‘Overwatch’ Halloween event brings back last year’s spooky brawl

Blizzard teased that its hero shooter Overwatch would get Halloween seasonal event last week, but didn’t release any details. But now it’s live, which brings back last year’s spooky players-vs.-AI brawl mode with the standard slew of new character skins and emotes.

Dr. Junkenstein’s thirst for revenge still burns…
So heroes beware: Overwatch Halloween Terror returns!

👻🍬🎃 https://t.co/0RUYK9XFzn pic.twitter.com/8hX98gij4v

— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) October 10, 2017

The return of the Junkenstein’s Revenge brawl marks the first recycled seasonal event — but since we only got a month to play it last year, it’s hard to complain. It’s identical to last year: Pick one of four heroes and hold the door against a horde of AI-controlled robot goombas while minibosses occasionally show up to wreck the party. Those who want a bit more of a challenge will enjoy the new Endless Night version of the brawl, which pits a different quartet of heroes against an unending tide of enemies. Best scores get a spot on the brawl leaderboard.

Otherwise, the seasonal event brings more new skins, including a Van Helsing-ified McCree and 80s Zarya — but you can also snag any of last year’s Halloween outfits you might have missed. There are also new emotes and victory poses for you completionists. Lastly, the stages Eichenwalde and Hollywood have been decked out in haunted flair for the holiday as bonus maps. Overwatch’s Halloween Terror ends November 1st, so get your spooky fun in now.

Source: Overwatch

Twitter Adds ‘Happening Now’ Feature to Recommend Events and Topics

Twitter today announced the addition of a new “Happening Now” feature that is designed to surface customized recommendations for tweets about a particular topic or event that’s going on in the world.

Events are displayed at the top of the Twitter timeline in the Twitter app, and clicking on one of the available events displays a list of tweets that are grouped up by event.

Twitter is rolling out the Happening Now feature for sports-related events to start with, but it will expand to other types of content in the future. It will eventually highlight tweets about live video, TV, and breaking news.

Feel the roar of the crowd, no matter where you are.

We’re rolling out a new way to see what’s happening now, starting with sports in 🇺🇸! Available on Android and iOS starting today. https://t.co/lmBFCK4DG0 pic.twitter.com/cv4wL8hCxA

— Twitter (@Twitter) October 10, 2017

Happening Now joins other tools to surface non-timeline tweets like Moments and Explore. In a statement to BuzzFeed News, a Twitter spokesperson said the feature is meant to make it easier to find conversations about events users are interested in.

“There’s so much happening on Twitter all the time, but it could be easier to find events you are interested in, and the conversation around those events, in the moment,” the spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. “If we know you are a Giants fan, we can guess you’d love to see the conversation specifically around a game. All this content already exists on Twitter – with Happening Now, we’re collecting it and making it simpler for you to find it in one place.”

Happening now is available on Android and iOS devices starting today.

Tag: Twitter
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Developer Demonstrates iOS Phishing Attack That Uses Apple-Style Password Request

Developer Felix Krause today shared a proof of concept phishing attack that’s gaining some traction as it clearly demonstrates how app developers can use Apple-style popups to gain access to an iPhone user’s Apple ID and password.

As Krause explains, iPhone and iPad users are accustomed to official Apple requests for their Apple ID and password for making purchases and accessing iCloud, even when not in the App Store or iTunes app.

Using a UIAlertController that emulates the design of the system request for a password, developers can create an identical interface as a phishing tool that can fool many iOS users.

Showing a dialog that looks just like a system popup is super easy, there is no magic or secret code involved, it’s literally the examples provided in the Apple docs, with a custom text.

I decided not to open source the actual popup code, however, note that it’s less than 30 lines of code and every iOS engineer will be able to quickly build their own phishing code.

Though some of the system alerts would require a developer to have a user’s Apple ID email address, there are also popup alerts that do not require an email and can recover a password.

The phishing method that Krause describes is not new, and Apple vets apps that are accepted to the App Store, but it’s worth highlighting for iOS users who may not be aware that such a phishing attempt is possible.

As Krause says, users can protect themselves by being wary of these popup dialogues. If one pops up, press the Home button to close the app. If the popup goes away, it’s tied to the app and is a phishing attack. If it remains, it’s a system request from Apple.

Krause also recommends users dismiss popups and enter their credentials directly within the Settings app.

Krause has reported the issue to Apple and recommends a fix that would include Apple asking customers to enter their credentials into the Settings app rather than directly through a popup that can be easily mimicked. Alternatively, he suggests credential requests could include an app icon to indicate that an app is asking rather than the system.

As extra protection from attacks like this, Apple customers should enable two-factor authentication as it prevents attackers from being able to log into an Apple ID account without a code from a verified device.

Tags: Apple ID, hack, Two-Factor Authentication, phishing
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Microsoft’s denies ‘tabloid’ rumors, says Surface line isn’t going anywhere

Why it matters to you

If you were hoping to buy a Surface laptop in the future, don’t worry, they aren’t going anywhere.

Microsoft has denied all rumors that it’s planning on shutting down production of its Surface line of convertible laptops, claiming that “it’s so far from the truth,” to be laughable. Calling the rumors “tabloid” gossip, Microsoft corporate VP of devices, Panos Panay, said during an address that Microsoft was committed to its hardware divisions and saw them as a great way to improve other parts of its services.

The Surface line was not a success when it was initially released in 2012, but over the years has become a hotly competitive product line in a hotly competitive market. With that in mind, it was surprising when executives from Lenovo and Canalys recently suggested Microsoft could kill off the brand by 2019 (via OnMsft) due to declining hardware sales.

That, according to Microsoft, is nonsense.

It’s the “tabloid rumor of the week,” Panay said during a discussion of Microsoft’s hardware business (via BusinessInsider). Suggesting that Microsoft had no plans to exit the Surface game, he said that the Surface line was about more than selling hardware. Improvements made to its line often translate over to other facets of Microsoft’s business. For example, the Surface Pen stylus was improved for the Surface range and has now helped bolster the use of styluses on Windows desktops.

As pointed out by BusinessInsider, Microsoft has faced problems with its Surface line before. With earlier renditions of the hardware in 2013, it was forced to swallow a near billion dollar write-off due to unsold stock of the convertible laptops. Although the company is not facing such a dire situation now, it’s perhaps no surprise that given that history, Microsoft is willing to ride out temporary shortfalls in the hopes of a resurgence.

We would certainly be saddened if Microsoft did decide that the Surface line is no longer worth supporting. We call the latest Surface Pro, the best 2-in-1 ever made and the more performance-focused Surface Book wasn’t a slouch either.

While a dip in sales might cause Microsoft to look at its range and how it stocks and sells certain models, it doesn’t appear as if any drastic changes are coming to Surface anytime soon.

Sony Xperia XZ1 review

Research Center:
Sony Xperia XZ1

The Xperia XZ1 is similar to Sony’s earlier 2017 flagship, the Xperia XZ Premium. It has the same, excellent camera that can shoot super slow motion videos at an impressive 960 frames per second. It has almost everything you’d want in a smartphone, and in our review, we see if it’s worth your money among the intense competition.

An aging design

It’s been some time since a Sony phone was hailed for design, and it will likely stay like that until 2018. Sony has been reusing the same design theme for the past four years, and nothing’s different with the Xperia XZ1.

The smartphone trend of the year is the “bezel-less” design. It’s where the edges flanking the screen are as small as possible for a truly immersive experience, such as the Galaxy Note 8, the LG V30, and the iPhone X. You end up getting a larger screen, in a smaller frame. You won’t find an edge-to-edge display here, as Sony is sticking with a somewhat large forehead and chin on this device — the result looks dated.

Christian de Looper/Digital Trends

Christian de Looper/Digital Trends

Christian de Looper/Digital Trends

Christian de Looper/Digital Trends

Like other Sony phones, the XZ1 sports a sharp rectangular design. It’s different from other phones on the market that opt for rounded corners and an overall softer look. The back is incredibly minimal, which we like. The camera sits on the top left corner with a slight bump, and the Xperia logo is in the middle.

The left edge of the phone is where you’ll find the SIM and MicroSD card slot, which is a little finicky. Ours eventually broke on the Xperia XZ Premium, so we imagine the one on the XZ1 will be just as fragile. The good thing is you don’t need a SIM card removal tool — just a long fingernail that can dig in.

Sony has been reusing the same design theme for the past four years.

On the right is the power button, volume rocker, and a camera button. We always like to see dedicated shutter buttons, and wish more manufacturers added them in. On the XZ1, you can immediately launch the camera by pressing the button and use it to capture photos and videos. The power button is indented — it doesn’t stick out like traditional buttons. On the top, you might be pleased to know there’s a headphone jack.

You may have noticed something missing missing: There’s no fingerprint sensor. Sony has long-claimed the reason it doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor is a “business decision.” It’s puzzling, because you can find the sensor on the international models of these Xperia phones. The lack of a fingerprint sensor is inconvenient, especially since you can use it to unlock banking and other security sensitive apps. You’ll have to stick with a PIN or swipe pattern here.

We do like the XZ1’s design — the back is minimal and attractive, but the front looks dated due to the chunky edges around the screen. If you’re looking for something new in Sony design, wait until next year. The company confirmed we can expect to see a visual refresh in 2018, and hopefully it includes a fingerprint sensor.

Top-tier performance

You’ll hardly have any issues with the Sony Xperia XZ1’s performance. It’s responsive and snappy, apps load quickly, and we didn’t have problems when multitasking. It was able to handle graphic-intensive games, like Asphalt 8, extremely well, and the only stutter we saw was when it tried to load an ad in the game’s menu.

Christian de Looper/Digital Trends

The smooth performance is all thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, which is the same chip you’ll find powering most Android handsets of 2017, including the Galaxy S8 Plus, and the Pixel 2.

Let’s take a look at those Benchmark scores:

• AnTuTu: 169,582
• Geekbench 4: 1,836 (single-core), 6,508 (multi-core)
• 3DMark Slingshot Extreme: 3,609

These benchmark scores are quite good, as the XZ1 managed to beat out other high-end phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8, which scored 155,253 in its AnTuTu test. Naturally, it didn’t come close to the iPhone 8, which scored a massive 214,492 on AnTuTu. Benchmarks aren’t the be-all end-all of performance though, so don’t rely on it too much.

You’ll find 4GB of RAM, which helps with multitasking, and 64GB of internal storage should be plenty for most people. The MicroSD card slot means you can expand that storage up to 256GB if you need more space.

A good display, and daylong battery

At 5.2-inches, the Xperia XZ1 is smaller than your average flagship smartphone, and its size means you definitely don’t need a super high resolution like the Note 8’s 2960 x 1440-pixels. Instead the XZ1 has a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) pixel resolution. The LCD screen is sharp and bright, but colors aren’t as vibrant and the blacks aren’t as deep as the AMOLED screen on our Google Pixel XL.

Sony Xperia XZ1 Compared To

LG X Venture

Moto X4

Alcatel Idol 5S

Lenovo Moto G5 Plus

ZTE Axon 7 mini

Meizu Pro 6

Nextbit Robin

Sony Xperia Z5

Huawei P8

Motorola Droid Turbo

Sony Xperia Z3

Sony Xperia Z3v

HTC Desire Eye

Motorola Moto X (2014)

LG G2

The 2,700mAh battery is small, but the phone managed to last a day in our tests. You’ll want to make sure that you charge the phone daily, but at least there’s support for Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 — that means you can get quite a bit of juice after a short charging time.

The camera to end all cameras? Not quite

One of the main selling points of the Xperia XZ1 is its camera. The rear camera packs 19 megapixels and a f/2.0 aperture, electronic image stabilization, and predictive phase detection and laser autofocus. The spotlight is on videos over photos, because the killer feature is the ability to capture slow motion videos at 960 frames per second at 720p. That means you can slow down incredibly high-speed movement. Apple’s iPhone 8 Plus can do slow-motion video of 240fps at 1,080p, which isn’t as slow as the XZ1.

It’s a fun feature, but it can be pretty tricky to use.To use super slow-mo, you’ll first start recording video, then you’ll hit the “super slo-mo” button at the exact moment that you want, after which it’ll start filming at 960 frames per second. The camera only takes slow-motion footage for a few seconds, which means you have to time it all perfectly or you’ll miss the action. It works best in bright daylight, which can be a little limiting, and we would have liked to see a 1,080p resolution — maybe next year.

When it comes to taking photos, we compared the XZ1 closely to the Google Pixel as we had it on hand.  Images weren’t as sharp as those taken by the Pixel, and colors weren’t as saturated — to be fair, the Pixel tends to oversaturate images. We had quite a bit of trouble with the XZ1’s focus: The Pixel was able to latch onto objects and people quickly and easily, but the XZ1 kept shifting focus. The camera’s results are best with landscape shots, which are well detailed with accurate colors.

In low light, the Xperia XZ1 largely could not produce many usable photos.

In low light, the Xperia XZ1 largely could not produce many usable photos. You may be able to achieve better results using the camera’s manual mode and tweak settings, but we were a little disappointed with the results from the automatic mode.

There are some other nifty features in the camera, such as “predictive phase detection autofocus.” It keeps the focus on a moving object and takes a burst of photos. For example, if you wanted to take photos of the front of a train pulling into a station, the XZ1 can keep the focus on the front of the train as it moves closer and closer. This worked pretty well, and while one or two photos were still blurry, we were always able to find great shots within the cluster.

The Sony Xperia XZ1 is built around offering a great camera experience, but so far its best attributes aren’t exactly necessary. We like the object tracking focus and the super slow motion, but an overall improved photography-experience would have been preferred.

Android 8.0 Oreo

The Sony Xperia XZ1 is one of the first devices to ship with Google’s latest and greatest operating system, Android 8.0 Oreo, but Sony has tweaked it heavily for a custom experience.

It’s not a bad-looking theme, but we definitely could have done without the pre-installed apps – and there are plenty of them. From Google-replacement apps, like “Album,” and “News,” to other apps like the PlayStation app, the bloatware is serious on this phone. These extra apps sit next to Google’s ones, so you’re sometimes stuck with two of the same app.

What makes the XZ1 unique is 3D Creator, which allows you to create 3D scans of faces, food, and so on. You can have these scans printed if you own a 3D printer, and if you don’t you can send them to a third-party service straight from the app itself. We found the 3D scanner to be a little tricky to use, and you’ll want both a steady hand and a steady model – but in the end it can produce some cool effects. We like it, but we don’t think it’s going to be popular or widely-used. It’s rather niche.

In general, the software works fine and was responsive, though a little cluttered. If you’re looking for a pure, simple Android experience, look to an HTC, Google, or Motorola phone.

Warranty, price, and availability

Sony offers a one year limited warranty on the Xperia XZ1, which covers failure under normal use and factory defects. It’s important to note that it does not cover standard phone wear and tear or cases of user errors – including accidental damage or dropping your phone in the pool. The phone does offer an IP68 rating – which should allow it to withstand up to 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes.

The Xperia XZ1 is available now on Amazon, but you should know it is only supported on GSM networks such as T-Mobile and AT&T. It does not work on Verizon and Sprint. It costs $700, though it’s already discounted to $650 for some colors.

It can be easy to forget about Sony in the smartphone world. While players like Apple, Samsung, and more recently Google, but you should know it is only supported on GSM networks such as T-Mobile and AT&T. It does not work on Verizon and Sprint. It costs $700, though it’s already discounted to $650 for some colors.

Our Take

The Sony Xperia XZ1 is a good phone. It offers excellent performance and ships with the latest Android 8.0 Oreo. While some of its camera features are little gimmicky, we did enjoy playing around with them, especially the Super Slo-mo. For the price, we expect the camera to be better for photography, and the dated design, lack of a fingerprint sensor, and bloatware and unnecessary blights.

If you’re a Sony phone enthusiast, we recommend waiting until next year. The company said it will introduce a refreshed design ethos for 2018, and we’re optimistic it’ll pull out something interesting.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes, there is. The Samsung Galaxy S8 offers a modern design, excellent camera, and beautiful display. It also keeps the great performance offered by the Xperia XZ1 thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, and it’s slightly cheaper on Amazon right now at $625.

You can even go for a the first-generation Google Pixel, which is now $550 on the Google Store, or the HTC U11.

How long will it last?

The phone performs well, so its performance should hold for at least the next two years. The IP68 water- and dust-resistance rating gives added durability, and there’s no glass on the back so there’s less of a chance to break the phone. We expect two to three years of use here, more if you take care of the phone.

Should you buy it?

Yes. You get good performance, a capable camera with fun features, daylong battery life, and a good display. It’s a little too expensive for what it offers though, and there’s easily better competition. Buy it if you really love taking slow motion videos.

Some Samsung Galaxy S8, S8 Plus owners are randomly missing text messages

Why it matters to you

If you’ve been missing out on texts on your Galaxy S8 smartphone, you’re not the only one. A growing number of Samsung Galaxy S8 owners are reporting such issues.

