Yet another key Stadia executive has left Google

By the time 2021 began, it became clear that Google’s ambitions for Stadia weren’t materializing the way they wanted them to do so. By February, they had announced their intentions to close down their in-house Stadia game studios, which were to produce unique games as Google Stadia exclusives. While Google announced that this didn’t change a thing regarding their commitment to Stadia, something started to smell bad, as executives started to leave. Today, yet another key Stadia executive made the decision to leave Google.

We’re talking about Stadia’s Vice President and Head of Product, John Justice. In that role, Justice oversaw the consumer experience for Stadia and teased new features coming to the service. Justice had been with Google since the start of 2019, and according to a scoop by The Information, he recently made the decision to leave the company, and when asked for comment by 9to5Google, a spokesperson said that “we can confirm John is no longer with Google and we wish him well on his next step.”

Game streaming has seen a slight surge thanks to the ongoing lack of most gaming hardware in store shelves, particularly PC parts and new-gen consoles like the PS5 and the new Xbox, thanks to multiple factors, and Stadia recently started rolling out a couple of key changes, including a revamped UI with a search bar and library sorting. So while you might think Stadia is doing well given the context, we can’t help but worry as more and more key people leave the ship probably looking for tidier waters.

Plus, we also have to have in mind that this is Google we’re talking about, and Google is known for suddenly killing products when they start to do less-than-stellarly. Will this happen to Stadia? I don’t know. Maybe, or maybe not. These kinds of news, however, do hint that things are not really that good internally.

Together with this news, this scoop also gives out more details about internal reorganizations over at Google, particularly the Search team. In a step away from the conventional engineer-oriented structure, Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan, who oversees Search, Ads, Maps, and other major services, is giving product managers under his purview “more authority.” Engineers and product managers will have to answer to the same individual instead of having their own hierarchy.

So who knows? This might be just part of internal shakeups at Google, or it could be bad news for Stadia. We’ll have to wait and see.

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Google pushes the May 2021 security update to Pixel phones

Google has published the May 2021 Security Update Bulletin, and has also started rolling out new updates to supported Pixel devices.

May 2021 Security Update Bulletin

The Android Security Bulletin for the month of May 2021, which can be viewed here, details multiple security vulnerabilities ranging in severity from moderate to critical. One of the most severe vulnerabilities in the Android Framework could enable a local malicious application to bypass user interaction requirements in order to gain access to additional permissions. There are also some issues involving the Android Media Framework, Android System, and some closed-source components from vendors like Qualcomm and MediaTek.

As we’ve seen in the past, many of the disclosed vulnerabilities don’t offer additional documentation that explains what is affected and how the patch addresses the issue.

Pixel Update Bulletin/Functional Update

In addition to providing information about vulnerabilities in the general Android Security Update Bulletin, Google has also unveiled the issues facing Pixel devices. The Pixel Update Bulletin highlights a handful of moderate issues and appear to affect Android Kernel components, a Qualcomm component related to the camera, and Qualcomm closed-source components.

The list this month is actually relatively small, and all of them are listed as moderate. Unlike last month, Google doesn’t highlight any notable fixes, but we’ll update this post once that information is made available. Last month, Google highlighted issues related to camera quality in certain third-party apps, and performance optimizations for certain graphics-intensive apps and games.

Google said the May 2021 security update is rolling out in phases depending on your carrier and device, so you may not see it right away. The search giant said you should receive a notification once it’s available.

• Global:
  • Pixel 3 (XL): RQ2A.210505.002
  • Pixel 3a (XL): RQ2A.210505.002
  • Pixel 4 (XL): RQ2A.210505.002
  • Pixel 4a: RQ2A.210505.002
  • Pixel 4a (5G): RQ2A.210505.003
  • Pixel 5: RQ2A.210505.003

Pixel Factory Images ||| Pixel OTA Images

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Microsoft is finally killing off Flash in Windows 10 this summer

Support for Adobe Flash has been fading away for some time now. It’s been removed from all modern browsers, and it’s been unsupported by Adobe since the beginning of the year.

Microsoft has been slowly killing it off in Windows 10 by offering an update to remove the software. For most people, that update installed automatically and Flash is gone. For businesses that control the flow of Windows updates, on the other hand, that might not be the case.

In a blog post from September that was recently updated, the firm announced that it’s going to be adding the Flash removal update to Patch Tuesday updates this summer. This will happen in June for Windows 10 versions 1809 and up, while it will happen in July for versions 1507 and 1607. July is also when users of Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Embedded 8 Standard will get it.

