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An Innovation Challenge to Sustain Diverse Media

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Most communities in North America are diverse. They are comprised of people of various ethnicities, income levels, and countries of origin. In a lot of cases these diverse audiences are not effectively represented in the pages of their local news publication or remain untapped as an opportunity to increase engagement and grow the business for a news organization. That's why it's increasingly important for publishers to understand the diverse communities they serve.  We hope this is where the Google Innovation Challenge can help. Last year, the GNI North American Innovation Challenge focused on generating revenue and increasing audience engagement for local journalism. 34 projects in 17 states and provinces received $5.8 million to help with projects ranging from a way for local news providers to access and monetize audio clips, to testing a new approach to local news discovery, engagement and membership. This year the spotlight will shift toward helping publishe

Stadia Savepoint: February updates

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With February coming to a close, we're back with another issue of our Stadia Savepoint series, giving you a summary of recent news on Stadia. This month we announced nine new games coming to Stadia, featuring three games launching First on Stadia. That included "Spitlings," the chaotic multi-player platformer which launched earlier this week and is the focus of our first developer Q&A with Massive Miniteam.  Stadia on Samsung, ASUS, and Razer phones. Expanded Android support We've added Stadia compatibility to 19 new phones from Samsung, ASUS, and Razer, bringing the ability to play our entire library across tens of millions of devices. See here for more info.  New games coming to Stadia SteamWorld Dig SteamWorld Dig 2 SteamWorld Heist SteamWorld Quest Lost Words: Beyond the Page Panzer Dragoon: Remake Serious Sam Collection Stacks on Stacks (on Stacks)

Celebrity GIFs: They’re just like us!

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In an age when people talk all day on text and email, we've come to rely on the art of the GIF to convey our emotions. To recognize life's most joyous moments—or to navigate the tricky ones—we search for the perfect GIF and hit send. The Google Trends team looked at GIF search trends from Tenor (Google's search engine for GIFs and stickers) to see which celebrity gifs are most commonly associated with certain emotions or reactions. Good news for GIF-lovers: they made made a nifty data visualization tool that you can explore. Search for a specific celebrity like Justin Timberlake, and you'll see that 42 percent of Justin Timberlake GIF searches are for "happy." Or filter by emotion, like "surprised" to find out which celebrity has the largest share of those searches (spoiler alert, it's Pikachu).  Search by celebrity or by emotion. Even better news for GIF lovers: you can use this tool to figure out how

Galaxy Z Flip made waves at the fashion week trifecta after launch

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If there was any doubt about how Samsung wants to position the Galaxy Z Flip, it have been cleared by the company's strategy to create hype for the product. At launch, Samsung unveiled a special Galaxy Z Flip Thom Browne edition. It debuted at the New York Fashion Week on February 12, the very next day after Samsung's February 11 Unpacked event where the Galaxy Z Flip was launched. Since then, Samsung has hit the fashion week trifecta to highlight the Galaxy Z Flip's potential as the must-have fashion accessory for 2020. It was showcased at the pretigious London, Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks. Galaxy Z Flip is the must-have fashion accessory for 2020 The Galaxy Z Flip made its runway debut at the London Fashion Week runway with ace designer Ashley Williams. The designer's AW20 collection included a custom-made microbag for the Galaxy Z Flip and even hairclips to really flaunt that you've got this device. Microbags are actually in fashion this year for some r

Samsung Galaxy M30s secures March 2020 security patch in India

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Samsung is keeping to its three-month security patch release schedule for its mid-range devices, and as a result, the Galaxy M30s is now getting a new software update introducing the March 2020 security patch. Indeed, while other Galaxy phones are making the jump to the February security patch , the Galaxy M30s is beating them to the punch and it is now the first Samsung smartphone to bag the latest security update, aside from the yet-to-be-shipped Galaxy S20 . The update is presently rolling out in India and weighs around 119MB. Unlike the last security patch which was introduced in November along with AR Doodle , the latest package doesn't seem to include any new features or additions to One UI. It's simply a quarterly security update arriving according to Samsung's usual roadmap. The Galaxy M30s is a very successful smartphone in India , and it greatly contributed to increasing the company's market share in Q4 2019 after it's original launch . Given the smar

