Technology - Google News

Inventor of cassette tapes passes away, looking back at the art of making mixed tapes - KARE 11
Google welcomes third-party developers' Tiles to Wear OS - Engadget
Apple kills off original HomePod, will focus on $99 HomePod Mini - CNET

Inventor of cassette tapes passes away, looking back at the art of making mixed tapes - KARE 11

Posted: 12 Mar 2021 05:41 PM PST

Google welcomes third-party developers' Tiles to Wear OS - Engadget

Posted: 12 Mar 2021 08:54 PM PST

Google introduced swipeable Tiles for Wear OS back in 2019 as a way to offer information, such as the weather or a user's fitness info, on a quick-access interface. The Tiles users can add to their smartwatches are pretty limited, though, and all of them are first-party offerings from Google or from their device's manufacturer. That's bound to change in the near future, because the tech giant has announced that the Jetpack Tiles library, which third-party developers can use to create custom Wear OS Tiles, is in alpha.

The fate of Google's Wear OS has been hanging in the balance for a while now. It hasn't gotten a new version in years, and some believe that the tech giant's Fitbit acquisition could spell death for the platform. Regardless, Wear OS is still around, and Google has been rolling out small updates for it. Back in November, for instance, it added three new Tile options for those who want a shortcut to recent workouts, to weather information and to guided breathing sessions. The company says it will also roll out an update this spring that would give users access to any third-party Tiles that gets developed for the OS.

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Apple kills off original HomePod, will focus on $99 HomePod Mini - CNET

Posted: 13 Mar 2021 05:15 AM PST

apple-homepod-mini-1 — The HomePod mini next to the original HomePod.
Chris Monroe/CNET

Apple said on Friday that it's axed its original HomePod, and will turn its attention to the smaller version of its smart home assistant, the HomePod Mini.

"We are discontinuing the original HomePod, it will continue to be available while supplies last through the Apple Online Store, Apple Retail Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers," Apple said in a statement, earlier reported by TechCrunch. "We are focusing our efforts on HomePod mini."

Apple will continue providing existing HomePods with software updates and support through Apple Care, the company said.

The HomePod Mini was launched in November last year, costing $99 in comparison with the $300 HomePod original. When it was released in 2018, CNET reviewer Megan Wollerton praised its "stellar" sound, but said it didn't offer as many features as competing speakers powered by Amazon's Alexa and Google's Assistant. "If you and everyone else you live with has an Apple device and you're sold on having an Apple smart home, the HomePod is worth a close look," she wrote at the time.

The HomePod Mini earned similarly strong praise from CNET reviewer Molly Price for its sound when it released in 2020, with a note that the lower price made it much more attractive. "The HomePod Mini is as on-par as Apple wants to make it with Google and Amazon's offerings, and I'd recommend it to anyone invested in the Apple universe," she wrote.

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