#Pixel6a
Pixel 6a bound to have a different fingerprint sensor than the Pixel 6/6 Pro
Android Central

According to this Rick Osterloh, the senior vice president of devices and services at Google, confirmed to Android Central that the latest mid-range smartphone from Google will feature a different fingerprint sensor.

We don't know the exact details yet, but let's hope that Google learned after their mistakes and it's going to be better than the one present in the Pixel 6 series as a lot of people complained about its speed or accuracy although it got better over time with updates.

#Pixel6a
Official Google plastic cases will be available for the Pixel 6a
9To5Google

Sadly, it seems like Google has killed their fan favorite Fabric cases in favor of the eco plastic cases featuring 30% of recycled plastic as they confirmed it being available for the Pixel 6a.

Like with the Pixel 6, Google will make matching cases to the Pixel 6a in translucent Black, White and Green colors. They could cost $29 like their Pixel 6/6 Pro cases.

*example photo, the Pixel 6a version should look similar

#PlayStore #MY
Google Play Store Material You redesign arrives on older Android versions
With the release of Android 12, Google has introduced Material You. After opening the Play Store, you are treated with the new Material You design. Finally a few months later, the Material You redesign for the Play Store is rolling out for devices running Android 11 or older.

The default green accent now has been changed from green to blue as you might have noticed.

Follow @PixelHubUpdates

#Android #A13
Fix for the Android 13 Beta 2 display flashing when put to sleep bug

Some people running Android 13 Beta 2 have noticed a bug when pressing the power button to put the phone to sleep, the display lights up again showing the lockscreen before finally turning going off after a few seconds.

There's a workaround to fix this issue though in
Settings > Security > Screen lock gear > Untick "Power button instantly locks".

Alternatively to fix this issue you can disable Tap to Wake from the display settings so the device would lock instantly and not have to rely on display timeout.

Thanks to u/IllAd731, enerGy and @DazeOne for the news, appreciate it 🙏

Follow @PixelHubUpdates

#Pixel #Android #A13
A Magisk hotfix for Pixels running Android 13 Beta 2 is coming soon!

Turns out there is a bug in magiskboot's vbmeta structure extraction logic, which is the cause of the requirement of disabling vbmeta verity manually in fastboot (or else bootloop). Fix coming soon...

We'll update the post when the update comes.

https://twitter.com/topjohnwu/status/1525034917670756353
(thanks to @Aspheric again for the info ❤️)

Follow @PixelHubUpdates

#Pixel6a
Pixel 6a prices and color variants around the world
9To5Google

Here's a list of all countries with a price comparison to USD and color variants available of the Pixel 6a in such region:

• Australia – AU$749 | 516 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• Canada – CA$599 | 460 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• France, Germany, Italy, Spain – €459 | 477 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• Japan – ￥53,900 | 419 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• Republic of Ireland – €459 | 477 USD
Colors: Charcoal
• Singapore – SGD 749 | 537 USD
Colors: Charcoal
• Taiwan – NTD$13,990 | 469 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• United Kingdom £399 | 498 USD
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal
• United States – $449
Colors: Sage, Chalk, Charcoal

Surprisingly, Japan has the cheapest prices with all the colors being available and Singapore is the most expensive at 537 USD. India is not on the list as the device will be available there later in the year.

* conversion rates are rounded up. prices checked 9:00 AM GMT on 13th of May 2022

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The update is live! The changes have been pushed to GitHub with the latest Canary build having this hotfix.

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/topjohnwu/magisk-files/canary/app-debug.apk

#PixelWatch
Google Pixel Watch rumored to run on the same chip as 2018 Galaxy Watch + bonus Google rant
9To5Google

Google has a bad habit of reusing old hardware in new devices, like the rear Sony IMX 363 sensor from the Pixel 2 being in the Pixel 6a.

This time they have fully decided to use the WearOS partnership with Samsung allegedly by using a 4 year old chip in their watch.

