Articles by Derrek Lee

Razer is giving us the face mask we don’t deserve.

What you need to know

Razer has confirmed that its RGB face concept is being turned into a real product.
Project Hazel was first unveiled at CES as a concept not intended to come to market.
There’s no word on when the mark will be available or for how much.

COVID-19 may be on the fall and vaccines on the rise, but it’s still important to wear masks in public spaces to help mitigate the spread of the virus. Earlier this year, one mask took many people by surprise, and that was Razer’s Project Hazel. The face mask features a transparent design with RGB lighting, a staple for PC gaming equipment. While there were originally no plans to bring it to market, Razer seems to have had a change of heart.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance this week, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan announced its intentions to produce the face mask.

We were thinking, this is a concept project and is this going to be relevant when vaccinations and everything has been ro…

The latest OnePlus executive to leave the company.

What you need to know

It’s been confirmed that OnePlus chief marketing officer Kyle Kiang is leaving the company.
He will leave on April 2nd, the same day that OnePlus 9 devices go on sale.
Kiang’s departure comes as the company is viewed to have shifted from “flagship killer” to just “flagship.”

Just six months after OnePlus co-founder, Carl Pei, left the company, another high-profile OnePlus executive is set to depart. Kyle Kiang, the chief marketing officer at OnePlus, is leaving the company on April 2nd to “exploring several opportunities” (via Input). OnePlus issued a statement, confirming the news:

Kiang is moving on from OnePlus to explore new opportunities and his last day will be April 2nd. He will always be a good friend of the company and we wish him the best of luck in all his future endeavors.

Kiang has been with OnePlus since 2015 and has been an instrumental part in growing brand awareness. He’s a bit of a r…

It’s unclear what caused the Android app crashing problem, but the culprit is clear.

What you need to know

Android users are reporting frequent app crashes, particularly owners of Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
The problem has been traced back to the Android System WebView.
Uninstalling updated from the System WebView should fix the problem.

Android smartphones are apparently dealing with an annoying bug that seems to cause their apps to crash frequently. According to a Reddit post, the problem seems to affect mainly some of the best Samsung phones like the Samsung Galaxy S21. The problem seems to be related to the Android System Webview, which comes preinstalled on Android phones and is what apps use to display web content such as in-app web browsers.

According to a Google spokesperson (via 9to5Google), the company is working to address the problem:

We are aware of an issue with WebView causing some apps on Android to crash. We are currently working to fully validate the scop…

Google Photo and Google Lens have become one in the latest update.

What you need to know

Google Photos now has more access to Google Lens tools.
Users can copy, search, hear, or translate text from images using Google Lens.
The new functionality should be rolling out to users that have both apps installed.

Google Lens has received a bit of attention lately with a couple of new updates. Earlier this year, the app received offline translation capabilities, while the most recent update brought a new gallery view for easy access to screenshots. Now Google Photos is getting in on some of the fun with new tools integrated from Google Lens.

Android Police noticed that the new tools would surface whenever a user brought up a photo with visible text. The tools are accessible when swiping up for details, and users can select which section of text they want to interact with. Google Lens will present the option to copy, search, listen, or translate the text.

Copying text will bring up t…

Spotify’s new home screen experience is all about personalization.

What you need to know

Spotify is launching a new home screen experience for smartphones.
The new Home hub introduces a new “recently played” section for individual tracks.
Spotify’s new home screen makes it easier to find new podcasts or songs from artists.

Spotify launched a revamped home screen just a year ago, making it easier for listeners to discover new music and access their favorite playlists. Today, Spotify is introducing new features for the Home hub that will further enhance the experience on one of the best music players for Android, particularly those on Spotify Premium.

With this new update, Spotify users will now have access to a new “recently played” section that can be accessed by the history icon near the top of the home screen, which will list all the individual tracks that were listened to. Spotify states that this feature will give Premium and Free users access to their history as far back…

A dual-hinge Galaxy Z Fold could be awkwardly thick.

