Tag: Google

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Mobile Syrup

Google will bring MUM-based search enhancements to Lens

Back at Google I/O 2021, the search giant detailed ‘Multitask Unified Model,’ or MUM. The company billed it as an advancement in artificial intelligence that was much better at understanding language.

Google primarily talked about MUM as a way to enhance answers to search queries by better understanding difficult questions. Now, Google is bringing those enhancements to another search product: Lens.

One of the primary benefits of MUM is that it can understand information across a variety of formats, like text, images and video. By integrating MUM in Lens, Google says it’s opening a new way to search by letting users blend visuals and text-based queries to get better results.

The company shared a few examples of how this could work. One example was clothes shopping — if the customer saw a pattern they liked on a skirt but wanted the same design on socks instead, they could use Lens to search for that. Google says the feature will launch on Lens “in the coming months.”

New search experiences focus on expanding topics and visual results

Next up, the company detailed a redesigned search experience coming to Google Search. Three new components are coming as part of this redesign.

First is ‘Things to know,’ which will offer expanded search suggestions based on broad topics. For example, searching for something like ‘acrylic painting’ can surface other “deeper insights” about the topic, like ‘how to make acrylic paintings with household items.’ Google pitched it as a way for users to dive deeper into search topics.

Next is ‘Refine this search’ and ‘Broaden this search.’ Working as two sides of the same coin feature, refine and broaden are another way of helping users explore a topic. For example, if users look up a really broad topic, ‘Refine’ can suggest more narrow searches to help users zoom in on the specific. At the same time, ‘Broaden’ suggests searches that move in the opposite direction — if someone searches a narrow query, Broaden can help them zoom out to get a bigger picture.

Further, Google says it will soon offer a more visual search results page. The new results page will pull various types of results together for users — for example, it can combine text, picture and video results in one place. The new search results page won’t show up for everything, but users will start to see it when searching visual queries.

Things to know will launch in the coming months. So will Refine and Broaden, but it will be limited to English. Visual results will launch in the U.S. first for English users.

Finally, Google plans to introduce MUM to video with a new experience that identifies related topics in a video. Google says this works even if a topic isn’t explicitly mentioned in a video. The feature could be a way to help people dig deeper into video topics.

This will start rolling out on September 29th to English users in the U.S.

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Mobile Syrup

Google Pixel tablet patent spotted on the Japan Patent Office

A published Google patent shows that the Mountain View company is working on a new Pixel tablet, spotted by LetsGoDigital. Following that,  Giuseppe Spinelli, aka Snoreyn, made renders of the patent of Google.

The device has nice rounded corners with a good grip, according to the patent. Additionally, the patent lacks buttons and a rear-facing camera and also sports a selfie shooter.

There are also stereo speakers at the bottom and the top and a USB-C connection placed at the bottom.

The patent dates back to March 2019 and has been approved and released by the Japan Patent Office until June 28th, 2019 (JPO).

It’s unclear if Google is still planning to launch this tablet, and there are no other rumours about it, so it’s unlikely they’ll unveil this device at the next Made by Google event.

Source: LetsGoDigital,

Image Credit: LetsGoDigital 

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Mobile Syrup

Pixel 6 and 6 Pro European pricing leak hints at flagship pricetag

Details about Google’s upcoming Pixel 6 and 6 Pro pricing have leaked, giving us an idea of just how much the smartphone may cost.

The info comes from YouTuber Brandon Lee (This is Tech Today), who cited a source working for a cellular retailer in Europe. According to the source, the Pixel 6 will cost around €649, while the Pixel 6 Pro may cost €899 (roughly $960.37 and $1,330.31 CAD respectively). Lee also recently shared a video clip of a prototype Pixel 6 Pro.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that converting the cost of a phone in one currency to another isn’t usually accurate to how much a device will actually cost in a country. In other words, Google may charge less (or more!) than $960 for the Pixel 6 in Canada.

