Articles by Michael Allison

Google’s done with the table setting.

What you need to know

Google today released the last Android 12 Developer Preview.
The company highlighted improved haptics, new splash screens, and enhanced app linking support.
Google’s also added broader support for high-res camera sensors.

Android 12 is around the corner, and this last developer preview is the last hurdle Google’s going to leap before the consumer beta. Available to all Pixels from the Pixel 3 onwards, this new update doesn’t have much in the way of user-facing features, but it does provide new tools for developers to build those user-facing experiences down the line.

Google emphasizes haptics for instance, but you won’t be seeing any changes to haptics work on your phone immediately. Instead, it’s a change mostly aimed at gaming, Android 12 will allow developers to “emphasize key events and actions in their UI”, and developers will be able to build more console-like experiences when it comes to making use of your phone…

It’s rolling out now to all Google Workspace customers.

What you need to know

Google is rolling out improved Maps integration with Google Workspace.
This new update will add Google Maps to the Workspace side panel.
You’ll be able to use Maps while in other Workspace apps like Calendar without needing to switch.

Google’s Workspace side panel is adding support for Google Maps, the company announced this week. The panel already hosts relevant apps like Tasks and Keep, but Google Maps comes in as an idiosyncratic addition to what was a focused part of the Workspace interface.

The way Google explains it, the addition does make a lot of sense. With the newfound Google Maps integration, you can now more easily find information about a location and see precise details without needing to switch apps. It’s aimed at smoothening the workflow of frequent Calendar power-users. If you’re entering a meeting or an appointment into the Calendar web app, opening Google Maps to see the opening ti…

It’s available on all Android phones running Nougat and above.

What you need to know

Google has now added some of the most popular Japanese pop culture characters to AR search.
You’ll now find icons like Pac-Man, Ultraman, and Hello Kitty present via AR search in the Google Search app or any Android browser.
It also works in iOS on any iPhone or iPad running iOS 11 and above.

Google’s AR character search already includes cute farm animals, Marvel superheroes, and even those terrible lizards from the Jurassic past. Now, the company is adding several new characters to AR search, including popular characters from Japanese pop culture. The company says that it has seen a rise in anime interest, reaching a crescendo over the last month, even ranking higher than video games.

You’ll now find anime characters from Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gundam, as well as Hello Kitty, Ultraman, Pac-Man, and more. Some of these characters even make sounds, as Google shared in its Japanese blog pos…

The UK is invoking national security concerns to halt this merger.

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The UK has paused NVIDIA’s ARM acquisition while it opens an investigation into national security concerns.
It will also seek advice from interested third parties as part of this probe.
NVIDIA has committed to cooperating with the investigation.

NVIDIA’s Arm purchase has just hit a snag as the UK today announced that it would be halting the $40 billion deal pending the results of a probe.

The UK’s Competiton and Markets Authority, or CMA, will be investigating the transaction. It will then issue a report focusing on “jurisdictional and competition issues” alongside a summary of any representations it receives on potential national security issues arising from a consultation it will launch to gather third-party views. One might imagine Qualcomm and Graphcore would have a lot to contribute to the third party views section, for example. Qualcomm had reached out to the CMA, alongside the FTC s…

A new report revives concerns of impropriety.

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A new report claims that Huawei had the ability to eavesdrop on all numbers in the Dutch KPN network.
This discovery was made as part of risk assessment by KPN in 2010.
A Huawei spokesperson said, “Huawei has at all times worked under the explicit authorisation of KPN.”

Huawei has been accused of using its position as a telecoms component supplier to eavesdrop on all conversations taking place over the KPN Network, as reported this weekend by the Dutch de Volkskrant. The findings date from a 2010 risk assessment report commissioned by KPN. The company later refused to share these findings for unclear reasons.

Courtesy of The Telegraph:

The report, which was obtained by Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant, suggested that publishing these findings could severely damage KPN’s reputation. The operator had 6.5m subscribers at the time.

The report said: “The continued existence of KPN Mobile is in serious danger …

You’ve got to pick your battles.