Perhaps the only thing worse than missing an important text message is missing an entire thread of text messages, but that’s what’s been happening to a few unlucky Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus owners over the past month.

The messaging bug, which is affecting users on all four major U.S. mobile phone networks, as well as users in Canada, Australia, France, and the U.K., seems to interfere with short messaging service (SMS), the protocol responsible for delivering and sending text messages over cellular networks. In a Reddit thread about the texting bug, Galaxy S8 owners report being able to send messages but not being able to receive them, and say that not every text is affected.

“[Galaxy S8 Plus] Orange France. I miss also texts, it is random though,” Masteryoan said. Aquie5t added: “I’m in Australia on Optus and I have had the problem as well. Using both Android Messages and the stock Samsung Messages.”

Culby, another user, said: “Ahhh. I missed some important work texts earlier in the week that resulted in me dragging my ass into the office three hours early, only to find out that I didn’t have to.”

“I know I have missed a couple. Textra on Bell network in Ontario, Canada,” Londave said.

It could be a firmware issue. On problematic Galaxy S8 units, third-party messaging apps don’t fare any better than Samsung’s default app. And at least one Galaxy S7 Edge owner reported missing messages.

“I’m missing a few messages. Galaxy S7 Edge, Android Messages app, AT&T. It caused me to drive an hour out of my way to an event that was canceled via a text that I didn’t receive,” a user going by the name Turbomuffler said.

There’s no permanent fix, but some Galaxy S8 owners have had luck with disabling Advanced Messaging in Samsung’s SMS app, switching off Wi-Fi calling, resetting the Text Messages app, and removing Google’s Android Messages from the Galaxy S8’s battery optimization service. Others report that popping their SIM card — the electronic chip that authenticates subscribers with cell networks — into another smartphone does the trick.

At least one Digital Trends staffer experienced the bug with a Galaxy S8. Separately, The Guardian observed the bug on two separate networks, missing one out of five SMS messages including two-factor authentication codes.

We’ve reached out to Samsung for comment, and we’ll update this article once we hear back.

MIT camera can ‘see’ around corners by analyzing nearly invisible shadows

Why it matters to you

Smart camera technology could be used in autonomous cars or search-and-rescue missions.

If you drive, chances are that you’ve picked up the ability to “see around corners” by looking for visual clues such as another car’s headlights on the road when you’re coming up to a turn. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have been attempting to solve that same problem for autonomous cars, courtesy of a new camera system which uses almost invisible information about light reflections to detect objects or people that are otherwise hidden in a scene, and measure their speed and trajectory — all in real time.

“Our system uses video of how light reflects on the ground to be able to detect moving objects around the corner from the camera,” Katie Bouman, a PhD from MIT CSAIL who worked on the project, told Digital Trends. “For example, imagine walking down an L-shaped hallway, and there’s a wall between you and some objects around the corner. Those objects reflect a very small amount of light on the ground in front of you, which is referred to as the ‘penumbra.’ Because different slices of the hidden scene are being reflected from different points on the ground, you can recover and interpret how light is changing in the hidden scene over time.”

MIT CSAIL

MIT’s system uses video of that penumbra to create a series of one-dimensional images which cumulatively reveal information about things that are moving around the corner. To be clear: The technology isn’t able to see identifying details of particular objects, just the fact that there are moving objects. However, it could still be extraordinarily useful.

“The ability to see around obstructions would be valuable for many tasks, including emergency response and self-driving cars,” Bouman continued. “For instance, someday we could use this sort of technology to alert drivers to pedestrians who are about to dart out into the road. There’s also the possibility of using it in hostage situations [or] in search-and-rescue, like when firefighters are trying to find people in burning buildings.”

Next up, the lab hopes to get this technology working for cameras that are attached to moving objects (kind of a vital step when you’re dealing with car technology!), as well as making it sufficiently robust to account for light conditions that are constantly changing. The tech is unlikely to be ready for commercialization any time soon, but there’s no reason why CornerCameras — as MIT is calling the technology — couldn’t one day be as integral a part of our cars as parking sensors.

WhatsApp flaw lets hackers find out who you’re talking to, when you go to sleep

Why it matters to you

If you’re a WhatsApp user, your online status could be used to see who you’re talking to and when you go to sleep.