As an example, the Pixel 5 costs $799 in Canada (although it’s currently not available on the Google Store). In Europe, the Pixel 5 costs €629, or about $930.78 CAD.

The bigger takeaway from this leak is that Google will likely price the Pixel 6 slightly higher than the Pixel 5, which is pretty great news considering the Pixel 6 is supposed to be a more flagship device.

As for the Pixel 6 Pro, it seems priced accordingly for a higher-end flagship, although it remains to be seen how the phone will stack up against other similarly priced handsets. Assuming the pricing information is accurate, and the 6 Pro retails for around $1,300 in Canada, that would put it in the same price range as Samsung’s Galaxy S21+ and the iPhone 13 Pro.

Of course, that assumes the pricing is correct. Given how leaks and rumours have panned out so far this year, I wouldn’t put a lot of confidence in this information — things could change before Google launches the phone.

Along with the pricing, Lee’s source also noted that the Pixel 6’s black and green colours were labelled ‘carbon’ and ‘fog’ in the retailer’s system. It’s not clear if those are the actual colour names Google has for the phone, but both names would fall in line with the search giant’s naming convention for its other products. However, the Pixel line, historically, has had cheeky names like ‘Clearly White’ and ‘Just Black.’ We may see the same with the Pixel 6 series — ‘Certainly Carbon’ and ‘Frankly Fog,’ anyone?

Source: Brandon Lee Via: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

Google wants you to turn your iPhone 13 into a Google phone

Google has published a new blog post focused on turning your iPhone 13 series device into a Google-powered smartphone.

If I were Apple CEO Tim Cook right now, I’d be firing interns or breaking weird Apple Pizza trays in the cafeteria over the blatant disrespect.

The post comes from Google’s head of iOS, Luke Wroblewski, who by all accounts seems like a massive fan of Apple’s products based on his Twitter account, but somehow works for Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s house of AdSense.

Right off the top, the article explains how Google offers several iOS widgets that show off Google Photos highlights, Google Fit updates, what’s playing on YouTube Music or a quick search on Google Maps. The real slap in the face, though, is that in this screenshot, Google placed Gmail and Google News on the homepage and used a default Apple wallpaper.

Don’t even get me started on the three pinned apps in the bottom bar — seriously, don’t.

After the unholy hypocrisy that is the first 153 words of this so-called blog post, we get to a second screenshot filled with so many Google widgets that it makes the Android user inside of me more than a little perturbed given the widgets featured in Google’s mobile operating system still look they’re stuck in 2015 — at least for now.

When I started writing this story, I assumed Google had some insightful improvements for iPhone users who prefer Google apps, but nothing in the blog post is actually new.

At one point, the post even outlines to users how to create iOS Smart Stacks, and at the very end, it explains how to set Chrome as your default web browser. It also mentions that Chrome then integrates into Spotlight search, which might help you default into Google’s apps instead of Apple’s a little more.

Source: Google

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Mobile Syrup

Here are the Samsung Galaxy S22, Google Pixel 6 and iPhone 14 leaks from this past week

Images, renders and videos of upcoming smartphones continuously leak. These leaks can be challenging to follow, so we compiled a list of the past week’s hottest rumours.

From September 18th to September 24th, we saw a couple of leaks about the Pixel 6, Galaxy S22 and even a foldable iPhone.

Below are all the major smartphone leaks from September 18th to September 24th:

Samsung

Google’s support page lists Android devices that are certified to support Play Services for ARCore, and mysteriously, the still-not-officially-announced Galaxy S21 Fan Edition is now on it.

For more on the leak, click here.

Well-known tipster Ice Universe tweeted that “Note is over, but it’s not over. S becomes Note!” This likely means that at least some upcoming S series smartphones will be a bit more Note-like.

Perhaps this means that the S22 Ultra will include an S-Pen slot next year? While the Galaxy S21 Ultra worked with the S-Pen, users had to buy it separately. This could also mean we might get a more square-shaped Note smartphone this year.

For more on this leak, click here.

