Google rolls out Android P "Pie" starting today

Android version 9 is also known as Android 'P' and has now been revelaed as Android Pie. The latest Android updated is starting to come to compatible devices today (barring interference from carriers). 

Starting today, an over-the-air update to Android 9 will begin rolling out to Pixel phones. And devices that participated in the Beta program from Sony Mobile, Xiaomi, HMD Global, Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, and Essential, as well as all qualifying Android One devices, should receive this update by the end of this fall.

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Epic Games confirms ‘Fortnite’ will skip Play Store release

We reported a few days ago of rumours that Fortnite: Battle Royale will be coming to Android but not through the Play Store. Now, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney confirmed through a Q&A with Eurogamer that this will be the case. The reason for bypassing Google’s app store? To avoid paying Google’s 30 percent distribution fee. Sweeney said the fee is “disproportionate to the cost of services these stores perform, such as payment processing, download bandwidth, and customer service.” And while this move might seem like it could antagonize or create tension between the game developer and Google, Sweeney doesn’t see their decision affecting the relationship with the tech company. He said the company still “looks forward to continued collaboration with Google.”

Google Maps on the desktop now shows Earth as a globe

Before when you zoomed out on Google Maps, our planet Earth would be depicted as a flat surface. Now, a new update coming to the desktop interface changes this into a globe, which allows the map to show the Earth more accurately than it has in the past. With this new 3D Globe Mode, “Greenland’s projection is no longer the size of Africa.”

Before this, Google Mpas has been using the Mercator projection, which projects the map on a flat surface. This projection became largely standardized and made it easy to print onto maps. But this also presented a distorted image of the Earth. Those near the equator scaled relative to one another, while those closer to the poles looked larger than they are. As the example above, Mercator maps make Greenland appear larger than Africa, even though in reality, Africa is 14 times larger.

Source: The Verge

Don’t expect old Sonos speakers to get AirPlay 2 support

If you don’t own a Sonos Beam, Playbase, One, or second-gen Play:5, don’t expect to get support for AirPlay 2. In an interview with Engadget, Sonos Chief Product Office Nick Millington talked about what plans it had for the older speakers that doesn’t get support for AirPlay. Millington said the company would rather concentrate on ensuring the longevity of these old speakers instead of just bringing new technology into them for the sake of it. One way to do that is bringing an update that will let the Play:1 speaker work in multiple rooms. Millington said, “We decided that AirPlay 2 was a bit too much of a commitment of the remaining resources and RAM and processor inside that product.”