Twitter looks to score a goal with new deal for Major League Soccer games

The social media giants are continuing with efforts to bring live sports action to their users, with both Twitter and Facebook announcing deals in recent days.

While Facebook focuses on Major League Baseball with live coverage of 25 games starting this year, Twitter has inked a three-year deal with Major League Soccer to show at least 24 games live on its platform. The first kicked off on Saturday and featured Real Salt Lake’s clash with LAFC. (The expansion LAFC hammered hosts RSL 5-1.)

Twitter’s live soccer action is viewable only within the United STates, but fans around the world can enjoy regular highlights and special features by following top American soccer teams and players via MLS’s Twitter handles @MLS and @FutbolMLS. The two outfits will also work together to produce exclusive content for the league’s big events, including the MLS All-Star Game, Heineken Rivalry Week, Decision Day, and the MLS Cup, according to Variety.

The MLS website shows all of the upcoming games lined up for Twitter. The feed comes from the Spanish-language Univision TV network, though on Twitter the games will be shown with English commentary.

The deal is a win for soccer fans interested in the domestic league, while Twitter will be hoping the partnership can draw more people to its platform as it continues to diversify its offerings and further explore live video content. The strategy also has the potential to increase engagement with the platform — important for Twitter if it’s to attract advertisers to the platform and maintain current contracts.

“We are excited to collaborate with Major League Soccer to bring live soccer matches and video highlights to Twitter,” said Kay Madati, global head of content partnerships at Twitter, adding, “Passionate MLS fans will now have live match day action alongside real-time commentary from experts and fellow fans all in one place.”

Chris Schlosser, senior vice president of media at MLS, said his organization “constantly strives to connect with fans in new and innovative ways. Our fans are the youngest and most socially engaged in pro sports, which is why we are excited to partner with Twitter to feature live matches on their platform.”

As we mentioned at the top, Twitter’s deal comes just as Facebook announced a partnership with the MLB for 24 live games, starting in April. Digging a little deeper, we also see that Facebook actually had the rights to the MLS games last season, but this year Twitter has stepped in to score a new deal.

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A consumer drone crashed and burned, and then caused a wildfire

Some of the damage caused by the wildfire.

Coconino National Forest

Consumer drones have been causing problems for air-based firefighters tackling wildfires over the last few years, with a number of rogue operators determined to use their camera-equipped flying machines to capture dramatic footage of burning land.

Earlier this month, however, there was an unusual incident in Arizona where a drone actually caused a wildfire. Local media reports suggest the blaze started accidentally when the drone crashed on a dry patch of land.

The March 6 fire began close to Kendrick Park, about 15 miles north of Flagstaff, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It burned more than 200 acres of forest land but fortunately was contained within a day through the efforts of around 30 firefighters. No injuries or significant property damage was reported.

Law enforcement hasn’t released details about the make of the drone or precisely how the fire started, though it has identified the pilot who flew it, according to the Arizona Daily Sun.

Punishment for causing a wildfire varies, but the apparently accidental nature of this particular incident should give the pilot hope that any penalty won’t be too severe.

The incident appears to be the first reported case of a consumer drone causing a wildfire. And as we mentioned at the top, when it comes to such blazes, the machines are more often in the news for hampering firefighting efforts rather than actually causing a wildfire itself.

The drones pose a risk to manned aircraft tackling the blaze, and in some cases have caused air-based firefighting efforts to be suspended until the drone flies away from the scene or the pilot is caught.

During devastating fires in northern California last October, for example, Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant told CNBC that “over the years … this problem [has] become a trend.”

The Federal Aviation Administration warns drone pilots they could face “significant” fines if they disrupt emergency response efforts with their machines.

Officials in Canada, meanwhile, have embraced the technology for wildfire investigations, with the government of Alberta working with drone company Elevated Robotic Services in 2016 to fly the machines over a burned area in the province to assess the damage and determine how the fire started.

Elevated’s quadcopters use regular HD cameras together with infrared and ultraviolet devices to gather images that are later stitched together as part of a so-called “fire mapping” process. The imagery is analyzed and can place the location of a fire’s origin to within 9-meters, a far more focused area than can be achieved using helicopters, which have to fly at a higher altitude for safety as well as to prevent the blades from fanning any remaining flames and causing additional disturbance to the scene.

