CorysTechTime

  Last week, Google announced that a firmware update was on its way to your Pixel Buds A-Series earbuds. Today, I received said update and decided to use the manual method since it's a new feature for the earbuds.  Once your Pixel Buds A are ready to update to the new firmware you will be greeted with a notification. Selecting the notification will bring you to the above image.  Pressing Start will send you to the above-pictured screen reminding you to ensure to snap in your earbuds and keep your case open. The light will be on during the update. Selecting Got it will start the download and then will install. I noticed that the light on the case blinked white and orange during the download. Turned white during the installation and the light turned off about halfway through the process. Updating the earbuds was fairly smooth but not without its faults. The update did complete for me but I was still provided with the above message. I double-checked in settings and... Voil...

  New feature updates are cool and an essential part of a modern-day operating system. What you might not know is that Google tends to update its devices including the Chromecast w/Google TV on the server-side as well. Not sure if this update came way of a server-side switch or through a system app update. Nevertheless, the outcome is still the same in that CCWGT will warn you when the batteries in the accompanying remote are low. By no means am I saying this is a groundbreaking feature but it does show that Google is still refining the device. So, how the feature work is that you will see a notification dot on your profile pic located in the upper right of the TV. Selecting your profile pic brings up Settings, the time, and the notifications area at the bottom. Here is where you will see the Replace Battery Soon message. You can simply clear the notification with the Clear all button or even better just replace the batteries in the remote. Once the batteries are replaced the notif...

This past week Google and Fitbit announced a pretty sweet-looking Charge 5 with some great features to boot. I like what Fitbit has to offer with this device but I couldn't help but think about what is Google going to do this year. Is a Pixel Watch coming in the Fall? What features will it have? I feel like I am in limbo with what I am going to do here. Let me explain... Currently, I am using a Fossil Gen 5 smartwatch and it gets the job done, for the most part. However, as of late the Fossil watch has been prone to show its age and things just don't work as well as it has before. Also, with Wear OS 3 here there is really no future with the Gen 5 smartwatch I have as it will not receive the update. Now, this brings me to my debacle. It's rumored that Google will have a Pixel Watch this year and that would be my preferred choice but there is no real evidence out there. So... Do I wait or go with an option from Fitbit. I tend to favor watches or smarwatches in this day and a...

  Truth be told, I don't have a Pixel 5a 5G and don't plan on ordering one. Not for a while at least. My next phone will be either the Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro. However, I do have a Pixel 5 and there is so much similarity here that I suspect a really good performer in the 5a. Let's talk about what's different. Of the Pixel 5 and the 4a 5G, the 5a has the largest display and the biggest battery. The 5a now has an IP rating of IP67 and a metal frame, unlike the 4a 5G. So far so good with what's different as you can clearly see much-needed improvements. The A-series is not a device where you will see real innovation, however, iterative updates that will improve the overall user experience is the name of the game. Now let's get into what's the same. Well, a lot here is. The one thing that stands out obviously is the overall design and what you get is pretty much a 4a 5G. Design is very subjective so your mileage may vary. I don't mind Google being consistent h...

  Nest introduced a host of new devices last week. In a surprise and after a brief leak on the online Google Store, Google Nest announced a follow-up to just about every device in their current home security lineup. Each product is designed beautifully and I am looking forward to getting my hands on them. The news wasn't all good at least for me as there was one glaring omission. Before I get it to that one device I feel is now missing from their lineup. Let's first cover what was announced. Available now, you have the Nest Cam (battery) for $179 and the Nest Doorbell (battery) for $179. Listed as coming soon are the Nest Cam (indoor wired) for $99 and the Nest Cam with floodlight for $279. Now...The one device I was hoping to see unveiled is a follow-up to the Nest Guard home security system. I have the current model from 2017 and even though it works great it does, however, show its age occasionally when the Nest Detects it connects to wirelessly lose their connection with th...

