Articles by Derrek Lee

Four years is a lot of OS upgrades!

What you need to know

The Google Pixel 6 is tipped to receive four OS upgrades.
This follows rumors that the device will receive five years of updates, which will likely be security patches.
Google will announce full details of its flagships on October 19.

The Google Pixel 6 series is less than a week from launch, and while we seem to know just about everything there is to know about the smartphones, the latest tidbit hints at a pretty impressive update policy.

Previously, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro were rumored to receive five years of updates, which were corroborated in recent leaks. However, it was unclear if that meant OS upgrades or security patches. Now we might have a better idea of what that means as per known leaker Snoopy, who says we should expect four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates.

Pixel 6 gets 4 OS Upgrades and 5 Years of Security Patches— Snoopy (@_snoopytech_) October 13, 2021

While getting five…

Now it’s easy to separate your content from the rest of the family.

What you need to know

Google TV is enhancing user profiles with personal content preferences and individualized recommendations.
Ambient mode will not show glanceable, actionable cards based on the current profile.
The Google TV remote will be available via the Google Home app.

Google TV is making it easier for families to separate their media content and preferences by bringing new personalized profiles.

Coming soon to users worldwide, Google TV will offer personalized recommendations for each profile based on individual interests and preferences. Users will have their profiles linked to their own Google Account, meaning they will have their watchlist and personalized responses from Google Assistant.

It’s already been possible to add a kids profile to your Google TV, but now everyone in the family will have their own space for content, something that’s already been possible on some of the best Amazon Fire T…

Google Messages is slowly but surely improving — but it’s still boring.

When it comes to the best text messaging apps, I actually really love Google Messages. Thanks to Google pushing RCS on Android, the app has started coming into its own as a viable iMessage alternative for Android users. You’ve got typing indicators, high-quality media files, reactions, and more recently, end-to-end encryption. When you enable RCS Chat features in Google Messages, it does feel like a huge step up from regular SMS.

That said, I can’t help but feel like some things are missing. Google continues to bring new features to improve the experience, but I can’t help but want more, especially compared to the bevy of other messaging apps I use to communicate with my peers. These are some of the features that I’ve seen on these other apps that I would love for Google to adopt in Messages.

App integration

One of the most valuable aspects of iMessage is its app integration. It lets you do things like ma…

The Fossil Gen 5 LTE leaves me wanting more but unfortunately won’t get it.

Wear OS might not have the best reputation, but that’s beginning to change, and Fossil has been a staple of the platform for years and makes many of the best Wear OS watches you can find today. The company had often picked things up when Google seemingly dropped the ball and has even stepped in to bring its own custom software experiences to the platform. But one area that Fossil had not previously probed into was LTE, so its smartwatches were still tethered to smartphones for many useful smartwatch functions. That changed with the Fossil Gen 5 LTE.

Even with the latest Fossil Gen 6 already out, the Gen 5 LTE remains the sole Fossil smartwatch with cellular connectivity. After the Fossil Gen 5E was launched last year as a slightly watered down alternative to the original, Fossil has more or less refined the Fossil Gen 5 with a more streamlined design that continues with the Gen 6. But with the new models al…

New smartphones are slowly coming down in price, but the best are still pricey.

Every year, smartphones get better and smarter, but those improvements come at a price. Literally. A decade ago, paying $1,000 for a new smartphone seemed absolutely ludicrous. But today, it’s more or less the norm for a high-end iPhone or Samsung Galaxy smartphone. Sure, things are starting to come back down and level out a bit, but if you want the best of the best, you’re expected to shell out a pretty penny.

With that in mind, we want to know how much you’d be willing to pay for a new smartphone.

Poll: How much would you be willing to pay for a smartphone?

While smartphone prices appeared to be getting out of hand, there have been signs that things are improving. For instance, Samsung lowered the starting price of this year’s Galaxy S21 series, as well as the still-pricey foldable. Sure, you’re still paying $1800 for a Galaxy Z Fold 3, but it’s cheaper than its predecessor was at launch.

