Allo, which launched back in 2016, will soon be no longer. The tech giant announced in a blog post that it’s ending support for the messaging app next March.
Google said users have largely switched to Android Messages, its default messaging app which integrates SMS, MMS, and Rich Communications Services (RCS).
The latter of which, RCS, represents the future of messaging, as SMS is set to become obsolete. Google is working hard on carrier support for RCS, so it comes up to par with Apple’s iMessages.
“Earlier this year we paused investment in Allo and brought some of its most-loved features—like Smart Reply, GIFs and desktop support—into Messages,” the blog post reads.
“Given Messages’ continued momentum, we’ve decided to stop supporting Allo to focus on Messages.”
If you’re using Allo, you can export your conversation history from the app until it closes down in March.
While Allo is on the way out, Google is keeping Duo, its video-calling app, which added video messaging recently. The company’s also continuing to develop Hangouts into a workplace collaboration app, helping it to rival the likes of Slack.
The onslaught of 5G is coming sooner than you think. AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint are beginning to prep there respective networks — but some are farther along than others.
Similar to the early days of 4G, it’s carriers and mobile manufacturers announcing partnerships for forthcoming devices. The one feature being confirmed is 5G support (to varying degrees), with everything else being mostly unknown.
Earlier this Fall, AT&T announced its “first 5G connection” through a NETGEAR mobile hotspot. Notably it will use a millimeter wave network and should deliver some fast speeds.
Verizon’s 5G Hotspot
In conjunction with Inseego and Qualcomm, Verizon also has a 5G hotspot launching in 2019. It was shown off this week at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit. Notably, it will meet the 5G NR or New Radio standards, meaning it should work on more bands than devices that don’t.
HTC’s 5G Mobile Smart Hub for Sprint
Image: Kote Puerto/Unsplash
Sprint doesn’t want to be left out of the game, and basically announced a partnership with a manufacturer. The carrier is partnering with HTC and Qualcomm for a so called “mobile smart hub,” which is essentially a fancy term for a 5G hotspot. It will be packing a Snapdragon X50 modem for 5G connectivity in addition to gigabit LTE when it lands in 2019.
Phones
Sprint and LG’s 5G phone
Image: MIKE MOZART, FLICKR
As with hotspots, Sprint is working with LG on a 5G smartphone. It should arrive in the first half of 2019 and fully work on the carrier’s forthcoming 5G network. Unfortunately, not much else is known currently about the device.
Earlier this week at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, the two brands announced a forthcoming device. It will land in the first half of 2019 and should be one of the first 5G devices running a Snapdragon X50 modem. While the physical device was missing in action at the summit, Samsung did show off a prototype device with quite the notch.
AT&T’s Samsung 5G phone
Days after Verizon pulled back the curtain on its 5G Samsung phone, AT&T said it’s working with the Korean phone manufacturer on a phone for the second half of 2019. It will work with 5G mmWave and sub-6 GHz standards, which is better on paper than the Verizon device.
Although it should be noted more waves and bands supported means the device will have an easier time overseas.
OnePlus has a 5G phone for the UK
Image: raymond wong/mashable
Alongside larger manufacturers and U.S. carriers, OnePlus was at the summit with some news for the UK. OnePlus will be the first to release a 5G phone on UK operator EE. The device will be powered by a Snapdragon 855 mobile platform and handle many 5G bands. You can also expect some other devices from the brand, hopefully one or two that come to America.
Apple is somewhat notably missing
Image: lili sams/mashable
The Cupertino behemoth was late to 4G LTE and it seems Apple will be late to 5G as well. The company has said nothing about its product roadmap, but there has been some speculation that a 5G iPhone won’t arrive till 2020, which looks highly likely. Not surprising at all was Apple’s logo missing from the Qualcomm’s slide of partners.
When and if a 5G iPhone arrives, it will likely pack an Intel modem.
Check back for more 5G devices on the horizon as they’re announced.
Another iOS update is rolling out to iPhones and iPads everywhere.
iOS 12.1.1 fixes several bugs and enhances some features. The update is rolling out now via iTunes or through an over-the-air update on iOS. The update isn’t too big; on an iPhone XS it’s just 381.7MB.
Notably, the update adds eSIM support for more carriers for iPhone XR, XS, and XS Max users. While the iPhone XR doesn’t have 3D Touch, Apple is adding a popular 3D Touch feature through haptic touch: Notification preview.