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This bug-like robot is learning to improvise on the go

In the world of robotics, one of the most commonly studied types of creatures are insects, and there are lots of of robots attempting to replicate the movement patterns of various creepy crawlies. One thing that even the most advanced A.I. currently has trouble with is improvisation. Insects might not be the most intelligent creatures to inhabit this planet, but they can still adapt to new situations, which is something that a lot of A.I. has trouble with. And now a new robot from Tokyo Tech provides a fresh look at how robotics is taking cues from nature.

“Perhaps the most exciting moment in the research was when we observed the robot exhibit phenomena and gaits which we neither designed nor expected, and later found out also exist in biological insects,” lead researcher Ludovico Minati said in a press release.

Theoretically, you could program an A.I. with a way to respond to one of thousands of pre-programmed situations. The Tokyo Tech team believes that there must be a simpler way, since insects are capable of responding to new situations despite being less than intelligent.

The insectoid machine does make use of a pattern generator, but it is still a simpler approach than than the one used by a lot of robotics. The pattern generator sends a master signal to the oscillators, which control the legs. From there, the robot simply needs to tweak one of its five pre-programmed responses to create something new.

“An important aspect of the controller is that it condenses so much complexity into only a small number of parameters. These can be considered high-level parameters, in that they explicitly set the gait, speed, posture, etc.,” said Yasaharu Koike. “Because they can be changed dynamically, in the future it should be easy to vary them in real-time using a brain-computer interface, allowing the control of complex kinematics otherwise impossible to dominate with current approaches.”

Aside from simply being an interesting development in the field of robotics, this technology could have practical applications as well. The team is hopeful that this will make it easier to use robots for tasks that involve traversing unfamiliar terrain, since they can more easily adapt to their surroundings.

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Audiophiles belong on Android. Here’s what I learned from switching over

For audio geeks like myself, September 9, 2016 is a day that will live in infamy. Apple’s presentation that morning was supposed to be about the iPhone 7, but all I heard was “no more headphone jack.” Apple’s choice to go all wireless for headphones forged a new mold and cemented a headphone-jackless future for the iPhone. Was the company nuts? Of course not. Apple doesn’t make mistakes, it innovates … and never looks back.

While most of the world looked on in relative apathy, sound enthusiasts like myself saw the writing on the wall: Nixing the heaphone jack was the latest move in Apple’s feature-evisceration strategy.

Beginning with its laptops, I’ve watched hard connectivity options evaporate, from audio-focused ports like Firewire (which interfaces with legacy recording studio gear), to universal options like HDMI outputs, ethernet, and even power ports.

With each move, Apple basically said, “We’re Apple, deal with it. Where you gonna go? You’re one of us.”

The answer was: “I’m going to the competition.” Time to switch to Android.

A speedy switch

My transition didn’t happen immediately. Apart from the prohibitive cost of a new phone (and the warm, lazy waters of procrastination), the fact that Apple gave me a replacement iPhone 6 due to a screen issue gave me time to reflect. But, as more and more Android phones followed suit and cut the jack, I was forced to make a move. Ultimately, a (somewhat) gently used LG V30 fell in my lap — and if any phone could supplant my trusty iPhone, this glass-backed beauty boasting high-end audio components had to be it, right? I dove for the V30, and prepared myself for the plunge.

Leaving the so-called walled garden for the open expanses of Android is easier said than done.

Jumping ship wasn’t nearly as difficult as I expected; Google helped. Android (in the V30 version, at least) makes it simple to backup iPhone wares into Google’s own cloud, perfectly aligned with the many other Google products in my life like Gmail, Google Drive, and Hangouts (formerly Gchat). Google Maps has always been better than Apple Maps, and the wide variety of other available apps helped fill in the gaps quickly.

When it comes to daily use, though, leaving the so-called walled garden for the open expanses of Android is easier said than done. We’re talking about floating over to a whole new cloud (on the surface anyway), migrating contacts, notes, apps, etc. And, of course, there’s the whole issue of teaching a 38-year-old dog new tricks. There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to replace her. I’ve only had my Android for a few weeks now, and I’m still adjusting.

The perils of going green

The biggest “hardship” for me (as expected) has been ditching iMessage, in which virtually every Apple-loving friend and family member in my circle (including my wife) is deeply invested. I had to immediately take my phone number off my iMessage account so I didn’t miss messages, and while Hangouts makes for a great replacement, especially on a computer, when it comes to texting I’m now an outlier. Picture messages and videos come in as downloads (which take forever), and people continue asking me if I switched phones weeks later as my green SMS messages roll into their blue-patterned screens.

