Technology - Google News

Google deserts desserts: Android 10 is the official name for Android Q - The Verge
Your Apple Card Shouldn't Be Stored With Denim or Leather - HYPEBEAST
Apple Is Launching New iPhones, iPads and Macs. Here’s What to Expect - Fortune

Google deserts desserts: Android 10 is the official name for Android Q - The Verge

Posted: 22 Aug 2019 06:00 AM PDT

Google has officially named the next version of Android, which is due to be released this fall: Android 10. Breaking the 10-year history of naming releases after desserts, the company is bailing on providing a codename beginning with a subsequent letter of the alphabet (in this case, Q), which is the way we've been referring to Android up to now. This year is Android 10, next year will be Android 11, and so on.

After a quarter of quiet, the quintessence of Android's brand has quickly changed without quarrel, resolving a quandary and quitting the quixotic quest to pull a Q dessert out of the quiver. Google won't quaver on the decision to move away from desserts, which answers a quadrillion querulous questions about the names. Google has decided it is a quaint tradition that needed to be quite quashed — or at least quelled. Instead, the codename will be quarantined inside Google, so I have qualms and feel queasy about the quantity of quips that will queue up quoting the Android source code in an attempt to quibble that the dessert names still qualify as real. It all seems like a quagmire, but at least qualitatively, the new naming scheme is less quirky.

Alongside the new name is an updated logo for Android, one that Aude Gandon, global brand director for Android, says has a "more modern" wordmark. Importantly, it will always include the little green robot. "The robot is what makes Android special. It makes it human, fun, and approachable," Gandon says.

Here's the new logo, on the right of the image slider:

Going with a new naming scheme for the 10th version of Android makes a bit of sense; it's a landmark release. Still, given how difficult it is to put a common dessert to the letter Q, I noted to Google's Sameer Samat, VP of product management for Android, that it was awfully convenient that Google picked this release to switch up the naming scheme.

"We're going to deal with that skepticism," he says. Google's actual reason for switching the naming, he says, isn't that Q is hard, but rather that desserts aren't very inclusive. "We have some good names, but in each and every case they leave a part of the world out," he argues. Android is a global brand, used by more people in India and Brazil than in the US, so going with an English word for the dessert leaves some regions out.

Pie isn't always a dessert, "lollipop" can be hard to pronounce in some regions, and "marshmallows aren't really a thing in a lot of places," Samat says. Numbers, at least, are universal.

Google will still make the traditional Android statue of the robot, but it'll be of the number 10 instead of a dessert.

As for the new wordmark and logo, to my eye, it looks like the latest example in a long line of companies taking quirky wordmarks and turning them into blandified brands. It's definitely been a trend in the past couple of years.

Gandon says that the changes were important to make the wordmark more accessible and readable — especially on smaller screens. "In all honesty, when we did the acid test of doing it in really small spaces [like a screen or phone boxes], the current lettering was really a challenge," she says. Most importantly, the wordmark is no longer green; it's black, which makes it much more readable in more contexts.

The other thing Gandon's team did was change the robot subtly by moving its eyes down and tweaking its antennae. More importantly, they pulled some yellow tinge out of the green to make it more readable and also added some secondary colors to Android's overall brand palette to help with accessibility.

Going forward, Android will be represented by more than "green and gray," Gandon says. Only one of those new secondary colors is also one of Google's primary colors — the blue. It was important that Google found a palette that wasn't too tied to the company but also wouldn't hew too closely to anything its major Android partners use.

As for what the Q in Android Q actually stands for, Google will never publicly say. However, Samat did hint that it came up in our conversation about the new naming scheme. A lot of Qs were tossed around, but my money is on Quince. While the official name of Android will just be Android 10, that isn't stopping the Android team from creating internal codenames in alphabetical order. Samat tells me that Google's engineers have already chosen the word they'll use internally for Android R.

Would anyone like some Rabri?

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Your Apple Card Shouldn't Be Stored With Denim or Leather - HYPEBEAST

Posted: 22 Aug 2019 01:37 AM PDT

With the Apple Card now available to US customers, Apple has released details about how the titanium card should be cleaned. According to the instructions for protecting and maintaining the card, the Apple Card should not come into contact with leather or denim — which could make jeans and most wallets off-limits — due to potential permanent discoloration that will be impossible to wash off.

Additionally, Apple has recommended that the card is not stored touching another credit card, loose change, keys or other potentially abrasive items in case of scratches. The card should also not be placed near magnets in case its magnetic strip becomes demagnetized.

In terms of cleaning the card, Apple recommends using a soft, slightly damp, lint-free microfiber cloth, or a microfiber cloth that has been moistened with isopropyl alcohol.

In other tech news, take a look at the seven best wireless earbuds available now.

