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Android 12

Google Android 12 Developer Preview Reveals the Features and Release Date of the OS.

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Google has already shared the two versions of the Android 12 developer previews, and its third version is also on the way. The developer preview is nothing but a sneak peek at the new features that a software possesses before its actual release. The previous developer previews and other leaks of Android 12 have already given us much-needed information about the OS. The latest leaks and rumors have disclosed some more features and also the date of Android 12’s final release.

Talking About the Features of Android 12

Since the TVs have also become smarter, with the new updated OS, Google has improved the Android 12 OS features for the smart TVs. Apart from that, the company has also made sure that the OS works better on tablets and foldable phones as well. Google has worked on the video and image quality for the new OS, as now it will be possible for the users to save data through image compression and better copy and paste features.

Google has also better the game on screenshot capturing as earlier all the smartphone could only take the whole screen screenshot, but the new improved screenshot feature on Android 12 allows the user to capture a manually selected area on the screen. According to the reports, the screenshot capture may include a markup menu as well, which may allow the users to add annotations and emojis to the screenshots.

Android 12
Image Source: fonearena.com

The split-screen feature has also been improved in the new Android OS 12, as now the users can run two apps in pair through a double-tap on the screen, simultaneously. This very feature has been improved, most likely for foldable smartphones.

Google had already introduced the double tap on the back feature in the Android 11 beta. The feature was to access the Google Assistant by tapping twice on the back of the phone. But it failed to impress the audience. The same feature has been introduced in the Android 12 OS, but this time, the users are allowed to set the sensitivity level of the tap, so that no other action takes place on the tapping. The double-tap feature will also allow the users to access the notification, take a screenshot, pause/resume media playback, and open recent apps, etc.

The new Android 12 OS will also include the theme option in it. The users will be able to apply a particular color as a theme for their smartphones. The app developers can also take advantage of this feature by allowing their apps to incorporate color themes into their apps. The notification panel will also get a whole new opaque background and the looks for the lock screen media player have also been changed a bit. Another new feature of the Android 12 OS will also let the users adjust or reduce on-screen contrast.

Security Feature

The company has also improved the security features for smartphones in the upcoming Android OS. There will be an option to allow or block the use of a camera and microphone on the various apps. The OS will also alert the users if any app is using the content from the clipboard of the phone. The OS will also include the facility to share the wi-fi passwords with nearby smartphones through QR code scanning.

Android 12
Image Source: xda-developers.com

Devices to Get Android 12 and Release Date

Though most of the latest Android smartphones will get access to the new Android 12, the names given by the company that will come with Android 12 includes Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 3a, Pixel 3a XL, Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 4a, Pixel 4a 5G, and Pixel 5, Samsung Galaxy S21 and OnePlus 9, etc.

Google has already released the second developer preview version of Android 12 and is organizing the Google IO 2021 event from May 18 to May 20, where the company is said to release the first public beta version of the OS. Reportedly, the company is going to have the final launch of the OS in September this year.

WifiNanScan

Google launches ‘WifiNanScan’ on Play Store for developers to measure the distance between phones

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Experimenting with new tech to make the best of an Android phone, Google has recently released the WifiNanScan app for the developers. This new app will be mainly used for measuring the distance between two smartphones using the Wi-Fi Aware technology. Google has been working on such technologies to make the entire process of local discoveries easier for Android users. Apart from the developers, the vendors and the university researchers can also experiment with this new technology for their research purpose and business. This Wi-Fi Aware protocol enabled through the new WifiNanScan app will help two devices (smartphones) in close proximity to connect with each other in absence of any internet connection.

What is Wi-Fi Aware?

The Wi-Fi Aware protocol is a technology that enables any Android smartphone that is running Android 8.0 and above to discover other such devices in close proximity. The device can then directly establish a connection with the other smartphones without any connectivity like the internet. The Wi-Fi Aware technology is also known as Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN). This technology is made accessible to the public through Google’s new WifiNanScan app which will be mostly used by developers for experimenting and using it as a testing tool.

The Wi-Fi Aware protocol uses the APIs to discover any devices nearby and establish connections between the same. These devices after getting connected can share large amounts of data and send short messages as well (9to5Google). Google has also claimed that with this new app “higher throughput rates across longer distances” are possible which will be more than Bluetooth connection. After the app is installed, it will be able to measure the distance between two smartphones which are up to fifteen meters apart with a precision of about one meter.

Advantage of the Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN) Technology

With Wi-Fi Aware protocol using the NAN technology can measure the distance between the two smartphones using the app quite efficiently, it has a lot of advantages. Many discovery apps can implement this technology based on Wi-Fi Aware with the advantage of not needing a stable internet connection. Mainly the developers and OEMs will make extensive use of this tool in order to validate the distance measurement thus making the development process of many apps better. For example, researchers and developers can use this for peer-to-peer ranging and data transfer, find my phone, and context-aware applications (9to5Google).