Last but certainly not least, FaceTime is updated with an easier way to capture Live Photos. We’re still waiting on Apple to move the camera flip button back to an easy spot.
Here’s how to update:
Be sure to backup your iOS device either via iCloud or by plugging it into a computer with iTunes. Update or not, it’s always a good idea to have your data backed up in some form.
Next, you’ll need to download the update. Go to Settings>General>Software Update and it will search for an update. From there, you can click Download and Install. If you’re already running iOS 12, it will offer to install 12.1.1 overnight when it might be more convenient. On a computer you’ll need to be running the latest version of iTunes and navigate to your plugged-in iOS device. Click Check for Update and it will download, than install the latest update.
From there it will install the iOS 12.1.1 on your device and you can get back to using your iPhone or iPad.
A small group of pediatricians wanted to tackle a question many of us may not think about. Does eating a Lego mess up our bodies at all? They actually ate some pieces and tracked how long it took them to poop it out. If you have kids who like eating everything on the floor, this one’s for you.
Scattered throughout Ariana Grande‘s triumphant Billboard Woman of the Year profile are major tidbits for everyone who has diligently read every tweet, checked every Instagram story, and watched every YouTube drop on Ari’s accounts since early October: concrete details on her second new album of the year.
Thank U, Next — the album, not the song — is almost ready for global consumption. In mid-November, when the interview took place, Ari was in the “polishing” phase of production, having spent one week writing the tracks and two weeks recording them with help from collaborators Tommy Brown, Social House, Victoria Monét, and Tayla Parx. But as of Tuesday (December 4), she was tweeting Republic Records to “hurry yo ass up” with her final product.
Created in a zen-sounding studio outfitted in white flowers, a candle, and a light that projects rippling water imagery, the new music is “not particularly uplifting,” Ariana said. “A lot of it sounds really upbeat, but it’s actually a super sad chapter.”
It’s a description that actually makes a lot of sense considering the work was fueled by pink champagne and an unthinkable amount of heartache that the artist has endured in the past few months alone — most notably, that which resulted from the tragic death of her ex Mac Miller. At least one song on TUN is about the late rapper, according to the profile.
Another tune — one whose name we already know — tackles a happier memory. “7 Rings” is about a “challenging fall day in New York” that brought Ari and her friends to Tiffany’s for some casual retail therapy. A few glasses of champagne (what else?) later, “we bought seven engagement rings, and when I got back to the studio I gave everybody a friendship ring.”
Billboard writer Natalie Weiner, who got to listen to the tracks, described the album as “defiant — deep, bass-driven bangers with trap beats alternating with airy, sad ballads — and aesthetically more adventurous than anything she has ever released.” Lyrically, Weiner called it “unambiguously personal and gutting.”
But perhaps the best news to come of this interview is that Ariana, being the benevolent pop diva she is, is already looking forward to making even more new music when she hits the road for next year’s Sweetener tour.
“Please. [“Thank U, Next” production duo] Social House is my opening act — you don’t think we’re going to have a studio on the bus? That we’re not going to be making records on the road? Of course we are,” she said. “I want to be able to do what is authentic and honest and natural. It’s the only way that I’ve been able to survive.”
It’s a bold approach that’s been working for Ari these past few months, and we are here to support its continuation. Please!
Smart camera frees you up to move around • Great in the office
App support is limited • Doesn’t work with Messenger.com • Facebook hasn’t done enough to address privacy concerns
Facebook’s Portal and Portal+ speakers are excellent for video calls, but they may actually be better suited to connecting businesses than friends.
Are you ready for Facebook to have a physical, semi-permanent presence in your home? That’s the central question you’ll need to consider before you invest in the company’s new Portal or Portal+ speaker.
The pair of speakers, Facebook’s first non-VR hardware product, come at a time when trust in the social network is at an all-time low. The company is reeling from scandal after scandal, and is still facing tough questions about users’ privacy.
But, if you like the idea of a dedicated video chat device, and you’re generally not creeped out by Facebook (a tall order these days), Portal actually isn’t bad.
The Portal and Portal+
With the Portal, you have two choices: the $199 Portal and $349 Portal+. The features on both are pretty much the same, the main differences being size (the Portal+ is larger and has a slightly better speaker and display) and price.
The larger Portal+ has a 15.6-inch display
Image: karissa bell / mashable
The Portal+ is heavier than it looks.
