Technology - Google News

Samsung opens Android 10 One UI beta ahead of final launch - TechCrunch
Google Pixel 4 event: all of the rumors, news, and announcements - The Verge
‘Fortnite’ Goes Dark: A Masterful Marketing Stroke by Epic Games - Variety

Samsung opens Android 10 One UI beta ahead of final launch - TechCrunch

Posted: 14 Oct 2019 08:00 AM PDT

After pushing back a planned early-October launch, Samsung has introduced the Android 10 beta of its One UI. The 2.0 version of the Android skin follows a little under a year after the first version's beta (released in November 2018). The concept goes counter to the earliest Android overlays, instead intending to create a simpler take on Google's operating system.

Manufacturers' long standing instance on putting their own stamp on Android is understandable — if sometimes misguided. Samsung's initial stated intention for One UI is to let software and hardware, "work together in perfect harmony," to paraphrase Stevie Wonder.

Samsung One UI Beta Program Cat S10 full screen

One UI is largely a success on these fronts. And Samsung is understandably cautious about the roll out, opting again for a public beta version, ahead its Android 10 release. "Select" Galaxy S10 owners in the U.S. can sign up for the program starting today, with a final release "in the coming months." There are a lot of Galaxy phones out there, so the company clearly wants to get the experience right, gathering up user feedback in the process.

Here's what's new, per Samsung,

A new, smarter layout with animated icons and improved edge lighting
An enhanced Dark Mode that reduces display brightness while viewing content and provides battery saving benefits
Minimized pop-ups, embedded loading indicators and the ability to only view buttons the user needs
A streamlined design where notifications take up less space, allowing users to stay up to date while focusing on the task at hand
Focus Mode to pause apps temporarily for times when you need to minimize distractions

More info on Samsung's blog.

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Google Pixel 4 event: all of the rumors, news, and announcements - The Verge

Posted: 14 Oct 2019 06:33 AM PDT

What is there to say about Google's 2019 hardware that hasn't already leaked? It's hard to say for sure until the big event, which starts at 10AM ET on Tuesday, October 15th. We'll be live at the event with the latest, and the Pixel 4 will likely be the main focus.

Here's what that massive supply of leaks has told us so far: the Pixel 4 will be announced, alongside a larger Pixel 4 XL. Both will have 90Hz refresh rate displays, which will make everything you do on the screen look more fluid. Also, Soli radar will be built into the phones, bringing Google's long-in-development gesture tech to fruition once and for all. This will allow you to execute certain commands by waving your hand over the phone. We expect Google to dive into more detail surrounding that feature, as it's something that other phones don't have.

There could be a load of other announcements. In fact, we're expecting a new Pixelbook, possibly some new Pixel Buds headphones, Nest products, and more. The Verge's Jay Peters has everything we expect to see all in one place.

Below, you'll find everything we know, a staggering mix of news, rumors, and more.

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‘Fortnite’ Goes Dark: A Masterful Marketing Stroke by Epic Games - Variety

Posted: 14 Oct 2019 06:38 AM PDT

On Sunday, "Fortnite" — the most popular game on Earth right now — without warning, imploded into darkness.

At around 2 p.m. ET on Oct. 13, a meteor in Season 10 of "Fortnite" that had been biding its time set off a cataclysmic chain reaction that sucked up everything on the the island and eventually wiped out the entire map.

Publisher Epic Games, exhibiting supreme marketing sangfroid, left millions of fans wondering what the hell had just happened. Epic had told players that Sunday's "Fortnite" event was "The End" — and it made good on that promise, literally, as far as Season 10 (dubbed "Out of Time") goes.

The official "Fortnite" account on Twitter offered no explanation for the wipeout. Instead, it pinned a tweet showing a live video feed of the black hole, accompanied by a space-age-y soundtrack. All of the account's previous posts on Twitter were deleted and its icon turned black:

The "Fortnite" website also shows nothing but a live Twitch feed of the swirling black hole (with more than 57,000 viewers watching it on Monday morning as of around 9:30 a.m. ET). The game's Instagram account posted blank black images and video of the black hole following Sunday's event (although prior posts were not deleted).

Usually, when games or other internet services abruptly wink offline, mass hysteria ensues as users or players frantically try to understand what happened and when things will be back to normal. Epic Games turned this phenomenon on its head by deliberately shutting down "Fortnite."

In an era of always-on connectivity, the "Fortnite" blackout creates a sense of artificial scarcity. The baller move by Epic Games ensured that the event would become a blazing-hot trending topic on social-media — generating the kind of buzz and anticipation of a major movie release or product reveal. To be sure, others have engaged in such nuclear-option marketing tactics, such as when Taylor Swift in 2017 wiped out her social accounts ahead of her sixth studio album, "Reputation."

"Fortnite" aficionados immediately began speculating about what the end of the game's current universe means for Season 11. Even celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson joined the convo, writing in a tweet: "Did your Fortnite game suck you & everything else into a black hole? Can't help you there. But death-by-black-hole is a thing, and there might even be an entire universe on the other side."

What's next for "Fortnite"? As the old joke goes: "How do you keep an idiot in suspense?" Answer: "I'll tell you tomorrow."

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