Report: Google Meet is going to replace Google Duo

Google reportedly has plans to phase out Google Duo, originally a FaceTime competitor, in favor of Google Meet, its video conferencing app that competes in the same space as Zoom.

According to 9to5Google, Google’s Javier Soltero, who leads the company’s G Suite of services, doesn’t feel that Google Duo and Google Meet should coexist. Instead, Soltero is reportedly spearheading an initiative known as Duet (Duo and Meet) that will see some of Duo’s features integrated into Meet, including end-to-end encryption, 3D effects, and contacting users for a video via phone number.

Eventually, Duo is said to be phased out after only being on the market for a few years (Duo launched in 2016.) Its rumored demise has reportedly come as a surprise to the Duo team themselves, according to 9to5Google.

A Google Meet call

Sources speaking to 9to5Google claim that interest in Google Duo has waned while usage of Google Meet has skyrocketed in the age of social distancing. The latter service has become a go-to option for educators, students, and professionals. Consolidating the services will allow Google to focus on one, feature-rich video service for both consumers and enterprise customers.

9to5Google reports that Google expects the transition to happen over the next couple of years, so it may be a while before Duo actually gets replaced by Meet. Until a complete merger happens, Google is said to continue to operate Duo as it improves Meet’s features. Google issued the following statement to the publication in response to a request for comment:

“We’re fully invested in Duo, which has seen astonishing growth during the pandemic. People around the world are relying on video calling more than ever, and we have no plans to interrupt that. We’ll continue to invest in building new Duo features and delivering a delightful experience for our users, customers and partners. We brought the Duo organization under Javier Soltero’s leadership in May, and it follows that we’re looking at ways that our video calling products can improve alongside one another.”

Recently, Meet has been integrated into Gmail and has received a number of features as Google looks to compete with Zoom. With a reported growth of 3 million users each day in April, it’s clear that Meet has a chance at becoming the market leader for video conferencing. Unfortunately, its popularity may come at the expense of Duo, which means we’ll soon add Duo to the heap of other canceled Google services, which these days is a long, long list.

Google Duo - High Quality Video Calls (Free, Google Play) →

Google Meet - Secure Video Meetings (Free, Google Play) →

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Huawei’s temporary general license has expired, possibly jeopardizing Google apps on older models

Last year, the Trump administration placed Huawei and its subsidiaries on the U.S. Commerce Department’s “Entity List,” which blocked Google from licensing Google Mobile Services for new Huawei device models made available after May 16, 2019. The U.S. government granted Huawei a temporary general license (TGL) which it then renewed several times over the last year. This TGL allowed Google to continue collaborating with Huawei on providing security updates and updates to Google apps, according to a statement published by the company in February. However, Huawei’s temporary general license has expired as of last night. It isn’t immediately clear what this means for software updates on existing Huawei mobile devices with Google apps, but this could spell trouble for the company.

According to The Washington Post, the Commerce Department could still renew the temporary general license, but neither the agency nor Huawei responded to a request for comment from the publication. The TGL was intended to give rural network providers in the U.S. time to replace any Huawei-made equipment they have, but the U.S. Congress has apparently failed to allocate money to aid rural providers in replacing their equipment, according to The Washington Post. As for the effect of the license expiration on Huawei smartphones, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda told the publication that the TGL was what had allowed Google to provide security updates and updates to Google apps and services.

“We have continued to work with Huawei, in compliance with government regulations, to provide security updates and updates to Google’s apps and services on existing devices, and we will continue to do so as long as it is permitted. To be clear: US law currently allows Google to only work with Huawei on device models available to the public on or before May 16, 2019.” – Tristan Ostrowski, Android & Play Legal Director, February 22, 2020

What isn’t clear, though, is whether or not this means that Huawei has to remove Google apps from future software updates pushed to its older devices. Older Huawei device models made available before May 16, 2019, are still running Android software certified by Google, but Google has to certify each and every new software update that Huawei rolls out in order to ensure compliance with the requirements Google lays out to distribute Google Mobile Services. If Google can no longer legally collaborate with Huawei—even if only to certify device models made available before May 16, 2019—then that means that Google can no longer allow Huawei to distribute GMS in future software updates, even for previously-certified smartphones.