Celebrate digital learning with tools for everyone

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One of my fondest childhood memories is sitting on my dad's lap and using a program on our old desktop computer to learn multiplication tables. It jump-started my love for math and science and showed me how technology could make learning exciting. Educational tools have only improved over the years since I first experienced them. Thanks to educator feedback and companies building tools to help solve real problems in classrooms, they're better than ever. Today, Feb. 27, thousands of educators across the world are celebrating the use of technology in the classroom by participating in Digital Learning Day . Whether in the classroom or at home, technology can help provide access, increase engagement and help educators and students open up new possibilities for learning. This technology has also helped many students learn the basic digital skills needed for work and life.  As part of our Grow With Google initiative--which helps ensure opportunities created by technology a

Celebrate digital learning with tools for everyone

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One of my fondest childhood memories is sitting on my dad's lap and using a program on our old desktop computer to learn multiplication tables. It jump-started my love for math and science and showed me how technology could make learning exciting. Educational tools have only improved over the years since I first experienced them. Thanks to educator feedback and companies building tools to help solve real problems in classrooms, they're better than ever. Today, Feb. 27, thousands of educators across the world are celebrating the use of technology in the classroom by participating in Digital Learning Day . Whether in the classroom or at home, technology can help provide access, increase engagement and help educators and students open up new possibilities for learning. This technology has also helped many students learn the basic digital skills needed for work and life.  As part of our Grow With Google initiative--which helps ensure opportunities created by technology a

Meet humanity’s first artists through virtual reality

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Editor's Note: France's Chauvet Cave contains some of the world's oldest prehistoric drawings. It's so delicate that it's closed to the public, but thanks to our partner, the Syndicat Mixte de la Grotte Chauvet, you can now step into the world of our ancient ancestors through Google Search's augmented reality feature as well as virtual reality . One of these ancient ancestors, who has asked to remain anonymous, has time-traveled 36,000 years to share what the cave was like back then.  We began our journey to the big cave days ago. Today we arrive and settle near the stone arch that spans the river. We light a fire, signalling to our people up near the caves that we're here. We've brought small stone tools with us to sew the arrowheads we use for hunting. Perhaps we'll be able to trade them. There's plenty of moonlight, so once we've made camp I venture out, hiking up to the cave's entrance to greet the others. The children ar

Daily Deal: 44% off Samsung Wireless Charger DUO Pad

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This might be one of the best times to jump on the wireless charging bandwagon, not only because the technology has advanced over the past few years, but also because the Samsung Wireless Charger DUO Pad is now available for a whopping 44% off. The Samsung Wireless Charger DUO Pad can charge two smartphones or one smartphone and a smartwatch simultaneously. It's capable of up to 12W fast-charging and it's compatible with Samsung devices like the Galaxy S8 and newer devices. The 44% discount applies to the black model, whereas the white variant is presently available for 39% off. Hit the Buy Now button below and order yours today while the offer lasts! The post Daily Deal: 44% off Samsung Wireless Charger DUO Pad appeared first on SamMobile . #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

Samsung Display unveils optimized OLED display for 5G smartphones

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Samsung Display, the display-making affiliate of the conglomerate, unveiled an optimized OLED display for 5G smartphones today. Samsung continues to dominate the mobile OLED market with an over 90 percent share and it aims to keep things that way. So it continues to innovate and offer products that other display manufacturers are not yet able to. This competitive edge is what helps Samsung maintain its significant lead over the entire market. Samsung Display's latest offering is likely going to be used for many top-tier phones due this year. New display panel also has reduced power consumption Samsung Display also supplies the display panels for the Galaxy S20. The entire new flagship lineup from Samsung features Eye Care-certified displays with a 120Hz refresh rate. The panels have also been certified by VDE Germany for 100 percent Mobile Color Volume in the DCI-P3 color range. The latest offering from Samsung Display has reduced blue-light emissions and lower power consu

