Pixel 8 series: No Physical SIM Card Removal, Exciting Camera Upgrades
Google Pixel 8 series won’t be ditching the physical SIM card tray, contrary to some rumors. The Pro version will introduce Night Sight video for better low-light recording, which is a promising camera feature.
Night Sight photos on the Pixel 6 improved with a larger sensor, laser autofocus, and motion detection algorithms powered by the Tensor ISP. The Pixel 7 reduced motion blur in Night Sight with faster exposure times, thanks to HDR+ and ML advancements.
The Pixel 8 Pro continues Google’s trend of enhancing video capabilities with photo-first features. The Tensor processor has run up Live HDR+ and brought Cinematic Blur to Portrait Mode video. This focus on video improvements makes the larger phone more appealing.
Although eSIM usage has been on the rise, there were speculations that the Pixel 8 series might follow the iPhone 14’s path and go all-in on eSIM. However, it’s now confirmed that the physical SIM card tray will stay, ensuring compatibility in areas without robust eSIM support.
Google Pixel 8 to offer more Android and security updates than Samsung Galaxy flagships
Google app has added a new Sports widget for Android users, which lets you follow the teams and games that interest you. The Sports widget is currently available in the beta version of the Google app 14.49.38.29.
The Sports widget is similar to the Finance Watchlist widget that Google introduced earlier this year. It shows the upcoming, live, or past matches of the teams you follow in cards with the date, time, score, and league. You can tap on any card to open the full details of the game in Google Search.
The widget has two views: “Your games” and “Trending games”. The first shows the games of the teams you selected, while the other shows the popular or relevant games based on your search activity.
The widget also supports Dynamic Color, which adapts the widget’s background color to your wallpaper. You can resize the widget to fit your home screen and refresh it manually from the top-right corner.
Google Messages app is testing a new design for the compose text field. The new design has a shortcuts bar that lets users access emoji, Magic Compose, gallery, and more options while typing a message.
The old design is used to hide the buttons for attachments, gallery, and Magic Compose as the user types more text. The new design is left-aligned and keeps the buttons visible. The voice memo button is now outside the text field and has a new look.
Aside from this, the voice recorder also has a new feature called Moods, which lets users change their voice effects. Some users have pointed out that the text field alignment does not match the message bubbles, which are right-aligned for the sender.
The new design is not widely available yet, as Google is rolling it out to users in the beta program.
December 2023 has started and Google has rolled out a new update for its Play System for Android devices. The new update enhances Adaptive Connectivity Services to provide a better performance.
The Play System December 2023 update includes improvements to stability, bug fixes, and performance optimizations for Android smartphone users.
Adaptive Connectivity Services can help users save battery life, data usage, and network congestion by choosing the most suitable connection for each app or task. The company is making this service more useful with the new update.
WHAT’S NEW
Adaptive Connectivity Services p.2023.48 (2023-12-01)
- [Phone] Improvements to stability, bug fixes and performance optimizations
Users can check for the update by going to Settings >> Security >> Google Play System Update. The update will be downloaded and installed automatically, without requiring a device restart.
However, no new features or changes have been noted yet but the company will update the changelog on the official page soon.