The implications on security updates will likely be less drastic if the TGL isn’t renewed. Google gives OEMs a month to merge security patches before the next monthly Android Security Bulletin is made public. Since the TGL has expired, Huawei may be cut off from getting a heads up on security patches, but they’ll still be able to merge any security patches after the bulletin goes public. That’s because any Android framework and Linux kernel patches are open source, so Huawei doesn’t have to rely on Google to merge them.

With Huawei now unable to launch new Android smartphones with Google apps before May 2021 and them possibly being unable to update existing phones with Google apps, it’s more important than ever for the company to build up its alternative app and development ecosystem.

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Google Assistant with compact UI sees wider rollout in beta

Google has been testing a more compact Assistant UI for months, and it looks like the new UI is receiving a wider rollout — albeit for users with the Google App beta release.

According to 9to5Google, the redesigned Assistant UI has a more compact appearance than the existing one. It, however, is not the same as the new Google Assistant, both in terms of looks and functionality, as seen on the Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, or Pixel 4a.

Images via 9to5Google

As you can see in the screenshots embedded above, the panel that pops up after starting the Assistant is shorter than before, and UI elements are also placed closer together. The bottom bar that has shortcuts to start Google Lens, voice search, and manual keyboard entry is unchanged. The Google Assistant panel no longer covers the entire display when showing an answer, too. Some results, including music, take up the bottom portion of your screen, while others, like the weather, will take up the majority of your screen in order to provide more information.

The more compact UI is an improvement because it provides users with the information they need without feeling intrusive. You can get the information you asked for and continue to see what it was you were doing.

Although the more compact UI is slowly seeing a wider rollout, it’s primarily available for Google App beta users. It’s unclear if or when the redesign will be available for everyone, but with increased availability, it could be sooner rather than later.

Google (Free, Google Play) →

Google Assistant - Get things done, hands-free (Free, Google Play) →

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The OnePlus 8 is OnePlus’s first smartphone to be Android Enterprise Recommended

Earlier this year, OnePlus set a goal of having its devices be Android Enterprise Recommended (AER). Months after setting this target, Google has officially designated the OnePlus 8 as part of the program.

Google launched the Android Enterprise Recommended program in February 2018 as a way to create a list of certified devices that are recommended for enterprises to roll out to their employees.

 

As of this writing, 189 devices are certified as AER — and the OnePlus 8 now joins that list. To be included in the program, AER devices must meet certain software update requirements based on whatever Android OS they’re running. Certain hardware requirements must be met as well, including offering 8+ hours of battery life, have at least 2GB of RAM, and feature a minimum of 32GB of storage.

The OnePlus 8 more than meets those hardware requirements; the flagship device features up to 12GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, and ample battery life thanks to its 4,300mAh battery. OnePlus has also promised to offer three years of bi-monthly security updates as well as two years of major OS updates.

As of now, only the OnePlus 8 appears to be AER certified. We’ve reached out to OnePlus to see if the OnePlus 8 Pro and OnePlus Nord will also receive AER certification in the future.

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Android 11 on the Google Pixel vastly improves Nintendo Switch Joy-Con and Pro Controller support

With cloud gaming at the forefront of mobile gaming discussions thanks to the upcoming launch of Microsoft’s xCloud service, we’ve been looking into the state of controller support on Android. Back in Android 11 Beta 1, we noticed that Google added a whopping 84 new controller mappings, meaning that the new Android release can recognize inputs from 84 new gaming controllers. A lot of the newly supported controllers were from third-party gaming accessory makers because Android already supports the original gaming controllers for the big 3 gaming consoles. While Android has supported connecting to the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons since 2017 and the Pro Controller since 2019, the latency from both controllers is unbearable. Thankfully, though, Google has finally fixed the major connectivity and latency issues with the Android 11 release for Pixel phones.

