Google has plans to revamp its iOS and Android Home app less than six months after changing how the platform’s toggles work.
In a listing seeking app testers, Google says that it is developing a “next generation design of the Google Home App” (via 9to5Google). It’s unclear what Google plans to change about the app, but if the tech giant plans to bring in testers and calls it “next generation,” it’s likely poised to be substantial.
If you’re interested in signing up for the testing program and don’t mind signing an NDA, you can do so via product testing platform Centercode.
Google’s Home app is the center of all its smart home devices, including the Nest Audio, Nest Hub, Nest Wi-Fi, Nest Doorbell and other supported third-party devices. The app is available on iOS and Android.
Google’s Pixel 6a is a pretty great phone, minus a few issues. One of the bigger complaints listed in my review of the Pixel 6a was the 60Hz screen.
Well, turns out you can get the phone up to 90Hz with some tweaking.
The good news here is that the Pixel 6a display is capable of a higher refresh rate (and, thanks to it using the same Tensor chip as the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, we know it’s got the performance to push higher fps to match).
The bad news? It’s difficult to enable 90Hz on the Pixel 6a, doing so can cause some display issues, and it’s possible that running the display at 90Hz long-term could have negative impacts.
Twitter user TheLunarixus put together a mod to unlock 90Hz on the Pixel 6a. Doing so involves enabling the debugging mode and OEM unlocking, unlocking the bootloader, manually flashing an Android 13 beta with some checks disabled, and flashing a modified ‘vendor_boot’ image.
If you understood all that, you’re probably good to tackle this mod. But if that didn’t make any sense to you (or if you’re like me and understood enough of it to know it’s beyond you), you might want to hold off for a bit. TheLunarixus is working on a custom ROM for the Pixel 6a that includes all these tweaks, which will make the process easier when it becomes available.
True 90Hz, or overclocking?
The Verge’s senior editor Sean Hollister tested the mod on his Pixel 6a and confirmed that it works, but raised some questions about the long-term risks. The primary question is whether the mod simply overclocks the Pixel 6a display to 90Hz, or if the display actually is capable of 90Hz. If the former is true, it could lead to issues down the line. If the latter is true, then Pixel 6a owners could theoretically get 90Hz without any issues, assuming they’re willing to take the steps to enable it.
Unfortunately, we don’t really know which way it goes at the moment. The mod exists because some people in the Android community noticed the Samsung display used in the Pixel 6a shares some similarities with the larger Pixel 6 display. While the screens aren’t identical, TheLunarixus was able to use display frequency and timings extracted from the Pixel 6 display controller on the Pixel 6a (with some modifications) to enable 90Hz.
We are not pushing the panel any harder in terms of power, all this mod consists of is adding a new frequency mode to the driver with timings from the Pixel 6's s6e3fc3 driver with modified height and width values. No voltages etc were modded here, we use our own gamma table.
Moreover, TheLunarixus claims they aren’t pushing the Pixel 6a display “any harder in terms of power,” suggesting it won’t cause damage. In another tweet, they acknowledge that “we will never actually know if [the mod] causes damage” until it’s run on “100+ phones.”
Developer Kuba Wojciechowski chimed in on Twitter, warning that Samsung might not rate the Pixel 6a’s display for up to 90Hz and that doing so “definitely might cause damage.”
While The Verge was able to run the mod on a Pixel 6a without issue, that hasn’t been the case for everyone. Some people noticed a green tint on the display after applying the mod, and Mishaal Rahman initially had issues with his Pixel 6a showing a blank screen at 90Hz, but after flashing the new ‘vendor_boot’ image from TheLunarixus, noted it was working, albeit with the green tint.
UPDATE: I flashed a new vendor_boot image sent by @TheLunarixus and now my Pixel 6a can run at 90Hz! The green tint/calibration issue is still very very noticeable on my unit, though @MaxWinebach says it isn't there on his. pic.twitter.com/beM2vmTTo9
So, to sum things up: there’s a mod — and soon-to-be custom ROM — that can enable 90Hz on the Pixel 6a. It’s possible that the display is a 90Hz-capable panel and Google disabled the feature in software for some reason, but that seems unlikely. (Some suggested Google disabled 90Hz to add more differences between the Pixel 6a and Pixel 6, while others think the green tint issue was the reason. Both of these ideas are very much speculation.)
Unless either Samsung or Google release a statement about the display in the Pixel 6a, we likely won’t know for sure what’s going on here. For the Pixel 6a owners out there, the mod exists if you really want 90Hz on your phone, but you should probably do your research and be aware of the many risks involved.
Google’s newest wireless earbuds, the Pixel Buds Pro, got a day-one update and now another firmware patch that’s “slowly rolling out” over the next week.
