Articles by Michael Allison

Fitbit also rolled out new updates for the Versa 3.

What you need to know

Fitbit introduced the Fitbit Ace 2 Special Edition Minions, a sleep tracker aimed at young children.
It piggybacks off the popular minions brand and comes in a nice Minions Yellow.
Fitbit also announced software updates for the Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense.

Fitbit today announced a new Fitbit Ace model, the Fitbit Ace 3 Special Edition: Minions. It’s a version of the already Minion-focused Fitbit Ace 3 that brings even more Miniony action to the watch.

Starting from $99, the Minions edition adds an exclusive, engraved accessory band in the iconic “Minions Yellow.” There are also two new bands for the Ace 3 in Despicable Blue and Mischief Black. Finally, the company will add a new animated clock face, available exclusively on Ace 3 devices, aimed at making kids form healthy habits and illustrating their progress towards daily customizable goals for step count or activity.

Alison Ross Powers, Head of Global S…

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE accidentally went live earlier this week.

What you need to know

Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7 Lite and A7 Lite are now official.
The tablets bring the best of Samsung’s big-screen experience to a cheaper price point.
They’ll be going on sale from June.

Samsung today finally launched the Galaxy Tab S7 FE, a cheaper variant of the Galaxy Tab S7 that was well praised last year as one of the best Android tablets.

The Tab S7 FE will come in four colors: Mystic Black, Mystic Silver, Mystic Green, and Mystic Pink. Samsung will slap on a pair of AKG speakers with Dolby Atmos compatibility, and there’ll be a 12.4-inch 2,560 x 1,600 TFT display that’s S Pen compatible around the front.

As expected, it’ll be a 5G compatible device powered by the Snapdragon 750G processor. There’s up to 6GB of RAM backing this, alongside 128GB of expandable storage to store your apps and games. With a 10,090mAh battery and support for 45W fast charging (charger sold separately), Samsung…

Cooler heads seemed to have prevailed with the name of this device.

What you need to know

Samsung has quietly launched the Galaxy Tab S7 FE in Germany.
It’ll cost €649 for the base model.
The Tab S7 Lite was expected to launch in June.

Samsung today quietly launched the Galaxy Tab S7 FE, its newest tablet and a variant of the well-reviewed Samsung Galaxy Tab S7. The device had been leaked earlier as the Galaxy Tab S7 Lite, the Galaxy Tab S7 Lite XL, and the Galaxy Tab S7 Lite Plus, but Samsung instead went with the Fan Edition branding it used for the Galaxy S20’s cheapest variant last year.

From the German site, this variant will ship in either Mystic Black or Mystic Silver, none of the other colors leaked earlier. It’ll have a pair of AKG speakers with Dolby Atmos compatibility. As leaks said, it’ll be a 5G compatible device powered by the Snapdragon 750G processor. There’s 4GB of RAM backing this, alongside an expandable 64GB of storage to store your apps and games. With …

Twitter had faced a similar threat in the past before acquiescing.

What you need to know

Google has come under fire in Russia for failing to remove illegal content quickly enough.
The company has been given 24 hours to comply or be slowed down.
Twitter was given the same ultimatum last month and complied, removing 91 percent of highlighted content.

Russia has now asked Google to remove links to content prohibited in the country within 24 hours or be punished. Google’s services in Russia could be throttled within the country if it fails to comply.

As quoted by TASS, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, or Roskomnadzor, said:

After Twitter, at the request of Roskomnadzor, removed 91% of the prohibited information, Google came out on top in the amount of unreleased illegal content that directly harms Russian users. […]
Roskomnadzor sent more than 26 thousand notifications to the Google administration about the n…

After blowing up on the iPhone, Clubhouse is now on Android.

Update, May 13 (11:30 pm ET) Clubhouse today announced an expansion to Canada and other English speaking countries

Update, May 18 (02:30 pm ET) Clubhouse today confirmed that it would expand worldwide by the end of the week

Update, May 21 (02:00 pm ET) Clubhouse is now available worldwide on Android phones.

What you need to know

Clubhouse is now available in beta on Android.
It’s only available in the U.S. at the moment, with a UK release in the coming days.
The invite-only system will remain for the near future.

