Back in August Google started signing out free Hangouts accounts on Android and iOS, marking the final nail in the coffin for the service. Google is encouraging users to switch the Google Chat which is one of the two apps that constitute the Hangouts replacement (the other being Google Meet). Over the last few months, Google has given a fresh coat of paint to many of its first-party apps. And now, the Google Chat app is also getting some love.
As spotted by Mishaal Rahman, the Google Chat app for Android is getting a new UI for the bottom bar that now hides all shortcuts under a button.
Looks like a new UI is rolling out for the bottom bar in Google Chat on mobile.
The old UI consolidated everything inside one large text box, with shortcuts for Gallery, Camera, Drive, Google Meet, and Calendar appearing right below the text area. As you can see in the screenshots attached below, the new UI adds a pill-shaped text box and a “+” button on the left that reveals shortcuts for Google Photos, Camera, and other services when you tap on it. Meanwhile, the gallery shortcut now appears in the right corner just behind the send button.
The new bottom bar in the Google Meet app is rolling out widely with the latest stable update. It’s available on my both phones running the Google Chat app version 2021.10.31.408397499. If the update isn’t live for you, you can sideload the latest APK from APKMirror.
What are your thoughts on the new bottom bar in the Google Chat app? Do you like the new design or prefer the old UI? Let us know in the comments section below.
There seems to be a pretty big outage going on between the three big carriers, and especially between T-Mobile and Verizon, as calls between them are having issues nationwide.
According to sources at T-Mobile, the issue is known and actively being worked on. The incident is described as an intermittent outage affecting customers nationwide due to a “Verizon outage”.
Support reps have been informed not to transfer customers to technical support for the issue and instead inform the customer that the company is working on a solution.
The problem seems to have started around 2 PM Eastern, with reports beginning to show up around that time via downdetector and then on Reddit. The issue appears to be ongoing, however, the number of reports seems to be diminishing.
via downdetector.com
According to The Verge, Verizon says their network is operating normally. Our sources at T-Mobile, however, say that documentation they have access to places the blame on Verizon. A report from WFAA says that both carriers deny any issues on their end.
According to another of our sources, the issue is an outage at Mavenir, a company that apparently handles VoLTE connectivity between all 3 major carriers. This seems like a reasonable explanation given how both T-Mobile and Verizon are denying issues on their sides.
It’s currently unclear what, exactly, the issue is, or when it will be resolved. One user on Reddit says that support told them the issue should be resolved by 7 PM Eastern, however that time has come and gone and the issue appears to still persist.
Texts between the carriers appear to be unaffected. In addition, anecdotally, some users are having issues calling AT&T customers as well. Issues between T-Mobile and AT&T are not yet officially recognized internally though, so it could be a case of a few random outliers.
There is currently no ETA for a resolution of the issue. At this point, no one is sure who’s fault the issue is in the first place, with both Verizon and T-Mobile denying the problem. We’ll be sure to update you here if and when we have more information.
JetBrains is the developer of the IntelliJ platform, which powers Android Studio, IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate, PyCharm Professional, GoLand, PhpStorm, and other IDEs. However, IDEs are large applications, and can be overkill for simpler projects. JetBrains has now revealed its new lightweight editor, Fleet, which aims to be modular and compatible with just about everything.
Fleet is advertised as a lighter “next-generation IDE,” in much the same way that Microsoft created Visual Studio Code as a lighter alternative to Visual Studio. JetBrains said in its blog post, “Fleet is a different experience for those who sometimes just want an editor but also want a fully-fledged IDE, those who want to use a single tool as opposed to specialized ones, and of course for those certain scenarios that some of our existing IDEs may not cater for when it comes to distributed development.”
