Google offers a 'The Mandalorian' AR experience, but for select 5G phones only

So, 5G seems to be big in the galaxy far, far away as Google and Lucasfilm launch a The Mandalorian augmented reality experience on the 5G Pixel and other "select 5G Android" phones. But as Android Police reports, they could sideload the app on older, 4G-only handsets, and the experience still works. The experience is built on ArCore, so it will presumably work on phones that support that.

The Mandalorian AR Experience turns you into a bounty hunter following the trail of Mando and the Child. It will let you interact with characters and learn more about the Star Wars show's first season. You can even take the snowy scenes into your home and share these with others. 

As part of Star Wars' Mando Monday, Google even promises Pixel owners to "keep an eye out for additional exclusive content outside of the app as well."

Sonos files another lawsuit against Google for infringing five more speaker patents

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A day before Google's hardware event where the new Nest Audio might be launched, Sonos has filed another lawsuit against the search giant. The company claims Google infringed on five more patents, including patents that cover technologies some of Sonos' best-known features are based on (including the Trueplay tuning tool). This new lawsuit is more about modern wireless speaker system features, which seem to focus on smart speaker control (like setting the volume on a speaker from your phone). 

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Google to acquire Fitbit for US$2.1 billion

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Fitbit is going to be the newest brand to be taken under Google's wings. Google announced that it has "entered into a definitive agreement" to acquire Fitbit for US$2.1 billion (around CA$2.7 billion). The announcement comes days after reports are going around that Google was in talks to purchase the fitness tracker company. Fitbit will be joining Google itself, in the same way that Nest is under Google right now.

According to Rick Osterloh, Google's senior vice president for hardware, the reason they want Fitbit is to help them create wearables within the company. That they "see an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market."

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Review: Google Pixel 3a

At first glance, there’s very little difference between the new Pixel 3a and last year’s stellar Pixel 3. Both phones share Google’s sleek and rather muted aesthetics, they both run Pure Android efficiently, are build around Google Assistant and it’s AI features. Both Pixel models also feature outstanding cameras, with segment-leading Night Sight low light capability, and arguably the best camera software available today.

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