CorysTechTime

Sundar Pichai, Google Ceo spoke with CNN on the India COVID situation this morning. Video can be found below if you are interested in hearing what he had to say.

Roku and Google may be going through contract negotiations but something is telling me that this may have something more to do with the new Chromecast with Google TV than the terms and conditions of a deal. If you are unaware, Roku sent their customers an email informing them that the Youtube TV channel may be going away due to ongoing contract negotiation issues with Google. Now, this is not uncommon as huge companies tend to have these spats behind closed doors but this situation was being reported on quite a bit today. Check out what Roku had to say (via The Verge) “Google is attempting to use its YouTube monopoly position to force Roku into accepting predatory, anti-competitive and discriminatory terms that will directly harm Roku and our users,” a Roku spokesperson said in a statement Monday. “It should come as no surprise that Google is now demanding unfair and anti-competitive terms that harm Roku’s users.”​ And now Google’s retort (via The Verge) “We have been working with Roku...

  In a collaboration with Targus, Google’s new laptop sleeve takes me back to the Chromebook Pixel days where it featured a multi-colored light bar. In the end, it's just a laptop sleeve and it works well. There's plenty of padding to protect your laptop. And if you were wondering it does fit the Pixelbook Go. My current laptop of choice. That's pretty much it, it's a laptop sleeve. Below are some pics… Link(s) Targus

  The Nest Hub gen 2 smart display is not that different from its predecessor and that's okay. Where Google made improvements and the addition of sleep tracking makes this device a worthy upgrade. Let's jump right in and talk about it! Starting with the display . It's very good and ideal for photos and screensavers. Video looks good as well, keeping things nice and crispy. Also, the glass goes edge to edge making it easier to clean and keeping unwanted particles. Moving on to sound . This was an area where Google needed to improve and they did just that. Music gets nice and loud with more noticeable bass than the gen 1 model. Vocals come through too so listening to podcasts became a little easier without the need to turn things all the way.  The last things I want to mention are the software and performance . There is a processor update but unfortunately, it does not feel like it. Things can get laggy at times when interacting with the display but it does not hinder the exp...

  I really considered leaving my pretty sweet T-Mobile plan for Google Fi today after hearing the announcement of some new affordable plans. If you didn’t know Google unveiled new Fi plans called Simply Unlimited where they removed some features to bring the price down. I was looking at bringing over 3 lines where I would pay $90 a month plus tax and fees. A good-sounding deal, right? Especially for unlimited talk, text, and data. I currently pay around $135 a month for 4 lines of unlimited everything and I would really like to get this monthly bill to $100 or less. But I found my gotcha moment relatively quick once I looked at the features that are cut out on the website. I was cool with most of the feature cuts Google made but I tend to rely on tethering my phone to devices. If this was included even at lower speeds a probably would have jumped on board. Oh well, I guess it wasn't meant to be. I’ll be monitoring any changes Google may make in the future and go from there. Link(s)...

  After a major release where several new features were introduced in Chrome OS 89 Google released a less feature rich Chrome OS 90. I still enjoy a good OS update and tend to like whatever is new. There are still some goodies in this release and the details can be found below. The answers you need, one tap away You might already use your Launcher to search your Drive, your apps, local files, Google and more – all from one place. Now it can also be your go-to for simple calculations, looking up the weather, or checking a word definition or stock price. Just tap the Everything Button and type “weather” or your math question into the search bar, and the result will automatically pop up. So you’ll quickly find out whether you need a sweater for your mid-afternoon walk, or what 42 times 96 is. There’s no need to open another Chrome browser tab or app to quickly get the answers you need. Troubleshooting at your fingertips Technology is great when it works well, but when it doesn’t, it c...

  Today Google released its third and final version of the Android 12 Developer Preview. Next month we should see the first beta where there will be even more changes. Highlights mentioned in today's release can be found below. Improved web linking - In Android 12 we’re making some changes to help users get to their content faster and more seamlessly. First, we’ve changed the default handling of links that aren’t verified through Android App Links or manually approved for links by the user. Now the OS will directly open them in the default browser, rather than showing a chooser dialog. To make it easier for users to approve your app for links, we’ve added a new Intent that takes them to “Open by default” in Settings. If you want to ensure that only your app can handle links from your domain, you can use App Links. We’ve added new adb commands to help you configure and test your links. More here. Rich haptic experiences - We’re expanding the tools we offer for creating informative...

  If the Google Photos Android app on Chrome OS is any indication of Android apps future on Chromebooks I would say things are trending in the right direction. The Google Photos app just about mirrors what's available on the web except for some differences here and there. But the Android app of Google Photos offers offline support and you can even upload as well. Unfortunately, the Youtube Music app is a far cry from the Google Photos on capability and fit and finish. There is no uploading support and the only notable feature compared to the Youtube Music web app is the ability to cast on the Android app. In short, the YouTube Music Android app is an Android tablet that is not bad but is not quite ready for Chrome OS.  Google may have something if they can update the Youtube Music Android app to function as the Google Photos. But don't stop there, add this capability, look and feel to all of your first-party apps and set the standard for developers on the platform. Compose for...

Don't get me wrong. The Google Calendar app on Android doesn't look dated but it's not as modern looking as the rest of Google's app. Google Calendar is the last major Google app not to adopt the new design scheme. You know the ones with the Google profile pic in the upper right corner of the app. Functionality-wise the app is fine. It's my preferred calendar app by a wide margin and it just seems to work reliably. Google Tasks integration is also a nice addition. I can see all the tasks I designated myself all in one app without the need of opening up a separate app.  Design-wise the app can use a little love. I for one would like for Google to get rid of the hamburger menu. Not sure how they would do the redesign but I'm sure they can figure it out. Also, this would be a good time for Google to bake in a better tablet app design as well as Chrome OS support. It's only a matter of time, I guess before Google updates the app. Hopefully, all OSs (Android, Chr...

  Long story short a prominent leaker leaked a story on Twitter. A website not known for leaks corroborates the story citing two independent sources but something is telling me that one of them was the original leaker. In the end, Google had to come in and clean up this mess by announcing the existence of an unreleased Pixel phone. The Pixel 5A 5G.  Here's what a Google spokesperson said via The Verge Pixel 5a 5G is not cancelled. It will be available later this year in the U.S. and Japan and announced in line with when last year’s a-series phone was introduced. Leaks are cool but they can go horribly wrong fast. It sucks that Google has to respond to stories like these from time to time and in this case I'm glad that they did. Link(s) The Verge