Smart Mode
JetBrains says Fleet works with Java, Kotlin, Python, Go, JavaScript, Rust, TypeScript, and JSON. The company also plans to add support for PHP, C++, C#, and HTML. There’s also an integrated terminal (that can be shared in collaborative sessions), Maven and Gradle support for Java projects, Git integration, themes, and port forwarding for remote machines. The desktop version will be available for macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Fleet is being built as a modular framework, with the front-end (what you see), back-end (indexing, analysis, navigation, advanced search, etc.), and file system functioning as distinct components. JetBrains says this will help Fleet run across many different environments, from a simple local application to a cloud-based web service.
JetBrains Fleet sounds comparable to Visual Studio Code, which also supports multiple languages, remote sessions, themes, and collaborative editing. Microsoft also just rolled out the first version of the web-based Visual Studio Code editor. Competition is always good, though, and it could help encourage Microsoft to keep improving Visual Studio Code.
The Nintendo Switch is my favorite console right now – and perhaps my favorite ever – but the included Joy-Con controllers aren’t for everyone. They’re pretty small and the feel of the buttons and analog sticks isn’t on par with traditional console controllers. Thankfully, if you want the best Nintendo Switch controller, you can get it for $20 off right now. Yes, Nintendo is slashing the price of the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller to $50, its lowest price ever, for Cyber Monday.
The Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is the best controller for Nintendo's hybrid console, featuring all the features you'd expect. This is the lowest price it's been.
There are a ton of controllers that will work with the Nintendo Switch, and but the official Pro Controller is the best you’re going to find. For starters, of course, it has all the buttons and analog sticks in the places you’d expect, and they all feel extremely comfortable in my experience. The controller is shaped to fit snuggly in your hands, and the texturized handles give it a nice grip, too.
The benefits of the Pro Controller go beyond what you can see, though. It includes full support for the HD rumble feature on the Nintendo Switch, plus it supports Nintendo’s amiibo figures. Those are features you won’t find in most third-party controllers for the Switch, particularly the latter. On top of that, you also get motion control support, great for more precise aiming in games that involve shooting. Some titles may also just require gyro controls, so this is great to have, too.
While you could argue the base price of $70 is a bit too much for a controller, this Cyber Monday price makes the Switch Pro Controller a no-brainer if you’ve found the Joy-Con to be uncomfortable for your hands.
If you’re interested in other products, check out our Cyber Monday PC and gaming deals hub to find more great products worth getting right now. If you’re more interested in mobile tech, we also have a list of the best Cyber Monday deals focused on smartphones and accessories.
True story: I purchased and sold the original Microsoft Duo on three separate occasions. No, it wasn’t because I was flipping them for profit the way sneakerheads do with Jordans or savvy real estate investors do with houses. I lost money each time I sold the Duo. But I did it anyway because I had a major love-hate relationship with Microsoft’s two-screened device.
My feelings were clearly divided and split into two parts.
I love the Duo’s hardware: I am fully on board with the concept of a two-screened portable computer that fits into my pocket because it significantly improves my productivity the way even true foldables like Samsung’s Fold series does not
I hate the Duo’s software: At launch, the software was broken to the point of deserving of recalls, and even after months of software patches, the software was still buggy and unreliable. It may be the single worst piece of software I have ever experienced from a mass released consumer device from a reputable brand
It is these two conflicting emotions that made me buy and sell the Duo three times over. When I had the device, I was actively frustrated at the frequent lags, app crashes, and missed touch inputs. After I sold the device, I would begin missing the gorgeous hardware, particularly the flawlessly-built hinge and impossibly thin body.
And so when Microsoft announced a sequel device — the Surface Duo 2, I was excited! Because if there’s one thing we’ve learned from consumer tech, it’s that gen two of a new cutting-edge product always bring significant improvements (Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 2, for example, was so, so much better than the original Galaxy Fold). So the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 should, in theory, fix all the stuff I hated about the original Duo, right?
Not quite. Many of the software bugs and problems I (and almost every other reviewer) had with the original Duo are either improved slightly or still here entirely. This means I still have a love-hate relationship with the Duo 2. It’s just that this time, fortunately for my wallet, the love is stronger than the hate, so I likely won’t do something as foolish as keep selling and rebuying it.