The notification system has also taken some getting used to – it took a while for me to realize I could quickly double-tap my lock screen for the latest messages, and I’m still learning to interpret the myriad tea-leaf icons in the info bar up top. Many app icons, from Slack to Gmail, don’t show an on-screen message count, which I find vexing. I’m told this may change with Android Oreo, but that’s another issue; Android doesn’t update all at once. Unlike the Pixel 2 and Samsung Galaxy 9, my V30 doesn’t yet have Oreo.

There are other V30-specific issues, as well. Visual voicemail isn’t built in, which is just weird. Instead, I get a basic notification that points me to a number to call like some outpost answering service. There are, of course, third-party apps offering feature-packed visual voicemail, but I’m somehow reluctant to give them access (and besides, who leaves voicemails these days?). For now I’ve decided to go without it.

The screen dimmer doesn’t work as well as my iPhone’s either, and while I love the big, bezel-less display, it doesn’t look as clean or clear as my iPhone’s screen. Though the phone feels skinny in my pocket, it feels massive in my hand, forcing me to deploy both hands while browsing. It’s a pretty big phone.

Other than these stumbling blocks, the adjustment has been about the little things — call it new-phone culture shock. Just the other morning, running late for work, I realized I hadn’t yet download Lyft or Uber (I know, I sometimes use Uber!), forcing me to dig up my iPhone and hail one via Wi-Fi in a scramble.

Glorious sound, uncharted ground

Most of those quibbles fade away, however, when I pull out my go-to headphones — currently my 3D form-fitted UE18+ from Ultimate Ears Pro — and plug in. Even for those well versed in hi-res music players, listening to the V30 with good headphones is a phenomenal experience. Clean, clear, warm, and dynamic sound pours from the jack — no adapter required. Instruments are brilliantly separated, and expertly reproduced. In short, it’s the kind of sound I used to expect from Apple products, and always hoped for in an iPhone.

Nixing the headphone jack was the latest move in Apple’s feature-evisceration strategy.

It’s not just the sound quality, either. Unlike Apple phones (and most others) the V30’s high-end DAC also allows for a wide, 100-point swath of volume gradients. This means, while plugged in, you’re no longer beholden to Goldilocks volume issues (this one’s too loud, that one’s too quiet). Instead, you’ve got dozens of granular points at your disposal, just like you would with hi-res player from Sony or Astell & Kern. On the other end, I can even record in high resolution.

My new Android companion has other cool tricks up its sleeve, too. You may have noticed I haven’t once mentioned the lack of a home button (which the iPhone X also cut). That’s because the V30’s back button is a solution so brilliant, I barely noticed the change. I even find myself fumbling for the back button along my iPhone whenever I pick it up. In addition, while it may not match the iPhone X, my new camera is a noticeable step up, and there are other upgrades that come with a new flagship phone, like wireless charging, and (say it with me) waterproofing.

One of the biggest advantages of going Android, though, is much more basic: Choice. I’m all about the sound, so the V30 is right for me, but that may not be your thing. Luckily, there are dozens of Android phones, many of which come with their own specialties and stunning designs that rival anything from Apple. And while some hardware and apps are iOS-only, Android offers a cacophony of apps outside the iOS lair, many of which provide control and customization in ways I’m just beginning to explore. This new territory comes with setbacks and annoyances, but also a chance to gaze upon exciting new horizons.

Breaking free

Of course, I still miss my iPhone sometimes, and who knows? I may even go back someday. Apple pulled the plug far too early, but improvements in wireless audio like aptX HD and LDAC (neither of which the iPhone currently supports, by the way) prove that fidelity can be part and parcel with wireless convenience. Jackless or not, the fact is that Apple has always made products with gorgeous style and exciting features in the past, and it will continue to do so.

Clear, dynamic sound comes pouring from from the V30 — no adapter required.

Still, the company’s penchant for removing features as it adds new ones — from its port-less laptops to its jack-less phones — is unfortunate and, in some cases, inexplicable. Whether you’re steeped in legacy home studio gear, annoyed by the demands of multiple dongles, or simply unable to spend up for wireless headphones, your part of a crew who prove that a need for these simple connection options still exists. With each move to eliminate these features, Apple is basically saying to us, “Yeah, sorry about that. Now give us more money.”

