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The Pixel 4 is now but a memory, having formally and officially vanished from Google's store. And that's barely a year after it launched and without a new high-end flagship to take its place. Of course, the Pixel 5 is coming, no doubt about that, but the question has always been when. It seems that there will at least be a two-month gap when Google won't formally have a premium Pixel phone if its own accidental revelation of the Pixel 5 pre-order date is to be considered.

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This morning Blizzard released the latest expansion for the digital collectable card game Hearthstone. This latest expansion goes by the name Scholomance Academy, and it includes 135 new cards in total. With the launch of this set, gamers are able to claim a couple of free packs of cards after they play 25 cards in Play mode.

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Google has discontinued the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, taking the unexpected step of calling time on its Android flagship phones less than 10 months after they were released. The surprise decision comes only days after Google officially announced the upcoming Pixel 5, its new flagship that will include 5G for the first time, though that won't be released until later in the year.

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The end for Google Play Music, one of the few remaining "Play" services, is just around the corner. It has been months, maybe even years, coming but it hasn't been a smooth transition. YouTube Music, which is set to replace is it, still isn't on feature parity with Play Music and only recently got the ability to migrate albums from one to the other. When Google flips the switch in the coming weeks, however, it will be Wear OS smartwatch owners that will be left with the short end of the stick instead.

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Google is a company that arguably makes great software and services but its track record in hardware leaves much to be desired. That doesn't stop it from trying, though, as evidenced by both its Pixel phones as well as its smart speakers and displays, now under the Nest brand. In fact, it often dreams big, like Google Glass or even Google Wing, now both defunct projects, as it experiments with different devices and experiences revolving around its core businesses. Apparently, that also includes a foldable Pixel phone that may still happen at some undetermined point in the future.

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You can almost do anything on smartphones these days, especially if you connect a large display and peripherals. Even more so on tablets with their large screens and keyboard accessories. That said, there are still many things you can't do on a phone, or at least can't do comfortably on such a small screen. One of the biggest culprits there is productivity or office suites that are designed by nature to be used on larger devices. But with the world moving towards a more remote and more mobile reality, Google is updating its G Suite to make the experience less painful on phones.

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There are many facets to fighting the COVID-19 coronavirus but when it comes to stemming its infection, the most basic strategy is also the most difficult. Contact tracing relies mostly on people remembering who they've been in contact with or where they've been, an arduous and inaccurate task at best. That is why many are turning to technology to help automate some parts of that process and the State of Virginia is the first in the US to release an app that utilizes the exposure notification technology co-developed by Apple and Google just a few months back.

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The first months of the year saw workers and offices thrown into chaos trying to adjust to new work from home and remote work arrangements. Now it's almost time for schools to experience that same transition, hopefully a little less jarring thanks to months of preparation and planning. Systems and products are now in place that can help bring order to what would otherwise be chaos as kids start schooling from home and Google Assistant is right there at your beck and call, quite literally, too!

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Google wasn't initially fond of the idea of having a file manager on Android, seemingly inspired by the locked-down strategy used by Apple on iOS. To its credit, it didn't prevent others from developing third-party file manager apps even if it tried harder to keep aberrant apps from accessing files. Suddenly, Google released Files, initially for Android Go devices, which saw an explosion of users, perhaps to Google's surprise. Now Google is pushing the Files app forward by providing a long-awaited feature, the ability to put some files and folders under lock and key.

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Ever since YouTube Music became Google's primarily music streaming service, we knew Google Play Music wasn't long for this world. Today, after years of the two services coexisting, Google gave us a better idea of when Google Play Music will be shutting down. The big G says that YouTube Music will be replacing Google Play Music by December 2020, so if you're one of the remaining Google Play holdouts, you might want to begin the process of transferring your music library.

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Android is finally getting its own version of Apple's AirDrop, with Google rolling out Nearby Share from today. Compatible with Android 6.0+ devices, Nearby Share promises much smoother file, link, and content exchanges between phones and tablets, just as long as the two devices are in fairly close proximity.

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We are living in an increasingly online and mobile world but even if we are able to buy our foods and supplies online, sooner or later all of us will have to make our way to a bank for some face to face transactions. Given today's global situation, however, that has also become increasingly risky and people have started looking into online and digital banking solutions. Presuming we make it that far, Google Pay will be offering one such alternative next year.

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