Tag Archives: google

Fortnite for Android: Epic tells us why it won’t be on Google’s Play Store

Epic Games confirmed on Friday that it plans to bypass Google’s Play Store for the eagerly awaited Android launch of Fortnite, its galactically popular online shooter. Instead the developer will point visitors to its site to download and install the game.  Installing an app from anywhere but the official app store is known as sideloading, …

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Google’s rumored return to China triggers pointed questions from Senate

Is Google’s Dragonfly real, and does it mean the Silicon Valley company is cooperating with China to censor citizens’ searches? That’s what a bipartisan group of US senators wants to know.  Sens. Mark Warner, Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, Ron Wyden, Cory Gardner and Robert Menendez sent a letter Friday to Google CEO Sundar Pichai asking those questions, after reports Wednesday …

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Google Maps location sharing adds phone battery status

Google Maps has added phone battery status to its location sharing for iOS and Android devices, allowing your contacts to see if you’ll be cut off soon. When a location has been shared, you’ll see that there’s now a battery icon between the distance and the time since the location was shared, as first spotted by Android Police. This way, …

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Moto Z3 specs vs. Galaxy S9, iPhone X, Oneplus 6 and Pixel 2

At a Chicago press event today, Motorola announced the Moto Z3, a premium phone that features a dual 12-megapixel rear camera, 5G support and a splash-resistant design. It joins the Moto Z3 Play, which launched back in June, as part of the company’s high-end line of phones that work with magnetic snap-on accessories called Moto Mods. As Motorola’s flagship phone, the …

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Motorola schools Android P on how to make swipe navigation good

Google’s upcoming Android P software has nothing on the humble Motorola Moto Z3 Play, Moto G6 and Motorola’s other phones for 2018, for one simple reason. You can swipe left to go back. Android P, now in its third and final beta, is Google’s vision of the next version of its Android operating system. This is the software that will …

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Google may launch Android P on Aug. 20

Popsicle? Popcorn? Another P-word treat? Google may be planning to launch the newest version of Android later this month — and finally tell us what that P stands for. On Thursday, serial tipster Evan Blass tweeted an image of a calendar with a P marked on Aug. 20, suggesting Google has plans for the operating system that day. Google revealed …

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Spotify subscribers, Sonos wants to get to know you

Sonos makes higher-end speakers. For the past decade, CEO Patrick Spence said, the company tried to let as many people know that as possible. That’s changing. After Sonos went public Thursday morning, Spence said in an interview that his company will do a lot more to focus its message about Sonos, whose gear is well-regarded among audiophiles but not nearly …

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Voice calls on mobile networks see first

If you feel like you hardly use your phone to actually talk to anyone, you’re not alone.  In 2017, for the first time ever, the number of calls on traditional mobile networks fell in the UK, according to a Thursday report by telecommunications regulator Ofcom. The total volume declined by 1.7 percent, the report says. The survey also highlights how dependent …

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Sprint, looking ahead to merger with T

Sprint continues to chug along with modest customer growth. Not that it really matters.  For the quarter just ended, the Overland Park, Kansas, wireless carrier posted total customer growth of 57,000 net new customers and, most importantly, 87,000 net new phone customers in the lucrative postpaid category.  But ultimately, the results, announced Wednesday, are less relevant than its pending merger …

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How to turn on dark mode for Gmail (or all of Chrome)

You might have seen the news that Outlook.com has a new dark mode and thought, “That’s all well and good, but I use Gmail like everyone else. Where’s my webmail dark mode?” I have good news and bad news for you. The good news? Gmail has not one but two dark mode options. The bad news? Gmail’s dark modes are …

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