Articles by Michael Allison

One of Google’s most useful apps just got a lot more useful.

What you need to know

Google is rolling out offline translation for Google Lens.
It’s a server-side update available for beta users of the Google Lens app.
Some users may find this update a bit redundant as the main Google Translate app already supports offline translation.

Google Lens, the company’s augmented reality app for Android, has now been updated to support offline translation. Currently, users can open up Google Lens and point the camera at written or printed text to translate it to any of several supported languages. The translation will appear in an overlay over the original text, and it’s a great tool for people who travel a lot. However, unlike Google Translate which let you download languages for offline use, Google Lens needs you to be online to use this feature in the first place. That’s changing soon.

Starting this week, Google began rolling out an update to the Lens app for select beta users (via 9t…

The Echo Show 10 is finally available for pre-order.

What you need to know

Amazon just announced a launch date for the Echo Show 10.
The company announced the devce last year at it’s end of summer hardware launch.
Now, it’s set to ship from February 25 with pre-orders opening now. It’ll set you back $250.

Amazon is finally shipping the Alexa-powered Echo Show 10, its newest mega-sized smart display. It’s the 3rd generation of this style of device, and while the company announced it last year alongside the Fire TV Stick, the Fire TV Stick Lite, and a host of other devices, it’s just being made available for pre-order.

The Echo Show 10 has an appropriately large 10.1-inch display with adaptive color and brightness. Paired with its large dual speakers, the company expects you’ll be able to have a fun time streaming music and videos while in the kitchen or othrwise occupied. Its rotating swiveling base means you can place it anywhere and be confident your content will be able to fo…

The first Motorola Edge phone of 2021 isn’t heading to the U.S. just yet.

What you need to know

Lenovo’s Motorola Edge S is now official.
It’s the first phone to ship with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870.
It’s also a China-exclusive phone at launch, with no plans of a U.S. or Europe launch yet.

The Motorola Edge S has finally launched(via GSM Arena), and it’s the company’s first real high-end phone for 2021. Unlike the other phones Lenovo has launched under the Motorola brand this year, it’s coming with Edge branding.This means big screens, high-quality cameras, powerful processors, and 5G support as a matter of course. The Moto Edge S delivers in all categories.

To start with, it has a 6.7-inch 90Hz display, albeit IPS LCD rather than OLED. It has HDR10 support, making for what should be an excellent viewing experience on paper. Camera-wise, there’s the usual quad-camera layout at the back. So you’ll be getting a 64MP camera, a 16MP ultrawide camera, and two other lenses. One is a …

Netflix Shuffle feature is soon coming to everyone to cure your stay-at-home boredom.

What you need to know

Netflix has been testing a shuffle button on various platforms over the years.
The company this week announced that it’ll be launching it worldwide in 2021.
Netflix’s shuffling feature is aimed at people who really don’t know what they want to watch. The company has a daunting sea of content, and this minimizes the pressure on subscribers.

Just like with streaming music platforms, à la carte video services like Netflix offer far too much content for one to suitably get a handle on. It’s the paradox of choice for our modern age, and Netflix is finally releasing a solution that’ll fix the most first world of first world problems. It’s adding a shuffle button.

It’s not exactly 100 percent new. Netflix has tested various iterations of this feature in the past, including one specifically tailored towards surfacing random episodes of TV shows. Apparently, it’s found great su…

The OnePlus Nord N10 5G is getting its first update of 2021 in Europe and North America.

What you need to know

The OnePlus Nord N10 5G is receiving its first update for 2021.
It’s being delivered in a phased manner in Europe and North America.
It’s also the first OnePlus phone to get the ANdroud January 2021 security patch.

OnePlus has started rolling out OxygenOS 10.5.9 to the OnePlus Nord N10 5G. It’ll be the first update for the phone this year, but is more or less a bug fixing updates that’s aimed at tweaking stability and power consumption. It’ll also be the first of the OnePlus phones to get the January 2021 security patch, wih the higher-priced phones still yet to be updated.

Sharing the news on the OnePlus forums, the company said the update would bring ” optimized power consumption and “further improved network stability.”

The update will roll out in North America and Europe, users should look out for build numbers 10.5.9.BE89BA in Europe and 10.5.9.BE86AA in North A…

Google faces anther antitrust case over its advertising practices.

