About six months after the feature was first spotted, Google is officially unveiling People Cards. Google mentions that searching for famous personalities presents familiar results, but searching for not-so-famous individuals may not showcase relevant information. So, to aid individuals who are looking to build their online presence, Google is rolling out People Cards, which are like virtual visiting cards where individuals can highlight their existing website of social profiles that they want people to visit.
To create a People Card, sign in to your Google Account, then either search for your name or enter “Add me to Search” in Google Search and then tap the prompt that appears. You can add an image, your Google account, a description of yourself, links to websites and social profiles, and if you wish, a phone number or email address.
Google mentions that they have a bunch of protections and controls in place to maintain the quality of information on People Cards. Only one People Card is allowed per Google Account, and a phone number is required to authenticate the account. There are other undisclosed mechanisms to protect against abusive or spammy content. And users can also submit feedback if they spot low-quality information or a card that is believed to have been created by an impersonator. Google will also allow users to delete their People Card if they no longer want to appear in Search.
For end-users, these new People Cards will make it quick and easy to find the right person. When searching for someone’s name and there is a card available, Google Search will display a module with the name, profession, and location, and users can tap to see the full information within the card. For people who share the same name, there will be multiple modules, and the information can help end users distinguish between the different individuals and find who they are looking for.
This feature is rolling out to users in India on mobile and in English.
The POCO M2 Pro (our review) may not feature a flagship chipset like the first-gen POCO F1 or even a high refresh rate display panel like the POCO X2, but the smartphone does offer some solid specifications for a very competitive price. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G SoC is specifically tuned for mobile gaming on a budget, while the massive 5,000 mAh battery with 33W fast charging support is capable enough to deliver a marathon battery life. Since the first POCO-branded device was quite a big hit among aftermarket development enthusiasts and custom ROM developers, we expect that this mid-ranger will continue that legacy. In fact, development on our forums has been in high gear right from the beginning, and here’s our first custom development roundup for the POCO M2 Pro.
LineageOS is undoubtedly one of the most popular custom ROMs out there, and an unofficial build of the ROM is already available for this phone. Based on the contributions of XDA Recognized Developer erfanoabdi and Cosmin Tanislav AKA Demon000, XDA Senior Member ChaitanayaMittal has ported LineageOS 17.1, based on Android 10, to the POCO M2 Pro. Most of the features are reportedly working fine, however, it might not be ready yet to be a daily driver. If you’re a fan of the stock Android look, then head over to the thread linked below and follow the instructions to get the ROM up and running on your device.
If you wish to install the aforementioned LineageOS 17.1 build, you will first need a custom recovery on your device. Thankfully, an unofficial build of the PitchBlack Recovery (a fork of TWRP) is now available for the phone, courtesy of the same developer who compiled the LineageOS build. The recovery solution is also compatible with stock MIUI OTA packages, which means you can install incremental MIUI updates without modifying the updater script.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and LG Velvet are the latest and greatest Android smartphones from the two Korean tech giants, and both Samsung and LG are competing to offer the most value to consumers in their home country. When you purchase either device on South Korea’s LG U+ carrier, you’ll get a discount on the new Nreal Light augmented reality smart glasses as part of a promotional bundle.
The Nreal Light and 5G smartphone bundle bring the price of the glasses down to 349,000 KRW ($295) from 699,000 KRW ($586). Consumers can tether the glasses to the Samsung or LG device, allowing them to experience what the Nreal Light has to offer.
Nreal Light’s form factor offers all the hallmarks of a consumer-grade AR device that’s lightweight and compact enough to wear like sunglasses. Nreal Light offers 52 degree Field of View and a brilliant display, which simulates the experience of watching your favorite shows or playing games on a 100-inch Micro OLED screen. But with Nreal Light, the advantage is that you can enjoy the experience anywhere.
According to Nreal, its AR smartglasses transform 2D apps onto a user-defined 3D interface using a system named Nebula. Through Nebula, users can apparently arrange “dozens of screens” within their field of view, so they can do things such as watch shows and browse the internet at the same time.