WifiNanScan
Image Source: play.google.com

Application of WifiNanScan App

Establishing a connection between two smartphones without having to connect to the internet can have a plethora of advantages. You can send important files to someone in close proximity without using any data. There are still many people who find it difficult to afford unlimited data, especially in the pandemic situation when demand for stable connections has significantly increased. So, it will be really helpful if data can be saved for small activities.

Google, for instance, has mentioned a few applications for this new app. The company says that this app can be used to securely send some important documents to the printer without having to log into the network at first. One can also book a table at a restaurant without any internet connection just walking by when the restaurant is not even open. This technology can be used in many fields if harnessed potential efficiently.

WiFiRttScan Application

Two years back a similar app was released by Google called WiFiRttScan App. Android 9 Pie introduced this app for supporting indoor positioning by leveraging 802.11 mc. Google said that the Wi-Fi Round Trip Time (RTT) will enable the system and apps to measure the distance to the nearby RTT cable access points. This technology though is only viable for Android 9 and later versions to take advantage of indoor positioning.

Google then said the same that this app was for research and experiment purposes to validate range measurements and other uses of the RTT tech to build any applications. Apart from the in-building navigation system, the app also provided two extra features. There are, namely, disambiguated voice control and location-based information.

Google Play Store

Google’s initiative to cut Play Store fee might help ‘boutique’ apps but not big developers

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There are thousands of developers around the world that are new in the business world and face struggle due to the 30 percent fee for their apps in the Google Play Store. For new developers, cutting 30 percent fee is a lot as compared to their annual revenue. So, Google has decided to bring down the fees from 30 percent to 15 percent for the developers whose annual revenue is less than $1 million. However, for the big developers, the fees will stay intact to 30 percent fees for putting their apps on Google Play Store.

This new amendment by Google will come into action from 1st July 2021. The new reduction in commission fees by Google will affect the new start-ups, individual developers, and boutique firms in a very positive way, says Manjunath Bhat, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner to The Indian Express. He also added that “It will have little to no impact on large established application development companies in India.” (The Indian Express)

Boosting Developer Success

Sameer Samat, Vice President of Product Management, Google has written in a blog post on 16th March 2021 about how Google appreciates helping new developers make a big and sustainable business. Google always looks forward to helping new brands establish and support them with powerful marketing tools. This is because building a brand from scratch and putting the app on the record is not a very easy task. He also mentioned that Google is constantly striving to help these new developers bring their innovative ideas into real life and “give them an added boost.”

Google Play Store
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He has specifically mentioned that the deduction of the commission fees from 30 percent to 15 percent is only for the first $1 million revenue earned by a developer each year. With the huge reduction in commission fees, around 99 percent of the total global developers will have a huge impact on their businesses. And, this amount of figure can be used by the developers to scale up their business, effective marketing implementations, hiring new employees, expanding geographically, etc.

Why cut the commission fees?

In an early-stage business, the investment is always high to set the business, hire people, create a position, and marketing. So, with the reduction in the commission fees, the developers will have a much stable early-stage start-up and open more doors for them to succeed. Google thinks that this is the first step on behalf of the company to help each and every developer out there. More details will be shared regarding this incentive in the upcoming months. Google Play and Android together are trying to build a better ecosystem thus scaling up to more business and uplifting the developers’ community. Moreover, small businesses contribute significantly to the GDP of a nation, hence if they start growing rapidly it will benefit the economy of the country.

Similar initiatives by Apple

Apple also took a similar initiative last year as the company brought the commission rate down to 15 percent from 30 percent as well. But, there is a difference in how Apple proceeded with the Apple Store Small Business Program. For the Apple Store, the reduction rate is only applicable to those who make less than $1 million a year in terms of annual sales. Once they start selling above $1 million, they have to pay the standard 30 percent fees. But, Google is considering a 50 percent reduction in commission fees on the first $1 million regardless of the total revenue earned by the developer.

In the last few months, both Google and Apple have come under big allegations because of their fees and other rules. It is true that these two tech giants control more or less the entire smartphone market and the tech industry. So, many developers have no option but to abide by the rules laid by these two companies. (The Indian Express). With the reduction rate in Google’s commission fees for Play Store, many people have made several positive comments on it.

For instance, Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of JetSynthesys, said, “I think in a way it helps support the Indian ecosystem, especially the smaller developers.” He also added that “ It’s a good move because with new developers coming in, more companies will engage with citizens through digital payments.” The main target of taking this initiative is to give developers better chances to scale their business and overall democratizing access to Play Store in India.