New Galaxy Note 10 update improves face recognition, navigation gestures

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Samsung has released a new software update for the Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ , one that brings improvements other than enhanced security for the first time after the two phones were updated to Android 10 and One UI 2.0 . This new update, sporting software version N97xFXXU2BTB5 , was released in Malaysia a little over a week ago and is now available in Germany. It will likely be released in more markets in the coming days. The improvements in the new update are focused on facial recognition and full-screen navigation gestures, though Samsung doesn't go into detail about exactly how these features have been improved. The update doesn't include the March security patch, which is somewhat surprising as Samsung had recently gotten into the habit of releasing the next month's security patch for its flagships before the preceding month was over. However, it's possible that in some countries, Samsung will bundle the aforementioned improvements with the March patch.

Samsung Knox awarded best mobile innovation for digital trust by MWC

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This year's Mobile World Congress may have been canceled due to fears over the coronavirus infection, but it's Global Mobile Awards have still been announced. Samsung always manages to pick up a few awards at these things and that's no different in 2020. Samsung Knox, the company's enterprise-grade security platform , has been recognized by the Global Mobile Awards as the Best Mobile Innovation for Building Trust in the Digital Age. Samsung views security as a highly important aspect of maintaining a trusted relationship with its customers. The company keeps security as a priority every step of the way, from designing the chipset to the operating system, device to network and app to cloud. Knox is Samsung's global defense-grade security platform that protects all data that's stored, sent or received on consumers' devices throughout the device's entire lifecycle. As the largest mobile vendor on the planet, the Knox platform already secured billions

Samsung’s next budget tablet may be called the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite

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The Galaxy Tab S6 is a flagship Android tablet that Samsung released last year. Samsung addressed a major shortcoming of its flagship tablet lineup with this device by shipping it with the latest processor, which was the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 at that time. It appears that the company's next tablet is going to be an offshoot of the Galaxy Tab S6. However, it's not going to be a premium product. Samsung is likely going to launch its next budget tablet as the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. Galaxy Tab S6 Lite will truly be a Lite device We exclusively revealed a couple of months ago that Samsung is developing a new tablet bearing model number SM-P615 . Specs of the device emerged the following month. We now know what Samsung is going to call this tablet courtesy of the device going through its Bluetooth qualification process. The Bluetooth SIG listing reveals that this product, the SM-P615, will be called the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite. Despite sharing its name with Samsung's flagship

Galaxy Watch Active 2 Golf Edition, Aluminum LTE variant launched in Korea

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Samsung has launched two new variants of the Galaxy Watch Active 2 in South Korea. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 Golf Edition, as the name suggests, is targeted towards golf aficionados. The South Korean tech giant has also unveiled the LTE version of the existing aluminum variant of the smartwatch. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 Golf Edition comes with upgraded golf shot distance measurement. It also comes with a built-in Smart Caddie app, which offers information on more than 40,000 golf courses worldwide. This variant of Samsung's newest smartwatch comes in two variants: 44mm Aqua Black and 40mm Pink Gold. They are priced at KRW 393,000 ($323) and KRW 359,700 ($295), respectively. Samsung had also launched golf editions of the Gear S3 and the Galaxy Watch in the past. The South Korean firm has also introduced a new variant of the Galaxy Watch Active 2 Aluminum with LTE connectivity. It will be available in both 40mm and 44mm sizes. It comes in three colors: Aqua Black, Cloud Silve

Samsung says it will improve Galaxy S20’s camera performance with software updates

