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vendredi 21 février 2020

[Update: Front render] Leaked LG V60 promo images show quad rear cameras, 5000mAh battery, and headphone jack

Update 1 (02/21/2020 @ 02:54 AM ET): A new render has surfaced, showing off the front of the LG V60 ThinQ. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on February 8, 2020, is preserved as below.

LG’s mobile business struggled in 2019 due to lagging sales outside of its home market of South Korea, but the company aims to make its mobile business profitable by next year by meeting the growing demand for premium 5G smartphones. To that end, the company was seeking to make a big splash at MWC 2020 with the launch of the LG V60 ThinQ, the successor to the late 2019 LG V50S ThinQ (also known as the LG G8X). Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing the V60 ThinQ at MWC 2020 as LG decided to skip the event due to concerns over the spread of the 2019 novel Coronavirus. Still, since we know the company had planned to launch the V60 at MWC, we expect that LG has already prepared marketing material for the event. Indeed, thanks to Evan Blass (@evleaks), we’re getting an early look at the device through images pulled from a leaked video that was likely intended to be promotional material for MWC 2020.

The two images shared by Evan Blass reveal some of the key features of the device. Despite what the images below show, the actual device won’t have a transparent back—that’s just a way for LG to point to the important features of the device without inserting a bunch of text into the video. From the images, we can see that the LG V60 ThinQ will have four microphones, quad rear cameras, a 5000mAh battery, a USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm headphone jack (which fellow Korean brand Samsung has ditched on its latest Galaxy S20 series), and bottom-firing speakers. We assume the device will have an under-display fingerprint scanner since there isn’t a rear-mounted physical fingerprint scanner and the power button sticks out of the body. On the left side of the device, we can faintly see what I assume are the volume buttons and the dedicated Google Assistant button. If so, this matches the button placement of the LG G8X/V50S ThinQ.

Leaked LG V60 promotional images. Source: Evan Blass (@evleaks)

The device shown in these images looks similar to the alleged “LG G9 ThinQ” that @OnLeaks revealed last month. Those renders show a similar camera setup and bottom component placement. I believe that the “LG G9” that @OnLeaks posted about last month is actually the LG V60 ThinQ. First, @OnLeaks himself wasn’t sure of the branding; he assumed what he was posting was the successor to the LG G8, a reasonable assumption based on the timing. Furthermore, we haven’t seen any evidence that LG is planning to launch the G9 at MWC 2020. Rather, we’ve seen specific evidence that the LG V60 ThinQ, code-named “timelm,” is launching soon with Android 10. Furthermore, David Ruddock of Android Police claims that LG is altering its release schedule; he states the V series will be released alongside Samsung’s Galaxy S series this year while the G series “may be effectively phased out.” Samsung is launching the Galaxy S20 series on February 11th and LG was expected to launch the V60 ThinQ at MWC, so this information seems accurate. However, Ruddock is unsure about the details of LG’s new device series for the fall, so it’s possible that the G series may simply be postponed rather than canceled.

Assuming the LG G9 that @OnLeaks posted about is actually the LG V60, we can see that the V60 will have a U-shaped notched and flat display that measures about 6.7-6.9-inches diagonally. The “Hand ID” module from the G8 isn’t present, which doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t return in a future phone—it just won’t be on this device. Finally, we can assume the device will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 since it’s undoubtedly a flagship smartphone. Even though LG won’t be at MWC 2020 this year, we can expect to see the V60 launch pretty soon. If LG can keep the pricing competitive and launch with the right carrier partners, the V60 could be a successful device for LG’s struggling mobile business.


Update: Front renders of the LG V60 ThinQ show off a familiar design

We now have our first look at the LG V60 ThinQ, and the phone adopts a familiar unassuming look that plays comfortably safe.