As reported last week, Google is drastically scaling back the Pixel A-line this year. Rather than the relatively wide launch like the Pixel 4a of last year, it’s launching the new Pixel 5a 5G in only two countries — the U.S. and Japan. Even for Google’s modest Pixel ambitions, this is unlikely to be a good sign. But rather than dwell on the doom and gloom scenarios, there are some things we can take away from Google’s revised strategy.

First and most obviously, Google’s Pixel 5a is launching. Despite the chip shortage that’s plaguing the world, the company is going ahead with this. If Google did want to scale back on its hardware ambitions and only focus on one device, it had the perfect opportunity to cancel the Pixel 5a. It didn’t even need to comment on the Pixel 5a rumors. After all, reports of the Pixel 4a XL being canceled did nothing to stop the Pixel 4a 5G from launching (and Google didn’t comment on those rumors either). That Google did s…

Google has since streamlined its privacy policies to make them easier to manage.

What you need to know

Google is facing as-yet-undetermined fines and penalties in Australia over deceptive location tracking practices.
The company was found guilty of deliberately confusing its Android privacy settings to enable it to collect user data.
Google is exploring its options, including appealing the ruling.

Google is facing fines and penalties in Australia over misleading its customers with regard to location data collection (via the Associated Press). Bewee Marcy 2017 and November 2018, Google’s messaging around “Location History”, as well as “Web and App Activity” neglected to inform users that it would still collect location data if the former setting was switched off but not the latter.

The company potentially faces millions in fines and other penalties to be determined at a later date.

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair Rod Sims said in a statement:

This is an…

Millions of users had their data exposed in a Facebook data leak earlier this year.

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Facebook is facing an investigation in Ireland over a recently publicized data leak.
The Irish DPC believes that Facebook has broken one or more provisions of the General Data Protection Regulations.
Facebook has confirmed it has spoken to investigators regarding the issues raised.

Facebook recently suffered a large data leak where a cache of data, initially breached five years ago, was now made publicly available. This cache included “phone numbers, Facebook IDs, full names, locations, birthdates, bios, and, in some cases, email addresses.” Facebook came under fire for declining to notify affected customers about the breach, and now Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, or DPC, is stepping in to investigate Faceook over potential GDPR breaches.

The DPC shared the following statement this afternoon, saying:

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) today launched an own-vol…

OnePlus continues slowly bringing Android updates to its flagships.

What you need to know

T-Mobile has started rolling out the OxygenOS 11 update to the OnePlus 7T and 7 Pro.
These updates bring Android 11 as well as OnePlus’s own small tweaks to the older flagships.
According to T-Mobile, these updates started rolling out around the 9th of April.

T-Mobile has started rolling out the OxygenOS 11 update to the OnePlus 7 Pro and 7T this month (via 9to5Google). Users of OnePlus’s phones will now get the company’s latest stable software package. This will take the operating system to Android 11, joining the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 9-series.

Other than Android 11, OxygenOS 11 brings refinement to the interface, enhancements to dark mode, HEVC recording support, a revamped camera UI, a selection of new Ambient Display clock styles, and more. Like with the global rollout, this only includes the February security update, a pitfall that stops OnePlus from being one of the very best Andro…

Exploding batteries are a known risk when it comes to transporting smartphones.

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Vivo has been banned from Hong Kong Air Cargo over a fire incident.
Images and videos shared on social media appeared to show pallets containing Vivo phones burst into flames.
Vivo is investigating the incident,

Vivo phones have been reportedly banned from a Hong Kong Air Cargo, a subsidiary of Hong Kong Airlines, following a fire at a Hong Kong airport this week as reported by Air Cargo World (via Android Authority). The ban also encompasses two other companies, logistics companies Cargo Link Logistics HK Co Ltd and Sky Pacific Logistics HK Co Ltd.

The fire was reportedly caused by a shipment of Vivo phones at the airport, with a pallet carrying the devices erupting into flames. It’s not clear whether it was due to improper handling by the logistic companies, or a flaw in the phone themselves that caused the conflagration.

Vivo Mobile Pallet Catches Fire While Loading in Ca…