Image: karissa bell / mahable
I personally tested the larger Portal+, which has a 15.6-inch rotating display, and it’s downright huge — think having a full-sized iPad (with a little extra) mounted to a heavy base. Besides the larger display, it also has a more powerful 20-watt speaker. The greater Mashable team also tested the regular (and cheaper) Portal, with that unit living in our offices in New York City.
But the main difference is size. And the Portal+, at 17.7 inches high, is quite massive. It’s likely too tall to fit in smaller corners or shelves. And the hulking speaker, with its more prominent camera, definitely ups the “creepy” factor a bit more compared with the smaller version.
The Portal has a 10.1-inch display.
Image: ZLATA IVELEVA / MASHABLE
The back of the smaller Portal speaker.
Image: zlata iveleva/mashable
For most people, the smaller Portal is probably more than enough for simple video calls and listening to music. It’s much more compact, with a 10.1-inch display, looking a bit like an Amazon Echo Show.
Both speakers have volume and mute switches on top and a power button on the back. You can also use voice commands to control volume and other basic functions by saying “Hey Portal.” Because Facebook never actually created its own digital assistant (“M” was downgraded to mere suggestions in Messenger earlier this year), the “Hey Portal” functionality is limited to controlling basic features and making calls. But if you want to use voice commands to check the weather or play music, you can use Alexa directly through the Portal. The only downside is Alexa doesn’t display any information on the screen, which makes it inferior to an Echo Show or Google Home Hub, and honestly, wastes the display.
Made for video calls
While the Portal and Portal+ are often compared to Amazon’s Echo Show, Facebook’s devices are actually much more limited. Yes, you can use Alexa skills, but there are very few third-party apps available for the Portal right now. There’s Pandora, Spotify, and iHeartRadio for music, as well as YouTube, Food Network, and Facebook Watch for video.
But Portal is first and foremost a video-calling tool. Yes, it can technically do a bit more than that — you can add your Amazon account to use Alexa skills and perhaps future functionality — but if you’re not planning on spending a lot of time video chatting, there’s no point in getting one.
Augmented reality masks on Facebook’s Portal+.
Image: karissa bell / mashable
If you do already spend a lot of time video chatting with friends and family (or want to start), then there’s a lot to like about the Portal. It runs on Facebook Messenger, so you can easily call anyone who you’re friends with on Facebook, regardless of whether they have a Portal of their own. It supports group calls (up to seven people) and you can use Facebook’s augmented reality effects while you chat for some added fun.
Facebook seems to think one of the best use cases for Portal is for distant parents and grandparents who want to be able to spend time with kids. There’s a “Story Time” feature that lets you read to kids (complete with animations and sound effects for specific stories), which seems like a nice idea but only has a couple of stories at the moment.
Portal’s “Story Time” feature.
Image: ZLATA IVELEVA / MASHABLE
The standout feature, though, is the Portal’s camera. The wide-angle 12-megapixel camera has a 140-degree field of view. It uses software to automatically detect faces and it can pan and zoom as people move around the room to track them. All this gives you considerably more freedom while chatting as you can move around without worrying about stepping out of frame.
In fact, I was consistently surprised at just how much I could move around and Portal’s camera was still able to find me. Even when I moved so far back that I was almost physically behind the Portal, the camera was still able to adjust.
Portal and privacy
As good as the video-chatting features are, they don’t matter much if you don’t have anyone to talk to. And, given Facebook’s recent track record, the idea of long, intimate conversations via Portal may be a tough sell for some.
Though the company has taken great pains to point to the various privacy features on the device, (the plastic camera cover was reportedly a late addition to help assuage fears) and explicitly explain its privacy policy, many people are wary of letting the social network further encroach into their lives. It doesn’t help that the only way to connect with a portal call is via Messenger app (which many are still grumpy about Facebook essentially forcing upon users), though Facebook says support for Messenger.com, so you can join Portal call via web browser, is in the works.
To be clear: there is relatively little data that gets fed from Portal back to the advertising behemoth. The content of your calls is kept private, but the company can use certain information about how you’re using the speaker generally to inform the kinds of ads you see on Facebook. You’ll also see and hear ads on YouTube and other ad-supported services that connect with the device.
The Portal and Portal+ come with plastic covers for their cameras.
Image: zlata iveleva / mashable
In terms of privacy controls, there is a plastic cover for the camera which, as someone who has taped over my laptop webcam for years, I appreciated. There’s also a physical mute switch on top of the device, which disables both the camera and microphone.
