This week Google did something we all really didn’t want – it postponed the release Android 11. It was difficult to predict this in advance, but, as it turned out, there were reasons for this. But she released an application that allows you to keep a safe distance from people so as not to get infected in a pandemic. The usefulness of the application raises questions, but technically it was done in such a way that it was simply impossible to imagine such a thing a few years ago. And this week it was revealed that iPhone second generation SE is faster than Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra, which costs several times more. There was other news this week, but let's talk about everything in order.
We still have to wait.
Exit Android 11 Delayed
Large corporations rarely act spontaneously, usually scheduling all their actions for many months or even years in advance. However, the coronavirus pandemic has made adjustments to the way of life of almost all global companies, leading to the fact that in the end many of them were forced to strongly adjust their plans and even abandon some of them. As a result, almost all events were canceled, prototype development was frozen, and releases were postponed. The launch of the beta test Android 11 was no exception, which was postponed for a whole month, and now it has been moved again. But not because of the coronavirus.
Beta Android 11 is delayed again
This week Google announced via its official Twitter channel that it is postponing the launch of its beta testing program Android 11, which was supposed to kick off on June 3, to a later date. According to the company, the reason was the introduction of a state of emergency in the American Minneapolis. It was triggered by massive demonstrations that spilled over into riots against police brutality. Thus, local residents reacted to the brutal detention of a black guard by the police, which subsequently led to his death.
Android 11 will be released, but with a slight delay
We'd love to share more details on Android 11, but now is not the time to celebrate. We decided to postpone the release of the beta version Android 11 and the event dedicated to this event from June 3 to a later date. Very soon we will be back and tell you a lot of interesting things about Android 11, – reported in Google.
As noted by the American media, since May 26, large-scale rallies have been held in Minneapolis, spilling over into riots, pogroms, shooting and arson. For the same reason, many enterprises even moved online broadcasts of their events, and Apple, which had just opened Apple Store, chose to sheathe the glass walls of stores with plywood sheets in order to protect shopping pavilions from pogroms and protect the lives and health of citizens. After all, broken glass can do even more harm to those who break it.
Google did not give any predictions and promises regarding the timing of the launch of the beta testing program Android 11. Obviously, this is due to the fact that the company does not yet know when the mass protests in Minneapolis will end, whether they will launch they are a wave of new unrest throughout the country, and whether this will lead to the death of people, which will have to introduce national mourning. Still, a popular revolt can really be merciless, and it will be rather difficult to stop it in the shortest possible time.
Android 11 will be a very big update
What's new in Android 11
- Scoped Storage mechanism, which will divide memory into many independent segments so that applications cannot claim each other's data;
- Hot access to payment cards in Google Pay with the ability to call the service directly to the lock screen by double pressing the power key – by analogy with Apple Pay;
- Built-in scrolling screenshot function that allows you to capture the entire web page, all chat content and many, many other aspects;
- An advanced night theme that can automatically turn on and off based on information about daylight hours and the movement of the sun along the horizon;
- Support for the modular Project Mainline architecture, which will make it possible to distribute monthly security updates through Google Play without the need for adaptation;
- The history of incoming notifications will appear in the system menu, where the data of all notifications will be saved with the ability to view them even after closing.
However, you shouldn't be upset about the failure of the beta test launch Android 11. The fact is that only a very limited circle of users will still be able to join the preliminary tests of the update. Due to extensive fragmentation, manufacturers who decide to connect their customers to testing will have to adapt each beta build to their own devices, keeping their finger on the pulse round the clock in order to have time to release fresh builds that would work with their proprietary shells without conflict.
Google has released applications to combat coronavirus
The coronavirus pandemic has forced many companies to adopt a new operating model. Some have come to understand that it is not necessary to force employees to go to the office if you can work from home, others were forced to change priorities and switch from developing some products to others that are easier to develop remotely, and still others began to release tools that can help people one by one. experience a new reality. For example, Apple taught Face ID to identify a mask and immediately switch to the password entry screen, and also introduced a system for tracking coronavirus patients. But Google is not lagging behind either.
Maintaining social distance is very important. Your smartphone will help you with this.
Google has unveiled a new AR tool, Sodar, to help maintain social distance between you and the people around you. The development uses a smartphone camera, augmented reality and calculates the distance from the person closest to you. Thus, Google reacted to the gradual lifting of the self-isolation regime in many countries of the world, wanting to save people who began to leave their homes and go out in droves from becoming infected with the coronavirus.
Sodar is a regular website that, however, can only be run on a compatible Android – smartphone and only from the Chrome browser. Compatibility refers to support for a tool such as Google Play Services for AR. This is a system component that is guaranteed to be available to owners of all new devices. However, in order to make sure that augmented reality is working for sure, it is recommended to either check the list of compatible devices on the Google website or perform a practical test yourself.
- To do this, follow this link to the Sodar website from your smartphone;
Sodar is Google's new social distancing tool.
- Click on the Launch button on the main page of the site;
- Accept the user agreement and give the site the necessary privileges;
Point your smartphone camera at the ground and augmented reality will outline a circle of safety. Just like Gogol's.
- Point the smartphone camera at the floor or ground to take measurements.
According to the rules of social distancing, the distance between people should be at least two meters. When you point the camera at the ground, augmented reality will draw a circle of the corresponding diameter around you. This will allow you to track if someone has entered your security area and, if necessary, take steps to restore your personal boundaries. It will be easier and safer to move away from the offender on your own than to enter into an altercation with him and demand to leave you, provoking a person into conflict.
Keep in mind that the diameter of the circle that Sodar draws can be a few centimeters slightly less or more than the prescribed two meters. The fact is that augmented reality is not yet accurate enough to make measurements without any error at all. Therefore, if it occurs to you to measure the real distance and the result does not coincide with the declared one, do not take it too personally. In the end, a couple of centimeters will not solve anything, and in Russia, not 2, but 1.5 meters are considered a safe distance.
Well, in general, it should be remembered that the most reliable way not to become infected with a coronavirus infection is, if possible, to be at home and not leave it. Despite the fact that in many countries the authorities have announced a gradual exit from the self-isolation regime, it is impossible to cancel the pandemic by the decision of the legislature. This is evidenced by the increase in the number of infected, of which 8-9 thousand people are added daily in Russia, which means that you may be at risk if you do not observe self-isolation and proper precautions.
Google removed negative TikTok reviews
I don't know if you trust the ratings on Google Play, but they have always been important to me. I understand that how many people, so many opinions, but when one application has a rating of 4.8, and the other – 2.1, you must agree, there is a difference. As the saying goes, millions of flies cannot be wrong. All the same, each person is a part of society, which itself is quite homogeneous in its preferences. If the vast majority like something, the chances are very high that those who haven't tried it yet will like it. Actually, this is what the ratings are for. But is it okay for app stores to adjust these ratings themselves?
This app continues to be surrounded by scandals.
A rather interesting event took place a few days ago. In the history of ratings, for example, on Kinopoisk or Tripadvisor, there are cases when certain groups of people gathered and pushed some ratings with their mass. For example, this happened when one of the restaurant owners spoke negatively about the fans of the Spartak football club. As a result, they logged in each of their accounts and threw off his establishment from the first place in their category, lowering the rating to one star.
In local categories, this is not so difficult, but can this be done on the scale of the global Google Play? It turns out that the Indians, who gave millions of negative ratings to the TikTok app, proved it.
The Chinese video-sharing platform has come under fire in India after disturbing videos were found in the app. Bytedance, which owns TikTok, has faced backlash. As a result, millions of Indians have left negative reviews on Google Play. In Twitter hashtags “BanTikTok”, “DeleteTikTok” and “BlockTikTok” even appeared.
People following this kind of flash mob led to an avalanche of negative reviews about TikTok. There have been too many of them in the past three weeks. All because of videos that users thought (or actually) showed or justified domestic violence, animal cruelty, racism, and child abuse.
The news about TikTok is mainly about the fact that the service is either growing or getting into a scandal.
Millions of Indians began to leave one-star reviews on the Google Play Store for the TikTok app, which greatly lowered the average score. It just dropped from 4.5 stars to 1.2 stars. At this point, Google decided to come to the aid of the application.
Google stepped in to remove any negative reviews. A Google spokesperson said millions of ratings have been removed as part of a 'corrective action' to 'deal with spam abuse.'
After removing many ratings and reviews on Google Play, the average TikTok rating has increased slightly. At first, it rose to 1.6 stars, and after that it even became higher than two. Although, this is still below the rating that was before the beginning of this whole story. The refund has not yet taken place completely due to the fact that the rating system is a little inert and takes into account the average values over time. Apparently, just in the framework of the fight against something like that. Of course, not on such a scale.
