Technology

Amazon has seen considerable success with its low-cost Fire tablets and it appears that Walmart wants in on the action as well. A new report claims that the retailer is planning to launch a cheap Android tablet under its in-house ONN brand. The device will be made by a Chinese supplier and is going to be powered by Android.

A spokesperson for Walmart confirmed to Bloomberg that this tablet will be launched under the in-house ONN brand. It’s expected to have functionality which would make the cheap Android tablet a good fit for kids.

Antivirus apps are meant to give you peace of mind where in the event you accidentally click on that suspicious link or email, you know that your device should be somewhat protected. Unfortunately there are so many antivirus apps out there that it can be a bit difficult to choose which one to go for, and the sad thing is that most of them are apparent frauds.

This is according to testing done by Austrian antivirus testing company AV-Comparatives (via ZDNet) who discovered that out of the 250 Android antivirus apps that they tested, they found that two-thirds of them could be considered frauds. They tested the apps out by feeding malware to the devices to see if the apps could pick up on them, and only 80 of the 250 apps did.

We know that Google is looking to get into video game streaming as they ran a small test back in 2018 where gamers would stream games through the Chrome browser. In fact later this month at GDC, Google is expected to unveil more of their plans and leading up to the event, we might have an idea of what to expect.

As spotted by Owen Williams on Twitter, it appears that Google is adding support for the Nintendo Switch controllers to its Chrome browser. What does this mean? This means that in theory you should be able to play games through Chrome using your Nintendo Switch controllers if you prefer.

This comes in the form of a new SDK that developers can use to integrate Xbox Live functionality into their games. What this means is that gamers can expect to see more games take advantage of this for features such as crossplay and Xbox Live Achievements, especially if you are primarily an Xbox gamer and would prefer having it all in one place.

Speaking to The Verge, Kareem Choudhry, Microsoft’s gaming cloud chief said, “We believe so strongly in community, and Xbox Live really being at the heart of our gaming community. If you watch what we’ve done, especially with Minecraft, over the past few years we’ve taken Xbox Live to as many platforms as Minecraft is on as possible. Really uniting all those communities together with a consistent singular experience for those gamers.”

In the absence of Sony releasing a 2019 ‘compact' flagship (at least so far), who would have thought that Xperia fans would be turning to Samsung to fulfil their needs. Sony Mobile has dampened plans to release any more ‘compact' flagship devices. Earlier in the year, Sony Mobile's Vice President of Marketing said that consumers wanted bigger displays, implying that Sony may be ending its compact range.

Sony Mobile started to roll out a new firmware update for the Xperia XZ2 range (XZ2, XZ2 Compact, XZ2 Premium) and Xperia XZ3 earlier today. The latest update moves the build number from 52.0.A.3.202 to version 52.0.A.8.14, adding the March 2019 Android security patches in the process.

Google has released the Android Q Beta for early adopters and developers today. Google has made this first beta available for all Pixel smartphones (including the original 2016 devices). While the final release of Android Q is not expected to arrive until the third quarter of 2019, this preview gives everyone a good idea of what we can expect in this latest Android version.

It has long been rumored that Huawei has built its own operating system. Not that lightweight OS that it has running on its new smartwatches, but a full-fledged OS which could replace Android on its smartphones. The company has now confirmed the existence of the operating system while pointing out that it’s will serve as an alternative to Android in the worst case scenario. That involves Huawei being cut off from licensing Google’s Android.

That worst case scenario almost came true for ZTE as it was hit by a ban in the United States for violating an earlier agreement related to a sanctions violation. ZTE later settled its matters with the authorities and was able to operate its business once again.

Google released the developer preview of Android Q yesterday ahead of formally unveiling the latest iteration of its mobile operating system later this year. The developer preview has revealed some of the new features that Google has been working on. A new report points out that Android Q brings support for a native desktop mode.

This won’t be the first time that a software solution has been created to provide a workstation-like experience powered by an Android device. Samsung’s DeX is perhaps the most recent example and the company even did away with the requirement to use a dock for the experience. You can hook up Samsung’s latest flagships directly to a display through the USB-C port and use DeX.

Having a steady hand while taking photos can mean the difference between a photo that is perfectly sharp and one that is blurred. Since it can be difficult to remain perfectly still all the time, that’s where image stabilization tech comes into play. The good news is that if you are planning on buying a Canon EOS R camera, Canon has confirmed that in-body image stabilization (IBIS) will be a feature on future cameras.

This is according to an interview that Amateur Photographer did at CP+ where the publication managed to speak to several Canon executives. When the topic of IBIS was brought up, Canon’s execs confirmed that this would be a feature that photographers will be able to expect in future cameras.

For a while now we have been hearing reports about some of the features of Android Q, where the folks at XDA Developers managed to get their hands on a leaked build, but unfortunately there was no mention of when the official developer preview would be launched. There was some speculation that we could be getting close, and now it seems like the time has come.

Google has officially announced the launch of the beta for Android Q. The beta will be initially available to Pixel devices which means that non-Pixel users will have to wait their turn. Note that this is only the beta which means that certain features might not work, or certain features could actually end up getting removed ahead of the final release.

Take-Two is a company that some gamers might be familiar with. For those who aren’t, they are the publisher and parent company behind other developer studios such as 2K Games and Rockstar. Now it seems that there is a chance that Take-Two could be acquired by none other than Sony.

This is according to a report from Market Watch (via Game Informer) who claims that Sony is currently in negotiations to take over Take-Two. Details about the acquisition are scarce and all the publication had to say is that Sony is in “advanced board level discussions to acquire Take-Two Interactive in a mostly cash deal.”

Sony's newest flagship, the Xperia 1, recently hit pre-order in the UK for £849. It is now available to pre-order for our US friends too, as Amazon.com has the handset listed for $999.99. Only the Black colour is listed at the moment, but we would expect other colours to be available in due course. The listing may be a bit premature, as Amazon's listing states a release date of 31 December 2019! This is no doubt an error, with the handset expected to launch in late May/June.

Toyota is one of the most widely known Japanese companies on the planet. As many of you are already aware, Toyota knows a thing or two about making vehicles. It has now teamed up with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency to build a pressurized self-driving rover for the moon. The rover will vastly improve astronauts’ ability to explore the lunar surface.

According to current plans, this Japanese moon rover is destined to land on the lunar surface in 2029. This six-wheeled vehicle will be able to transport two humans for a distance of about 10,000 kilometers using Toyota’s fuel cell technology and solar power.