Although the Exynos 9110 chip is using a thinner process (10nm) than the latest Qualcomm chip (12nm), its no match to the Exynos W920 (5nm) used in the Galaxy Watch 4.

With the launch of the W920, Samsung claimed “CPU performance around 20-percent and ten times better graphics performance than its predecessor.”

<rant>
Let's hope that the magic Google software isn't rushed and over time they fix all issues just like on the Pixel 6... oh wait while the software is fine now, the modem is still garbage and Tensor 1 is basically an Exynos 990 from 2020.

Sadly the bar is low as the Pixel 5 ran a midrange chip and before the collab WearOS devices ran the Qualcomm Wear 3100 with cores from 2011 so it's gonna be a big jump that's still far from desired. (i have a fossil sport with it. will never buy a qcom powered watch again)

Only if OEMs could slightly change their existing devices for them run Google's software. Maybe you could call these devices "Nexus", or just have OEM hardware run Google's software, "Google Play edition"

Apologies for the long post, i tried to add a hyperlink and accidentally deleted it whole making me rewrite the whole thing adding more to it.
</rant>

#GoogleIO #Translate
Google Translate is now available in 24 more languages
Google Blog

There are many languages around the world, and till today Google Translate has supported to translate up to 109 languages which is impressive. In Google I/O, they are announcing the service will be getting 24 more languages support.

These 24 languages are listed as below:
Assamese, Aymara, Bambara, Bhojpuri, Dhivehi, Dogri, Ewe, Guarani, Ilocano, Konkani, Krio, Kurdish (Sorani), Lingala, Luganda, Maithili, Meiteilon (Manipuri), Mizo. Oromo, Quechua, Sanskrit, Sepedi, Tigrinya, Tsonga, Twi

It has gone live just recently and will be benefiting over 300 million people. Of course, nothing is perfect, some words or phrases have their own literal meaning and that's where the community gets to improve its accuracy by using the Contribute tool.

#GoogleIO #YouTube
YouTube is making it easier to access content on mobile with trannoscripts and auto-translate captions
YouTube has been the most well-known video sharing platform across the world, and they are rolling out a few new features for the mobile app.

First, trannoscript is now available for videos with captions, so you can find the exact moment of a video you wanted to, sadly it doesn't have search feature yet though. Auto-translate captions is also arriving with 16 languages support for the mobile app.

Google also mentioned that Ukrainian content will get auto-translated captions starting in June, which will allows people to understand more about the ongoing war.

Follow @PixelHubUpdates

#GoogleIO #Assistant
Google Assistant will become much more friendlier to use on your Nest Hub Max
Google Blog

Felt annoying to always say "Hey Google"? Google understands the situation and implemented Look and Talk, which will allow you to command without having to say the activation words.

Once you opt in and have both Voice Match and Face Match registered, you have successfully activated it. When the device recognised it's you, t will straight away do it for you when you give it command. Quick Phrases feature will be available soon, so you can say "turn off the light in living room." The whole process doesn't require saying "Hey Google."

This feature is currently planned to roll out for the Nest Hub Max for US customers only though. Besides, Google Assistant will adapt more to human speech soon as Google is working to bring Tensor chip into their smart home devices too.

#GoogleIO #Auto
Android Auto gains redesign with split-screen mode and a few Material You touches
Google Blog

While Google is focusing on improving Android experience on large screen devices, they didn't forget about Android Auto and give it some updates too.

This redesign focuses on three core features: navigation, media, and communication. Google has added split-screen mode which can adapt on any in-car display, and will show these three things on the screen at the same time. You might also see some Material You elements on the screen too.

Besides that, Android Auto is getting smarter with the help of Google Assistant. You'll be able to reply and call your contacts by tapping on the suggestion shown on the screen, you can also use your voice to command if you want to drive more safely. Soon it will also be possible to cast video content onto the screen while your car is parked.