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"This device will no longer receive the latest software updates. Please consider upgrading" I think you'll agree with me when I say: it's a punch to the gut to start your morning with this dreadful message in your notification tray. You may have spent a lot of money purchasing your Chromebook, and your Chromebook is already telling you that it will not be updated anymore — leaving your device vuln

Last month, Google announced that Chrome OS was getting support for Windows apps via Parallels, and while we knew the "why?" much of the "how?" remained to be determined. But in an interview today with The Verge, Google is revealing more of the juicy details behind the change. According to the details of the interview with Google's Cyrus Mistry, group product manager for Chrome OS, when the featur

Nearly ten years ago, Google shipped an unassuming, totally unbranded laptop to a large group of journalists and tech enthusiasts as part of a 60,000 unit pilot program. That laptop was the CR-48, and it was designed to showcase a project Google had been working on internally for well over a year. It was called Chrome OS. I was among the first of those lucky folks to receive a CR-48, and I used it

For years, Android has allowed apps to modify the behavior of other applications, using Accessibility Services. While the intended purpose is for developers to create apps for users with disabilities, the API is often used for other functionality (to overlay content, fill in text fields, etc.). LastPass, Button Mapper, Signal Spy, Tasker, and Greenify are just a few examples of applications heavil

One of the most exciting changes in Android O is the new Autofill API that would allow password manager apps to register as system-wide providers of autofill services. In layman terms, this means that apps like LastPass, 1Password, Enpass, Dashlane, and others, won't have to use accessibility services or screen overlays anymore as a workaround to fill up your usernames and passwords. Instead, they

In October of last year, Cody found strings in his teardown of the Play Store 7.1 that hinted at a mysterious "Device Certification" label. Back then, he theorized that it could be an indicator of whether your device was indeed GMS certified and thus supposed to have the Play Store or it could be a SafetyNet check to see if your firmware was modified in any form. The correct answer turned out to b

Android Pay made its first Asian appearance in Singapore back in late-June. A couple months later, in August, rumors began circulating that Google was in negotiations with numerous financial companies to prepare for a launch in Japan. Names of the likely partners included: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, East Japan Railway Company, Rakuten, NTT Docomo, and JCB, to name a few. Since then, details h

Read update Droid-life corroborates our report on Wifi, as well as its mesh networking capabilities, and goes on to provide additional details about the product. Here's a snippet. OnHub-schmonhub: two sources are now telling us that Google will introduce an own-brand Wi-Fi router called Google Wifi, and that the device will cost $129. A source that has proved reliable in the past has told us that

It's Nougat day, finally. Google's latest and greatest version of Android is beginning its slow rollout to Nexus devices, plus the Pixel C and General Mobile 4G. Dev preview devices are getting the OTA almost immediately, but devices on Marshmallow are taking a little longer. Google has said it could take a week or two for everyone to get the OTA, but you don't need to wait that long. We're collec

Every single operating system developed by Google to date has one thing in common: they're based on the Linux kernel. Chrome OS, Android, Chromecasts, you name it. Linux has powered Google hardware for years. However, the Linux kernel is not ideal for every situation. Especially in the case of embedded devices like car dashboards or GPS units, full-blown desktop kernels like Linux impact performan

With last month's release of the Android N Preview, the Tools team launched a preview release of Android Studio 2.1. Not only did the new version add support for the N Preview SDK, but it also brought a few important important and welcomed additions, including adoption and support for many of the language features in Java 8, a semi-official switch to the Jack compiler, an updated New Project wizar

If you've never heard of or seen 4chan, you must be new to the internet and still unspoiled. I don't recommend you visit that particular hive of scum and villainy, but a great many people do spend a lot of time there. The founder of 4chan, one Chris Poole, has just made a big career change. He's now working at Google on the social team. 4chan is an imageboard that was originally launched in 2003 w

This isn't the first time we've reported about Google's deplorable policies for removing apps from the Play Store. One day you're the developer of an extremely popular app, distributing it to thousands of users, the next it's poof gone with no warning, no explanation, and no way to easily communicate with the team to understand what has gone wrong. The latest victim is the famous and ridiculously

Audio latency is defined as the time delay that a signal experiences as it passes through a system. On a mobile device, this is deeply related to how long it takes between tapping on a screen and receiving audio feedback. Low audio latency can be the difference between an immersive gaming experience and an unpleasant, disconnected one. Too long a latency and a device can begin to feel strangely la

