Articles by Muhammad Jarir Kanji

It’s early days for the feature, though, so expect some bugs.

What you need to know

Android’s Smart Selection menu can now convert ingredients, currencies, and more.
If you select currency or other units of measure, it’ll now offer you the option for conversions to other units.
The interface is a little clunky at the moment and requires you to switch over to the Google app to see the results.

If you’ve ever selected a number on Android and seen the option to immediately switch to the phone app, that’s Android’s Smart Selection at work. Google first released the feature back in 2017 alongside Android 9.0 Pie, and it just gave Smart Selection a nifty new upgrade: unit (and currency) conversions.

It’s unclear when the feature first rolled out, but thanks to the sharp-eyed Mishaal Rahman, we know that it was most likely added in the last month, with Google’s engineering team marking this feature request as fixed on December 15.

While I wasn’t able to get the feature working on m…

The phone will presumably have the same QHD+ display as the Mi 11.

What you need to know

Xiaomi is said to be prepping a Mi 11 Pro for launch in the first quarter of 2021.
Not much is known about the device, but a new leak suggests the phone’s display will be the same as the regular Mi 11.
The Chinese giant launched the Mi 11 earlier this month, making it the first phone to ship with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888.

When Xiaomi unveiled the Snapdragon 888-powered Mi 11 a couple of days ago, a glaring omission from the event was the Pro variant of the phone, which the company normally launches alongside the regular Mi flagship. If you were concerned about the fate of what will likely be one of the best Android phones of the next generation, worry not!

A new leak from China reveals the company is planning on launching a Pro variant of its phone as usual, though it’s decided on adopting a staggered launch this time around. A Weibo post from tipster Digital Chat Station reveals the compa…

It’s 50MP Sony sensor is supposed to be one of the best cameras around.

What you need to know

OPPO today completed the trifecta of its Reno 5 series.
The new OPPO Reno 5 Pro+ is the company’s full-fledged flagship with a Snapdragon 865 and up to 12 GB of RAM.
The phone will be launching in China this month, though there’s no word yet on availability in other markets.

Following the launch of the Reno 5 and Reno 5 Pro earlier this month, OPPO today completed the trio with the launch of the Reno 5 Pro+ 5G in China. And, yes, that name is an absolute mouthful and OPPO’s marketing team really should know better — unless they wanted their phone’s name to be a tongue twister.

Thankfully, while OPPO may have dropped the ball in its naming scheme, they more than make up for it with the stunning design and the truly flagship-worthy specs of this phone. Unlike the Reno 5 and Reno 5 Pro, which feature a Snapdragon 765G and a Dimensity 1000+ respectively, the Pro+ is powered by Qualcomm…

The phone is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2021.

What you need to know

Realme is prepping the launch of its first flagship for next year.
The phone will be powered by a Snapdragon 888 and boast up to 12GB of RAM.
Codenamed Race, the phone may ultimately launch under the Koi moniker.

Not to be outdone by the likes of Samsung and Xiaomi, Realme also plans on starting the new year with a bang. The company’s Xi Qu this week took to Weibo to tease the launch of its Snapdragon 888-powered flagship next year. He also cleared up some confusion about the phone’s name.

While some reports had referred to the phone as the Realme Race and assumed it was supposed to be the continuation of Oppo’s Ace series, Xi Qu clarified that ‘Race’ was just a codename for the device. He also noted that the phone will signify the launch of a whole new lineup of phones by the brand.

The folks at GizmoChina, meanwhile, have discovered a new profile on the company’s Weibo page for a Koi phone,…

The Exynos chips are finally able to match up to their Qualcomm-made competition.

What you need to know

Samsung’s semiconductor business may finally be able to redeem itself with the launch of the new Exynos 2100 SoC.
The Korean giant’s in-house chip is reportedly even able to beat Qualcomm’s next-gen Snapdragon 888.
The chip can apparently achieve a 3,963 score for multi-core performance on Geekbench, compared to the 3,794 Qualcomm says the Snapdragon 888 is capable of.

It’s been a tough few years for Samsung’s chip-making business. After years of producing in-house designs for SoCs that simply could not keep up with its Qualcomm-made competition, Samsung’s LSI division reached a new low this year when the smartphone division snubbed its Exynos 990 chip in favor of Qualcomm’s wares even in the South Korean versions of the Galaxy S20.