Google

Microsoft and Google are openly feuding amidst hacks, competition inquiries

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The rivalry between Microsoft and Google is getting exposed in front of the public as both of them are trying to throw each other off the grid. Microsoft and Google are two of the biggest tech giants across the globe and competition between them are getting intense with time. The daily lives of common people in this digital era depend greatly on both of these company’s services.

When you are leading on the market, there are high chances of getting on the wrong side of companies you are trying to outrun. The same goes for American multinational companies, Microsoft and Alphabet Inc’s Google. Tension has been simmering between these two parties has grown due to the existing rivalry and has been unusually exposed to the public eye. The main reason for this sudden increase in tension is that the executives from both companies have been put on the defensive over competing crises (Reuters).

Problems faced by Google and Microsoft

Since both Google and Microsoft are multinational tech giants, both of their infrastructures are expected to top standards, especially on security terms. But, in the last few months, we have seen how Microsoft’s security system was compromised and recently the exchange email system was also hacked by alleged Chinese hackers. There has been more than one cyber attack on Microsoft in less than six months. Microsoft, for these cyber attacks, is facing regular scrutiny, and if continues people using Microsoft’s products will start feeling exposed. Big companies like Microsoft have data of millions of customers and thus if networks of such companies are hacked, the sensitive information of many people is jeopardized.

Google
Image Source: financialexpress.com

The first attack on Microsoft’s cloud server was allegedly the same Russian hackers who comprised the SolarWinds Corp and broke into more than one client’s server. The investigation also showed that these hackers might have accessed data from government agencies as well. Moreover, this hacking incident was one of the biggest cyberattacks ever witnessed by these tech firms. And, the second attack on Microsoft’s email server took place at the beginning of March 2021 and was committed allegedly by Chinese hackers to which Beijing declined.

On the other hand, Google is thrashed by bipartisan complaints and journalism ire for its role in gutting the media industry’s advertising revenue. Between October 2020 and December 2020, Google has faced three government antitrust lawsuits which claimed that Google was illegally maintaining a monopoly in general search and search advertising through anticompetitive conduct and contracts (CNBC). Apart from this, Google was also one of the company’s that was forced to make paid deals with local Australian media for content publishing. The Australian government enforced this law on huge tech giants who have massive power in the media industry.

The Blame game

On the hearing of last Friday at a House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, shot fire at Google. Brad Smith said to the representatives that the media organizations are being forced to “use Google’s tools, operate on Google’s ad exchanges, contribute data to Google’s operations, and pay Google money,” according to excerpts of his testimony published by Axios (Reuters). Google didn’t take it lightly and fired back saying that Microsoft has found a newfound interest in attacking Google which is coming from the SolarWinds attack when the latter allowed many big customers to be hacked due to major vulnerabilities of Microsoft. Some of these customers also include government agencies, police agencies, NATO, hospitals, etc.

Google Seven West Media deal

Google strikes deal with the Australian media company, Seven West Media amid content payment row

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The Australian government has been pushing the enforcement of a law to compensate local news media companies in the country. Amidst the tension between the government and tech giants like Google, Seven West Media became the first Australian company to land a deal with Google. The exact monetary value of this inked deal was not revealed but some sources from Seven West Media said that the deal is worth more than $30 million a year for the media company (The Sydney Morning Herald).

Seven West Media revealed this news on 15th February 2021 and it also mentioned that the company will provide content to Google for the Google News Showcase product. The news Showcase product of Google has been launched recently and the company is paying the local publishers for “certain behind-the-paywall articles” that will go up in this new product. The media company has also mentioned that the deal is a “long-term partnership” with Google but was vague with the exact numbers.

New law enforcement caused tension in January 2021

Last month, tension rose between the tech giant Google and the Australian government as the latter announced the enforcement of a new law. According to this new law which is called the News Media Bargaining Code, tech giants like Google and Facebook have to pay the small news publishers and media companies for content. In response to this new law, Google commented that if this law is enforced then the people of Australia will get barred from receiving quality news in Google.

The response of Google was not taken very politely by the Australian government, as in response to that comment, the Australian government mentioned they are open to any businesses who want to prosper in Australia but they won’t respond to any kind of threat. Since then, a lot of bargaining has been going on and finally the Australian leading media company, Seven West Media successfully landed a paid deal with Google. 