Samsung isn’t working with Olympus on its cameras like was previously leaked. According to LetsGoDigital, Olympus/OM Digital Solutions GmbH, told the publication that the company isn’t planning to work with Samsung.

Further, Olympus didn’t say whether or not the partnership was on the table at one point. With that, it seems that the Galaxy S22 series won’t feature Olympus branding of any kind.

For more on this leak, click here.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra will reportedly sport a slightly curved display with a 6.8-inch display and a high refresh rate. The dimensions OnLeaks provided measured in at roughly 163.2 x 77.9 x 8.9mm with a thickness of 10.5mm if you include the camera bump.

It also seems that the device features a P-shape camera module with a quad-camera setup with a variety of sensors. One of the lenses is evidently a square-shaped periscope lens, which means the phone will have probably 10x zoom.

For more on this leak, click here.

This isn’t an actual leak, but it’s still pretty cool.

This concept smartphone design comes from the Technizo Concept YouTube channel, which partnered with LetsGoDigital.

Check out the video below:

For more on this concept, click here.

Over the weekend, OnLeaks released renders of the Galaxy S22 and S22+ that show off a slightly tweaked design. Both phones are reportedly smaller than their predecessors.

You can read more about the renders here.

Google

We now have another leak indicating that a second Pixel foldable, dubbed ‘Jumbojack’ internally at Google, might be on its way.

Uncovered in the upcoming Android 12.1 code by 9to5Google, the foldable reportedly features a dual-display setup similar to the Samsung Z Fold 3, with main and cover displays that shut off depending on how you’re using the device.

For more on this leak, click here.

Google’s upcoming Pixel 6 Pro has turned up in a hands-on video posted online, giving viewers a good look at the back of the device and what appears to be a refreshed setup screen.

Google’s upcoming Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro recently turned up on Canada’s Radio Equipment List (REL).

We’ve known the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro would come here for a while, but it’s nice to see actual confirmation courtesy of the government.

For more on the leak, click here.

It looks like Google will finally offer improved camera hardware in a smartphone with the upcoming Pixel 6 and 6 Pro.

Starting with the primary camera, the hardware will leap significantly to Samsung’s ISOCELL GN1 50-megapixel sensor. The ultra-wide camera will use a 12-megapixel IMX386 sensor, while the 4x optical telephoto camera on the 6 Pro will use a 48-megapixel IMX586 sensor. The phone will reportedly support up to 20x zoom with photos and videos (except 4K, where zoom is capped at 7x) and 4K/60fps video recording.

For more on this leak, click here.

This is just a concept of the aforementioned Jumbojack Pixel leak.

The designer added the look of the Pixel 6 Pro on the back, along with the same type of camera design. There’s also a hole-punch camera on the cover screen in the top left corner, and on the larger inner display, a hole punch shooter on the right side.

For more on this concept, click here.

Apple

The iPhone 14 Pro is rumoured to feature a hole-punch design with a 48-megapixel wide camera.

According to reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, 2022 will see the release of “two new high-end models equipped with a punch-hole display (replacing the notch area design) and a 48MP wide camera.” Kuo says these phones, which are expected to be called the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, will be the only ones in Apple’s 2022 lineup to feature the “punch-hole display.”

In addition to the 14 Pro and Pro Max, Kuo says there will be a “new and more affordable 6.7-inch iPhone” (presumably the iPhone 14) coming in fall 2022 as well. Ahead of that reveal, though, they expect a new iPhone SE with 5G support in the first half of 2022.

For more about this leak, click here.

Apple might be going for a significant design refresh with its rumoured future foldable, according to Business Korea.

The report states that the Cupertino, California-based tech giant’s first foldable smartphone will feature a 7.5-inch display panel developed by LG. We recently reported that LG is currently developing a new ‘Real Folding Window’ display material that doesn’t leave creases, a problem that is still prevalent in new Flip 3 and Fold 3 smartphones. Considering Apple’s focus on perfection, the ‘Real Folding Window’ is definitely a component could be integrated into Apple’s foldable.