What you need to know

Rumors point to Samsung launching a dual-hinge Galaxy Z Fold successor as soon as this year.
The device would likely fold two ways, offering a more tablet-like form factor when folded out.
Samsung has been rumored to have such a device in development since as early as 2018.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 successor may be delayed this year, but the company isn’t slowing down by any means. Despite the global chip shortage reportedly affecting the production of higher-end smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S21 series, the company is still seeing high device sales and doesn’t want to remain stagnant this year. According to Nikkei, Samsung reportedly wants to shake up its Galaxy Z Fold lineup this year with a dual-hinge model.

This wouldn’t be the first time such a device has been mentioned, with patents cropping up as early as 2018, before the original Samsung Galaxy Fold launched. While patents hardly translat…

The Moto G lineup is stepping it up this year.

What you need to know

Details of the Moto G60 have been leaked, revealing an impressive mid-range smartphone.
The device is tipped to sport a 120Hz display and Samsung’s 108MP ISOCELL HM2 sensor.
The phone could come in three different variants and sport a large 6,000mAh battery.

Earlier this year, Motorola gave some high hopes for its Moto G lineup of smartphones, which are often among the best cheap Android phones, promising devices that will bring flagship chipsets like the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 870. The company is expected to launch the Moto G100 next week as a global version of the Motorola Edge S, but another model in the lineup could also get a launch soon with some flagship features, according to leaked details. XDA-Developers managed to retrieve information about an upcoming Moto G60 that has some impressive specs for a mid-range smartphone.

According to XDA-Developers, the upcoming Moto G60 will release as a midrange sm…

I also like to turn on my Pixel with telekinesis.

What you need to know

Google just released an ASMR video on switching to the Google Pixel.
The video features tranquil imagery, a calm voice-over, and steps on transferring information.
For some reason, this is a thing.

Switching from one smartphone to another used to be quite a hassle. In some ways, it still is, even though companies have introduced ways to make the process as painless as possible. Some of the best Android phones have their own process of moving information from one device to another, but the setup is more or less consistent across Android. Yet, for some reason, Google decided it was necessary to release an ASMR video explaining this process on what looks to be a Google Pixel 5, and it’s… something.

The video shows very little in the way of actual steps and focuses more on the serene imagery and soft, alluring voiceover saying things like “Hello, jackhammer,” “you really need to see this eagle,” and “what…

Chrome OS is finally getting being updated with Android 11

What you need to know

Android 11 is rolling out for users on Chrome OS beta, the first version update since Android 9.
The update finally brings support for dark mode on Chromebooks, although it still needs some work.
App scaling also seems to have been improved with the update.

Google has a curious way of updating Chrome OS, which has been stuck on Android 9 for some time despite the availability of Android 11 for smartphones. Chrome OS 89 recently brought a ton of new features to the platform, such as the long-awaited Phone Hub, but that was still based on Android 9. There were talks of Google testing Android 12 on Chrome OS now that the developer preview is out for smartphones, but instead, it seems like Android 11 is actually on the way thanks to a recent beta release.

Android Police has been testing the new beta release on some of the best Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 and the HP Chromebook x360 14c…

Lenovo brings its great tablet design to the Nook family.

What you need to know

Lenovo and Barnes & Noble launched a new 10-inch Nook tablet.
The Nook 10″ HD Tablet weighs just under 1lbs, is powered by Android, and features 32GB of storage.
The new Nook will be available in early April for $130.

You may be surprised to learn that Nook tablets are still being made, given that Barnes & Noble launched the last device in 2018. Even a glance at the Nook lineup on the Barnes & Noble website shows just two tablets, one of which is a refurbished version of its 10″ tablet. A cursory glance towards the bottom of the page includes a section of common questions, one of which asks if Nook has been discontinued. Barned & Noble has risen once again to prove that it’s still around by launching a brand-new tablet.

The new Nook 10″ HD Tablet was the result of a partnership with Lenovo, which makes some of the best cheap Android tablets like the Lenovo Smart Tab M10 HD. As noted …