Articles by Michael Allison

Spotify’s really setting itself up as a podcasting platform.

What you need to know

Spotify is acquiring Podz.
Podz is a podcast discovery service that used AI to generate highlights of a particular podcast, letting users sample 60-seconds of a show before committing.
Spotify plans to integrate this technology into its apps before the end of the year.

Spotify’s podcasts ambitions continue to expand by acquiring Podz, a small company that specializes in machine learning-powered podcast discovery. The company announced the acquisition on Friday, noting that the Podz team will be integrated into Spotify’s main development team, with visible changes appearing in the app by the end of the year. Android Central reached out to Spotify to get clarification on the precise purchase value, Spotify did not reply in time for publication

Podz generates high-quality clips and previews that allow users to sample podcasts they may be interested in without needing to make the initial time commitm…

Big Tech companies have been placed under increased scrutiny over the last year, this is the latest effort.

What you need to know

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is investigating Google and Apple over potential anticompetitive behavior.
The body will look into whether both companies and their effective duopoly are reducing innovation in tech.
It will also investigate the power both wield over developers.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating the duopoly of Google and Apple and the effects on the mobile tech market. Between Android and iOS, the Play Store and the App Store, Chrome and Safari, both companies wield control over a large swathe of tech in the UK and other markets. While this control may be organic as platforms ranging from Windows Phone to BlackBerry 10 crumbled in the past from lack of developer support, the effect remains that both companies do wield incredible power, and developers are unhappy about it.

In an announcement t…

Huawei is finally making the big leap over to HarmonyOS.

Huawei has finally introduced its Android replacement officially with HarmonyOS 2.0. The company will be updating its most recent phones from Android later in the year as it attempts to regain lost ground after being placed on the U.S. entity list.

Huawei is positioning HarmonyOS as a better operating system than Android, and there’s a good reason for that. While it remains based on the Android Open Source Project (on phones and tablets at least), Huawei being decoupled from Google leaves the company free to make all the modifications to Android it wants. Huawei touts its speed, battery, and overall performance improvements over its EMUI-based devices, and it’ll be curious to see if these benefits will translate to tangible improvements for regular users over the best regular Android phones.

Alongside its announcement, Huawei has shared a list of all phones which will be updated to HarmonyOS — and it’s pretty extensive. Ev…

Google is switching up from updates every six weeks to updates every month from Q4 2021.

What you need to know

Google will update Chromebooks monthly after Chrome OS 96 lands in October.
Chrome OS 95 will be skipped as a result of this while Google tries to realign Chrome browser and Chrome OS.
Google will also introduce a new channel aimed at Chromebook owners in education and business, allowing users to stay on one Chrome OS version for six months.

Chromebook updates are getting much faster as Google switches up the cadence of its release schedule to match the Chrome browser. From Q4 2021 (so around October), Google will start updating Chrome OS on a monthly basis. This switch will happen with the Chrome OS 96 release, scheduled for November.

Writing on the Chromium blog, Marina Kazatcker, Chrome OS Release TPM Lead, said

To deliver new features more rapidly to consumers while also continuing to prioritize the key pillars of Chrome OS – security, stability, speed, and …

Samsung and Google have already announced the intention to merge Tizen and Wear OS.

What you need to know

Samsung may be giving us our first look at the new Wear OS this month.
The company is hosting an event showing off its “reimagining” of smartwatches at virtual MWC on June 28th.
The company combined its smartwatch operating system efforts with Google earlier this year at Google I/O.

Samsung might show off the new Wear OS watch operating system later this month at virtual MWC, the company has hinted at via its session description. Spotted by 9to5Google, the company will be showing off its next-generation smartwatch experience on the 28th of June.

The description reads:

The Galaxy ecosystem of connected devices, services, and partnerships provides people with choice, freedom, and possibility. We’re reimagining smartwatches, creating new opportunities for both developers and consumers. And we’re enhancing security, giving people the protection they need in an open and conn…

Google’s search choice screen is getting a little more equitable.

