are less likely to include areas where hard-braking can occur thereby reducing chances of an accident. Google says this update has the potential to eliminate 100 million hard-braking events in routes driven with Google Maps each year.

Next up are enhancements to Live View. The feature is now available directly inside the Maps app and provides important information about establishments around a user, such as how busy they are, recent reviews, and relevant photos. It also includes "helpful street signs" for complex intersections that point users to their places of interest.

The detailed street maps feature introduced last year uses AI to display where sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian islands are, along with the shape and width of a road to scale. This is especially useful when navigating on foot or for those with accessibility needs. The company today announced that the feature will be rolling out to 50 new cities by the end of this year, including Berlin, São Paulo, Seattle, and Singapore.

Live busyness information - a feature that helps users ascertain if a select place of interest is busy or crowded - now shows the relative "busyness" of an entire area by selectively highlighting a neighborhood or part of town. The firm adds that this information will help users gauge how busy an area is, allowing them to save time or stay socially distanced during the pandemic.

Lastly, Google Maps will now tailor its information based on your usage patterns and history, and show only the most relevant places based on time of the day and whether or not you’re traveling. For example, if you regularly open the app early in the morning, it will show you restaurants serving breakfast at that hour, rather than all available places around you.

All of these features will roll out gradually to Android and iOS devices globally.

Source: Google Maps gets a bunch of new features and improvements