The Google Chromecast with Google TV is your Gateway to Live TV Streaming

Before September 30, a 4K-enabled Chromecast would set you back a minimum of $69, and you were limited by having to use your phone as your remote, jumping around in your launcher to the app you needed to watch the show you wanted. On the day the Google Chromecast with Google TV was announced, I ordered it so I could put it through its paces. Before I go into detail about the setup process and using the device, I’ll mention that if you already have a 4K-enabled Android TV set-top box with a Google Assistant-enabled remote, there’s no compelling reason to switch, even less so given the at-launch limitations of this Chromecast (as I’ll explain later). But if you’re looking to upgrade an old “dumb” TV for the first time, Google’s new dongle is worth your consideration.

The Google Chromecast with Google TV comes with a dedicated remote!

Setting up the Google Chromecast with Google TV

The setup process is pretty straightforward, if somewhat time-consuming. You’ll need to have your phone handy with the Google Home app installed to make setup as painless as possible. The setup process goes as follows (device in parentheses):

1. Pair remote by holding the (TV)
2. Connect Google Home app to Chromecast by scanning QR code (Home app on phone)
3. Connect to WiFi (Home app on phone)
4. Sign in with Google account (Home app on phone)
5. Choose Google services (Home app on phone)
6. Set up Google Assistant (Home app on phone)
7. Choose your apps (Home app on phone)
8. Choose Ambient Mode photo sources (Home app on phone)
9. Set up volume and power buttons on remote (TV)
10. Sign in to your third-party services (both TV and phone — some examples: Netflix seems to be the most tedious, Disney+ can sign in automatically with Google Smart Lock if you already have it enabled on your phone, CBS All Access can sign in automatically when you have the app open on your phone, Amazon Prime Video and ESPN require entering codes on activation pages in browser)
11. (Optional) go back to set up input switcher button on remote by using the remote to go to settings on the TV

Google Home (Free, Google Play) →

Using the Google Chromecast with Google TV

Thanks to the dedicated remote and the Google TV on-screen UI, Google’s new Chromecast is finally able to compete with the streaming stick giants from Roku and Amazon while outclassing them with its traditional phone mirroring capabilities. To clear up any possible confusion, Google TV is the rebranded Play Movies and TV app expanded to add a big-screen UI on top of the Android TV platform. With 8GB of local storage and 2GB RAM, it’s on par with the entry-level NVIDIA Shield TV (though the latter offers MicroSD storage expansion).

Speaking of specs, the processor is a 1.9GHz quad-core Amlogic S905X3, and it streams content at up to 4K resolution with HDR through an HDMI 2.0 connection. Power comes to the device via its USB-C port, and it supports an ethernet connection through an ethernet power adapter sold separately. Curiously there is no Google Stadia support at launch, but it’s expected to come in early 2021 according to the Stadia Twitter account.

Support for Stadia will be coming in the first half of 2021.

— Stadia (@GoogleStadia) September 30, 2020

The Google TV UI improves upon the Android TV interface primarily by consolidating content from your Google Play library and various supported subscriptions you may have such as Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, Amazon Prime Video, etc. The interface you see depends on whether you subscribe to YouTube TV with the same Google account you used to set up your Chromecast. If you do, you’ll see the following tabs: Search, For You, Live, Movies, Shows, Apps, and Library. Otherwise, you’ll see everything except for the Live tab. Below is a screenshot gallery describing what you’ll see on each tab.

While the new Google Chromecast with Google TV is an absolute step up from previous Chromecasts, it’s a definite step down from leading 4K-enabled Android TV set-top boxes. The biggest limitation is its lack of support for any live TV service other than YouTube TV. For this review, I went through the setup process multiple times using different Google accounts so I could use one to subscribe to a free trial of YouTube TV to illustrate the differences in day-to-day use. For instance, as indicated above, the Google TV UI will have a Live tab only if the Google account you used to set up the device has a YouTube TV subscription. If you have multiple Google accounts and you used a different one to set up your Chromecast, you’ll have to add your secondary Google account with the YouTube TV subscription in settings and go to the YouTube TV app in the app section to see live TV. Thankfully, Google is expected to add support for other live TV service providers in the future.