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The main selling point of the Galaxy S20 series is its cameras. Samsung managed to cram in a lot of cameras in its latest flagship phones, the Galaxy S20 , Galaxy S20+ , and the Galaxy S20 Ultra . Moreover, the camera sensors in the phones are some of the largest in the industry. However, some reviewers are complaining of bugs and underwhelming camera quality. Some of the Galaxy S20 Ultra reviews published over the past few days have mentioned that the cameras on the phone have an inconsistent and slower-than-usual focusing mechanism, both in the photo and the video modes, and excessive processing. The phone uses PDAF (phase-detection autofocus) rather than a faster and more reliable dual-pixel PDAF system that is found in most modern high-end phones, including its previous-generation flagships. The cameras also seem to over smoothen people's faces and skin. The Galaxy S20 Ultra reviews published by PCMag and InputMag talk about similar issues with its cameras. TheVerge hasn

Chrome Beta for Android Update

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Hi everyone! We've just released Chrome Beta 81 (81.0.4044.34) for Android: it's now  available on Google Play . You can see a partial list of the changes in the  Git log . For details on new features, check out the  Chromium blog , and for details on web platform updates, check  here . If you find a new issue, please let us know by  filing a bug . Ben Mason Google Chrome #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

Beta Channel Update for Desktop

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The beta channel has been updated to 81.0.4044.34 for Windows, Mac, and, Linux. A full list of changes in this build is available in the log . Interested in switching release channels?  Find out how here . If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug . The community help forum is also a great place to reach out for help or learn about common issues. Prudhvikumar Bommana Google Chrome #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

LG V60 ThinQ 5G

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LG V60 ThinQ 5G is Candybar, Touchscreen Android Smartphone from LG which runs on Android OS, v10.0. LG V60 ThinQ 5G is available in Classy Blue, Classy White colors and 218 g (7.69 oz) of weight. LG V60 ThinQ 5G has 6.8 inches P-OLED capacitive touchscreen display. LG V60 ThinQ 5G is powered by Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 585 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 585 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 585) CPU, Qualcomm SM8250 Snapdragon 865 (7 nm+) Chipset and Adreno 650 GPU along with 128GB 8GB RAM.Additional features of LG V60 ThinQ 5G are IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins), MIL-STD-810G compliant, DCI-P3 100%, HDR10+, Always-on display, 32-bit/192kHz audio, 24-bit/192kHz audio recording. LG V60 ThinQ 5G has 3G, WIFI, Bluetooth, GPS connectivity options on board. #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

LG Q51

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LG Q51 is Candybar, Touchscreen Android Smartphone from LG which runs on Android OS, v10.0. LG Q51 is available in Frozen White, Moonlight Titanium colors. LG Q51 has 6.5 inches IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display. LG Q51 is powered by Octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, Mediatek MT6762 Helio P22 (12 nm) Chipset and PowerVR GE8320 GPU along with 32GB 3GB RAM.Additional features of LG Q51 are MIL-STD-810G compliant. LG Q51 has 3G, WIFI, Bluetooth, GPS connectivity options on board. #Google #Android #Smartphones #OS #News @ndrdnws #ndrdnws #AndroidNews

Google Translate adds five languages

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Millions of people around the world use Google Translate, whether in a verbal conversation, or while navigating a menu or reading a webpage online. Translate learns from existing translations, which are most often found on the web. Languages without a lot of web content have traditionally been challenging to translate, but through advancements in our machine learning technology, coupled with active involvement of the Google Translate Community , we've added support for five languages: Kinyarwanda, Odia (Oriya), Tatar, Turkmen and Uyghur. These languages, spoken by more than 75 million people worldwide, are the first languages we've added to Google Translate in four years, and expand the capabilities of Google Translate to 108 languages. Translate supports both text translation and website translation for each of these languages. In addition, Translate supports virtual keyboard input for Kinyarwanda, Tatar and Uyghur. Below you can see our team motto, "Enable every