A company’s decision to kill a technology affects all of us. It isn’t about “courage,” it’s about selling $150 AirPods and born-to-break lightning-jack dongles.

I had to leave the iPhone and I only occasionally look back. For now, I’m happier for it.

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This inventive ad is how all phones should be advertised

Most TV commercials for smartphones, and many other pieces of modern technology, concentrate on pushing the “features-and-benefits” in an established, easy to understand way. Throw in a celebrity or two, an upbeat piece of music, and some monolithic shots of the device itself, and another day is complete at Cookie Cutter Media, the ad agency everyone seems to use. Not so for Chinese phone brand AGM. A mystery ad executive somewhere was tasked with bringing attention to its AGM X2 rugged phone, and decided not to do so with some people enjoying a day on the mountain, or out sailing; but in a wonderfully silly, slightly sci-fi way. It’s the way all phones should be advertised.

The advert was released at the beginning of the year and has recently gained attention internationally, thanks to several helpful translations posted on YouTube and elsewhere. It follows a woman whose husband tragically dies young, but doctors are able to seemingly place his consciousness inside a phone — the AGM X2 — that she can carry around and interact with her departed husband as if he was still alive. Because this is a phone ad, the X2’s rugged features are demonstrated in the, shall we say, unusual scenarios that follow.

Why is it so great? The actress taking the lead overacts in exactly the right fashion, the gang leader and his goons that make an appearance later on are perfect stereotypes, and the overwrought music is used at just the right moments. It is, without a doubt, a glorious celebratory mash-up of many cheap sci-fi films, slapstick comedies, and delirious drama movies which end up as cult classics. We think a lot of people had fun making the ad, and we had fun watching it. Way more so than seeing Zooey Decshanel ask Siri if it’s raining, and yet another feeble dig at the competition from Samsung.

Has it made you want to buy an AGM X2? You’ll have to import one and pay $515 if so, but you will get an IP68 water resistant phone with shock protection, a Snapdragon 835, dual rear cameras, a 6,000mAh battery, and a volatile organic compound sensor for detecting air quality, much like the new Cat S1.

Oh, and just in case you think all AGM’s commercials are as fun as this one; sadly it’s not the case. A more serious ad for the AGM X2 shows the phone at the North Pole. It’s undeniably cool, but we think Cookie Cutter Media had a hand in its creation.

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Squaw Valley is going completely green with renewable energy

Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows is an internationally acclaimed ski resort located in North Lake Tahoe, California. The resort encompasses 6,000 skiable acres across two mountains and was voted the ‘Best Ski Resort’ by USA Today for the second year in a row. But the resort isn’t just dedicated to providing great skiing to its visitors — it’s also completely focused on reducing its carbon footprint.

In a dynamic partnership with Liberty Utilities, Squaw Valley recently announced it would power the resort with 100 percent clean, renewable energy sources by as early as December 2018 — reducing its carbon footprint by nearly 50 percent. But how and why exactly it plans on making the shift goes further than a simple pledge. Rather, Squaw Valley president Andy Wirth told us that he sees turning to renewable energy as more of a moral or ethical decision — a characteristic of the resort’s purpose.

Sustainability at its core

Since its founding, the company’s remained proactive in reducing its carbon footprint however possible. It’s tightened up its buildings by replacing light bulbs, implemented rideshare and carpool incentive programs, and transitioned to using recycled diesel for its snowcats and vehicles. One of its most well-known initiatives is the elimination of single-use plastic water bottle sales. Squaw Valley is also heavily engaged in the development of mass transit solutions for the region.

“…we have this fundamental ethos that is this constant drive to reduce our carbon footprint”

“We have a few specific programs to which you can point but I think it’s really more valuable to understand we have this fundamental ethos that is this constant drive to reduce our carbon footprint — it’s representative of our values,” Wirth told to Digital Trends.

Beginning in 2010, Squaw Valley’s utility company Liberty Utilities owned a power purchase agreement (PPA) that was five years in duration. During this period, Squaw Valley saw power sourcing which looked very similar to Nevada’s. In other words, it was a less than desirable system due to the lack of renewable energy. The resort’s energy grid was powered primarily by low-quality coal that went into a plant without a scrubber. Once the company found out about this, it joined forces with Liberty to transition to cleaner forms of energy.

