Chrome OS is apparently getting Google Calendar integration

If you use Chrome OS after being familiar with Windows, you may notice that, currently, there’s no quick way to see your calendar. While Chrome OS has a similar system tray to Windows, the bottom-right corner only shows you the time, not the current date. A few months ago, hints that Google was working on a calendar widget for Chrome OS started to appear, and now those hints are getting clearer.

Based on recent changes in the Chromium Gerrit, spotted by 9to5Google, Google is working on a new calendar widget for Chrome OS, complete with Google Calendar integration. The widget will live next in the system tray, where the current time is also shown. You’ll apparently be able to open the calendar widget from the quick actions panel, but there’s also a keyboard shortcut associated with it: Alt + Shift + C.

This is all associated with a Chrome flag called Productivity experiment: Monthly Calendar View. You can find this flag by going to chrome://flags, and the description reads as follows:

Show Monthly Calendar View with Google Calendar events to increase productivity by helping users view their schedules more quickly.

#calendar-view

As described in the flag, the Google Calendar integration means you can see your upcoming events much more easily, which is probably why this is labeled as a productivity experiment. Being able to plan for upcoming meetings is certainly a useful feature, and it’s good to see that it’s being added to Chrome OS. Over on Windows, Microsoft also offers integration with the Calendar app for a similar purpose.

Since it’s an experiment, it’s not guaranteed that the flag will result in this feature being added anytime soon – or at all -though it wouldn’t make much sense for it to be scrapped. The flag is set to expire with Chrome OS version 103, which is still a ways off. The current stable release of Chrome OS is version 92, and new versions are released every month or so. The finalized feature could show up anytime between now and then.

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OnePlus releases kernel sources for the OnePlus Nord 2 and Nord 200

Last month, OnePlus unveiled the Nord 2, the company’s latest affordable flagship contender that offers powerful hardware and a premium design at a competitive price. Powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 1200 chipset, the OnePlus Nord 2 is the first OnePlus phone to feature a MediaTek chip. OnePlus is pretty swift when it comes to releasing and keeping the kernel sources up-to-date. It’s also on pretty good terms with the aftermarket community. But since the OnePlus Nord 2 comes with a MediaTek chip, many were wondering whether the company will be able to maintain the same supportive stance regarding aftermarket developments.

OnePlus Nord 2 First Impressions: Does the Dimensity gamble pay off?

This sentiment was further fueled by the fact that the OnePlus Nord 2 runs the new version of OxygenOS based on the integrated OxygenOS and ColorOS codebase. OnePlus has already clarified it will let users unlock the bootloader on the Nord 2. And now, with the release of kernel source code, OnePlus is making it clear it intends to remain on good terms with the aftermarket Android community.

OnePlus has released the kernel source code for the OnePlus Nord 2, making it easier for developers and modders to build stable custom ROMs, kernels, and more. You can review/download the kernel source code at OnePlus’s GitHub repository at the linked page below.

OnePlus Nord 2 Kernel Sources

It’s worth noting that every Android smartphone maker is bound by the General Public Licence v2 (GPLv2) to publicly release the part of the Linux kernel code they shipped on their Android devices.

Alongside the OnePlus Nord 2, OnePlus has also released the kernel source code for the OnePlus Nord 200 that launched in June. If you’re a developer interested in developing for the Nord 200, you can review or download the code from OnePlus’s GitHub repo linked below.

OnePlus Nord N200 Kernel Sources

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Google may soon bundle Play Pass with your Google One subscription

Google appears to be working on a new bundle that gives you access to Google One cloud storage and Google Play Pass with a single subscription. The bundle will be cheaper than if you subscribed to a Google One plan and Play Pass separately. For starters, Google Play Pass is a subscription service that offers apps and games without ads or in-app purchases for a fixed monthly/yearly fee. Meanwhile, Google One is a paid cloud service and includes perks like a VPN, premium photo editing features, and support from Google experts.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

Google One 1.109.387196819 recently rolled out on the Google Play Store, and it contains some new strings hinting at a bundle that combines Google One and Play Pass into a unified subscription.