I had some minor quibbles with the remote in my two weeks of usage but otherwise, it’s a stylish and competent offering. The first problem I had was this: While holding the Google Assistant button down and saying “Play Iron Man”, it took me to the movie I purchased a few years ago from Google Play Movies, which was great except for the fact that the title on Google Play Movies maxes out at 1080p rather than the 4K version included with my Disney+ subscription. It goes to show that the results are mostly accurate but not always the best when more than one option exists. Two other minor issues: I wish the remote had a dedicated play/pause button and a dedicated skip-back-10-seconds button like the Roku remote. It’s a nice stylish space saver to consolidate all that functionality into the circular D-pad, but the Roku remote still had those dedicated buttons in addition to the D-pad.

Conclusion

It seems to me that Google was targeting the Roku Stick and the Amazon Fire TV stick when they released this new Chromecast with Google TV. Had they been targeting Android TV set-top boxes, they would have had Stadia support at launch and support for more live TV service providers. If that is the case, I’d say Google hit it out of the park (which is more than I can say about the Cubs lately, but that’s another story). Google TV, despite its bugs and its occasional latency, does what Roku and Amazon have not done: consolidate content from multiple services so the TV shows and movies take center stage, not the apps. Also, the Chromecast continues to offer the unparalleled phone mirroring it has been known for over the last seven years. The $49 price provides support for 4K content at $20 less than the Chromecast Ultra and keeps the Google Chromecast with Google TV competitive with other 4K streaming sticks.

Google Chromecast with Google TV

Google has upgraded the Chromecast with a full-fledged, Android-based operating system called Google TV. They also equipped it with a remote, making the $49 dongle your one-stop shop for live TV streaming.

Pros:

Cons:

Photos by Adam Conway

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Samsung looks to Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo handsets for its Exynos chips

Samsung is reported to be looking to supply its Exynos chip tech to third party phone brands including Xiaomi and Oppo, following successful cooperation with Vivo during 2020. The deal would be for low-end SoCs for budget and mid-range smartphones, for which Samsung’s internal demand has decreased.

The Exynos AP (application processor) range was the mainstay of the company’s own products until the mid-2010s, but since then, Samsung Electronics System LSI, the division which produces Exynos has begun to look externally, citing low-profit margins for internal deals, compared to signing new clients.

The current flagship Exynos 990 was passed over in favor of the more universally recognized Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, for the South Korean variant of the Samsung Galaxy S20 series, which is said to be a major reputational setback for the Exynos AP.

It’s believed that the next-generation chip, the Exynos 1080 is the target for these new customers – boasting a 5nm micro-fabrication process and based on Coretex A78 CPUs and Mali G78 GPUs. A successor to this – the Exynos 2100 – is due in 2021.

After supplying Chinese maker Vivo with Exynos 980 and 880 units in early 2020, it is looking to other Chinese makers such as Xiaomi and Oppo, to avoid being snarled up in the ongoing feud between the US and China. In fact, the current battle has created the demand for Exynos chips, as the globally distributed Chinese vendors adopt an aggressive stance to take advantage of Huawei’s blanket ban in the US and consequential freezing out of the Google ecosystem central to the commercial Android platform.

For the impressive, but relatively unknown Samsung Exynos range, getting a foothold in growing brands, albeit for low-end chips, could kick-start a rise in recognition which may lead to orders for high-end chips further down the line. Who knows – we could see Samsung Exynos SoCs back in Samsung Galaxy flagship devices in a few years time.

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Source: Business Korea
Story Via: GizmoChina

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Google Keep will lose its Chrome app in February

Google Keep will lose its Chrome App in February, as part of the company’s long term plan to kill off all Chrome Apps in favor of universal progressive web apps. Users of Google’s note-taking app who access it through the Chrome app are being greeted with a banner warning that “Keep will be moving from the Chrome app to your browser soon” and suggesting that users upgrade to the extension and website instead.

You can create your own Keep app by going to the Keep website and creating a windowed Chrome shortcut of it.

The news isn’t a total surprise. Last month Google finally gave a timeline for the end of Chrome Apps, which confirmed that support would continue until June 2021, with an extra year for Chrome OS devices and specialist apps with a Device Policy integration.

Alas, Google has clearly decided that it’s going to start pulling its own apps before that date. One side effect of this is that the option to keep Google Keep on your Chrome OS lock screen will also be removed. This will frustrate some users who rely on the lock screen option for speedy notetaking. Moreover, Keep Chrome App users will not be able to access their notes offline after support finishes, though access from Android and iOS will continue.