Apple al…

It wasn’t as bad this time.

Update, Oct 8 (18:00 ET): Instagram is back up

What you need to know

Facebook’s apps and services are reportedly down again, particularly Instagram.
The company is aware and working to fix the problem.
This comes just after a massive outage took Facebook’s platform down earlier this week.

Facebook can’t seem to get it together. After dealing with a massive outage earlier this week that left its services unusable for nearly six hours, the company is dealing with yet another outage affecting its apps, including Instagram.

It’s unclear how widespread the problems are for each particular app, but Downdetector has shown an increase in reports across Facebook’s services.

The company is aware that users are facing issues with its apps and says that it’s working quickly to get service restored.

We’re aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and we apologize…

It’s not Google Reader, but it’s something.

What you need to know

Google Chrome’s new RSS feature is arriving on the stable version of the app.
The new “Follow” button has been in the works since May and was available to users on the Canary channel.
Users can easily follow websites using the three-dot menu, with content appearing on the Chrome new tab page.

Google Reader is finally back from the dead, sort of. Google Chrome is rolling out with a new “Follow” button that allows users to add a website to a new RSS feed in the browser.

The feature was announced on Friday by Google’s director of engineering, Adrienne Porter Felt, who says that the feature is available on stable versions of Chrome. The RSS feed will appear next to the Discover feed on Chrome’s new tab page.

Starting today, we’re experimenting on Chrome stable with a Following feature. You can choose websites to follow, and their RSS updates will appear on Chrome’s new tab page. We’ve been working on this for a whil…

Another affordable Google TV option besides the Chromecast dongle.

What you need to know

Realme is preparing to launch a Google TV stick.
This will mark the second streaming device to launch with the platform after the Chromecast with Google TV.
The Realme 4K Smart Google TV Stick will support HDMI 2.1 and HDR10+.
The launch will happen on October 13, where we should learn about pricing and availability.

When it comes to Google TV, you really have two options. You can either purchase the Chromecast with Google TV dongle or buy a whole new TV with the platform built-in. However, Realme is about to throw itself in the ring as another option with the imminent launch of its 4K Smart Google TV Stick.

The company has revealed the launch of its upcoming Google TV stick, which will happen on October 13.

As gleaned from the launch event page, the device will support 4K60, HDMI 2.1, and HDR10+. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like there will be Dolby Vision support. As previously tease…

Google is taking a stance on climate change and cutting off content that spreads misinformation.

What you need to know

Google has announced an update to its monetization policy on advertisers and creators.
The company will prohibit content that promotes false claims about climate change.
The move comes just after Google announced a bevy of new features aimed at tackling climate change.
The new policy will go into effect on December 6.

Google is going all-in on its efforts to fight climate change and the company’s latest move takes a stab at ads and content that would otherwise challenge its efforts.

On Thursday, Google updated its content monetization policy in a bid to weed out ads and creators promoting climate change misinformation. Google says that starting this December, it will prohibit ads with “content that features claims about climate change which run contrary to scientific consensus.”

In case you’re curious about that consensus, it’s that the Earth is warming and th…

The OnePlus 9 RT is expected to launch next week.

What you need to know

A leak reveals what could be the first images of the OnePlus 9 RT.
The device looks similar to other OnePlus 9 series smartphones and will apparently feature a triple-camera setup.
The 9 RT is expected to launch this month, likely on October 13.

While we’ve heard that OnePlus is skipping its usual mid-cycle T-model this year, we learned that the company is instead preparing a limited-release OnePlus 9 RT. Leaker Evan Blass has gotten hold of what appears to be the first images of the upcoming device.

From its looks, the OnePlus 9 RT will feature a design that closely resembles the rest of the 9-series smartphones. In fact, it will likely use the OnePlus 9R as a base for much of its hardware, although it will feature an upgraded 50MP Sony IMX766 sensor for the primary camera.

While the images don’t appear to show the front of the device, it’s expected to feature a 120Hz AMOLED panel similar to its predece…