<string name="play_pass_details_header_description">"Bundle two popular Google services into one simple subscription. %1$s. &lt;br/> &lt;br/>Just as sweet, you can share with up to 5 other people. Your subscription will auto-renew, and it's easy to cancel anytime."</string>
<string name="play_pass_details_pass_description">"Play Pass offers hundreds of titles - from games that help you unwind to apps that power productivity. You'll also find a curated collection of family-friendly titles."</string>
<string name="play_pass_details_storage_description">Get %1$s of storage for Photos, Drive, Gmail, and phone backup. Also enjoy extra Photos editing features, support from Google experts, and special offers.</string>

The bundle will offer 100GB of Google One cloud storage and the Play Pass subscription. However, users will be able to upgrade to the 200GB or 2TB bundle from Google One settings at a discounted price. You can’t go higher than 2TB though. If you want to subscribe to a 10TB, 20TB, or 30TB plan, you’ll need to first cancel your bundle and then separately subscribe to a Google One plan at a regular price.

<string name="faq_description_play_pass_higher_storage">"Yes - after subscribing to the 100 GB bundle, you can upgrade to the 200 GB or 2 TB bundle. You'll see the option to upgrade in Google One settings. &lt;br/> &lt;br/>If you upgrade, you will continue to receive %1$s%% off your bundle.</string>
<string name="play_pass_get_more_title">Get more from Google - for less</string>
<string name="play_pass_higher_storage">"To get more than 2 TB, you'll need to cancel your bundle, then subscribe to a separate Google One plan with 10 TB, 20 TB, or 30 TB"</string>
<string name="play_pass_included">Play Pass included</string>
<string name="play_pass_member_savings_title">Add Play Pass to your plan and save %1$s%%</string>
<string name="play_pass_puzzles_and_more">Puzzles, podcasts, and more with Play Pass</string>
<string name="play_pass_savings_title">Bundle Google One &amp; Play Pass and save %1$s%%</string>

Google hasn’t yet announced the new Google One + Play Pass bundle. We’ll let you know once it goes live for users.

Google One (Free⁺, Google Play) →

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Dreame Bot Z10 Pro vs iRobot i7+: Which Robot Vacuum to Buy?

A good vacuum cleaner is an essential part of a house or office. It’s normal for dust and dirt to accumulate on the floor or carpets and a vacuum can help you clean it. While you can opt for a more traditional handheld vacuum, that involves manual labor. You’ll have to go around your house cleaning every portion manually which can get tiring and cumbersome. The best solution to this problem is a robot vacuum.

A robot vacuum can automatically go all over your house and clean the floor by mapping out the entire surface. You don’t have to control or operate anything manually since everything is done either using a companion app or through voice instructions. It’s one of the most convenient ways to clean the floor. What takes this convenience to the next level is a self-emptying vacuum. While traditional robot vacuums need to have their dirtbags emptied after every few sessions, self-emptying ones automatically dump all the dirt into a container.

The Dreame Bot Z10 Pro is one such product. It’s a self-emptying 2-in-1 smart vacuum with some great features competing against the Roomba i7+ from iRobot. Let’s compare the two and tell you which one you should buy and why. If you’re looking for a handheld cordless vacuum, we have recommendations for that too.

Auto-empty Base

As both these vacuums have the self-emptying feature, they have a base with a built-in dust bag that’s used to empty all the dust after cleaning. There are also some differences here between both vacuums.

For starters, the capacity of the dust bag on the Dreame Bot Z10 Pro is higher than that on the iRobot i7+. The Dreame has a capacity of 4L whereas the Roomba one has a capacity of 2.5L. In practical usage, this translates to about 65 days of dust collection on the Dreame Z10 Pro and about 45 days on the Roomba i7+. The base on the Dreame also has dual inlets for air-blowing and sucking whereas the iRobot i7+ only has a single inlet.

Mapping Technology

Both the Dreame Z10 Pro and iRobot i7+ make virtual maps of the surroundings before beginning to clean. This helps the vacuum decide which areas of the house it should clean and all the possible areas it can fit into and clean seamlessly. Users can also select a specific part of the map if only that area requires cleaning or if it needs to be excluded. While the mapping process takes place on both vacuums, the way the two of them map and navigate around is different.