Hundreds of the world’s most popular apps will be available to use with Nreal Light at launch, including Google Chrome, Facebook, Instagram, and more. LG U+ will also launch a series of exclusive apps on Nreal Light later this year.
Nreal Light owners will get several accessories included with the smartglasses, such as a corrective lens frame and four different sized magnetically attachable nose pads. There’s also a VR Cover, which will block your view in an effort to offer an immersive VR experience for gaming and video.
Nreal calls the Nreal Light’s launch a “historic moment” in the world of smart glasses. Bundling them with two of the market’s biggest new smartphones and a 5G data plan will go a long way to elevating their chances of finding an audience, but whether they can go mainstream remains to be seen.
If you’re interested, you can purchase the bundle through LG U+ starting today, or you can buy the glasses by themselves at LG U+ retail locations on August 21. Though we saw Nreal at CES earlier this year, there’s no word yet on international availability for the Nreal Light.
SARS-CoV-2, also known colloquially as just the coronavirus, has wreaked havoc across the world. Many countries shut down large parts of the economy in order to contain the spread of the virus. As countries reopen their economies, many health experts fear a “second wave”, ie. resurgence, of COVID-19. To prevent a second wave, public health experts are advocating that nations adopt contact tracing, ie. tracing all the people who have recently come into contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 and then undertaking steps to isolate those individuals. Contact tracing is difficult to implement correctly without violating an individual’s privacy. The threat to personal privacy was severe enough for Google and Apple to collaborate on an API that developers of public health agencies can use to implement app-based contact tracing solutions. This contact tracing API, which Google and Apple call the Exposure Notification API, is designed to respect user privacy and security.
Once a user downloads an app that uses the Exposure Notification API and opts in to contact tracing, their device starts generating “proximity identifiers” that are changed every 15 minutes (on average). Via Bluetooth Low Energy, these “proximity identifiers” are periodically shared with nearby devices whose users have also opted into contact tracing. The proximity identifier is then processed on-device and does not reveal information about a user’s location or other personally identifiable information. Once a user confirms a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, they can share their diagnosis with the app they installed, which will then inform other users who have come into close contact with them in the last 14 days. For more information on how the Exposure Notification API works, we recommend reading our initial coverage.
Google first rolled out the Exposure Notification API for Android devices on May 20, 2020, as part of an update to Google Play Services, but its use is restricted to apps that have been developed by official public health agencies (for obvious reasons). However, neither Google nor Apple has made details public about the list of apps that have been whitelisted for using this API, so unless you’re constantly keeping up with the news, it’s hard to know which countries have adopted the API. We’ve previously covered some of the countries that have adopted the Exposure Notification API when we talked about the various open-source contact tracing projects that are out there. In this article, we have compiled a list of official contact tracing apps from designated health agencies from various countries that are using Google and Apple’s Exposure Notification API. Our list contains COVID-19 contact tracing apps that have been released or are currently in development.
XDA’s Mishaal Rahman discovered Google’s hidden whitelist of application package names for the API. Subsequently, these package names were traced back to apps, their listing, and the countries they belong to. The information is compiled below in a table for easy reference. We have also added Google Play Store and Apple App Store links, if the app has been publicly released, as well as the source code and the official website link, wherever available. We will update the following tables as more countries/regions adopt the API.
Updated Ireland’s listing to include the source code
Added the name and package name of Spain’s app.
Google has updated the package name “eg.nc.moh.bruhealthtrace” to “egnc.moh.bruhealthtrace.” This matches the “BruHealth” contact tracing app from the government of “Brunei.” We have updated the table accordingly.
June 30, 2020
Added Spain’s Radar COVID app
July 1, 2020
Fixed Japan’s listing to reflect that COCOA – COVID-19 Contact App has already been released.