There are over 200 million TikTok users registered in India alone. You don't even have to think about what a big impact they can have on the rating, if it is about one seventh of all users of the service. We remember that not everyone gives an assessment, and it becomes clear that these 200 million, united by an idea, can easily break anything.
The rating rollback machine spun after the well-known Faizal Siddiqi posted evidence of the attack, which intensified further after its publication. His recent post has catalyzed an influx of negative reviews from Indian TikTok users.
Do you use TikTok?
A TikTok spokesman said keeping users safe is a top priority. The company clearly states this in the Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. It clearly states what is invalid on the platform. According to these regulations, the service checks such content and, if necessary, blocks it or even addresses law enforcement agencies.
While this is not the first time that negative reviews have been removed from Google Play, it is arguably the largest to date. Against the background of what is happening, Instagram and Facebook even started testing the limitation of the number of comments to posts. This is such a fight against trolls.
As this and many other similar stories show, ratings change very easily if a large enough number of people need it. If already the rating of an application with a billion users could have been changed and made such a resonance, then what can influencers do by asking their army of fans to lower the rating of a movie or institution they do not like.
So think about whether to trust the ratings. I think so, but only as a base on which to build your opinion. By the way, you can express it in our Telegram chat. Everything is fair there.
iPhone was faster than Galaxy S20 Ultra
Despite the fact that manufacturers have been trying to convince us for a couple of years that the top ranking of flagship smartphones should not be measured by performance, but by their photographic capabilities, for many, computing power is still a priority. In principle, this is logical, because most people still shoot in automatic mode, not bothering even with switching lenses, not to mention some additional settings. And performance is still an indicator of the device's prospects, which will allow them to remain relevant for longer. It is from him that you need to build on when choosing a new device.
iPhone SE 2020 is faster than Galaxy S20 Ultra
In early May, CEO Apple Tim Cook announced that the new iPhone SE, despite its low price, outperforms even the most advanced smartphones by Android. Many took these words figuratively and did not attach particular importance to them, because such an inexpensive device cannot be better than flagships for 1000-1500 dollars. It was really hard to believe in this, given that Apple cut iPhone SE 2020 in every possible way, depriving it of some of the functionality inherent in older versions. However, the test showed that in terms of performance, the new product really has no equal. At least in the market Android – smartphones.
Gary Sims, author of YouTube channel Gary Explains, conducted an independent experiment comparing the performance iPhone of SE 2020 and Galaxy S20 Ultra. For this purpose, he used his own benchmark SpeedTest G, which, according to him, allows you to scan the hardware potential of the smartphone as accurately as possible, unlike all other applications for measuring performance. SpeedTest G checks the operation of the CPU and graphics accelerator, forcing the devices to process the data set corresponding to their characteristics. However, the benchmark does not give an estimate, like the same Geekbench, but shows the time during which the device copes with the task. The smaller it is, the better the result.
iPhone SE 2020 is faster than Galaxy S20 Ultra by 7.5 seconds on average
As you can see in the table above, in two of the three tests iPhone, SE 2020 performed better, despite last year's hardware and three times lower price than the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The only test in which the smartphone Apple lost to the Samsung flagship was the CPU test. True, this loss cannot be called indicative either, because iPhone SE 2020 showed itself only one second slower, while in all other tests the Galaxy S20 Ultra lost to its opponent by an average of 3-5 seconds. And this is a much more noticeable gap.
Galaxy S20 Ultra is very expensive, but its support is so-so
For many, synthetic power measurements are not meaningful. After all, it is a widespread practice among manufacturers to optimize the hardware of their smartphones for a specific benchmark. However, in this case it is excluded. The blogger did not publish SpeedTest G in app stores in order to deprive vendors of the opportunity to somehow deceive algorithms that measure real performance. Therefore, given the authority of Gary Sims, who is a prominent figure in the field of mobile journalism, he can be trusted.
Indeed, the result shown by iPhone SE 2020 was not overwhelmingly superior to the Galaxy S20 Ultra. Just think, some 7 seconds. However, the very fact of superiority iPhone SE is important here, because it costs only 40 thousand rubles, and the Galaxy S20 Ultra – 110: the difference is almost threefold. And this is in an era when even manufacturers of frankly affordable Android flagships break such prices that it becomes completely out of place for users to buy them for personal use. So isn't it easier to buy a new iPhone SE, which will be updated for another 4, or even 5 years, than the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which Samsung risks forgetting in a year?