In what was seen as a temporary setback for millions of users of Google services worldwide, Google today experienced service disruptions which affected several of its premium products and services in different parts of the world. Among the apps that suffered significant outages were Gmail and YouTube, as users complained of their inability to access the service. These problems have now been confirmed in some parts of the world including the United Kingdom, parts of Europe, and the Indian sub-continent.

The rumors started swirling on Twitter about reported downtimes of the various services today including YouTube, Gmail, Drive, Docs, and several other services. The feeds that were monitored showed that the outages were much reported in parts of Europe and a sprinkling in every other continent of the world. The Monitoring app, Downdetector, revealed the magnitude of the problem with a spike in reported problems on YouTube between 1100 hours GMT and 1300 hours GMT.

The Downdetector report showed that about 46% of the reported problems were in relation to the website, while about 44% were problems relating to difficulty in watching YouTube videos. The remaining issue that was reported was log-in problems encountered by users within the specified two-hour time frame.

The reported problems were also in relation to difficulties and disruptions encountered in using Google’s apps both on mobile platforms as well as on desktop. Some users reported that using incognito mode or accessing services without being signed in seemed to work in some instances, so the problems could be related to the Google accounts.

Some recent reports have confirmed that YouTube services have been restored back to some extent in the UK and Germany, as well as other Google’s services like Photos, Docs, Drive, and the rest of them. A similar confirmation of the restoration of normal service has also been gotten from India.

Hence, it could be seen that things are gradually returning back to normal today, after the reported glitches in some parts of the world. A peek into the Google Workspace dashboard showed that all the apps are now showing the green icon- this means that there are no issues among all the apps in the Google suite.

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It is pretty difficult to navigate the internet without using one of Google‘s products or apps like YouTube or the Google search engine and others.  It is also common knowledge that Google collects lots of user data which has at some point put the company in the eye of the storm. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has now announced that the company is effecting some changes in the way the tech giant handles new users’ data.

Going forward, Google will put in place different privacy upgrades which will help to control data that is being shared with it in a more efficient way. The type of data ranges from Google logs, Search history, location history, YouTube history, location history, to voice commands through Google Assistant on the My Activity page.

The company introduced an option last year to have the data automatically deleted every 3 months or 18 months for new and existing users. The feature will now be enabled by default for all new users. Where the feature is disabled, Google will still automatically delete search history, location history, and voice commands automatically for new users every 18 months by default. In addition, search history on YouTube will be programmed to automatically delete after 3 years. The company says this is to ensure it can “continue to make relevant entertainment recommendations” since user preferences change over time.

These newly introduced privacy options still won’t be enabled by default on existing Google accounts but Google says it will increase the frequency at which the option will be promoted on the affected services. So the promotional message doesn’t become burdensome, users can adjust the frequency of the reminders on the Activity controls page.

Also to aid existing Google Account users to control their privacy settings, Google says it will be making it easier for users to check in on your Account controls. This can be done by simply searching for the keywords “Google Privacy Checkup” and “Is my Google Account secure?” to gain access to a box with your privacy and security settings.

Furthermore, Google is putting out a short cut to easily enter Incognito Mode. This can be done by just long-pressing your profile picture in Google Search, Maps, and YouTube.

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UPDATE: A spokesperson for Xiaomi has released an official statement regarding the retail box inscription which has now generated lots of discussions both in China and even overseas. The statement hints that the inscription is actually one of the promotional requirements of its partner (Google) in the latest partnership agreement. The statement revealed that it is similar to the “Powered by Android” booth message and “Intel Inside” stickers that are stamped on Intel-powered laptops.

The reason why it appeared on Xiaomi’s smartphones first is that the Chinese company’s license recently expired and it had to renew the same with the partner which is no doubt Google. The Mi 10 Pro happened to be the first model to be released after the requirement went into effect, the statement hinted.

The original story continues……..

Rival smartphone OEMs have several ways of trolling each other, especially when promoting their smartphones. We’ve seen Huawei take on Samsung or Apple but in recent times Xiaomi seems to have upped its game in trolling rival smartphone OEMs. 

The Chinese giant recently launched the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro model for the global market in Europe. While the models are already in the market, what many didn’t take note of is an inscription on the retail box of the Mi 10 Pro global version. The inscription just under the Mi 10 Pro branding reads, “with easy access to the Google apps you use most”. This is seen as a direct marketing strategy, taking a dig at Huawei whose smartphones which are very popular in Europe.