The Dreame Bot Z10 Pro uses something known as LDS technology that makes use of LiDAR to navigate. This is superior as well as more accurate compared to the VSLAM technology used on the iRobot i7+. VSLAM uses cameras instead of lasers or LiDAR which results in lower accuracy while mapping and navigating. What this means to the end-user is the Dreame Z10 Pro can more accurately determine the area to cover in your house. The Dreame also offers multi-floor mapping which is absent on the Roomba.

Obstacle Avoidance

This is another important aspect of any robot vacuum. There are obstacles like furniture, walls, pillars, etc. throughout the house, and these need to be avoided during cleaning. The Dreame Bot Z10 Pro uses infrared, 3D structured light, and mechanical anti-collision techniques to avoid obstacles on the floor. The iRobot i7+, on the other hand, only uses infrared and mechanical anti-collision which means even in this regard, the Dreame Z10 Pro is more accurate thanks to superior tech.

Cleaning Process

The main purpose of a robot vacuum is to clean the floor and this is one of the major factors that should influence your buying decision. Both the Dreame Bot Z10 Pro as well as the iRobot i7+ can clean multiple surfaces like a tiled floor or a carpeted floor. However, the Dreame Z10 Pro has a special Carpet Boost mode that can remove even finer particles from carpets, something the Roomba iRobot i7+ can’t do.

Not just that, the main differentiating factor between the cleaning process of both these vacuums is the fact the Dreame Bot Z10 Pro is a 2-in-1 which means it can both vacuum as well as mop the floor. The Roomba iRobot i7+, on the other hand, can only vacuum and you’ll need to purchase a separate machine for mopping which is both inconvenient as well as expensive. If you have a tiled floor, mopping is an important aspect and the Dreame Z10 Pro has you covered in that department too.

Suction Power

Another important aspect of cleaning is the power with which a vacuum sucks in dust and dirt. A higher suction power often means more dirt can be cleaned by a vacuum compared to one with lower suction power. It can also mean larger particles of dust can also be easily picked up with higher suction power.

In this aspect as well, the Dreame Bot Z10 Pro is miles ahead of the iRobot i7+. The Dreame has a peak suction power of 4,000Pa which is more than twice the 1,700Pa suction power of the iRobot i7+.

Run Time

Robot vacuums run on battery power and need to be charged every few hours at the docking station. Needless to say, the higher the battery power, the higher the duration for which the vacuum can clean. The Dreame Bot Z10 Pro has a large 5,200mAh battery that can provide a run time of up to 150 minutes on a single charge which is great if you have a large house. The iRobot i7+ has half the run time of the Dreame at just 75 minutes. It should suffice for a relatively small house but it’ll probably have to charge itself midway if you plan to use it in a big area.

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Dreame Bot Z10 Pro vs iRobot i7+: Which Robot Vacuum Cleaner to prefer?

These were a few differences between the Dreame Bot Z10 Pro and the Roomba iRobot i7+. Clearly, the Dreame Z10 Pro has superior features and provides much better value than the iRobot i7+. From mapping to endurance and the fact that you can vacuum and mop on the Dreame makes the Bot Z10 Pro a better product especially if you have tiled flooring.

Dreame Bot Z10 Pro

The Dreame Bot Z10 Pro is an all-in-one vacuum that can self-empty its dirtbag for up to two months, making your life a lot easier. It has great suction power as well as good battery life.

View at Dreame

We thank Dreame for sponsoring XDA. Our sponsors help us pay for the many costs associated with running XDA, including server costs, full time developers, news writers, and much more.

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Xiaomi becomes the top smartphone brand globally despite having no US presence

Xiaomi is having one hell of a year. The company recently dethroned Samsung in the European market to become the best-selling smartphone brand in Q2 2021. And now, it has achieved the same status globally, even though it doesn’t operate in the US market.

According to a recent market study report from Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi is now the number one brand in global smartphone sales volumes. This is the first time the company has achieved this position, thanks to a 26% MoM growth in sales in June 2021. While it was the best-selling smartphone brand in June, Samsung still retains the top spot for Q2 2021 as a whole. Xiaomi took the second spot in the last quarter, with a 98% YoY growth and over 50 million units shipped.

Since its inception in 2011, Xiaomi has sold close to 800 million smartphones. The company now has a global smartphone revenue share of 9%. In comparison, Apple has a global smartphone revenue share of 41% and Samsung 15%.

