News
Android Nougat market share up by staggering 0.1%

If you thought last month’s Nougat numbers were bad, check out where its market share stands now.
After posting a total distribution of 0.3 percent for the month of November, the latest chart from the Android Developers website reveals a 0.4 percent share for the platform’s latest OS version — that means it went up by a whopping 0.1 percent!
That’s absolutely dreadful, and just reiterates how slow Google and its third-party partners are in rolling out Android’s latest versions.
Making things even worse is the fact that Android 2.3 Gingerbread, which was released all the way back in 2010, has three times the distribution total of 7.0 Nougat at 1.2 percent.
Google already announced killing support for Gingerbread devices beginning early 2017, but with the way everything is developing, they’re better off keeping the older generation afloat while Nougat finds its way into consumer hands.
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It’s a shame, really. Android’s seventh-generation operating system is highly mature, and is the version most users feel can truly stand alone without extra skins from brands such as Samsung and Huawei.
Interestingly, 6.0 Marshmallow is going up, now owning a 26.3 percent share after presenting 24 percent last month. It’s good that manufacturers are at least trying to stay updated, but that’s nowhere near Nougat territory.
In better news, the final build of Android 7.1.1 Nougat will begin spreading out on Pixel and Nexus devices today, December 6. It’ll bring in much-needed security updates for older handsets and some added usabiliy features for Pixel phones, like double-tapping to wake and lifting the phone to check notifications.
[irp posts=”4025″ name=”Nougat is Android’s best, but there’s still room for improvement”]
Source: Android Developers


The race for artificial intelligence is a hot trail. Amid the unbridled popularity of ChatGPT, several companies have started pushing their own language models out the gate. Google, eager to compete in the emerging industry, has now opened Bard to users.
Today, Google has started issuing invitations to Google One subscribers for a chance to try the new chatbot. Subscribers can enter a waitlist to test the technology for themselves.
In essence, Bard acts the same as ChatGPT. Users can talk to the bot conversationally, and it will respond perfectly, as if you were talking to another human being. It’s a language learning model. By talking to so many users, the model can learn the best way to reply to certain prompts.
Although Google has access to its search engine, Bard is currently meant to complement it. The company warns users that the chatbot is still prone to occasional mistakes. As an example, it gave the wrong scientific name for a plant. While this example is innocuous, there can be more nefarious errors that the developers are still trying to fix. With a wider test now open to the public, Google hopes to fix more egregious mistakes ahead of a wider launch.
For now, if you subscribe to Google’s premium subscription service, you can wait in line to try out the new technology.
SEE ALSO: Google is working on a ChatGPT competitor called Bard

EA is a mixed bag nowadays. Formerly one of the biggest names in gaming, the company’s public reception is more varied these days. However, no one can argue against the studio’s earlier eras with more notable titles. Unfortunately, that era is coming to a more definitive close. EA is officially delisting a few notable Battlefield titles and the original Mirror’s Edge from digital stores.
In an official statement from the company, EA has announced the retirement of four online titles this year. Starting April 28, users will no longer be able to buy Battlefield 1943, Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Mirror’s Edge online. Additionally, the online services for these games will cease on December 8.
Still going strong today, the Battlefield franchise is EA’s answer to the Call of Duty franchise. While the latter focuses on more arcade-like shooting, Battlefield tries to infuse more strategic gameplay into historical and modern-day shooting.
On the other hand, Mirror’s Edge is a classic first-person parkour adventure. At the time, the title was notable for its fluid movement and easy-to-read visuals. It even spawned a sequel, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.
Anyone who owns these titles can still play through them after April. However, come December, players can only go through the offline single-player campaigns of these games.
SEE ALSO: Blumhouse is getting into gaming

TikTok is in for another fight. Recently, the American government upped its efforts to ban the video-sharing platform from the country. The company is preparing to fight back. Ahead of a potential ban, it is enlisting the help of its most precious resource: TikTok users.
Today, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew shared a video to update the entire community about his impending congressional hearing later this week. In the video, the CEO thanks the American userbase in helping the platform grow, enumerating important numbers ahead of the hearing. For example, TikTok now has 150 million users — which, Chew notes, is half of the population of the United States — and 7,000 employees in the country.
The video then goes on to share the government’s plans to ban TikTok, potentially taking the app away from the big numbers that Chew mentioned. Further, the CEO is asking all these users to share what they love about the app in the comments of the video.
@tiktok Our CEO, Shou Chew, shares a special message on behalf of the entire TikTok team to thank our community of 150 million Americans ahead of his congressional hearing later this week.
For years, the American government has hounded the app over its Chinese ownership. The company — especially parent company ByteDance — has the potential to act as a conduit for Chinese surveillance, the government argues. The company has tried to counter these claims by increasing its employees in the country.
Now, the fight is coming to a head with several government bodies and other countries banning the app outright. It’s unknown how Chew is planning to attack the incoming congressional hearing. However, it’s likely that the company will leverage user feedback to buoy the app as an essential part of the current American landscape.
SEE ALSO: UK starts banning TikTok
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