Added a separate table for open contact tracing implementations based on Google and Apple’s Exposure Notification API. PathCheck SafePlaces was moved to this table and COVID Shield and Common Circle were added.
July 6, 2020
Ireland’s COVID Tracker app has been released on Google Play and the Apple App Store, so the listing in the table has been updated with links to reflect that.
July 8, 2020
Added: North Ireland, the Netherlands (second app), Finland, and MITRE’s COVID Aware app
July 15, 2020
Added: Arizona, CV Key
Updated: New Canadian app, package names for UK apps, Mexican app, updated Ghana –> Gibraltar
July 22, 2020
Added: Nevada (?) pending verification
August 5, 2020
Added: Belgium (In-Development), New York (In-Development)
Updated: Virginia (Released), North Dakota (In-Development), Canada (Released), Croatia (Released), Ecuador (Released), Northern Ireland (Released)
August 10, 2020
Added: Slovenia, Arizona, South Africa (?) pending verification
Re-verified that released apps are using COVID-19 ENS.
Regions with COVID-19 contact tracing apps based on the Exposure Notifications System (ENS)
**On May 20, 2020, the U.S. states of Alabama, North Dakota, and South Carolina announced their intentions to develop apps using Apple and Google’s API. Care19, the existing contact tracing app for North and South Dakota, will be rebranded as Care19 Diary while a new app called Care19 Exposure will be released. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum confirmed his state will use this new app while South Dakota has not committed. Meanwhile, Virginia has not yet confirmed which API they will use for their contact tracing app.
***Australia’s existing app uses the BlueTrace protocol but the government is testing an implementation using Apple and Google’s API, according to a report published on May 21, 2020. On July 1, 2020, Gizmodo reported that it is unlikely that Australia will shift to Google and Apple’s system.
****On June 18, 2020, the UK announced they are switching their app to use Apple and Google’s API.
Open COVID-19 contact tracing implementations based on the Exposure Notification API
Update 1 (08/10/2020 @ 06:04 PM ET): Google has adjusted its Chrome app support timeline. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on January 16, 2020, is preserved below.
Towards the end of 2017, we learned that Google was planning to replace Chrome Apps with Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). The company planned on completely removing Chrome Apps support on Windows, Mac, and Linux by Q1 2018. However, Google didn’t follow through with the plan and chose to wait until more Desktop PWAs became available to install on the platforms. The timeline was pushed back several months from the initial plan, with no clear information regarding when Chrome Apps would be phased out. Now, the company has finally released a definite timeline for the process.
As per a recent post on the Chromium Blog, Google will begin phasing out support for Chrome Apps across all operating systems in the following manner:
March 2020: Chrome Web Store will stop accepting new Chrome Apps. Developers will be able to update existing Chrome Apps through June 2022.
June 2020: End support for Chrome Apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Customers who have Chrome Enterprise and Chrome Education Upgrade will have access to a policy to extend support through December 2020.
December 2020: End support for Chrome Apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
June 2021: End support for NaCl, PNaCl, and PPAPI APIs.
June 2021: End support for Chrome Apps on Chrome OS. Customers who have Chrome Enterprise and Chrome Education Upgrade will have access to a policy to extend support through June 2022.
June 2022: End support for Chrome Apps on Chrome OS for all customers.
Google claims that this change will not impact support for Chrome Extensions. The company plans to continue support and invest in Chrome Extensions on all existing platforms. For more details regarding timelines, recommendations, and FAQs related to end of support for Chrome Apps, you can visit the Chrome Apps migration site by following the link below. The page will be kept up to date as Google proceeds with the process.
Update 1: New Timeline for Chrome App Support
In a new blog post on the Chromium Blog, Google has announced changes to its timeline for deprecating Chrome app support. The changes to the timeline are highlighted in bold in the table below:
Scheduled Date
Action
March 2020
Chrome Web Store stopped accepting new public Chrome apps. Developers will be able to update existing Chrome apps through June 2022.
Enterprise administrators may continue to submit new private and unlisted Chrome apps to the Chrome Web Store.