Here are two videos I recorded showing off the differences in connectivity and latency when the Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons are paired with a Google Pixel 4 running Android 10 versus a Google Pixel 3a XL running Android 11. Note how in the video with the Pixel 3a XL, the LEDs for the syncing status aren’t going haywire, my inputs are recognized almost immediately, and the joysticks seem to send inputs in all directions.

The game I’m playing in these two videos is Super Mario Sunshine, a Nintendo GameCube title emulated using Dolphin Emulator. Dolphin Emulator runs better on the Pixel 4 with its Snapdragon 855 versus the Pixel 3a XL with its Snapdragon 670, but you can still clearly see the difference with the improved controller support.

Dolphin Emulator (Free, Google Play) →

The improved Nintendo Switch Joy-Con and Pro Controller support on the Google Pixel isn’t necessarily because of the Android 11 update, though. The Android 11 update for the Pixel just happens to have the necessary kernel driver that improves compatibility. The kernel driver adds proper support for both the Joy-Cons and the Pro Controller, with “little to no user calibration” needed. However, the Joy-Cons are still treated as separate input devices, so you may need to use the Joy-Con Enabler app to get certain apps to recognize them as a single controller.

Thanks to XDA Member bylaws for the tip!

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Download the Google Pixel 4a’s new Eclipse Live Wallpaper on any device

The new Google Pixel 4a should reach the hands of consumers who pre-ordered the phone next week, so there shouldn’t be any surprises left for us to discover. However, there was one small discovery that slipped under the radar until now: the existence of a new live wallpaper called “Eclipse.”

Google Pixel 4a Forums

This live wallpaper was first discovered by Droid-Life earlier this week, and it comes as part of the “Come Alive” section in the Google Wallpapers app. The description of “Eclipse” reads as follows: “Watch the colors ebb and flow as your battery life changes.” “Eclipse” is a pretty simple live wallpaper that shows a blue or purple tint slowly fade from the top of the screen to the bottom as the battery level of the phone decreases. The blue tint is shown when the phone’s system-wide theme is set to “Light,” while the purple tint is shown when the phone’s system-wide theme is set to “Dark.”

Here are two screenshots showing the purple versus blue tints of the “Eclipse” live wallpaper:

Thanks to XDA Recognized Developer Pranav Pandey, I installed the Google Pixel 4a’s “Eclipse” live wallpaper on my ASUS ROG Phone 3. Pranav Pandey is the developer responsible for porting the live wallpapers from the Pixel 2, Pixel 3, and Pixel 4, so it’s no surprise to see him return to port the newly discovered Pixel 4a live wallpaper.

Here are Pranav Pandey’s release notes for this live wallpaper port:

Features

• Android 7.0+ support by removing the Wallpaper Colors API introduced in Android 8.1 (API 27). Due to this, System UI color will not change according to the live wallpaper on the supported devices. Please download the separate 8.1+ APK with all the functionality.
• No special arm64 dependency so, I think it should work on most of the devices.
• I found that some features (and a new wallpaper) are under development. I will try to investigate further after future updates.
• Ambient Mode was disabled by default within the APK. So, I think it will not work on Always On display.
• Tested on Xperia Z5 Android 7.1 (API 25).

You can download the Eclipse live wallpaper from the links below. Visit Pranav Pandey’s forum thread on XDA to follow his latest development efforts or to ask questions about this port.

Download Google Pixel 4a Eclipse Live Wallpaper (Ported by Pranav Pandey): For Android 7.0-7.1 ||| For Android 8.0+ ||| Still Images

Wallpapers (Free, Google Play) →

Bonus

Pranav Pandey discovered that Google was working on another live wallpaper for the Pixel 4a called “Pulley.” However, it seems that the Pulley live wallpaper isn’t fully implemented yet as there aren’t any Services or Dex files associated with it. Nonetheless, he has extracted the stills from this unimplemented live wallpaper that you can apply on any device. A preview of the two Pulley wallpaper stills can be found below; to download them in their original quality, click the “Still Images” link from above.

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Launch Your Career as a Web Developer and Master JavaScript With This Huge 69-Hour Training Bundle

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