Google is keen to remind us that the end of Chrome Apps is not the same as the end of the more versatile Chrome Extensions, which will carry on as before: “Google will continue to support and invest in Chrome Extensions on all existing platforms. Fostering a robust ecosystem of extensions is critical to Chrome’s mission and we are committed to providing a useful extension platform for customizing the browsing experience for all users.”

To celebrate the transition, Google Keep will be getting a new icon, already appearing for some desktop users.

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Source: Google Support Article
Story Via: 9to5Google

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It’s not just you: Gmail is having an outage in some regions

Some of Google’s services have been facing server issues for the past few hours, causing problems for users around the world. Services affected at the moment include Gmail primarily, with users in India, Europe and parts of the USA complaining that they are unable to sign in to the service and access their emails.

Down Detector is showing a spike in complaints related to connectivity issues for Gmail. Here is the outage map for the service at the time of writing:

The G Suite Status Dashboard indicates that other Google services are not facing server issues, and it’s just Gmail that is having a service disruption.

The official Gmail Twitter account further confirms the service disruption as users complained about their inability to log in and send emails. The G Suite Status Dashboard mentioned the following update:

Our team is continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by 11/3/20, 7:30 PM with more information about this problem. Thank you for your patience. The affected users are unable to access Gmail, but we’ve provided a workaround below.

Please use Gmail mobile apps

There is currently no ETA on when the services are expected to resume normal functioning. The outages do not affect all users of these services, and in this case, only a smaller number of users are affected. Google advises using the Gmail mobile app for accessing, but we haven’t spotted any user reporting success with this.

We’ll update the article when we get more information on this outage.

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WhatsApp’s new storage management tool lets you bulk delete annoying image forwards

WhatsApp started testing a redesigned Storage Usage section in a beta release (v2.20.201.9) earlier this year in September. The updated Storage Usage section featured a new UI with a bar at the top to show current storage usage, a “Suggested clean up” section that listed forwarded and large files that could be removed to save space, and a section with a list of all the chats that occupied the most storage space on your device. Now, WhatsApp is finally releasing the feature on the stable channel with a few minor changes.

As per a recent tweet from WhatsApp, the redesigned Storage Usage section is rolling out to users with the latest stable update. To access the section, you’ll first need to update to the latest version of the app from the Play Store link below. Once you have the update installed, you’ll have to navigate to the app settings by tapping on the three-dot menu icon in the top left corner and selecting the Settings option.

We’ve made it easy to review, bulk delete items and free up space. This new storage management tool can be found in Settings > Storage and Data > Manage Storage. pic.twitter.com/eIMFZ1Oyzr

— WhatsApp Inc. (@WhatsApp) November 3, 2020

Here, you’ll have to tap on the Storage and data option and select the Manage storage option in the following window. As seen in the beta release, the new storage usage section features a bar at the top that shows the total used storage, the amount of storage occupied by WhatsApp media on your device, the storage occupied by apps, and other items the amount of free storage.

The “Suggested clean up” section that we saw in the beta release has been renamed to “Review and delete items”; however, it serves the same purpose. The section includes two options, one for media that has been forwarded many times and the other for files that are larger than 5MB. Tapping on either of these options opens up the respective media in a gallery where you can quickly select and remove them from your device. The last section remains the same, and it shows a list of chats occupying the most space on your device.

WhatsApp Messenger (Free, Google Play) →

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Google to use AV1 codec to improve bandwidth for Stadia, Photos, Meet, and TV

The Alliance for Open Media came out with the royalty-free AOMedia Video 1 (AV1) codec back in 2017 to replace H.264 as the primary codec for online streaming and media consumption. The AV1 codec offered around 30% better compression than Google’s previous VP9 standard without hampering picture quality. Since its release, the AV1 codec has been adopted by several services and platforms, including Google Chrome, Android, YouTube, Netflix, Vimeo, and Facebook. Recently, Microsoft also announced that it was bringing hardware-based AV1 codec support to Windows 10. Now, in a recent panel discussion on the codec’s commercial readiness, Matt Frost from Google has revealed that the company will soon bring AV1 support to Stadia, Photos, Meet, and TV.