Patch Tuesday updates are mandatory. If you try to not take the update, it’s just going to install automatically at some point. In fact, this change should also arrive in the preview update that we’ll see the month before. Those are called ‘C’ and ‘D’ week updates, and they’re optional.

Obviously, these updates are only coming to supported versions of Windows. Versions 1507 and 1607, while nearly six and five years old respectively, are still supported in the Long-Term Servicing Branch. Version 1809 is supported for the Long-Term Servicing Channel and in Enterprise and Education SKUs of the OS. Newer versions are currently supported, although some support status is actually set to change between now and when these updates are released.

The death of Adobe Flash has been a slow one. Indeed, if you’re following along, it feels like we’re never going to be rid of the legacy solution. We should be almost at the finish line though, and we’ll soon be able to look at Flash as a thing of the past.

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Twitter Spaces will now let those with 600 or more followers host a chat

Twitter users with 600 or more followers can now their own Spaces, the audio chat feature that’s similar to Clubhouse. Spaces was previously introduced last year as a limited experiment with select users.

According to Twitter, it landed on the 600 follower number based on feedback and a determination that these accounts “are likely to have a good experience hosting live conversations because of their existing audience.” The company didn’t rule out the possibility of bringing Spaces to everyone, saying it’s focused on learning more about how people utilize the new feature.

Twitter Spaces are a lot the Clubhouse experience, and allow hosts to begin an audio conversation around whatever topic they like. Anyone can join a conversation as a listener, and can react with emoji, click on a pinned Tweet, and even request to speak. I’ve sat in on a few chats and the experience has been smooth and engaging. Of course, a lot of that comes down to who’s hosting the conversation.

With Spaces available to even more people, Twitter highlighted some of the audience management tools that were previously made available. Twitter also said it’ll soon introduce “Ticketed Spaces,” which will allow hosts to get paid for hosting a conversation. Twitter said hosts can set the ticket price and also how many are available to sell, making it easy to create limited, exclusive events.

Twitter is also planning to add a schedule and reminder feature for upcoming Spaces, so you’ll never miss a conversation again. Additionally, Spaces will soon get co-hosting, improved accessibility, and more ways to find conversations. That includes being able to join a Space from a purple bubble around someone’s profile picture in your Home timeline when they’re live.

Twitter Spaces joins the many other services that have jumped on the Clubhouse bandwagon, with Discord being another company that has recently launched a similar feature.

Twitter (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Verizon sells former Internet giants Yahoo and AOL for $5 billion

Verizon has announced the sale of AOL and Yahoo properties to Apollo Global Management, Inc. in a deal said to be worth $5 billion. Verizon initially acquired these properties for nearly $9 billion, so the sale price is considerably lower. Verizon will maintain a 10% stake in the company, which will be known as Yahoo when the transaction closes.

“We are excited to be joining forces with Apollo,” said Guru Gowrappan, CEO of Verizon Media. Gowrappan will continue to lead Yahoo, according to a press release (via Axios). “The past two quarters of double-digit growth have demonstrated our ability to transform our media ecosystem. With Apollo’s sector expertise and strategic insight, Yahoo will be well positioned to capitalize on market opportunities, media and transaction experience and continue to grow our full stack digital advertising platform.”

Apollo is best known as the private equity firm that owns the Venetian resort in Las Vegas and crafts retailer Michaels.

In addition to AOL and Yahoo, the deal includes well-known properties like TechCrunch, Engadget, and a number of Yahoo brands, such as Yahoo Sports. Verizon has been on a selling spree lately, with the company also selling off Tumblr and Huffpost, the latter of which was purchased by Buzzfeed.

“We are thrilled to help unlock the tremendous potential of Yahoo and its unparalleled collection of brands,” said Reed Rayman, Private Equity Partner at Apollo. “We have enormous respect and admiration for the great work and progress that the entire organization has made over the last several years, and we look forward to working with Guru, his talented team, and our partners at Verizon to accelerate Yahoo’s growth in its next chapter.”

AOL and Yahoo are synonymous with the early internet and still have plenty of name recognition. It’s something Apollo wants to take advantage of when the acquisition is complete, with the company saying it’s a big believer in the growth prospects of Yahoo as it relates to digital media, advertising technology, and consumer internet platforms.

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Discord will be integrated into your PS5 next year

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced a new partnership with Discord that will bring the communication service’s features to PlayStation Network. The integration is expected to be available early next year. The news comes after Microsoft reportedly failed to make a deal to acquire Discord.