Google detailed the firmware update in a post on the Pixel Buds Help support page, noting that it “contains general bug fixes and improvements.” Unfortunately, it’s not entirely clear what that entails, but hopefully, the update fixes any issues Pixel Buds Pro owners are dealing with.
This update brings the Pixel Buds Pro firmware up to version 2.14 — the day-one patch was version 2.12.
9to5Googlenotes that the Pixel Buds app (or preferences page on Pixel devices) refers to the update as “120+release_2.12_signed to 122+release_2.14_signed,” which seems like it could get confusing for users.
To perform the update, open the Pixel Buds app or preferences page on your smartphone, head to ‘More settings,’ > ‘Firmware update,’ and tap ‘Manual update available.’ The update process can take a few minutes — once downloaded, the earbuds will reboot and run a ‘Checking the update…’ process. Finally, the app notes that the Pixel Buds Pro case will also update once users store the earbuds for about 10 minutes.
Interestingly, it took Google three months to roll out the first update to its budget Pixel Buds A-Series. Hopefully, the rapid updates to the Buds Pro indicate the company is more focused on supporting these earbuds (and not that they’re buggy enough to require multiple, rapid patches).
Google’s recently released mid-range Pixel 6a is already receiving a notable discount at Koodo, Fido and Virgin Plus.
The Pixel 6a regularly costs $599 from Google, but in true Canadian carrier fashion, it’s priced at $702 outright at all the flanker carrier stores.
Right now, you can get the Pixel 6a on the flanker carrier’s ‘Tab Mid’ plan at $10/month for 24 months. This works out to a total of $240, which is $360 off of Google’s price and $462 off Koodo’s inflated cost.
Koodo’s Tab Mid and Tab Plus plan both cost $60 per month and include 20GB of data (there’s also a one-time $50 connection fee).
As first reported by iPhone in Canada, Fido is also offering the Pixel 6a on its $10/month Fido Payment Program. Further, Virgin Plus’ Sweet Pay currently lists the Pixel 6a for $10/month on a 24-month plan.
Google’s Pixel 6a received a 9/10 from MobileSyrup reporter Jon Lamont. He praised the device’s Google-made Tensor chip, flagship-like camera and high-end design.
Google launched new lawsuits against Sonos, claiming the company violated several of its smart speaker patents in the latest bout of a long-running legal spat.
So far, Sonos has sued Google multiple times, and Google has sued Sonos once in return — this marks the second suit from Google. Moreover, one ruling has been handed down so far in favour of Sonos, which led to Google removing the ability for users to simultaneously control the volume of a group of Google speakers with their phones.
According to The Verge, the latest lawsuits from Google allege Sonos infringed on seven additional patents. One of the lawsuits focuses on hotword detection and wireless charging — hotword detection refers to a speaker’s ability to wake up and respond to a user query after they say a specific word or phrase. The other lawsuit is about how a group of speakers determines which one should respond to a voice input.
Google filed both lawsuits this morning in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Moreover, the search giant plans to launch similar lawsuits with the U.S. International Trade Commission — the lawsuits will seek a ban on imports of Sonos products that allegedly infringe on the patents.
Google spokesperson José Castañeda told The Verge that Google filed the lawsuits to “defend [its] technology and challenge Sonos’s clear, continued infringement of [its] patents.” Moreover, Castañeda accused Sonos of starting an “aggressive and misleading campaign” against Google products.
However, Sonos fired back in its own statement to The Verge, calling the lawsuits an “intimidation tactic” and accusing Google of suing in retaliation against Sonos “for speaking out against Google’s monopolistic practices.”
The OnePlus 10T is roughly the same price as Google’s Pixel 6 and features a very similar camera array.
With that in mind, we decided to lay out several camera sample images to give you a better idea of each shooter’s strengths and weaknesses.
Camera specs
OnePlus 10T
50-megapixel primary camera with a sizeable 1/1.56-inch sensor and a 23mm focal length
8-megapixel ultrawide with a 199-degree field of view
16-megapixel selfie camera
2-megapixel macro lens
Pixel 6
50-megapixel main camera with a large 1/1.31-inch sensor and 25mm focal length
12-megapixel ultrawide with a 114-degree field of view
8-megapixel front-facing camera
As you can see from their specs, both smartphones offer very similar camera set-ups. However, once each company adds software to their shots, things are not as even as they appear. You can learn more about the OnePlus 10T in the video below.
Samples
The first image shows how the two phones are sometimes capable of snapping identical shots with only minor colour differences. As you can see on the mail truck, OnePlus’ HDR isn’t as powerful as the Pixel’s, but there is a bit more of a ‘filmic’ quality to the bloom on the truck that isn’t unappealing to me.
Still straight out of the camera with no edits, the Pixel 6 offers excellent contrast and balance between the highlights and shadows. The green in the tree looks a bit too vibrant to my eyes, but overall, it’s a cleaner shot.