For more on this leak, click here.

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Mobile Syrup

Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro could sport significantly improved camera hardware

It looks like Google will finally offer improved camera hardware in a smartphone with the upcoming Pixel 6 and 6 Pro.

Don’t get me wrong — Pixel phones have always had great cameras. But Google has used the same 12.2-megapixel IMX363 sensor since the Pixel 3. As good as Google’s software wizardry is, that sensor has started to show its age.

However, according to details from XDA Developers, the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro could bring a significant camera hardware improvement. The publication obtained an unreleased version of Google’s Camera app and details about the new Pixel camera system.

Starting with the main camera, the hardware will leap significantly to Samsung’s ISOCELL GN1 50-megapixel sensor. The ultra-wide camera will use a 12-megapixel IMX386 sensor, while the 4x optical telephoto camera on the 6 Pro will use a 48-megapixel IMX586 sensor. The phone will reportedly support up to 20x zoom in photos and videos (except 4K, where zoom is capped at 7x) and 4K/60fps video recording.

Although certainly some exciting hardware, it wouldn’t be a Pixel camera without software enhancements to match.

The Pixel 6 cameras will reportedly allow for manual white balance, giving photographers more control over how their images look. There’s also a ‘magic eraser’ feature, which sounds like it could be a tool for removing objects from an image. Android Police points out that this could be a version of the object removal promised (but never delivered) for Google Photos.

XDA highlights a few other possible camera features, including a ‘face deblur’ feature already confirmed by Google. It works to deblur faces in HDR images by capturing multiple photos with the main and ultra-wide sensors and combining the information to fix faces.

Finally, there were mentions of ‘motion blur,’ ‘portrait spotlight,’ ‘nima aesthetic’ and ‘baby mode,’ which might work as follows (based on the limited information we have so far):

  • Motion blur: in-development feature will add “creative blur effects to your photos.”
  • Portrait spotlight: Not entirely clear what it is, but XDA notes the feature is enable in Pixel 6 and 5a configuration files.
  • Nima aesthetic: Appears to be related to existing ‘Top Shot‘ feature, but unclear what it does.
  • Baby mode: Possibly a feature meant to detect babies and capture photos of them, but unclear.

All in all, it sounds like the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro could have really powerful camera hardware and software, a welcome change for the Pixel line. Of course, it’s essential to keep in mind that these are leaks, and some of the information may be inaccurate or could change in the future.

Source: XDA Developers Via: Android Police

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Mobile Syrup

More Android devices will soon get Google’s Lock Folder feature

At Google I/O 2021, the tech giant announced ‘Lock Folder,’ a password-protected feature that prevents people from peaking at your “special pics” via Google Photos. Now, this feature is coming to more Android phones.

Lock Folder is a password-protected feature that prevents pictures from appearing when you scroll through the main Google Photos feed.

The Google Camera app also now features a new button in the top-right corner that lets users select between the default photo gallery or the Locked Folder. This means you can snap a picture and have it go directly to the Lock Folder.

Samsung already offers a ‘Secure Folder’ with its devices that allows users to hide files, pictures and more. However, users need to use the company’s own Gallery app, Contact app, My Files app, Samsung Notes app and other Samsung apps to access the Secure Folder. That said, it seems Samsung is also getting Google’s Locked Folders.

Google’s Lock Folder feature was previously only available on Pixel smartphones.

Source Google Via: SamMobile

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Mobile Syrup

Google TV app finally coming to Canada

Google is finally bringing the Google TV app to Android smartphones in Canada and 14 other countries.

This app replaces the Google Play Movies and TV app, allowing users to download and watch movies and TV shows. A plus of the app becoming Google TV is that it now features better curation and shows content from your other streaming services like Netflix and YouTube.

You can also save movies and shows you search for on Google to your watchlist, which then appears in the Google TV app. While a minor change, since most people likely use Google as their default search engine, it’s pretty useful.

