Nother CarGuy

Chrome OS has run on laptops, desktops, convertibles, and all-in-ones, but until today, it hasn’t run on a tablet. That changes with the Acer Chromebook Tab 10, the first tablet to run Chrome OS. Acer’s Chromebook Tab 10 is very much meant to rival the iPad, and that’s particularly notable since it’s being announced just one day before Apple is supposed to announce a new low-cost model. The Tab 10 has a 9.7-inch, 2048 x 1536 display — just like the iPad — with front- and rear-facing cameras, an estimated nine hours of battery life, an OP1 processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a USB-C port. There’s also a microSD card slot and a headphone jack. But what’s particularly notable is that the Tab 10 also has stylus support; like Samsung’s Galaxy Note series, the Tab 10 even has a small stylus built right in. It’s a Wacom-branded stylus, and it doesn’t require a battery or any additional charging. The tablet will sell for $329, which is the same price as Apple’s current ...

Android Go is Google’s latest attempt to build a version of Android specifically designed for low-end phones, and the company has announced that we’ll start to see the first devices running the slimmed-down OS at Mobile World Congress. Android Go was first announced at Google I/O last May as a version of Android that’s meant to work on cheaper, less powerful phones with as little as 512MB or 1GB of RAM. A version of the operating system — awkwardly dubbed “Android Go (Oreo edition)” — was made available to device manufacturers and developers in December, and now we’re finally reaching the point where actual devices will be released. Most of what makes Android Go different comes down to the “Go” versions of Google’s apps, like YouTube, Gmail, and Maps, which take up less space on phones and are built to use less data than the regular apps. According to Google’s post, the first devices should be available to purchase “soon after” they’re unveiled at MWC. Theverge

Google is enabling its built-in ad blocker for Chrome tomorrow (February 15th). Chrome’s ad filtering is designed to weed out some of the web’s most annoying ads, and push website owners to stop using them. Google is not planning to wipe out all ads from Chrome, just ones that are considered bad using standards from the Coalition for Better Ads. Full page ads, ads with autoplaying sound and video, and flashing ads will be targeted by Chrome’s ad filtering, which will hopefully result in less of these annoying ads on the web. Google is revealing today exactly what ads will be blocked, and how the company notifies site owners before a block is put in place. On desktop, Google is planning to block pop-up ads, large sticky ads, auto-play video ads with sound, and ads that appear on a site with a countdown blocking you before the content loads. Google is being more aggressive about its mobile ad blocking, filtering out pop-up ads, ads that are displayed before content loads (with or wi...

Google has taken a major step toward turning Android into a complete operating system for cars that doesn’t require the use of a phone. The company announced partnerships with Audi and Volvo today, ahead of this week’s I/O developer’s conference, that will see those carmakers build new branded infotainment systems using Android 7.0 Nougat. The manufacturer-tweaked versions of Google’s operating system will power the cars’ main touchscreen displays, as well as the digital dashboards behind the steering wheel. They will add new services like Google Assistant to the apps and integrations already available on Android Auto. But Android will now also control basic functions like heating and cooling, seat position, or opening and closing the windows. (It won’t go as far as controlling critical safety systems like brakes, though, according to Google.) Volvo says it plans to launch its Android on new models within two years, while Audi will show its version off in the new Audi Q8...