In a blog post on Monday, Jim Ryan, President & CEO of SIE, said the teams are already hard at work connecting Discord with PSN.

“Our goal is to bring the Discord and PlayStation experiences closer together on console and mobile starting early next year, allowing friends, groups, and communities to hang out, have fun, and communicate more easily while playing games together,” Ryan said.

To make the integration happen, Ryan said SIE made a minority investment as part of Discord’s Series H round.

Since Discord’s launch in 2015, the service has become a popular place for communities to discuss their shared love of games, movies, technology, and everything in between. It has grown into the preferred way for people on PC to voice chat when playing games, and a place for creators to start channels for their fans. Recently, Discord launched its own Clubhouse-like featured called Stage Channels.

While Discord’s features are expected to be integrated into the PlayStation experience, the details around that are unclear. Will there be a dedicated PlayStation app? That’s something I’m sure a lot of PlayStation fans will appreciate.

While PlayStation already has a built-in voice chat feature, there’s no easy way to talk with people on PC unless you use a game’s in-game chat, which isn’t already reliable. Adding Discord to PlayStation could address that while adding the service’s many social features to PSN. Discord is currently available on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, iPadOS, Linux, and in web browsers.

Discord currently has about 140 million active users as of December 2020, while there are millions of PlayStation users around the globe. With an integrated experience not expected to launch until early next year, there’s still plenty of time to iron out the details. Hopefully, we’ll learn exactly how this will work long before then.

Discord - Talk, Video Chat & Hang Out with Friends (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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More Bluetooth peripherals need Google Fast Pair

With Bluetooth peripherals becoming more and more common, they haven’t necessarily become easier to set up and configure. Often the pairing process can be clunky, and for people who may use two phones at the same time for work or other reasons, the constant pairing and unpairing process can grow tiresome. I frequently need to switch my earphones and smartwatch to another device, and it can be cumbersome to do so. The best solution I have seen to the problem yet is Google’s Fast Pair, and more Bluetooth peripherals need to use it.

First and foremost: Google’s Fast Pair is a proprietary system that is part of Google Play Services and, therefore, is on pretty much every Android smartphone. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy to detect nearby Bluetooth accessories that are looking to pair and will pop up a photo of the accessory and a connect button if they’re discovered nearby on your Android smartphone.  Fast Pair-enabled peripherals are registered to your Google account and work with Google’s Find My Device if you lose them by displaying their last registered location. You can also see battery info for your Bluetooth earphones on any device that they’ve been previously paired to. Even better, this support works on Chrome OS too, and any paired devices from your Android smartphone will also be pairable with your Chromebook.

Google’s second-gen Pixel Buds support all of Fast Pair’s features. Credits: Rich Woods.

Having used both the OnePlus Buds and the OnePlus Buds Z, I can say that one of my favorite features of these earphones was Google Fast Pair support. While it certainly makes the pairing process a breeze, there are very few devices on the market that actually use Fast Pair, and despite there being fitness trackers like the Fitbit Sense supporting it, the overall list of accessories that support it is primarily comprised of earphones. One other downside I have found is that it’s somewhat a complicated process to remove previously-paired Fast Pair devices from your Google account. You need to go to your Google settings, device connections, and then click “saved devices” to access a menu to remove them from your account. This can make it annoying for reselling, though is also an upside if they’re stolen.

As smartwatches grow in popularity and headphone jacks slowly disappear, the Bluetooth pairing system needs a major revamp. The replacement for the headphone jack, assuming that the technology is going that way, needs to be a whole lot easier to use in order to win over the masses. Some of the Bluetooth accessories on the market today are incredible, but I’m sure we’ve all run into pairing problems at one point or another. Fast Pair aims to standardize the process for Android phones, and it’s a shame that not many devices actually use it. The only other alternative I’ve seen that does a similar job is the ability to pair via an NFC tag, like on the Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones that I use daily. While it still doesn’t pair across multiple devices, the idea of pairing via an NFC tag is neat in that it’s also extremely quick and painless and doesn’t require fiddling with your device settings. The fact that Fast Pair doesn’t work with Wear OS watches is a missed opportunity, too.

Fast Pair is such a useful feature, and the fact that it can help to locate lost devices along with streamlining the entire pairing process makes this a must, in my opinion, for future Bluetooth peripherals. Here’s hoping that we see more and more device manufacturers take it up in the future!

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