#ICYMI – Watch this @IBCShow 2020 Panel Discussion with @amazon, @Facebook, @Google, @IntelSoftware, @Netflix, and @TencentGlobal on #AV1 Commercial Readiness: https://t.co/X70Gq0S2Vb pic.twitter.com/9zeizTfSWJ

— Alliance For Open Media (@a4omedia) November 2, 2020

During the panel discussion, Frost revealed that the AV1 codec has already been deployed in several of the company’s platforms and services, including Google Duo, YouTube, Chrome, and Android. Going forward, the company plans to deploy AV1 support to “the whole range of Google’s video applications and services.” Although Frost didn’t explicitly mention the names of the applications and services that will get AV1 codec support in the near future, a slide shown during the discussion highlighted that AV1 support will soon make its way to Google Photos, Meet, Stadia, and TV. Sadly, the discussion didn’t highlight how and when Google plans on deploying AV1 support on the aforementioned services.

Along with Google, the panel discussion included representatives from Intel, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, and Tencent, who talked about how the respective companies plan on deploying AV1 support to their various products and services. If you’re interested in learning more about AV1 commercial deployment, you can check out the panel discussion by following the link below. Do note that you will have to create an account on IBC in order to watch the discussion. To learn more about the AV1 codec, you can check out our detailed explainer by following this link.

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Source: IBC Showcase

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Micromax IN Note 1 and IN 1B mark the return of Micromax to the Indian smartphone market

Micromax today launched two new Android smartphones in India: Micromax IN Note 1 and IN 1B, marking a re-entry of the Gurugram-based OEM into the Indian smartphone market. The new smartphones boast interesting hardware, including a quad-camera array, a 5,000 mAh battery, MediaTek Helio G series chipset, and reverse charging support.

Micromax IN Note 1 and IN 1B Specifications:

Specifications	IN Note 1	IN 1B
Dimensions and Weight	NA	NA
Display	6.67-inch IPS, FHD+ 21:9 450nits Centered hole-punch 78% NTSC	6.52-inch HD+ Waterdrop notch
SoC	MediaTek Helio G85 ARM Mali G52 MC2 GPU	MediaTek Helio G35 IMG PowerVR GE8320 GPU
RAM and Storage	4GB + 64GB 4GB + 128GB	2GB + 32GB 4GB + 64GB
Battery & Charging	5,000mAh 18W fast charger Reverse charging support	5,000mAh 10W charger Reverse charging support
Rear Camera	48MP primary 5MP ultra-wide, 115-degree 2MP macro sensor 2MP depth sensor	13MP primary 2MP depth sensor 960fps video support
Front Camera	16MP front shooter	8MP front shooter
Connectivity	Dual-band Wi-FI 4G LTE Bluetooth 5.0 Dual SIM Type C 3.5mm jack MicroSD card	4G LTE Type C Bluetooth 5.0 3.5mm jack Dual SIM MicroSD card
Other feature	Dedicated Google Assistant key Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner Face unlock	Dedicated Google Assistant key Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner
Software	Android 10	Android 10

Micromax IN Note 1

The Micromax IN Note 1 is the more powerful of the duo, packing a 6.67-inch FHD+ IPS screen with a centered hole-punch on the front and a square camera module on the back. The quad-camera system is comprised of a 48MP primary camera, a 5MP ultra-wide, 2MP macro, and 2MP depth sensors. On the front, there’s a 16MP wide-angle selfie camera with a 78-degree field-of-view. The phone is powered by a MediaTek Helio G85 chipset, coupled with Mali G-52GPU and up to 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The phone packs a 5,000 mAh battery and comes with an 18W fast charger and reverse charging support. The phone runs a near-stock version of Android 10, and Micromax is promising “two years” of Android updates.

Micromax IN 1B

The Micromax IN 1B, on the other hand, is an entry-level device. It sports a 6.52inch display and packs a MediaTek Helio G35 chipset, featuring 8x ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.3GHz. In terms of camera, the Micromax IN 1B has a 13MP primary sensor, 2MP depth sensor, and an 8MP selfie camera. Just like its bigger brother, the IN 1B packs a 5,000 mAh battery but comes with a slower 10W charger. The phone runs a near-stock version of Android 10, and Micromax is promising “two years” of Android updates.

 

Pricing & Availability

The Micromax IN Note 1 is priced at ₹10,999 ($147) for the base 4GB/64GB variant, while the top 4GB/128GB variant will cost ₹12,499 ($168). Meanwhile, the entry-level Micromax IN 1B starts at ₹6,999 (~$94) for the 2GB/32GB model and ₹7,999 (~$107) for the 4GB/64GB variant. Both phones are available for pre-order today and will be exclusively available from Flipkart. The IN Note 1 will go on sale on Nov. 24, followed by the IN 1B on Nov. 26.

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