In this week’s top stories: we helped Google Assistant become a Super Saiyan on the Dragon Ball Z Easter egg, take a look at a new redesign of the Nova Launcher, catalog the best new features in the OnePlus OxygenOS 11.0 update, and more.
Google Assistant sparked a lot of joy and nostalgia this week when people found out that Voice AI won an Easter egg with the Dragon Ball Z theme. Just tell your Google Assistant device “Go Super Saiyan” and the Assistant will give a interesting war cry. For the full effect, say “Hey Goku” to trigger the Wizard.
Your Assistant will try to scream during the transformation process, but there is a bit of distortion when he reaches the maximum power stage. Like AP notes, it’s probably a nod to the first time Goku actually “goes” Super Saiyan for a while in the anime, but it’s a nice little setback for the show and associated manga.
This week, our Damien Wilde took the time to give an overview of the next rewrite and redesign of Nova Launcher, one of the most popular alternative Android launchers of all time. While there is still a long way to go before Nova Launcher 7 is ready for prime time, it is exciting to see the progress and improvements that have already been made.
Before the formal announcement of the Samsung Galaxy S21, after almost every aspect of the device leaked online, the device’s packaging made waves. Following the trend established by Apple, the Galaxy S21 comes in a thin, streamlined case, made possible by the exclusion of the charging block.
In addition, Samsung decided to omit a pair of wired headphones in the box. However, this is not particularly surprising. Samsung also removed the headphones from the box with its Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Z Fold 2 last year. Still, it’s a shame to see them go, even though many users have switched to truly wireless headsets. The Galaxy S21 will be released along with the Galaxy Buds Pro as well, which may make it easier for some users as well.
Pixel 2 owners have some bad news this week, as the devices’ ability to send unlimited original quality photos to Google Photos ended as of today, January 16. global storage quota.
Notably, too, this comes with the end of Google Photos’ unlimited compressed storage on the horizon. Starting this year, Google Photos will count all uploads in your account total, even if they are not of original quality.
The Pixel 3, the latest smartphone from Google with this photo offering, will also lose its free storage advantage in about a year, on January 31, 2022.
Although a brand new flagship phone comes out every year, not making good use of your old devices – or at least recycling them – is simply wasteful. This week, Samsung announced an effort to allow its older Galaxy phones to take on new life as smart home accessories, like a baby monitor or a part of a security system.
Samsung did not elaborate on which devices are eligible for this or exactly how the software updates will arrive (whether they will be system or just applications). In any case, there are some interesting ideas here, and extending the life of electronics is always a good idea. It looks like this program will start this year, however.
The rest of this week’s main news follows:
Samsung |
Android |
Applications and updates |
Chrome / OS |
Google Assistant |
Made by Google |
Stadia |
Videos |
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