Instead of one new Nexus device, this year we're getting two: the Nexus 5x and the Nexus 6p. But as usual, what's perhaps more exciting than the release of a new Nexus device is the software that comes with it. When Google shows off the devices, which we expect to happen on September 29th, they will show off the final version of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. According to Canadian mobile provider Telus,

Buried in the flags of the latest release of Chrome Dev, v46, is a toggle that allows you to tweak the progress bar animation that you see when loading webpages. The default setting is equivalent to "disabled," but you can try it out and see how it looks. There are now 4 different options: disabled (which is default), linear, smooth, and fast start. Disabled just leaves things the way they have be

It's been a long and winding road, but the days of Eclipse with ADT are over. In a post on the Android development blog, Google has announced that development and official support for the Android Development Tools plugin for Eclipse will be shut down at the end of this year. Google intends to focus all of its effort on improving Android Studio and advises developers move their active projects to A

Google has finally updated the platform distribution numbers a little later in the month than usual, and there's been very little movement since last time. The most notable change is Android 5.1's surprise appearance. It's running on 0.4% of active devices already. It took Lollipop three months to cross the 0.1% threshold required to be included in the dashboard update. Now here we are mere weeks

If you use a Nexus 5, or even if you can just get your hands on one long enough to add your Google account, you might want to investigate the Google Play Movies & TV app. According to posters at Slickdeals and our own devices, owners of the N5 are being treated to a free digital copy of the 2013 astronaut thriller Gravity. Just open the app and tap "add to library," and it's yours to keep and play

[Heads up: to use this application you'll need root permissions on your phone or tablet. If you don't have them, you can stop reading here. Now, we continue with our regularly scheduled blog post.] Yesterday we found out about a new Google Now card that can show you changes in the prices of airfare based on recent searches. At least one developer isn't interested in waiting for Google to rollout n

Google is set to institute a new policy in the Play Store, and it has some developers up in arms. A message in the developer console (seen below) has appeared asking developers to add a physical address to their account profile. For those offering paid apps and in-app purchases, this is mandatory as of September 30th. Failing to do so could result in Mountain View pulling the apps. The notice poin

I'm at a point in my Android life where I can live without root access if I need to. I don't use very many root applications at all – I generally only use it for a one-touch reboot on phones without a built-in option in the power menu, and Greenify. I love Greenify. I don't use it for every app installed on my phone, but it's a fantastic tool when something just won't quit chomping down on the bat

Be advised, some of the instructions below are now outdated due to significant changes to the Android Wear firmware and app since the Lollipop update. Most of these activities, like taking screenshots manually, enabling debugging, and even unlocking the bootloader will work with only minor modifications to the steps. However, the rooting steps below can not be expected to work any longer. You saw

It looks like all of the recent Nexus devices are covered - everything from the 2012 Nexus 7 up through to the Nexus 5. Of course, just because branches have been published for these devices, it is not absolute confirmation that this entire list of devices will receive an official L release. Nothing is certain until Google releases OTAs and/or factory images. Nexus 4 - https://android.googlesource

Occasionally, an OS update will bring around features that really change things. Android 3.0 brought the Android experience to tablets. 4.0 completely revamped the UI and added guidelines that made Android look cohesive for the first time. 4.4 added Svelte, which promised to seat Android comfortably on an even broader range of devices. We have reason to believe another one of those changes is righ

Even casual observers of the Android ecosystem know that piracy is a big issue for developers. But if a report from mobile security company Arxan is to be believed, app piracy and "hacking" is incredibly prevalent, or at least prevalent enough that most of the popular apps are available in a pirated or cracked form. According to the company's "State of Security in the App Economy" report for 2013

Meet ART, Part 1: The New Super-Fast Android Runtime Google Has Been Working On In Secret For Over 2 Years Debuts In KitKat It's fair to say that Android went through some chaotic years in the beginning. The pace of development was frantic as the operating system grew at an unprecedented rate. An as-yet undetermined future led to decisions that were made to conform to existing hardware and archite

You guys remember Bump? It's been a while since we've had a reason to discuss the app, but that changes today; Google just bought the company. For those who may not be familiar with Bump, it's an app that allows files, images, apps, and the like to be transferred from device to device by touching the two together. It was actually pretty popular a few years ago, before NFC and Android Beam (which,