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Apple Is Launching New iPhones, iPads and Macs. Here’s What to Expect - Fortune

Posted: 22 Aug 2019 05:36 AM PDT

Apple Inc. is readying a clutch of new hardware for the coming weeks and months, including "Pro" iPhones, upgrades to iPads and its largest laptop in years.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant is planning to announce three new iPhones at an event next month, according to people familiar with the situation. The handsets will likely go on sale in September, contributing to fiscal fourth-quarter sales. But the real test will come in the crucial holiday season. That's when the company is banking on a combination of new hardware, software and services to drive revenue higher, following a huge miss at the end of last year.

Also coming in 2019: refreshed versions of the iPad Pro with upgraded cameras and faster chips, an entry-level iPad with a larger screen, new versions of the Apple Watch, and the first revamp to the MacBook Pro laptop in three years, the people said. Updates to key audio accessories, including AirPods and the HomePod speaker, are in the works, too, these people added. They asked not to be identified discussing private plans. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Beyond these unannounced products, Apple is gearing up to launch a refreshed Mac Pro and its accompanying monitor, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, and Apple Watch software updates, as well as its Apple TV+ video and Apple Arcade gaming subscription services.

Here's what to expect:

iPhone:

Apple is planning to launch three new iPhones, as it has done each year since 2017: "Pro" iPhone models to succeed the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max as well as a successor to the iPhone XR.
The main feature of the Pro iPhones will be a new camera system on the back with a third sensor for capturing ultra-wide-angle photos and videos. The extra camera will let users zoom out and capture a larger field of view. The sensors will capture three images simultaneously and use new artificial intelligence software to automatically correct the combined photo if, for example, a person is accidentally cut out of one of the shots. The new system will also take higher resolution pictures rivaling some traditional cameras. Photos taken in very low-light environments will improve, too.
The high-end handsets will have significantly upgraded video recording capabilities, getting them closer to professional video cameras. Apple has developed a feature that allow users to retouch, apply effects, alter colors, reframe and crop video as it is being recorded live on the device.
Another notable new feature: A reverse wireless charging system so that a user can power-up the latest AirPods in the optional wireless-charging case by leaving it on the back of the new Pro phones. This is similar to a capability that Samsung Electronics Co. rolled out for its Galaxy handsets earlier this year.
The high-end iPhones will look nearly identical to the current models from the front and feature the same size screens, but at least some colors on the back will have a matte finish versus the existing glossy look. The new models should hold up better when they're dropped due to new shatter-resistance technology.
The phones will include a new multi-angle Face ID sensor that captures a wider field of view so that users can unlock the handsets more easily – even when the devices are flat on a table.
Apple has dramatically enhanced water resistance for the new models, which could allow them to be submerged under water far longer than the 30-minute rating on the current iPhones.
The new models will have updated OLED screens that lack the pressure-sensitive 3D Touch technology. Apple is replacing this with Haptic Touch, which essentially mirrors 3D Touch's functionality with a long press, as it did with the iPhone XR last year.
The iPhone XR's successor will gain a second back camera for optical zoom, the ability to zoom in further without degrading quality, and enhanced portrait mode. Apple is also adding a new green version.
All of the new iPhones will have faster A13 processors. There's a new component in the chip, known internally as the "AMX" or "matrix" co-processor, to handle some math-heavy tasks, so the main chip doesn't have to. That may help with computer vision and augmented reality, which Apple is pushing a core feature of its mobile devices.
None of the new models will include 5G, but next year's will. They'll also have rear-facing 3-D cameras that will boost augmented reality capabilities.

iPad:

After launching new mid-tier iPad Air and iPad mini models earlier this year, Apple is planning to refresh the iPad Pro and its low-end iPad for schools.
The 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros will get similar upgrades to the iPhones, gaining upgraded cameras and faster processors. Otherwise, the new iPads will look like the current versions.
The low-end iPad's screen will be 10.2-inches. That means Apple will likely no longer sell a new model with a 9.7-inch display, discontinuing the original display size after using it for nearly a decade.

Apple Watch, AirPods, and HomePod:

After revamping the Apple Watch last year with a new design and bigger screens, this year's changes will be more muted, focusing on the watchOS 6 software update, and new case finishes. References to new ceramic and titanium models have been found in an early version of iOS 13, Apple's latest mobile operating system.
Apple is working on new AirPods that are likely to be more expensive than the current $159 model. New features will include water resistance and noise cancellation with a launch planned by next year. Apple introduced a new version of the entry-level AirPods in March with hands-free Siri support and longer battery life.
Apple is also working on a cheaper HomePod for as early as next year. The current $300 model hasn't sold very well. The new model is likely to have two tweeters (a type of loudspeaker), down from seven in the current HomePod.

Mac:

Apple is planning a revamped MacBook Pro with a screen over 16-inches diagonally. The bezels on the new laptop will be slimmer so the overall size of the laptop will be close to the current 15-inch models.
The new laptop would mark Apple's largest since the 17-inch MacBook Pro was discontinued in 2012. It's part of an effort by Apple to retain and woo professional computer users.
Apple is also launching the previously announced Mac Pro and 32-inch XDR Pro Display later this year.
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