Of course, Huawei recently launched the P40 series which is a flagship model like the Mi 10 Pro. Sadly, the P40 series doesn’t come with Google services which would affect its market performance. Xiaomi is looking to improve on its growing popularity in Europe and it is no surprise the company will fight dirty in a bid to see that happen.

The Mi 10 Pro and Huawei P40 Pro seems to have similar starting prices of 999 Euros. So, both models are rivals in several aspects so, one can see where Xiaomi is looking at when drawing up the retail box campaign. In China, it doesn’t matter but in Europe, the presence of Google services will influence the sales of Xiaomi’s flagship.

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Huawei could be planning to pre-install up to 70 apps on its upcoming international smartphone models to make up for the lack of Google services. The Chinese smartphone maker is banned from using software from US companies like Google, putting its phones at a disadvantage as compared to competitors like Samsung in the international market.

According to Mobiltelefon.ru, Huawei could pre-load nearly 70 selected apps on its smartphones this year. They are expected to be the most popular apps from the Google Play store or viable alternatives to the apps that are dependent on Google services. The pre-loaded apps will vary according to the region.

Since Huawei smartphones can’t run google services, the company will have to provide viable alternatives to popular apps like YouTube and Google Maps. The report states that Huawei will launch its own video service called as Huawei Video sometime in March this year. This is likely going to coincide with the P40 launch in the same month.

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Huawei’s app store, called the Huawei AppGallery, has around 45,000 apps right now, but it is still nowhere close to the 3 million figure on the Google Play Store. Without access to the Google Play Store, the Chinese smartphone maker will have to ensure that popular apps like Uber, Spotify are available in its own store. Also, it will have to provide viable alternatives to Google’s own apps. In this regard, the company is already in talks with companies like Tomtom (for Google Maps alternative) and Russia’s Yandex.

Huawei reportedly plans to pre-load these apps on at least nine models in the next four months. Mobiltelefon.ru’s source says that Huawei is likely to use this strategy on mid-range models using Kirin 810 and Kirin 710 chipsets. This could include the Huawei Y7p and P40 Lite E models. So Huawei could be using a different strategy for upcoming flagship devices like the Kirin 990 powered Huawei P40 series.

It makes sense why Huawei would want to pre-load a bunch of apps on its international smartphones. Without Google services, the availability of apps would be a big concern on Huawei’s phones. But if most of the popular apps are already on the device, users might be less worried.

However, pre-loading as many as 70 apps doesn’t sound like a good idea, even if they are curated according to the market. Imagine the nightmare sorting out 70 different apps on a brand new smartphone!

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(Source, Via)

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Earlier this year, Huawei had faced complications with the US Government regarding national data security reasons. Since then, the company had initially faced a ban in the country which had even led to Huawei losing its partners like Google (Android support) and ARM (chipsets). Thus, the company has been looking to become increasingly more independent and less reliant on western corporations.

This leads to now, as Huawei is set to finalize its replacement of Google Services on its Android devices.

Reportedly, Huawei will be moving forward with its own services and replace Google’s services by 2020 for its smartphones. The new replacement is dubbed as Huawei Mobile Services and will be launched by the end of 2019. The Chinese tech giant has been working on the service for a while so the company could be functionally self-sufficient and less reliant.

According to a recent report, the CEO of Huawei and Honor India, Charles Peng, spoke to news outlets regarding the upcoming services’ app ecosystem. In other words, the company is looking to attract developers of the top 150 apps in India to ensure the availability of the same apps in the company’s smartphones as well. This is done since the lack of Google Services means no Play Store. Thus, bringing various developers to its proprietary store is crucial to the Huawei Mobile Services’ success.

Furthermore, India is the second largest smartphone market in the world with social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and more being extremely popular. Currently, these apps are still not natively supported or included in the Huawei app store. So, to help in the transition from Google services to its own, Huawei needs to include popular apps and features to its services as well.

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Google’s success in its services lies with its tight-knit ecosystem that includes apps like YouTube, Google Maps, Play Store and more. Huawei needs to find suitable and effective replacements for these few crucial apps to be better welcomed by the large userbase. So far, the company has confirmed alternatives to navigation, payments, gaming, and messages which will debut on its HMS platform by the end of 2019.

It remains to be seen how well the new Huawei Mobile Services is implemented as it stands as the only viable mainstream alternative to Google right now. Historically, the search engine giant has had dominance in this field and has yet to be toppled off its throne.