LG V60 ThinQ

The render features a wallpaper with black backgrounds, which is commonly employed on marketing materials to mask the actual bezels on the device, and we see the same being achieved here. It is difficult to see how thick the bezels on the phone are, but we guess they should be within tolerable limits. We can spot the speaker grille sitting as a slit on the top of the phone, and AndroidHeadlines states that the LG V60 ThinQ will come with a front camera within a waterdrop notch. We also see the volume rocker as well as a button on the left side, which the report mentions is a dedicated Google Assistant button. The power button rests on the other side which is not visible in this image. The phone appears in a golden colored metallic frame, though we presume there will be more color options.

Source: AndroidHeadlines

The post [Update: Front render] Leaked LG V60 promo images show quad rear cameras, 5000mAh battery, and headphone jack appeared first on xda-developers.



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jeudi 20 février 2020

Google bans nearly 600 apps from the Play Store for disruptive ads, including many from Cheetah Mobile

The Google Play Store hosts a significantly larger number of apps than its iOS counterpart. This is partly due to the fact that Apple’s app submission process is arguably more rigorous than what Google has in place. Because of Google’s lax policies, the Play Store is chock full of sub-par apps. In a bid to clean up the app store, Google keeps removing apps that violate its policies or raise concerns about user policy. Back in April last year, we learned that a number of popular apps on the Play Store were abusing permissions and committing ad fraud. These included apps from publishers like DO Global and Cheetah Mobile. At the time, Google removed the offending apps from the Play Store and banned DO Global. However, the ban doesn’t seem to have had much effect on Cheetah Mobile.

According to a recent report from BuzzFeed News, Google has now removed close to 600 apps from the Play Store and banned their developers for ad fraud and disruptive mobile ads. Among the banned developers is the infamous Cheetah Mobile. Following the previous accusations on Cheetah Mobile, Google had removed one of its offending apps from the Play Store but allowed the developer to continue offering the rest of its app. However, in the latest string of bans, Google has removed all of Cheetah Mobile’s apps from the platform and the apps no longer offer advertising inventory for sale in Google’s ad networks.

In a statement regarding the ban, Google’s senior product manager for ad traffic quality, Per Bjorke, told BuzzFeed News that the removed apps, which have been installed more than 4.5 billion times, targeted English-speaking users and were mainly from developers based in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India. While Bjorke declined to name specific apps or developers, he did mention that many of the banned apps were utilities or games.

In a blog post on the matter, Google revealed that it has developed new technologies to protect Android users from apps that serve disruptive ads. Most recently, the company deployed an innovative machine-learning based approach to identify apps that show out-of-context ads. This new approach helped the company fish out the 600 apps that have been banned in the latest wave. However, Google hasn’t shared the full list of apps/developers that were banned. It’s also worth noting that the ban on Cheetah Mobile, which is a publicly-traded company in China, has resulted in a 5.9% decline in the value of its shares.


Source: BuzzFeed News, Google Blog, Seeking Alpha

The post Google bans nearly 600 apps from the Play Store for disruptive ads, including many from Cheetah Mobile appeared first on xda-developers.



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Download: OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro get OxygenOS Open Beta 9 with January 2020 patches and more

Update 1 (02/21/2020 @ 01:00 AM ET): OnePlus is also rolling out OxygenOS Open Beta 9 to the OnePlus 7. Download links have been added at the bottom. The original article as published on February 13, 2020, is preserved as below.

OnePlus has started rolling out OxygenOS Open Beta 9 for the OnePlus 7 Pro, its 2019 flagship smartphone. The last OxygenOS Open Beta for the phone, Open Beta 8, brought a one-handed mode and December 2019 security patches. This update enhances the one-handed usage for the dialer app and brings the January 2020 security patches. There are also a few other optimizations. For one, the network has been optimized for a better gaming experience. The weather app crashing issue has been fixed, and the Zen Mode 1.5.0 app now supports OnePlus Account login, synchronization of badges and historical data. Finally, the system stability has been improved and general bugs are said to have been fixed.

It’s worth noting that OxygenOS Open Beta 9 for the OnePlus 7 Pro as well as other OxygenOS updates were initially delayed because workers were given extended stays to avoid the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (Covid-19). Workers across China are now heading back to work, with many working from home as the lockdown in Hubei province continues.