What you need to know

Google is being sued by more U.S. states over antitrust concerns.
The focus of this suit is the Google Play Store.
It’s expected to be filed by March at the latest, but it could come as early as February.

Google is facing another antitrust lawsuit regarding the Play Store, Reuters reported on Friday. It’s set to be filed by March, with the main complaints revolving around the company’s management of the Play Store. No other specifics about the case were detailed, though the controversial 30% developer fee may be a focus. It’s not a federal case, but one brought by the attorneys general of Utah, North Carolina, and New York State. Other states could join in the future, Reuters notes.

As in other cases and complaints regarding the Play Store, Google’s defense remains the same. Android is an open platform, and developers are not required to use the Google Play Store to develop apps. Developer…

WhatsApp’s new privacy policy has driven users away into the waiting arms of their rivals.

What you need to know

WhatsApp continues to grapple with the fallout from changes it plans on making to its privacy policy.
The company has claimed that these changes are simply to further its growth in the e-commerce market and does not share any additional data with parent company Facebook.
However, this new policy will no longer take effect in February but will be pushed back three months till May.

WhatsApp’s planned privacy policy update have resulted in a powerful backlash towards both itself and Facebook over the past week. The new policy, for the unaware, will result in more data than some are comfortable with being shared among WhatsApp, Facebook, and other Facebook-owned companies.

The company has tried to clarify its position and has now been forced to backtrack on this imminent change. Users will now have an additional three months — till May — to review and adopt the new t…

A cheaper power brick for everyone.

What you need to know

Samsung is slashing the price of its 25W power brick in the wake of the Galaxy S21’s launch.
This is to make the now-mandatory purchase more palatable for potential buyers.
While the new pricing isn’t live yet, it’ll be reduced from $35 to $19.

Samsung isn’t shipping the Galaxy S21 with a charger in the box as rumors indicated. Instead, the new flagship will only have a USB-C cable in the box with buyers needing to purchase a power brick separately if they don’t already have one. It’ll be a jarring change for those who are used to getting a complete charger with their phones, but the company says it’ll help reduce the amount of e-waste.

Whether chargers in the box are good for the environment or not is a separate discussion. If you’re interested in picking up a power brick either for your new S21 or just for an older Samsung phone that just needs a charger — the company has just made it cheaper to do so. It will be su…

Samsung wants to attract younger viewers with TikTok.

What you need to know

Samsung is launching the S21 this week at a virtual Unpacked event.
It will make the stream available on TikTok, Twitch, and Reddit for the first time.
Samsung’s Unpacked event is scheduled for January 14 at 10 a.m eastern,

Samsung is launching the Galaxy S21 this week at Unpacked, but you won’t have to be using YouTube to see it. The company shared to Android Police this week that it will live-stream the launch on multiple venues, including TikTok, Twitch, and Reddit.

Alongside YouTube and Samsung’s own website, you’ll be spoilt for choice when it comes to watching the reveal.

Samsung’s Galaxy S21 is set to launch tomorrow alongside the S21+ and S21 Ultra. All three phones in the series will ship with 5G, powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processors, and flexible camera setups. They’ll be some of the best Android phones of 2021. As such, they’ll also be a little pricy, but Samsung phones often range i…

Samsung’s cheap 5G phone debuts with the company’s 2021 design language.

What you need to know

Samsung today announced the Galaxy A32 5G.
It’s a 5G phone that’s aimed at the lower-end of the market.
Samsung has yet to give pricing or availability.

Samsung today rolled out the first Galaxy A-series phone that’s built with the same design language we’ll find on the S21. It will likely double as one of the cheapest 5G Phones Samsung currently sells. Dubbed the Galaxy A32 5G, Samsung quietly announced it this morning via an infographic showing off the specs.

As far as good points go, it has a quad-camera layout with a main 48MP camera, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and the macro and depth lens you normally find on midrangers. There are also options of up to 8GB of RAM paired with a healthy 128GB of internal storage and MicroSD support. , there’s a 5,000 mAh battery with 15W fast charging.

On the negative side, Samsung is giving this screen a 6.5-inch HD+ display. At a time when Fi…