Samsung’s supposed memory leak update for the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge have yet to see the light of day in official capacity, but another important maintenance upgrade seems to be headed out to the handsets. Folks in various Asian and European countries are beginning to see verison XXU1AOE3 pop up.
It’s a relatively light download at 159.29MB, and it brings with it the following changes:
Improved fingerprint recognition process
New feature in Photo Editor (no word yet on what this new feature is)
Improved compatibility with accessories
Enhanced user interface for Email, Music, S Planner and other apps
As always, you can expect this thing to roll out in stages, with unlocked devices likely getting the first swing at the new goods. Carrier variants are subject to testing and certification, so it may be a while yet before you’re able to pull it down.
We thought third-party app support would be the coolest thing headed to Google Now this year, but we weren’t even close. Google has announced Now on Tap, a new context-driven element for Google Now that’ll help you figure stuff out, take action and look up information related to what you’re looking at on your phone.
The quick explanation is that you can be inside an app, and Google Now — should you call on its never-ending expertise — can automatically determine what context you’re speaking in, even without specifics. One example was Spotify. You could be listening to Skrillex, and say “OK Google, what’s his real name?” From there, Google Now knows that “his” refers to “Skrillex” and will load up a Google Search that’ll return that exact information.
Another example showed two spouses messaging each other and asking about a restaurant for dinner. Holding the home button — still within that conversation — automatically brings up the restaurant, with reviews and directions for driving there. It’ll also be able to surmise whether you’re talking about a movie within an email conversation, or if you’re trying to find out more information about a specific food item on a menu inside a restaurant’s app.
The most interesting part of all this is that Google claims developers will not have to make any modifications to their apps for Google Now on Tap to work. It just happens, and it’s damn cool.
It’s a little scary, sure — Google Now knows enough about what I’m doing on my phone to provide context-accurate information? That’s sure to raise a big red flag for any privacy nut, but if Google’s privacy policy for using your data on all their other services is anything to go by we aren’t so sure there’s reason to worry.
Privacy aside, Google Now on Tap is very cool, and is perhaps the single biggest addition to the service since its arrival a couple of years back. Be sure to check out the video demos of Google Now on Tap in action in the YouTube clip above, and look forward to being able to try it out on the Android M developers’ preview once it’s ready.
Inbox by Gmail has just gotten a lot cooler for those who make use of Google Reminders. The app can now automatically suggest reminders to add by using the company’s natural language engine.
It does so by examining the contents of an email and determining whether a reminder could be set. For instance, an email from your wife saying “Don’t forget to get the milk tonight” could automatically set a reminder for later that night to pick up milk. Simple and easy on our end, which is what this whole natural language engine is all about.
Google has also made it so that making a reminder in Google Keep can make them show up in Inbox. Clicking a reminder in Inbox can take you back to its entry on Keep where you can view additional notes you may have added with the reminder.