A new era

“The great news is that on the morning of January 1, 2016, we turned on our lights and there was no longer a use for coal,” Wirth explained. “We filled the void of coal with natural gas — which is still kind of old school — but we kept the pressure on. We’re fortunate to have such an understanding and progressive utility company that will work with us on our mission of reducing our carbon footprint.”

In response to Squaw Valley’s request, Liberty built a 50-megawatt solar array in Luning, Nevada which will soon be complemented by the 10-megawatt Turquoise solar facility in Reno. Squaw Valley is currently powered by a minimum of 25 percent to an upwards of 30 percent renewable energy sources — and this is just the beginning. Its continued initiatives and collaboration with Liberty will bridge the remaining 75 percent gap until the resort reaches its full 100 percent goal.

The initiative isn’t just about measures of environmental sustainability, either — it also makes for good business. There’s available land that’s affordable and it’s not terribly far away, attributing greatly to its convenience.

“We think we’ll see our energy costs reduced over time by moving to 100 percent renewable energy,” Wirth added. “It appeals to my Chief Sustainability Officer as much as it appeals to my Chief Financial Officer. I think that is Environmentalism 5.0.”

It’s clear Squaw Valley plans to focus efforts on strategic solutions which benefit the resort and its surrounding community — of which is highlighted by its partnership with Liberty. The primary forms of renewable energy are solar, biomass, wind, and geothermal. Although any combination of renewables could be used to power the resort, Wirth told us that based on an evaluation of cost and availability, solar power makes the most sense.

Looking ahead

A transition to 100 percent renewable energy is a drastic one. To do it by the end of the year is also way ahead of what’s being suggested in recent legislation. For instance, Senate Bill 100 aims for 100 percent of total retail sales of electricity in California to come via eligible renewable energy and zero-carbon resources by December 31, 2045. However, this is expected to be reconsidered in California’s upcoming legislative session.

“We actually have to do these things right now to reverse the effects of climate change.”

This drastic transition won’t mean any changes in operations at Squaw Valley as the company still runs its own business and reserves the right to operate it successfully. Wirth pointed out that Squaw Valley is a value-driven company and part of its values include economic liability and sustainability as much as environmental sustainability.

“Solar allows us to move away from the debaucheries of commodity exchanges,” he said. “It’s a solid state and over time it’s going to be less expensive. It’s ultimately good for our business from a financial perspective.”

One of the efforts highlighting Squaw Valley’s energy initiatives is the Olympic Valley project. Liberty Utility’s Olympic Valley residential and commercial consumers are drastically impacted by Mother Nature, commonly resulting in area electric outages. The Olympic Valley Project would leverage state-of-the-art battery storage technology to create a new way to store surplus energy and deliver it to the utility’s grid.

As of now, Liberty and Squaw Valley are exploring potential sites on their property for the proposed storage tech — as is Tesla, the company responsible for manufacturing the actual storage system. The Olympic Valley Project is just one part of Squaw Valley’s renewable energy goals and the proposed microgrid won’t just assist resort operations — it will also have a positive impact on its surrounding community. The use of battery technology could provide for an additional source of power for homes and businesses on the grid when needed.

The bottom line

“The magic sauce is renewable energy attached to affordable energy storage,” Wirth acknowledged. “There’s a lot of climate change advocates but it’s not enough to advocate. We actually have to do these things right now to reverse the effects of climate change. This really isn’t about us or Tesla or Liberty Utilities — this is a roadmap that can make this happen. Affordable, renewable energy is available right now, so why wait?”

Squaw Valley’s transition to 100 percent renewable energy by the end of 2018 is both a statement and incentive for other businesses to follow suit. The proposed change reduces its carbon footprint from 13,078 metric tons to an estimated 6,682 metric tons. Though this is just the beginning, it’s already making an impact as several competing ski resorts have already reached out to Liberty Utilities for information on similar projects.

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Evidence shows Google may change Android Wear name to Wear OS

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Google may change the name of its Android Wear platform to Wear OS, according to evidence discovered inside the latest Google Play Services app update, and the Android P Developer Preview software. Android Wear is Google’s operating system for wearable devices, including smartwatches. The potential name change was spotted by an Android Wear watch owner during the device setup process, and a screenshot was posted on Reddit mentioning the new name, plus a new logo.