The division reportedly ‘felt humiliated’ as a result of the debacle, not to mention the public backlash from consumers asking Samsung to get rid…

Samsung’s flagship phablet is here to stay, it seems.

What you need to know

A new report from South Korea dispels rumors about the impending demise of Samsung’s Note series.
It cites an unnamed Samsung official.
Previous reports had suggested that Samsung plans on killing the Note series to focus on its lineup of foldable phones.

Rumors of Samsung’s Galaxy Note series’ demise may have been exaggerated, as a new report out of South Korea citing an unnamed senior Samsung official claims that while Samsung will be porting over some of the best features of the Note series to its other flagship offerings, the company still plans to continue selling its beloved phablet to consumers.

The report from Yonhap News Agency quotes an unnamed Samsung official as saying, “We are preparing to release the Galaxy Note series next year.”

Rumors about Samsung ditching the Note series to focus on its foldable phones began making the rounds after an earlier report from Korea suggested that Samsung …

An update to the Carrier Services app is reportedly the cause.

Update, December 10 (10:00 am ET): Google has rolled back the buggy Carrier Services update.

What you need to know

Many Android users are reporting issues with SMS messages.
Some are unable to send or receive messages entirely, while others report long delays when texting.
Google’s Carrier Services app is seemingly to blame.

Many Android users have reported facing SMS issues over the last couple of days. From Reddit to OnePlus’ support forums to the Google Play Store, a number of users, with phones from a variety of Android manufacturers, are experiencing either long delays while texting or are simply unable to send or receive SMS messages.

The problem’s origins can reportedly be traced back to a November 23 update to Google’s Carrier Services app, which powers a lot of the carrier-related services on your phone. Users experiencing these issues have suggested that deleting the app from your phone may be a temporary…

Google’s plastering its name everywhere.

What you need to know

Alongside a massive shakeup for its smartphone lineup, Google’s been cleaning house across its lineup this week.
It’s consolidating its branding across platforms with an emphasis on adding ‘Google’ to everything, renaming everything from Play Movies and TV to G Suite this week.
The company also killed off Daydream, its struggling VR platform.

What a month so far! If you watch Google as closely as we do, you’re bound to have noticed the last few days have seen a lot of activity from the company. Not only did Google launch its next-gen smartphones on September 30, eschewing the Pixel line’s flagship status in lieu of a more affordable $699 starting price, it’s also consolidated its branding across various platforms, making sure to put the “Google” name left, right, and center.

Here are all the ups and downs from Google this week.

G Suite is now Google Workspace

First, G Suite is now Google Workspace. That’s not all,…

While the Daydream View headset will still work, Google will not provide any new updates or support.

What you need to know

Google’s Daydream VR platform is officially dead.
Google today announced the end of support for the platform.
The company will not be pushing out any new software updates, and Daydream may not even work with Android 11 devices.

The writing was already on the wall when Google dropped support for its fledgling Daydream VR platform on the Pixel 3a and Pixel 4 series. At the same time, Google also stopped selling its headset designed to work with the platform, unimaginatively called the Daydream View. Now, the Mountain View giant has officially added a tombstone for the VR platform in the ever-growing Google Graveyard.

The new service update) for Daydream states:

Daydream VR software is no longer supported. You may still be able to access the service, but it won’t receive any more software or security updates.

In fact, the company says the Daydream app ma…

Sharing Stadia Pro games could make potentially save families a lot of money.

What you need to know

Months after its launch, we now know more about how family sharing will work on Stadia.
Users will reportedly be able to share both DLC and even previously claimed Stadia Pro games with their family.
The news comes via a teardown of the Stadia app on Android.

With the advent of the digital era, we have become increasingly separated from physical possession of the things we own. Chief among these are games, and with game streaming, we’re soon going to become even more detached from the games we own. This not only means it’s easier for companies to set up artificial barriers to stop you from playing the games you own, but it also makes it that much harder to share your favorite titles with friends and family, which was previously as simple as exchanging a disc.

With its new game streaming service, however, Google looks to be bucking that trend. We already knew that it was slated to…