AC News Weekly
Newsweekly is our column, where we highlight and summarize some of the week’s top stories so you can stay up-to-date on the latest tech news.
This is Android Central’s News Weekly, your source for a short roundup of the week’s most important tech stories. This is where we explore the top headlines that deliver the latest developments and innovations contributing to the digital landscape.
This week, Dbrand got a Twitter backlash, Oppo and OnePlus are getting Google’s AI models, Automattic announced it’s acquired Beeper, and Android 15 Beta brings archiving and talkback support. In addition, Google Photos brings its powerful AI editing tools to everyone for free.
Dbrand comes under fire.
Well that quickly grew.1. Yes – we joked about a boy’s name. It was a huge mess. 2. We apologized directly to him and offered him $10,000 as goodwill. We’ve been mocking consumers on social media for over a decade. We’re not going to stop but…10 April 2024
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Earlier this week, Dbrand, known for its device skins, was caught in a firestorm of controversy when it publicly apologized to a customer for making fun of a customer’s last name.
The company is known for being straightforward and fast online, but this time, they took it a little too far. The debacle began when Bhavna Chatrish contacted DeBrand on X about a MacBook skin he had purchased from the company that was showing signs of discoloration.
Dbrand’s original post on X included a scathing comment about the customer’s last name, which many users found racist and downright offensive. One user asked DeBrand to “put the same energy into the apology tweet,” to which the company replied, “No.”
However, after the tweet received more than 7 million views, Dbrand finally showed some remorse and posted an apology on Wednesday, April 10, acknowledging that the company had “made fun of a boy’s name” and “It was a huge mess.” The brand also offered the customer $10,000 “as a goodwill gesture” and denied claims that the move was hush money.
“To be clear, there are no strings attached to this offer,” DeBrand said in a DM to Chatrunsh. “We just want to make up for our lapse in judgment and the chaos we’ve caused in your world.”
Beeper is acquired for $125 million.
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Automattic, the owners of WordPress, has reportedly acquired Beeper in a deal worth $125 million. According to a press release, the company says its recent acquisition of Beeper is part of its larger narrative to “push the boundaries of messaging.”
Beeper, the messaging platform, already supports 14 different messaging services in one app. Automatic said in a press release that it will seek to integrate Beeper’s team with Texts.com, a service the company acquired late last year. It’s “the next step toward the dream of unifying all online communications in a safe, secure, and efficient way.”
Beeper also announced that it has launched its new, revamped messaging app on Google’s Play Store for all Android users.
OnePlus and Oppo to get Gemini
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This week, at the Google Cloud Next ’24 event, OPPO announced that it will bring Google’s Gemini Ultra 1.0 to OPPO and OnePlus phones later this year. OPPO says the Gemini Ultra 1.0 integration will “completely change the way consumers interact”. Devices
Google unveils Gemini Ultra 1.0, the AI ​​LLM that powers the Gemini chatbot. Google says LLM is designed to handle “highly complex tasks” and understands context to provide useful recommendations and insights. What we do know is that Gemini will be coming to these phones later this year—but it’s unclear which series of phones will get the LLM.
Nicole Zhang, general manager of AI products for OPPO and OnePlus, talked about the four key pillars driving the use of AI in phones: “It needs to use resources efficiently, have self-learning capabilities; , understanding the real world, and bringing creativity to its users.”
Pixel gets new features with Android 15 Beta.
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Google released the first beta of Android 15 on Thursday, April 11, bringing app archiving, talkback support, and more. The devices to get the first Android 15 beta are the latest Pixel 8 series up to the Pixel 5a, the Pixel Fold, and the Pixel Tablet. The first beta of Android 15 brings more awareness to how larger displays (foldables/tablets) experience apps. Google says it has enabled the software’s peer-to-peer capabilities for apps by default.
This update primarily benefits developers as they no longer need to explicitly tell the app to enable such capabilities. Additionally, Google’s Material 3 Composables will be available for additional support to app developers.
Google says users will be able to archive and unarchive unused apps, which will benefit all app stores. The OS is said to remove API and cached files but leave behind user data.
Another important feature that aids accessibility is TalkBack support for braille displays. This software is only compatible with braille displays that use the HID standard over USB and Secure Bluetooth.
Google Photos brings free AI features.
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This week, Google ‘unlocked’ its AI editing features on its Photos app and made them free for all users. This means that more users will have access to certain features and can use them without any additional cost or subscription.
According to the company, features include Magic Eraser, Photo Enabler, Portrait Light and more. These will work on Android phones running Android 8 and newer or iPhones running iOS 15 or higher, and devices must have 3GB of storage or more. For Chromebook users, features are limited to Chromebook Plus devices running ChromeOS 118 or higher.
But here’s the catch: Magic Editor is set to expand beyond the Pixel 8 series, allowing “all Pixel devices” to make more complex edits. While the feature remains free, Google will limit the number of edits you can make through Magic Editor if you’re not a Google One subscriber. Android and iOS users will only be able to make 10 of these monthly savings unless subscribing to a 2TB or higher Google One plan, which will unlock unlimited savings. Pixel users will also automatically have unlimited savings.
Those are the biggest stories of the week. Meanwhile, here are some other stories worth catching up on: