Google Play Music's most annoying Swipe-to-delete gesture bug fixed

Google Play Music, the Android’s no.1 music player was recently updated on Google Play owning a new version model with fixed bugs and other usual features.

There has been one annoying bug, users of Google Play Music has frequently reported on Google Play, saying the swipe-to-delete gesture could make one lost an unfamiliar track to the air forever.

The Swipe-to-delete gesture is a very useful feature of Google Play Music, with it, users can be able to delete songs in a playlist or discard them from the queue with just a single swipe. While it might have been a very cool idea and stress-free rather than tapping the options button, one could often delete songs simply when trying to scroll through a playlist, that doesn't sound good.

According to one Reddit user, the swipe-to-delete gesture on Google Play Music used to be difficult to use, you can unintentionally delete unfamiliar songs and lost them forever simply because you were trying to scroll through a playlist. Though an “undo” button pop-up might help bring back the deleted song(s),  it's not always successful because you might miss-time the tap on the “undo” button.

Also Read: Google Home Mini Smart Speaker review- Does it truly worth $49?

Thankfully, the app was updated earlier this week with a new version. The latest version 8.5.6542-1.Y of Google Play Music comes with no additional feature but a fix to the bug reported earlier. Reddit users have confirmed the swipe-to-delete gesture to have been fixed with the new version.

Now, we are having the cool and bug-free Google Music player app available on Google Play for safety download.
Haven't used Google Play Music before? This should be the right time to get involved with the app and enjoy its amazing features. You can download the new version of Google Play Music from Google Play directly from here.

However, there are other amazing Android Music player apps with equalizer support available on Google Play. Why not click here to know my five best Android Music Players?

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Android Oreo 8.1 developer preview is now available

Is Android Oreo getting an update so soon?

Not so long the Android 8.0 Oreo was released on the Android platform, and so soon we're expecting an update to the Oreo operating system.

Introducing the Android version 8.1 Oreo OS. Google has recently released its developer review. for now, only Android Beta Program users can test it. Meanwhile, the 8.1 Oreo is expected to roll out in December. 

The Android version 8.1 Oreo is very easy to install, though Google has made some slight changes making it different from the way we install previous versions of Android Operating Systems.

On the Android website, Google has made its Developer Preview OTA downloads page to redirect to the normal factory image page not making users to access the OTA download links.

With this change Google has made, flashing of OTAs may not be the only method of installing the Android Oreo v8.1 instead, you can choose to download and flash the full factory image if you happen to have an unlocked bootloader, or you can simply register for the Android Beta Program while you wait to get a notification about the over-the-air (OTA) update, though it won't take long to be released.

Note that the developer preview is only compatible with the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel, Pixel XL, and Pixel C.

Read also: Specs, price and released date of Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL

If you don't have any of these smartphones just like me, let's have our hands crossed while we wait for the OTA updates to be unleashed, then we shall enjoy same benefits like others. Meanwhile, if I should come across the benefits of this Android 8.1 Oreo and have confirmed them to be genuine, I won't hesitate to share them with you on this blog.

That should be all for now, I'm still finding more resourceful info from reliable sources. Thanks a lot for visiting Oshetech, please do come back.

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Google Home Mini review-A smart speaker for you at $49

Why Google Home Mini Speakers? Learn the things you can do with Google new home mini speakers having its tagged price as $45

Thinking of improving your music experience? Why not try out the newly released Google Home Mini Speakers?

Some days ago, early this month, on October 4 Google held an event in California which everyone knew the Pixel 2 & 2 XL smartphones would be launched during the event. Meanwhile, not only the Pixel smartphones got launched that day, but also the Google Home Mini Wireless speakers and other products.

In this post, I have discussed the features and/or specifications of Google Home Mini Speakers and see if it truly worths the $45 price tag Google said it would be sold for.

The Google Home Mini Speaker as it is called connects wirelessly to your home gadgets. The connection can be achieved either by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth as it uses the Bluetooth v4.1 connectivity.
It also supports internet connection,
has Chromecast Audio built in for the playing of audio files.

Apart from using the Google Home Mini voice-controlled speaker for playing music and control home gadgets, it can as well be used to create calendar events, update shopping list, respond to trivia questions, or even play video formats on a screen compatible with Chromecast.

That's not all, Google recently added new features to the Home Mini speaker allowing you perform some tasks which include; the use of Home Mini speaker to find your phone if you've left it somewhere in your home, and also you can now make phone calls from the Home Mini speakers.

The Home Mini speaker is powered by a 5v power adapter giving out 1.8 amperes per hour. It has a Micro USB port.

Read also: Top 5 best Android Music Players (with equalizer)

Google Home Mini Speaker Design
According to Google's term of describing the speaker, the Home Mini speaker is like the size of a “doughnut”, funny enough.

Colours

Google Home Mini speakers are available in three colurs- light gray, dark gray, and coral red 

Its height is as little as 1.65 inches and is 3.86 inches wide, weighing about 173g. The device comes with a power cable of length 4.92ft, both the power cable and adapter weighs an extra 75g.
The device is made of Plastic housing, Non-skid silicon base, and a Fabric top which Google says it is durable.

The Fabric-covered top of the Home Mini speaker is what's like the physical hardware-control interface.
You can choose not to control the mini speaker using your voice but instead, with just a tap on the fabric top sends in your command.
See how the fabric top operates
The fabric top is a very sensitive part of the Home mini speaker, it's so responsive to touch.
Tapping either left or right of the disc (fabric top) will lower or increase the volume, tapping the middle will pause playing music, stop an alarm, or cancel a command.

The Google Home Mini is more or just as the Google Assistant present on smartphones.
Google announced that you could use the “OK Google” or “Hey Google” wake words, the listening feature can be activated with just one tap and hold on the top of the speaker.

Attached to the fabric cover are four multi-coloured LED lights acting as the indicator that lets you know when the Home Mini speaker is muted, processing, or listening.

On the back of Google Home Mini speaker is the physical mute switch. Sliding the switch will turn off the always-listening microphones, sliding it back will turn its the microphone on.

Google Home Mini Multimedia & Phone Support
The Home Mini speaker supports the following audio formats;
MP3, HE-AAC, Vorbis, LE-AAC+, Wav (LPCM), and FLAC.

Google Home Mini Speakers work with Android devices running on Android 4.4 OS and above, as well as iOS support for iOS 9.1 and above.

Read also: iPhone X Full Specifications and Price

What Do You Think About Google Home Mini speaker? Does it worth $49
For me, it worths $49. At least with all these features exhibited by the device, one can still be able to afford it. Or don't you agree with me?
Let's create a discussion trend using the below comment box.

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It's Official: Google Pixel 2 & Pixel 2 XL Specs, Price and Release Date

Meet Google's new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL- Dual Pixel Cameras.

Google launched its Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones three days ago, 04 October as promised. The launch event actually was held in San Francisco where some attended the conference in person, while others streamed the event live on their various devices via available means.

For us who weren't opportuned to attend or stream the live event on our devices, Oshetech has discussed everything you need to know about the event, and of course, the main reason for the event; the launching of Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones.

As it was heard during the speculation of rumours regarding the event, Google did launch other make-life-easy products alongside the much anticipated Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones. The other products includes Google Home Mini and Max, Pixel Buds, Pixelbook, Google Clip, and more…

We shall be discussing the features of all these Google’s flagship products throughout this week on Oshetech.com, so please do come back to hear more from us. But this post is dedicated only to the new Pixel smartphones: Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.

GOOGLE PIXEL 2 & PIXEL 2 XL ANNOUNCED FEATURES

These two smartphones was announced during the launch, comparing their specifications, they are both identical though, there's a slight difference.

The rumoured specs were true as the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL were announced to run on Android 8.0 Oreo Operating System, feature Snapdragon 835 processors, 64GB or 128GB storage option, 4GB RAM for smooth performance.

DISPLAY & DESIGN

Like I mentioned earlier, the pixel 2 and pixel 2 XL are almost identical, with just a slight difference in the design differentiates one from the other.

The Pixel 2 is built with a 5-inch AMOLED screen display, having 1080p resolution (for a density of 441 PPI), Gorilla Glass.

Its body is built with metal and glass; featuring IP67 dust and water resistant.

Read also: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 Specs and Price

The Pixel 2 XL is slightly bigger than the pixel 2, having 6-inch AMOLED 18:9 screen display with QHD+ alongside 2880 x 1440 resolution (for a density of 538 PPI).

The Pixel 2 XL has exactly the same body build up as the Pixel 2, that is to say both devices are built with metal and glass being water and dust resistant.

Both Pixel smartphones supports an Always-on display, which will continually listen to audio playing around you (even from radio), which empower it to display song information without following the normal process, all you need do is click on the song title from the Always-on display. With these Pixel phones, you'll experience an improved Google Assistant bringing more features especially to the pixel camera. Both handsets also supports “Active Edge”, meaning you can squeeze the sides of your phone to activate certain functions.

It's sad that the 3.5m headphone jack is no more. Instead you'll rely on the USB Type-C port for wired headphones, and you can not use wired headphones on the phone while it's charging. Though, at the front of these pixel smartphones are stereo speakers. On the back of these pixel smartphones is found a fingerprint sensor which Google says is the fastest on a smartphone.

Read also: 5 reasons your phone slow down in performance

ALSO IS THE PRESENCE OF GOOGLE SO-CALLED DUAL CAMERA

This actually got me amazed. Looking at the back of these Pixel smartphones are a single 12.2- megapixel camera with f/1.8 aperture built on them, but using the camera tells you it has the functionality of a dual camera.

This is what Google was referring to as dual camera. Google actually performed a dual camera trick with a single camera.

The single camera makes use of something Google is referring to as dual-pixel sensor which literally splits every pixel in two.

Unlike last year when Pixel was 1.55μm sized, this year’s pixel is a little bit smaller having 1.4μm. One benefit of this small pixel is that it allows for faster autofocus, and just like the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, Google said it can offer “portrait mode” which include blurred background effect.

This works without a second camera, and that's because the pixel camera acts like the second lens which allows the camera shoot a second image ever-so-slightly offset from the previous shot.

With this feature, Google can establish depth map for the purpose of allowing it identify the foreground and background of a photo and make the subject more pronounced by blurring out every other thing found in the image. Google added that the portrait mode works also on objects. Also, this portrait mode feature is enabled on the 8-megapixel front-facing camera, despite the absence of split pixels in it.

Just like Apple's new iPhone 8 Plus, the Pixel 2 camera can shoot Motion Photo, it records a 3- seconds clip around each photo and bundle it into the file. The 12.2MP camera supports Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)

Augmented Reality Features

The camera  supports some augmented reality features like the AR stickers, this will enable you add emoji and 3D characters into photos and videos as you're capturing the event/scene.

These Pixel smartphones will be the first to feature Google lens. When this is activated, you'll be able to position the camera to different objects and let Google instinctively display information on them.

The pixel cameras are indeed packed with lots of amazing features.

BATTERY

The Pixel 2 is powered by a 2,700mAh sealed battery while the Pixel 2 XL is packed up with a 3,520mAh sealed battery.

It was said that these smartphones come with fast charge feature. According to a said statement by Google, “you can get 7 hours of charge in just 15 minutes”.

COLOUR AND PRICE

The Pixel 2 will be available in Black, White, and kinda blue colours.

The 64GB storage model price will go for $649/ £630, and $749/£730 for the 128GB storage model.

The Pixel 2 XL will be available in just Black and White colours.

Its price tag for the 64GB storage model is $849/£830 while the 128GB model will go for $949/£930.

RELEASE DATE

Both Pixel smartphones will be released on October 17. Whereas, pre-order has been ongoing since the launch of the devices on October 4.

Above is all you need to know about Google's latest flagship Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones; its specifications, price and release date.

Thanks for visiting Oshetech.com, please do come back for more tech info. Meanwhile before you close this page, help us share this post on any social media you belong to.

Also share your views with us using the below comment box.

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Google To Buy Part Of HTC's Smartphone Establishment For $1.1 Billion

The tech giant Google made a press announcement on its blog forum that it will buy part of HTC's smartphone establishment.

 
During the speculating of rumours about this, I never wanted to post this on Oshetech because I doubted the news, but not anymore, now that the company (Google) has confirmed the news on its blog that it plans to buy part of HTC’s smartphone establishment for $1.1 billion. The deal both companies had agreed upon also includes a non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property, which means, despite part of HTC's smartphone enterprise is sold to Google Inc., the company (HTC) can continue to manufacture devices including smartphones under its brand.
This deal remains valid throughout the remaining days of this year as the transaction is expected to close in early 2018.

I initially had this thought, perhaps HTC is the manufacturer of Google's upcoming Pixel 2 smartphone. Google has sent out invitations for the launch of Pixel 2 on October 4.
I was convinced when I read a blog post by the Senior Vice President, Hardware at Google, Rick  Osterloh, who confirmed HTC is involved in Google's new phone, the Pixel 2.

Read also: iPhone X Full Specs, Release Date and Price

According to Osterloh, “ the new Pixel 2 smartphone wouldn't come alone. Previously our first family of madebygoogle products was introduced which includes Google home, Google Wifi, Chromecast Ultra, Pixel smartphones, and Daydream View, and we are preparing to disclose our second generation of products on October 4”.

Interpreting a statement on Google blog post, Creating amazing products people will make use of daily is a journey. Making this a success is a reason Google signed the deal with HTC, the leading company in consumer electronics, that will generate even as many product innovations in the years ahead.

Read also: 10 New And Amazing Features Of Android 8.0 Oreo

“These future Googlers are amazing folks we have already been working with on the pixel smartphone, and we are excited to see what we can do working together as one team”, said Rick Osterloh. He also said, creating a collection of unique and pleasurable user-experience products can only be made possible by collectively bringing Google best software, like the ‘Google Assistant’.

At the end of the blog post by Rick Osterloh is a conclusion with the feeling of excitement when he said that the Google team can't wait to welcome HTC amazing folks to join them on the journey of inventing amazing and making-life-better products.

MY CONCLUSION
I am excited about this and can't wait to see what these inventors coming together has for us, regards the Pixel 2 alongside other Google products scheduled for launch on October 4.

Thanks for visiting Oshetech.com, please do come back for more info on tech-related stuff. You can connect with us on facebook @ facebook.com/oshetechfans or follow us on twitter @ twitter.com/oshetech

Tags: Google to buy HTC

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Google Is Set To Launch Pixel 2 and Pixel XL 2 On October 4

Again! There is something new coming up on October 4. What could that be?
The launching of Pixel 2 and Pixel XL2 smartphones by the tech giant, Google.

The World is going to receive another launch of an high-end smartphone, this time it is coming from the tech giant, Google. Google has confirmed October 4 to be the event of its upcoming pixel smartphones Pixel 2 and Pixel XL2 precisely.

A few days from now, Pixel 2 and Pixel XL2 will be holding their launch event, meaning if you are thinking of changing your smartphone to a higher upgrade, you should wait for the launching of these pixel smartphones.

Are you still not convinced?  Google Company has created billboards advertising its launch event of Pixel 2 and Pixel XL2 handsets. And also, a newly-introduced teaser campaign landing page is available on Made by Google. This landing page is more of Google Assistant, it does more excessively than you ask of it. The name of this landing page is “Ask more”, and you can access it by visiting madeby.google.com/askmore/. On the page, carries the teasing tagline “Thinking about changing phones?”.

Yes, lots of high-end smartphones have been launched within a past few months, especially Apple's launch of iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and the incredible iPhone X, as well as Samsung Galaxy Note 8. But Google wants you to wait until October 4 before deciding on what smartphone device to buy/pre-order.

Read also: 5 Awesome Features Coming To Xiaomi Phones

Google has also posted a teaser video both on its YouTube Channel and Twitter page, which is embedded below. The video throws at us, some rhetorical questions. 



Also, Official invites for the launch event has been sent out by Google, below is the event venue and time.

The event will hold at the SFJazz Center, San Francisco. The launch event will begin at 9am PST (San Francisco), 12pm EST (New York), 5pm BST.

The event will be available live on the company's YouTube channel. Below is the video teasing the event to be shown live.



TRENDING RUMORS OF THESE SMARTPHONES
Of course, rumours will always come, and it is good to know that rumours sometimes provide accurate info. 
The Pixel 2 and Pixel XL2 smartphones are expected to run on the Android latest 8.0 Oreo Operating System.

Related: 10 Amazing Features Of Android 8.0 Oreo OS

One of the smartphones is expected to come with an approximate 6.0-inch AMOLED screen size with a 2560 x 1312 resolution.

Design: These smartphones may support water resistance just like the iPhone latest devices, rear-facing fingerprint scanner, may lack a 3.5mm headphone jack and in particular, tiny bezels on the Pixel XL2

Speaking of Memory, the Pixel 2 in particular is
expected to feature the Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB RAM, 64GB or 128GB internal storage space.

Rumour Price
Just like Apple’s new flagship smartphones, Google Pixel 2 and Pixel XL2 is expected to be launched in two variants, though they will come in 64GB and 128GB configurations.
Google Pixel 2 is rumoured to start its price at US$649 ( £649, AU$1,079) for the 64GB variant, and US$749 (£749, AU$1245) for the 128GB variant.
For Pixel XL2, the 64GB variant is rumoured to cost US$849 (£849, AU$1353), and US$949 (£949, AU$1518) for the 128GB variant.

Colours: Both Pixel smartphones will be available in black, white, and kinda blue colours. 

That will be all for now. I suggest we all should wait for the launch event to commence,  definitely, more info on the smartphones will officially be leaked.
Thanks for visiting Oshetech, please do come back for more tech info

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Android 8.0 Oreo Released, Its 10 New Features Will Get You Excited

Finally! The tech-giant Google has officially announced the latest Android O. The Operating System has been confirmed by Google to be known as Android 8.0 Oreo, now we know what the “O” simply stands for.

Yes, everyone had been thinking of what name could be given to Android O, and after several suggestions have been made, Google has taken its final decision by confirming the Android O to be Android Oreo.

The launching of Android 8.0 Oreo kicked off on Monday being August 21st, in New York, during the Solar eclipse event, it was indeed a special day.

But what could be so special about Android Oreo?

I can say that Android 8.0 Oreo was built in the sense of advancement in technology. I remember when Android 4.2.2 through 4.4 Jelly Bean used to be the talk of the world, and today it's no more considerable, Hahaha… without wasting much of your time, let's get to know the goodies of Android Oreo.

Read also: 5 New Features Coming To Future Xiaomi Smartphones

A few days ago, I made a post on this blog about Android 8.0 OTA updates.

This is one thing I love about the latest Android Oreo Operating System, its OTA updates work irrespective of storage space. Yes, I am not mistaking, Android 8.0 OTA updates will still work even when your device has storage space as little as 100KB or even 1KB. You know storage space used to be a challenge when downloading OTA updates of any OS as most times it usually requires about 1GB of free space or even more than that. I would have love to explain how the OTA updates work without consuming heavy storage space, but I've discussed it before. If you want to know how it works, then scroll up to where I mentioned “ its OTA updates works irrespective of storage space” and click on the link you see. That's aside

There are reasons you should be more excited as you are, those reasons are the wow features of Android 8.0 Oreo which will be reading soon.

Features Of  Android 8.0 Oreo

Android Oreo is packed with so many features which are discussed below.

#1. Picture-in-Picture

Google has made activities being done with smartphones easier by introducing picture-in-picture functionality into Android Oreo.

This feature would allow users perform multi tasks simultaneously which is similar to the Nougat feature, though, it is more advanced than that because, with Android Oreo, users would be able to continue watching videos on a small-sized simulated/virtual screen while operating on other apps. For example, a user could be watching a video on YouTube while making use of Google+ app.

#2. Background Limits

In Android smartphones, there have been improvements at liming the background activity of apps when you think there is a need for saving battery life, and with the invention of Android Oreo, it has gained more improvement.

Read also: YouTube's New Chat-Sharing Feature Allows Users Discuss its App

#3. Manage Notification Priorities

With Android Oreo, users can influence their apps notification categories using “notification channel”. Users can categorize which notifications to receive and not to be received.

In addition, Google has also made it possible that users can be able to snooze individual notifications for some time like an hour, 30 minutes, 15 minutes and so on.

#4 Notification dots

This feature is quite similar to #3 feature.

Notification dots are visual indicators displayed on apps icon indicating that you have a waiting message/notification. Of course, iPhone users should be familiar with this feature.

Read also: 5 Reasons Your Smartphone Slow Down In Performance

#5. Adaptive icons

This is another amazing feature brought to you by Android 8.0 Oreo. With this feature, developers can be able to make use of various shapes of app icons, though this depends on the manufacturer’s choice. These different shaped app icons will also support the notification dots feature mentioned on #4

#6. Improved Camera App

Having Android 8.0 Oreo on your Android device will improve your camera quality. One of its improvement is the double-tap feature that lets you double-tap on the screen to zoom objects up to 50% in the camera app.

Some shortcut buttons will also be added to the camera app. These buttons will let you switch between photo and video rather than the usual swiping which users might have found uninteresting.

Read also: How To Stop Telemarketers From Calling You

#7. Google Play Protect

This is all about making your Android device more secured.

Android Oreo will be receiving this feature to keep your device from corrupt programs, though the feature is also rolling out via Google Play Services to other devices with older OS like the Nougat and probably Marshmallow.

The duty of this feature is to automatically scan incoming and already- installed apps for malware and then sending you notifications if it happened to spot any suspicious content and prompt you to take action.

#8. New Emojis

This is a very usual feature being updated each time new versions of Android are set out. Google did not just only introduced new Emojis to Android Oreo but did update existing ones giving them new designs

A Screenshot I Shot At Android Official Website

#9. Data Sync across all your mobile devices

Of course, this has been existing in Google Chrome browser as one of its features.

It's a good thing that Google is extending this feature to Android 8.0 Oreo OS.

This Autofill feature, when given permission to function, syncs app logins (password, username, phone number and other login information), addresses, Credit card details, and other information.

The reason for this feature according to Google is because “ Android users already rely on a massive count of password managers to auto-fill repetitive information.

I know you must be exhausted reading this article,  so sorry about that. Let me round it up with the 10th feature

#10. Octopus Easter Egg

There is no way an Android version would be discussed without adding its Easter egg.

Android 8.0 Oreo’s Easter egg is an octopus.

To play with Octopus on Android Oreo devices, go to settings»» About phone, then tap Android version until Android O appears. Continue tapping the O for several times and then long-press it to pop up the Octopus.

Finally!!!  I drop my pen… Haven read this article, do not fail to drink a cup of coffee because you must be very tired by now.

Are these features OK with Android 8.0 Oreo Operating system? Share your view with us using the below comment box.

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