Google brings selfie flash to Camera app

Google updates its native camera app to bring a new feature selfie lovers will like. The Google Camera now has a selfie flash. This feature (and the others that’ll be mentioned below) are designed to work for recent Nexus and Pixel devices that run Android 7.1.1 and above. What the app does is it adds a beige color light right after you take the photo to bring a bit more light into the shot. Google opted to use a warmer color instead of a flash of bright white to make it look a bit more natural. However, as The Verge points out, this feature doesn’t seem to have automatic white balance like that on the iPhone’s camera.

It’s easy to enable the feature, you just need to tap on the Flash icon when you’re in front-facing mode and toggle between automatic or on. You know the feature is enabled if a beige block is covering the menu bar at the bottom. Aside from this, version 4.4 of Google Camera introduces shortcut gestures like swipe to toggle between shooting stills and videos and double tap to zoom.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium reportedly coming to Canada on August 15th or in September

If there's one thing we're sure about, the current Sony flagship, the Xperia XZ Premium, will be making its way here. As for the specific date, GSMArena points out two conflicting reports about when the device is coming. One claims August 15th, while the other says it's coming next month. What we know is it'll be available through Amazon and as an unlocked device. Pricing isn't confirmed either as the Xperia XZ Premium got a price cut recently so it could either go for US$699.99 (around CA$900) or US$799 (around CA$1,000). Reports have it that the Xperia XZ Premium sold in the country will also have its fingerprint sensor disabled, which is plausible if the units are coming from the US. Sony phones have had their fingerprint scanners disabled possibly due to weird contractual obligations. We don't definitively know yet. But we're sure we'll hear more in the coming weeks or even the coming days (if the August 15th release holds up). 

SoundCloud gets fresh round of funding to keep it going

Musicians and creators are going to be at the heart of SoundCloud moving forward, we'll probably see more improvements to features like this stats page

A new round of investment into SoundCloud is keeping the music streaming service going for the foreseeable future. As part of the deal, SoundCloud Chief Executive Officer and founder Alex Ljung will be stepping aside and former Vimeo head Kerry Trainor will be the new CEO. Another former exec from Vimeo, Mike Weissman, will be coming in to serve as SoundCloud's chief operating officer. Ljung will act as chairman and will stay on for the long term. His co-founder Eric Wahlforss will stay on with the company as chief product officer. The Raine Group, a boutique merchant bank, together with Singapore-based investment company Temasek, led the US$169.5 million investment to give SoundCloud the much-needed cash. 

Trainor wants to put greater emphasis on developing tools for musicians and other creators, including a "more robust creative toolkit" for them via the Pro Unlimited subscription. The service is used by a lot of artists to do things like public collaborations, promote new songs, or get private feedback before a track is released to the world. Trainor claims this is what gives SoundCloud a unique brand in the digital music arena. He tells Billboard, "SoundCloud is the largest open audio platform in the world. Millions of creators choose these tools to share their work with the world—that will remain at the focus and center of the company." 

Android O will be the last OS update for OnePlus 3/3T

OnePlus 3T

We have some bad news for OnePlus 3 and 3T owners. The two devices will only get Android O as its last major software update. With the company turning its attention to OnePlus 5, we're not surprised that this is happening. However, if we think about the timeline, it's been relatively short and both will fall short of the standard two-year cycle for software updates. The OnePlus 3 came out just June of last year, while the 3T came out just November of 2016. Technically, this will be the second major update for the OnePlus 3. But it does feel like there could be room for one more. OnePlus does mention that there will be security patch updates coming to the devices in the "foreseeable future" but its Open Beta Program will be moving to the OnePlus 5 once the two devices have been updated to Android O. 

Source: OnePlus | Via: Droid Life