The full change-log of the update is noted below:

Changelog

Changelog

  • System
    • Enhanced one-hand usage for dialer app
    • Optimized network for a better gaming experience
    • Updated Android security patch to 2020.01
    • Improved system stability and fixed general bugs
  • Zen Mode V1.5.0
    • Supported OnePlus Account login, synchronization of badges and historical data
  • Weather
    • Fixed the weather app crashing issue

OnePlus 7 Pro users running Open Beta 8 should have started getting the OTA for Open Beta 9. Users still on Android 9 must update to Open Beta 5 first as they can’t directly upgrade to any newer beta versions after Open Beta 5. OxygenOS stable users can change to the Open Beta update track by following OnePlus’ instructions.


Download Links for OxygenOS Open Beta 9

OnePlus 7

OnePlus 7 Pro


Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for the download links!

The post Download: OnePlus 7 and 7 Pro get OxygenOS Open Beta 9 with January 2020 patches and more appeared first on xda-developers.



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Google is testing multi-colored Quick Settings icons in Android 11

Google’s first Android 11 Developer Preview was just released yesterday, but a lot of its best features are hidden away from public view. We’ve detailed some of the upcoming major UI changes already, and I’m personally a fan of all the ones we’ve seen so far. While continuing to dig into the Android 11 system dump from the Pixel 4, I discovered a new class called “QSColorController” in SystemUI. This class is responsible for overriding the color of tiles in the Quick Settings panel, and through some debug commands referenced in the code, it’s possible to individually change the colors of each Quick Setting tile.

As you can see above, the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb, Auto-rotate, and Battery Saver icons have colors that are different from the current theme on my Pixel 2 XL. My Pixel 2 XL is running the stock theme with dark mode enabled in Android 11, which means that the color of each Quick Setting tile should be blue like the Flashlight icon. However, using the debug commands, I changed the colors of some of the icons to yellow, red, and green. The colors that you can pick currently include blue along with the aforementioned yellow, red, and green, though Google may add more colors in the future. The functionality of each Quick Setting tile doesn’t change—just the icon color.

I’m not entirely sure what Google intends to do with this feature; it’s possible that Google will expand the Pixel Themes app in Android 11 with this added functionality, but it’s also possible that Google will let developers set the color of their own Quick Settings tiles. XDA’s Zachary Wander got this feature working on the Android 11 emulator in Android Studio, so it doesn’t seem like this feature will be Pixel-exclusive. I’m personally not a fan of this multi-colored Quick Settings panel, but I wouldn’t mind having the option there for people who want it. I don’t know if this feature, like the other UI tests we spotted, will be enabled in the stable release, but we’ll continue tracking this feature as Google releases more Android 11 previews.

Android 11 News on XDA

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“Search Chips” help refine searches in Gmail for G Suite users

Gmail is a nearly ubiquitous method for communication, which is a good and bad thing. You can contact pretty much anyone if you have their email address, but that also means anyone can contact you if they have your address. This can lead to an inbox full of thousands of emails, which is why search is so important. Gmail for G Suite users is getting more powerful search thanks to “Search Chips.”

Previously, you could narrow down a Gmail search by typing in filters like “label:work” or “from:email@address.com.” To narrow things down even further you could combine these filters. However, it’s not super convenient to type these in and a lot of people don’t know how to use them. “Search Chips” are intended to make these filters easier to use.

gmail search chips

Search Chips appear underneath the search box in Gmail as clickable suggestions. In the example above you can see the user started typing “Mike” in the search bar. Search Chips for “From Mike Chang” and “Exclude chats” start appearing. You can click these suggestions to narrow down your search. It’s sort of like Smart Reply, but for search.

The update with Search Chips has already started rolling out to Gmail for G Suite users, but it may take up to 15 days to arrive for everyone. Google plans to bring this feature to regular Gmail users sometime after the G Suite rollout.


Source: Google

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[Update: Registration Open] Google I/O 2020 will take place from May 12-14

Update (2/20/20 @ 4:30 PM ET): Google has opened ticket applications for Google I/O 2020.