  Last Monday, Google teased the Pixel 6 and yes the Pixel 6 Pro. I prefer the XL nomenclature but that's neither here nor there. Pixel 6 series sports a radical new design that's reminiscent of the Nexus 6P with the rear camera system stretching all the way across the back of the device. The Pixel 6 will be all Google inside and out with the company also announcing Google Tensor their own in-house chip.  This year's Pixel release seems to be a re-boot of some sort. All-new design, new camera system all powered by their in-house chip. Google says we'll see improvements to existing AI/ML features along with some new ones. Details are non-existent on specs but I didn't expect to hear that now anyway. Google has to save something for the big reveal, right? With the Pixel 6 series, it feels like Google is hitting its stride with its hardware division, to me. It's been a long time coming and with Android 12 just around the corner, I can see a major shift tilting in G...

Last week, Google teased that the Pixel 6 series will be the first devices to sport their new in-house chip, Google Tensor. The announcement focused on Google's AI and ML prowess and how Tensor will help in these areas and push the bounds of what's possible in a modern-day smartphone. In the blog post, Google touts advancement in computational photography and also mentions the Titan M2 security chip for even greater security.  Details are light on the CPU and GPU on the new SOC but I am sure we will hear more about that when the Pixel 6 and  Pixel 6 Pro are announced this fall. I'm excited for what's to come and Google gave me just enough to more than peak my interest. It looks like the Pixel 6 series will be quite the shift of what we are used to seeing from Google and Google Tensor is at the heart of that. Source Google Tensor

  I've been living with the new Pixel Buds A for about 2 months now and have some thoughts. The Buds A checks nearly all the boxes for a set of truly wireless earbuds. Good sound, great connection, hands-free Assistant, excellent minimal design, and solid battery life. I can go on but you get the point. The Pixel Buds A is literally everything I wanted the Pixel Buds to be. Pixel Buds was just too buggy and I am glad that Google went with another chip that allows for each bud to receive a Bluetooth stream from your phone or tablet.  There are two things that stand out to me that make the Buds A an instant hit IMO. The sound and the features Google were able to leave in at this price point. The sound is absolutely amazing, especially at this price point. Music sounds very detailed and crisp while keeping the bass prominent with pretty deep lows. As for features, you get Hey Google, Adaptive Sound, and Android Fast Pair. There is also in-ear detection to pause music when you tak...

  If you didn't already know the Nomad Pixel Buds A-Series case is now available on the Google Store. I had no clue and decided to look on a random Monday and there they were. The case its self is nice. I like the blue color and the feel of the leather material. Pixel Buds A fits perfectly in the Nomad Rugged case which is what you would expect and it has a lightpipe for the LED on the front of the case. The Nomad Rugged case is exactly what I was looking for. I tend to rock cases on all of my devices because I can have butterfingers more than I would like to admit. I find the $30 dollar price point to be fair for the premium case but you may be able to find something cheaper that will suit your needs. I gravitate to build quality and premium materials so don't mind paying a little more. I believe the Nomad Pixel Buds A-Series case is worth a look if you are in the market. https://store.google.com/product/nomad_leather_case?hl=en-US

  Yesterday, when I was doing a little cleaning, minding my own business, I noticed that the OG Nest Hub in my kid's room was rebooting and installing an update. But this did not seem like the average update due to the amount of time it was taking. I knew the update was significant and it was most likely Fuchsia. Google somewhat announced on Twitter last month that Fuchsia OS would be rolling out to the first-gen Nest Hub over the coming weeks and months. Everything looks exactly the same and you probably would not be able to tell if your Nest Hub received the update and I believe that's the point. Google has been working on Fuchsia for quite a while now and this is the first device to run the OS in the wild. Google does not tout any performance gains, however, the Nest Hub seems to be more responsive and smoother when navigating the UI with touch. I also noticed faster loading times when launching videos on Youtube or my Nest cameras. It's not every day a major tech firm l...