Articles by Derrek Lee

Google puts enterprise-level AI into a handy document scanner.

What you need to know

Google’s incubator team just developed a smart document scanner.
The app will automatically organize documents and add important details.
Stack uses enterprise-level AI to analyze documents and organize them.

Google’s in-house Area 120 incubator has just developed a new application called Stack. As a document scanner, it may not sound exciting, but its many AI smarts can help you keep track of your documents which is always important when tax season is around. It’s essentially a purpose-built version of Google Lens available for even the best cheap Android phones.

With the app, you can scan a document such as a receipt or a bill, and the app will automatically categorize it and organize it into a “stack.” The app will use AI to “read” what’s on the document to determine what it is. It can also automatically draw information from the document, such as dates, amounts, and account numbers, adding …

Hopefully, these new Pixel Buds will come with ANC.

Update, Mar 30 (7:30 pm ET): New information emerges about the Pixel Buds A

What you need to know

A new “wireless device” has been spotted in the FCC.
It’s likely that these are a new model of Google Pixel Buds set to be launched later this year.
The FCC filing could point to better connectivity, but specs are largely unknown.

Last year’s Google Pixel Buds (2020) were a step up from the original model that launched in 2019, finally ditching the wire after most Bluetooth earbuds already transitioned to the “truly wireless” form factor. While the Pixel Buds are among the best wireless earbuds on the market, there’s always room for improvement. As it turns out, we may not have to wait too long to see those improvements, thanks to a new FCC filing for a new pair of Pixel Buds.

9to5Google spotted filings for two devices that can likely be attributed to Google. The model numbers, “GPQY2” and “G7YPJ,” are similar to that of other Go…

Birds of a Google Chrome feather FLoC together.

What you need to know

Google is begun testing its FLoC web technology on Chrome.
FLoC is part of Google’s Privacy Sandbox and is meant to replace third-party cookies that collect browsing information.
FLoC will address browsing privacy by grouping users together as opposed to individualized ad-targeting.

Last year, Google announced that it was preparing to research ways to eliminate third-party cookies that track data when browsing on the best Android phones to supply targeted ads on Chrome. Over the years, Google has received tons of backlash over its privacy practices, particularly when it comes to search ads, so this is a way to address that. Unfortunately, it’s received a new set of complaints from both ad companies and state attorneys over possible implications of the new technology. Despite that, Google seems to be moving full-steam ahead with its new FLoC web technology, which starts testing on Chrome today.

In a nutshell…

Armv9 has arrived, and smartphones won’t be the same.

What you need to know

Arm has launched its new architecture, Armv9, to power the next wave of chips.
The new architecture promises a 30% performance increase over current chips with the new Cortex-X1 core.
Armv9 will focus on improved security and advanced AI solutions.

Arm Holdings has just announced its first new chip architecture in a decade, Armv9. The last release, Armv8 in 2011, has powered billions of devices, including the best Android phones, IoT devices, and even some of the best Chromebooks. With this new release, Arm expects big performance improvements, as much as 30% over the next two chip generations, but the big focus for this new design is security and AI.

Security is becoming increasingly important as more of our lives are put into the digital space. To address this, Arm is introducing its Confidential Compute Architecture (CCA), which is a hardware-based secure environment that protects certain data while …

A new Galaxy Watch is on the horizon.

What you need to know

The Galaxy Wearable app has hidden references to Samsung’s next Galaxy Watch.
There will reportedly be two models with different case sizes and LTE connectivity.
The new Galaxy Watch models will reportedly run Wear OS.

Samsung’s Galaxy Wearable app is proving to be increasingly useful outside of its core functions. Just yesterday, references to a new pair of Galaxy Buds were found within the app’s code, suggesting that we could get a direct sequel to Samsung’s original pair. Another look into the app has given some insight into another wearable, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 running Wear OS.

watches. Those are Watch Active3/4 and Watch4. In there, I found a reference that straight up says “newos” and all of these codenames, other than the new water one, match what we’ve previously heard. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/wqLeHMMTal— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) March 29, 2021

Max Weinbach discovered references to what he b…

Verizon says it’s time to move on.