If by now you’re thinking, “where have I heard the name Google TV before?,” it’s because it’s also the name of the interface that powers the new Google Chromecast. If you have Google’s streaming stick, this app should function similarly.

The other notable feature in the new app is that it also works as a remote for Google’s latest Chromecast and other Android TVs. This is a smart move and is likely an effort to get more users on its mobile app. It’s a strategy Roku is leveraging more in its latest operating system updates as well.

When the Google TV app is on the same Wi-Fi network as an Android TV, you’ll also be able to power on your TV, navigate menus and use your phone’s keyboard to input passwords. Users can also access this from an Android Quick Settings tile in the notification shade once it rolls out.

The 14 countries the new TV app is launching in are as follows:

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Canada
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Mexico
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • UK

The launch of this app in more countries should help clean up Google’s TV-related apps a little bit, but it’s still a pretty fractured ecosystem.

As always, you can rent and watch content via the YouTube app, and on some platforms like Roku, this is your only option. Android phones and TV are now basically aligned under Google TV branding, but even though everything now looks like Google TV, some devices are still called Android TV. iOS users can use both YouTube and Google Play Movies and TV.

It’s all a bit of a mess, and unfortunately, since YouTube is everywhere, I still rent a majority of my content through the platform. Hopefully, Google will figure this situation out sooner rather than later.

For the time being, the Google TV app hasn’t rolled out to any of my devices. Keep your eyes out for it in the coming weeks.

Source: Google Via: 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

YouTube beta testing video downloads on desktop

YouTube now has a new experimental feature that allows desktop users to download videos to their devices for offline listening.

If you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber, you can go to the YouTube Expiremintal feature page to enable this feature. Keep in mind that if you do this and have the picture-and-picture (PiP) experiment turned on, it will be disabled. This kind of sucks, and since I find the PiP feature more useful, I hope YouTube fully implements it soon.

The ability to download videos likely doesn’t sound very useful to anyone with a desktop computer, but Chromebook and laptop owners might find it appealing. One possible use case is to queue up some sick YouTube content for long car rides or other away from home excursions.

Google says that anyone with the latest versions of Chrome, Edge or Opera can use the new feature, but it enabled a download button and folder on Edge in my tests and didn’t work. Chrome prompted me to download the YouTube web app, and from there, I was able to get the feature working.

Once the feature is enabled, you can download videos by clicking on a download button next to the like and share buttons in the action bar. You can also click on the three-dot menu from any of the more browseable pages to download content.

Overall this is a pretty solid update, and like the PiP feature on iOS, I’m still perplexed that these aren’t rolling out to everyone, and instead, YouTube Premium members need to opt into them.

Source: YouTube 

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Mobile Syrup

YouTube beta testing video downloads on desktop

YouTube now has a new experimental feature that allows desktop users to download videos to their devices for offline listening.

If you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber, you can go to the YouTube Expiremintal feature page to enable this feature. Keep in mind that if you do this and have the picture-and-picture (PiP) experiment turned on, it will be disabled. This kind of sucks, and since I find the PiP feature more useful, I hope YouTube fully implements it soon.

The ability to download videos likely doesn’t sound very useful to anyone with a desktop computer, but Chromebook and laptop owners might find it appealing. One possible use case is to queue up some sick YouTube content for long car rides or other away from home excursions.

Google says that anyone with the latest versions of Chrome, Edge or Opera can use the new feature, but it enabled a download button and folder on Edge in my tests and didn’t work. Chrome prompted me to download the YouTube web app, and from there, I was able to get the feature working.

Once the feature is enabled, you can download videos by clicking on a download button next to the like and share buttons in the action bar. You can also click on the three-dot menu from any of the more browseable pages to download content.

Overall this is a pretty solid update, and like the PiP feature on iOS, I’m still perplexed that these aren’t rolling out to everyone, and instead, YouTube Premium members need to opt into them.

Source: YouTube