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It’s been nearly eight months since Huawei was added to the U.S. government’s blacklist, officially known as Entity List. While Huawei has managed to limit the repercussions of the ban so far, it is looking at a tough road ahead. In fact, Huawei executives have admitted that U.S. sanctions are hurting them.

According to the Financial Times, Huawei is finding it hard to replace Google’s applications on its smartphones. Over the past few months, the company has managed to replace most of the equipment from the U.S., but they haven’t found a viable solution to Google services. And they admit that it’ll be years before they can come up with their own alternatives.

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Software remains the biggest headaches for Huawei. Apart from Google applications, Huawei also cannot use Microsoft’s Windows 10 platform that powers its MateBook lineups. In this regard, it recently started selling Linux variants of its laptops on its official store in China. Notably, Huawei’s existing smartphones are allowed to use Google services under the recently granted extension. However, new models such as the Mate 30 Pro cannot officially install and run Google applications. There are workarounds to run Google services on these devices, but its future is uncertain.

Unfortunately, even after eight months since the official ban began, there hasn’t been a resolution between the company and the U.S. government. A lot is riding on the trade talks between China and the U.S., and Huawei’s future as a top smartphone maker depends on how these talks culminate.

It’s not all bad though as there are reports which state that U.S. companies could soon get the green-light to sell to Huawei and Google could be one of them.

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(Source)

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The Huawei Nova 5T is actually a rebranded Honor 20 with a new name and EMUI instead of Magic UI. Announced in August, the phone has now made its way to Germany and the good news is that there is Google Mobile Services pre-installed.

Apparently, Google already certified the Nova 5T before the US ban took effect according to Huawei, which is why the phone comes with Google services.

The Nova 5T has a 6.26-inch LCD screen with a punch-hole for the selfie camera and a 2340 x 1080 resolution. It is powered by the Kirin 980 which is paired with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. You can’t add more storage as the phone doesn’t have a MicroSD card slot.

The Huawei Nova 5T has quad rear cameras – a 48MP f/1.8 sensor, a 16MP f/2.2 ultrawide angle camera, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. A 32MP f/2.0 camera sits in front for selfies and video calls.

There is no audio jack but there is Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC. The phone also has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner built into the power button. It runs Android 9 Pie with EMUI 9.1 and packs a 3750mAh battery with support for 22.5W fast charging technology.

The price has not yet been announced but there are speculations it will be priced at €430 just like the Honor 20 when it goes on sale on October 29. It will be available in Midsummer Purple, Black, and Blue.

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The Nokia 6 (2018) is the first of the Nokia Android smartphones for 2018 just like its predecessor last year. Announced on Friday, January 5, the new phone comes with Android Nougat out of the box instead of Oreo.

New reports say that after booting up the Nokia 6 (2018) for the first time, you get hit with an update. This update, thankfully, brings Android Oreo and all its goodness.

You may be wondering why they didn’t just ship it with it. The only possible explanation is that it wasn’t ready yet before units were shipped to major distributors and resellers.

That is not the only news about the new smartphone. Since this is the Chinese variant, it is not far fetched to think that Google services are not installed. The phone still doesn’t come with Google services but it has optional support to install it saving you the stress of trying to unlock the bootloader to do so. All you have to do is download the Google Play store APK file and install it on your device.

The first-gen Nokia 6 didn’t have the above feature when it launched but got it in July with the month’s security patch update. The advantage this brings is for those living outside China who plan to order a unit ahead of its global release.

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The Nokia 6 (2018) brings a number of new features while keeping some old ones. The display is still a 5.5” 1080p panel, battery remains 3000mAh and cameras remain the same (16MP rear and 8MP for selfies. New features include a completely revamped design, a more powerful Snapdragon 630 processor, Nokia OZO audio, and bothie feature.

(Source)

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Google ensure immediate shut down some of their services, this step is part of the  maintaining their services and ready to implementing this effort on next summer.

“Technology offers so many opportunities to help improve the lives of users, this means we have to really focus on developing it. So today we will reduce the number of features as part of clean-up program as well we’ve done this summer,” wrote Yossi Matias, as a Google Senior Engineering Director.

A number of services are certain to be covered include AdSense for Feeds, Classic Plus, Spreadsheet Gadgets, Places for Android, and +1 notification in webmaster tools.

Google also plans to integrate the Picasa Photo service with Google’s Drive. Thus, users will have 5 GB of storage space for photos or files on either service.

“We want users to experience the beautiful and simple when using Google. Changes allow us to focus on improving product used by millions of people every day,” added Matias.

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