What you need to know

Verizon has set a date for the shut-down of its 3G CDMA network.
The carrier states that the network will be fully decommissioned at the end of 2022.
According to Verizon, only 1% of its customer base still relies on 3G.

Verizon is finally marking its transition into the new decade. The company has just announced the date that it plans to shut off its legacy 3G CDMA network after delaying it twice. The shutdown will happen on December 31st, 2022, which the company believes will give its customer ample time to switch to newer devices.

We worked for the past several years to help those who still have 3G devices transfer to devices capable of accessing the 4G LTE or 5G networks….As a result of those efforts, we can now report that more than 99% of our customers use the enhanced features of 4G LTE or 5G, with less than 1% still accessing the 3G network.

Shutting down older networks isn’t unheard of, and it’s something …

Android 12 suffered the same WebView app-crashing bug like everyone else.

What you need to know

Google releases a minor update for the Android 12 Developer Preview.
The patch should resolve the app-crashing issue that the Android System WebView caused last week.
Other devices on Android 11 and below should update WebView and Chrome if they haven’t yet already.

Google caused quite a stir last week when Android devices started suffering a major app-crashing issue. The problem was due to a bug in the Android System WebView, which, to put it simply, is what Android apps use to display web content. Fortunately, there were workarounds. Google eventually pushed out an update to WebView and Chrome that fixed the issue, but it seems Android 12 users may have still been prone to problems related to the bug.

That brings us to the latest update to the Android 12 Developer Preview 2, which is now on version 2.1. Similar to last month’s update to version 1.1, this is a minor update to addres…

Xiaomi is the latest “competitor” to Apple’s canceled AirPower wireless charging pad.

What you need to know

Xiaomi has launched a wireless charging pad that can charge up to 20W per device.
Xiaomi claims that it took two years to develop, starting just after AirPower was canceled.
A separate wireless charger offers 80W wireless charging.

Xiaomi had quite a bit to announce at its “mega launch” this morning. While you may have thought the OnePlus 9 Pro was impressive with its 50W wireless charging, the new Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra decided to take things up a notch with 67W wireless charging. Expanding on the Xiaomi Mi 11 family, the Mi 11 Ultra aims to become one of the best Android phones of the year with its powerful camera array, rear display, and great specs. Xiaomi then paired the launch of its most impressive smartphone with two new wireless chargers, including its own AirPower clone.

Even amongst the best wireless charging pads, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one that can matc…

Slack is introducing more features that no one asked for.

What you need to know

Slack CEO has confirmed that the app will introduce Clubhouse audio features.
Audio messages are also in the works and are currently being tested.
Slack is still planning to launch its version of Snapchat Stories, which it announced last year.

Slack has been doing the absolute most lately, and not much of it good. The app just introduced a Slack Connect private messaging feature that allows members to send direct messages to anyone outside of their organization, something that caused much backlash. But the company isn’t done introducing new features to the platform, and the next set will come straight from Clubhouse.

Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield confirmed (via Portal) in a Clubhouse chat that the app will add some new audio features that will be similar to Clubhouse. He didn’t go into detail, but it’s not surprising that the company wants to introduce new audio features, considering a growing numbe…

The OnePlus 9 gets more 5G.

What you need to know

Verizon certifies the OnePlus 9 smartphones to work on its 5G network.
As the exclusive OnePlus 9 carrier, T-Mobile was initially the only carrier to support 5G on the new smartphones.
There’s still no word on any certification for AT&T’s 5G network.

The OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro are arguably the most impressive 5G smartphones from OnePlus, and among the best Android phones of the year. With preorders now live, it seemed for a moment that T-Mobile would be the only carrier to support 5G on either phone. It was a weird situation since the devices technically have the hardware and bands to support 5G on the other carriers. It seems that Verizon was lagging on certifying the device on its 5G network, and today the company announced that the new smartphones have finally been certified for its network.

Verizon’s PR manager made the announcement on Twitter, which came just as preorders are under way:

I’m psyched to announce tha…