Still, privacy concerns are completely understandable. Facebook has done very little to prove its trustworthiness over the last two years. So even though Portal may have decent privacy controls and relatively little data sharing (at least, by Facebook standards), the company has provided few reasons to trust that this will always be the case.
The case for having a Portal in the office
One use case where I do think Portal actually makes a lot of sense — and one Facebook hasn’t talked about very much — is not as an in-home video calling gadget, but as a corporate video conferencing tool.
Think about it: corporate video conferencing systems tend to suck. They’re expensive and bug-ridden and never quite work the way you need them to. And Facebook already has relationships with thousands of companies, thanks to Workplace.
Mashable’s Tech team meeting via the Portal.
Image: karissa bell / mashable
Mashable’s Tech team tried out our set of Portal speakers during a team meeting to see just how viable it might be. There were a few complications at first. We had one Portal in our San Francisco office and one in New York. But we also needed to add several other remote team members.
Because it’s not officially part of Workplace yet, this meant the only option for those without access to a Portal was for them to join the call via Messenger on their phone.
Having used quite a few different corporate videoconferencing systems over the years, I fully expected this somewhat hacked-together solution to be horrible, but it was actually pretty good once we managed to get everyone into the same call.
The sound was good throughout, even if the video quality was inconsistent (despite everyone being on speedy WiFi connections). For the NY and SF team members, who were joining the call via Portal speakers, the cameras were able to track our faces when we were speaking. However, there was sometimes a delay when there were several people in the room. And it was still pretty fun to sit through an entire meeting with different AR effects, as cheesy as they can sometimes be, projected onto various faces. I’m partial to the cat ears myself, but there are tons more, including some that transform the whole scene around you so your boring office looks more like dance floor.
The Portal’s AR effects can be used on multiple faces.
Image: ZLATA IVELEVA / MASHABLE
The disco ball filter on the Portal+.
Image: karissa bell / mashable
There are some drawbacks compared with other systems. For starters, you can’t share your screen or “present.” You also can’t take screen grabs or natively record video or audio, which might make it a nonstarter for some. And the process of actually setting up a group call can be a bit tricky when you have many participants.
But, assuming Facebook adds Workplace integration (which the company says it’s looking at), these shortcomings are certainly solvable. A quick and easy video chat tool for business is, to me, the most compelling use case for Portal. Of course, Facebook didn’t build the Portal to make a better business chat gadget (even if that’s what they ended up creating). The social network, which counts more than 2 billion users, built the Portal because it’s planning for a future beyond our smartphones. And having a voice-activated speaker is an essential first step toward that future.
Unfortunately for Facebook, though, Portal’s launch not only comes much later than its competitors, it comes at a time when Facebook’s relationship with its users is beginning to deteriorate. But there could still be a narrow path forward for Facebook. For every person who distrusts the company, there are others who still find Facebook an integral part of their daily lives.
And for some of them, a $199 video chat device may not seem like such a terrible idea. Facebook is, after all, about communicating with people. And Portal, for all its flaws, certainly makes that communication a lot easier — and a lot more fun.
Huawei’s relationship with the U.S. just took a turn for the worse.
Several months after Donald Trump signed a bill into law preventing U.S. government agencies from buying certain products from the Chinese electronics manufacturer, Huawei’s CFO has been arrested in Canada. She now faces possible extradition to the U.S. This time around, however, the issue is not a potential national security risk, but rather accusations that CFO Wanzhou Meng violated U.S. sanctions regarding Iran.
According to the Globe and Mail, Meng was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 1 and has a bail hearing on Dec. 7.
The arrest, while notable, did not come out of the blue. Reuters reported in April that U.S. authorities were investigating what has grown to be one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers for the “alleged shipping of U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws.”
This arrest would appear to be an extension of that investigation, although details at this time are light.
The Wall Street Journal notes that U.S. authorities want to bring Meng to federal court in the Eastern District of New York.
In addition to serving as CFO, Meng is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and is the deputy board chair.
The couple had their first date at the freakin’ Super Bowl; totally casual. Cardi later recalled to GQ, “I told my publicist to tell him, because I was very shy, ‘Listen, if we gonna go on a public date together, you cannot make me look like a dumbass after this.’ And he was like, ‘No, I really like her. I’m really feeling her.’ We was talking, we was making out. We didn’t fuck. After the Super Bowl, it got really serious because I feel, like, all eyes on us.” Even so, they played coy about their relationship for months.
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