June 2021
General support for Chrome Apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux will end June 2021. Organizations will be able to use a policy setting to extend support on Windows, Mac, and Linux through June 2022.
General support for Chrome Apps on Chrome OS will remain enabled, without requiring any policy setting, through June 2022.
June 2022
Chrome Web Store will stop accepting new and updated private and unlisted Chrome apps.
End support for Chrome Apps, NaCl, PNaCl, and PPAPI for all platforms.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series has arrived. In the case of the Note 20 Ultra, it has the option for expandable storage, if that 512GB option still isn’t enough storage for you. To be honest, I can entirely understand wanting to get a microSD card even with large storage devices.
Smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra have an excellent camera system, and if you want to shoot video and quickly transfer it to your computer, it’s much easier to just remove an SD card than try and copy it all manually. You can even then swap microSD cards as they fill up so that you don’t run out of storage! You’ll want a lot of storage though (the Note 20 Ultra can take up to a terabyte!), and you might even want the transfers to be extra quick. These are some of the best Galaxy Note 20 Ultra memory cards that you can get at the moment!
This is some of the fastest flash storage around. It's a V90 card capable of write speeds of up to 270MB/s. It even comes with a UHS-II microSD-to-SD adapter!
This is the perfect middle of the pack option, providing 256GB of storage at an extremely affordable price. This will be more than enough for most people!
Want a microSD card... just to have one? The SanDisk Ultra 16GB can hold a small collection of data, and you can stick it in your phone if you really need it.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a smartphone with the potential for a lot of storage, but you can never go wrong with adding more. With its impressive camera capabilities and massive display, you may want to film a lot on it or watch a lot of movies and TV shows. Whatever the case may be, we’ve covered a number of different microSD cards here for different uses, and we’re sure that one of them will meet your needs!
Want the fastest? Get the Lexar Professional 1800x. Want something a bit more overkill? The SanDisk Extreme 1TB will suit you nicely. All of these are some of the best Galaxy Note 20 Ultra memory cards that you can get at the moment.
Update 2 (08/10/2020 @ 5:52 PM ET): Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to try out xCloud starting tomorrow, August 11th. The beta will have fewer games but will give gamers an early taste of xCloud before September 15th.
Update 1 (08/05/2020 @ 09:12 PM ET): Microsoft has announced that they’ll launch their xCloud game streaming service on September 15th. They have also shared a partial list of titles that will be supported at launch. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The article as published on July 16, 2020, is preserved below.
Don’t own a powerful PC or a newer console? No problem: Thanks to cloud game streaming services, you don’t have to dish out hundreds of dollars to enjoy the best that the gaming industry has to offer. For example, NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW cloud gaming service lets you play Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding with DLSS 2.0 enabled while Google’s Stadia cloud gaming service offers arguably the lowest latency and highest quality for its selection of games. Microsoft’s competing Project xCloud, which offers up a range of popular Xbox titles, has been in preview for a few months but will soon launch for everyone later this year.
Gaming hardware keeps getting more and more expensive: consoles like the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X are not expected to cost any less than $500 at launch, while a decent gaming PC that can play AAA games will set you back even more. That’s why game streaming has become attractive; you can play many games without needing expensive hardware aside from a controller and a decent Internet connection. The three major game streaming services have wildly different models: NVIDIA’s GeForce NOW lets customers play from select titles in their existing Steam/Epic Games library, Stadia requires users to purchase titles from its online store, and Project xCloud lets users play over a hundred Xbox Game Pass titles. NVIDIA has a free tier with limited playtime and fewer quality options, Stadia has a Pro tier that gives users free games from time-to-time, and Project xCloud requires a monthly subscription fee but offers many games upfront.