This is a close crop of a mural, and it helps show the details captured by both cameras and their colour processing. Both look good, but the Pixel 6 has added a bit too much magenta to the shot. It also features less noise removal than the 10T. This makes the 10T look a little noisier, but overall, it’s sharper and more true-to-life.
This image illustrates two things. It shows off the 2x digital zoom of both phones and then beyond that, it also shows how slow OnePlus’ HDR can be. I don’t doubt that if I had held up the OnePlus for over 30 seconds, it would have gauged the scene appropriately and captured a nice HDR. However, since I was testing so many phones, I was rapid-firing photos all day, and I found when you’re just taking quick snaps, the HDR is very hit and miss on the 10T. I left this in since I found it common to end up with some images without HDR at the end of a day of shooting with the 10T.
There’s something to be said about the anti-HDR look you get from the 10T, but the Pixel 6 captured the scene more accurately, even if the images are a bit softer overall.
Strangely, both phones presented the selfie flipped differently. That said, in the settings, you can change either phone to your preference. While I like the tan look that Google applied to my face, I think the brighter skin on the 10T is more accurate to me. That said, many people with more diverse skin tones prefer the Pixel 6 series for its ‘Real Tone’ capabilities.
I do think the Pixel added less sharpening to its image, giving my face a more natural look. On the other hand, the 10T sharpened the hair on my fair, and it stands out intensely.
Once you look past my horrendous framing of this shot, you’ll notice a few things. The first thing is that the OnePlus ultrawide doesn’t look much wider than the Pixel 6’s when shooting vertically, even though it should have a larger field of view.
You can also see that OnePlus messed up the white balance and made the buildings in the foreground very green. If you pixel peep the Pixel 6’s image, it’s also a bit sharper, likely due to its 12-megapixel camera. I would be remiss not to say that the OnePlus did a good job of capturing the majesty of the sunset, but this image would need a bit more editing compared to the Pixel before I posted it.
OnePlus handily takes the cake in the macro category since the Pixel 6 doesn’t even feature a macro ability. While it’s niche, there’s no doubt that it can grab some fun shots that a lot of other smartphones will struggle to catch.
Under most circumstances, the devices snap very similar pictures, and I have a feeling that if I asked 100 people which of the above photos they liked more, it would go 50/50 each way. Phone cameras have come a long way in the last three years, and it seems that regardless of what phone you end up with, you can likely get great shots out of it with a little bit of editing.
I’ve attached a few more samples below. Let us know in the comments what stands out to you.
Google recently released a small patch for the Pixel 6, the Pixel 6 Pro and the Pixel 6a that addresses a GPS location issue.
Announced on Google’s Pixel support thread, the update is described as a “Fix for GPS location failure under certain conditions.”
Google says the rollout for the update started August 4th, and will continue over next week, depending on carrier networks. Additionally, “Users will receive a notification once the OTA becomes available for their device,” reads the support thread. The GPS issue likely does not affect older Pixel devices, and hence, those devices were left out of the update.
Further, Google took the opportunity to address the delayed August security patch, stating that it will “begin rollout in the coming weeks.” The patch, whenever it releases, will address 40 security issues ranging from moderate to high severity across the kernel, modem, and camera.
Google’s Pixel 7 and 7 Pro are right around the corner, and while most are focused on those devices, some leakers are dredging up details about other upcoming Pixels. The latest: Google will use China-based Foxconn to manufacture two Pixel phones, possibly a foldable and another device made of ceramic.
The information comes from leaker ‘Digital Chat Station’ on Weibo, who details some of the specs of the ceramic phone (but not the foldable). Foxconn is the same company that manufactures the iPhone and has manufactured Google’s Pixel flagships since the Pixel 3 — the Pixel 1 and 2 were HTC and LG (for the 2 XL only). Google’s lower-cost A-series are manufactured in Vietnam.
Digital Chat Station describes the ceramic phone as a “Pixel flagship” with a 2K “flexible screen” sporting a centred selfie camera and a 50-megapixel primary camera and periscope camera on the back, plus a Sony IMX787 “sub-camera.” Moreover, the phone would sport Google’s second-gen Tensor chip and a ceramic body.
Digital Chat Station’s Weibo post | Image credit: 9to5Google
From what we already know about Google’s upcoming Pixel 7 series, the device described by Digital Chat Station doesn’t sound like any of these. 9to5Googlesays the camera details line up with previous leaks about a Google device with codename ‘Lynx,’ rumoured to be either a high-end third Pixel device (perhaps the Pixel Ultra people have dreamed about for years). Others suggested Lynx could be a prototype for testing new hardware before bringing it into the Pixel line, but bringing manufacturing to Foxconn suggests it could see a public release.