WhatsApp is a great way to connect with your friends and family around the world, but it turns out it may also be a great way for a hacker or stalker to keep tabs on when two people are communicating. That’s thanks to a new flaw discovered in the app by software engineer Rob Heaton, who was able to exploit the flaw by creating a Chrome extension with a minimal four lines of code.

The flaw came about because of the fact that as part of WhatsApp, your “online” status — whether you’re online or not — can be checked by any of your contacts. What that means is that when you go offline and then come back online to read a message, that action is being logged. Those online and offline actions from both participants in the conversation can then be correlated to identify when two people are messaging each other.

The code could even be tweaked to correlate more than two people messaging each other, and while that would require a little more code, the principle remains the same. Using the data collected, Heaton was even able to identify when users were going to sleep by seeing their first and last “online” statuses for the day.

Unfortunately, there’s really nothing you can do to prevent hackers from being able to spy on you in this manner. Using WhatsApp, you can set the app to show your “last seen” statuses to either everyone, only contacts, or no one, but no such feature exists for your online status, leaving things somewhat open.

Heaton went on to note that it would be pretty easy for this information to be collected on a mass scale, then sold to companies for the purpose of advertising. For example, people with strange sleeping patterns might be good candidates for sleeping pill advertisements.

While this is certainly a privacy issue, it’s not clear if WhatsApp will ever make a fix. The online status feature has been a part of WhatsApp since its inception, and the company may not want to change it. Still, it would be pretty easy to allow users to choose who sees their online status, as they can with their “last seen” status.

Huawei testing Android Oreo on Mate 9 with public beta

Huawei is looking for 250 individuals to test out Oreo on the Mate 9 between now and November 3.

We’re less than a week away from the Mate 10’s unveiling, but before Huawei shows off its latest and greatest flagship to the world, the company is giving some Oreo love to last year’s Mate 9.

Huawei just opened a beta program in which it’s looking for 250 applicants to test out a beta version of Android 8.0 Oreo for the Mate 9. There doesn’t appear to be any regional restrictions to apply for the beta, and it’ll run from today (October 10) through November 3. Huawei doesn’t exactly say what’ll happen after November 3, but this is likely when it’ll finalize the software and put any finishing touches on the build of Oreo before releasing it to all Mate 9 owners.

If you want to sign up for the beta yourself for a shot at using Oreo on the Mate 9 before everyone else, the process is quite simple. Download the Friendly User Test app from Huawei’s website, launch the app, log in with your Huawei ID, and then choose which beta you want to join.

A fair amount of bugs are to be expected as with any sort of unfished software, so keep that in mind before getting too eager about applying for the beta if the Mate 9 is your daily driver.

Android Oreo

• Android Oreo review!
• Everything new in Android Oreo
• How to get Android Oreo on your Pixel or Nexus
• Oreo will make you love notifications again
• Will my phone get Android Oreo?
• Join the Discussion

Android Wear features can now be added faster with Play Store updates

Android Wear 2.0’s new update process is here, and new features are expected to be available “in the coming months.”

Although Google introduced a lot of new features and UI elements with the Android Wear 2.0 update in February, the platform is still in an awkward position. There’s no true Android Wear flagship from Google like we have with the Pixel, and despite all the progress made with 2.0, there’s still work to be done for the OS itself.

Timely software updates are critical for any platform, and Google is striving to make these much speedier and efficient with the new ability for features to now be added to Android Wear 2.0 via Play Store updates. In other words, Google will be able to introduce bug fixes and add entirely new features via a simple update to the Android Wear app on your phone via the Play Store rather than having to push out an entire OTA upgrade for your watch.

Googler Hoi Lam shared on Google+ that many new updates would be coming to Android Wear via this new delivery system in the coming months, and the latest update to the Android Wear app adds the following items:

• 3rd party chat app support in Contacts
• Reduce accidental entry into the watch face picker
• Improve Play Store discoverability for new users
• Other features and bug fixes

Lam didn’t dive into what other sorts of features we can expect to see in the next few months, and while this one change won’t completely revive Android Wear on its own, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

Android Wear

• Everything you need to know about Android Wear 2.0
• LG Watch Sport review
• LG Watch Style review
• These watches will get Android Wear 2.0
• Discuss Android Wear in the forums!