In September, Project xCloud will be exiting preview, so invites won’t be required anymore. Microsoft is combining Xbox Live, Xbox Game Pass, and xCloud game streaming into a single $15 per month subscription called Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. According to The Verge, Microsoft won’t always limit xCloud to the $15/month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription tier, though Microsoft did not share concrete details on future subscription plans. At launch, you’ll be able to play from over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles on supported devices, including Android phones or tablets. However, Microsoft hasn’t shared a list of games that will be available at launch, nor have they shared which specific phone and tablet models will be supported.
Support for DualShock 4 controllers and PC streaming are still planned to happen, though no specific announcements have been made today. Microsoft hasn’t announced which countries they’ll launch the service in, though the current preview includes multiple European nations. Lastly, Microsoft told The Verge that Project xCloud won’t be the final name of the service, though the company hasn’t settled on what they’re going to call it at launch.
Here’s what Microsoft announced on their official Xbox blog earlier today:
Finally, today we’re announcing that this September, in supported countries, we’re bringing Xbox Game Pass and Project xCloud together at no additional cost for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. With cloud gaming in Game Pass Ultimate, you will be able to play over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles on your phone or tablet. And because Xbox Live connects across devices, you can play along with the nearly 100 million Xbox Live players around the world. So when Halo Infinite launches, you and your friends can play together and immerse yourselves in the Halo universe as Master Chief—anywhere you go and across devices.
Cloud gaming in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate means your games are no longer locked to the living room. You can connect more than ever with friends and family through gaming. And just like you do with your movie and music streaming services, when cloud gaming launches into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you can continue your game wherever you left off on any of your devices.
Update 1: September 15th Launch, Partial Game List Revealed
In a blog post published yesterday, Microsoft revealed that it plans to launch its cloud gaming service, xCloud, on September 15th. As the company had previously revealed, access to xCloud will require an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate monthly subscription, which will cost $1 for the first month followed by $15 per month after that. At launch, users will have access to over 100 titles, 36 of which Microsoft revealed today to publications like The Verge.
Here’s the partial list of games that will be available at launch:
Partial list of supported Xbox titles on Microsoft xCloud
Ark: Survival Evolved
Bleeding Edge
Costume Quest 2
Crackdown 3 (campaign)
Destiny 2
F1 2019
Forza Horizon 4
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
Gears of War 4
Gears 5 Ultimate Edition
Grounded
Halo 5: Guardians
Halo Wars: Definitive Edition
Halo Wars 2
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
Halo: Spartan Assault
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
Killer Instinct Definitive Edition
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
Minecraft Dungeons
The Outer Worlds
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Quantum Break
ReCore: Definitive Edition
Ryse: Son of Rome
Sea of Thieves: Anniversary Edition
State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition
Sunset Overdrive
Super Lucky’s Tale
Tell Me Why
The Bard’s Tale Trilogy
Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut
Wasteland 3
Wasteland Remastered
Yakuza Kiwami 2
Here are the 22 countries that Microsoft says xCloud will be available in at launch:
List of countries where Microsoft xCloud will launch in
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Czech Republic
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovakia
Spain
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
Microsoft partnered with Razer and PowerA for new mobile gaming controllers designed for Xbox. Pre-ordering the new Samsung Galaxy Note 20 will allow you to redeem PowerA’s new controller as well as a free 3-month Xbox Game Pass subscription. The future of xCloud on iOS is up in the air, though, as The Verge notes that Microsoft recently ended its xCloud preview for the platform without specifying plans for a future launch.
Update 2: Beta Access Starts August 11th
Microsoft is launching a public beta of its new “Xbox Game Pass” app for Android. This app will let gamers access Xbox games from the cloud through Microsoft’s xCloud service. You’ll have to sign up for Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, though, as we previously mentioned. The first month costs $1 followed by $15 per month for subsequent months.
You can download the new Xbox Game Pass app from the Google Play Store listing embedded below. Note that this public beta doesn’t include the full list of games that’ll be available during xCloud’s public launch on September 15th, so take this as a teaser of what’s to come next month. The Project xCloud Preview will be discontinued on September 11th, 4 days before the general launch.