Further, 9to5 reports that the IMX787 appears to be a telephoto camera with a 64-megapixel sensor, higher than the 48-megapixel sensor used in the Pixel 6 Pro’s 4x telephoto camera. The IMX787 is also about the same physical size as Samsung’s 50-megapixel GN1 sensor used for the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro primary camera (and the upcoming Pixel 7 series).
As for the Pixel foldable, Digital Chat Station described it as having a “conventional large-screen internal folding” screen, which isn’t particularly new information. Previous rumours suggested the foldable, possibly called ‘Pixel Notepad,’ would work similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Fold but use Google’s old 12-megapixel cameras like what was used in the Pixel 5 and 4. However, as 9to5 notes, the Pixel Notepad has been rumoured for so long that it’s hard to tell what’s accurate at this point.
It’s no secret that Fitbit has new smartwatches and fitness trackers on the way, and now new renders provide the best look yet at the upcoming Sense 2, Versa 4 and Inspire 3.
The renders come from leaker OnLeaks and 91mobiles and show off Fitbit’s new devices in various colours and with new watch faces. However, the details here are all about the looks — we know from previous leaks that the Sense 2 and Versa 4 will bring back the physical button, and the Sense 2 will move the electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor under the glass. That’s a significant departure from the Sense, which uses a stainless steel band around the edge of the watch for ECG.
Presumably, the Sense 2 will also support all of the features available on the original Sense, including SpO2 sensing, heart rate tracking, an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor, and 50m water resistance. The leaked renders show off the Sense 2 in three colours, ‘Gold,’ ‘Graphite,’ and ‘Platinum.’
Fitbit Sense 2 Platinum
Fitbit Sense 2 Gold
Fitbit Sense 2 Graphite
The Versa 4 will also look similar to its predecessors and likely will sport similar features, although we know less about it overall. It’s expected to come in ‘Graphite’ and ‘Rose’ colours and will sport voice assistant support and an OLED display.
Fitbit Versa 4 Rose
Fitbit Versa 4 Graphite
Finally, if pricey smartwatches aren’t your style, Fitbit also has plans to refresh its lower-cost Inspire tracker. The Inspire 3 hasn’t appeared in many leaks yet, but the renders suggest Fitbit won’t significantly change the design. Likely, the Inspire 3 will continue to be the go-to option for people who want basic fitness tracking for a reasonable price.
Fitbit Inspire 3 Yellow
Fitbit Inspire 3 Graphite
Fitbit Inspire 3 Pink
Although it looks like Fitbit has a suite of new devices on the way, it remains unclear when any of these devices will launch. Fitbit unveiled the original Sense in August 2020, so it’s possible there could be a Fitbit event soon. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that Google now owns Fitbit, and the company’s upcoming Pixel Watch is expected to leverage Fitbit tech. It’s possible we could see a later Fitbit launch, perhaps in line with the Pixel Watch reveal expected later this year (perhaps in October, alongside the Pixel 7 series?).
FCC filings often indicate what companies might have in store when it comes to future products.
As reported by The Verge, a recent Google FCC filing reveals a mysterious product described as a “Wireless device” that’s battery-powered and offers no AC connection, though it can be powered via USB. The available information isn’t enough to deduce what the product might be. However, 9to5Googlesuggests that it could be a Nest device that uses 3.65V rechargeable batteries.
According to a recent leak, Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro would launch on October 13th, with pre-orders going live on October 6th. This means that Google will likely host an event around those dates, and that is when we might hear more about the wireless device in question.
Amazon, on the other hand, seems to be developing a new version of the Echo Studio smart speaker. The FCC filing describes the product as a “Digital Media Receiver,” with an AC power cable and a Zigbee radio. It’s worth noting that the filing wasn’t done under the name of Amazon, and rather under the name of a shell company called Flake LLC. Flake LLC has a different filling for a “Digital Media Receiver” that seems to be the Echo Studio, which somewhat proves that it is one of Amazon’s shell companies.
The only difference between the old Echo Studio speaker and the new one seems to be the addition of a different MediaTek wireless chip. It’s unclear why Amazon is making such a minuscule change to the product, though chip supply issues could be a probable cause.
Check out the Google FCC listing here, and you can find Amazon’s FCC listing here.
OnePlus handily takes the cake in the macro category since the Pixel 6 doesn’t even feature a macro ability. While it’s niche, there’s no doubt that it can grab some fun shots that a lot of other smartphones will struggle to catch.
Under most circumstances, the devices snap very similar pictures, and I have a feeling that if I asked 100 people which of the above photos they liked more, it would go 50/50 each way. Phone cameras have come a long way in the last three years, and it seems that regardless of what phone you end up with, you can likely get great shots out of it with a little bit of editing.