Talking about the market dynamics that led to Xiaomi taking the top spot in June 2021, Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research, noted: “Ever since the decline of Huawei commenced, Xiaomi has been making consistent and aggressive efforts to fill the gap created by this decline. The OEM has been expanding in Huawei’s and Honor’s legacy markets like China, Europe, Middle East and Africa. In June, Xiaomi was further helped by China, Europe and India’s recovery and Samsung’s decline due to supply constraints.”

However, the report speculates that Samsung will likely retain its top spot once it recovers from the production issues that it’s facing in Vietnam. If its production doesn’t recover, Xiaomi will continue to gain market share in the coming months.

It’s worth noting that Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S21 series has also performed well below the company’s expectations. Recent reports suggest that the company held a special review meeting to address the poor sales and the supply chain issues.

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Samsung’s Galaxy S21 reportedly isn’t selling as well as they hoped

Samsung’s latest flagship lineup, the Galaxy S21 series, hasn’t performed as per the company’s expectations. Recent reports suggest that the company held a special review for its mobile business due to the lackluster Galaxy S21 sales. The news comes just days after we learned that Xiaomi overtook Samsung to become the #1 OEM in the European market.

According to The Elec, Samsung sold only 13.5 million units of the Galaxy S21 series in the first half of this year. In comparison, the company sold over 20 million units of the Galaxy S20 series during the same time last year and over 30 million units of older Galaxy S series phones the year before that. This, coupled with some supply chain management issues, prompted the company’s top management to hold a special review of its mobile unit.

Sources familiar with the proceedings suggest that Samsung’s lackluster 5G smartphone sales was also a reason behind the special review. The company was among the first to launch 5G smartphones back in 2019, but it has since fallen behind competitors in terms of market share. According to Strategy Analytics, Samsung ranked fourth in global 5G smartphone market share (12.5%), well behind Apple (29.8%), OPPO (15.8%), and Vivo (14.3%).

A separate report from Business Post further highlights how Samsung’s plans to launch the Galaxy S21 series a month early and price it cheaper than the Galaxy S20 series haven’t worked in favor of the company. Analysts speculate that consumer interest in the Galaxy S series has waned as other manufacturers have leveled up their products to a great extent. That’s to be expected, as flagship phones from Chinese OEMs like Xiaomi now offer much better value than Samsung’s flagship offerings. The Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, for instance, offers pretty much the same level of performance and features as the Galaxy S21 Ultra at a much more affordable price point.

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Pixel 5a reportedly launches soon at a lower price than the Pixel 4a 5G

Earlier this week, Google gave us an early look at the upcoming Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. Both phones will launch this fall and feature flagship hardware, including Google’s in-house Tensor SoC, powerful cameras, and a premium design. While Google hasn’t set a launch date in stone for the Pixel 6 series, it appears the more affordable Pixel 5a will likely precede the flagship series.

In late June, a report from Bloomberg revealed that Google was planning to launch the Pixel 5a sometime in August. Then last month, we saw three models of the Pixel 5a stopping by FCC, hinting at an imminent launch. Now Jon Prosser from Front Page Tech reports that Google has settled on August 26 as the launch date for the new Pixel A series. Prosser further reveals that the Pixel 5a will cost less than its predecessor, starting at $450 compared to $499. It will be available for purchase online as well as from the physical Google Stores. Lastly, the leaker says that the phone will pack a 4,650mAh battery, a big step up from Pixel 4a 5G’s 3,885mAh cell, 6GB of RAM and will be offered in a single “Mostly Black” colorway.

It’s worth noting that Google has already confirmed the Pixel 5a 5G would only launch in two markets: the US and Japan. However, that might change once the global shortage situation improves.

The Pixel 5a has been making rounds in various leaks for a while now, revealing its design and key specifications. As per previous reports, the Pixel 5a won’t be a drastic upgrade over its predecessor in terms of overall design and hardware. It will reportedly feature a 6.4-inch OLED 90Hz display. Under the hood, it’s said to feature the same Snapdragon 756G SoC found inside the Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5. We’re also told it will have the same camera as the Pixel 5 and IP67 water and dust protection.

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