After an earlier private beta teased last week, Clubhouse today announced that it would be making its debut on Android after an earlier announcement this year. The app had taken off in the heyday of the pandemic and spawned many imitators, but had neglected the Android market for a while. There are a few caveats. This is still a beta, it’s still invite-only, and you’ll need to be in the U.S. to use it (tho…

To be fair, it is a good look.

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New renders leaked today show off the upcoming Oppo Reno 6 series.
Oppo’s base Reno 6 will draw heavy inspiration from Apple’s iPhone 12, based on the design. The other two phones in the series reflect more contemporary Android designs.
The Reno 6 series will be announced on May 27th.

Oppo’s upcoming line of phones, the Reno 6 series, have just been leaked online by veteran leaker Evan Blass. Sharing the renders on Twitter, Bass showed off the three phones included in the series — the Reno 6 5G, the Reno 6 Pro 5G, and the Reno 6 Pro Plus 5G — as well as their expected colorways.

Looking at the Reno 6, it is a very familiar look. From the flat sides to the camera bump, the base Reno 6 looks very much like a post-iPhone 12 product. Oppo is capable of making distinctive-looking products of its own — the Oppo Find X2 Pro was one of the best Android phones with a design all its own. That said, it does err towards the…

New renders show off a better view of the next Google flagship.

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Another Google Pixel 6 “Pro” leak gives us a good look at Google’s 2021 flagship.
These new leaks are accompanied by the first spec details.
The Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are expected to launch at this year’s Made By Google event in the fall.

The Google Pixel 6 leaked for the first time last week, showing off a very distinct design when compared to the likes of the Pixel 5 or Pixel 4a 5G. Now, new renders shared by OnLeaks (via Digit.in) give us a clearer look at the upcoming flagship.

This set of renders specifically show off the Pixel 6 “Pro” — the name is currently unconfirmed — the successor to the XL variants every Pixel has had so far, with the exception of the Pixel 5. It is said to have a 6.6-7″ curved AMOLED display with a centered hole-punch front-facing camera. The rear camera layout is said to consist of a primary wide-angle lens, a periscopic telephoto lens, and presumably an u…

Is Google finally getting serious about hardware?

What you need to know

Google is opening up its first physical retail store in New York City.
Located in Chelsea, it’ll focus on showing off the company’s #madebyGoogle line of hardware.
The new store is slated to open in summer 2021.

Google today announced the opening of its first retail store. Located in the Chelsea part of New York City, the store will be a retail hub for people interested in Google’s hardware products. This means you can go there to try out the newest Pixels, listen to the sound of the latest Nest smart speakers, click-clack on the best Chromebooks, and so on. For Pixel owners, Google is also adopting one of the best parts of the Apple experience — on-site customer service. The company says you’ll be able to go there, get your device checked out, and have it repaired with minimal fuss. They’ll even offer workshops and how-tos throughout the year to help you get the best out of your device.

At the moment, Go…

Spotify is going even harder on podcasts.

What you need to know

Spotify today announced that it would be rolling out new accessibility-focused features to its mobile apps.
It’s bringing a small redesign of its app to make it easier to use if you’re visually impaired.
You’ll also now be able to generate transcripts for a selection of Spotify Exclusive or Original podcasts in the coming weeks. Spotify plans to make this universal in the future.

Spotify today announced a couple of new features aimed at making its experience more accessible to everyone, primarily those who are visually and hearing impaired. It’s rolling out updates to both its iOS and Android apps towards these ends.

The first update is a small one, aimed at making Spotify clearer when in use. Buttons will be bigger, the text is now sentence case, and the company will be making some tweaks to color and text formatting.

Spotify also announced support for large text, alas, for iPhone users and not for Android phones…

Google is powering up ARCore with new capabilities

What you need to know

Google today announced ARCore 1.24.
It’s highlighting two new APIs, Raw Depth API as well as the Recording and Playback API.
Google also shared that there were more than 850 million ARCore compatible devices.

Alongside Android 12 and other announcements at Google I/O today, Google also brought in new updates for ARCore. The company unveiled ARCore 1.24, complete with a new Raw Depth API and a new Recording and Playback API.

The Raw Depth API is aimed at helping developers take more accurate measurements of indoor spaces and built a better model of physical surroundings. It works on devices that lack specialized sensors, making it more widely accessible. Google says that this also allows developers to filter depth data in real-time, further enabling the placing of AR objects on physical objects such that look pretty realistic — well, for AR objects anyway. Google highlights examples from TikTok and 3D L…