In the Google Play Services app update taking it to version 12.4, a notification alerting owners of a nearby watch to pair replaces the Android Wear name with Wear OS. In version 12.5, a beta version to accompany Android P developer preview, the Wear OS name is accompanied by a new logo which looks like a stylized letter W. The logo uses lines and dots in color schemes reminiscent of other Google logos, in particular Google Assistant. The notification alert also mentions a Wear OS app, which indicates the Android Wear app will also be rebranded.

If Android Wear becomes Wear OS, it will be the latest in a string of high-profile rebranding exercises from Google, with the change from Android Pay to Google Pay being the most recent. This brought several Google payment systems together under one name, simplifying the experience for everyone, and providing a single, unified name and app. What would prompt Google to change the name of Android Wear?

There has been no official announcement of Wear OS, or any confirmation a change will come, so it’s speculation for now. Removing the Android name may help people better understand watches with Android Wear installed work with iOS devices too — which wasn’t the case when Android Wear first arrived — but could also be part of a larger revamp of the platform and device ecosystem. Google hasn’t paid much attention to Android Wear recently, ignoring it during Google I/O last year, and failing to produce a benchmark smartwatch along the lines of its Pixel phones. It even removed Android Wear watches from the Play Store.

Google’s annual developer conference will take place in May this year, and may bring some more news, or if new hardware is part of the plan, we may have to wait for the public release of Android P and any new Pixel phones later in 2018 to learn more.

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What are you hoping to see in the Google Pixel 3?

Google’s next big thing.

Google mostly knocked it out of the park with its Pixel 2 series, but large bezels on the small Pixel 2 and a lackluster screen on the Pixel 2 XL kept them back from true greatness for some buyers.

We’re anticipating Google to unveil its Pixel 3 lineup later this fall, and while the rumor mill is still fairly quiet regarding the phone, that hasn’t stopped some of our forum users from talking about what their hoping/expecting to see in the upcoming phone.

Without further ado, here’s what people are saying.

cbreze
03-10-2018 06:53 PM

“

The pixel line already rings all my bells and for ‘me’ it is the best android out there. Boomsound would just be more icing on the cake. I think phone speakers will continue to improve and device makers are always looking for some new innovations to best the competition. So anything is posible. Even me keeping the Pixel 2 for 2 years is possible. Not sure what they could addd to it to make it…

Reply

chriskwarren
03-10-2018 08:27 PM

“

Will be interesting to see what they come up with. My predictions (not to be confused with a wish list):

1. a notch at the top
2. dual cameras
3. IP68

Battery will be about the same. Wireless charging may make a showing as well because of Apple. The Apple notch is a guess because Google seems to be trying hard to make it work. Might see a dark theme too.

Reply

Jaycemiskel
03-10-2018 09:10 PM

“

I think they’ll put a notch in, unfortunately. I hope they don’t, but it seems likely that they will. Andrew and Alex from the site both think so as well from what I gathered on the podcast. I’m looking forward to the 2 cameras that they’ll likely do.

I think from now on I’ll get a Pixel and a Galaxy every year. Just alternate between using them as I feel like it.

Reply

enderhexfyre
03-11-2018 09:46 AM

“

At the end of the day regardless of design most of us buy the Nexus/ pixel phones for the pure up to date Android software. The design and any extra features are not going to make or break my purchase decision. Just my 2 cents.

Reply

With that said, we now want to hear from you — What would you like to see in the Pixel 3?

Join the conversation in the forums!

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You’ll soon be able to use Allo’s web client independent of your phone

Is this too little too late for Allo?

In Google’s neverending quest to create the perfect messaging service, Allo is one of its most, interesting, attempts. There’s a lot that Allo gets right, but at the same time, there are features that are totally absent that you can find in Hangouts and Google Voice.

Allo finally got a web client last August, and while this was a step forward, it has one big caveat — you need to have your phone turned on and connected to data/Wi-Fi in order for it to work. Thankfully, according to the head of Google Duo, Justin Uberti, this is something that should be changing in the near future.

When asked about this on Twitter, Uberti said:

Yes, we are in the process of migrating the backend system to support completely independent devices.