Google-Seven West Media deal

Seven West Media is one of the most leading Australian media channels and the main source of metro newspapers in Perth, Australia. The new deal between the tech giant, Google and the Seven West Media mainly concerns the news that will be published in the Google News Showcase platform. The media company didn’t reveal any terms and conditions of the deal. But, the deal with Google also brings along the news of splitting partnership with News Corp and Nine Entertainment. These leading organizations have failed to reach an agreement with Google and backed laws that are supposed to be passed this week (Gadgets 360).

Google Seven West Media deal

The newly launched product of Google, i.e., the Google News Showcase platform, has gone live in Australia this month. Till now, only some specialist Australian publishers and a newspaper have been able to successfully land a paid deal with Google for their content. Outside Australia, Reuters has successfully struck a deal with Google. In response to the newly inked deal with Google, Kerry Stokes, Chairman of Seven West Media has commented that this deal is a sign of how important is the value of quality journalism in the country, especially in regional areas. Mel Silva, CEO of Google Australia, said that the company is “proud to support original, trusted, and quality journalism” by bringing Seven West onboard for the new Google product.

Google made a small compromise 

Today, we are witnessing a paid deal between Google and Seven West thus uplifting the local news publishers for quality content in Australia. But, last month, Mel Silva clearly mentioned in a parliamentary hearing that if the Australian government enforces this law Google search engines will pull out from Australia. The law said that if Google and a media company cannot strike a deal privately then a negotiator will be given the responsibility to set a fee. But, the deal between Google and Seven West shows that the tech giant made a little compromise from its side to thrive in Australia and not abandon quality news content due to this new law. Last month, Google was furious about the new law, but thinking from the perspective of the Australian government, it is trying to uplift the economic status of the local media publishers and help people value the power of good journalism. 

Timnit Gebru

Two Google engineers resigned after the company fired AI researcher, Timnit Gebru

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A lot of disputes have been taking place in Alphabet Inc’s Google regarding ethics and work culture among the company’s employees. The intensity of the situation has been rattled as two engineers of Google resigned after the company dismissed the AI researcher Timnit Gebru. From the engineering department, one engineering director and a software developer quit Google and it’s a sign of not approving of the departure of Timnit Gebru.

Diversity and ethics have become a point of conflict on Google for some time now as David Baker, an employee of Google resigned last month. He worked at Google for sixteen years and during his departure, he said that Gebru’s dismissal “extinguished my desire to continue as a Googler”(witnessed by Reuters). David Baker worked as a director in the user safety division in Google. He also mentioned that the environment of Google was acting against the belief of diversity though it claimed otherwise. His exact words were “We cannot say we believe in diversity, and then ignore the conspicuous absence of many voices from within our walls.”

Resignation of Kannan

Vinesh Kannan, a software engineer who worked at Google resigned on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he tweeted about his resignation and that Google mistreated Timnit Gebru. He also mentioned April Christina Curley, an ex-employee of Google who claimed that she was wrongly fired by the company. The dismissal of April took place last year which means that the tension regarding diversity in work culture is going on in Google for a long time. Kannan also mentioned that both of them were wrong but Google declined to comment on this. The company has assured that it is trying its best to restore trust between the company and its employees, also it disputes April’s accusations.

Why the sudden disputes?

The tension regarding the departure of Timnit has been growing for the last few months. The workers in Google have demanded academic freedom and management commitments in the company’s research organization. In December, around 2,600 employees of Google signed a letter supporting Timnit, and last month more than 800 people joined a union to bring advancement in workplace protection.

The story of Timnit Gebru

Timnit Gebru is one of the most leading Black women who have a very impactful contribution in the field of ethical AI. Last year, Timnit was promoted by Google as the co-leader of a group focussed on ethical AI due to her remarkable performance in annual employee appraisal. After she was promoted, Jeff Dean, head of Google AI, only made a single comment regarding what she and her team are supposed to focus on. He mentioned that Timnit and her team should look forward to building software for processing human language that should abide by the AI principles of the company.

Timnit Gebru
Image Source: miro.medium.com

There was an exchange of email conversations between Timnit and Jeff during October 2020. Timnit informed Jeff that her team was working on a paper which was regarding the same area of understanding the complexity of language while Jeff told her that he would be interested in reading it. And, after six weeks of that conversation, Timnit was surprisingly fired by Google. She was on her vacation when she received the news.

Explaining Timnit’s departure

After Timnit was fired by Google, Jeff tried to explain the situation to his other employees. Jeff mentioned that the paper she and her team was working on didn’t meet the publication bar of the company. He also mentioned that the paper was missing relevant information regarding the recent improvements done in this field. While Timnit’s superiors tried to convince her to retract the paper Google’s Research team mentioned that the previous works of authors who claimed benefits of large language models were not scrutinized properly before approval. This created a lot of fuss questioning Google’s scrutiny process.