About this editorial: I am writing this opinion piece after using a self-purchased Microsoft Surface Duo 2 for nearly a month. This is purely my opinion, and not a review per se. For XDA’s official review, our managing editor Rich Woods received a unit and wrote the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 review.
What I love about the Microsoft Surface Duo 2
The appeal of why two screens are better than one should be apparent for anyone who’s ever worked with a dual monitor setup: you see more, you can have more windows opened at once, you just get more things done. The same logic applies to phones. Microsoft isn’t the first company with this idea, there have been dual-screen smartphones before, most notably from ZTE and LG, but neither company were able to build great dual-screen hardware: the devices were thick when folded, and in the case of LG’s, there was a huge bezel/gap between the two screens. Microsoft, on the other hand, got the two-screen hardware right with the first Surface Duo.
The original Microsoft Surface Duo
The thing was impossibly thin, the hinge rotated nearly 360-degrees and can stay in place at any angle, and the gap between two screens is close enough that you can run a single app across both screens and it’d look only slightly annoying. There were some hardware shortcomings with the first Surface Duo, such as the outdated processor, the lack of a proper camera, and thick bezels around the screens, but Microsoft fixed all three (to various degrees) in the Surface Duo 2, while still keeping all the pros I mentioned earlier.
I just absolutely love the versatility such a design offers: in addition to holding the device like a book, with two apps opened at once, I really liked holding the device in landscape orientation and using the bottom screen to display a full-sized keyboard for faster typing, as well as putting the device on a table in L-shape (like a laptop) and watch videos or take videos hands-free.
And maybe because I once fancied myself as a writer who carried a Moleskin notebook around, I absolutely adore how the Surface Duo 1 and Surface Duo 2 resemble a small notebook — especially after I applied a faux-leather skin to it. Every time I open or close it, it evokes a sense of joy.
The Duo 2 with a leather skin applied.
When the Duo 2 is working as intended, it improves my productivity
Now, some readers may be asking: “but Ben, you also have the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, isn’t that phone just a superior version of this same idea?” Yes, technically speaking, I agree the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is far more cutting-edge — it has a single screen that folds! And of course, if I must choose to keep one device for years, I’m taking the Galaxy Z Fold 3 over the Duo 2 ten times out of ten. But there are two reasons I have chosen to carry the Surface Duo 2 more than the Galaxy Z Fold 3 lately as I’ve been on the road often.
I find that having two separate screens helps me multi-task better because it forces me to compartmentalize two separate tasks. The Surface Duo 2’s wider aspect ratio is also more ideal for showing two apps in full size.
As much as Samsung improved the durability of the Galaxy Z Fold 3, it’s still ultimately more fragile than a regular phone because it has a soft, bendable screen and a hinge that’s still slightly open. I still feel the need to baby the Galaxy Z Fold 3 more than a normal phone if I’m using it in a particularly dusty/dirty/wet environment (like a construction site, or the beach, or hiking through a waterfall). I don’t have such concerns with the Surface Duo 2, because it’s really just two glass phones stitched together. I wouldn’t worry if dust or grains of sand get on it temporarily, or if I accidentally drop a coin on the Surface Duo 2’s screens from a few feet up.
Running two apps side-by-side on the Duo 2.
Of course, if I must nitpick, I can name areas the Duo 2 could improve: I wish the bezels were even slimmer, maybe edge-to-edge like modern slab phones. I wish the camera quality was better — right now it’s just average — and it’d be amazing if Microsoft could put a third screen on the “outside” of the device so I don’t have to open the device up every single time I want to do anything. But the last request is also unrealistic, as it’d add to the thickness and cost of the device. So realistically speaking, I don’t have any real complaints about the Duo 2’s hardware. When the Duo 2 is working as intended, it improves my productivity. In fact, I wrote part of this article on the Duo 2 at a coffee shop, with WordPress spread across both screens, paired with a wireless keyboard.