Google is known for using cryptic puzzles as a way to announce the date of its annual Google I/O developer conference. Back in 2017, the search giant published an online brain teaser containing the dates of Google I/O 2017. The next year, the company shared a puzzle through the Google Developers Twitter account, which redirected users to the Google I/O 2018 website that had been turned into an escape room-style Google Maps Street View experience in a Google campus building. Last year, the company released another cryptic message to announce the dates for Google I/O 2019 and for 2020 they had the “A Collaboration of the Cosmos” puzzle. Once solved, Sundar Pichai, took to Twitter to announce the dates for Google I/O 2020.

Pichai, who was appointed as the CEO of both Alphabet and Google towards the end of last year, shared a short GIF on the micro-blogging platform along with the dates for Google I/O 2020. As per his tweet, Google I/O will be held at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California from May 12-14. At this year’s I/O developer conference, we expect Google to showcase the next major Android release — Android 11. Much like last year, the company is also expected to share new features and updates for its vast portfolio of apps. The company might also release new hardware, including an update for the Pixel 3a series which was showcased at the event last year.


Update: Registration Open

Registration is now open for Google I/O 2020. Prices remain the same as previous years: general admission is $1,150, while academic pricing is $375. To qualify for the deeply discounted student ticket, you will be required to prove you are an active full-time student, professor, faculty, or staff member at a high school or college.

The ticket application window will be open from today until February 25th at 5 PM PT. It does not matter when you submit your application as Google will “randomly select applicants from among all of the qualified applications and notify those selected via email on February 28th.” Good luck!

The post [Update: Registration Open] Google I/O 2020 will take place from May 12-14 appeared first on xda-developers.



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Google may turn Android 11’s Power Menu into a Control Center for favorite shortcuts

When Google released Android 11 Developer Preview 1 yesterday, we found mostly surface-level changes in our initial hands-on. It seems that Google will once again leave the bulk of the user interface changes and new features for a public beta after an announcement at Google I/O 2020. However, we discovered several in-development user interface tweaks that suggest big changes are coming for the Android OS in 2020. We discovered that Google may put a media player in the Quick Settings panel, separate the notification shade from the Quick Settings panel, and now, we’ve found that Google may be tweaking the power menu to accommodate user-selected shortcuts.

On my Pixel 2 XL running Android 11 DP1, I managed to activate a new UI for the long-press power menu, as shown below. The existing power menu icons, including Emergency, Screenshot, Restart, and Power off, shift to the top of the screen, leaving a lot of empty space underneath. In addition, a new “Home” text appears above the icons. The icons shifting upward suggests that Google plans on adding something to fill up the empty space, which we initially assumed was in preparation for the new Quick Access Wallet feature that’s now in Android 11. However, the presence of the “Home” text raises the question of why it’s there—could Google be in the process of creating categories in the power menu for different kinds of actions?

Digging into the code, we discovered multiple classes in SystemUIGoogle related to a feature called “Controls.” The code suggests that the user can set shortcuts as “favorites” to show up in this menu, which are stored by the system in an XML file with the shortcuts’ IDs, titles, types, and components. There are new activities in SystemUIGoogle related to Controls: ControlsFavoritingActivity and ControlsProviderSelectorActivity. Launching the former raises a permission denial as it’s an unexported activity and we don’t have root access while launching the latter brings up the following UI:

Android 11 Controls ProvidersUnfortunately, this UI is empty at the moment, so we aren’t able to add our own favorite shortcuts to the power menu. We found references to a new permission called “android.permission.BIND_CONTROLS” and a new service called “android.service.controls.ControlsProviderService” that suggest that third-party applications will be able to create a “Controls” service that the Android System can bind to and show in this list, much like with Quick Settings tiles. That there are no third-party applications that support the “Controls” API would explain why the activity shown above is empty at the moment.

It looks like Google is taking cues from the iOS Control Center here, though we aren’t entirely sure why Google is working on this feature in the first place given that the Quick Settings panel already exists, and it can be filled with custom shortcuts. We’ll keep track of the development of this feature in case anything changes in future Android 11 Developer Previews.

Android 11 News on XDA

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