Kyle Bradshaw joined NewGeekGuide in 2018 with a special interest in Google’s Fuchsia OS, rooted in his experience of being the first to offer a visual preview of the revolutionary design of the in-development operating system. Since then, his attention has broadened to include the secrets hidden within other areas of Google’s public codebases.
By reading the public Fuchsia code, Kyle was able to prove the existence of the Nest Mini and the Nest Hub Max months ahead of their respective announcements. With evidence from Chromium, he reported on Google’s since-canceled efforts to create an offshoot of Android designed for “touchless” feature phones.
In 2018, Kyle reported on three distinct Made by Google Chromebooks in development, the Pixel Slate, the Pixelbook Go — a full year before its release — and “Meowth,” the original version of the Pixel Slate that was canceled due to Intel’s delays that year. For ChromeOS itself, Kyle was the first to demonstrate the upcoming light theme redesign in action.
Looking at the early evidence of the Pixel 5’s specs, Kyle accurately predicted in February 2020 that the Pixel 5 might not be a traditional “flagship” phone. In 2021, he reported that Google’s next headset would be the “Pixel Buds A.”
Kyle was the first to report that the Pixel 6 would mark the debut of Google’s in-house processors, later revealed to be the Tensor chips.
Kyle contributes to the APK Insight column at NewGeekGuide, discovering the hidden changes in Google’s apps. These efforts have revealed hotly anticipated features, details about upcoming devices, and unexpected connections between companies.
He can be reached for tips or just friendly chat by Threads, Mastodon, Bluesky, or email. If you’re looking for his other works or side projects, head over to Kyle’s personal portfolio.
The latest set of true wireless earbuds from JBL, the Tour Pro 2, includes a touchscreen in the “smart” charging case, complete with notifications, media controls, and more.
Expand Expanding Close
It seems Google may have plans to offer “higher quality” support for Bluetooth LE Audio on the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, and Pixel 7a.
Expand Expanding Close
Google’s Fuchsia team has begun a new effort that would allow Fuchsia devices to be managed with the ADB tool, just like an Android phone.
Expand Expanding Close
Google is preparing to rebrand its Arts & Culture app with a newly trademarked ampersand logo, replacing the classic museum.
Expand Expanding Close
Google is expanding its Play Games for PC to an open beta that lowers Windows system requirements and adds more Android games.
Expand Expanding Close
As part of a series of “Green Day” announcements — no, not the band — Acer has unveiled its first Chromebook in the eco-conscious Vero series, which promises to be repairable and recyclable.
Expand Expanding Close
Google has begun releasing Android Auto version 8.0, but despite the jump in version number, there’s no sign of the highly anticipated redesign.
Expand Expanding Close
Anna Mani, the meteorologist whose work helped kickstart weather forecasting in India, is honored in the latest Google Doodle.
Expand Expanding Close
A developer and privacy advocate has created a demo app that beeps every time your computer sends any data to Google. Spoiler alert — it’s a very noisy app.
Expand Expanding Close
In recent weeks, Discord’s Android app has been having issues with sending call audio to Bluetooth headsets.
Expand Expanding Close
In this week’s top stories: Google releases Android 13 for its phones, Pixel 6 owners are unable to downgrade back to Android 12, Pixel 7 moves closer to launch with FCC approval, and more.
Expand Expanding Close
It seems Fitbit is finally preparing to allow Google Wallet on its fitness watches, allowing it to join the existing Fitbit Pay.
Expand Expanding Close
Google Fi, the company’s competitor to Mint and Visible, is preparing for the upcoming launch of the Pixel Watch, making it the first smartwatch supported by the carrier.
Expand Expanding Close
Today, Google is outlining the upcoming “helpful content update” that should make your search results more useful and more likely to have been written by an actual human.
Expand Expanding Close
Google has laid out the changes coming in August 2022’s Google Play System updates, including Material You for Android’s Help app and a redesign of AutoFill.
Expand Expanding Close
Google has begun working on a project to bring “glanceable” widgets to the ChromeOS desktop, which could act like a large-screen version of Pixel’s At A Glance widget.
Expand Expanding Close
An Android ROM developer has crafted a way to downscale the Pixel 6 Pro’s screen to 1080p, a feature we’ve seen should be coming to the Pixel 7 Pro this fall.
Expand Expanding Close
After multiple rounds of judging, including a public vote, the winning artwork for the Doodle for Google 2022 contest is now live on the Google.com homepage and in Chrome.
Expand Expanding Close
Lizzo has released a new music video for her song 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready) which prominently features the Google Pixel 6a.
Expand Expanding Close
Google’s hub for Android gamers, Google Play Games, has now been downloaded over 5 billion times from the Play Store, and Google Meet has also hit a new milestone.
Expand Expanding Close
Google is now one step closer to releasing a next generation of its Nest Wifi mesh router, with the new model showing up at the FCC and revealing its Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.
Expand Expanding Close
We’ve now learned that the Pixel Buds Pro mark the first known major use of Google’s open source Pigweed development kit.
Expand Expanding Close
Ahead of the Pixel Watch’s launch later this year, the Fitbit app is readying support for Google’s Wear OS smartwatch, including seemingly confirming its battery life.
Expand Expanding Close
For the utmost hard-core Android gamer, the GameSir X3 may be the ultimate mobile controller, carrying almost every feature you could ask for – including in-depth customization and an RGB fan – but that excess comes at a cost.
Expand Expanding Close