What you need to know

Google’s auction based search choice system is going away after backlash from rival search companies.
In replacement, a system that includes up to 12 search englines will come into play on new Android devices.
This change is rolling out from September 1.

Google will be altering its search choice screen for Android users in Europe. From September 1, users will be able to see an expanded list of up to twelve search services. Previously, the company offered four choices, each one based on an auction.

Google is retiring the auction as a result of feedback from both the European Commission and search companies, instead opting to promote the top 5 search services in each eligible country, that is, the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom. It will now display the top five most popular search services in each applicable country, followed by up to seven other eligible services in a randomi…

Samsung’s SmartThings gets an easier-to-use interface.

What you need to know

Samsung is rolling out a huge usability update to its SmartThings app.
It simplifies the app into five sections, each addressing specific user needs.
The update will roll out to Android devices today and iOS ones in the future.

Samsung has announced a new update to the SmartThings app on the Play Store. The update is targeted at simplifying the user interface to be easier to use and more organized. It’s a departure from how it used to be, but the intention is to make using the app more focused and purposeful.

The app is now divided into five main tabs. Users will now see Favorites, Devices, Life, Automations, and Menu. These all do pretty much what they say on the tin. The Favorites tab is where you find all of your most-used features. If you’re at home, you may see your smart speakers and light bulbs, for instance. Devices will show all of the devices you can control. This will range from TVs to ligh…

OnePlus announces yet another stripped-down Nord.

What you need to know

OnePlus today shared more on the OnePlus Nord CE 5G, a stripped-down version of the OnePlus Nord.
It’s set to come to Europe and India for an affordable price.
An official launch will reveal everything on June 10.

OnePlus today introduced the OnePlus Nord Core Edition, following up on its OnePlus Nord N200 reveal yesterday via an exclusive shared to TechRadar. The OnePlus Nord CE aims to replicate the core of the original Nord, one of the best cheap Android phones in 2020. Of course, OnePlus will also be cutting down on many of the specs to accomplish this.

Down from a quad lens, OnePlus will have a triple-lens layout at the rear. With two of the Nord’s lenses being more or less useless though, this is doesn’t quite matter. Instead, what does matter is that the company will keep a powerful main shooter, and likely an ultra-wide. TechRadar speculates it may have a depth or a macro shooter of some unknown re…

The Boy George experience comes to Waze.

What you need to know

Waze is running a Boy George takeover this Pride Month.
You’ll be able to have him as your navigation voice throughout the month of June.
Waze also introduced new moods and vehicles.

The month of June is celebrated as LGBT Pride worldwide, and as such, Waze is welcoming Boy George to their platform for a Pride Month takeover. With the latest Waze update, you’ll be able to listen to Boy George’s voice direct you to places in your car while sharing with you words of advice in his own way.

Writing in a blog post, the Waze team said:

A music and fashion icon who has, for decades, represented what it means to live authentically and unapologetically, Boy George uses his signature voice to create not only instant classics, but also impassioned songs that shine a light on the movement to secure the rights and liberties of the LGBTQIA+ community around the world. And now, for the first time, he’s using this recognizable…

Spotify wants to drive engagement by making the annual Wrapped a constant.

What you need to know

Spotify today rolled out a new ‘Only You’ feature to its mobile and web apps.
It’s a set of features that’s reminiscent of its end-of-year Wrapped Experience.
Spotify will also add a new “Blend” feature that ‘blends’ the music tastes of two users into one playlist for a more social listening session.

Spotify is bringing Wrapped earlier this year, only that it’s called “Only You”, a new experience in Spotify that does what Wrapped does — but it’s going to be here all year round. It’ll be accessible on the web or in the iOS and Android phones.

Only You consists of a few experiences that’ll be available for you in the hub. There’s the “Your Audio Birth Chart” feature that appropriates the language of a horoscope but for your music taste. Your Sun sign will show the artist you’ve listened to most over the last 6 months, the Moon sign is for artists that’ll showcase your emotional s…