Running WordPress across both screens for a larger typing canvas.
What I hate about the Microsoft Surface Duo 2
You know how earlier I said the original Microsoft Duo had arguably the worse software experience I have ever experienced from a mass release product? Well, the Microsoft Duo 2 improves on that, and in some cases, the improvement is major. But because the original starting point was so low — remember, “worst software ever” — that even big improvements from that baseline may not be enough to redeem the product.
The absolute biggest issue I and many reviewers encountered with the first Duo was that apps would often crash and freeze. This happened at least two to three times a day with the first Duo — if I have an app opened, the entire phone would occasionally freeze up and it’d take 15-20 swipe ups to exit out of that app. Sometimes a reboot was required.
This is, thankfully, much improved on the Surface Duo 2. If I’m using the phone heavily as my main phone, I’ll probably still encounter it once a day or so, but it’s not multiple times a day. Still, there have been times when I needed to type a short response in WhatsApp or WeChat, and the process took 45 seconds (instead of five seconds) because the apps froze up.
Another major issue with the first Surface Duo was the display would not register touches or register them late, which really throws off typing. This, too, has been improved a lot on the Surface Duo 2, but still enough. As many other reviewers have pointed out, the touch response rate of the Surface Duo 2’s screens still feels sluggish and sometimes a beat slower than any other smartphone I’ve tested this year. The problem is not so bad that it’s immediately noticeable at all times, and if I use the Surface Duo 2 for a long period of time, I get used to it. But anytime I jump back to the Surface Duo after using another smartphone for a period of time, I always notice the laggier touch response time.
I can at least type with the Surface Duo 2 and not get so frustrated to the point where I mutter F-bombs at the device, which I have embarrassingly done with the first Surface Duo
The silver lining is that I can, at least, type with the Surface Duo 2 and not get so frustrated to the point where I mutter F-bombs at the device, which I have embarrassingly done with the first Surface Duo.
One last annoying software issue: if you want to switch orientations with the Surface Duo 2, expect to do an exaggerated arm gesture to rotate the phone, as if you’re turning the steering wheel of a car to make a sharp turn. Because the Duo 2’s accelerometer, just like the original Duo, is terribly insensitive and won’t rotate properly 50% of the time if you’re just casually turning the phone sideways. Sometimes, apps will rotate but display incorrectly, requiring you to exit out of the app and launch again.
When I tried to rotate the device to landscape orientation, it took multiple tries for Microsoft Edge to follow.
I have vented my frustrations online and some Microsoft fans have accused me of not having installed software patches yet. This is not true: I have installed every software patch available to me (two so far) and these problems are still there. Plus, the original Microsoft Duo saw like eight or nine software patches over the past year and the device still had “the worst software ever in a mass release consumer device” up until I sold it for the third time a couple of weeks ago.
Plus, the fact that some people have made excuses for Microsoft by insisting software patches will fix the issues is fundamentally offensive. Microsoft is a trillion-dollar company, and they can’t release software at launch that isn’t full of very obvious and frequent bugs? People are supposed to pay $1,500 for a Surface Duo 2 and then hope half a year and six software patches later, the thing will behave as advertised? That’s not how it should work. While we do get that software can have some bugs which don’t become apparent until the device reaches the masses — but the Surface Duo takes it to a whole different level, that one can’t call it anything other than laughably half-baked.
But love triumphs over hate
But here’s the part where Microsoft gets the last laugh— as much as I complain about the device, I am still carrying it with me daily, particularly since I’ve been on the road and working out of public spaces more. As mentioned, I typed part of this article on the Surface Duo 2 earlier, but that’s the last resort when I’m in a pinch without a larger computing device. A more ideal usage for the Duo 2 is as a companion work machine. For example, when I work off an iPad Pro, I use the Duo 2 to display Slack (or other reference material on the side), so I don’t have to lose a chunk of the iPad screen to display those things.
