In this week’s top stories: Huawei was caught claiming DSLR photos were taken on a smartphone, the Google Store sees a refresh highlighting Google’s hardware brands, adjustable “Hey Google” sensitivity outlined, and more.
Filed under bizarre controversy this week, Huawei, a company known for putting fantastic camera capabilities into their phones, has been caught once again substituting a smartphone photo with one from a professional camera. In a video advertising a photo contest for the Huawei P40 Pro, the company was found to have included two photos taken with a Nikon D850 DLSR camera instead of a Huawei phone, though they’ve since claimed that this was an honest error.
Still, that feels untruthful. Over the past few years, Huawei has done this time, and time, and time again and every time, the excuse is that it was a mistake of one form or another. Huawei isn’t the only company that’s been caught doing this, but it’s still pretty obvious that the intention is just to fool customers into thinking the camera is better than it is.
For some folks this week, the Google Store saw a minor refresh that changes the focus from Google’s various products to their respective brands. For example, instead of “Connected Home,” the store will offer “Nest,” and instead of “Gaming,” you’ll see “Stadia.”
An additional benefit of this tweak is a narrower bar, while the site recently added a “Stay connected with helpful tips from Google” card that links to official tweets. This Google Store brand change is available on the desktop site for some as part of an A/B test, but Google has yet to update the mobile variant.
On the Assistant side of things, many are excited about the upcoming ability to adjust how sensitive a particular smart speaker is to the phrases “Hey Google” and “Okay Google.” After surfacing in an APK Insight teardown back in January, the feature was confirmed by Google to be arriving to the Google Home app in the “coming weeks.”
On the new settings page, you’re presented with a simple slider with three increments. To the left of “Default” is “Least sensitive” and to the right is “Most sensitive.” The latter option is useful in noisy environments, while those living in smaller areas will benefit from the former to make sure only the device closest to you picks up.
With many of us stuck at home these days, having a consistent source of entertainment is an absolute . If you don’t have a video/media streamer in your life or are in the market for an upgrade, our Damien Wilde is ready with five reasons why your next video player should be the Google Chromecast.
Finally, with the launch of the OnePlus 8 series, OnePlus has also done some revamping to their camera app, bringing it up to version 4. The new menus allow quicker access to the camera’s various settings as well as the ability to tap into Google Lens.
At present, as notes, OnePlus Camera v4 only appears to work or be available to those with the OnePlus 8 series handset. It simply won’t work or run on older devices — I can confirm issues when trying to sideload the apk file on my OnePlus 7T. However, we do expect an official update to come either as part of an OTA upgrade, Open Beta update, or the Google Play Store. Until they rollout, you’ll just have to be patient.
Android 11 |
- Google releases Android 11 DP3 ahead of first Android Beta
- Android 11 DP3: ‘Recents’ multitasking redesigned w/ bigger panels, new buttons
- Android 11 DP3: Status bar padding bug cuts off time, battery level on Pixel 4
- Here’s everything new in Android 11 Developer Preview 3 [Gallery]
Android TV |
- Google Home 2.21 hints at in-app Android TV set-up process [APK Insight]
- Nvidia Shield TV gets Prime Video update to fix ongoing 4K issues
- Spotify redesigns its Android TV app w/ new UI
Apps & Updates |
- Google divorces Stadia’s connection strength indicator from 4K streaming
- [Update: 8 person limit] WhatsApp set to increase group calling and video calling limits
- Nvidia GeForce Now is free until June following game removals, Ubisoft signs on
- Google Meet rolling out 16-person tiled layout, Chrome tab sharing with audio, & AI features
- Fortnite for Android arrives on Play Store after Epic Games gives in to Google cut
- Google readying Chat, Meet, & Tasks functionality directly inside Gmail for Android [APK Insight]
- YouTube Music’s new player UI seeing wider rollout on Android
Samsung |
- Samsung Home Up for Good Lock adds further customization for One UI
- [Update: T-Mobile S10 series] Samsung One UI 2.1 update set to come to Galaxy S10, Note 10, S9, Note 9
Google Pixel |
- Google says it has fixed the Pixel’s static Marvelous Marble live wallpaper
- Possible Android 10 flaw causes Google Pixel, other phones to randomly lock up
- International Google Stores no longer list the new Pixel Buds in all four colors
OnePlus |
- OnePlus 8 Review: 5G killed the value flagship
- [Update: More] Get the OnePlus 8 series wallpapers on your device [Download]
- OnePlus cuts European teams by nearly 80%, as few as 3 people left in some areas
- OnePlus ends the OxygenOS Open Beta program for the OnePlus 6 and 6T
- OnePlus kills off its original icon pack, commits to updates on newer packs
Videos |
Author: Kyle Bradshaw.
Source: 9TO5Google