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• Moto G6, G6 Play, and G6 Plus: Everything you need to know!
  

  It has six Gs. Count ’em.

  Motorola’s new Moto G6 series isn’t a reinvention of the product line exactly, but it moves the brand further in that luxury budget category so many companies, from Honor to Xiaomi, are vying to win.

  There are three new phones in the series — the Moto G6, G6 Plus and G6 Play — and they’re all intriguing in their own ways. Let’s take a look at what you need to know.

  Read (and watch) our preview!

  Interested in jumping right into the action? We’ve got a full hands-on preview for you to look at right… now.

  Moto G6 series hands-on: Hello photo

  There are three to choose from

  The Moto G6 isn’t a single phone, but three (so far), each aimed at a different segment of the budget market.

  The Moto G6 Play is the cheapest, and forgoes some of the camera fanciness for a $199 price point. It’s also made of shiny plastic instead of shiny glass. Its 720p display isn’t great, but it’s good enough in its 5.7-inch, 2:1 aspect ratio. Its rear fingerpr…

• Xiaomi Mi 6X offers upgraded cameras and Snapdragon 660 for just $250
  

  The Mi 6X is the phone that sets the foundation for Xiaomi’s upcoming Android One device.

  Xiaomi is once again doing what it’s good at — launching products that offer incredible value for money. The manufacturer unveiled the Mi 6X at a media event in China, with the phone likely to make its way to global markets as the Mi A2, the successor to the Android One-based Mi A1.

  Just as the Redmi Note 5 Pro was the first device to introduce the Snapdragon 636 to the $200 segment, the Mi 6X is the first phone for under $300 to feature the Snapdragon 660. The rest of the specs aren’t all that bad either: you get a 5.99-inch FHD+ panel, up to 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of storage, microSD slot, IR blaster, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, and a 3010mAh battery.

  On the software side of things, the Mi 6X runs the latest version of MIUI 9 atop Android 8.1 Oreo. Another welcome change is the addition of USB-C, as well as the inclusion of Quick Charge 3.0.

  On the camera side of things, the Mi …

• Gmail’s massive redesign is now live: Here’s a look at the new features
  

  Gmail picks up a new design and a host of new features.

  Google announced earlier this month that it would revamp Gmail’s design on the desktop, and the changes are going live today. Gmail is getting a significant design overhaul that makes in more in line with its Android counterpart, and Google is introducing a whole host of new features centered around security and ease of use.

  There’s a new confidential mode that lets you set an expiration date for a particular email, smart replies, easier options for snoozing emails, an offline mode, high-priority notification setting that cuts down on the push notifications, and much more. Here’s a look at all the new additions in Gmail.

  Confidential mode

  The major new feature in Gmail is confidential mode, which allows you to set granular controls for sensitive emails. Confidential mode lets you remove options to forward, copy, download or print messages, and you can also set the message to expire at a specified time. There’s also an op…

• Opera Touch is a brand new mobile browser built around convenience
  

  Opera, a solid browsing option for those who don’t want to use Chrome or Firefox, just announced the all-new Touch browser. Built from the ground up, Touch focuses on providing the best mobile browsing experience by giving users ease-of-use features, …

• OnePlus 6 to be announced on May 16 in London, first sale kicks off May 21 in India
  

  Tickets are on sale now and start at $21 USD.

  There’s been plenty of talk regarding the OnePlus 6 over the last few weeks, but soon all those rumors and speculation will be laid to rest with the phone’s official unveiling. Today, OnePlus announced that it’ll be showing off the phone on Wednesday, May 16 in London.

  The event will kick-off at 5:00 PM BST, and in addition to the press/media, it’ll also be open to any OnePlus fans that are willing and able to attend. Tickets are available for purchase now, with Early Bird pricing starting at just $21 USD per ticket. Those will be on sale until 8:00 PM BST on Friday, April 27, and from 8:01 PM onwards, Standard Tickets will cost $41.

  OnePlus is also selling Plus One tickets that allow you to get two tickets at a lower rate. You’ll need to purchase two tickets in a single transaction, but you’ll pay just $27 per ticket for a final price of $54 for two people to attend.

  OnePlus is touting this as its “biggest ever community event” with …

• Amazon launches the Echo Spot in India, discounts all Echo devices in the process
  

  The Echo Spot has an introductory price of ₹10,499 ($155), after which it will retail for ₹12,999 ($195).

  Amazon introduced the Echo family in India at the end of last year, and the company is now launching the Echo Spot in the country. The Echo Spot has an introductory price of ₹10,499 ($155), after which it will retail for ₹12,999 ($195). The device offers the same great functionality as other Echo devices, but you also get a 2.5-inch screen that facilitates video calling.

  The device itself is considerably smaller than the Echo, and there’s a front camera along with volume controls and a four-mic array. It comes with a 1.4-inch single speaker, and Amazon says that the screen makes it an ideal device for the nightstand — allowing you to easily view your calendar, get weather updates, and more.

  The Echo Spot will be able to play videos from local news outlets like NDTV, Aaj Tak, Times Now and India Today, and you’ll even be able to view movie traile…

• Google is testing an alternative Material redesign for Chrome
  

  It looks like Chrome’s iconic trapezoidal tabs might soon be going away. The tab’s design, which has remained essentially the same since Chrome was first released almost 10 years ago, is undergoing a bit of a refresh, shifting from their old shape int…

• The LG G7 will have an extra-tall 6.1-inch display that gets really, really bright
  

  More than meets the eye.

  In its way, LG is the most leak-friendly company in the world, mainly because as its phones meander towards a public announcement, it peppers the media with teases and press releases meant to keep the hoards satisfied.

  To that end, the company has announced that the LG G7 ThinQ will have a 6.1-inch IPS LCD display that goes up to 1000 nits, which makes it the brightest panel using that technology we’ve seen to date. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 and S9 series can go beyond 1,000 nits, but only when in bright sunlight and can’t be specified by the user.

  These screenshots prove that you’ll be able to disable the LG G7’s notch through software.

  The G7’s display will also be taller than its predecessor’s, the LG G6, with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio — identical to the iPhone X — which accommodates the notch portion of the screen without sacrificing additional real estate. According to a pair of screenshots provided to Android Central, it appears you’ll be a…

• Google Play Music might be killed off this year in favor of YouTube Remix
  

  Users are said to be forced off Play Music by the end of the year.

  Right now, the state of Google’s music streaming services is a bit of a mess. Google Play Music is the company’s most notable player, but you can also listen to tunes and watch music videos via YouTube Red. If you’re on mobile, you can separately download the YouTube Music app that also comes with a Play Music/YouTube Red subscription. This jumble of services isn’t the easiest to understand, and to fix this, Google might replace them with YouTube Remix.

  This is a rumor that first popped up back in December, but according to a new report from Droid Life, it’s said that Google will shut down Play Music following the launch of YouTube Remix. It’s unknown how quickly the domino effect will happen, but users will reportedly be forced off of Play Music by the end of the year.

  It’s unclear at this time if playlists, liked songs, and saved local files will transfer over to YouTube Remix, but I’ve got to imagine Google’s go…

• Google is turning its pistol emoji into a squirt gun
  

  

  A few years ago, Apple was the first big emoji designer to stop rendering the “pistol” emoji as a real gun. It went from a revolver to a green squirt gun, and other companies have just started coming around. Twitter and Samsung already made the change, and now it’s Google’s turn. Say goodbye to the revolver and hello to the super soaker.

  Google has updated its Noto Color Emoji repository on GitHub with the new emoji.

  Read More

  Google is turning its pistol emoji into a squirt gun was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

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