Now can I just do the same thing with any other smartphone? Yes. But most phones can’t stand upright on their own next to my iPad. And most phones can’t display Slack plus another website or calendar in full.
The Surface Duo 2 has also come in handy when I need to take hands-free photos (like product shots or B-roll video footage) because its design allows it to serve as its own tripod. And when I needed to send a long WhatsApp message to the girlfriend, I turn the phone sideways and use the entire bottom screen as a keyboard.
Capturing a hands-free timelapse video.
When the Microsoft Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 work as intended, they are absolutely brilliant, game-changing devices for a digital nomad like me — and I fall in love with them over and over. But while the first Surface Duo worked as intended like 40% of the time, the Surface Duo 2 bumps that percentage up to, I’d say, 70%? This means there’s still 30% of the time when I absolutely hate the phone. But at least the odds are now good enough for love to triumph over hate.
Security is one of the most essential aspects of a house. An insecure house that is vulnerable to attacks won’t feel as homely as a protected one. Thankfully, Amazon has some tempting deals this Cyber Monday that will make securing your house more affordable. With the Ring Alarm kits, you can install a security system easily and by yourself. Once you set it up, you can view and control everything through the Ring smartphone app. And thanks to Alexa support, you can even get some action done by using your voice only. It’s worth mentioning, though, that some features require a paid Ring Protect membership. These features include recording and sharing live video streams from Ring devices, calling emergency services hands-free, and more.
These three kits are aimed at different house sizes and personal needs. However, they all have one aim in common — securing your home conveniently. They include an intuitive keypad with emergency buttons and smaller contact sensors to seamlessly blend into your home. And thanks to their smart features, you can receive mobile notifications when your system is triggered, change your Alarm modes, and monitor all your Ring devices all through the Ring app.
Ring Alarm kits include even more features. You can arm and disarm them with your voice and get mobile alerts about the sound of broken glass or smoke alarms with Alexa Guard. Additionally, you can call trained agents from your Echo who can request the dispatch of emergency responders with Alexa Guard Plus.
Which of these Ring Alarm kits will you be buying? Let us know in the comments section below?
MediaTek made headlines when it unveiled its 4nm flagship Dimensity 9000 chipset a couple of weeks ago. The Dimensity 9000 is the world’s first chipset to be built on TSMC’s 4nm process node and is also the first to feature Arm’s v9 architecture and Cortex-X2 core. However, that’s not the only chipset that the Taiwanese chipmaker is working on.
Last week, Lu Weibing, General Manager of Redmi brand, teased a new Mediatek silicone called the Dimensity 7000. While we didn’t know much about the chipset at the time, well-known Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station (via Android Authority) has revealed some of the alleged specs of the upcoming chip.
As per the tipster, the Dimensity 7000 will be built on TSMC’s 5nm process and feature an octa-core CPU setup, featuring four performance Cortex-A78 cores running at 2.75GHz and four efficiency Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.0GHz. The chipset is tipped to pack Arm’s Mali-G510 MC6 GPU which was announced earlier this year. The Mali-G510 succeeds the Mali G57 and promises to offer up to 100% performance boost and 22% improved efficiency over its predecessor. Other technical details of the Dimensity 7000 aren’t known at this point.
From the specifications, it looks like the Dimensity 7000 is geared towards mid-range offerings rather than flagships. It will likely go head to head against the Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G. For reference, the Snapdragon 778G is built on TSMC’s 6nm process and features an octa-core CPU setup consisting of four Cortex-A78-based Kryo clocked at 2.4GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores running at 1.8GGHz. It packs Adreno 642L GPU which claims to provide up to 40% higher performance over the Adreno 620.
There’s no word on when Dimensity 7000 will be revealed. MediaTek, for its part, hasn’t officially revealed anything about the chipset either. In any case, we’re not holding our breath for smartphones with the Dimensity 7000 chipset to hit the market before 2022.