— Justin Uberti (@juberti) March 8, 2018

Once Google implements this change, you should be able to use Allo on your computer without having to touch your phone. This is something that should have been there in the first place, but as the saying goes, better late than never.

Download: Google Allo (free)

Android P first impressions: Everything’s going to be okay

This is still the Android we know and love.

“The settings are too colorful.”

“How dare they support screens with notches.”

“The time is on the LEFT??? WHAAATTTT!!!!”

If you’ve spent any amount of time reading up on Android P’s first developer preview, chances are you’ve come across comments along these lines. Some of the changes found in DP1 have left many Android users shaking with fear and anger, and while some of the design tweaks are questionable, there’s nothing here worth breaking a sweat over.

Google will release three other developer previews before Android P goes public, meaning much of what we’re seeing right now will likely change and become a lot more polished by launch day. With that in mind and based on what we’re seeing so far, these are my initial impressions of Android P.

Confession: I like the new UI

Android P looks very similar compared to Oreo, but there are a couple key differences that have been throwing people for a loop – the quick settings panel and settings page.

In Android P, quick settings have adopted a rounded, more colorful aesthetic with circular icons and blue accent colors in favor of the white and gray ones currently found in Oreo. It’s been referred to as “cartoony” and “childish”, but I honestly don’t hate it. The new look gives Android a bit more personality, and it blends nicely with Google’s Material Design.

The settings page has seen similar treatment, too. The search bar at the top has rounded corners, and the icons for each settings page have been turned into circles – each one with its own unique color. It’s quite the change from Oreo’s monochrome color palette, but again, it’s something I’m on board with.

A lot of what we’re seeing so far in Android P shows an evolution in Material Design. Things are becoming more rounded and circular, there are more splashes of color where things used to be gray, and the notification tray and home screen dock have more card-like designs. This is likely our first glimpse at Material Design 2.0, and I personally can’t wait to see more of it.

Android’s already great notifications are getting even better

One of Android’s most underrated yet critically important features is its handling of notifications. Android’s already years ahead of iOS in this department, and with Android P, they’re going to get even better.

Android P will allow apps to show full pictures/stickers in the notification panel, and even more exciting, smart/quick replies are being added as well. This looks very similar to Google’s recently launched Reply app, and having this functionality built into Android by default is awesome.

For someone like myself that uses their phone mostly for work purposes, notifications play an essential part in my day-to-day routine. Android already makes it easy to sift through a heap of piled-up notifications, and the new features P is touting off will only make managing these even easier.

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes

Those user-facing features are enticing enough on their own, but just like Oreo, there’s much more going on behind the scenes that’ll help elevate the user experience day after day. I won’t run through every single change, but some of the ones I’m looking forward to the most include:

• Autofill will work with web browsers by default
• Moving your cursor when editing text has a zoom-in effect so you can more easily see what you’re doing
• Do Not Disturb is much simpler. Instead of messing with three different profiles, you now just turn it on and choose what notifications you want to hear
• Pixel 2’s Always-on-Display now shows your battery percentage at the bottom of the screen
• New screenshot button when holding down power button w/ built-in editing tools
• A microphone on the Google Search bar in Pixel Launcher to prompt the Google Assistant

More could change with the Pixel 3

In addition to the changes and polish we’ll see with future developer previews, there’s a good chance Google will have even more software treats for us when it launches the Pixel 3.

Even after Oreo’s public release, the Pixel 2 was the first phone to introduce the Google Search bar below the app dock, the At A Glance widget, the dark theme that appears based on the wallpaper you use, etc.

All of Android P’s main features/changes will be out in the wild by the time of its public release in Q3 of this year, but don’t be surprised if Google has a couple more goodies up its sleeve to show off alongside its new hardware.

Take it easy

Like I’ve mentioned a couple times already, the Android P we’re seeing right now with Developer Preview 1 is by no means a resemblance of what the finished product will be like. A good deal of the features will remain intact, but any rough edges we’re seeing will be polished up and gone within the coming months.

Even with that being the case, I’m already liking a lot of what I’m seeing. The new design tweaks might take some time to get used to, but like I mentioned in my Android P wish list, it’s about time Google gives Android a visual refresh.

Add this updated look together with all of the small features going on behind the scenes, and we could very well be looking at one of the best Android releases in some time.

I don’t know about you, but I’m damn excited to see where we go from here.

Android P: Top 6 things you need to know!