Google is using anonymized location data to highlight how well people are following stay-at-home orders and coronavirus social-distancing guidelines, releasing new reports that rate Community Mobility. The system taps the same tracking tools Google has used to show things like popular store hours, based on things like smartphone location.
Developer Preview build 2.1 for Android 11 was released this afternoon by Google for the masses. This new update was officially released on April 2nd, 2020, and is build RPP2.200227.014, with Google Play Services 20.06.15 and x86 (32/64-bit) emulator support. This is a relatively minor update to the otherwise most-recent release for developers, that being Android 11 Developer Preview 2, released March 18, 2020.
The Internet has never become more critical than it has been until these past weeks. Social distancing has forced many interactions and activities to be moved online. Naturally, that means using up more data than you normally would have in a given period. Normally, that leads to higher fees or slower speeds when you hit data caps. Following the lead of major US carriers, Google Fi is now announcing its own changes to its policies, including increasing limits but only temporarily.
Huawei may be blocked from using the full version of Android with all Google's services, but that isn't stopping the Chinese tech behemoth from hoping key Google apps phone-buyers expect will get added to its own download store. Speaking this week, Huawei execs talked about potential workarounds to the issues that are increasingly marginalizing its Android devices outside of China, while also warning that things could get nasty should Trump opt to escalate the blockade.
A leak of a single piece of plastic today tells a story of the future of Samsung's future top-tier smartphone lineup. This single piece of plastic shows the most significant elements of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20, both front and back. We can glean that this device has a rectangular backside camera array with rounded corners - this indicates the path Samsung will take with consideration for their most recently released Samsung Galaxy S20 lineup.
The video chat system Zoom wasn't prepared for the popularity it's facing here in the spring of 2020. Much like a startup group attempting to create a new product with a crowdfunding campaign, Zoom is finding that their own popularity might be more than they can handle. Issues begin with the simple nature of the group chat, and the ease with which one can join.
At the dawn of pandemic here in the year 2020, Niantic enacted changes to their GPS-centric games, starting with Pokemon GO. COVID-19 quarantine could have ended the reign of the most popular location-based game in the world - but instead, Niantic turned a nightmare into an opportunity. They're still working with augmented reality, and they still encourage you to get up and walk around - but they don't require that you leave the safety of your own home. Several key changes to the Pokemon GO app allowed Niantic to have their most profitable week of the year 2020 thus far.
For the past few weeks, the world has become more reliant on the Internet, both for play and especially for work. The latter is why many software and platform developers have been adjusting their features and even their policies to account for the sudden change in work habits. Unsurprisingly, Google is making some changes to its G Suite platform, suspending its earlier move to cut off the access of what it considers "Less Secure Apps".
Smartphones come and go but more often than not you can expect them to be available for more than a year. That's not the case with Google's Pixel phones, however, as these seem to have a shelf life of one year, at least as far as Google's own store goes. Just like its predecessor, the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have now disappeared from there, clearing the market for the Pixel 4 and perhaps even an upcoming Pixel 4a.
Stadia just got a big boost for web browsers - just so long as you're using Chrome, of course. This week the streaming video game platform Stadia was boosted to 4K in web browsers, and the rest of the necessary graphics power and hardware. Those requirements include - for starters - a proper internet connection speed.
![LG G series phone line ended, what’s next? [UPDATE: LG statement]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/oldtaewg-1280x720.jpg)
Notes from LG this week suggested they're switching gears when it comes to smartphones in 2020 and beyond. Where they've been pushing a headline "G" brand series for the past 8 years, they'll fold two lines into one. Instead of releasing a "G" and a "V" each year, they'll just release a "V"... but they'll also have a new phone. So will anything really change?
Last week we reported on a strike being organized by the Gig Workers Collective with Instacart Shoppers. Over the weekend, Instacart indicated they'd be updating health and safety measures. Instacart did not reply directly to the strike announcement, but the timing of their announcement would seem to be done in order to avoid the strike - at least in part. Unfortunate for the Instacart business, their response was not enough to quell the demands of the Gig Workers Collective and/or Instacart Shoppers, and the strike is still on.